Urgent owlet update...and other stuff

Photo credit: Sister in law Unit.

A while back I posted a picture of a baby great horned owl that was born on our hill. I'm pleased to say that he survived and has now taken to venturing forth. This isn't quite the same as fledging, according to the Spousal Unit. Apparently that is like moving out. Instead, the little critter is branching, which entails a return to the nest. You can see both in the picture above, with the nest in the upper left and the owlet in the lower right.

YOU REALLY CAN'T. I've often mentioned here my campaign to update state motto of West Virginia from "Mountaineers Are Always Free" to "You Can't Make This **** Up." This column by statehouse reporter Phil Kabler has a priceless example in it.

COAL-LAPSE. There's been a lot of coverage about the decline of coal. This AP article suggests it's happening faster than anticipated. Note that the article attributes most of this to market conditions rather than a certain Muslim socialist of questionable American birth.

SPEAKING OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE. I knew things were bad, but I didn't know things had gone this far.

Prevailing skullduggery

There's been some interesting news regarding WV's prevailing wage controversy. First, a claim by Berkeley County Superintendent Manny Arvon about how much the school system saved without prevailing wage turned out to be total BS.

This BS was uncritically parroted by a number of WV politicians and pundits. I wonder if any will fess up? On second thought I don't.

Meanwhile, more evidence has surfaced that fringe benefits were intended to be included in the new prevailing wage calculation, something Republicans have recently tried to deny.

All this may sound arcane, but it's really about good jobs for local workers.

SPEAKING OF BS, the Beckley Register-Herald calls it in this editorial about the Common Core, a recent WV political football. Methinks some state leaders are against it because the president is black. The Huntington Herald-Dispatch also ran a good editorial on the topic.

COAL WHODUNNIT? The butler didn't do it, but the market might have.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED