Update: Slain Rancher's Wife Hit By Car

Sue Krentz, wife of slain rancher Robert Krentz, was hit by a vehicle driven by a suspected drunken driver in Douglas Saturday night, Douglas Police said. It happened at approximately 6 p.m. Saturday on the street in front of St. Luke's Catholic Church, an official said. Krentz was airlifted to University Medical Center in Tucson, police said. Family friends told CBS 5 News Krentz had emergency pelvis surgery last night. They said Krentz is awake and alert, but in a lot of pain...more

Slain rancher’s family faces a new tragedy: Widow hit by vehicleThe widow of slain Douglas-area rancher Robert Krentz has been injured by a suspected drunken driver in Douglas, authorities said. Sue Krentz was walking an 80-year-old friend across the street after church Saturday evening when the two were struck by a vehicle, Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever said. The driver, Ramon Parra Saucedo, 66, of Douglas, was charged with driving under the influence, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of endangerment, Dever said. Saucedo was held in the Cochise County Jail on a $5,000 bond, Dever said. The sheriff said Douglas police are handling the case. How much more can this family take?” Dever asked as he spoke of the recent suffering the Krentz family has endured. “It’s a bad time, and not just for the family, but the community, as well.”...

This message was on Facebook:

From the Krentz Family: "Susan is in critical but stable condition at UMC
(Tucson). She had lots of internal bleeding, broken pelvis and leg. We will
try to keep you posted. The family thanks you for your thoughts and
prayers." We will update this thread on her condition. Bless this woman and
give her strength.

The Disgrace of the Ruling Class

We now have confirmation that Barack Obama truly loves poor people. Because he is creating so many of them.
Check out Pete Ferrara's article at The American Spectator for a rundown on Obamanomics and recent political events.

NM cap and trade plan stirs debate

After driving more than 200 miles, Matt Hinkle of Roswell hobbled down the auditorium walkway to the front of the nearly empty room. He jostled the chairs around to make room for his crutches and then laid out his opposition to a pair of proposals aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in New Mexico. "From what I can see," he told a panel of state regulators, "the public in the state of New Mexico doesn't have a clue. ... They are completely uninformed as to what's going on. Really, in the end, they're going to be the ones paying for it." The New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board is considering two proposals — one from an environmental group and the other from the state Environment Department. The state's plan calls for a regional cap-and-trade program, and New Energy Economy wants to limit the emissions of the state's largest polluters — coal-fired power plants and the oil and gas industry. While supporters say something needs to be done to combat climate change, critics are asking what cap and trade will end up costing New Mexico, a rural state where oil and gas contributes millions to state coffers, where small communities depend on mom-and-pop businesses and where a love for the land is shared by everyone from ranchers and environmentalists to Gov. Bill Richardson...more

States Try To Combat 'Funny Honey'

You might call them the Honey Police - beekeepers and honey producers ready to comb through North Carolina to nab unscrupulous sellers of sweet-but-bogus "funny honey." North Carolina is the latest state to create a standard that defines "pure honey" in a bid to curb the sale of products that have that label but are mostly corn syrup or other additives. Officials hope to enforce that standard with help from the 12,000 or so Tar Heel beekeepers. "The beekeepers tend to watch what's being sold, they watch the roadside stands and the farmer's markets," said John Ambrose, an entomologist and bee expert at North Carolina State University who sits on the newly created Honey Standards Board. Florida was the first state to adopt such standards in 2009. It's since been followed by California, Wisconsin and North Carolina. Similar efforts have been proposed in at least 12 other states, including North and South Dakota, the nation's largest producers of honey, together accounting for roughly one-third of U.S. output...more

Kelton's final book speaks with familiar voices

Elmer Kelton’s final book goes on sale Tuesday. “Texas Standoff” is the last chapter in the late writer’s Texas Rangers Series. It also marks the end of an era. For decades, Elmer gave us great books year after year, but this is his last. Elmer died a little more than a year ago at age 83, and no more unpublished manuscripts remain. I’m reading an advance copy of “Texas Standoff” and enjoying the journey. Like all of Elmer’s novels, it’s a good story, full of believable action, great characters and careful, honest descriptions of the old West. Always before, I’d race through a Kelton novel, caught up in the story, eager to see what happened next. This time, I’ve made myself slow down and enjoy the scenery. I’m barely a third of the way through the book, taking it easy, enjoying each sentence and page. Trying to make it last. Slowing down has helped me appreciate the wit and wisdom and words Elmer wove into his stories. He was a master of dialogue, making characters come alive through what they said...more

