Painting railroad bridges

Some folks in the Cincinnati area want railroads to paint their bridges. It seems the bridges haven't been painted in decades. They're eyesores.

A CSX spokesman says the company realizes the bridges may need a paint job, but it can't afford to repaint all 11,000 or so bridges that it owns.

The company's focus is to make sure the bridges are structurally safe.

I've heard similar complaints about the CSX bridge over U.S. 60 in Barboursville, but I've also heard an explanation as to why CSX isn't all that keen to paint the bridge. Namely, the old paint on the bridge probably contains lead. To remove the old paint, CSX would have to cocoon the bridge, sandblast the old paint and haul the sand to a hazardous waste landfill. That's an expensive process.

And because the peeling paint is mainly an eyesore with no known danger to the structural safety of the bridge, why should CSX spend hundreds of thousands of dollars if not millions to paint it? What would CSX get out of it?

I've noticed similar paint deterioration at similar railroad bridges in this area, but from what I've seen, the railroad bridges over the Ohio and Kanawha rivers look pretty good paintwise.

Do we need so many 4-year degrees?

An article on the Chronicle of Higher Education site has me thinking harder about something that has been going through my mind for a while: Do all of my kids need a four-year college degree?

I ask myself that question for several reasons. One is that I look back over my four years at Ohio U, and I don't think I needed all the classes that I took. I often wonder if I was required to take some of them because the school needed to keep its English professors working. It could force me to take English classes, so it did. But those classes ended up providing me very little in the long run.

The same with psychology and sociology and a lot of the other stuff I took.

A wise education consumer might look at a community college for his or her needs. I see what some people with four-year degrees earn, and I wonder if it's worth the time and the expense.

I agree with the author of the Chronicle piece that universities need to make money, and they tend to care more about research than teaching. It didn't take me long as a country boy on a university campus to figure most of that out.

Anyway, this is a conversation I really need to have with my wife and kids.

Another reason I want to interview Hillary Clinton

The nice thing about running for president is that you get to offer all these solutions during the primary season, and everyone will forget about them in the fall. The only people who really care are the junkies and the wonks. And these position statements are written by the part-time help, so you're saying words that you never thought to say.

Having said that, I just received a news release from the Hillary Clinton campaign about what she will do to cut gasoline prices. It's a long piece, and I really don't want to get into it point by point.

But let's look at her "Proposals to Reduce our Dependence on Foreign Oil Over the Long-Term."

The plans to address rising gas prices in the short term build on Hillary's bold, long-term, comprehensive plan to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and move America towards energy independence. (www.hillaryclinton.com/poweringamericasfuture.pdf). Key elements of that plan include:

· Raising fuel efficiency standards (CAFE) to 55 miles per gallon by 2030;
· A $150 billion investment in researching, developing, and deploying renewable and alternative energy;
· Cutting our foreign oil imports by two-thirds by 2030;
· Providing $1.5 billion per year for public transit, an additional $1 billion for intercity rail, and additional funds for congestion reduction, better traffic management and telecommuting;
· Providing tax credits and research and development funding for plug-in-hybrid vehicles, which can get up to 100 mpg; and
· Conserving fuel in the federal fleet. Hillary will call on all federal government agencies to suspend non-essential travel and other activities that use gasoline or diesel fuel, and encourage employees to carpool, telecommute, and use public transportation to reduce fuel use. And she will direct federal employees to reduce maximum speeds to conserve fuel, with exceptions for law enforcement and other emergency services. Under Hillary's plan, the agencies will to report to the White House once a month on their energy use and the impact of conservation efforts.

Am I the only person who thinks this plan is a bigger fantasy than a middle-aged guy like me walking into a college bar and walking out with a cheerleader on my arm?

I could go over them point by point, but why bother? My dozen or so readers could do the same as they read these fantasies.

What they show more is a plan that is not based in reality except the reality that the government can mandate this sort of thing. It can't. Real conservation will come from the market. When the price gets too high, people will alter their lifestyles so they don't consume so much. And government people will take the credit.

I want to talk to Clinton about her philosophy behind her energy plans. But I doubt I'll get the chance until Huntington becomes the key area for her to win West Virginia. She doesn't need people like me, and she has no reason to talk to me.

P.S. I really don't want to be the poor sap at the White House who has to read the detailed reports on how the Agriculture Department people in Iowa are car-pooling more.

Odds and ends, 4/29/08

DOVER, Del. (AP) — A Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a death row inmate challenging Delaware’s lethal injection process.

Ax murderer Robert Jackson III argued that the state’s execution policies and procedures were illegally promulgated because the Department of Correction did not allow for public review and comment.

There's a phrase you wouldn't want stuck to your name every time it's in a newspaper: ax murderer.

But if the phrase fits . . .

###

This will make my youngest sad:

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The head of the state’s school transportation office says he’s worried cash-strapped school districts will begin scaling back bus service for students.

Severe cuts in state funding have left many districts with aging buses that are costly to maintain. State records show the average school bus in Ohio is about eight years old, with 109 buses around the state that are 21-years-old.

In 2001, the state provided about $40.7 million to school districts for buses. That dropped to about $17.2 million by 2004. This year, Gov. Ted Strickland ordered cuts that have taken funding for school buses down to $8.9 million.

School transportation director Pete Japikse says the cuts have meant that many districts can’t buy new buses.

Older buses ride rougher than newer ones. All else being equal, I'd rather my kids ride a newer bus than an older one. But when they start and $70k and go up, there's not much choice if the state is cutting back.

Other than that, for bus nerds it means we will see the old Ward, Amtran, Wayne and Carpenter buses on the road for a little while longer, even though no buses are being manufactured under those names anymore. And the Thomas Built FS-65 models will be around a few more years, although their manufacture ended only about a year ago.

###

My kids can't wait for the cicadas to emerge. I'm just glad they're all old enough to enjoy the sight and the sounds. It's kind of like a phaser type 2 in the first stages of overload, for you Star Trek classic fans.

Voter registration

So I did some number crunching when the secretary of state's office released the voter registration list for the May primary. Among the things I found:

-- Lincoln County has 112 percent voter registration. Out of 8 people old enough to vote, 9 are registered. Those people are really civic minded.

