NQ99HQ

Whatever happened to the elected leader accountability?   We recently went through some rather nasty flooding, and one neighborhood in particular seems to have been negatively impacted by the construction of a mega apartment complex.  You see, this apartment complex was built just as a dam would be built, in the flood area, and yup, it acted like a dam that created the flooding in an adjoining neighborhood. So people are naturally upset with their leaders now, and they were then too, when the leaders approved the construction in this area a year ago. So the response by the elected officials?  It was as problem created by the danged city staff they say.  To widen the blame, the P &  Z managed to get some of it too.   All  of this blaming resulted in the elected officials (mayor, etal) appearing to escape the wrath of those who elected them. Here we are, a city with a few elected officials, and tons of hired and named people who are...

Water for the birds of the neighborhood is not a critical need at the moment since we have had above normal rain. Nevertheless, dry (very dry) periods keep reappearing and so water sources need to be maintained. We found a good solution a year ago, when we had to invent a means to keep water supplied while we were away for a month.  We placed a stock tank under the eave to catch any rainwater that might fall---and then----placed a board on a slant into the water.  We knew that the water level at times would be far below the rim, and birds would not be able to stand on the rim and drink.  The purpose of the board was to provide a gradual "beach" down and into the water when it was low. For some time, they could not figure it out.  But then quite suddenly they got used to the board beach and used it to drink from the lowered water level---and---even to bathe! Interesting that the cardinals figured it out first, then the painted buntings joined ...