In Brief

Democrat candidate for lieu-tenant governor CathyCummings will be the guestspeaker at the KingfisherCounty Democrats meeting at7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20, in theNBC Community Room.

Cummings owns and oper-ates Vito’s Ristorante in Okla-homa City.

Her campaign focuses on theissues of tourism, attractingbusiness to Oklahoma and edu-cation.

The Democrat meeting isopen to the public.

Dems to hostCummings

The Kingfisher County FreeFair starts Wednesday with thecarnival opening at 6 p.m., thepedal tractor pull at 6:30 p.m.and the Farmhand Olympicsat 7 p.m. at the Multi ActivityCenter (new show barn).

Livestock judging beginsThursday with sheep, followedby cattle and dairy goats onFriday and llamas, poultry,rabits, market goats and swineon Saturday.

Nonlivestock 4-H, FFA andopen class entries will bejudged Thursday and Friday,including food, horticulture,painting, photography, cloth-ing, quilts, floriculture,scrapbooking and more.

Other highlights include apie auction at noon on Thurs-day, a table setting contest at 6p.m. Thursday, a homemadeice cream contest at 7 p.m.Thursday, a chili cook-off at 11a.m. on Friday and a slasa con-test at 1 p.m. Friday.

A gift basket silent auctionbegins at 4 p.m. Saturday.

This year’s fair also featuresvisits from Rumble from theOklahoma City Thunder andOklahoma State University’sPistol Pete at 7 p.m. Thursdayand Friday, respectively.

Indoor and outdoor foodconcessions also will be avail-able throughout the fair.

County’s fairstarts this week

Fifty Cents Kingfisher, Kingfisher County, Oklahoma USPS No. 295-420

14Pages

WednesdayAugust 14, 2013

No. 33 of the125th Year

By Randi RotherTimes-Free Press Staff Writer

A new bronze figure now standson the corner in front of KingfisherCity Hall.

It was placed there last week bylocal artist John Gooden.

His latest artwork is a statue ofApostle Paul Sykes of Kingfisher.

Sykes is famously known forpreaching at the train station and onthe streets of Kingfisher during WorldWar I.

He would be at the railroad danc-ing, singing and preaching to soldierson the troop trains before they werecarried off to war.

Pennies would be tossed at Sykesfeet, which he used to feed and assistthe poor of Kingfisher.

Two more statues are planned toaccompany Sykes: a soldier and alittle girl who are listening to himpreach.

The soldier will take on the imageof Lt. Keith Lowry, a World War Isoldier from Kingfisher who waskilled and who, along with HenryEllyson, became the namesake forthe local American Legion chapter.

Gooden is hoping for the two stat-ues to be done and in place by Veter-ans Day 2014.

Gooden has been working withthe Kingfisher American Legion andother local sources to fund the stat-ues.

The cost to complete the soldierand little girl is $26,340 and Goodenis about $9,000 short of that goal, hesaid.

Apostle Sykes in place;audience due in 2014

STATUE CREW — Artist John Gooden was assisted by city employeesCharlie Stewart, Bobby Lumpkin and Arlo Bohlman, from left. [TIMES-FREE PRESS Staff Photo by Randi Rother]

KHS grad helps build dream houseReitz leadsconstructionfor St. Jude’s

When former Kingfisher residentRandy Reitz accepted his first job afterearning a degree in construction man-agement, he looked forward to theopportunity to build a portfolio of suc-cessful residential projects.

What he did not expect was that lessthan a year later he would oversee theconstruction of a $425,000 dream hometo benefit St. Jude Children’s ResearchHospital in Memphis, Tenn.

Reitz was hired by TimbercraftHomes a year and a half ago, while stillworking on his degree in constructionmanagement at OSU-OKC, which hecompleted in May.

The son of Bill and Dawn Reitz ofKingfisher and grandson of longtimeKingfisher residential developer Ken

DREAM TEAM supervisor Randy Reitz stands in front of his fundraising home. [Photo Provided] [See Dream Page 8]

Double, triple and even higher Julyutility bills generated by contract meter-reading mistakes drew a large crowdto Monday night’s city commissionmeeting, which lasted nearly threehours to ensure all questions were an-swered.

“We’re embarrassed that we’re inthis position and we’re embarrassedabout the position we’ve put our cus-tomers in,” City Manager DaveSlezickey said.

Billing adjustments resulted whencity employees discovered discrepan-cies in water and electric meter read-ings generated by a contracted reader,Juan Burrell of Moore.

Routine spot checking in June ofrandom utility meters turned up someinaccuracies in usage numbers reportedby the city’s contractor, which triggereda review of May numbers, where addi-tional inaccuracies surfaced.

City employees then spent most of

July rereading all 4,800 of the city’sutility meters, sometimes more thanonce to ensure accuracy.

The result was hundreds of adjustedbills to correct for what now appears tobe months when meters were eitherread incorrectly or not read at all andusage amounts merely estimated.