-- These are the counties, in order, with the highest percentage of people declaring themselves "no party": Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan, Mineral and Monongalia. What they have in common is that at least three of these five are among the fastest-growing counties in West Virginia.

-- These are the counties with the lowest percentages of independent voters. You will notice they are southern coal counties that for the most part are having a hard time economically: Mingo, Logan, Webster, Boone, Wyoming. (Webster is the exception).

-- Democrats still outnumber independents 6.4 to 1 in West Virginia. And they still are 56.2 percent of the electorate. It will be a long time or it will take a political catastrophe for their dominance in the state to change, especially when a lot of officeholders who are elected as Democrats are really Republicans at heart.

The Healing Place delayed again

Last night, the Huntington City Council once again delayed a vote on a resolution to support The Healing Place, a drug treatment program that, from all indications, has worked in Louisville.

I can come up with a few reasons for the council to take the action it did:

1. It really needs more information, despite the amount that has been in the newspaper and on tv in the past 12 months.

2. It fears endorsement means it will be asked to support The Healing Place financially.

3. It will not control The Healing Place, therefore it does not want to endorse it.

4. Somewhere buried deep in all this is a personal grudge that the rest of us don't know about. Yet.

5. Various council members really don't want a drug treatment center in Huntington. Unlike the methadone clinic, people who go to The Healing Place will be weaned off their habits. I can see why the councilmembers don't want another methadone clinic, but that does not mean the council should keep all treatment centers out of the city. There are other ways the council and others can delay The Healing Place. The front line will be if the center needs a zoning variance.

Bottom line: There's no sound reason for the delay. The city is the best place for The Healing Place. City leaders should admit this town has a problem with drug use (first step) and do what must be done.

WVU, Mike Garrison and Marshall University

A few more thoughts on the mess at WVU:

President Mike Garrison says he has no plans to resign after his top lieutenants awarded a degree to Gov. Joe Manchin's daughter despite the fact she had no proof she earned it. And official records might have been altered to justify awarding that degree.

The headline in this morning's The Herald-Dispatch said, "WVU Board of Governors standing behind president." If I were Garrison, I would make sure none of the people standing people have a knife in their hands. The board is likely composed of political appointments. Garrison himself was a political appointment. Protecting your own, of course. But someday the board may decide to throw Garrison overboard. I make no pretense of knowing how the internal politics of the WVU BOG works. But I don't see how Garrison can hold out forever, even if he is high on Gov. Joe Manchin's BFF list.

We're seeing the anti-Garrison factions and the pro-Garrison factions align. The fact is that something very, very bad happened on Garrison's watch. It was committed by his top advisers. No reasonable person can expect that Garrison knew nothing of what happened. It's time for him to go.

Perhaps the WVU BOG feels the same way and is coming up with a cover story. And that process is taking longer than expected. I don't know. I only know West Virginia's "flagship" university is in a state of dishonor.

###

For years, the job of university president has morphed from one of top scholar who keeps the place running to top cheerleader who can keep the money flowing in. Throw in West Virginia's habit of turning everything into a patronage job, and the degree flap at WVU was inevitable.

Will we learn anything from this episode? Are you kidding?

The ones who might actually be learning something are the kids in the public relations classes at WVU. They're learning how to not handle a disaster.

It reminds me of January 1988, when that big diesel fuel tank ruptured at Floreffe, Pa. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of diesel fuel poured into the Monongahela River and from there into the Ohio. The tank was owned by Ashland Oil Inc., which immediately took responsibility and paid for all cleanup and mitigation costs. That was how to handle a disaster. Garrison provides WVU students with a textbook case from the other end of the spectrum.

###

A few years ago, Marshall University was looking for a president. Its BOG appointed one of its own members to be interim president with the understanding he would not seek the job permanently. But once in office, he decided he liked the job. He had good ideas and he was a good ambassador for the university, but he wasn't an academic. He was a well-connected lawyer.

Ultimately the MU BOG did the right thing and brought in an experienced university administrator to be president.

This is in no way suggesting the man who would have been president would have done something as foolish as what the WVU administration did, but having a real university administrator in the top job, not a well-connected lawyer, provides several layers of defense against pressures to do something that corrupt.

###

Of all people, the one person who needs to come clean is Joe Manchin. He can't continue to cast his daughter as the victim in this. That insults everyone who knows what happened.

But will the governor tell everyone what his role was in this? If he was involved, can he stonewall until after the general election?

Manchin has lot a lot of goodwill in this. Can he recover it?

The mayor and drugs

There's a lot to comment on today, so let's get started.

First, this from last night's Huntington City Council meeting.

Mayor David Felinton voiced his support for the center. He said too many families in the Tri-State have been affected by drug abuse, and his is no exception.

The mayor said he used drugs recreationally with friends when he was growing up in Maryland. Part of the reason he came to Huntington was to get away from that environment, he said. His brother wasn't as fortunate.

"I've seen my own brother in and out of the legal system and rehab," Felinton said. "He was clean for four years, but three or four months ago he told my family that he was back on (drugs.)"

My first response: I don't care. What happened 10 years ago is done with.

My second response: Good for you, mayor. If you've stayed off drugs and encourage your child or children to do the same, good for you.

When I was in college, I never used illegal drugs, but they were everywhere. All kinds. I could see why so many of my friends were into them. But when I left college, I was away from the supply lines, and I had no desire or even the smallest temptation to try them.

But I don't condemn the mayor for his former drug use as long as no one else was hurt. I'd rather he have tried marijuana and gotten off it than hear that he has a couple of DUI arrests in his background. The DUIs would be far worse.

Maritime Days

I haven't heard yet if we're having another Maritime Days at Harris Riverfront Park this year. We've had them the last two years, I think, with both in May. They were great, as they allow regular people to get aboard towboats and learn about those things that go up and down rivers.

I am a fourth-generation river person. My great-grandfather operated a ferry, my grandfather operated a junk boat, my uncle worked on a steamboat, my brother worked on a diesel towboat and I have written tons of stuff about the river.

