Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Still waiting for a monument to Wrightsville's unknown defender

Last year, a group gathered to dedicate a new grave marker for an unknown Rebel soldier who died on the banks of the Susquehanna.
Why has it not enacted any monument to an unknown man who died helping to preserve that union?

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Monday, February 24, 2014

Sunday, February 23, 2014

A few snow-related thoughts

Just a few snow-related thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head:


There's been a lot of discussion lately by school district administrators and others about alternatives to making up "snow days," from excusing the days entirely to cyber-schooling to calculating hours instead of days, all in the interest of preventing school from extending too far into June.  As a taxpaying citizen, I hereby call BS on the whole enterprise. I believe in public education, and I believe it's my duty to support it financially. I also believe it's the duty of teachers and administrators to educate our children and prepare them for the future, even if that entails making up every school day that was lost to bad weather. Their priority is supposed to be education, not whether they'll miss out on non refundable vacation trips or their summer will be too short.

Recently on WGAL-TV, Hempfield School District Superintendent Dr. Brenda Becker said, in effect, that it's pointless to try to teach students in June, because they're not engaged. Is that the real reason, or is it because teachers just don't want to teach in June, for the reasons listed above? Why blame students? Plus, who is at fault if they're not engaged? And if the push for year-round school ever comes around again, that comment just might come back to haunt the good doctor.

Teachers are compensated handsomely, and deservedly so, and must therefore fulfill their obligations to students and taxpayers instead of trying to sidestep them. I hear a lot of talk about alternatives, but little or nothing about staying the course and completing the days.



The banner headline on Friday's Intell/New Era was "Another Nor'easter?" The article stated that local meteorologist Eric Horst said that, based on computer models, there's a one in four chance of another major storm for the middle of this week. One in four? That's only a 25% chance. Is that newsworthy, especially considering the forecast was for almost a week in advance? So, there's a 75% chance we won't get a major storm, but the local paper runs a headline ostensibly portraying the opposite. Talk about sensationalism.  Disingenuous at best, irresponsible at worst. I can give better odds than one in four, however. I can predict, with 50% accuracy whether we'll get another nor'easter this week, simply by saying this: Either we will or we won't.

Local artist Bob Hammer to display his work

Local artist Bob Hammer will be displaying his work at the Hammer Art Studio Booth at the PA Garden Show of York. The show will be held next Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the York Expo Center-Memorial Hall, 334 Carlisle Avenue, York, PA.
Go HERE for more information.