Slezickey said the meter-readingcontract required each meter to be readevery month, a process designed totake 20 days each billing cycle.

If the contractor could not access ameter because of a locked fence, dog orother reason, he was to contact city hallso that arrangements could be madewith the property owner to allow access.

That wasn’t happening, Slezickeysaid.

Carolyn Flood, one of the audiencemembers, said her meter was behind alocked fence and presumably had notbeen read since it was installed several

GETTING ACQUAINTED — Caleb Johnson, left, meets his pre-K teacherBrenda Struck at Gilmour Elementary School’s “Meet Your Teacher” eventMonday. He was helped by big brother Eli, a second grader, who was inMrs. Struck’s class three years ago. Caleb and Eli are the children of Jeff andAmy Johnson. Kingfisher students return to class Wednesday, along withHennessey, Lomega, Okarche, Sts. Peter and Paul and Holy Trinity students,while Cashion and Dover schools start Thursday. [TIMES-FREE PRESS Staff Photo]

[See Meters Page 8]

City crowd protests meter snafu

F o r m e rlongtime Do-ver schoolteacher De-neen Gamb-rell has pub-lished the sec-ond in a seriesof children’sbooks, withthe third due

Former teacherpublishes book

Gambrellto be released soon.

The book, The Musical Miceand Their Great Adventure, tellsthe story of musical mice whowere invited to play their in-struments for a queen in a far-away land and their adven-tures on the ship they took toreach their destination.

“The people aboard the shiplearn that even though not ev-eryone looks the same, thatdoesn’t mean they are bad, justdifferent,” Gambrell said. “Thiscolorful book is a great way ofteaching diversity.”

For information on order-ing the book, Gambrell can becontacted at deneengambrell@gmail.com

Cathy Cummings

Kingfisher County CommissionersMonday approved a county budget for2013-14 totaling $4,666,619. 63.

The budget is $357,479.95 abovelast year’s budget, thanks in part toan $8 million increase in the county’snet assessed property valuations thisyear over last year.

County budget-maker John Stormsaid the major increase in revenuesmostly came from an increase in thecounty’s use tax receipts, which com-missioners traditionally use to pur-chase county property and liabilityinsurance.

He said the valuation increase ac-counted for a $75,000 addition to thegeneral fund this year.

He said the county had a healthy$299,000 carry-over from last fiscalyear, up from $2,979.285.71 last year

The budgets will have to be certi-fied by the county excise board beforethey into effect.

The excise board is expected tomeet.

The county budget calls for a 5percent salary increase for all officersand employees. No employees re-

ceived raises last year.Commissioners also approved a

county road budget totaling$1,623,195 for the 2013-14 fiscal year.

In other action, commissioners ap-proved the monthly reports andmonthly appropriations and trans-fers for county officers, naming NikkiDykes, 911 director, as requesting of-ficer for the 911 fund, succeeding 911Board Chairman Doug Hauser, ap-proving a resolution to dispose oftwo numbering machines in thecounty clerk’s office, which are to bejunked, plus a right-of-way, publicutility and encroachment agreementand resolution for Bridge STP-137D(105)C1 over Turkey Creek about fourmiles south and two miles west of theU.S. 81-S/H. 33 intersection inHennessey.

The action on the Turkey Creekbridge is required preliminary workbefore the project can go out for bids.

Commissioners also approved fivecounty road crossing permit applica-tions, all in District 2 east of Hennessey,two by Mustang Gas Products and threeby Longfellow Energy.

$4.6 million budgetapproved by county

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Ashley Beth Turner ofKingfisher and Kevin ThomasMuns of Stillwater, wereunited in marriage at 6 p.m.Friday, July 26, 2013, atMeinders Hall of Mirrors inthe Oklahoma City Civic Cen-ter. Joshua Shane Shepard ofKingfisher officiated the cer-emony.

Parents of the bride areStacy Turner and Wade Houseof Dover and Dale and CarrieTurner of Kingfisher. Parentsof the bridegroom are ShawnaMuns of Stillwater and Will-iam Steven Muns of Phoenix,Ariz.

The couple was marriedunder a chiffon-draped per-gola with a hanging lightedchandelier, accented by el-egant calla lilies and whiteostrich feathers.

Prelude and ceremonymusic was provided by theMid-America String Quartet.Soloist was Hayden ColeTurner of Dover, brother ofthe bride.

The bride, given in mar-riage by her father, wore achampagne-colored, mer-maid style, strapless, floor-length gown. The bodice fea-tured horizontal ruching. Thegown showcased a wide bandof crystals along the sweet-heart neckline and a largegathering of crystals along theleft hip. She carried a bouquetfeaturing a unique arrange-ment of large succulents, callalilies, craspedia and greenery.

She wore a crystal fascinatorheadpiece featuring cham-pagne feathering and a petitebirdcage veil.