Although my family thinks I'm crazy, I love getting on towboats and barges and such. I couldn't work on one for various reasons, but I love writing about them and taking pictures.

So here are a few shots from recent events at HRP.

One of two engines of the twoboat Valvoline, which I rode in 1988 from the Belleville Locks and Dam this side of Parkersburg to South Point:

The Valvoline from a different angle:

My youngest in the pilothouse of the Vernon C. Smith two years ago, when he was a six-year-old kindergartener:

And an exterior shot of the Vernon C. Smith:

And some rope (or "line") used on the boats:

Odds and ends, 4/28/08

What will I do with my economic stimulus check? If it arrives at the right time, I will probably use it to pay my West Virginia personal property taxes.

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Miley Cyrus got what she wanted by posing for a photo for Vanity Fair that some media people describe as scandalous. To me the real scandal was that adults who were (supposed to be) right there with her approved such a photo of a 15-year-old. My own daughter is 15, almost 16, and there's no way I'm approving such a photo.

Miley has to make the transition from teen star to adult performer, but 15 is a bit young. I almost felt like a pervert looking at that picture. (I probably should post a copy here if AP has one, but I wouldn't feel right doing it. You've probably seen it by now anyway.). All I saw was a child being used by her handlers and maybe her family.

The other photos that have been on the Internet lately didn't bother me that much. It's what a lot of 15-year-olds do, but if anyone sees any such photos by my 15-year-old, please let me know. She and I will have a loooooong talk.

Back to my main point: Miley's family and/or her handlers accomplished their goal. They sold her out to get attention.

Hollywood has a tremendous need for child talent, but it goes way too far. Before we worry about whether Miley could be headed for Britney land, let me segue to the novel "Jurassic Park."

During a conversation between Ian Malcolm and John Hammond about the wisdom of using DNA technology to bring dinosaurs back to life, Malcolm likens the technology to learning a martial art. A karate expert learns more than how to punch or kick. He also learns discipline so he will know when to use his skills and when to not use them, Malcolm says. I thought about that the last time I saw a Miley Cyrus clip on tv. A lot of child stars have success handed to them before they are mature enough to deal with it. It's like the lottery winner who has nothing one day and $100 million the next. How many of them end up with nothing because they don't know how to use their fortune?

This soap box is going on too long. Sorry.

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And now for something completely different: Two photos of the front entrance of Huntington High School.

Good-bye to the Delta Queen?

This moved on the AP wire today.

CINCINNATI (AP) — It looks like this will be the last summer for Ohio River cruises aboard an historic sternwheeler that used to call Cincinnati its home port.

An attempt by Republican Rep. Steve Chabot of Ohio to attach an amendment to the Coast Guard Authorization Act was defeated 208-195 in the U.S. House on Thursday.

The amendment would have granted a 10-year exemption from the Safety at Sea Act, which bans overnight passenger cruises on vessels that have a wooden superstructure.

The 82-year-old steamboat has been given nine exemptions since 1968, but the current one expires Nov. 1.

The Delta Queen began operating as a river steamboat in 1926 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

The Delta Queen has stops in Kentucky, including Louisville, Paducah and Henderson.

And it's supposed to stop at Point Pleasant, W.Va., this year, too. But Huntington? No. Our convention and visitors bureau thinks the most popular floating attraction on the Ohio River is worthless because it does not drop anyone off to spend a night in a hotel.

Forget that people here actually want to see the boat tie up at Harris Riverfront Park, and that local businesses other than hotels profit from the boat's stopping here. There is laundry to be washed, hardware to be bought, clean water to be brought on board and several other business opportunities, but no, it doesn't fill one hotel room, so the boat can just cruise on by.

Well, the boat could make its final trip up the Ohio River this summer, and our local tourism people won't care one bit. It looks like we need a fresh slate of people at the CVB, people concerned about more than hotel rooms.

Country morning

So I got the colors a little messed up when I played with the settings. Sue me. No, don't.

I still like the yellow school bus on the blacktop road and the various colors around it.

It used to be that May was my favorite month. In the last couple of years, I'm leaning toward April. It must be a global warming thing.

Why wait?

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Though embarrassed and frustrated, students and faculty leaders at West Virginia University offered measured responses Thursday to a report that administrators gave Gov. Joe Manchin’s daughter a master’s degree she didn’t earn.

Faculty Senate Chairman Steve Kite said he’ll raise the matter at an Executive Committee meeting Monday, but that group will wait to see what corrective measures are proposed by President Mike Garrison before issuing demands for disciplinary action.

What's to wait for? A group of high-ranking WVU officials awarded a degree to a person who didn't earn it, simply because of her connections. They took her word for it that she earned the degree when she offered no proof. Why are these people still working at WVU?

And why is the Board of Governors allowing Garrison to discipline people when he, too, bears part of the blame?

Endorsements

Starting Saturday, The Herald-Dispatch will start its string of endorsements for various races in the primary election. All the partisan elections will be in the Democratic primary, as there are very few contested Republican primary elections in this area. The race for state attorney general is the only one that comes to mind.

We've argued internally about whether we should endorse in a primary election, and we have argued over who to endorse.

Whether to endorse for Huntington mayor and who to endorse has been the one getting the most attention internally, and it has caused the most arguing. That one comes late next week, after we see the candidates in the Tuesday night forum.

I don't know how much weight endorsements really carry. In this area, an endorsement from The Herald-Dispatch often is a kiss of death, so maybe candidates shouldn't want it. I'm only half-kidding, in case you ask.

I do know that the New York Times is trying to backtrack from its endorsement of Hillary Clinton. Will we regret some of our endorsements? Probably. But that's what happens when you get into the game.

More on the Manchin daughter degree from WVU

The report on Heather Bresch's eMBA is out. You can read about it here.

Other news organizations are covering this, especially those whose readers are more closely and personally aligned with WVU.

I like this lead paragraph on a story by Metro News:

If they had it to do all over again WVU Provost Gerald Lang and College of Business and Economics Dean Stephen Sears say they would take Heather Bresch's word and grant her an executive MBA degree.

Some people never learn, and they cannot admit to making mistakes, even big ones that cannot be denied.

