Watching the destruction wrought by the mother of all hurricanes, Irma, brought back memories of far lesser tropical storms and the one hurricane I witnessed during my 4-year tenure at a high school in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
During that memorable hurricane, we adventurous youth went out to the Florida Beach to assess the wind and watch the surf begin to boil. We stayed there until the Police forced us to leave and return to our homes, which all contained outdoor wooden shutters that were closed to protect the windows from the raging wind. The only way to describe the force of the wind is to compare it to the sound of a nearby passing locomotive. At one point at the height of the storm, I glanced through a crack in the shutters and noticed that the palm trees were being bent into an almost horizontal position, literally touching the ground. When the furious storm had passed, we went out to survey the damage which consisted primarily of downed palm fronds, scattered shingles and a few downed power lines, nothing to compare with what happened recently when Irma blanketed the entire state. Many small town names that had faded from memory were recalled when enclaves such as Hollywood, Jupiter, Dania, Davie and West Palm Beach flashed across the TV screen.
The ongoing assessment of damages will probably take months to occur, for never in history has an entire state been so affected.
During my time in Florida, I visited most of the major cities from Jacksonville in the north to Key Biscayne in the south. But I never ventured as far southward as Key West, which has reportedly suffered some 90% damages.
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During the middle of last week, Hillary Clinton’s long-awaited book, “What Happened” went on sale. In snippets released by Hillary in interviews, she continued her laundry list of reasons as to why she lost the election. Number one on that list should be Hillary herself. Number two should be Bernie Sanders, who split the Democratic vote. Number three is her devious and on-going denial of wrongdoing in the matter of deletions of emails from her private server after being subpoenaed. Number four would be her prevarication about the Benghazi attack and number five is her campaign management style. The list would probably reach into the teens and would certainly include husband Bill’s clandestine meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
In one interview, Clinton lambasted FBI Director James Comey and said she should have been more forceful in replying to his assertions. Actually in Comey’s case, when he gave his famous indictment/exoneration testimony before Congress, it looked as if the Director was playing both ends against the middle. In effect, Comey was pandering to the possibility of Trump being elected in his opening remarks and then covering his rear by exonerating Clinton in his closing statement.
To answer Hillary’s question about “What happened?” she has only to read the book, “Shattered”, which goes into riveting detail about the confusion and consternation that existed in her campaign from day one.
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If you missed the fact that the annual Virginia City Camel Races occurred in early September, you are not alone. The races, which have a checkered career over some fifty years, have been promoted by many different entities. Going back to the initial race in 1960, there were some powerful publicity stories, especially in the local Reno, Sparks and Carson City Press that generated some 8000 visitors to the event. This was due to the combination of Hollywood celebs as participants, Harrah’s Horseless Carriages, the Reno Mayor as Grand Marshall, the entire Reno Municipal Band in the parade and notable columnist Herb Caen churning out thousands of words about the event.
This year there was a dearth of new stories and pictures in the Reno-Sparks Press, the explanation being that the event’s current promotors were relying heavily on social media.
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Also in the middle of last week, a nagging question was finally answered when UNR Football Coach, Jay Norvell was asked what happened to the quarterback, David Cornwell, the highly recruited Alabama superstar who has yet to appear in a UNR game. In response, Norvell glossed over his reply by stating that all new members of his team are still being evaluated. Whether that evaluation led to quarterback Ty Gangi starting Nevada’s first two games and freshman Kaymen Cureton starting the third contest is a moot point. Cornwell is the current “Face of the Wolfpack” as far as all printed material distributed by the University is concerned. If he does not start or does not stay at Nevada, what will happen to the vaunted “air raid” offense that Norvell has promised?
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