In reviewing some of my recent posts, I’ve noticed a trend. I’m spending a lot of time and space complaining. I try to be a positive person, but some of the things I’ve witnessed in the past few months make it difficult. I’m going to point out a few things here that bother me a bit. But I also hope to point out some of the beautiful things left in this old world.

I have been a fan of CNN for years. I rely on that network to present up-to-the-minute news day or night. Although live programming usually ends at 11 p.m., we know that if something big happens in the middle of the night, CNN will be back on with live reports.

Lately, I’ve become a bit disappointed in this news outlet. CNN and its sister network, Headline News, has devoted a staggering amount of attention to a murder trial in Florida. For those of you who have been living in a cave for the past couple of years, authorities accuse Casey Anthony of killing her young daughter. Casey Anthony is not the daughter of a head of state, or an heiress. By all accounts, she might be a troubled young woman who may or may not have smothered her daughter and stashed the body in the trunk of a car.

Unfortunately, this case doesn’t seem to be unique in a world where there is still way too much violence and lack of respect for human life. But somewhere along the line, some genius in a newsroom somewhere decided to play up this case and suddenly the courthouse is surrounded by network TV satellite trucks and spectators are fighting each other for a spot in line to sit in the courtroom.

Before you plan your day tomorrow around scheduled TV coverage of the trial, ask yourself this question: “How does this murder trial directly affect me or my hope of making my world a better place?” Murder trials usually drag on for months, if not years. During the time much of this country’s attention has been zeroed in on this non-remarkable event, dozens or maybe even hundreds of others have met a violent death. Where was the extended TV coverage for them?

Make no mistake. The death of any child is tragic. But aren’t we really doing a disservice to the memory of other victims by focusing so much attention on one routine murder case in Florida?

Another recent media-generated guilty pleasure involves the case of a New York congressman, Anthony Weiner. He finally admitted that he had sent improper text messages to several women and ultimately resigned from Congress. He didn’t represent my district. As far as I could determine, he would never have become a serious candidate for president. But just because a photo surfaced of a clothed portion of his anatomy, we all became anxious to see what would happen next in this incident.

While being a bit critical of CNN, aren’t we all growing tired of that yellow banner that seems to flash across the screen every hour that says “Breaking News.”? I always thought that breaking news was the term used to get our attention to an event that had happened within the hour. But the network is using it way too often. It’s like the old fable about the boy who cried “wolf.” After awhile, it loses its meaning. Anderson Cooper, you should know better. During Hurricane Katrina, you did a wonderful job of keeping local, state and federal officials honest in their bungling of aid to the citizens of New Orleans. You must want to choke when the hucksters in your control room flash the “Breaking News” banner across the screen for a story that actually broke 10 hours before.

As for our morbid fascination with the Casey Anthony and Anthony Weiner stories in this world, I have one question to ask: Don’t we all have better things to do? And don’t get me started on the explosion of “reality” TV shows. That’s for another time.

Personally, I have other things to be concerned with. I am still looking for a job that will take me to my retirement years. We are involved in several wars that are taking lives of our troops on a weekly basis. On a lighter note, I still have hope the Chicago Cubs can put it all together in the second half of the season and make a run at a pennant. And the NFL owners and players still are at odds, jeopardizing the most important season of the year – pro football season.

I promised to mention some of the more uplifting things happening in this world, so here goes. When I grow tired of worrying about murdered children, wacko politicians or pro sports, I wander out to the screened in porch and sit and watch the activity around our bird feeders. We have a colony of gold finches that stop by on a regular basis. At the other feeder at least a couple of hummingbirds visit regularly. It has been a long time since I saw a gold finch and it took 58 years for me to see my first hummingbird. And yesterday, our neighborhood was visited by a large red-tailed hawk, that perched on the roof of a neighboring building and sent out his plaintive cry for a half-hour or so.

Naked pictures of a New York congressman can’t top that.

Brayden Morrow figured in three of the finals events and Keegan DeMeulenaere competed in two as the Belle Plaine boys finished 12^th at the state track meet Saturday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. Madrid was the team winner with 74 points. The Plainsmen finished in 12^th place with 16 points. Sixty teams scored points at the meet.

Morrow finished third in the 400 meter hurdle finals and seventh in the 110 meter hurdle finals. He joined DeMeulenaere, Ben Ehlen and Cooper Northrop to place seventh in the 4 x 100 meter relay. DeMeulenaere was third in the 110 meter hurdle finals.