I'm getting kind of busy right now, so I don't have a lot of time to compose thoughts. I did notice that WVU President Mike Garrison comes out cleaner than he should have in this report. I don't see how this could have happened without his knowledge. Other news organizations have filed FOIA requests for his phone records, so we will soon see how much chatter went back and forth between him and Joe Manchin and Milan Puskar.

It's not over. No matter how WVU officials try to spin it, they gave preferential treatment and awarded a degree to a well-connected person who provided no proof she had earned it. Talk about a diploma mill.

The governor's office issued a statement today. It read, in full:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Gov. Joe Manchin today released the following statement about the report from the panel examining the E-MBA program and Heather Bresch’s degree at West Virginia University.

“Gayle and I support our daughter and are very proud of the professional reputation she has built throughout her career. She is one of the brightest, most compassionate and honorable people that I know.

“All I can hope for as a parent is that WVU’s leaders will correct whatever problems that led to this situation so that no other student will have to go through this kind of ordeal in the future.”

I would have liked to have seen a paragraph along these lines:

"Mike Garrison will be in my office at 8 a.m. tomorrow. He will leave in tears."

What is this?

a. The latest Ross family photo.

b. A group shot taken at the morning The Herald-Dispatch editors meeting.

c. Annual visitors to the Ross estate.

I go with "c." Spring truly is here. Three weeks ago, one of my kids pulled off the first tick of spring, and this week ticks are a daily visitor to the Ross household. That happens when kids prefer playing in the woods to playing video games. And these things are starting to show up in trees at the periphery of the property.

Workplace fatalities

From a news release that just popped into my e-mail box:

On Thursday, April 24, the AFL-CIO will release its annual Death on the Job report, which identifies how many people lost their lives and were injured at workplaces in the past year, and provides in-depth national and state analysis on workplace safety. West Virginia has the third worst record of all states for worker safety in 2006, with the third highest rate of job fatalities.

West Virginia's rate for worker fatalities (10.2/100,000 workers) is more than double the national average of 4.0/100,000 workers. In total, West Virginia had 79 work-related deaths in 2006, and another 25,200 workers died due to occupational diseases. Alaska was the worst with 13.8 deaths per 10,000 workers, and Rhode Island and New Hampshire were the safest with 1.8 deaths per 100,000.

2006 was one of the deadliest years in West Virginia workplaces in recent years, largely as result of the series of coal mine tragedies that occurred starting with the Sago mine disaster on January 2, 2006 that claimed 12 coal miners lives. During 2006, 23 coal miners lost their lives on the job in West Virginia.

West Virginia is no stranger to workplace tragedies. This Sunday marks the 30th anniversary of the Willow Island disaster where 51 construction workers fell to their deaths when scaffolding pulled away from a cooling tower under construction.

The release of the report coincides with Workers Memorial Day, April 28th, which commemorates workers who died or were injured in the past year. ...

I remember the Willow Island accident. I didn't cover it, but I was covering an event in Mason County where then-Gov. Jay Rockefeller was speaking at an event in (I think) the town of New Haven. He had to leave when he got word about Willow Island.

I don't get up in the Willow Island area very much -- the last time was five years ago, I think -- but every time I see those cooling towers, I think of those men who fell.

If I remember, I will look at the report when it comes out. The coal mine fatalities -- lead by Sago, of course -- will play a large role in the statistics. I hope to be able to play with the numbers some.

Lies and coverups

It's hard to keep some things secret, no matter how much you try. This just moved on the AP wire. It was taken from the Web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which posted a few paragraphs on its Web site shortly after 1 p.m. today.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia University retroactively awarded Gov. Joe Manchin’s daughter a master’s degree she didn’t earn, and administrators erred in ordering the change, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Tuesday.

It's not the crime, offense or bad thing. It's the coverup. We once had a prominent employee of this newspaper who was arrested for drunk and disorderly. That's a misdemeanor, and we normally don't publish misdemeanors, but this employee insisted that we publish his/her arrest so we did not have the appearance of covering something up to protect one of our own.

You don't have to air all your dirty laundry, but a lie is a lie. Assuming the report on Bresch is accurate, we could soon see "clarifications" of "misstatements" or "faulty recollections." Or the verb tense known as past exonerative: "Mistakes were made." Or the non-apology apology: "I regret if anyone was offended by my misstatement."

Before he went to sleep last night, my youngest son -- who just turned 8 1/2 -- told me the one thing about his friends that disappoints him most is how much they lie. He has a hard time understanding why his friends lie to him so much. I've tried to explain the reasons people lie, but it still hurts.

I, too, wonder what goes through someone's head when they lie about their qualifications for a job, especially when their lies can be exposed so easily.

But that's the world, I guess.

I don't know who lied in this Heathergate stuff. I do want it to come to light, no matter how much WVU tries to cover it up.

Odds and ends, 4/21/08

This news release came in this afternoon:

Earl Ray Tomblin, the longest-serving Senate president in West Virginia history, will be the featured speaker at Marshall University’s 171st commencement, Marshall President Stephen J. Kopp announced today.

Commencement begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 10 at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in downtown Huntington.

“As both an alumnus and a respected state leader, President Tomblin is well deserving of this honor, the highest that Marshall University can bestow,” Kopp said. “He has built an enduring legacy of outstanding leadership and public service as president of the West Virginia Senate. We thank him for his dedication to the citizens of West Virginia and for being a part of this year’s commencement.”

Tomblin, a native of Chapmanville in Logan County, has been president of the Senate since Jan. 11, 1995, having since been reelected six times. He began his legislative career in 1974, the same year he graduated from West Virginia University. He earned his Master of Business Administration from Marshall in 1975.

With all due respect to the people at Marshall, it's not hard to see the games they feel compelled to play. Here are their most recent commencement speakers:

2007: Homer Hickam
06: Robert C. Byrd
05: Joe Manchin
04: Nick Rahall
03: F. Selby Wellman (as in Cisco Systems)
02: Jay Rockefeller
01: Bob Wise
00 Harvey White (co-founder of QualComm)
99: A. Michael Perry

Notice a trend of recent years? Who will be the speaker next year?

