Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Sorted by date Results 1385 - 1409 of 1862
Byron Behne watches the grain markets for the Odessa Union Warehouse. 5/10/13: The USDA supply and demand report was not very kind to the market on Friday as prices basically lost all their gains from Thursday. The major factor was next year's corn ending stocks projected at over 2 billion bushels versus this year’s 759 million. The USDA did drop their projected yield down to 158 from 164 which was projected early on at their February outlook conference. Soybean stocks also see a large jump doubling next year's ending stocks...
This is my concern. All along the main street of town (First Avenue) there are handicapped-access curbs at each intersection. I am really glad they have them and use them, but it is hard to use them when there are people who park there and block them. I think it is real inconsiderate of people who do this. People, park further away from the handicapped access areas, even if it means you will have to walk a little farther. Carol Williams Odessa...
Modern veterinary science is a technically advanced field. Some animals receive not just x-rays, but sophisticated scans like MRIs. If you visit a large veterinary hospital you will find cats getting chemotherapy and dogs on the receiving end of complicated surgeries. Naturally, a lot of the training vet students receive is focused on the “hard science” parts of what they will do as practicing veterinarians. But there’s also a softer side to veterinary medicine, one that...
I tire of hearing some people say that our schools and universities are failing and not turning out enough science-savvy students. I guess if some pundits, politicians, and corporate leaders belt it out often enough and loud enough, people will believe it. I hope not. There is good evidence that this claim of failure is false: there is no evidence that American science education is failing, and no evidence that we face a shortage of qualified science and math professionals. American students are doing well in science and...
Byron Behne watches the grain markets for the Odessa Union Warehouse. 5/10/13: The USDA supply and demand report was not very kind to the market on Friday as prices basically lost all their gains from Thursday. The major factor was next year's corn ending stocks projected at over 2 billion bushels versus this year’s 759 million. The USDA did drop their projected yield down to 158 from 164 which was projected early on at their February outlook conference. Soybean stocks also see a large jump doubling next year's ending s...
I’ve decided I need a fight song. I was on my way home from town last night when the idea occurred to me. The first thing you need to know is that yesterday was the first day of my new program. (That’s right! I still haven’t given up on becoming healthier! Even though there are only 9 months until my 60th birthday, I’m giving it another try.) So I was ravenous. The first four days of this program involve two homemade shakes and a 2-cup bowl of soup, along with one crunchy...
The Friends of the Pool have engaged their children in efforts to keep the Odessa Aquatic Recreation Center afloat, so to speak. The kids who participated in the group's walk-a-thon know that their efforts help to keep the pool available to them over the summer. They get out and get pledges and then they walk or run around the track for most of an afternoon. They also have fun and win prizes, but at the same time they learn that community efforts can get things done. Their pool is important to them and to the entire...
Boston (4-15-13) did not need to happen! When the truth is finally known we will see a serious trail of mistakes that goes back many years. It is difficult to pinpoint an exact starting point as both the red and blue parties are at fault! We have become a nation that has tried to grow too fast by allowing far too many visitors and immigrants. We have tried to be the perfect host by forgetting about the rules and trying very hard not to offend anyone! We don't even have the intestinal fortitude to make immigrants learn the...
I feel like a medical marvel today. Never mind that the medical professionals I spent some quality time with yesterday do this kind of thing all day, every day. I still feel like a medical marvel. For the first time in months, I got out of bed and walked, instead of crept, to the bathroom. When I walked down the sidewalk this morning, I didn’t have to stop and bend over to relieve the pain I’ve been dealing with for several months. I suspect I may have been swaggering a bit...
One of the most breath-taking geologic events is a major earthquake. In just a few moments, shaking of the Earth can result in billions of dollars of damage and thousands of lives lost. Many earthquakes are related to the movement of tectonic plates, the large chunks of the Earth’s outer surface that move with respect to each other. Plates are “born” in places like Iceland, where magma comes up from below and creates oceanic plate material. Plates “die” where one plate div...
Byron Behne watches the grain markets for the Odessa Union Warehouse. 5/2/13: The grain futures markets have chopped around for the last two days, which hasn’t done much to our white wheat price. New crop and old crop prices are now virtually identical. Corn has rallied back from the low posted after the March 28 stocks report, with the May Chicago futures contract finally trading above that day’s low, which was limit down. Corn-planting delays combined with heavy snowfall in Iowa drove the gains. The HRW tour in Kansas cam...
Brianna was only 17 years old when she was targeted by traffickers while working as a waitress at a Southwest Washington restaurant. With the help of a concerned friend, local law enforcement and Congresswoman Linda Smith, Brianna was rescued only minutes before being taken to Phoenix, allegedly to be sold to traffickers. To help rescue other teens, Shared Hope International, a Vancouver-based anti-trafficking non-profit, teamed up with Brianna and Lacy, two Washington teens who were recruited by traffickers, to share their...
