Off The Record

A competition in death as in life.

An article on the Paxton Record website this week lists the top 100 articles for 2009 that got the most hits by readers. Most of course are obituaries. We pity the family members of those deceased in 2009. The obituaries of their loved ones have been entered into a competition without their knowledge or consent. That article is indeed an exercise in very poor judgment!

Would the founding family of the Paxton Record consider this article worthy of column space? Does the current owner of the paper approve of this type of content?

Must be a very slow news week.

Isn't nice Christmas trees have been discounted at the IGA? They are only $29 now it's almost New Years!

If the Three Wise Men from the east journeyed into Paxton on Christmas Eve what would have greeted them? The star they were following would have been dimmed by the Legion Building. What to their wondering eyes did appear but a bright red glow from the police department's portable traffic radar sign. Was the police department warning the Three Wise Men and Santa not to speed through Paxton on Christmas Eve? Holiday Cheer abounds in Paxton doesn't it?

Are there thieving scoundrels in our darkened alleys stalking our garbage cans? Has someone pinched the Christmas tips left on garbage cans intended for our hard working local waste haulers? Is it true the envelopes containing Christmas greetings and tips disappeared from the garbage cans overnight? We realize we are in the midst of difficult economic times, but stealing from garbage men establishes a new low, scraping the bottom of the can. Perhaps in the future, the Christmas cards should be hidden inside the can instead of being left on the lids clearly visible tempting scoundrels.

Please say it ain't so! Did the Ward 1 alderman actually ask how can you live in town and farm? Did he really ask that at Monday night's City Council meeting? Are we more embarrassed for him or the City of Paxton now that question is in the public domain for all history to see! Does the alderman think living in town excludes someone from pursuing active interests in production agriculture? Has he not ever heard of urban landlords? Should someone who poses such a query be involved in decision making that affects local taxpayers? All responsible Aldermen need to have open minds when attending their meetings to best serve constituents. Mr. Ward 1 Alderman you are being irresponsible wasting too much time prattling on and on about nonsense. Mr. Ward 1 Alderman get organized and better serve the residents of Ward 1. If you don't know what to say let someone else get a word in edge wise. At least maybe they will make a better contribution to the meeting.

An accident report from this week's edition of our local paper.

• Paxton Police responded to an accident at 3:15 p..m. Monday in the parking lot of PBL High School. A 16-year-old female was driving a Pontiac Grand Prix when she struck the front of a Jeep Grand Cherokee. No injuries were reported, and no tickets were issued.

• Minutes later, police responded to a second accident at 3:39 p.m. in the 100 block of North Market Street. A lady was driving a Chevrolet Malibu when she was backing out of a parking space and struck a Mitsibushi. 

• Around the same time, as police were taking an accident report from the teens involved in the first accident, the Paxton Police Chief backed a 2007 Ford Expedition police cruiser into the Chevrolet Malibu that was involved in the first accident of the day, damaging the left-front quarter panel of the car. No damage was done to the squad vehicle. No injuries were reported.

Brilliant driving there Chief!

Hey Everyone! Hurry to the First National Bank for the annual apple giveaway. We hope to gather enough to bake a cobbler before they run out! The Farmers and Merchants Bank made its annual poinsettia deliveries last week. We're wondering which local flower shop provided those beautiful, healthy plants? Ours is just beautiful.

Do the members of the City Council and the mayor act in the best interest of our small town or are they using their elected positions to further their personal agendas?

Here's a very interesting article for all the critics of this blog to consider. A quote from the article, "The world is changing, and blogging is now a big part of it, with all of its good sides as well as its bad ones. Live and learn. The sooner you get the hang of social media, the more you'll see the opportunities in there rather than the threats."

We authors of this blog have been amazed and appalled by how our content can be misconstrued and manipulated by readers. The learning curve for blogs will be around for a long time to come.

Sir Richard Branson does it again! Today is the unveiling of Virgin Atlantics SpaceShipTwo composite. The ship will require two pilots and will carry six passengers. Those six potential galactic travelers will have to fork over $200,000 a piece for the trip into space. Branson is hoping to corner the public spaceflight maket with his Virgin Galactic firm.

"Climate-Gate" is indeed heating up. Type in "climategate" in google and you'll get back over 26,000,000 hits. (The number grows exponentially daily.) The leak from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit exposing a conspiracy to distort global warming data for political gain is definitely a hot topic. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) relies on this research unit for most of its data. If fraudulent statistics were used to claim that man made CO2 was instrumental in global warming, how can the evidence still be overwhelming that global warming is in part man made?

What a coincidence! Al Gore, The King of Global Warming, Mr. Nobel Prize winner himself, has now canceled his lecture on climate change that was to be delivered in Copenhagen December 16 at the UN Climate Change Conference. How many people forked over the $1200+ for a VIP ticket to shake hands with the former vice president, have a picture taken with him, and get a copy of his new book? We're sure they are very disappointed. Well, at least they will get a refund.

Why are there parents who send their severely ill children to school? Keep them home. It's not the school's job to care for them.

Is there anything going on in Dogtown today?