Dick Nachbar  

Old adventurer here remembers early TV years of ubiquitous weekly western programs. Old age with cable TV makes many early programs available once again; some seem better today.

NEARLY NORTH OF TWO Death bell rang twice, loudly and clearly in this senior camp during the past couple weeks. Hometown High School classmate's spouse and local longtime, close personal friend’s brother passed away.

Mid-March, St. Urho’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day have come and gone; however, our Winter season keeps hanging around as we look longingly for Spring. Low temperatures have not been extreme this year but snow depths could still set records before flooding threatens.

Local library recently produced a read of great interest to this old adventurer. “Northwest Passage—The Great Columbia River” by William Dietrich provides rich historical accounts of that region’s major waterway and many of its tributaries.

Highlights of past couple weeks have been informal contacts with lengthy list of respected old friends with so many common values, checking in from far and wide. Phone calls, e-mails and sit-down visits have been tools of choice for communications received and sent. Reflecting on these connections, old adventurer’s heart warms from these catch-up discussions with wide-ranging friendship experiences. That wide-ranging merits notice.

It’s last week of February, bringing annual televised state high school athletic tournaments beginning with girls’ hockey. Boys’ hockey and basketball will soon claim TV time at state level as sectional eliminations are now setting that stage. Old former athlete here began following this year’s TV “Tourney Times” by watching Warroad’s girls hockey team move into championship game once again. Old adrenaline still surged witnessing this level of competition with historical records.

NEARLY NORTH OF TWO We’re past the middle of February and times seem to have gotten a little dull around here. Not much for big news it seems, but closer look at last couple weeks reveals much more… Recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria have killed a reported nearly 45,000 humans.

Feb. 10 edition of Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that a proposed $440 million oriented strand board (OSB) plant in nextdoor Cohasset was canceled following a recent Minnesota Court of Appeals ruling--a major loss for our greater Northland community North and nearly North of Highway #2, as also reported in Feb. 12 Grand Rapids Herald- Review. Reportedly, this court ruled adversely on two points: 1.) an Environmental Impact Statement should have been required, 2.) wetland impacts were not adequately taken into account. Also reported, both the Minnesota Legislature and the city of Cohasset earlier decided that an Environmental Impact Statement was not necessary, and that the Leech Lake Ojibwe community had not been meaningfully consulted at project start. It’s somewhat of a mystery as to why state legislature and a city should be decision- makers for an Environmental Impact Statement requirement when environmental permits must be managed and enforced by MPCA, DNR, and Corps of Engineers consistent with federal law.