Christmas lights

A cool tradition of ours is to drive around and look at Christmas lights.

thats been kind of a culture shock living in a small town, theres just not as much area to explore.

anyways.

we are compiling a list and checking it twice.

of where the nice lights are. mostly we are sticking to arkansas city, but .. we might include some other towns.

so let me know where they are

ill probably start running the list monday or so.

The school debate

The stats on the number of "violent acts" were interesting. I guess they raise more questions than they answer though, as posters have pointed out.
The schools had many more violent acts reported in the years 2003-2005 than they had last year. This year will not likely get to the level of 03-05, but may be higher than last year.
School officials say this is because of the way they reported. If two kids were in a fight, they counted it as two violent acts, when the state said it could be counted as one.
There is also the matter of in school, or out of school suspensions.
It just shows how the numbers can be manipulated. Statistics often mean what you want them to mean. They should not be the final arbiter of truth.

http://www.city-data.com/school/arkansas-city-high-school-ks.html

Here is a breakdown of violent acts per year at the high school.
Doesnt exactly sound like a war zone, but not heavenly either i guess.

2007 : 26
2006 : 21
2005 : 56
2004 : 73
2003 : 56
2002: 13
2001 : 37

Here are two more links to a lot of stats

one
two

It was an interesting debate, but I still think the debate is not focused properly. It is not so black and white. Some people want it to be awful, so they turn everything in that direction, and they accuse anyone who doesn't agree with covering it up. On the other side, people want to say there are no problems .
It isnt either or. The reality is, we are all imperfect human beings, and there are going to be issues and problems. Saying it doesnt exist wont help, but crying the sky is falling won't either.

The better debate would be - first, what needs to be done, and second, what can one person as an individual do about it. People need to be more involved in helping. Parents need to be more involved. But even if you are not a parent, you can still be involved.
There are a list of kids waiting for a big brother of big sister. That is a good program and it works.

As the old saying goes, if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

monday morning

I've not posted much lately because I have been sick. Sinus infection. Yuck. Nuff said.

Im not one of those to go on and on about medical conditions.

Ill try to think of something worthwhile to write later on today.

THought you all might like this picture.

Check out the web site too, its fun.

Pit Bulls in Newkirk

NEWKIRK, Okla. (AP) _ A Kansas man has been arrested on animal abuse complaints after authorities in Kay County say they discovered nearly 100 neglected pit bulls at a rented farm near Newkirk.

Kay County Undersheriff Steve Kelley says 32-year-old Jerry Southern of Wichita, Kan., was arrested Tuesday and is being held in the Kay County Jail.

Kelley says his office received an anonymous tip that led to the discovery of 96 pit bulls. He says most of the dogs were chained to logs while about 10 were found locked in a barn with no food or water.

Southern told authorities he shows and sells the dogs but no one was buying them.

Kelley says his office is looking for organizations to help rescue the dogs and make food donations.

Ringing bells

Thursday people from the Traveler will be ringing salvation arm bells from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Country Mart.
We are going against KSOK to see who can raise the most money. They will probably beat us again, but thats ok.
So come on out and drop some coins in our red kettles.
We are also offering a grand prize for those that make a contribution of folding money. I think its $50 but not sure. Those folks will get to enter a special drawing for a night on the town that includes a limo ride to the movies and to a restaurant.

The money given to the Salvation Army stays here and helps people in Cowley County.
Anyways, some of us will be in costumes.
Someone will be wearing a Santa outfit.
Not sure what I will have on.
But come on out.

We might even have a drawing to let someone throw a pie in the editor's face

City meeting update

The city meeting was not real interesting last night. They put off the dog ordinance as expected.
There will be no dog license. They can accomplish the same thing by requiring that animals wear their rabies vaccination tags. Its easy enough to contact the veterinarian who issued the tag and track down the dog or cat's owner that way.
But they are adding some teeth to their animal ordinance.
If your dog bites someone your fine will be much higher, and on second offense the animal might be euthanized.
Ive always heard that a dog gets one bite. I think in most cities a repeat offender biting dog would be put down.
They are also going to try to close the loophole for pit bull owners.
It does depend on how dogs are raised, but only one or two bad ones in the city spoils it for everyone else.
At one time German Shepherds had a really bad reputation. Now not so much.

People do need to keep their animals up and secured. Citizens should have the right to walk the streets without fear of being attacked by a dog.
If everyone took care of their animals responsibly, there would not be a problem.
But everyone wont, so ... that's why you have laws.

They also talked about a new employee handbook they have crafted.
It will streamline the operation for employees. There's a good side and a bad side to that.
It does streamline things so that everyone is treated equally. It addresses many issues.
It does take things out of the hands of department heads somewhat.

One philosophical issue I have is that I do no believe all workers should be treated equally.
Those that do a great job should be treated better than those that do a lousy job.
It is really bad for morale if a person does a great job and gets no better treatment than a person who does not work as hard.

The rest was just stuff we talked about yesterday.
Though there were some good neighbor awards given out. This is a good thing. Maybe the city should do more to recognize the efforts of volunteers and those that are involved in the community.

City commission agenda

Here is the latest city commission agenda.
Worksession is at 5:30 p.m. today.
Regular meeting is at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
All meetings are at city hall and are open to the public.
* Something new. I have attached a link to the packet for the meetings, which includes background on each item. Just click on the title of this blog entry. It is a lot of pages,so may take some time to download.

Comments from the audience on items not on the agenda.

1. Presentation of Beautification Advisory Board’s Good Neighbor Awards.
2. Consider ordinance adopting dog and cat licensing in the City. (Roll call vote).
3. Consider resolution authorizing renewal of the agreement with Reaching Out Consultation
Services, Inc. (Voice vote).
4. Consider renewal of cereal malt beverage licenses for 2009. (Voice vote).
December 2, 2008 Commission Meeting Agenda - Page 2 of 2
5. Consider revised Boundary Resolution for 2008. (Voice vote).
6. Consider ordinance adopting new storm water regulations. (Roll call vote).
7. Consider ordinance authorizing special one-half percent citywide retailers’ Hospital sales
tax. (Roll call vote).
8. Consider ordinance authorizing special one-half percent citywide retailers’ Street sales tax.
(Roll call vote).
9. Consider resolution adopting revised Personnel Policy Handbook. (Voice vote)
10. Consider Mayor’s appointments to City Boards. (Voice vote).
Miscellaneous Matters from the City Manager/City Commission.
Adjournment.