Eighty-year-old Roger Hill used to go fishing on the Arkansas River in Colorado. Sometimes, he had to duck baseball-size rocks thrown at him by landowners who insisted he was trespassing. When he got back to his car, Hill sometimes found notes threatening him with arrest if he returned. Worse, a fellow fisherman was shot at by a landowner, who got 30 days in jail for the attack.
Ah, what a beautiful day! The air has that magical quality it sometimes gets in spring, a caressing softness on the skin. The buds on the plum trees are swelling, and the robins have ascended to the tops of the trees, where they’re singing with abandon.
Some environmental groups and water honchos have sponsored a “Rewilding of Glen Canyon” contest, with the winner getting $4,000 “and counting.” The contest’s goal is to reconnect the Colorado River above and below a dismantled dam, to restore the beauty of a glorious place now submerged by Lake Powell — just 26 percent full.
We are only a couple of weeks into 2022 and it is already shaping up to be another challenging year for America’s 5.5 million family businesses dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Rampant inflation, supply chain bottlenecks, and acute worker shortages continue.
It’s February — the month we celebrate the achievements and history of Black Americans. You can be sure we’ll hear about the brave souls that risked or even gave their lives to achieve rights guaranteed in the Declaration of Independence.
Sporting events have been seen as virtually sacred by many. The roar of the crowd, the level of athleticism only few can achieve being expressed, the journeys taken by athletes and their teams, the fervid fan loyalty, and the countless traditions practiced add up to a unique sector of society.
This may be a surprising story. It begins with a working group trying to save the last native bighorn sheep of Idaho’s and Wyoming’s Teton Range. Last fall it reached agreement after years of effort.
The grizzly bear. The wolf. The cougar. These magnificent creatures, apex predators, how can we not admire them? People cross the world for the opportunity to see one in the wilds of Yellowstone or Alaska.
With the holiday season winding to a close and the world moving forward into another new year, it may be the perfect time to reflect on our way of buying and using goods.
‘Tis the season when we take stock of our lives and wonder if we are better off. In some ways, our lives as Americans are much better now. In other ways, we’re in worse shape.
