They Just Don't Mix!

Power lines and aircraft just don't go well together.

Witness a widespread power outage in the northern Black Hills Friday morning (August 31st). Shortly after 8 o'clock, power went off in Belle Fourche, Newell, Spearfish, and several other communities. Those of us in Spearfish were treated to non-stop sirens for about an hour as emergency vehicles of every kind descended on a farm field about two miles north of Spearfish on Old Belle Road.

An ultra-glider had collided with high tension power lines, causing a short that tripped electrical breakers, thus knocking out power to many communities in both Butte and Lawrence counties.

According to KOTA-TV, the pilot was 51-year-old Ron Tietjen of Spearfish. He was flying south when his aircraft came into contact with the lines. Tietjen was found waiting next to the plane with minor cuts when police arrived, apparently not seriously injured. "Perhaps just his pride," quipped one power company worker. In addition to emergency medical personnel and law enforcement officials, there were numerous workers from Butte Electric Cooperative and Black Hills Power on the scene.

We normally don't do "breaking news" on this blog. But this incident was nearly on our doorstep, and it's hard to quell an old reporter's curiosity when sirens sound. Besides, there was no breakfast until power could be restored!

Read This Blog – Earn 50¢

The other day, the Arizona Daily Star reported that some students in “poverty-stricken areas” of Tucson are being paid up to $25 a week to attend classes this fall. The incentive is being paid from private versus public funds, and it's a scheme that appears to be embraced by some schools and the Tucson Education Association.

The idea is basically to keep kids from dropping out of school. Of course, any increased enrollments won’t hurt the school district or the teachers union, both of which would seemingly benefit. School enrollment is a big driver in state funding for schools.

The devil is in the details, and it’ll be revealing to follow this Arizona effort.

Of course, the really big bucks to lure young people are being offered by the U.S. Army. It’s their effort to offset continuing shortfalls of recruits. Proposed new incentives include a $20,000 bonus (if you join up quickly!); new recruits wouldn’t have to meet weight requirements, and Uncle Sam would accept more recruits with GED certificates rather than high school diplomas. Plus, the Army wants to increase waivers for medical and moral reasons or for individuals testing positive for drugs and alcohol. My personal favorite is the one where the Army, according to the Associated Press, would create a "more pleasant boot-camp environment."

Throwing money at these issues – in my humble view – is NOT the way to go. It provides only temporary relief at an enormous cost.

Can you say “Mandatory Universal Public Service”? All young people should be required to dedicate two or three years of public service in the Peace Corps, the military, or a similar selfless endeavor like the old Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s.

To my mind, this would be a far more sustainable program than the bottomless pit of monetary incentives that so many policymakers are quick to offer. Would such mandatory service have problems? Of course, but they are dwarfed by the quagmire created by a seemingly bottomless pit of trying to solve every problem with money.

Young people, federal and state government – and U.S. taxpayers – would all be the better for such a program.

Thanks for reading my blog. Redeem your incentive from the cable guy when he shows up on time!

Whitmore - Going Strong at 85!

As a few of us have drifted into active “retirement,” I am amazed at those of our elders – a generation older – who show no signs of slowing down.

Such is the case of actor James Whitmore, who – at 85 – has returned to his roots at a summer theatre in New Hampshire as Sheridan Whiteside in the vintage play “The Man Who Came to Dinner.” According to reviewer Terry Teachout of the Wall Street Journal, Whitmore did it like the “youthful trouper” he was when he made his acting debut there after serving in the Marines in World War II.

I am not surprised.

Three decades ago, when I was managing public radio station KOSU in Stillwater, Oklahoma, I was witness to the creativity and professionalism of James Whitmore. One afternoon, OSU colleague John Bissonette and I decided serendipitously to drop in on a campus convocation featuring Whitmore at the Seretean Performing Arts Center. We were disappointed that so few students, faculty, staff or community residents showed up for the event. There were probably 40 of us in the audience.

Did that make any difference to James Whitmore? Not a bit.

Coming on stage despite an injury that caused him to hobble a bit, the diminutive actor with a booming voice engaged the audience in a way I’d not seen before. He talked about acting. He talked about life. He shared anecdotes about his career. In the end, he revealed his “injury” to be nothing more than a grand case of spoofing the audience with body language. It was all make believe.

And nobody does it better than James Whitmore – a real professional.

I first remember him as a cop in the classic sci-fi film “Them!” But he’s appeared in dozens of other great movies like Oklahoma, Kiss Me Kate, and Battle Cry. Television credits run into the hundreds – including classic series like Playhouse 90 and The Twilight Zone.” His portrayals of presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Harry Truman in the 1970s were especially memorable, as was his rendition of humorist Will Rogers.

Bravo, James Whitmore! You’ve entertained millions of people the world over, and you continue to inspire those of us still stumbling around in early retirement.

You’ve demonstrated that keeping active and striving for excellence is a great formula for remaining “youthful troupers.” Well done!

Love the Taste -- Hate the Waste!

I’ve been a fan of tap water for years. I guffawed and grumbled when we moved to Mississippi and started buying big bottles of water and a cooler. But water pipes In Mississippi don’t have to be buried so deep to escape the frost line like they do in Nebraska and the Dakotas – so my ready supply of cold tap water was no longer available. I became a consumer of the cooler.

By the time we moved to Pennsylvania (ah, back to cold tap water) we’d started using filtered water pitchers in the refrigerator.

Along the way, a related phenomenon began. Bottled water started popping up on store shelves. And we started buying it!

Having grown up in the 40s and 50s, we had water on the playground at school, in the park, at the theatre....it was everywhere – and it was free!

More importantly, it was safe and clean. Oh, Karen would sometimes complain that the water was too hard – too many minerals in it – making it less than ideal for laundry and something of a nuisance when it would eventually clog the insides of water pipes.

Still, I have difficulty comprehending that we Americans would pay cold hard cash for a small plastic bottle of water. It is so universally abundant in the United States, and yet -- about one billion people on the planet (1 of every 6) do not have a reliable source of drinking water.

Thankfully, recent revelations about the bottled water industry have jolted my sensibilities and rejuvenated my appreciation for tap water.

Americans pay through the nose to manufacture plastic bottles, ship them to the island nation of Fiji in the South Pacific, have them filled with water, then shipped back to the United States! Next to sugar and tourism, water may well be Fiji's greatest export since Vijay Singh hit the golf circuit.

Pepsi-Cola’s recent admission that its “Aquafina” brand of bottled water comes from public water taps was – for many of us – not a surprising revelation. Public water supplies have always been closely regulated, while the bottled water industry has enjoyed barely a nod from federal regulators. At least the folks at Pepsi have fessed up to their deeds and promise to re-label the product with a forthright statement about the source of their water.

A growing number of opponents to the bottled water industry cite the enormous energy required to provide bottled water – and they point to the burgeoning problem of landfills, parks, and other public places that are laden with empty bottles. I believe they’re right. Kudos to the mayors of San Francisco and other cities who’re leading the charge.

I plan to return to the days of yore – drinking more water from a glass. I’ll probably keep a plastic bottle or two at the ready for biking and traveling – filled with fresh, clean, safe water…..from our kitchen tap!