But the shuttle hurdle relay team of Morrow, Dustin Drexler, Northrop and DeMeulenaere was disqualified in the prelims. The 4 x 400 meter relay team of DeMeulenaere, Chase Bryant, Devin Conway and Ben Ehlen was 21^st in the prelims. Ehlen also competed in the high jump, but was unable to make the opening height.

Belle Plaine runners brought home three first place finishes and two seconds en route to a second place finish Saturday at the girls’ state track meet in Des Moines. Griswold took the team title with 57 points, but the Plainsmen were a strong second with 46. Sixty-two teams scored in the meet.

Emily Toennies figured in all three titles for Belle Plaine. She finished first in the 200 and 400 meter events and teamed with Larissa Fowler, Julie Long and Dani Coover to take the sprint medley relay. Toennies was second in the 100 meter dash. Coover was second in the 100 meter hurdle finals.

The Plainsmen also competed in three other relays, but didn’t qualify for the finals. The shuttle hurdle relay team of Darian Griffith, Shayla Hinschberger, Fowler and Coover finished 16^th in the preliminaries. The 4 x 400 meter relay team of Brialy Carlson, Justice Yilek, Hope Kriegel and Long was 22^nd in the prelims. The 4 x 100 meter relay team of Griffith, Coover, Fowler and Long placed tenth in the prelims. Only the top eight teams advanced to the finals.

The future looks bright for the Plainsmen. Toennies is just a sophomore and several other state qualifiers will have eligibility remaining. The team’s premiere hurdler for the past few years, Dani Coover, is a senior this year.

This might be my last column. Please don’t misunderstand. It’s been a real pleasure being able to use this forum to vent my frustrations from time to time and at other times, to congratulate people for their good actions. I’ve had a Ramblings column for more than 35 years, in three newspapers, later on the internet and most recently on my own blog.

But according to the 89-year-old owner of the Christian Family Radio Network, the end is coming on Saturday, May 21. He says it should happen at about 6 p.m. But he doesn’t say if that’s eastern time, Mountain time or Zulu, whatever that is.

According to published reports, Harold Camping has calculated via some Bible verses and mathematics that we are less than two days away from extinction. He is so certain of this that he has posted the message on 2,000 billboards across the country and taken out a lot of big newspaper ads to warn us all.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Camping had first predicted that the end would come in September, 1994. When most of us were still here the next day, he explained that he had uncovered new Biblical information, or news flash or revelation, that said that calculation was off.

I feel quite safe in continuing with this column. After all, if he’s right, he won’t be around to tell me “I told you so” and I won’t be around to listen. I would hope we would both have better things to do at that point in getting acquainted with our heavenly home.

I don’t mean to mock someone who studies the Bible. In a secular sense, everybody needs a hobby. In a spiritual sense, if you are a believer, you know Biblical study is vital to a better understanding of your faith. But in the limited understanding I have of the Bible and based on more than 50 years of listening to sermons from a variety of preachers, I remember hearing that God will take us in his own sweet time and we won’t necessarily know when that will be.

The Bible is a great book to study. But the danger is if you open the book and have a notion of what you want it to say, you might see something that really isn’t there. That explains that nut case in Florida who claimed he was doing God’s work when he planned on burning copies of the Koran. All this did was give the leader of a congregation of under 100 his 15 minutes of fame and prompted riots and the deaths of several people in the Middle East.

There have been numerous incidents where people have murdered doctors who performed abortions under the misguided theory that they were doing God’s work. Then there’s that nut case preacher in Kansas who feels compelled to stage noisy, irreverent protests near the funerals of war heroes, claiming to do the work of the Lord.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out here that I am a Christian. I believe that is the one guaranteed way to eternal life. But I would be the last to try to force my beliefs on others. In fact, I admire the dedication others show in their faith journey. There are hundreds of millions of Muslims in this world. I don’t agree with what they teach, but I admire the devotion of the vast majority of them who practice their religion in peace. My heart aches for the Jews and the persecution they went through in World War II. I don’t agree with their teaching, but admire their devotion. I may not agree with all of the teachings of the Mormons, but I think all of us could learn a lot on how they conduct their missionary teachings.

I draw the line at inciting riots, killing or dying “in God’s name” or mocking others who choose to practice their faith in peace.