It's time for Spring Fling, and folks have been calling and asking about yard sale maps (yes, they're coming out today) and with questions about many of the other activities being offered in Harrington and Odessa. The quilters in both towns have been busy preparing for their annual shows, labors of love for sure. The Odessa show runs Friday and Saturday, the Harrington show just Saturday. The Odessa museum will also be open this year on Saturday, so both visitors and residents will have an opportunity to see the new displays...
Byron Behne watches the grain markets for the Odessa Union Warehouse. 4/18/13: Chicago wheat futures haven’t done much the last few days as far as their closing prices anyway closing within one cent of the same price each of the last three days. There have been some large intraday moves but nothing that sticks. The western Plains HRW crop is in for another round of freezing temperatures tonight however that hasn’t generated much excitement in the market. Without some new exciting development taking place soon, it looks as...
Mr. Wollman, so my recent letter to the editor reminded you of a quote by Martin Niemoller. Well, your letter reminded me of a quote by FDR , “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” You have my deepest sympathy. It must be just awful to live your life in such an extreme state of paranoia. Let’s take a look, one by one, at the six Supreme Court cases that you cited and see if we can’t lower your anxiety level a little. But before we start, there are two things that we are going to have to remember: 1. When the Dep...
I have a recurring dream. I actually think of it as a nightmare, but it doesn’t feature monsters or murderers. It features forgetting. In the dream, I am sitting in the hallway of my college dormitory, playing cards with a group of my friends, when I suddenly realize that I have forgotten to go to my forestry final. A surge of adrenaline (or some equally uncomfortable biological substance) floods my body, and I know that I will never graduate. The dream goes on for quite a w...
Our holiday dinners get funnier each year. Take these last few years – I’ll use the Goetz family for example. We always eat between 12:00 and 12:30, mainly because Grandpa and our son Treg can’t wait another minute. Now Treg always sits by Grandpa, then Grandma has to find her own place at the table. And speaking of tables, we have now added a card table, because I’m too weak to put the leaf in the table to make it bigger. Although this last holiday, my brother-in-law, Greg, did fix it for me with lots of washers that ha...
This morning I was nearly witness to an accident at the intersection of Highways 21 and 28. A large black tractor-trailer rig nearly T-boned a white SUV. It appeared to me that the accident was avoided by mere inches. The SUV had the right-of-way, but I don't know if the truck had stopped initially or if the driver just blew the stop sign. The thought of being run into by a semi is mind-boggling. I think it’s really pretty amazing that there aren’t more accidents at that inter...
When I was young my family ate a lot of Red Delicious apples. Some came out of my trusty lunchbox at school, some were straight from the refrigerator at home. The apples were big and eye-catching, but in my opinion they left something to be desired in their eating qualities. Still, they gave us a reasonably economical and convenient fruit choice, and we were glad to have them. These days there are lots of options in the stores when it comes to apples, from the traditional vari...
After reading the letter last week from the person from Spokane, it reminded me of what Martin Niemoller wrote about the Nazis in Germany. “First they came for the socialists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.” There is not that much difference now as it was then, for if...
According to our government’s 2012 survey, we have almost 700,000 government employees. Barely a third believe that promotions are based on merit. Less than that said steps are taken to deal with poor performance and just one-fifth said that pay raises are linked to good performance. The Budget Control Act of 2011, that was bi-partisan, suggests that we need to: 1) collect the $786 billion that Americans already owe in delinquent loans, fines and penalties, 2) collect the $300 billion that Americans already owe in back t...
(Editor’s note: Last week’s column did not run, so it is included in this week’s Grain Report.) Byron Behne watches the grain markets for the Odessa Union Warehouse. 4/3/13: Big rally in Chicago wheat futures today, which has so far continued into the evening session, as it was rumored that China was in buying a bunch of U.S. SRW. Unfortunately, for the first time in several months, soft white prices have broken their link to Chicago futures and have refused to budge, up only five cents from yesterday, while Chicago has g...
Limestone and a couple other related sedimentary rocks are common in some parts of the country, including in Florida. The chemistry of limestone and groundwater can combine to make for sinkholes, or vertical holes in bedrock that can open up quickly. Sinkholes are caused by the fact that groundwater, percolating downward from the land surface, is acidic. And acids eat away at limestone, dissolving it. That means over time limestone bedrock can start to resemble Swiss cheese,...
It’s time to change my theme song. This realization came to me as I was driving to Spokane last week. I don’t know why epiphanies only seem to happen when I’m doing something that makes it impossible to write it down so as to remember it later. It would be nice if I could remember it later. It would be nice if I could remember anything later. Fortunately, I recently discovered that my smarter-than-me phone will record my thoughts, if only I can remember which app to selec...
Regarding Gerald Ray’s recent letter to the editor, it’s obvious to me that he has been watching way too much Fox News – you know, the channel where rich people pay rich people to tell middle-class people to blame poor people. I suggest he check out www.inthese times.com and search for “The GOP’s One Trillion Dollar Lie – How a Right-Wing Whopper About The Cost of Welfare Was Born.” He will then find that the reality expressed mathematically is: Total Spending on Welfare/Those Who Receive Benefits = $24.77 per day. This is...