Matron of honor wasAshlee Jayne of Stillwater, sis-ter of the bridegroom. Brides-maids were Blaine BertremCoffey and Holly Robison,both of Edmond, KayannLaJennesse and ChelseyTurner, sister of the bride, bothof Kingfisher, and AudraMiller of Tulsa.

Best man was Chris Jayneof Stillwater, brother-in-law ofthe bridegroom. Groomsmenwere Dylan Byers and HaydenTurner, both brothers of thebride, and Joshua Shepard, allof Kingfisher.

Special guests wereKathleen and Mannie Turnerof Hennessey and Doris andChris Palmer of Kingfisher,all grandparents of the bride,and Nita Green of Sacramento,Calif., grandmother of thebridegroom.

A reception was held atMeinders Hall of Mirrors.

Guest book attendantswere Keithan Smith of Chero-kee and Jessica Scott of Okla-homa City.

A rehearsal dinner washeld at the Spaghetti Ware-house in Oklahoma City.

Following a wedding tripto Jamaica, the couple estab-lished a home in Edmond.

Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Muns

Muns, Turner wedding vows exchanged

The 56th annual Jech-Yech-Yeck family reunion was heldon Saturday, July 20, at theElks Lodge in Kingfisher withover 110 attending. The RosieJech Ellyson family was thehost for this year’s reunion.

This reunion brings backtogether the descendants ofVaclav (Wesley) and RosalieVasa Jech, who brought theirchildren to the USA fromCzechloslavakia in 1884. Af-ter arriving in the USA andgrowing to adulthood, someof their children changed thespelling of their last name;therefore, we are a family ofJech – Yech – Yeck.

Most of those attending thisyear are descendants of Josef(Joseph) and Mary Sixta Jech,Premsyl Fred and Mary MariaMaly Yeck, and Anna EllaYeck and Frank Skarky.

Those attending wereErnestine Payne, WayneEllyson, Wanda Vernon, VickiVernon, Jeanneta Kottwitz,Wynemia Fike, Clifton andPauline Verhines, Betty Rasp,Wanda Cline, Gerald Rasp, JayRasp, Haylee Wilson, CherylKramer, Bill and PeggyVieweg, Erin Alig, NatalieAlig, Winston Ellyson, JacqueWeise, Dason, Dynton, andDexton Townsend.

Also, Daniel Vieweg, Den-nis and Maude Jech, Robertand Wilma Wehrenberg,Michael and AbbyWehrenberg, Otto Jech, GaryJech, George and BarbaraPeek, Joe and Patricia Pursell,Milton Kadavy, Clairetta andWayne Lowe, Sharon Kadavy,Delores Lowry, Arlene Duffy,Waynette and Dan Alig, Reneeand Topper Trindle, MatthewMitchell, LeRoy Jech, Jerry andShelly Jech and Maranda Mae,Bill and Virginia Jindra, InezBramwell, David and MarthaTucker, Arnold and DonnaJech, Alfred Jech, Anna MaeMasters and Pamela andLaura Davis.

Stazie Wicker, Ryan andAustin Madball, J.Juan andDenise Jech, Robert Jech, Chrisand Lacey Kuehn, Chester

Jech, Ron and Clara Yeck,Megan Mitchell, Robert andDaphne Jech, Malvin Kadavy,Jana Wilburn, Shannon andJim Bob Dunn, Kolby andDanica Kramer, Kim andDoug Jech, Kyle Jech, JuliaJech, Steven Jech, Aaron Jech,Jeff, Timberly, Jay, and TarynJech, Jennifer, Riley andPeyton Keeling, Jeff and LaelTownsend, Dwain and DebiJindra, Alan Taylor, Mallory,

ATTEND REUNION –Second generation born in the USA of the Vaclav (Wesley) andRosalie Vasa Jech family and spouses in attendance at the 2013 reunion were, front row,from left, Milton Kadavy, Malvin Kadavy, Chester Jech, Inez Bramwell, Robert Jech andLeRoy Jech; middle row, Betty Rasp, Anna Mae Masters, Donna and Arnold Jech, AlfredJech and Dennis Jech, and, back row, Otto Jech and Clara and Ron Yeck. Not picturedwere Pauline and Clifton Verhines. [Photo Provided]

Caleb, Connor Jech, AndrewJech, Danny and Sara Jech,Fawn Jech, Karen Lowe, EvanWoods, Sandra and StevenTrammell.

Good food, lots of hugs andgreat conversations were hadby all.

The next reunion will beheld on July 19, 2014, hostedby the Wesley Jech, AnnieJindra and Mary Jindra fami-lies.

Jech-Yech-Yeck family reunion held

Wyatt Krittenbrink of theOkarche 4-H Club was re-cently awarded overall highpoint dairy cattle evaluator atthe Sooner State Dairy Showin Stillwater. Krittenbrink hasbeen in competition with other4-H’ers statewide since lastOctober for this honor.