I really don’t know if Mr. Camping is right. Maybe the second coming will be Saturday at 5:30 and when Mr. Camping asks God what happened to the 6 p.m. Schedule, He will say, “who’s in charge here anyway?”

But just in case he’s wrong, I plan on picking out my clothes Saturday afternoon for Sunday church. And I’ll begin thinking of what to write in this space next week. Just in case…

Belle Plaine sophomore Emily Toennies qualified in three individual running events, including a state-best time in the 400 meter dash as the Plainsman girls qualified eight events for this week’s state co-ed track meet in Des Moines.

According to the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, Toennies was also a qualifier in the 100 and 200 meter dashes. Senior Dani Coover returns to the state meet after qualifying in the 100 meter hurdles. Her time was second best in the state in Class 1A, just six-one hundredeths of a second behind the state leader.

The Plainsmen also qualified in the 4 x 100 meter shuttle hurdle relay, the 4 x 100, 4 x 400 and the sprint medley relays.

It will be a busy late afternoon on Thursday for Toennies, who competes in the prelims of the 100 meter dash at 4:20 p.m. And the 200 meter dash at 6:20 p.m., then the finals in the 400 meter dash 40 minutes later.

Coover will compete in the prelims of the 100 meter hurdles Friday at 5:20 p.m. But the 4 x 100 meter hurdle relay prelims are set for Thursday at 7:40 p.m. The prelims in the 4 x 100 meter relay will be Friday at 6:20 p.m. And the 4 x 400 relay just 40 minutes later. The sprint medley finals kick off action on Saturday at 9 a.m.

The finals in the 100 meters are set for 12:15 p.m., the 100 meter hurdles at 12:35 p.m., the 200 meters at 1:25, the 4 x 100 meter relay at 3:05 and the 4 x 400 relay at 3:35 p.m.

Morrow also qualified in the 400 meter hurdles with the third best time of the state qualifiers. The Plainsman shuttle hurdle relay team also qualified with the best time in the state in Class 1A.

Belle Plaine also posted a strong time in the 4 x 100 meter relay, taking the fourth best finish in the state into Des Moines this week. The 4 x 400 relay squad also qualified, posting the sixth best time in the field. High jumper Ben Ehlen also qualified with the 18^th best height in the field.

The first event for Plainsman athletes this week will be the preliminaries in the shuttle hurdle relay on Thursday at 2:40 p.m.

The next event is the high jump, set for 2 p.m. Friday. The 400 meter hurdle finals are set for 3:20 p.m. The 110 meter hurdle preliminary is set for 5 p.m. Friday. The prelims for the 4 x 100 meter relay will be run Friday at 6:40 p.m., with the prelims in the 4 x 400 meter relay set for 7:40 p.m.

The remaining finals will be run Saturday afternoon, with the 110 meter hurdles at 12:45 p.m., the 4 x 100 relay at 3:40 p.m. And the 4 x 400 relay at 4:05 p.m., the last event of the meet.

Boy oh boy! I’m gone just over two months and what had been a relatively calm and routine part of my job of covering the Belle Plaine Board of Education suddenly becomes what might qualify as the news story of the year!

Two of the five members of the board have resigned. One replacement has been appointed and the board is seeking candidates for the other position.

In over 35 years of covering school boards, the only thing certain is that every board has its own personality. Each board has its own way of working with its superintendent, depending on that superintendent’s experience and strengths and the board’s confidence in him or her.

I believe that the best board is one that is representive of the community. A strong board will have at least one retired educator serving on it, but it’s wise that the majority of members not be former educators. A strong board should have a representative of the business community, but not a majority of business people who don’t have children in the schools. A strong board should also have at least one parent of children currently in the district, but should not be made up entirely of parents of children in the district.

The board that served while I was living in Belle Plaine covered all of these traits. It included two local business people, two retired educators and one other professional who has children in the district.

This board has done some great things. In hiring Bill Lynch as the BP superintendent, it found a guy who is very gifted in many aspects of school administration. He showed the district how it could maintain its identity while sharing programs and some educators with neighboring HLV. He also showed the community how it could afford a number of wonderful school improvements during these tough economic times.

Jim Pierce and Don McKinney have both decided to resign from the board. Both of them were valuable members of the board, offering their own insights on many matters from their years of professional experience. In his letter of resignation, McKinney expressed some frustration with the amount of power the local board has in determining how the school district is operated. Although Pierce did not indicate a reason for his resignation in his letter, he had clashed with the architect during the building project on several problems uncovered during the process.

