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Boat safe this summer with these top tips

By
Guest Columnist
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Boat

With the kickoff to summer rapidly approaching, Nebraska Game and Parks reminds boaters to brush up on safety rules in preparation for peak boating season.

Follow these 10 tips reduce the risk of incidents and help ensure a safe and enjoyable day on the water.

Take a boater safety course — Though it’s only a legal requirement for those born after Dec. 31, 1985, consider completing the Nebraska boating safety course to learn the top things you need to know about navigating Nebraska waters, what to do in an emergency and more. Find an in-person or online class at OutdoorNebraska.gov; search for “boater education.”

Check equipment — Before you launch, ensure your boat or kayak is in good running condition and all essential equipment is present, including a life jacket for every person on board. Paddlers of kayaks or canoes also should physically inspect their planned take-out point to make sure it is accessible.

Tell someone your plans — Before leaving home, let someone know where you are going and when you expect to return. Consider carrying a cellphone in a waterproof pouch, as well, in case an emergency occurs.

Wear a life jacket — Make your life jacket a statement piece and wear it, as it does no good stowed away if an emergency occurs. Children under age 13, those using personal watercraft and those being towed on skis or similar device must wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal flotation device; it’s required by the law. Life jackets also are required for all paddleboard users, no matter their age.

Be wary of surroundings — According to the National Safe Boating Council, nearly a quarter of all reported boating accidents in 2022 were caused by operator inattention or improper lookout. Pay attention to other boats, personal watercraft, swimmers, stumps and other hazards. Speeds in excess of 5 mph are prohibited if within 30 yards of any other vessel, swimming area or dock. If padding a kayak or canoe, be aware of possible debris below the surface or under bridges.

Have all required safety equipment — Life jackets, throw cushions, fire extinguishers and bailing devices are required on most boats. An engine-cut-off device or switch also is a good idea.

Avoid alcohol — Nearly one-third of all recreational boating fatalities occur when someone is Boating Under the Influence, a criminal violation enforced in Nebraska. Always designate a sober driver.

Watch the weather — Storms can pop up quickly in Nebraska. Check the weather in advance and monitor it during the day, if necessary.

Avoid hypothermia — Even though temperatures are rising, the water still can be cold. Hypothermia is caused by exposure to cold weather or water. Take caution to prevent hypothermia.

Keep it legal — Make sure you’ve registered your boat and, if a nonresident, purchase an Aquatic Invasive Species stamp at OutdoorNebraska.gov. Also remember anyone operating a motorboat or personal watercraft in Nebraska must be at least 14 years of age. Learn more about Nebraska’s boating regulations at OutdoorNebraska.gov; search “Go boating.”

National Safe Boating Week is May 18-24 and serves as the annual kick-off of the Safe Boating Campaign, a global awareness effort that encourages boaters to make the most of their boating adventure by being responsible.

Morbid Affairs

By
Lee Pitts
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lee pitts

Recently a telemarketer phoned to discuss what he called my “end of life options”. Subsequently, I have left very specific instructions for my wife. I don’t want a funeral, memorial service, an obituary, or any suggestion as to where you should donate your money. Frankly, I find funerals to be morbid affairs and I try not to go to them. They either turn out to be uncomfortable family reunions or pageants to enrich the mortician where people stand up and lie about you.

I’ve made it a point to never look at a cadaver in an open casket ever since I was a small tyke and saw my great-grandfather in one. I still have nightmares about it. Everyone said how great he looked. “Didn’t the mortician do a wonderful job?” they asked. Everyone commented about how peaceful he looked but who were they kidding? The old geezer looked deader than a tuna sandwich and I’ve never looked at a dead person in a casket since that day.

There are several reasons I don’t want a funeral but chief amongst them are I won’t be there to smell the flowers or hear the beautiful songs and all the lies someone says about me. And quite frankly I’m a little worried about the turnout. I don’t know who said it first but it’s not very comforting to know that the main thing that will decide the size of your funeral is the weather. Having a funeral would be a big gamble for me and I worry that the only four people present would be me, my wife, the padre and some guy impatiently waiting on a backhoe just hoping it’s a short service and he can get the hole filled and knock off a little early. I suppose I could hire professional mourners but that’s a little like going to everyone else’s funeral while you’re alive hoping they will reciprocate and come to yours. Think about that logic for a second. It ain’t gonna happen!

I read about one option that interested me at first. When some rich guy back east died he requested that all his assets be divided equally amongst those who came to his funeral but I don’t think that would work the way I wanted because many people would show up just to make sure I was dead. I certainly don’t want them inheriting any of my money. I liked what a tribe of Indians and Egyptian Pharaohs did when they were buried with all their possessions. Who says you can’t take it all with you?

