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Time for some spring cleaning?
Time for some spring cleaning?
It seems to be.
We had big plans for a project on the house, but the weather was lousy with rain predicted so we moved inside.
So much for the rain. Our friends to the north, east and other surrounding areas reported a third of an inch or so, but we only saw a few drops of rain on the deck all day Saturday.
But the day wasn't a waste. Thanks to some advance planning and respite care, my wife and I put the day to good use. We borrowed a steam cleaner and by the end of the day, we had gone over every inch of carpet in the place.
A week or two earlier, we rearranged the bedroom.
Maybe it's time for some spring cleaning around here as well.
First, our apologies readers and to Indianola firefighter Mike Harris, whose photo received, shall we say, an "interesting" cropping job on Monday's paper.
For the record, a properly cropped image accompanies this column.
I won't go into the details of how the flub-up occurred, other than to say the photo was resized after the page was laid out, and nobody noticed the error until the presses were shut off.
I hope the other photos, including the full color page inside made up somewhat. Regional editor Connie Jo Discoe had a long night photographing the fire and getting the images ready for Monday's paper. Thanks to Connie, as well as Gloria Masoner, who created the special Focus photo page on a sad event.
More spring cleaning involves Saturday's Pat on the Back, which ran with the wrong name on it. Joyce Newport of Cambridge submitted the entry, recognizing her neighbor, who always scoops her sidewalk when it snows. We have quite a backlog of Pats on the Back, so please be patient. It's nice to know there are so many kind, thoughtful people in the region.
A couple of comments in our Reader Feedback this week concerned the number of stickers around the McCook High School track.
One reader who attended last weekend's track meet wrote:
"Why haven't the stickers been taken care of? We threw our blankets away because we couldn't get the stickers out of them. Our shoes, clothes and everything you touched had stickers in them."
Another writer wrote about being "embarrassed" about the condition of the track and school grounds.
"Budget cuts are needed, but not when it comes to the looks of our school grounds. Where the gazebo is by the school is nothing but stickers. ... They want a new school? Show people you can take care of what your have. I am disgusted and ashamed the way we expect our neighboring schools to put up with our stickers."
The truth is, the school is doing something about the problem.
Chad Lyons, who is ground supervisor as well as vice principal at the Junior High and industrial technology instructor, has been working with a local business to deal with the sticker problems on school property.
He said stickers in areas that receive less water are harder to control with pre-emergent herbicides, because there is no water to deliver the chemicals to where they can do the most good. A post-emergent chemical may do the trick, officials hope.
So, the stickers won't disappear this year, but look for improvements in the future. Until then, you might want to use a lawn chair to watch the track meets, and keep your shoes on.
"Why doesn't the council work with the owner of (the former) West Ward School to be able to use the playground at West Ward for a parking area for events at the City Auditorium," asked another Reader Feedback. "Parking is always a problem there, and that would be very handy."
That might be a good idea. Easter Sunday will be a good demonstration of parking congestion in the area, when McCook Christian holds a special service in its future home in the old Safeway/Hinky Dinky/Buy-n-Save building just south of West Ward, and the Evangelical Free Church has a special service in Memorial Auditorium. Hope it's a nice day for those who may have to walk many blocks to church.