The three remaining members of the board will continue to have important decisions to make in the coming months. They made their first wise decision on Friday when they appointed Brad Cook to fill one of the vacancies. I’ll admit I’m biased, since Brad was instrumental in getting Belle Plaine Now up and running. I valued our working relationship, even when he showed he could be a demanding boss. He was very supportive and encouraging, but let you know when you fell short of expectations.

He is a good businessman, as well as a father of kids in the schools. He loves this town and this school district and it shows by the interest he’s shown in supporting many activities in the schools.

Losing 40 percent of a board can lead to a period of upheaval. But this board and superintendent has proved time and again that it has the qualties needed to lead the district in the years to come. Belle Plaine is truly fortunate to have the quality of people willing to serve on its school board. When you see a board member on the street, in the store or at a school function, it wouldn’t hurt to thank them for their tireless service. And some of that thanks should also go to Don and Jim for all they did while serving on the board.

I loved my time working Belle Plaine. As I seek my next challenge, I know whatever it is, it will have to be something really special to top the experiences I had on many beats, especially the school board beat.

It’s Thanksgiving week and many of us are naturally thinking about food and how we are going to remember all of the groceries we need to get from the store, how we are going to prepare it and if we are joining others for the day, how we are going to get there.

Just maybe before the turkey is carved and the first football game begins, we will take a few moments to consider what we are truly thankful for. While it could be argued that with the country at war and the economy in a mess, being thankful seems a bit more difficult this year. But if we are looking forward to a feast on Thursday and have a roof over our heads and a warm place to sleep, we have to admit we are truly blessed.

Many of you already know my story and how I recently had a life-changing, location-changing experience. With how I’ve been adapting in the past few weeks, I have been reminded how thankful I am for family. That not only includes the family I am becoming reacquainted with in the Quad-City area, but my extended family of friends in and around Belle Plaine who have provided so much moral support and good wishes for my future.

I am also thankful for a couple of other things this time of year. I am thankful that I am not planning on traveling by air anytime soon. I am convinced that the thugs who planned and implemented the horrible events of 911 were not too smart, How could they have predicted that one morning of terror would cause such upheaval nearly a decade later in our nation’s airports? In the days following the attack, many of us immediately viewed anyone who looked like they came from a Middle Eastern country as suspect. I thought at that time if the terrorists really wanted to bring this country to its knees, it would have recruited some fair-haired people of Irish or Scandinavian descent to carry out the attacks. Any hints of racial profiling would fly out the window if police began stopping any redheaded or blond man or woman they encountered.

I realize that we need airport security. A few years ago when I took my first commercial flight, I was comforted by the fact that the officials asked me to remove my shoes and belt and ran a wand over me scanning for metals, etc. But there was no frisking, no thought of full-body scans. But we have to quickly find a way to become less intrusive in safeguarding our flights than we are doing now. Each time someone protests the current searches, the terrorists win another battle.

The other thing I am thankful for this week is the fact that I feel absolutely no pressing need to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. It’s been called “Black Friday,” but merchants should call it “Green Friday” or “Lifeboat Friday,” as they rely on this one day to bring in enough income to perhaps survive for another year.

I currently live within about a quarter-mile from one of the biggest shopping areas in the Quad-City area. There are several big box retailers, at least four grocery stores, four pharmacies and countless strip malls within a one- mile radius of my room. Although some folks who may know something about urban planning may not fully agree with how this area is developing, perhaps one of the great assets of the area is a major hospital and trauma center on one edge of the shopping district. The officials at Trinity Medical Center may be adding staff for the emergency room for Friday. Let’s hope not.

We have one friend in this area who is already mapping out her strategy for Black Friday. She and her husband have a particular gift in mind for their college freshman son. So she is planning on waiting in line in one of those big box retailers until the item she is looking for goes on sale at 5 a.m. She figures she and her husband will split up for the morning, each searching for specific bargains, then meet for breakfast a couple hours later before returning home and going back to bed for a midmorning nap.

The good thing about having a limited income is that you don’t have to spend a lot of time shopping on Black Friday. I have an idea what I am going to get for the folks on my Christmas list, but I figure the stores will most certainly restock at least once or twice after this weekend before Christmas comes. I’m in no hurry.

