The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 120, No. 17, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 29, 2010 Page: 3 of 36
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THE CANADIAN RECORD
THURSDAY 29 APRIL ZD! □
State Capital
Highlights
By U Sterling
MAS PBISS ASSOGIMIOH
AUSTIN—An April 23 Sunset Advisory Commission
report recommends increasing the Public Utility Com-
mission's authority to oversee the electric industry in
Texas, The report says ERCOT, the powerful Electric
Reliability Council of Texas, needs a board of directors
with fewer members tied to the electric industry.
'■Clearly there are a number of issues that ERGOT
must address," said PUG Commissioner Donna, Nelson.
SI believe the Sunset recommendations draw attention to
many of those issues and I encourage the ERGOT board
to make the necessary changes to increase the level of
confidence Texans have in their electric grid operator."
ERCOT, founded in 1970, manages the flow of electric
power to 22 million Texas customers, representing 85
percent of the state's electric load and 75 percent of the
Texas land area. ERCOT manages financial settlement
for the competitive wholesale bulk-power market and
administers customer switching for 6.5 million Texans
in competitive choice areas. The Sunset process will
continue this year with a public hearing and Legislative
review in preparation for the 82nd regular session of the
Texas Legislature, which begins in January 2011.
Mansion addition plans approved
The State Preservation Board announced plans for
an addition to be built on the west side of the Governor's
Mansion. The 1,000 square foot addition would include a
stairway, more spice in the first-floor kitchen and a new
second-floor bedroom The 153-year-old building has
been undergoing restoration since June 2008, when an
arson fire destroyed much of it. The bill for the restoration
will be paid with millions in federal American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of2009 funds in addition to funds
raised privately.
UT to restructure TeleCampus
UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa
announced changes in the operation of the system's online
and distance learning functions. UT TeleCampus will
move into a new System Administration office, allowing
broader access to online courses, which Cigarroa said
should bolster graduation rates. And, the office will
sex-ve as a clearinghouse for innovations where start-up
programs will be implemented and employees will assist
with distance education marketing and recruitment
efforts.
Program to help with admissions
A free Online College Preparation Assistance Pilot
Px-ogram soon will help high school students tackle the
college selection and application process. The Texas
Education Agency and the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating' Board are launching the $1.5 million
pilot program and expect 20,000 to 30,000 high school
students from across Texas to participate. School
districts and their selected high schools will be notified
as to when they may participate. The program tailors
each student's information to help them stay on track to
graduate and proceed toward career goals.
We can plant trees
By John Rosenow
WHEN WE THINK OF FORESTS, majes-
tic trees, precious wildlife, and clean, fresh air
might come to mind. We probably don't think
about the water we drink. We should.
When you turn on your faucet this Arbor
Day, take a moment and think about the impor-
tant role trees play to make sure what comes out
of the tap is healthy and clean.
Most people know that trees produce oxy-
gen that we breathe and clean the air by acting
as giant filters, removing harmful pai'ticles and
pollutants. But you may not be aware that trees
work just as hard to protect and pui'ify our wa-
ter sources, including those that provide drink-
ing water for millions of Americans every day.
Trees improve water quality by slowing rain
as it falls to the earth, and helping it soak into
the soil. They alsopreventsoilfi'omeroding into
our waterways, reduce stormwater ranoff, and
lessen flood damage. They serve as natural fil-
ters to protect our streams, rivers, and lakes,
Forests in the United States are the source
of drinking water for more than 180 million
people, 59 percent of the U.S. population. Foi'-
ests help protect vital water sources such as
sparkling mountain streams filled with melting
snow, healthy reservoirs and lakes, and our na-
tion's vast web of rivers.
Our forested areas are shrinking at an
alarming rate. The U.S. Forest Service esti-
mates that more than40 million acres ofprivate
forest could be lost in the next 40 years.
Why is that important to us? As U.S. De-
partment of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vil-
sacksaid, "While most Americans live in urban
areas, most of us depend on rural lands, partic-
ularly forest lands, for clean water and a healthy
climate,"
One example of an urban area that depends
on forested land for water is New York City. In
the late 1990s, New York City leaders balked at
a $6 billion water treatment system and instead
opted to go with natural landscape management
to clean the water it receives from the Cats kill/
Delaware watershed in upstate New York. The
focus is on creating conservation easements
along streams and reservoirs, and protecting
forest lands to keep sediment and runoff fi'om
entering the water supply.
FIELD NOTES-CONTINUED
much-needed in these often baffling times. We
cannot afford to squander them, and should
not so readily cede them to other communities
whose citizens have already had the foresight
to prepax'e. a place for them.
Those 47 miles to Perryton are the longest
miles I will ever drive. Until I am able to bring
my mother home where she belongs, I will
drive them often, and I will wonder each time
I do what my father wou Id say to me if he wer e
along for the ride. I think I know. I think you
know, too. And no feasibility study or spread
sheet or bottom line will ever provide as
certain and compelling answer as the one that
resonates in my heart on this Mother's day.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tax-deductible contri-
butions to the Assisted/Independent Living
The watershed provides most of New York
City's daily supply of drinking water, more than
1 billion gallons each day. New Yorkers enjoy
some of the cleanest, healthiest drinking water
in the world.
Millions of Californians rely on crystal-clear
water flowing from Plumas and other National
Forests to quench their thirst. Meltingsnowand
rainwater flow from the Plumas into the Feath-
er River and eventually winds up in the Sacra-
mento River. Water from the Plumas relies on
the entire ecosystem, which includes trees, to
keep it pristine until it reaches taps throughout
central and northern California. This is just one
example of how our national forests help clean
the water.
These solutions are an alternative to manu-
factured water treatment systems, and are ben-
eficial in so many ways. Unfortunately, the con-
ventional response is too often to pay for expen-
sive artificial treatment systems rather than
rely on natural resources.
One way to protect and clean our water sup-
ply is to plant ti'ees, and the need to replant our
nation's forests is vitally important. The US-
Forest Service has identified a backlog of 1 mil-
lion acres in national forests alone that are in
need of replanting because of damage from re-
cent wildfires, insects, and disease.
There is no substitute for clean water. Water
is a vital resource that we rely on every day. We
can't create something else to take its place. But
we can plant trees.
We enjoy trees for many reasons - their
shade on a warm day, the energy they save
when they're planted around our homes, the
bountiful food they provide, the songbirds they
bring close by.
Remember the role ti'ees play in keeping
our drinking water clean. As you celebrate Ar-
bor Day this year, don't take your clean drink-
ing water for granted when you turn on the tap.
America's trees worked hard to help deliver
that refreshing glass of water.
EDITOR'S NOTE: John Rosenow is the
founder and chief executive of the nonprofit
Arbor Day Foundation.
Center fund may be mailed to The Hemphill
County Association, PO Box 1122, Canadian,
TX 79011,
*From Leonard Pitts Jr.'s column on the
death of Dorothy Height, whom he called the
grande dame of the civil rights movement:
"We take progress for granted in this coun-
try. We Stand on the shoulders of giants and
think the view is great because we are so tall.
We tend to think—especially if we are black
and young—that our freedoms were some-
how preordained. Of course we can take any
open seat on the bus. Of course we can vote.
Of course we can use the library or the park.
When people would tell [Dorothy Height] the
time was not ripe for a given thing, she would
challenge them to 'ripen the time.""
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Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 120, No. 17, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 29, 2010, newspaper, April 29, 2010; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth220837/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hemphill County Library.