I was always led to believe that college graudation ceremonies were reserved for ex-presidents or Nobel Prize winners, not politicians whose apples need polishing.

Maybe next year Marshall can do something radically different. Perhaps the couple that founded Hillbilly Hotdogs will be available. They can probably tell a lot better story that graduates can relate to than another politician whose ego needs stroking.

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Since I got a better camera, I've tried taking more pictures of birds. I'm still trying to get a hawk or an owl, but I'll settle for another bird that interests me: the buzzard.

Having said that, it's sad that some people turning against this repulsive yet necessary bird.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Maybe if they were pretty, the ubiquitous buzzards that soar over Texas and elsewhere on their way to dine on some carcass wouldn't be viewed with such repugnance or be considered nuisances.

"Unquestionably, they're as ugly as sin," says Ian Tizard, a Texas A&M University professor of immunology and director of the school's Schubot Exotic Bird Center.

The misnamed birds — they're really vultures, and either turkey or black vultures — range over much of the United States, and they're even welcomed as a sure sign of spring on their annual March return to Hinckley, Ohio.

But their proliferation is making them unwelcome, from high-rises in Florida to ranches in Texas, denying them the respect they may deserve as Mother Nature's vacuum cleaners. Think roadkill.

"We'd have a lot more smelly dead bodies around the place if they weren't there to clean it up," Tizard said.

But Texas ranchers increasingly are telling wildlife authorities that black vultures — the more aggressive version of the two birds and reaching 25 inches in length with wingspans of 5 feet — are killing calves, lambs and young goats.

I believe we are blessed with the turkey vulture in these parts. The next time I get a good photo of one, I will post it unless you all tell me not to.

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — The panel investigating whether the daughter of Gov. Joe Manchin received a master’s degree she didn’t earn from West Virginia University has finished its work.

The report went to Provost Gerald Lang on Monday but has yet to be made public.

Lang says the report must first be reviewed by the general counsel’s office to ensure the university is complying with federal privacy laws that protect Heather Bresch and other students.

But WVU’s top lawyer, Alex Macia, was out of state Monday on another matter. It’s unclear how soon the report will be made public.Lang says WVU will move quickly to share the report with the Board of Governors.

After that, he says it will go to the Faculty Senate, then be made public.

The full report ought to be made public (okay, they can delete some grades, but you know what I mean). But it probably won't. If WVU is interested in clearing its name and upholding the value of its degrees, it will opt for openness over secrecy. But something in me says there will be more secrecy than necessary.

Mail Pouch barn ... and 55 mph

This weekend, I had to visit a relative who lives a couple of hours away. While going there, I got this shot of a Mail Pouch barn that I have driven past dozens if not hundreds of times but never noticed before. It's at the upper end of Glenwood, W.Va., in Mason County on Route 2 just past the county line.

As you can see, I probably hadn't noticed it because the paint has faded so much. Here is a closeup of the lettering.

And I should add that I found myself driving 55 mph for most of the trip. When I was on a four-lane that allowed 60 or 65 mph driving, I still kept it below the speed limit. Why? Because the Ross family has reached its point of pain as far as fuel prices.

If I had to drive to Florida, I don't know that I would do 55 mph, but for most driving around here, I'll keep the speed down in hopes of getting better gas mileage.

Kopp mum about upcoming tuition increase

Here's something from the State Journal about the rising cost of tuition in West Virginia. Remember that there was a protest at Concord University a week or two ago, and the administration there cut the proposed increase from 6 percent to about 3.7 percent.

Marshall University President Stephen Kopp also will propose an increase in tuition at the upcoming Board of Governors meeting April 23, although a spokesperson said Kopp wasn't releasing information about the increase until the board meeting.

That's the way to play it. Keep the public in the dark, although people on the Board of Governors certainly will know what sort of increase Kopp will propose. No information, no opportunity for a protest like that at Concord or at the University of Louisville.

I have a call in to Marshall people to find out what Kopp will propose. If I get a call back, I'll update this.

UPDATE: I just talked with Marshall spokesman Bill Bissett, who said he just came out of yet another budget meeting where this was discussed. He didn't come out and say it -- we have to play the game -- but from all indications, Kopp and his people will be working on this up close to the time of the next Board of Governors meeting, which is 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Don't look for anything being released in advance. But do look for an editorial before the meeting. Reporter Ben Fields is talking to Bissett as I write this as he tries to get the story for tomorrow's paper.

Marshall students should know what's being discussed. They should have the chance to offer their opinions before the Board of Governors votes.

Keep your hands off my DNA

I'm not a member of the Libertarian Party. I agree with a lot of what the party stands for, but I disagree with a lot, too. However, I have to agree with it on this statement.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Libertarian Party issued a statement from Executive Director Shane Cory following the announcement of the federal government's new practice of collecting DNA data from people arrested, though not convicted, for federal offenses:

"The new practice of collecting DNA data from people arrested for federal crimes raises serious privacy concerns. The government will now be compiling a databank from people arrested, though not convicted, of any federal crime. Therefore, if you are detained for a federal crime, even a minor offense in a national park, you will have your DNA stored forever with the federal government. This is a sad day for privacy rights in a country that used to value the idea of 'innocent until proven guilty.' However, this comes as no surprise given this Republican administration's eagerness to increase the power and scope of the federal government."

One thing I don't like about Cabell County schools' new drug testing policy is that I don't know who keeps the records on the results of the tests, or for how long. I really don't like my DNA or my medical information in the government's hands without good reason.

I wonder if reporters will soon have to submit DNA samples to the Secret Service before they get press credentials to cover a presidential visit. Or if people touring the Capitol will have to supply a sample.

And what happens when the federal government takes over the health care system and gets access to all our medical records?

But there will be firewalls of privacy, and there's no way President Hillary Clinton's people could access the medical records of her opponents. Sure there will.

A few more pics, 4/17/08

A few more pics, some okay and some just family snapshots.

The Ceredo coal dock, taken about 30 minutes before sunset.

Crossing the East End bridge on a rainy evening.

My boys walking in the woods at Beech Fork State Park.

