UTAH
Knowing how to operate a stick shift can come in handy, especially if youre on the lam, reports the Associated Press. A couple accused of shooting a man in Wyoming hijacked a car to elude the police near Echo, Utah, but after pushing the driver out, the carjackers found to their dismay that they couldnt figure out how to get it into first. Roy and Jessica Fritts were arrested shortly afterward.
CALIFORNIA
Its almost too audacious to be true: Two wineries in Northern Californias Sonoma County want to clear 2,000 acres of redwoods to make room for new grape farms, reports the Los Angeles Times. Premier Pacific Vineyards, which owns the 20,000-acre ironically named Preservation Ranch, and Artesa Vineyards want to cash in on the boom for pinot noir, but they need to cut down the trees before they can plant the grapes.
Outraged doesnt come close to describing environmentalists reaction; the Sierra Clubs Jay Holcomb said that the big issue for us is that redwoods-to-vineyards conversions are worse than clear-cutting because they are permanent. Adina Merelender, a conservation biologist at UC Berkeley, added, I dont see a need for more deforestation to have a great wine economy, because there is a lot of cleared land already available. The proposal goes first to the countys land regulatory agency; a planner there admits that the project is controversial from beginning to end.
WYOMING
With the cutting of a ceremonial barbed wire fence, the Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center near Cody, Wyo., officially opened Aug. 20. It was a dramatic moment for the more than 250 Japanese Americans who were present: All had been imprisoned there during World War II. A crowd of nearly 1,200 other people joined them to celebrate the grand opening and tour some of the camps restored barracks.
Norm Mineta, a former internee who became a congressman and U.S. Secretary of Transportation, said that the centers meaning was not about the past. Its about the future because history has the ability to repeat itself. What were doing here is drawing a line in the sand to say, Never again.
At a dinner earlier, former TV anchor Tom Brokaw called the creation of internment camps for Japanese Americans one of the most shameful acts in our nations history. But, he added, the people imprisoned never gave up on the country that sent them there, and this symbol of failure now becomes because of your lives and citizenship a symbol of triumph and light to show the way forward.
MONTANA
Theres a new way for cops to enjoy their jobs while still looking out for bad guys. In Billings, Mont., Police Chief Rich St. John said that all of his officers who tried out two-wheeled Segways on their beats found the vehicles fun, though the men pictured in the Billings Gazette story looked just a little dorky as they stood tall on the machines while wearing knee-length shorts and bicycle helmets. The Segway company loaned the $8,000 scooters to Billings as part of a campaign to encourage police departments and other agencies to add the vehicles to their fleets.
Yet Segways have at least one drawback: They cant go faster than 12.5 mph. Chief St. John doesnt sound sold yet, saying that Segways would have to prove themselves more practical than bicycles, which have been a useful tool for the department.
ARIZONA
A police departments Rookie of the Year award usually goes to a young person, but in Surprise, Ariz., a city of 115,000, the honor went to Wendy Klarkowski, a seasoned 49-year-old. At 5 feet 3 inches and all of 118 pounds, she may not be the most intimidating officer, the Arizona Republic acknowledged. But she possesses a valuable array of qualities, from empathy and unflappability to a passionate approach to the job.
Surprise Police Chief Mike Frazier said that in 30 years, Klarkowski was the first woman hes known to become an officer in middle age, though for her, age doesnt really matter. Shes just committed and has the drive that it takes. You have to think, if she was 100 years old, would she go for it?
Klarkowskis son, Tim, is another winner for the department; in 2008, when he was 22, he was also named Rookie of the Year. Klarkowski started out as a 911 operator, but both Tim and his dad encouraged her to become a cop. Tim even helped coach her so she could pass the grueling physical tests that every police officer must take, including doing 50 pushups and running a mile in less than 15 minutes, plus scaling a 6-foot wall.
Klarkowski, who suffered from an autoimmune disease that came close to killing her a decade ago, says her previous life comes in handy when she has to deal with parents who have called police about their teenage children. She says she tells parents what worked for her, and reminds them that 10 years down the road, when the children are grown, it will be worth everything youre doing.
Betsy Marston is the editor of Writers on the Range, an op-ed service of High Country News (hcn.org). Photos and tidbits of Western doings are always appreciated and often shared (betsym@hcn.org).
