4 I The Duncan Banner I Sunday, September 22, 2013

OPINION

A.

intitentary

Main Street remains a program of pride

upporters of the Main Street Duncan program celebrated their remarkable heritage last week, recognizing contributors of the past year and acknowledging 113 donors who make possible the organization that preserves and promotes the central business district. The Foster family Larry, Debra, Jason and Christina was honored as recipients of the Bobby Richardson Community Spirit Award, applauding their commitment to the program that started in 1986 and recognizing Richardson, a Main Street founder and staunch supporter who died July 3. Vance Wilcox was named volunteer of the year; Mary Black was selected board member of the year; and the Stephens County Sheriff's Department was cited as the group's Premier Partner. Special appreciation was shared with the City of Duncan, First Bank and Trust, BancFirst and IBC for their respective long-term support One of five original Oklahoma Main Street communities, the Duncan organization continues as one of the state's Top Three programs in large part because of its business and volunteer partnership. By embracing the four key components of Main Street philosophy - organization, design, economic restructuring and promotion - Duncan's downtown has remained vibrant while retaining its charm and preserving its unique blend of past and present. Other communities envy Duncan for that commitment It is one to be cherished and maintained.

Anti-texting pledge A applies to everyone

tudents may assume the role of teachers if their growing commitment to not texting while driving continues to expand locally and nationwide. A program, delivered to Duncan High students last week by their peers and professionals, hit hard the dangers of splitting attention while behind the wheel of a vehicle. Forty out of 1,000 high school students, a particular statistic notes, will not reach age 20 because of an accident while driving and texting. A texting driver is 25 percent more likely to encounter an accident than a non-texting driver. Other statistics suggest: Eighteen percent of a study addressing 1,000 fatal car accidents indicated car phone distractions were the cause. The average time for an eye to leave the road for texting is five seconds. At 55 miles per hour, the distance covered would be that of a football field. Perhaps most worrisome, most statistics to date are understated. That's why students are encouraging their friends and family to take the pledge not to text by texting OKPLEDGE to 464329. And remember, regardless of your age, no text is worth the risk.

Review remains of interest

Publisher/The Duncan Banner

The Duncan Banner welcomes comment from the public. However, views expressed on The Duncan Banner's editorial page do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The Duncan Banner or its employees.

letter to the editor, written by Pat Russell and published in last Friday's edition of The Duncan Banner, expressed concerns related to the operation of the Stephens County Sheriff's Department. She was critical of efforts to increase budget revenues, the relationship with county commissioners and members of the county's excise-equalization board, the need for additional Stephens County courthouse security, fencing in a courthouse parking lot, moving some prisoners from the jail to tents to alleviate overcrowding and the acquisition of a helicopter Others have voiced similar concerns and with the Excise and Equalization Board nearing final review of the new budget, interest seems to be growing. Is a proposed large increase in the sheriff's budget justified when other departments trying to pinch pennies and manage more efficiently have submitted flat proposals with only slight adjustments? Doesn't the sheriff's department have access to thousands of non-budgeted, non-restricted and perhaps nonaudited monies generated by the collection of fees, fines and drug forfeiture funds? Do we need to install a permanent security system equipment and personnel at the courthouse, requiring electronic approval for each entry to the facility that was built in 1967 primarily to serve residents who need access to county offices for the commission-

ED DARLING

ers, assessor, clerk, treasurer, election board, E-911, emergency management, drug court, excise and equalization board, district attorney, sheriff, judges and courtrooms? Aren't we still more a sleepy, rural small town than a haven for serious crime? Or is there something we need to know? Is it necessary to fence in the parking lot on the west side of the courthouse, eliminating ground floor access, moving employees of other departments to off-site locations that would likely need to be purchased and restructuring longterm conveniences like voter registration and election activities? Are we really considering construction of a secure tent facility on courthouse property to serve as an incarceration site for nonviolent, less dangerous law offenders? Isn't there a more practical solution, perhaps a method of substituting community service for jail time in our 160-inmate facility? Or is it a revenue producing stream we're trying to protect? Do we really need a helicopter? In a tight economy, is it a luxury or a necessity? Why was its acquisition clouded in secrecy? Could not monies

