Sellnow's Journal

Rochester resident compares shoveling ordinance to ancient British tyranny

Here's a note from an anonymous reader following our latest — light — snowfall...

Rochester Minnesota 2012 department of public works. Citations
for Removal of snow from sidewalks. Rochester England 1200s King John
miss-used taxation of the Poor for self gain.
Rochester Minnesota 2012, 15th February 10.20am. Little snow. Less than
24hrs $120 for forced removal of snow after tenant cleaned majority at 8pm
night before. $50 to even challenge. Rochester England 1200s King John
Over taxed, unpopular King - lost most of kingdom - Hated by People!
The citation rule is fair when justifiable, but less than an inch,
majority already cleared, temperatures above 32oF???? Shame.
Where is our Robin Hood Rochester Minnesota. This POWER is a blight on
public rights.
Shame on you King John.... History remembers you.Shame on you
Rochester.... This is dishonesty of the worst kind.
Ashamed Rochesterian

A recipe for "funeral hotdish"

I was just cleaning out some old emails from my "Ultimate Minnesota Hotdish" recipe contest last summer and ran across a recipe from a reader for "funeral hotdish," as in something warm and comforting you might eat at a winter Minnesota funeral... I'm getting hungry.

Funeral Hotdish  

1-2 lbs. browned hamburger with some onion to taste.

1 can of cream of tomato soup

1 can of chicken with rice soup

1 can of vegtable beef soup

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

1 large can of chow mein noodles

 Mix all together in a casserole dish and bake covered at 350 degrees for about 1 hour and uncovered 15 minutes until slightly brown.  Makes a large batch and can be frozen before baking. 

 Sarabeth Watson

 

No, I didn't say all elderly people should be put in nursing homes

I knew this was coming. I got a call this afternoon from an 81-year-old man who read me the riot act for suggesting in my Tuesday column that elderly people be put in nursing homes if they can't shovel their own sidewalks within 24 hours of a snowfall.

"I've been reading your column for a long time," he said, "and I almost always agree with you. But this time you got it wrong. You said people who don't get the walks shoveled on time should go into nursing homes." 

To recap: In my column today I supported the new, tougher city regulations that increase the fines for people who neglect to shovel their walks more than 24 hours after a snowfall, to around $100 for the average home. I answered the claim that the new regulations will be an undue burden on the disabled and elderly who can't shovel their walks — at least not in a timely fashion — with this. If you can't physically maintain your property — lawn, sidewalk, etc., — and you can't afford to hire someone to shovel your walk, or get a neighbor or relative to do it, then perhaps it's time to consider other living arrangements. Such as an apartment, or condominium or — if you're in poor health — an assisted living facility.

I  knew some people would jump to the conclusion that I hate old people. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I simply suggested that home ownership in a city comes with certain responsibilities and you can't expec the city to make exceptions to those responsibilities because of physical infirmity, regardless of age.

One thing I should have added, however. A second option for people who aren't able to shovel their walks, in addition to hiring someone to do it for them, is to rely on the kindness of neighbors. My neighbors, on either side of me, are both in their 70s and 80s. They've made it clear to me that they're perfectly able to shovel their own walks. But the day they aren't able is the day I'm out there shoveling their walks for them. I need the exercise anyway. Please, folks, pay attention to your neighbors, even if you don't know them very well. If they need help with something like shoveling a walk or driveway, give them a hand.

A final point. Seniors are precisely the group of people I'm most concerned about when I condemn people who leave their walks unshoveled for weeks or months at a time. No one, especially seniors,  should have to risk a broken hip or ankle while trying to walk four blocks to the local convenience store.

 

It's time for a law outlawing cell phone use while driving

A few evenings ago, while I was driving west on East Center Street a car pulled out in front of me from a side street near the Boys and Girls Club. There were no cars behind me, so there was no need for the driver to risk an accident by trying to beat a long line of cars.

I slowed suddenly to avoid hitting the car, and resisted the urge to slam on the horn. "Probably some kid, who's just going to do something even more stupid, like hit the brakes, if I push the horn," I thought. But a few blocks later, at the intersection of Civic Center Drive and Center, I was forced to hit the horn. The woman driver sat at the light for a full five seconds after it turned green. Might have been 10 or 30 seconds had I not tapped the horn.

Of course, when the driver — who by now I could tell was yapping away on a cell phone — heard the horn she accelerated quickly and then jerked to a stop at the stop sign a block away. It was the most dangerous display of driving I'd seen in, well, in about five days, since the last time I encountered someone driving and carrying on a conversation on a cell phone at the same time.

It's time folks. The Legislature needs to outlaw cell phone use while driving. I will admit that some people — I'm not one of them, and neither is the woman I encountered the other day — can multi-task just fine. They can carry on a cell phone conversation, adjust the station on the radio and smoke a cigarette while driving, all at the same time, without endangering the lives of everyone around them.