A traditional burial wouldn’t be very green of me. Did you know that every year we bury 64,000 tons of steel, four million gallons of embalming fluid and 1.6 million tons of concrete in cemeteries? Not to mention all the new suits that are purchased and worn only once.

I briefly considered cremation but ever since I was seven and had my bed burn up beneath me when my electric blanket caught on fire I have been deathly afraid of flames. So why would I want my body to be cooked at 2,000 degrees for two hours? Besides, think of all pollution caused when the flames torched this old bag of BS.

There is also the option of being buried at sea but while I’ve always loved looking at the ocean, I’ve never really liked being IN the ocean. The one time I went on a charter fishing boat I discovered that they don’t bring those big old boats back to shore just because some wimp is barfing his brains out over the starboard side.

Considering the cost of a funeral I think I’ve finally come up with a cheap alternative. I call it a “cowboy funeral”. I want a friend to dig a deep hole in some out-of-the-way place and another cowboy friend to throw my body into it. Initially I wanted to be shrouded in one of my favorite woolen Pendleton blankets but then I considered where I might be headed and decided I’d already be warm enough. Plus, why ruin a nice blanket?

I’m sure being buried like this is against some law but hey, I’m the one who did it and deserve any punishment that’s due. If the bureaucrats don’t like it they are welcome to come and get me.

Hopscotch

By
John Marshall
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john marshal

Next week local students in Kansas will be free to enroll in schools beyond their home district. In urban counties, the change tempts visions of land rush fever, parents hustling their offspring into the wagon at daybreak to new schools before they are filled, enrollments closed, chance lost. In the rural regions, unlikely.

The state’s open enrollment law, passed two years ago, is effective June 1. Kansas students may attend schools outside their own school district as long as space is available. (Students have long been allowed to attend school outside their district of residence, but with school board permission.)

The notion of open enrollment surfaced years ago but was recently brushed off in the early 2020s as legislators squabbled over new ways to increase their control of local schools.

There were repeated thrusts toward consolidation of rural districts with the thinnest enrollments (under 100). This notion lost steam at the prospect of children alone at isolated country crossroads, facing even longer bus rides.

The focus turned to money and a legislative obsession with vouchers, a shell game to sluice public funds into private schools. This grew to the notion of scholarships (state aid) for students attending private schools, including those affiliated with religious orders. This escalated with quarrels over “woke” subjects in curricula, dirty books in classrooms and libraries, greater scrutiny of class material and crusades to give parents more clout over what subjects are taught.

These simmering debates mostly involved, by implication, crowded districts in the state’s urban northeast and Sedgwick County in south central Kansas.

* Up popped Senate Bill 339, passed by wide margins in the House and Senate. Next year students will be counted for per-pupil aid to the district in which they are schooled, not where they live. This seems redundant because “border districts” in the rural west and southeast have long been allowed to enroll nearby students from border states ‒ and vice-versa ‒ and count them for aid.

In reality, the new law is tuned to urban counties where districts (and borders) are tightly packed.

Consider Sedgwick County, its ten districts and 74,650 students. Enrollments range from 800 (Cheney USD 268) to Wichita 259 with the state’s largest enrollment, 44,247.

Northeast metro counties include Johnson, six districts and a combined enrollment of 92,776; Wyandotte, four districts, 29,193; Shawnee, five districts, 26,081; and Douglas, three districts, 12,940.

These five counties contain ten percent of the state’s 286 school districts and 52 percent of statewide public school enrollment (457,123). This is where the students are, a prime focus of Senate Bill 339.

In Sedgwick County, students or parents in Clearwater USD 264 (enrollment 1,109) or Derby 260 (6,872) may want to hopscotch into Butler County and enroll in Andover (enrollment, 5,618) ‒ or vice-versa.

Academics and sports can be fierce and attractive variables among neighboring schools. The new law may stimulate recruiting of star talent ‒ all within the rules, of course. In Johnson County, rivalries simmer among the schools in Shawnee Mission (26,047), Olathe (28,162) and Blue Valley (21,823).

At the same time, each student, star or otherwise, is worth roughly $6,000 in

base state aid and $2,000 or more in supplemental funding.

*

Interest can vary among mostly rural districts in the other 100 counties. For example, some students who live in Emporia 253 (4,211 enrolled) already attend school nine miles south in Olpe (South Lyon County USD 252, enrollment 509), known for its high academics and championship sports programs.

