Blogroll
A glance at what Spokesman-Review bloggers have to say
Down to Earth
By Paul Dillon
Nov. 21 – In the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s “State Of The Climate” there are more than a few scary findings. The winning statistic: If you were born in or after April 1985, or if you are currently 27 years old or younger, you have never lived through a month that was colder than average.
Here’s what the NOAA said about October’s weather: The average temperature across land and ocean surfaces during October was 58.23 degrees. This is 1.13 degrees above the 20th-century average and ties with 2008 as the fifth-warmest October on record. The record warmest October occurred in 2003, and the record coldest October occurred in 1912. This is the 332nd consecutive month with an above-average temperature.
Huckleberries Online
By D.F. Oliveria
Nov. 21 – As I was walking along the waterfront during the noon hour, I heard one of the ESPN 1080 announcers wonder about relationships.
While discussing the New York Jets, he paused and said something to the effect: “What if we paid as much attention to the relationships in our lives as we do to our favorite sports team?” He was discussing the situation at quarterback for the Jets between Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow.
People wonder week to week which one is going to start. The announcer then used the example of a man asking his wife at night if she still loved him and then waking up in the morning with the same question. And then telling her that he’d call her at noon to ask the same question. In other words, sports fans obsess too much on their teams (and maybe not enough on their relationships).
Eye on Boise
By Betsy Z. Russell
Nov. 20 – In this year’s wildfire season, about 1.75 million acres burned in Idaho, while about 9.1 million acres burned nationwide. “That puts us close to 20 percent of the acres nationally that burned,” Idaho state Lands Director Tom Schultz told the Land Board this morning.
However, on the 6 million acres of state lands and those for which the Lands Department provides fire protection, only 4,674 acres burned this year. That’s only half of the historic average of just over 9,000 acres. The state spent $22.7 million on firefighting and was reimbursed $8 million.
“We took significant assignments out of state,” Schultz reported. “We still do have some staff helping in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.”