And the blossoms on the peach tree in my back yard, the one that will keep several whitetail deer well-fed this summer.

That's all for now.

Tulips at Harris Riverfront Park

The tulips at Harris Riverfront Park are downright beautiful. Whoever planted them deserves a community-wide thanks.

Too bad that I had the wrong lens on my camera when I went down there Tuesday to get a few shots, and I forgot to bring the other lens. That and I was there around 7 p.m. instead of earlier in the day when they look a lot better. These are the best pictures I got. I'll post more when I get some better ones.

$3.659

That's the price at Speedway today. I don't know if anyone has followed. If not, we'll see how far the competition goes up and Speedway goes down. That's the usual practice when Speedway jumps drastically in one day. Yesterday, I think, Speedway was selling at $3.429 or $3.399.

$4, here we come.

I couldn't believe John McCain came up with the idea of not collecting the federal gasoline tax during the summer. Other than the fact that puts a $12 billion hole in next year's budget for highway maintenance and construction, what would stop a refiner or retailer (no offense, Old Number 7) from raising prices to make up the difference? Meaning it would really do us no good at all.

Gray sky

Normally, I much prefer blue skies to gray. But one of my sons like gray skies, drizzle and cold weather. He must have gotten that from his mother's side. Maybe it's because he's lived in the Huntington area all his life, where a lot of people prefer to look on the gloomy side of life. At least a lot of the complaining class does.

Anyway, here are a couple of photos I snapped from my front door last week after rain moved through. I liked the shades of gray in the sky and the clouds. I hope it comes through on the screen.

Harris Riverfront Park, Part 1

Last week, I went to Harris Riverfront Park in time for sunset. Here are a couple of photos of what I saw.

For the record, the place is looking a lot better. The flowers at the 10th Street entrance are simply beautiful and add something the park has lacked for years. I didn't encounter panhandlers or people who appeared to be homeless. The city needs to replace some benches facing the river, but other than that, the park is looking great.

I'm having a few problems getting photos into the system right now. I hope to post more later as I get my problems resolved.

Odds and ends, 4/16/08

So lately I've been saying we need to look at building more nuclear power plants. Here is the dark side of that industry:

Utah nuclear waste company ramps up campaign contributions

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah disposal company seeking federal permission to import more than 20,000 tons of nuclear waste from Italy has raised its campaign contributions to lawmakers by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Kentucky Congressman Ed Whitfield is co-sponsoring a bill that would ban the importation of low-level radioactive foreign waste, which would be processed in Tennessee and disposed at its dump in western Utah’s desert.

Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions Inc. is aggressively donating to members of key energy committees in Congress as it increasingly seeks lucrative federal contracts and legislation beneficial to the nuclear power industry.

Federal Election Commission reports show since 2005, the company’s political action committee, executives and investors have poured nearly $400,000 into congressional campaigns through January, up from about $40,000 in the four previous years.

Back in the 1980s, some people in McDowell County wanted to have a "temporary" nuclear waste dump in their county. I believe it was called "monitored retrieval and storage." For whatever reason, it was never built.

###

U of Louisville hears concerns about rising tuition

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Students and parents upset about rising tuition got a chance to voice their concerns to the president of University of Louisville President Dr. James Ramsey.

At a campus forum Tuesday, Ramsey said he was not happy about state cuts to higher education funding. Since 2000, the university has raised tuition by an average of 9 percent every year and last month, hundreds of students demonstrated on campus.

Ramsey said he tried to create a budget recommendation that did minimal damage, but the school is still proposing a 9 percent tuition increase.

He said the university is looking at ways to offset the cuts from state funding, such as fundraising, increasing hospital income and building private partnerships.

I don't know how many businesses can get away with raising their prices 9 percent a year. Granted, universities offer financial aid to take away some of the impact, but still, 9 percent a year is a pretty good clip.

Here in WV, students at Concord University protested a proposed 6 percent increase, and the administration cut it to 3.7 percent.

###

More to come.

Subprime mortgage "crisis"

The mortgage foreclosure "crisis" is one of those national stories that bypasses West Virginia because it just hasn't affected us here. Kind of like illegal immigration. Whatever happened to that issue, anyway?

Today I received an e-mail from the Heritage Foundation that included a link to a map showing states with the highest percentages of subprime mortgages in foreclosure. Those states include Ohio, Florida, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan and Minnesota. Now I see why it's such a "crisis." There are a lot of electoral votes to be rescued in those states, eh?

I do not pretend to be an expert on subprime mortgages. I do not pretend to be an expert on money management except that I know it is better to save for something than to borrow for it. Not that I can always do that, but I know it's better.

I'll let you folks decide whether you want to listen to the Heritage Foundation's advice on this "crisis." Here are some groups of people the foundation says the government should not give assistance to during this "crisis":

Borrowers who lied or made a major misrepresentation on mortgage applications.

Borrowers who didn’t spend their own money for a down payment or use the home as a principal residence.

Members of the mortgage industry, including speculators, owners of second or vacation homes, Realtors, home builders, mortgage brokers or bankers.

Homeowners with other assets for repaying the mortgage, equity lines of credit or refinancing that substantially reduced equity.

Sounds good to me, but as I said, I'm nowhere near an expert on this story. I myself think the government should stay out of it as much as possible. The market should be able to take care of itself. A lot of these people -- borrowers and lenders -- made bad decisions. I don't know why I have to rescue them when they're not that interested in rescuing me from problems of my own making, you know?

Stopping coal

This comes as no surprise. According to this story in the Los Angeles Times, every time a utility wants to build a new coal-fired power plant, the Sierra Club tries to stop it on whatever grounds are available -- environmental, zoing, you name it. The idea is to stop the construction of any new coal-fired plants in the name of stopping global warming.

I can see why you would want fewer coal-fired plants, but not because of global warming. There are good reasons to not want so much pollution dumped into the air or, in the case of stuff that's scrubbed from the stacks before it can get into the air, the soil.

The problem is what we replace coal with.

I also like these last two paragraphs in the article:

Members of the environmental law brigade concede that stopping new plants may not be as effective in reducing emissions as getting the oldest, dirtiest, least efficient coal plants offline. Coal supplies half of America's electricity.

