Columns

Happy Groundhog Day and happy February. We’re one month closer to spring. As I write this, I have no idea whether Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow or not. He lives in Pennsylvania, home of the Steelers. I can tell you that if the sun came out, he saw his shadow and we’ve got 6 more weeks of winter to endure.

It doesn’t matter to me if merging city and county government would save money.
Heck, I don’t care if it ends up costing more — well, a little more.
Merging will be a hands-down winner with me if it accomplishes only one thing: kill the ridiculous taxing districts.
As painful as it is to read and write, what this county needs more than anything right now is to “redistribute the wealth.” (President Barack Obama, 2008-present).

As January ends I wanted to remind you of a column I wrote at the beginning of the month. Remember the Poor Richard’s Almanac quote “As many days old as the moon is at the first snow, there will be as many snows before crop planting time?”
I figured out that according to Poor Richard we should have eight snow events. Dustings don’t count. So, as of today, we’ve had seven events. That leaves only one more to go and that should put a smile on your face. I just hope it holds true.

Column as I see ’em …
Let’s kick this week off with some kudos for a change.
Topping the list is a shout out to the board of elections for doing the obvious and moving the remaining polling places from the rural areas into the city.
I know that isn’t sitting well with some folks who live in the western part of the county and other areas because they now have to drive into town to vote.
They like the tradition of voting within their own precinct, and have done so since Hector was a pup.