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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Jul 31 2008, 06:55 AM
I’ve mentioned before that I have family in Vermont. My dad, sister and her family, nephew and family and a sister-in-law (my brother passed away a few years ago) are all living in Vermont as transplants from Connecticut, Florida, and Michigan. Vermont natives are very down to earth people. Once you live there a few years it’s easy to follow suit and quickly become one of the crowd, as my family has done.
They all live pretty far from large shopping centers and big entertainment. They do gardening. My brother used to chop wood for a month to help with heating for the winter. It was unbelievable how much wood he would store up.
The people of Vermont are worried about winter and the state of Vermont has put out an "energy plan" for citizens. They sure ar fortunate the state is so helpful. I guess the officials are all real down to earth citizens, too. Why do I say that?
"MONTPELIER -- Vermonters will have access to more state trees, low-interest loans and energy advice to help them heat their homes this winter, with a little culinary advice thrown in to make their food budget go farther.
[...]
More than 50 state lots will be available for cut-your-own firewood, and harvested wood will be collected at sites for low-income Vermonters. Lunderville said this was unlikely to be of much help this winter because the wood would not be seasoned enough to burn, but should become more useful next year.
A committee is being formed with state officials, church leaders, utility representatives and others to reach out to those who have not previously qualified for state help but might be pushed over the edge by increased heating and food costs.
No- or low-interest loans will be available for low- and middle-income Vermonters looking to make energy-efficiency improvements to their homes. Homeowners might also be able to use home-equity loans to pay their fuel bills.
Fuel dealers, worried about how they will cover the higher upfront payments for fuel, might see help from banks guaranteeing their credit.
Canning workshops will be offered at five locations around the state to teach people how to can and freeze vegetables from the garden to ease food costs through the winter. The first workshop will be at 6 p.m. Monday at the Milton Grange."
from the Burlington Free Press
Officials Introduce Energy Plan - Vermont
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Access to lots to cut down firewood that isn't even usable this year?
Canning workshops?
I dream about living in Vermont almost everyday....
I'm glad it's just a dream.
Some energy plan!
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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Jul 17 2008, 07:02 AM
By Janet Evans
Saturday, Jun 14 2008, 02:40 PM
The Department of Water and Power workers in Los Angeles, as well as local officials and community activists
opened a white tub from where they poured 400,000 black colored balls into the water. image (c) Dakota Smith
In Los Angeles, these black, shimmering plastic balls are as good as black gold; for helping to eliminate bromate from a local reservoir. Bromate is a cancer-causing reaction to sunlight and chlorine.
So while we’re fighting the battle of plastic bottles that emit toxic chemicals....plastics will do just the opposite for drinking water in this case.
Chemicals…you can’t live with them; and you can’t live without them.
Read the story from the Houston Chronicle ç here
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By Janet Evans
Friday, Jun 13 2008, 11:10 AM
 Remnants from a Boy Scout uniform sit in the rubble left by a tornado t
hat struck at the Little Sioux Scout Ranch, seen Thursday, June 12, 2008,
near Little Sioux, Iowa. Four Boy Scouts were killed and 48 people were
injured when the tornado tore through their Mid-America Council camp
Wednesday night. (AP Photo/Matt Miller,POOL)
Lost Boys....
Maybe not forever, but that’s what they remind me of.
Just look at the picture of Zach Jessen, speaking to Iowa’s Gov. Chet Culver.
Look at his face to understand some of what I mean.
Zach Jessen a survivor of the tornado that killed 4 scouts Wednesday night
talks with Iowa Gov. Chet Culver Eight-year-old Cub Scout Baileigh Rohde
holds a candle and looks up at Boy Scout Josh Dohse, left, during a candlelight
vigil in Omaha, Neb., Thursday, June 12, 2008, for the four Boy Scouts killed
after a twister flattened their camp in Iowa Wednesday night. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
You sense it when the boys describe their ordeal of when that devastating tornado struck
Wednesday as they waited for a rain storm to pass by; with statements like this,
“When I got up,” Cody said, “there was a boy right in front of me, face down, in a pool of blood. I had never seen that before."
Look at the trees snapped like twigs....
Laura Inns/Omaha World-Herald, via Associated Press
An aerial view of the remnants of a building destroyed at the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in Iowa.
Lost boys….except this wasn’t Neverland. This was very real.
"I was going to the Lord's side, and I was going to go there flying," recalled Bowerman, who was wearing a splint on his wrist. "It felt like I was about to be lifted up. I just hugged the ground as much as I could."
Eight-year-old Cub Scout Baileigh Rohde
holds a candle and looks up at Boy Scout
Josh Dohse, left, during a candlelight vigil
in Omaha, Neb., Thursday, June 12, 2008,
for the four Boy Scouts killed after a twister
flattened their camp in Iowa Wednesday night.
(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
I suppose what I'm really saying is boyhood lost.
It just breaks my heart.
from the Seattle Times
Here Ê
Scouts' Training Helped On Night of Terror
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By Janet Evans
Sunday, Jun 8 2008, 04:18 PM
No, that’s not a spelling error…
I meant to write “idle.”
This story has nanny state written all over it.
“The Minneapolis City Council and Mayor R.T. Rybak approved changes Friday, to the city’s vehicle idling ordinance that aims to reduce air pollution. The ordinance limits most vehicle idling to three minutes, except in traffic.”
Cripes!
What’s really telling is that Minneapolis had a vehicle idling ordinance in the first place.
You know…you can put the useful information out in a newsletter… or get it to the public at registration renewal time.
Don’t idle! Idle bad!
But do you really need an ordinance?
Read the article from ABC News í here
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