|
Weather, uninsured
drivers & Washington top topics
By Bob Robinson
“Kansas isn’t planting because they are burning up. We aren’t planting
because we’re too wet.”
That was Darke County Commissioner Diane Delaplane’s last comment
before OSU Extension Educator Justin Petrosino closed the monthly ag
extension meeting Thursday morning.
Someone said maybe we should “share” the weather conditions so that
everyone has a little of each and we all can plant.
There was a variety of reports, ranging from a concern over uninsured
drivers by Darke County Municipal Court Judge Julie Monnin to U.S. Rep.
John Boehner’s Field Representative Frank DeVoss commenting on the
state of affairs in Washington.
DeVoss told the group that two more portions of the health care bill
were defunded by the House, both involving discretionary spending (as
opposed to mandated).
He said that today the House would be addressing two pieces of domestic
energy production legislation.
“The Administration said the ban on oil drilling has been lifted, but
EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and DNR (Department of Natural
Resources) are not processing the permits,” he said, noting that the
legislation has to do with putting time limits on the approval process.
He added that we will likely see more domestic energy production
legislation coming out of the House.
Regarding any legislation passed by the House, DeVoss said it still has
to be approved by the Senate…
“You’ll have to talk to our good friends in the Senate and
Administration about that,” he said.
DeVoss fielded questions about the oil subsidies and the debt limit. He
said that 80 percent of oil exploration is done by small companies. If
subsidies are lifted, they will be hit the hardest. The cost of
exploration will go up… the difference would hardly be noticed by the
large ones.
“That’s a double-edged sword,” he said.
He noted that the debt ceiling is crucial. The Secretary of the
Treasury can’t spend more to pay down debt than what Congress
authorizes. He indicated that the debate on the issue could get “ugly.”
Monnin said most of her recent Municipal Court traffic involves driving
on a suspended license.
“That’s not hard to understand,” she said, “considering that there are
128 ways a license can be suspended.” The main concern, however, is the
number of people driving uninsured, she said.
“Be sure you have good uninsured motorist coverage.”
Delaplane noted the Recycling Electronics and Free Shredding days
coming up. She said to contact Krista at Darke County Solid Waste in
the county complex on Wagner Avenue for details.
She also reported that some parking lot paving behind the courthouse
will take place, hopefully today (Thursday), and that bids will be
requested soon for the rest of the project.
Weather was the main topic from Petrosino (see Thursday’s “Getting a
late start” in Community News). He noted that we’re still waiting on
corn, but wheat is going good.
It was also noted that this year it is more difficult to get cover
crops out because of the weather.
Two side notes: There is an attempt to get more farmers to open their
farms to visitors… people need to see how their food is produced; and
gas prices are starting to go down… “we will see $3 gas again before we
see $5 gas.”
The Agricultural Extension meeting is the first Thursday of every month
at 7:30 a.m. in the Employee Cafeteria at Brethren Retirement
Community. It is open to the public.
|