He is the son of Brian andBrandi Krittenbrink ofOkarche and will be in theeighth grade this fall. He hasbeen an active member of theOkarche 4-H Club since hewas 9 and has been showingand judging dairy cattle forthe last two years.

He plans to continue hisproject work in dairy andwould like to someday be onthe OSU Dairy Judging Teamand judge cattle nationwide.

Scores were tallied at eachjudging contest throughoutthe year and the 4-H’er withthe highest score that didn’tmiss a competition would becrowned as the winner.

Krittenbrink judged dairycattle at the Tulsa State Fair,Milking Shorthorn Field Dayin Cushing, Brown Swiss FieldDay in Agra, Ayrshire andGuernsey Field Day at the PaulEvans Ag Center, Jersey FieldDay in Crescent, OSU AllBreeds Field Day in Stillwaterand at the Sooner State DairyShow in Stillwater to remaineligible for the award.

Kingfisher County 4-Hmember receives top honor

Out of a possible 2,000points available Krittenbrinkearned 1,787. He was given atrophy and $1,000 sponsoredby the Sooner State Fair Board.

RECEIVES AWARD – Wyatt Krittenbrink, right, receivedoverall high point dairy cattle evaluator at the SoonerState Dairy Show recently. Presenting the award to himwas Roger Jennings. [Photo Provided]

St. John’s Child Develop-ment Center in Okarche willbegin its preschool programon Monday, Aug. 19.

The program is for children2-year-olds and up. Classesare from 8:30-11:30 a.m. Mon-day through Friday.

The center also has a full-time daycare for children sixweeks to 12 years of age from7 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday throughFriday.

St. John’s pre-schoolbegins Aug. 19

Wedding articles must be sub-mitted to The Kingfisher Times& Free Press no later than 14days after the ceremony to bepublished free of charge. Afterthe deadline, a charge of $35 willbe made to publish wedding ar-ticles. After six months, articlesmay be published at regular ad-vertisement rates only.

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Kingfisher (Okla.) Times & Free Press Wednesday, August 14, 2013 3

After three years of win-ning first in her division atthe Oklahoma Youth for Porkspeech contest, Elizabeth Per-due won first overall this year.

The speech contest washeld July 18 at the “Big 3 FieldDays” in Stillwater and wassponsored by the OklahomaPork Council.

The “Big 3 Field Days” isan OSU Animal Science De-partment event held July 16-18. It gives 4-H and FFA mem-bers an opportunity to learnhow to judge livestock.

The OSU Field Days in-cludes many livestock judg-ing competitions for beef,sheep, goats and swine.

Is also includes other ac-tivities for youth such as OSUtours and the Oklahoma PorkCouncil speech contest.

At the speech contest, Per-due won first place and $100in the junior 4-H division withher speech “Far Beyond theTable.” She then competed

Perdue finds successat ‘Big 3’ speech contest

Elizabeth Perdueagainst other contestants whohad won their age division –Senior 4-H, Junior FFA, Se-nior FFA.

She had to give her speechin front of numerous students,adults, judges and fellowcompetitors. She won theoverall contest and another$100.

Perdue is the daughter ofJim and Debra Perdue ofKingfisher.

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Kingfisher’s tradition ofaccomplished livestockjudges lives on with their up-and-coming junior 4-H live-stock judging team.

The team consisting ofJentry Squires, Peyton Burns,Elizabeth Perdue and VictoriaGerkin placed second overallout of 172 teams at the OSU“Big 3 Field Days” inStillwater.

The “Big 3 Field Days” isan OSU Animal Science De-partment event held July 16-18. It gives 4-H and FFA mem-bers the opportunity to learnhow to judge livestock.

The OSU Field Days in-cludes many livestock judg-ing competitions for beef,sheep, goats and swine.

The Kingfisher junior 4-Hteam has been judging to-gether for about three years.That experience and goodcoaching helped them to placehigh individually also.

In overall placing, Squiresplaced sixth, Burns placed13th, Perdue placed 32nd andGerkin placed 63rd. This wasquite an accomplishment con-sidering there were 398 indi-vidual judges.

KINGFISHER 4-H displays their second place trophythey won at the “Big 3 Field Days” in Stillwater. Teammembers include, left to right, Jentry Squires, PeytonBurns, Elizabeth Perdue and Victoria Gerkin. (Photo Pro-vided)

Duane and Willa Ring ofKingfisher will celebrate their50th wedding anniversarywith a dinner for family andfriends on Saturday, Aug. 17,at Five Oaks Lodge in Jenks.

Duane and Willa were mar-ried Aug. 17, 1963, at SacredHeart Catholic Church inAlva.

Both graduated fromNorthwestern OklahomaState College with bachelordegrees and began teachingcareers in Hudson, Kan.Duane received his master’sdegree in biology from FortHays State University in 1968.