Champion, Hall of Famer, paved way for future cowgirl generations

There was no way for Dusek’s parent, West Texas ranchers John and Ruby Barron, to know they were saddle training a true trailblazer in what’s now the multimillion-dollar industry of women’s rodeo. Dusek will receive her profession’s top honor next month when she is inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth. The 79-year-old cowgirl, who still rides, is among five 2010 inductees. In the arena, Dusek was a masterful, determined competitor. She is an All Around Champion, having won 14 championships. A wooden display case in her living room holds the trophy belt buckles marking those world championships. Those achievements, perhaps, aren’t as significant as the role Dusek played in the formation of the Girls Rodeo Association on Feb. 28, 1948. It marked the beginning of what’s now the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association. “We got tired of being cheated by the timers — everything,” Dusek said. “We decided to organize. “That was 1948.”...more

Fit to be fried

Calf fries are something between a tradition-rich delicacy and a dirty joke. They make cheeky menu items: "Great Balls of Fire" or "Rocky Mountain Oysters" - wink, wink. The simple fact is calf testicles are a byproduct of the ranching industry in Oklahoma, and historically, ranchers and cowboys couldn't afford to waste any parts. Even the, um, oysters. Cowboys made the best of whatever leftover parts they could snag on the range, hence dishes like "son-of-a-gun" stew (or its burlier name, "S.O.B. stew"). "Everything in the pot but the hair and the horns" - meaning sweetbreads, marrow gut from between the two stomachs, kidneys, heart, liver, brains and tongue. Cookbooks documenting cowboy cuisine say that originally, the testicles were thrown in the fire and used to heat branding irons until they were cooked through. Then they were skinned and eaten as is. Later, they figured out some parts are best dealt with deep fried. In Vinita, calf fries are no joke. The town proclaims itself the calf fry capital of the world, and it has yet to find a challenger to that title. At Vinita's annual "World's Largest Calf Fry Festival & Cook-off," they're dished up as part of a competition for serious bragging rights. They're served by the plate at the town's legendary Clanton's café...

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=370&articleid=20100926_39_D1_CUTLIN23914&allcom=1

Bayfield celebrates its heritage

Coinciding with the annual sheep migration from the mountains to the lowlands, Bayfield's annual Heritage Days festival takes the town back more than 100 years to a time when sheep herding was big business, a way of life that is disappearing. "There are only about three families that still have sheep that go to the mountains through Bayfield," Pine River Valley Heritage Society member Jim Frahm said. "One hundred years ago, there were a bunch of them. Thousands of heads of sheep went through every spring and every fall. ... It's not a big thing now, but it is to the people who do it." J. Paul Brown, an Ignacio rancher and a candidate for Colorado House District 59, acknowledged that most ranchers have made the switch from sheep to cattle or left the ranching business entirely. But for Brown, whose grandfather began raising sheep in the area in 1947, his sheep are a way of life he will not soon part with. "Sheep make a little bit more money, and it's a little bit more work, but we like sheep," he said. "It's just kind of part of the heritage of the whole valley." According to Mayor Rick Smith, the annual event helps remind Bayfield's current residents of the town's agrarian past. "The sheep were here, the ranchers were here," Smith said. "Heritage Days is about recognizing that and bringing people into the realization that this is our roots." In addition to a parade, live music, food, beer and all the usual trappings of a festival, Heritage Days sought to educate those attending. Live demonstrations of sheep shearing and wool spinning drew crowds at Joe Stephenson Park, and the Heritage Society's museum stayed open for much of the day...more

Song Of The Day #415

It's Swingin' Monday on Ranch Radio, where we bring you uptempo and swing music to get your heart started for the week.

There are all kinds of swing music. Today's selection would be generally referred to as "Old Time" music, but for our purposes we'll call it Appalachian Swing.

Here are The Crooked Jades performing Knoxville Rag from their 23 track CD Unfortunate Rake Vol.2.

Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

The ultimate farmer

by Julie Carter

The realtor’s invention of the 40-acre ranch brought agriculture holdings to town, so to speak. Those that dreamed of being landowners, ranchers and yes, even farmers, gained a way to fulfill that fantasy.

On a recent trip, I learned the dream is alive and well.

A well-heeled couple walked through the door of the Southern Colorado tractor store and explained to the man at the counter that they were setting up a big farm and needed to buy some equipment.

