WYOMING
Perhaps in jest, the award-winning Jackson Hole
News&Guide wants readers to come up with a
new welcome sign for the town. The current greeting at Teton Pass
is definitely outmoded: “Howdy, stranger, yonder is Jackson Hole,
the last of the Old West.” With the town now urbanized and
chock-full of New West bazillionaires, the paper suggests more
appropriate messages, such as “Our chai complements your chi,” or
“Jackson Hole, where California plays and Mexico works.”
Ski Country online magazine suggests exhuming a
slogan from 1999 that might still resonate with locals: “Welcome to
Jackson Hole, where men remain boys and women work three jobs.”
CALIFORNIA
Which
is better for the environment: a stand of redwood trees
or an array of solar panels? Both seem “green,” so why should you
have to choose? Well, a little-known California law passed in 1978
did choose – selecting solar panels and imposing a possible fine of
$1,000 a day for tree-owners found guilty of obscuring them. A
squabble between homeowners in Santa Clara County is now putting
that law to the test, reports the San Jose Mercury
News. Richard Treanor and Carolynn Bissett, who consider
themselves environmentalists, refuse to cut down eight redwoods
that they planted for privacy between 1997-’99. Their neighbor,
Mark Vargas, who also considers himself an environmentalist, sued
the couple under the Solar Shade Control Act because their redwoods
reduced the output of his 10-kilowatt solar system. Before he put
up the solar panels in 2001, he said, “I offered to pay for the
removal of the trees. I said, … Let’s try to work something out.’
They said no to everything.” Vargas has the law on his side,
because it applies to trees planted after 1979 that later grow big
enough to shade solar panels. In December, Vargas won his case in
county court, but his neighbors, who say they’ve already spent
$25,000 on legal fees, appealed the ruling, even though the judge
waived the fines and offered to let them keep six of the offending
trees. “We could be done with this and walk away,” Bissett said.
“But this could start happening in every city in the state.” For
his part, Vargas said he’d move his solar panels if he could, but
there’s not enough room on his roof.
NEVADA
Knotty questions
about environmental correctness didn’t figure into
Patricia Vincent’s thinking when she had three ponderosa pines –
each close to a century old – chopped down on publicly owned land
near Lake Tahoe. The trees’ offense: They blocked her view of the
lake. Vincent has been indicted on charges of stealing government
property from “environmentally sensitive” land, and if convicted,
reports The Associated Press, she could face up to 10 years in
prison and $250,000 or more in fines.
ARIZONA
According to the
most recent U.S. Census Bureau findings, 42,800 commuters
in Arizona spend three hours or more on the road every weekday.
These are the folks considered “extreme commuters,” and the
Arizona Republic asked several of them why they
do it and how they survive long commutes made even more tedious by
construction delays. Several workers shuttling between Tucson and
Phoenix cited the benefits of extra income and a better lifestyle:
“Tucson is a nicer place to live, but you can earn more money
working in the Phoenix area.” But because the trip is notable for
its lack of scenery and boredom, drivers work hard to distract
themselves. Some watch other drivers doing stupid things, while
others listen to music or books or talk on the phone. Doug Jones,
for instance, listens to professional-enrichment tapes and proudly
notes he’s “becoming much more intelligent.”
CALIFORNIA
A suspected
drunken driver may not have been wearing a seatbelt when
he crashed into a tree at 60 miles per hour, the
Sacramento Bee reports. However, his 12-pack
certainly was. The driver suffered serious injuries to his head and
body, police said. But the beer, nicely strapped into the seat next
to him, was fine.
IDAHO
If you want to hear a ringing defense of SUVs,
contact Barry McCahill of Eagle, Idaho, president of the SUV Owners
of America. Since he took over as head of the advocacy group in
2004, he’s spread the word that “in America, people have a right to
buy vehicles that meet their needs.” He adds, “I’ve never seen a
vehicle so demagogued and attacked, its drivers criticized as
inconsiderate.” What’s surprising, perhaps, is that McCahill
doesn’t own one of the gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles he
defends. He told the Idaho Statesman that he
drives a Harley or a pickup, and since he works from home, he says,
“I use less gas in a month than someone who drives a Honda Civic
into Boise every day.”
Betsy Marston is editor
of Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News in Paonia,
Colorado. Tips of Western oddities are always appreciated and often
shared in the column, Heard around the
West.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Heard Around the West.
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