But they're in the minority. Our streets would be infinitely more safe if we outlawed cell phone use while driving.

I keep hearing three primary arguments against this:

1. Police won't or don't have time to enforce such a menial law, so it won't do any good.

2. It's a violation of our civil liberties to force us to do something against our will in the privacy of our own vehicles.

3. You can't legislate against stupidity. If people are going to do something dangerous in their cars, they're going to do it, no matter what laws are passed. What next, are you going to pass a law against fiddling with the car radio or stereo, or drinking coffee while driving?

First, making something against the law DOES change behavior, regardless of enforcement. Our now 92 percent compliance with a mandatory seat belt law some said would never be obeyed is evidence of that. The vast majority of Minnesotans are law abiding citizens, even if they disagree with some of the laws they're forced to abide by.

On point Number Two: When I was in high school and working in the dark room of our hometown paper, I helped process film (remember film?) from the scene of an accident in which two people were killed when the car they were in was broadsided. One of the victims was a high school classmate of mine. The other victim was her 3-year-old nephew. The child would have lived had he been in a car seat (they weren't required by law back then) when the accident happened. Looking at those photos affected me profoundly. Just when does a proposed law stop being viewed as a prospective nuisance and start being viewed as something that will save lives. 

And finally, it's true that you can't legislate against stupidity, but by passing a law against something, you as legislators send a strong message to the public that you mean business. Just as some people can't chew gum and walk at the same time, some people can't talk on a cell phone and make a safe turn at the same time. I'm OK with clumsy gum chewers. I'm not OK with clumsy, distracted drivers who could kill or injure the innocent people around them.

Your best chance for a look at an albino deer in Minnesota

If you want to get a look at an albino deer in the wild in Minnesota you might want to travel to Father Hennepin State Park on the south shore of Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota.

As reader Corey Belkstrom of Rochester pointed out in an email to me, there is a small herd of albino deer in the park and they're protected from hunters. (Albino deer can reproduce, but they usually don't live long in areas where they're not protected because they're so highly visible during the hunting season.)

Corey passed along several photos that he took last summer, including the one below.

A crow assassin dines on his prey

Reader Dana Skare passed along these photos of a hawk — maybe an bird person can tell me what kind of hawk this is — taken a year ago from the driveway of his house near Saint Mary's hospital.

Is this the answer to our crow problem — more hungry predators?

Should school cafeterias offer vegan alternatives?

I received the letter below from a group called the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. That's kind of a deceptive title. Actually, it's a PETA-like organization, only for people in the health care field, that promotes a vegan diet and protests animal slaughter and testing.

It was written in response to the new, healthier school lunch guidelines released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture this week. 

Generally, I think these groups carry things way too far when it comes to promoting a diet free of meat, dairy and egg products. But I think they have at least the germ of a point here. I realize that the USDA wants to help maintain strong meat, dairy and poultry industries here. They're a huge part of our economy and that's as it should be. But do we really need to feed our kids meals that include milk every day? Do we really need to include a meat product every day? Is it necessary to use cheese as the only distraction to get kids to eat their vegetables?

If you haven't done so already, check out the USDA's new Supertracker website. It's one of the better free sites I've seen for tracking your food intake, exercise and weight, and I've been using it religiously for a couple of weeks. In addition to the tracking capability, it also includes recommended thresholds for certain foods, to maintain health and lose weight — or not gain any.

For example, the program recommends that a guy my age not take in more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium a day — which so far I'm finding pretty difficult. I hadn't a clue how salt-laden some canned and prepared foods contain.

It also includes a very small allowance for "empty calories" — things like pop, beer or wine, ice cream and candy.

As you might expect, it recommends a lot of fruit (two cups) and vegetables (three cups). But the baffling thing to me is that it also recommends a relatively high amount of protein — (for most of us that means meat and eggs (six ounces), and dairy products (three cups).

Do we really need that much meat and milk or cheese every day?

My guess is that the USDA can get by recommending a tiny amount of salt because the salt industry doesn't have a lot of lobbyists in Washington looking out for its industry. But the dairy industry? The pork and beef industry? Different story.

I'm not suggesting that the USDA, or medical doctors, or any other group recommend a vegan or vegetarian diet. I come from a long line of dairy farmers and beef ranchers and I absolutely love meat and cheese. But wouldn't it be OK to tell Americans that it's all right to eat a meatless main meal once or twice a week. Or that there are alternatives to steak, burgers and bacon to supply our protein needs. Or that you shouldn't have to disguise green beans or broccoli with cheese to get you kids to eat it?

Here's the letter:

School lunches may soon look different—but not different enough to stem the tide of childhood obesity. The U.S. Department of Agriculture just issued new guidelines for school lunches, but as a dietitian, I think it’s unfortunate that burgers, pizza, and other unhealthy foods will likely still be front and center.