They moved to Pratt, Kan.,

in 1968, where Duane contin-ued his teaching career at PrattCommunity College and Willastayed home to raise four sons.She later taught at SacredHeart Catholic School in Prattfor six years.

After teaching for 25 years,Duane retired and, with a part-ner, started a microscope salesand service company, Mid-west Bioservice CompanyLLC.

The Ring family moved toKingfisher in 1986. Willataught at Sts. Peter and PaulCatholic School from 1987-2006.

They are both semi-retired,

both working part-time forMidwest Bioservice CompanyLLC.

Hosting the event are theirsons and families, VincentRing and wife Patricia ofRound Rock, Texas, DavidRing and wife Michelle ofPryor, Paul Ring and wifeKristi of Jenks and TimothyRing of Tulsa. They have eightgrandchildren, Michael andwife Katie, Patrick, MaryAlice, Phillip, Elizabeth,Samuel, Brandon and Nathan.

Cards can be mailed to P.O.Box 226, Kingfisher, OK 73750.

Rings to celebrate 50th anniversaryMr. and Mrs. Duane Ring in 1963…and in 2013

Kingfisherjudging teamplaces at contest

Southwestern Oklahomastate University has an-nounced the honor rolls forthe 2013 summer semester.

An undergraduate studentwho earns all A’s in six ormore hours during the sum-mer semester qualifies for thepresident’s honor roll. Therewere 179 students who werenamed to the president’shonor roll.

There were 107 students onthe dean’s honor roll aftercompleting six semester hoursof undergraduate work witha grade point average of 3.5(“B”) or higher, with no gradelower than a (“C”).

Area students include:President’s

Calumet – Lindsey RenaeWeldon.

Kingfisher – Ashley R.Lindsey.

Lomega – Kayla DanyelleBiggs.

Piedmont – Derek KeithBiggs and Rachel NicoleTilley.

Watonga – Andrea KayParker.

Dean’sCalumet – Ethan Irey

Davis.Okarche – Staci Ann

Mendel.Piedmont – Ashley D.

Wells.Watonga – Chelsea Lynn

Bernhardt, Shane VincentDaugherty and Phillip K.Melott.

SWOSU honorrolls announced

Who Knows1. Name the first president toride on a railroad train.2. What is an addax?3. Name the author of “UpFrom Slavery.”4. One light year is equal toone million, five million orsix trillion?5. Name the only person toserve as vice president andpresident without beingelected.

Answers:1. Andrew Jackson, 1833.2. The antelope which lives inthe deserts of North Africa.3. Booker T. Washington.4. Six trillion miles.5. Gerald R. Ford, appointedvice president by Pres. Nixon,and president when Nixonwas forced to resign.

Phone Community News To405-375-3220

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Thank YouThe “Nacho” Trujillo family

extends their sincerest thanksand appreciation to the Okarchecommunity and surroundingcommunities for the outpouringof love and support during thisvery difficult time. The visits,cards, flowers, food, gifts andprayers were a tremendousblessing and comfort to ourfamily. Please know the kind-ness received has not gone un-noticed and has touched ourhearts in a very profound way.

Thank you to all of those whowere present at the funeralservice to celebrate the life of“Nacho” and to those who madethe celebration of his life sobeautiful.

Many Blessing To All

Who Blessed Us!

Ana Veronica Barcenas,Maria, Ignacio,

Alberto, Cristina& David Trujillo

4 Wednesday, August 14, 2013 Kingfisher (Okla.) Times & Free Press

VIEWfrom behind the

plow(A column of opinion by Gary Reid, Publisher Emeritus)

The Kingfisher Times & Free Press(USPS No. 295-420)

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Member

Gary Reid, Publisher Emeritus

By Ted BuswellWe hear a lot about leader-

ship and statesmanship thesedays. And it should be of nosurprise that such topics areso broadly discussed amongus. The conditions in the dailynews and our personal expe-riences in our daily lives gen-erate personal interest in suchmatters as we go along ourways. It seems like we hearmore negative appraisal ofperformances of our leadersthan praise for their actions.And although the most vocalcriticisms seem directed at ourpresident and other nationalcharacters, there is plenty fordistribution left over for stateand local performers as well.Perhaps such attitudes havealways been voiced through-out the ages wherever civili-zation has occurred, but hasn’tit grown more vocal and ven-omous here in the last coupleof decades or so?

Historically leadership re-quired for the survival of ourgreat republic has emergedwhen the chips are down.We’ve been successful in de-feating (more or less, lately)aggressors that have threat-ened our destruction. Con-sider our victories in twoWorld Wars and survival, ifnot absolute victories in Ko-rea and Viet Nam. Of course itis true, and obviously so, thatchallenges to our security inrecent years have been dealtwith in milder fashion andwith less success than thoseolder battlefield experiences.Al Qaeda for instance, the Is-lamic Jihadist organizationresponsible for the attack onour territory in September of2001, remains at large andgrowing in number and influ-ence to this day. And its chal-lenge to our security today ismore open and aggressivethan it was prior to its attacks

that led to our military involve-ment in Afghanistan and Iraq.To date, neither of these con-flicts has been entirely resolvedand the threats of upcomingand ongoing violence from thisterrorist organization continueto haunt us with no end insight.

