Yes I should have done this last week, but you know, MLK Day has had a snowball effect.
While the 1994 snow storm might be a memory from long ago that not everyone was witness to, the ice storm of 2009 is still fresh in our memories. Its the only ice storm I remember happening here in Jeffersonville. On Tuesday night January 27th, 2009 a light mix of sleet and snow began to transition to freezing rain. And then it started pouring. I mean it rained very hard. Problem was that the temperature never got much above freezing. While temperatures near freezing kept the roads from becoming ice rinks, it wasn't nearly as kind to trees and power lines. I remember going to bed that night with a solid glaze already on the grass and plants. When I awoke the next morning, I went out to watch t.v. to see how bad it was. While sitting there, I heard a boom. Realizing that I had heard a transformer blow, I walked outside to investigate first hand. Still dark outside, I stood in awe of the flashes of light from the distance with delayed sound of the explosions from the failing electrical grid around me. And the sounds of trees I couldn't even see because of the darkness, crackling and then the branches snapping and falling to the ground still sticks with me more than anything to this day. As the sun began rise, I witnessed more limbs falling and found that the ice and heavy rain had caused the storm drain down the street to become clogged and left a large puddle at the end of my driveway about a foot deep. Yes I had to shovel the storm gutter of ice with me feet soaked in water as the heavy freezing rain changed over to one last burst of heavy snow. That burst of snow landing on the ice covered trees was the proverbial straw that broke the camels back for many tree limbs that had survived the night. The resulting power outages were historical in Kentucky. It was and I believe still is the largest power outage that Kentucky has ever faced. I know in Jeffersonville it took several days for every ones power to be restored. And with the cold temperatures it left many people looking for warm places to stay until power could be restored.
The ice storm combined with the wind storm a few months earlier did catastrophic damage to the trees of the area. Something that I think will take most of the rest of my life to return to its previous condition. The ice storm of '09 will probably stick with us like the snow storm of '94. That's for sure.
-Now on to the Wrap Up:
-It actually been a very slow week. Not much going on. I may have to leave this space empty... Wait, what? You say that there was something on the news last night? Well this is the first I'm hearing of such things.
Here's the link for those of you who have been living under a rock.
Okay, here's my thoughts:
1. This is a news story that everyone may not know.
2. There was information in the story that I had never heard.
3. Taking shots at WAVE 3 or their reporters is petty and a deflection attempt.
4. Making up conspiracy theories about how a story tones of a conspiracy is so very ironic.
5. This is not the fault of any of Moore's perceived enemies. It's not WAVE 3 fault either. They have a job to inform people. If this had happened to another town, I wonder if the locals being so critical of it would feel the same way.
6. If this story was about somebody that was viewed negatively by those bashing this story, would they be taking the same stance. I say NO. I believe that they would be saying that this was just another case of the "bad" guy getting away with it.
7. Yes this was another embarrassing story for Jeffersonville on the news. And it is not the fault of any of it's citizens.
8. No, I did not publish my post that I said I was going to earlier that day. It's written and saved and maybe one day it goes up. But reading the responses to the story, I really didn't think that it was going to have any impact, so I found no reason to go ahead with it. One day, maybe.
-In news that has to do with the city's future, Rob Waiz (yawn) presented his list of projects. Most notable was his plan to push forward with improvements along 10th street. And he and Mayor Moore wish to proceed without the 80/20 match. You know, where the city only has to pay for 20% of the project. Moore told the N&T:
"My idea was, TIF [Tax Increment Finance] dollars are there for a reason — infrastructure improvements,” he said. “Tenth street is vital to the success of Jeffersonville. We have the dollars to make this project happen.”
Wasn't mikey's platform one of fiscal conservatism Doesn't seem very conservative to me. We could use those funds on something else somewhere else in Jeffersonville. Essentially we could do more with less. Wait a minute. Wasn't that one of mikey's slogans? Oh well. At least he only has the best intentions. I mean it's not like he has any interests on 10th street. Wait a minute...
-The new governor visited River Ridge for the "Grand Openning" of Amazon. He also visited the site on the new east end bridge. And exciting things are happening at both places.
Steps are being taken for the construction of the new bridge. Let there be no doubt. The east end bridge will happen, and it will happen before this decade is over. Drop the pessimism and enjoy the process now. This will be neat to watch and will be good for the entire region, but especially for Jeffersonville.
And River Ridge announced that they expect to announce some new tenants very soon. It's too bad that Jeffersonville had such a negative growth environment. Wait...
-What a weather week huh? We've had everything. Luckly it is winding down and looks to be calm starting tomorrow. As always I will have any important weather info for you right here on the blog. Well except at 4a.m. like the other morning as I don't necessarily always wake up at that time for the weather. It is what it is.
-That should wrap it up for this weekend. I'll be back later in the week. As always feel free to comment below (careful with the delicate story though) and like the Facebook Page. I'll be back later in the week. Have a good week everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment