Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 043, Ed. 1 Tuesday, January 5, 2010 Page: 4 of 10
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Viewpoints
Page 4 ■ Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Sweetwater Reporter
DEDICATED TO PROUDLY DELIVERING LOCAL NEWS SINCE 1881
Sweetwater
| \ OWCCLWclLCI 1
Reporter
P.O. Box 750/112 W. Third
Sweetwater, Texas 79556
325/236-6677
Fax: 325/235-4967
Website:
www.sweetwaterreporter.com
E-maii addresses
publisher@sweetwaterreporter.com
business@sweetwaterreporter.com
advertising@sweetwaterreporter.com
circulation@sweetwaterreporter.com
editor@sweetwaterreporter.com
composing@sweetwaterreporter.com
Sharon LRiedlander
publisftur/ad director
Danica Hickson
business mgr.
Michelle Ashford
circulation mgr.
Tatiana Rodriguez
managing editor
Pablo Rodriguez
composing mgr.
Bleu Reyes
production mgr.
EDITORIAL POLICY
The editorial section of the newspaper is a forum for
expression of a variety of viewpoints. All articles except
those labeled "Editorials" reflect the opinions of the writ-
ers and not those of the Sweetwater Reporter.
Hamilton
Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,
I want to say "Thank you" to some of America's finest
Police Officers. They go "above and beyond" the call of
duty, never ceasing to amaze and astound those of us
who are in need of their help and services. Whether it
be to say a word of kindness at a funeral of our friends
and loved ones, or to just wave at us when we see them
on the streets of Sweetwater. We the citizens of this fine
City need to realize and be thankful, for we are "truly
blessed". God has been good to us in 2009. I want to
thank Officer Robert Hohman for "everything." I am
looking forward to 2010. I feel like it will be a "very
Erosperous" and "totally awesome" New year, filled with
ope and peace. The kind of peace that only comes from
God.
Clara Jeanne Chapman-Anglemyer
Sweetwater
GUEST COLUMN
Russian scientists
God bless America, and how's everybody?
Russian scientists said they're working on how to stop
an asteroid from hitting the Earth in two decades. The
timing is no accident. Now that global warming's been
discredited, asteroid deflection is positioning itself to
become Al Gore's next passion.
Two and a Half Men starring Charlie Sheen enjoyed
huge ratings on CBS last week after his drunken marital
brawl. Marriage problems also helped David Letterman's
TV ratings. If Tiger Woods hadn't quit golf the PGA
would be outdrawing the Super Bowl.
The New York Post quoted Tiger
Woods' close friends who say he's shop-
ping for rehabs. There aren't that many
to choose from. Addiction to cocktail
waitresses is fairly common but the
4 number of people who want to kick the
habit is fairly small.
,c Texas Tech coach Mike Leach was
fired for locking a player in a shed
for three hours with no cellphone,
- BlackBerry, GameBoy, Twitter or iPod.
ill yliS It was harrowing. The teenager hasn't
been alone with his thoughts in the dark
since the third trimester.
The Rose Bowl will host the BCS
title game between Alabama and Texas
Thursday. The two Southern schools last met for the title
in the early Sixties. This was back when the Confederate
flag only had thirteen stars on it, long before the current
forty-eight.
The White House resisted demands to profile pas-
sengers like the Christmas Day airline bomber. He's the
son of a prominent African with a Muslim name and he
graduated from a top school.
Homeland Security computers had him cleared to
board Air Force One. Homeland Security Secretary
Janet Napolitano declared victory on Meet the Press last
weekend, saying that the failed attempt to blow up an
airliner proves the system worked. The remark blew up
in her face. No one knows how she got this bomb past
security.
European airports began installing full body scanners
for all U.S. bound flights Monday. Great idea. They're
going to look at the naked body of every passenger who
wants to fly to the United States and anyone who's not
good enough has to go back to the gym.