"We'll need to find a way to go after them, too," Persampieri said.

As far as I know, utilities are spending billions making their old plants cleaner. The newer plants would be cleaner still. Or less dirty, depending on how you look at it.

UPDATE: Here is part of an AP story that applies to this item.

CONESVILLE, Ohio (AP) — The state has approved two landfills and is considering another four to bury millions of tons of ash and sludge produced at coal-fired power plants.

When Ohio’s coal-based power plants updated their environmental safeguards to comply with federal rules, they reduced pollution coming from smokestacks. But they also kept more pollution on the ground so, instead of billowing into the air, more of the waster is carted away from the plants in dump trucks.

“It’s obviously another problem with coal,” said Sandy Buchanan, director of Ohio Citizen Action and critic of American Electric Power’s plans for a new coal plant in Meigs County in southeast Ohio.

“You end up with all this ash and sludge with coal that you don’t have with other kinds of power.” ...

“It’s part of the whole process. You have the scrubber on one end and a landfill on the other,” said Mark Durbin, a FirstEnergy spokesman. ...

A 2005 rule from the U.S. EPA required a 57 percent cut in sulfur dioxide emissions and a 61 percent cut in nitrogen oxide emissions by 2015. The aim is to reduce the amount of smog, acid rain and soot tied to power production.

An Ohio EPA official said dumping the waste in landfills is better than putting into the skies.

Odds and ends, 4/15/08

I can't shake the feeling that if Barack Obama is elected president, he would be another Jimmy Carter -- a person with a thin resume and oddball policies that would result in the next Ronald Reagan for the Republican Party four years from now.

Likewise, I think George Bush did the Republican Party a great disservice by not dumping Dick Cheney four years ago and choosing a worthy successor to be vice president and be the presumptive nominee this year. Think of all the money that could have been hoarded for the general election instead of being dissipated in the primaries. It's another example of Bush not looking out for his party's future. Just like his predecessor, Bush comes off to me as someone who sees himself as being the party. Now that he's the lamest of ducks, he's above it all, and the party gropes along, with the Reagan coalition dissolving as groups battle for power. If the Democrats weren't so good at self-destruction, John McCain could be in real trouble.

I'm waiting for Chelsea Clinton to tell everyone how she had to sit on her bulletproof vest and the plane circled for a landing at Yeager Airport a couple of weeks ago and how she had to duck sniper fire from NRA members as she ran across the tarmac. And I really want to know more about Hillary's claim of how she was taught to shoot a gun by her uncle or whoever, but not from her. I heard the sound bite on the news and immediately went into disbelief mode. I can't help it. Whenever I hear Clinton talk about her past, I can't believe her. That's why I can't recall many details. Why bother? They'll change soon.

Meanwhile, McCain chugs along. I'm still waiting for his first supersize gaffe, something like what Obama and Clinton have done. I'm sure it's coming. There are too many days between now and November.

###

So I was watching one of the local TV stations last week when I saw a commercial for Cabell Huntington Hospital. It shows all these employees saying, "In my new hospital, I promise" this or that.

I turned to my wife and said, "I promise that when I draw blood, I will stick you only once." I mentioned that to a meeting of editors this morning, and just about everyone in the room started talking about how many times they had to be stuck for blood tests or whatever. I may not have stuck a vein, but I struck a nerve.

###

The beauty -- or drawback -- of the Internet is that if you do something that's really stupid, or appears to be really stupid, it goes all over the world. Take this story from The Washington Post about an elementary principal who has banned tag during recess.

Ridiculous, right? Maybe not.

Gerri Swarm, secretary of the school's Parent-Teacher Association, said she was glad the principal was taking seriously student concerns about being pushed or shoved.

If a simple game of tag has become an excuse for big kids to push little kids down to the ground, then yes, do something and straighten things out.

But we all know tag is really a game of male domination in which the aggressive, athletic kids rule and nonathletic female nerds are marginalized. Sounds like good preparation for high school.

Spending on education

A few days ago, the Census Bureau released data on public school revenues and expenditures in the United States in FY 2006.

Get ready for some numbers. West Virginia teachers say they want to be at the national average. So let's play with some numbers to see how much we can afford for education now, and how much we spend.

If you go to the detailed tables in the news release, you find information like this:

School spending per pupil
USA, $9,318.
West Virginia, $9,352 (17th in USA)

Instructional spending per pupil
USA, $5,543
WV, $5,610, 19th

Revenues and spending on public education per $1,000 of personal income
Revenues
USA, $50.67
WV, $58.53 (8th)

Expenditures
USA, $43.34
WV, $54.56 (4th)

Instructional expenditures
USA, $26.43
WV, $32.73 (5th)

In other words, we spend a greater percentage of our incomes on public education that do people of most other states. We need to demand more back from that investment.

Odds and ends, 4/14/08

Here's a story from the Cincinnati Enquirer that will make my youngest shake his head in puzzlement. Teens get onto parents for not being environmentally friendly, but they insist on driving to school rather than ride the bus.

I've told my kids they can plan to ride the bus after they get their licenses. For one thing, I don't make enough to keep them all in cars, gas and insurance. Second, the bus is a lot safer way of getting to school than driving.

###

If you want to talk about sticker shock, try this little ditty from the AP:


CINCINNATI (AP) — U.S. Sen. George Voinovich wants to reopen talks on an idea that has already led to a public outcry — charging tolls to pay for a new bridge to link two interstates from Ohio to Kentucky.

The Ohio Republican said tolls cannot be ruled out of the discussion in planning a replacement for the 45-year-old Brent Spence Bridge, which carries 150,000 cars and trucks a day across the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Covington, Ky.

The bridge that carries Interstates 71 and 75 needs replacement because it’s overcrowded, too narrow and lacks emergency breakdown lanes. The cost of replacement is estimated at $750 million.

Two bills to authorize tolls to pay for the bridge died this spring in the Kentucky Legislature under pressure from the public. Kentucky owns the bridge and most of the river. However, Voinovich said tolls must be part of the discussion to replace it. He planned to meet officials from both states on Monday.