Seventy percent of Kansas school districts (198) have enrollments under 1,000; of those, 136 are less than 500. Nine districts, eight in the west and one southeast, have enrollments under 100. Most of these schools are in the open rural spaces, distant towns and cities. The bus routes are long and broad.

On the western High Plains, land of the lonely wait, freedom to hopscotch schools seems an odd notion, only to swap today’s long ride for tomorrow’s.

Carrot casserole

By
Debbie Dance Uhrig
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OK, I need someone to ‘stretch’ the weekends! Just not long enough to get everything completed. Today I made my first fresh pasta salad for the season. I think I made enough for 20 people, which is the norm. I also can say that my sourdough bread seems to be taking off nicely, but it’s taken a while to get there.

I cannot wait to start sharing the starter and loaves, it seems like such an easy way to warm the hearts of those we care about the most.

This weekend I found someone in Nixa with ostrich ferns for sale so Sunday afternoon we took off to purchase beautiful ferns. Ervin, my husband, says he will have the spot ready for them when I get home from work. I also purchased a few bulbs of caladiums; they will be going in a pot about midweek. I’ve never had a great deal of luck raising them, so this will be interesting.

I’m also preparing an arrangement for my mother’s grave which is made of silks, and something fresh and bright for my dad to enjoy. Ervin and I are headed back to Northeast Missouri for Memorial weekend. Phillip will hold the fort down on the home front. We purchased a new traveling Coleman grill so I’m hoping to fix some wonderful steaks this weekend. Then; there’s the hamburgers with Vidalia onions. Dad will probably read this column before I get there, so I best not tell everything I’m up to.

The carrot casserole is simply something ‘different’. It can be pulled together pretty easily, perhaps a great deal done the night before, which is what I always like. This would be good to take to a potluck or carry-in at church. Now, if only the kitchen dishes were all done. Heck, they will be there tomorrow! OK, reach out to someone this week with a smile and a kind word. It’s amazing how wonderful it feels to make someone else’s day.

OK gang, it’s time to set the recipe and chat with you again next week. Simply yours, The Covered Dish.

Cheese Scalloped Carrots

12 medium carrots, peeled and sliced ¼ – ½ inch thick

¼ cup butter

1 small onion, minced

¼ cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon dry mustard

2 cups milk

1/8 teaspoon black pepper or white

¼ teaspoon celery salt

½ pound sharp cheddar cheese, crumbled

3 cups buttered bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pre-cook carrots for 15-20 minutes, drain well. Place butter and minced onion in a medium saucepan and cook 2-3 minutes. Add the flour, salt, mustard and milk. Cook, stirring mixture until nice and smooth; add the celery salt and pepper. In a 2-quart casserole, place a layer of carrots, layer of cheese. Repeat until both are used, ending with carrots on top. Pour on the sauce, top with the crumbs. Bake uncovered 25 minutes or until golden brown. Serves 8 persons

I’m sure some of you would like a different crumb topping, get creative!

Cowboy Code Of Conduct

By
Frank Buchman
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Today, the West continues to celebrate the “cowboy spirit” of adventure and entrepreneurial pursuits.

Some of the politest and most modest individuals have made their living horseback or in the livestock business.

Their principled behavior became codes of conduct that many of America’s cowboy heroes of the past promoted and illustrated for viewers back in the early days of Western movies.

Fourth in a four-part series, the inspirational philosophies of movie cowboys, unknown to many today, are being shared.

The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the Old West with his Native American friend Tonto.

First appearing in a radio series in 1933, the Lone Ranger show proved to be a hit. It spawned a series of books, an equally popular television show that ran from 1949 to 1956, comic books, and several films.

Clayton Moore portrayed the Lone Ranger who rode his white horse named Silver. Jay Silverheels, a Mohawk, was cast in the role of Tonto riding his spotted horse named Scout.

“Return now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the West with the speed of light and a hearty Hi-Yo, Silver.”

The Lone Ranger Creed

1. I believe that to have a friend, a man must be one. 2. That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world. 3. That God put the firewood there, but that every man must gather and light it himself. 4. In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right. 5. That a man should make the most of what equipment he has. 6. That “this government, of the people, by the people, and for the people” shall live always. 7. That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number. 8. That sooner or later … somewhere … somehow … we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken. 9. That all things change, but the truth, and the truth alone, lives on forever. 10. I believe in my Creator, my country, my fellow man.

Reminded of John 14:6: “Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

+++ALLELUIA+++

XVIII–21–5-120-2024

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