The CIA revealed that Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki
personally indoctrinated the Northwest Airlines bomber
in Yemen as well as the Ft. Hood shooter. It's a classic
Hollywood tale. A younger, better-looking Osama bin
Laden is starting to take work away from him.
Northwest bomber Umar Abdulmutallab's website
reveals he was frustrated by his desire for women so he
agreed to blow his pants off. This is why we don't have
homegrown airline bombers in the U.S. Promiscuous
women are America's first line of defense.
Times Square was evacuated Wednesday over a sus-
picious van parked where the New Year's celebration
would take place. The suspicion was unwarranted.
The only common belief in both the Muslim world and
Western world is that nothing can kill Dick Clark.
Dick Cheney ripped the White House for trying the
airliner bomber in civil court and downplaying ter-
rorism. He sounds like a candidate. Dick Cheney is
determined to prove that Sarah Palin isn't the only way
Barack Obama can be re-elected.
President Obama's people deflected criticism Thursday
by insisting the airline security system was designed
under President Bush. We all know this game. President
Bush's people blamed President Clinton for not captur-
ing Osama bin Laden, and President Clinton's people
blamed his personal secretary for closing the office
door.
Argus Hamilton is the host comedian at The Comedy
Store in Hollywood. He can be reached for speaking
engagements by e-mail at argus@argushamilton.com.
THE GREEN TEAM
Happy and prosperous New Year
All three of us at the
KWKC Green Team would
like to wish all of our read-
ers and listeners a happy,
successful, and prosper-
ous 2010.
Since 2009 was, to put
it mildly, an unset-
tled and event-
ful year, I thought
the first column of
2010 would be a
good ti me to review
what we are about,
what we have done,
and what the future
holds for the Green
Team and the Green
Team members.
As individual
business owners,
and as the Green
Team, we believe in
customers receiving good
quality, ethical, properly
done work at a reasonable
price. We would like to
see all the members of the
general public get the land-
scaping work they truly
want and at a fair price.
We believe the best way
to achieve that is through
knowledge and experience
from both the customer
and the supplier.
The Green Team radio
show, West Texas Trees
and Landscapes airs on
KWKC 1340 AM in Abilene
at 12 noon on Saturdays.
Even though none of us
knew anything about
hosting a radio show, we
decided why not take the
plunge and give it a try. I
don't know if we know any
more about radio now than
we did then, but we have
been hosting the show
every weekend since and
have found that it is a lot
of fun and we enjoy doing
it. We've had a number of
guests on the show to both
interview and take call in
questions from the listen-
ing audience. Since a lot of
them are very knowledge-
able people and have a
lot to offer, we often have
invited them back on the
show.
A newspaper column
seemed a natural continu-
ation of the radio show
and writing these articles
has been both interesting
and a learning experience.
We certainly thank the
GUEST C01UMN
Bruce
KraMer
editor for her patience.
The Green Team also
holds monthly workshops
at Greenbelt Gardens at
1820 South Treadaway in
Abilene. These workshops
are open to the public and
are usually held
in the first half
of the month.
Each workshop
has a base topic
that we discuss
and go over, but
any landscaping
question is wel-
come and will
be answered.
The next one is
scheduled for
January ninth
at two P.M. and
is titled Winter
Pruning and Maintenance
of your landscape. We
have enjoyed presenting
the Saturday workshops
and meeting some of our
listeners/readers at these
events. We plant to con-
tinue these monthly semi-
nars throughout 2010.
The three co-hosts of
the Green Team are Adam
Andrews, Steve Myers,
and Bruce Kreitler.