The development of lead-ership is truly an art withinitself. Marcus Tullius Cicero(ca. 52 B.C.) wrote: “The manwho commands efficientlymust have obeyed others inthe past, and the man whoobeys dutifully is worthy ofbeing someday a com-mander.” The truth and wis-dom in his words have beenproven time and again by thebrave souls who have foughtin the service of their nationshistorically. And such benefitof practice and experience isperhaps no less evident in thearena of politics as it is in war-fare. The evidence of such factscan be readily observed in vir-tually every area of our lives.

Family is the first such prov-ing ground where one learnsand internalizes attitudes ofduty and responsibility alongwith loyalty and respect forone another. And in our na-tion, public education hasproven to be another such in-stitution where such principlesand values have been inter-nalized by our youth in theirprocess of maturation.

Our forefathers understoodthe significance and impor-tance of public education ifindividual freedom temperedwith justice for all was to sur-vive and grow over time. Asthe years have passed our in-stitutional education haschanged in many ways. Andalthough great gains andprogress have certainly beenaccomplished, some wouldcorrectly argue that many

valuable qualities of the prac-tice have been lost and dis-carded in the process.

As an old public schoolteacher and administrator, theseason of autumn with thestart of another new schoolterm always interests me. Istill remember my first atten-dance at the institution oflearning back in the fall of1940. Back then we enteredthe classroom after Labor Dayand each year the pleasures ofsuch time grew dearer. Welooked forward to seeing oldfriends from the year beforeand were excited to wonderwhat new things we’d belearning and what new friendsmight appear. That was a timewhen school was about themost exciting experience inour simple lives. And it goeswithout saying that our teach-ers became among the mostloved and respected people inour existence. And many ofthem live today in the fondmemories of the men andwomen in whose lives theyplayed such important roles.

We hear a lot about educa-tion from our leaders at everylevel now. Sadly much of thediscussion always centers sim-ply about financial supportthereof. And in our world fi-nance seems central to almosteverything we know. But aswith most things truly mostimportant in our existence, thereal treasures of it all can’t bebought with money. The realvalues gained and held mostdearly relate more to the per-sonal associations and com-munications between peoplewith genuine care and con-cern for one another in theprocess.

Can that be like love andrespect and mutual care andaffection for one another? Yoube the judge.

How do you remember school days and leadership after all?

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who has become a force in the U.S.Senate in his first term, is pleading for help.

He says he needs grassroots support to defund Obamacare.Aside from an outright repeal of this disastrous, economy

destroying legislation, defunding it is the best battle planavailable.

“We need to activate another grassroots army … The onlyway we can win this debate is if the American people rise upand demand it,” he says, in requesting a campaign of faxes toblast members of Congress on the issue.

Obamacare is President Obama’s weapon of choice to bringfull-scale socialistic wealth redistribution to the U.S.

Cruz is one of a handful of Senators actively working to stopObamacare in its tracks.

Killing it might be the salvation of America.As Michael Carnuccio, president of the Oklahoma Council

of Public Affairs, an Oklahoma City-based conservative thinktank, pointed out in a recent column Medicaid was projectedto cost $1 billion when it began in 1966.

It is now projected to cost $900 billion by 2020.That is the normal cost progression for possibly well meant

government programs.Before they are through they are gobbling up all the govern-

ment dollars in sight, dealing death or at least serious harm toother vital government services, including education, roadsand bridges, and fire and police services, to name a few.

When certain people find a “free government” program,they quickly exploit it.

Caruccio quotes Matt Salo, executive director of the Na-tional Association of Medicaid Directors, as follows:

“More people show up than you think will show up, and thepeople that show up are sicker than you expected.”

More than 20 states have rejected Medicaid expansion.This will prevent $500 billion in deficit spending that gen-

erations to come will have to pay, somehow.The federal government has said it will commit to funding

expansion of the program at 90 percent.How a federal government already deeply in debt will do

this is difficult to explain other than turning up the governmentprinting peresses, devaluaing your hard-earned dollars in theprocess.

There’s nothing written in stone on this pledge – just thisadministration’s word. Who can predict what a future admin-istration might do.

However states that accept the carrot now, would be on thehook for the program from now on.

Just how good is the government at keeping its word?The feds are asking states to sign a blank check.That is what Detroit and some of the other largest cities in

the nation did with their own retirement and health programs.Look at them now – bankrupt or on the verge of bankruptcy.

Too many RINOs in SenateSadly, too many of the Republicans in today’s Senate are

only too happy to go along with left-wing shenanigans, if it willhelp them keep their cushy jobs with all their perks.