The new guidelines do not require schools to offer meatless entrées or nondairy beverage options to all students. Meat, milk, and cheese are packed with calories and saturated fat, and they play a huge role in the obesity epidemic. The new guidelines offer low-fat and nonfat milk, but these products are still high in sugar and cholesterol. And a cup of 1 percent, unflavored low-fat milk has about the same amount of calories as a cup of sugary soda.  

It is estimated that students get half to one-third of their calories at school. We need to make sure schools provide foods that set our future generations up for lifelong good eating habits—and lifelong good health.

Sincerely,

Susan Levin, M.S., R.D.  
Director of Nutrition Education
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine 
5100 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Suite 400 
Washington, D.C. 20016  

Why I favor "Moneyball" for best picture, and tobacco spittin' Brad Pitt for best actor

I don't get a vote, but here's why I favor "Moneyball" for Best Picture and Brad Pitt for Best Actor.

1. It's the only nominated movie I've seen and I liked it. I could quit there, but ...

2. Brad Pitt and I have a few things in common: We both attended the University of Missouri (I actually graduated from Mizzou while he dropped out near the end of his senior year). We both majored in journalism. And, we're about the same age — well, OK, within six years. Hard to believe Brad turns 50 next year.

3. Its about baseball, my favorite sport.

4. It exposes tobacco chewing as the filthy habit it is, with Billy Beane/Brad Pitt spitting into a cup every two or three minutes throughout the film. (I once traveled from Bismarck, N.D., to Buffalo, Wyo. in a pickup with a guy who spit into an uncovered Styrofoam cup the whole way. I'm getting sick to my stomach just thinking about it.)

5. It isn't about vampires, unrequited love, or some famous figure in history who speaks with a British accent.

There. Done. I hope Meryl Streep wins best actress because, well, she's the best actress on the face of the earth. And because she's willing to play a woman over the age of 40 — Margaret Thatcher and Julia Child — with pride and dignity. I'll give her a pass on "Bridges of Madison County." 

 

Minnesota youth hockey follows State High School League's lead.

I received this email less than an hour ago from Minnesota Hockey, which is the governing body for all youth hockey below the high school level in our state.

This follows a similar change by the Minnesota State High School League a week ago.

Any form of checking is prohibited in Minnesota Youth hockey for children at the Pee-Wee level an younger, and for girls at all levels. But checks still occur, and this is an added effort to crack down, following the spinal injury suffered last month by Jack Jablonski.

Minnesota Hockey Announces Rule Changes Minnesota Hockey Members,   In light of recent injuries in high school hockey and with continuing efforts to reduce the risks involved in hockey, the Minnesota Hockey Board of Directors adopted the following rule changes.  Effective Wednesday, January 25, 2012, the minimum penalty for boarding and checking from behind infractions will be increased.  The first level of penalty for Boarding, Rule 603, will become a major and a Checking from Behind, Rule 608, will become a major plus a misconduct.  These changes apply to all Minnesota Hockey sanctioned league, tournament and exhibition (scrimmage) games and will be in effect until the end of the 2011-12 season (July 31, 2012).  The effectiveness of these changes will be evaluated going forward.   These rule changes are being adopted on a pilot basis and all rules and definitions in the USA Hockey  2011-13 Official Rules of Ice Hockey book remain in effect.  Only the first levels of penalties for the two infractions stated above are increased.  Officials need to make these calls and must have the support of the coaches and parents if increasing the consequences for boarding and checking from behind is to have a positive effect.   These revised rules are only part of what is needed to make hockey as safe as possible.  A culture change is required that will no longer encourage dangerous and intimidation play.  Parents, coaches, officials, players and administrators, need to work together, to make that change.  Education, skill development and respect (Fair Play) are key in making the culture change and Minnesota Hockey is committed to continuing to provide leadership in these areas.   During this pilot, HEP Fair Point calculations are not changing. When tabulating total Fair Play penalty minutes, the "equivalency" penalty minute for the first level boarding and checking from behind remain the same;  Boarding, 2 minute minor and checking from behind, 2 minute minor and 10 minute misconduct.   The announcement below provides additional background.     Hockey is a great game and wouldn't be possible without all of the efforts of coaches, officials, administrator and parents.  For all your work we say thank you and ask for your cooperation in implementing these changes.   Thank you,   Dave Margenau President, Minnesota Hockey

 

OK, that was a piebald deer, not an albino

All right, my hunting friends have informed me that the deer I wrote about in the previous post is a "piebald" deer, and not an albino.

Piebalds deer, like albinos, are genetic freaks of nature that are also extremely rare. But they differ from albino deer in that they have some brown coloration, sometimes resembling a pinto or appaloosa horse. If you look closely, you'll see that the deer below has brown on the top of its head and some on its body.

Also, albinos have pink eyes. This deer, like nearly all whitetail deer, has brown eyes.

OK, then. I've learned something today. Thanks to everyone who emailed or posted on facebook to straighten me out on this.