Adam Andrews, with his
sister Jennifer Cleveland,
owns Willow Creek Design
and Landscape. Adam
is a graduate of Abilene
High and also a gradu-
ate of Midwestern State
University in Wichita
Falls. Adam and Jennifer
both got their start in the
green business working in
nurseries and they teemed
up to form Willow Creek in
1998. That nursery experi-
ence will be handy for them
now as they have acquired
Greenbelt Gardens from
Connie Mack Skaggs. The
transfer in ownership was
effective January first and
will be a big step in the
right direction for Adam
and Jennifer. Combining
their landscaping busi-
ness with a full service
nursery will certainly be
a challenge, but between
the tw o of them they will
be up to the task. They
are members of the BBB,
The Abilene Chamber
of Commerce, and The
Abilene Preservation
league. Adam is certi-
fied with the Interlocking
Concrete Paver Institute
and has a real talent for
installing paver hard-
scapes and rock walls.
Adam is also an officer in
the Commemorative Air
Force where he is active in
the Big Country Squadron.
Adam can be reached at
his office number of 325
673 2329-
Bruce Kreitler and his
wife Caroline, own Broken
Willow Tree Service.
Although Broken Willow
existed before 1999, that's
when Bruce and his wife
incorporated Kreitler
enterprises to handle the
business end of Broken
Willow. Bruce has lived
in the Big Country since
the late 6o's, making
him the oldest mem-
ber of the Green Team.
Broken Willow started
because Bruce had a life-
long interest in trees and
enjoyed working with
them in his spare time.
As Bruce learned more
about trees and tree work
through individual study
and hands on experience
he was encouraged by
other certified arborists
to study and certify. After
first obtaining the level of
Certified Arborist, he has
gone on to obtain both
the Municipal Specialist
and the additional level of
Utility Specialist. Also he
is one of only two arborists
in the Big Country with an
oak wilt certification from
the Texas Forest Service.
Further, Bruce has been
accepted to the American
Society of Consulting
Arborists. Brace's goal is
to be both an International
Society of Arboriculture
Board Certified Master
Arborist, and a Registered
Consulting Arborist with
the ASCA. Broken Willow
is a Texas Department of
Agriculture licensed com-
mercial applicator busi-
ness and Bruce is licensed
for five different catego-
ries of application. Broken
Willow is a member of the
BBB and Bruce is also a
member of the Society of
Municipal Arborists. Bruce
can be reached at 325
675 6794, or through the
Broken Willow web site at
www.BrokenWillow.com.
Stephen Myers is a part-
ner with Don Steele in
Steele - Myers Landscape
Inc. founded in 1992.
Stephen has lived in the
Big Country all of his life
except for a brief stint in
Lubbock at Texas Tech
University. A 1994 gradu-
ate of Tech, with a bach-
elor's degree in Landscape
Architecture, Stephen is
a registered Landscape
Architect. Stephen has
worked in landscaping and
landscape maintenance all
of his life and is a familiar
figure on many of the larg-
er landscaping jobs in the
Big Country area includ-
ing residential, munici-
palities and governmen-
tal. Stephen has extensive
experience, designing and
building water features
both big and small and it
is one of his specialties.
Other areas of interest
for Stephen are designs
for xeriph\tic landscapes
and perennial flowers.
Stephen is also a licensed
irrigator and can many
times be found standing
in a ditch covered with
mud installing new sys-
tems or troubleshooting
older systems. One of his
passions is soccer, and as
a partner in the Abilene
National Soccer Complex,
he can often be found
there coaching children on
weekends. Stephen can be
reached at 325 673 7478.
If you have any land-
scaping, landscape main-
tenance■, or tree questions
you would like answered
in this column, submit
them care of editor @
sweetwaterreporter.com
or info@BrokenWillow.
com.
The KWKC Green Team
is made up of Bruce
Kreitler (Broken Willow
Tree Service 325 675 6794
or info@BrokenWillow.
com) Adam Andrews
(Willow Creek Design and
Landscape 325 673 2329)
and Stephen Myers (Steele
Myers Landscaping 325
673 7478). Catch them on
KWKC 1340 Saturdays at
noon.