They get angry and talk ugly about Republicans who standon conservative principles: Think John McCain and LindseyGraham to name two at the forefront of most appeasementefforts. There are too many others like them, of course.

The House of Representatives, from which all spending billsmust emanate, according to the Constitution has the votes todefund the program.

Obama has threatened to shut down the government if thathappens.

Isn’t it about time to call his hand?Conservatives have the talking points to win this war if they

have the gumption to challenge him – even if the president hasthe politicized IRS ready to attack any conservative or conser-vative organization, especially the Tea Party.

You know when Obama starts talking about reviving theeconomy and “saving the middle class,” he’s got big problems.

Changing the subject is the way to divert attention from hisassaults on the Constitution and the American way of life.

A scandal a day keeps citizens’ eyes off the job he’s doing ornot doing (vacations are important) as president.

Obama is attempting to take control of every facet of Ameri-cans’ lives – from what we do for a living to where we live.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development isimposing a new rule that would allow the feds to track diver-sity in America’s neighborhoods and then push policies tochange those it deems discriminatory.

The policy is called, ”Affirmatively Furthering Fair Hous-ing.” It will require HUD to gather data on segregation anddiscrimination in every single neighborhood and try to remedyit.

Data from this discrimination database would be used withzoning laws, housing finance policy, infrastructure planningand transportation to alleviate alleged discrimination andsegregation.

In other words, if the government doesn’t like the social andeconomic makeup of your neighborhood, they intend to changeit

The “criteria” the central planners would use is as of yetundefined, but with the Obama administration, any criteriawill suffice… gender, age, color, creed, income, religious affili-ation, sexual orientation – the “criteria” could be anything BigGovernment chooses to manipulate!

Cruz needs help on Obamacare defunding

(See View, Page 5)

MICHELLE MALKIN

‘Filthy Filner’cover-up

Yuck. Is there a woman inhis sights that pervy Demo-cratic San Diego Mayor BobFilner hasn’t harassed, mo-lested, insulted, proposi-tioned, groped, headlocked or

slobbered onwhile holdingpublic office?In less than amonth, thenumber of vic-tims and wit-nesses comingforward has

skyrocketed from three to 13.And the details have growneven more unbelievably sor-did.

This isn’t a local “sex scan-dal.” It’s a nationwide preda-tor scandal.

When I last reported on thiscareer creepster’s case, his fi-ance had broken up with him,his former spokeswoman hadrevealed that Filner told herto “work without her pantieson,” and the sheriff’s officehad set up a Bob Filner AbuseHotline. It’s been “lit up” withcalls for weeks now, accord-ing to the city’s former policechief.

Filner still holds his officeand is chilling out in“therapy,” undoubtedly wait-ing for the heat to die down.He submitted a doctor’s notethis week to avoid a deposi-tion hearing for the sexualharassment suit filed by hisformer communications direc-tor, Irene McCormack, whofirst described how Filner puther in his trademark headlock.

Beltway Democrats – andbizarrely, many Republicans– don’t want to talk about hisalleged serial sexual assaults.But more and more victims,many of whom were targetswhen Democrat Filner was ahigh-powered 10-term U.S.congressman and former chairof the House Veterans AffairsCommittee, are finally speak-ing up.

On Tuesday, nurseMichelle Tyler blew thewhistle on how Filner offeredto help her patient, Iraq warvet Katherine Ragazzino, withVA problems only if Tyleragreed “to go to dinner withhim, spend personal time withhim and be seen in public withhim.”

Air Force veteran EldonnaFernandez and Army veteranGerri Tindley — both sexualassault victims of otherscumbags — also revealed thatFilner had propositionedthem. And San Diego-basedNational Women VeteransAssociation of America Presi-dent Tara Jones reported thatthere were seven or eightwomen in the group whomFilner had taken to dinner andgroped – “grabbed breasts,buttocks, the full gamut. ...He’s a sexual predator. Andhe used this organization forhis own personal agenda.”

San Diego City College of-ficial Lisa Curtin described ameeting in which Filnergrabbed her hand and forcedher to submit to a “saliva-filledkiss” — wait, it gets ickier andstickier — “including feelinghis tongue on my cheek.” Busi-nesswoman Patti Roscoe re-lated how Filner “slobbereddown my chin.” EntertainerEmily Gilbert told how Filner“proceeded to slide his handdown my arm and then did alittle grab on my derriere”while she was singing for himat a fundraiser.

Last fall, two anonymouswomen who “worked for oraround” Filner’s congres-sional office warned Demo-crats in a letter about his “re-lentless and disgusting” be-havior. “Many women in D.C.refer to (Filner) as ‘Bobo,’ ‘Mr.Misogynist,’ ‘Nasty Narcis-sist’ or simply ‘Filthy Filner.’”