for pilots, training, fuel, housing, maintenance, upkeep and insurance be better utilized in other ways or by other departments? And won't those 'copter expenses climb as the unit ages? The sheriff by most accounts, is a competent law enforcement officer. He doesn't have a good record as being a team player within the courthouse and he seems particularly anxious to expand his domain, but he was re-elected to a second term by those of us who live here. And happily, he seems to have recovered nicely from a serious heart attack. Questioning his desire to maintain safety is not the issue. Seeking justification of a plan that seems uncharted and extravagant is. The county commissioners, by surprisingly passing along to the excise and equalization board the budget for a fiscal year that actually began July 1, seem to be endorsing his requests and embracing his plan. That, of course, is their prerogative. But the three-man excise and equalization board has the final review and the final say. Pat Russell hopes the board is meticulous in that review, demanding in its standards and ethics, consistent in its application and protective of its mission as the watchdog of Stephens County government So do others.
edarling @duncanbanner.com (580) 255-5354, Ext. 130

You can go home again, just be by yourself

t's been over 10 years since I moved out of sports writing and began writing a column for the editorial page. Every so often this year, I'm rerunning a piece from the first year of the transition. This column first appeared in The Duncan Banner in July 2003.

He's one of America's great authors, but Thomas Wolfe was wrong about one thing you can go home again, as long as you have realistic expectations. Mr. Wolfe was a Deep South member of the "Lost Generation" of authors who thrived between WWI and WWII. You Can't Go Home Again made him revered as a novelist But contrary to the book's theme, going back home is all about perspective, attitude and companionship. I realized that during a visit to the corn, soybean and oil fields of southeastern Illinois from whence I sprang. Most of my first 33 years on the planet were spent in

Robinson, Illinois, a town of about 6,300 about 12 miles west of the Wabash River. Robinson is the home of the Heath Bar, one of the world's best-known candies, and of James Jones, another great American author, not the weirdo cult preacher in Guyana. Robinson was a marvelous place to grow up in the 1950s and '60s, and my family has roots there that extend to the 18th century. I pulled into town a couple of weeks ago bursting with nostalgic bliss, for two reasons: First, come November, it will be 20 years since I left Robinson. That anniversary needed to be commemorated by pilgrimages to the local "shrines," the spots that have some deep meaning to me. Second, this time I could visit the old haunts without input from the nattering nabobs of negativity. See, when I've taken the family on past visits to Robinson, it's been hard to maintain

JEFF KALEY
Life as I know it

the perspective needed for a nostalgic romp. On previous visits, I'd take Karen, Anthony and Chris on insightful, factfilled drives through the town and countryside, but they seldom shared the emotional and historic importance of these tours. Knowing it was important to me, Karen would try to act interested. But after driving around a while, regaling in my past, she would eventually start reading something, pausing every so often to acknowledge my travelogue by saying, "Yes, dear, that's nice." From the back seat, the reaction from the sons was less diplomatic. I'd hear corn-

ments like: "You used to play for hours in that field? LTh, there's no field there. The building says it's the Robinson Community Center. When did you play there ... during the Crusades?" Or: "Yeah, that grove of trees and an outhouse is way cool! Are you sure this is where Grandpa Vaughn and his brothers were grew up? Didn't they have a HOUSE?" Or: "We drive by here every time we come to Robinson, and it still looks like a car lot, not a movie theater!" Less than 15 minutes into what I thought would be a bonding experience, one of the boys would whine about being car sick. On the recent solitary trip, however, it was much different If I wanted to sit in the bleachers at the Babe Ruth diamond in city park, with my head filled by visions of a skinny shortstop fielding a grounder, I could. If I wanted to stop on a gravel road and walk back into the woods where a snot-nosed kid

found his first morel mushroom, there was no resistance. I drove to where my grandfather had a camp on the Wabash and had unfettered flashbacks of a pack of urchins playing on the muddy bank of the river. I sat in the car watching construction work on a new Robinson High School and got misty-eyed remembering things that happened in the old building. I spent some time at family graves. I walked around town square and could see the women's shops, the Woolworth, the bars and soda stands, Freddy's Shine Stop and a dozen other businesses that once encircled the courthouse. I did all these things, and the memories their clarity and their warmth proved Thomas Wolfe was wrong. You can go home again. You just need the right mindset and you need to be alone.
jeff.kaley@duncanbanner.com