Friday news dump: EPA knew of Animas River spill risks

The Environmental Protection Agency chose the traditional time to obscure bad news--late Friday afternoon--to release bad information. It could be worse--the agency could have released more poisons into a Rocky Mountain river instead, as it did into the Animas River earlier this month.

From AP:

Internal documents released late Friday show managers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were aware of the potential for a catastrophic "blowout" at an abandoned mine that could release "large volumes" of wastewater laced with toxic heavy metals.

EPA released the documents following weeks of prodding from The Associated Press and other media organizations. EPA and contract workers accidentally unleashed 3 million gallons of contaminated wastewater on Aug. 5 as they inspected the idled Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado.

From Da Tech Guy: The "experts" are wrong on Trump

In my weekly post at Da Tech Guy--I take a look at the Donald Trump phenomenon and I learn that the know-it-alls know nothing: The "experts" are wrong on Trump.

Beyond picking up trash: Illinois needs to make volunteering easier at state parks

Illinois & Michigan Canal State
Trail, Ottawa, IL

Here are few entences from an ABC 7 Chicago article about Illinois & Michigan State Trail--parts of which are crumbling--that jumped out at me

"Bad politicians. Bad politicians is what we've got," Chuck Burke, bicyclist, said.

For lovers of the I & M Canal Trail there is great frustration. Volunteers want to help, but all they're allowed to do is pick up trash.

"If the state is not going to be doing the funding on an ongoing basis, what else can be done? "

Why aren't volunteers allowed to do more? Self-serving public sector union workers and contractors who grease the palms of politicians are probably why that is. Hey, I'm not saying any chucklehead can drive a backhoe--but surely volunteers can regrade a crushed gravel trail, fix a water fountain or two, or replace vandalized signs. One small way for Illinois to dig itself out of its self-induced morass is to allow volunteers to do more--and not just in the parks.

Oh, cyclist Burke is right. Illinois has bad politicians, with a few exceptions such as our reform governor, Bruce Rauner, who was elected to confront the old order.

Related posts:

Illinois & Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor at 30

Starved Rock State Park--sad site on the west end

(Photos) 1964 Chevy C10 pickup truck

A week ago a 1964 Chevy C10 pickup drove up to my workplace.

The muffler, if it has one, is ineffective.

Sure its body needs some work--but don't the bodies of humans need work after five decades?

(Video) Reagan Library South Lawn Time Lapse

As the day passes at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, listen to these memorable words from the greatest president of my lifetime:

"Our country is a special place, because we Americans have always been sustained, through good times and bad, by a noble vision -- a vision not only of what the world around us is today but what we as a free people can make it be tomorrow." - Ronald Reagan, State of the Union Address January 25, 1983.

Yes, our current occupant in the White House is incapable of saying anything like what the Gipper says here.

Related posts:

• Report from Tampico, Illinois on Reagan's 100th birthday
• Marathon Pundit's Ronald Reagan Trail

Today in North Platte, Nebraska: 50th anniversary celebration of the Buffalo Bill State Historical Park

Scout's Rest in 2010

Although the term came later, the Honorable William F. Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill, was the first international superstar. And although he lived a long life for his time, Cody achieved an almost unfathomable amount of things. He was a Pony Express rider, a Union civil war soldier, a buffalo hunter for the railroads, an Army scout during the Plains Indians wars, the originator of what later became known as rodeo, and of course, the star attraction of his road show, Buffalo Bill's Wild West.

Later today at Cody's Scout's Rest Ranch in North Platte, Nebraska--there will be celebration there in honor of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Buffalo Bill State Historical Park. If you are anywhere near North Platte today I urge you to attend. And anytime you are in southwestern Nebraska add Scout's Rest to your itinerary. Don't believe the buffoonish modern media portrayals of Cody--he was a great American.

Related post:

Buffalo Bill's Scout's Rest Ranch

Detroit: With police chief's blessing more residents carry guns

Detroit's northwest side
last month

Detroit has notoriously long response times for 911 calls. Its police chief, James Craig, suggested that Detroiters arm themselves.

And they are.

From Fox News:

The chief's call to arms, which first came in December, 2013, has been answered by thousands of men and women tired of being victims and eager to reclaim their beleaguered city. In 2014, some new 1,169 handgun permits were issued, while 8,102 guns were registered with Detroit's police department - many to prior permit holders who bought new firearms. So for in 2015, nearly 500 permits have issued by the department and more than 5,000 guns have been registered.

"There's definitely been a 'Chief Craig' effect," Rick Ector, a firearms instructor who runs the blog Legally Armed in Detroit. "His support and endorsement has been helpful."

Obtaining a concealed-carry permit in the state of Michigan is not difficult compared to states with stricter gun laws. Eligible citizens can meet the state's training requirement in eight hours, and firearms academies and gun shops within the city offer one-day courses for as little as $99.

Ector said that he and other instructors have seen a steady rise in locals looking to get a permit, to protect themselves either on the street or in their homes. While data showing a relation between increased gun ownership and the crime rate is not available, Ector said legally armed residents are having an effect.

From my post at Da Tech Guy:

I walked its streets--the tragedy of Detroit.

(Photos) The abandoned Greystone Motel in Three Rivers, Michigan

Because of the plethora of summer camps in the area, there are surprisingly many hotels and motels in Three Rivers, Michigan in the southwestern part of the state.

One of the first was probably the Greystone Motel at 59271 S. US Highway 131, which is diagonally across the street from the big Meier's store. It closed around ten years ago.

Weeds are growing in the asphalt.

Inside the office. Was this a small laundry room?

The stones of the hotel are the color of...c'mon now, you know. There appears to be small trees growing in the gutter.

When I was a boy motels such as the Greystone were common even in cities.

(MSNBC video) WashPo's Cilizza: Hillary email scandal is another example of the Clintons' "believing that the rules don't apply to them"

While on MSNBC's Morning Joe earlier today the Washington Post's Chris Cilizza said about the Hillary email scandal that it is another example of the Clintons' "believing that the rules don't apply to them."

Latvia and Estonia weighing burqa bans

Latvian flag

Latvia and Estonia, two nations not accustomed to hosting third world refugees, may soon be getting plenty of them. Most of these expected newcomers are Muslims. In response, the Baltic Review is reporting that the neighboring Baltic states are considering burqa bans. France, Belgium, and the Netherlands already prohibit the wearing of the full-body coverings that some Muslim women wear--although if you scour the Koran--you'll see that it is a burqa-free book.