During my recent whirlwind move, I was amazed just how much stuff I had accumulated over the years and hadn’t seen or used in well over a year. Some of it went into storage. Much more of it went into a big dumpster on my driveway. So I am keeping this in mind as I finally do go out to do my holiday shopping as I attempt to find things that the gift recipients really need and will use and appreciate.

As you prepare to celebrate this week, take a moment to remember what you are really thankful for. Say a prayer of thanks, pray for the safety of our troops and the peace of mind of their families, find a way to volunteer at a community meal this season or some other way to express your gratitude for another good year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

“Tell Gary to hang on, I’ll be home this weekend.”

That was my message to my mom the first of this month as I made final preparations to move from Belle Plaine to Davenport. The job situation dictated it was time to look elsewhere and as I’ve said before, when I learned that my employment was ending in Belle Plaine, my first thought was maybe it was God’s way of telling me to get closer to mom, aunts, uncles and cousins.

I certainly didn’t expect another message in the form of a jolt of bad news so soon. On my last trip home before the move, I learned that my Uncle Gary had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. His doctors had offered some treatment, but said with the form of cancer he had, the treatment would be no guarantee of extra quality time and certainly no real hope of a cure. So Gary and his wife decided that he would take the time he had left without the invasive treatment.

Two weeks later, my mom and I were sitting in Gary and Amy’s living room on a Sunday afternoon. The Bears game was playing softly in the background. Gary was heavily sedated and lying on a hospital bed that took up much of the room. Although unable to speak very much at this point, he was awake and even sat up a couple of times. Due to the medication, we were unsure of whether he really recognized us. But as we were living, Mom gave her younger brother a hug and I shook his hand (a surprisingly firm handshake on his part) and we said we’d see him again. The next day, he was gone.

Much of this story is undoubtedly familiar to all too many of us who have lost a loved one to this horrible disease. But a 66-yeear-old man in otherwise seemingly good health, without a weight problem who led an active lifestyle is just not supposed to die like this.

So what’s the point of this story for the readers? It’s much more than a chance for me to pay tribute to this gentle, compassionate man who seemingly never met a stranger. It goes back to my first point of reconnecting with family.

Make no mistake, I loved my time in Belle Plaine and my time in Independence before that. I consider many of you a member of my extended family and really appreciate the words of support and encouragement you have shown me. But I have to admit that on some of those sunny Sunday afternoons, as I drove down the streets of Belle Plaine and noticed some homes where there were several cars parked nearby, I felt a little homesick. I realized that in at least some of those homes, moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, aunts, uncles and cousins of all ages were gathered for a Sunday feast and a time of rememberance.

These family gatherings were common when I was growing up. But as is the case with a lot of things, you don’t realize how important they were until they didn’t happen as often, if at all. I have heard high school seniors say they can hardly wait until they graduate so they can leave Belle Plaine and never look back. My advice is, go out, seek your fortune. Whether you find your future near or far, don’t forget those Sunday afternoons with family. Not everyone is lucky enough to have relatives that love them.

In past years, reporters for the Plainsman have interviewed students about their holiday plans. I am encouraged when many of them mention how they plan to spend time with their families. It may not seem as exciting as a ski trip to the mountains, but I’ve learned that family time is fleeting and you have to take advantage of it as long as you can.

Sorry if this has seemed a bit preachy and I thank you readers for your patience. Many families have people like my uncle Gary, but unfortunately sometimes we don’t realize it until they’re gone.

Rest in peace, Uncle Gary.

Des Moines, Iowa-Volunteer blood donors are asked to make donations on a regular basis because the need for donated blood is continuous.  There are times, however, when regular blood donors are unable to donate due to illness or travel.  This is why it is especially important for people who have never donated blood to give it a try and take the step toward making blood donation a life-long habit.

Eligible blood donors must be at least 16 years old, should weigh at least 120 pounds and should be in general good health.  Blood donors are encouraged to eat a good meal and drink plenty of water prior to making a blood donation.  A photo ID is required to register to donate blood.

Please plan to donate blood at the Belle Plaine High School Blood Drive on Monday, November 22, 2010 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  The drive will be held in the gym at Belle Plaine High School at 610 13^th Avenue.

For more information or to schedule an appointment to donate, please contact Lisa Daily at (319) 444-3720.  You can also schedule your appointment online at www.bloodcenterof iowa.org.