Susan
Estrich
Now is the time for those
of us on vacation to start
talking ourselves back
onto the planes we have to
board to get home. Here
I am in paradise
— actually, the
Grand Wailea in
Maui, which looks
like paradise to
me — and around
the pool and on
the beaches,
almost everyone
is squinting into
BlackBerries and
iPhones trying to
figure out exact-
ly what is going
wrong in the rest
of the world. Actually, I
was going to write a col-
umn making fun of all
of us for our crackberry
addictions, even on holi-
day, but it stopped being
funny when the news we
were getting was of ter-
ror in the sky. It's the last
thing you want to think
about, and the first thing
on everyone's mind.
I know all the reassuring
things. Flying is still safer
than driving (especially
with me, according to my
kids). The Maui airport is
not exactly a hotbed of al-
Qaida activity. There's no
reason — after all, this is
vacation (my first in three
years) — not to get to the
airport early, be patient
with security and be thank-
ful that, as always after a
major threat, security will
be at its most stringent.
It couldn't be a safer time
to fly, we tell each other
over our "Breaking News
Alerts" by the pool, and
ear o flying
even if that's not really
true, it certainly sounds
good, especially to the
children.
So how come I'm still
nervous?
There's no way for
many of us to live
without airplanes.
My daughter flies
to get to school. I
fly all the time for
work. Vacations
are actually a great
thing, and getting
away, seeing new
places and meeting
new people is part
of what makes life
fulfilling and excit-
ing. Getting off airplanes
is just not an option.
Besides, trains and busses
can be bombed even more
easily, I suppose.
The problem with ter-
ror threats is not so much
that they force us to live
differently. I'd be almost
happy to live differently,
if it would make a differ-
ence. No, it's the inability
to do much of anything
— other than get to the air-
port early and be patient
in line — that makes living
with the threat of terror
so frightening. For those
of us who crave control,
crave the sense that we
can make things better by
doing something, nothing
is harder than doing noth-
ing.
Of course, awareness is
important. Thank God the
passengers on Flight 253
were aware and proactive.
But should we all sit alert
on each flight, watching
for false moves by men
who look Muslim? I'm sure
some people are doing just
that, and all I can think of
is all my young male stu-
dents who are dark com-
plexioned or Muslim and
are the subject of hostile
stares on their way back to
school.
What makes it even
worse, of course, is that
terrorists aim for surprise.
If we're all looking for
Arab men, leave it to them
to use a woman or a child.
If we're focused on flights
from Europe, leave it to
them to find a flight from
somewhere else. If we're
looking on the plane, leave
it to them to hit at the ticket
counter. If you really want
to be vigilant, you have to
consider the unexpected,
not the expected, which
sounds a lot like walking
around in a constant state
of paranoia, knowing that
even paranoids have real
enemies, as America does.
So we must be vigilant
but not vigilante, careful
but not paralyzed, alert in
situations where, by defi-
nition, we have almost no
control.
This was not what any
of us wanted to be think-
ing about on vacation, but
terrorists don't take vaca-
tions. And because of that,
Christmas holiday this
year is not nearly as peace-
ful as I'd hoped. So it goes.
In a world facing terror,
you take your rest where
you can find it. I'm grate-
ful for my days in para-
dise. And I'm ready to sit
in my seat without moving
if that's what it takes to get
home safely. If only it were
that easy. Happy new year.
And a safe one.
To find out more about
Susan Estrich and read
features by other Creators
Syndicate writers and car-
toonists, visit the Creators
Syndicate website at
www.creators.com.
The SWEETWATER REPORTER
(USPS 5300-860) is published daily
except Saturdays and holidays by HPC
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Sweetwater Reporter will
publish corrections of errors
in fact that have been print-
ed in the newspaper.
The corrections will be
made as soon as possible
after the error has been
brought to the attention of
the newspaper's editor at
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Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 043, Ed. 1 Tuesday, January 5, 2010, newspaper, January 5, 2010; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth229057/m1/4/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.