“Sure, it’s going to be one of the options,” he said last week. “It’s got to be looked at.”

Kentucky alone cannot be expected to pay for it, Voinovich said.“It can’t happen without federal funding,” said Voinovich, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which oversees interstate highways. “The question is how much federal funding — and that has to do with some major decisions we make with regard to not only that bridge but nationally." ...

I'm not averse to charging tolls on new bridges, especially if they cost $750 million to $2.2 billion to build. That last number comes from a proposal in Louisville for two bridges with a total cost of $4.4 billion.

I'm not necessarily against tolls on highways such as the Turnpike as long as a) the tolls are needed to pay for construction and maintenance, and b) the tolls go only to those uses, not to build horse parks, retail stores, touristy festivals or sidewalks for nearby towns.

Know what I mean?

Anyway, $750 million for a bridge is a supersize case of sticker shock.

Toward becoming a cranky old man

One advantage of getting old is seeing how the opinions, world views and values you held as an idealistic youth may have been dead wrong. Because of that, my thoughts on energy and the environment have changed quite a bit in the past two years.

I feel for caribou, but it’s time to drill for oil in ANWR.

It’s time to build more nuclear power plants. Before, I would have been against such an idea because of how nasty the waste is. Now I see it more as potent waste concentrated in a small area or a lot of waste dispersed over a wide area.

Wind power needs more research and development, but we can’t halt it over concerns about bats and birds. How many oppossums, snakes and salamanders are killed when a shopping center is built, or a subdivision? Compare how many shopping centers and subdivisions have been built compared to the number of wind farms that have been proposed. And don’t complain to me about how windmills are ugly. Have you ever tried to take a picture of a beautiful valley view or of an old barn and had to position the camera to keep a cell phone tower out of view?

We need smaller cars. I like SUVs for some people, such as those of us who live on the ridges where snow removal is third or fourth on the state’s priority list. But a family of three doesn’t have an automatic need for one, just as a family of three doesn’t “need” a minivan.

I don’t want to pay more taxes unless there is a direct connection to something. If the state wants to increase the gasoline tax to pay for road maintenance, I wouldn’t oppose it if I could be sure the money would really go to maintenance and not to make up for money diverted elsewhere.

I want less government in my life. Meanwhile, I want more government in some areas, such as pensions. The closer I get to my projected retirement age of 75, the more I think we need to strengthen Social Security, even if it means some higher taxes. I see too many people who are simply unable to save enough for retirement. That group includes many of my own relatives.

I have come to admire public school teachers who do a good job and how have a true interest in the children they teach. As for the rest, every year I more and more want them out of the building. I have seen for myself what a good teacher could mean to a child and what harm a bad teacher can do, I want the pay for good teachers doubled, but as long as they won’t stand up for getting rid of bad teachers, I can’t be enthusiastic about large pay increases.

Those are only a few things where my views have changed in the past couple of years. There are probably more. I just haven’t thought of them yet.

Gone a few days

I'm taking next week off to spend with my kids on spring break. I'll check comments every now and then, but otherwise I'm back on April 14.

See you then.

Before anyone asks, no, I'm not asking Michelle to guest blog for me while I'm gone because she will take all my fans -- both of them -- away. She's that good. Someday when she's willing to shed her anonymity, she's writing for me. But not until my ego can live with the result.

Kids in cars

A couple of days ago, as I was walking to my car after work, I saw car pull out of 5 1/2 Alley onto 10th Street. A man was driving. In the other front seat was a woman holding a child of perhaps a year old on her lap.

I'm guessing the car had airbags. I'm also guessing whoever they were watching the baby for, assuming it was not their child, has a safety seat in their car.

After 40 years of warnings on cigarette packs, people still smoke. We still eat too much fatty food (guilty here; it tastes too good, although I've not had a french fry or a potato chip in almost two years). And, apparently, we still ride around in cars with children in our laps instead of in safety seats.

(Sigh).

A few more pics, part 2, 4/4/08

First, a barn along Ohio 7 in Gallia County, near Swan Creek Cemetery. Back in the 1980s, I shot some slides of this barn at sunset. It was silhoutted against a red sky. Whenever I get a scanner, I need to digitize that photo. I like barns. Sometimes when I'm driving up Ohio 7, I look at how the number of barns increases once you cross into Gallia County. That county probably has more barns per capita than any other county around here.

Blooms on my neighbor's tree. This is cropped way down, and the light was not the greatest, plus the wind was blowing, so it's not the sharpest photo in my portfolio. But this time of year I like to see trees blooming and turning green.

Taken last fall, a dead leaf refusing to fall to the ground.

Finally, my youngest son and his favorite plaything. It's a metal scale model of a Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner C2 conventional body school bus, given to him by the Thomas Built marketing director after learning of Adam's intense interest in buses.

Some people get exasperated and aggravated at Adam because of his love of buses, but I encourage it. Too many kids don't have a passion, and Adam has a passion for school buses and Freightliner semis. He likes Freightliners because Thomas Built is a division of Freightliner. When we watched "Spider-Man 3" on DVD, he was the only person in the family to notice that the Sandman took refuge in a trailer full of sand attached to a Freightliner tractor. Look it up.

A few more pics, 4/4/08

Before I go about the serious business of getting the Sunday and Monday editorial pages ready (I do Saturday's page on Thursday), allow me to indulge myself by posting a few pictures I have taken around the area lately. I don't claim to be a really good photographer. I'm just a guy who likes having a camera in his hand.

I've tried playing the guitar. It doesn't work. I can peck notes on a music keyboard, but I feel no sense of life in what I do there. But give me a camera, and my soul goes to town. So here are a few offerings.

You're not a real town until you have one of these.

Probably the most valuable piece of real estate in downtown Huntington is the roof of the tallest building because of these things.

A crow in flight near Huntington High School.

And squirrels on the Marshall University campus know where to find food.

I might have more later, but I have to get back to real work now.

Gasoline isn't the only energy cost that's rising

I was checking out West Virginia Blue this morning, and I saw an item about a surge in prices on the spot coal market. So I checked out this Energy Information Administration site to get more information, and