Headlock Bob isn’t the onlyone who needs his head ex-amined. When feminists askhow this could have happenedfor so long, they need to startasking every last enablingDemocratic woman on theHill. They need to start askingevery last enabling liberal fe-male pundit, columnist andmedia insider who peddledGOP-bashing War on Womenpropaganda while FilthyFilner was on the loose.

With the grope-and-head-lock count rising like Bob’slibido at a Planned Parent-hood fundraiser, it strains cre-dulity to believe that theDemocratic female elite inWashington didn’t purposelylook the other way at this in-satiable entrenched beast’s

By Walter E. WilliamsWhy is it that natural gas

sells in the U.S. for $3.94 per1,000 cubic feet and in Europeand Japan for $11.60 and $17,respectively? Part of the an-swer is our huge supply. Withhigh-tech methods of extrac-tion and with discovery ofvast gas-rich shale deposits,estimated reserves are about2.4 quadrillion cubic feet.That translates into more thana 100-year supply of naturalgas at current usage rates.What partially explains thehigh European and Japaneseprices is the fact that globalnatural gas markets are notintegrated. Washington hasstringent export restrictionson natural gas.

Naturally, the next ques-tion is: Why are there naturalgas export restrictions? Justfollow the money. Accordingto OpenSecrets.org, The DowChemical Co. “posted recordlobbying expenditures lastyear, spending nearly $12million, and is on pace toeclipse that number this year.”The company has spent hun-dreds of thousands of dollarscontributing to the politicalcampaigns of congressmenwho support export restric-tions. Natural gas is a rawmaterial for Dow. It benefitsfinancially from cheap gasprices, which it fears wouldrise if Congress were to liftexport restrictions. Dow ar-gues, “Continuing optimismfor U.S. manufacturing isfounded on the prospect ofan adequate, reliable and rea-sonably priced supply ofnatural gas.” Of course, Dowand other big users of naturalgas get support from envi-ronmentalists, who are anti-drilling and anticipate thatexport restrictions will servetheir ends.

Big natural gas users andenvironmentalists have for-

eign allies, suggested by thestatement of Saudi PrinceAlwaleed bin Talal, who toldSaudi Arabia’s oil minister,Ali al-Naimi, that rising

A m e r i c a nshale gas pro-duction is “ani n e v i t a b l et h r e a t . ”Nigeria’s oilm i n i s t e r ,D i e z a n iA l i s o n -M a d u e k e ,agrees, sayingthat U.S. shale

oil is a “grave concern.” Inlight of these foreign “con-cerns” about U.S. energy pro-duction, one wonderswhether foreign countrieshave given financial aid toU.S. politicians, environmen-talists and other groups thatare waging war against do-mestic oil and natural gasdrilling. It would surely be intheir interests to do every-thing in their power to keepthe West dependent on OPECnations for oil and gas.

Natural gas producerswould like to export some oftheir product to Europe andJapan to take advantage ofhigher prices. One effect ofthose exports would be toraise natural gas prices in theU.S. and lower them in therecipient countries. Industrialgiants such as Dow, Alcoa,Celanese and Nucor are mem-bers of America’s EnergyAdvantage, a lobby groupthat says it is unpatriotic toallow unlimited natural gasexports. It argues that exportrestrictions keep natural gasprices low and give U.S.manufacturing companies araw material advantage,which allows them to producegoods at lower prices.

I’d like to ask Dow, Alcoaand other companies thatlobby against natural gas ex-

ports whether their argumentapplies to them. After all, theyship a lot of their domesticproduct overseas. For ex-ample, Alcoa exports tons ofaluminum. Export restric-tions on aluminum wouldlower domestic aluminumprices, thereby benefiting theaircraft industry, as well asmaking other aluminum-us-ing manufacturers more com-petitive. Unfortunately, Idoubt whether Alcoa wouldsee it that way. In general, it ispoor economic policy to en-courage domestic Americanindustry through costly andinefficient methods such asexport restrictions.

But there’s another effectof the natural gas export re-strictions. The huge supplyand resulting low prices havebegun to act as a deterrent tofuture energy exploration andproduction. According to aWall Street Journal article byDr. Thomas Tunstall, researchdirector for the Institute forEconomic Development at theUniversity of Texas at SanAntonio, titled “ExportingNatural Gas Will StabilizeU.S. Prices” (May 29, 2013),natural gas production atthree major shale oil fields inTexas has flattened out at 2012output levels.

Tunstall concludes, “Overthe long haul, market dynam-ics — which include the abil-ity to export without undueuncertainty or restriction —will best manage global sup-ply and demand curves fornatural gas.” I agree.

Walter E. Williams is a pro-fessor of economics at GeorgeMason University. To find outmore about Walter E. Will-iams and read features byother Creators Syndicate writ-ers and cartoonists, visit theCreators Syndicate Web pageat www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2013 CREATORS.COM

Energy Manipulation

Williams

Malkin

(See Malkin, Page 5)