Dutifully he walked them through all the sizes and styles of tractors available as well as the assorted attachments. The missus emphasized their requirement for the “heavy duty” stuff so it would hold up to the hard use they planned to give it.

The tractor she picked out had nine steps to get up in the cab -- one of those really big monsters.

They also bought discs, hay rakes, balers, blades, plows, harrows and everything else that the dealership offered, taking advantage of the ongoing special -- “Buy one, get 3 percent off the next one.” Can't be too cash conscious when you're going into farming.

The next day the couple invited the implement dealer down to see their farm and for him to bring the papers to sign for all the equipment. Jake arrived at what he assumed to be only the headquarters of the farming operation, not knowing for sure just how far toward the horizon the borders of this “big farm” went.

He looked around and the lady came out of the house, saying, “Come on, I'll show you around the farm.”

He walked with her to a brand new (still with the paper license plate) Grand Cherokee which had a trailer attached. He noticed the trailer had one 12-inch tire and one 18-inch tire on it.

She complained that the trailer was not pulling very well at all. Kindly, he explained what he thought the problem to be. But just as if she didn’t hear him, in her next sentence she declared that since she is obviously going to have to buy a new trailer, she might as well get a new pick-up too.

Rather than unhook the trailer, she suggested they just walk around the farm. The tractor dealer was a little taken aback in that he really didn’t plan on spending all day hiking to look at a farm. It was then he found out the farm was 58.2 acres.

So as not to discourage the sale he was making, he indeed walked around the farm, even managing to keep a straight face.

During this stroll around the farm, the lady asked, "What do you think we should raise on our farm?"

Jake’s thoughts were, "You couldn't raise hell with a jug of whiskey. This is nothing but a rock pile."

But he said nothing, just shrugged and maintained a blank look.

Before he departed, the couple set up a time with him to get some tractor driving lessons, since neither of them had ever been close to a tractor except the day they were at the implement dealership.

He secured permission from a guy he knew to use a vacant 80 acres for the tractor driving lessons. His plan was to put the tractor and driver square in the middle of it and let them practice. He also promised to replace any fences that might get torn up.

Later that same day, he saw the missus driving a new Ford King Ranch pickup. He assumed that she is now also a rancher.

Stay tuned next week for Part II of The Ultimate Farmer and watch this Green Acres duo put more money into circulation faster than a Wall Street bailout plan. You just can’t make this stuff up.

Julie can be reached for comment at jcarter@tularosa.net.

It's The Pitts: Halfway Home

by Lee Pitts


Statistics say that marriages where the husband goes on an annual trail drive are 20 times more apt to end in divorce. Okay, so I made that up. But I’m sure it’s true.

It has come to my attention that men who go straight home after spending a week “trail driving” with their buddies where they drink, cuss and tell dirty stories, are having a difficult time reentering polite society. I know one trail driver who went straight from a week of such debauchery to a dinner party with the parents of his fiancé. Suffice it to say that the wedding has been called off and the fiancee's parents have a restraining order against the poor schmuck.

I, myself, have never been on a trail drive. My friend Terrell invited me to go on one once but my wife, having heard what goes on at these things, wouldn’t let me go. Besides, as a writer I occasionally call upon my brain to function and I simply cannot risk the possibility of brain damage from spending an entire week trail driving while under the influence of my buddies.

Because many of my friends do go on these things I have decided to start a new charity which will purchase a home to be used as a halfway house where trail riders can go after their trail drive so that they might gradually reacclimatize themselves to normal living. Just like recently released pedophiles, I realize that people are not going to welcome such people into their neighborhoods, so I’ll buy a ranch way out in the country, with a ten thousand acre buffer zone, on which I might also run a few cows.

I envision an active rehabilitation program where the cowboys will be retaught things they forgot how to do after spending a week with their fellow heathens. Lost skills such as shaving and bathing regularly, using indoor plumbing, changing their underwear and using a knife and fork will be taught by clean and sober ex-trail riders.

I am told that on many trail drives the participants tell dirty stories endlessly, sing bawdy songs and recite cowboy poetry that would make a sailor blush. Therefore, intense therapy sessions on language skills will be emphasized at Lee’s Halfway House and Cattle Company, so that the trail drivers will get all the vile words out of their vocabulary before sitting down to dinner with momma and the young ones.

Speaking of flushing things from their system, my halfway house will offer a sober living environment in which substance abusers will enter a detox program, gradually replacing half their expensive whiskey consumption with cheaper beer. Realizing that many of these men have been on a liquid diet for an entire week, we will reintroduce both solid food and manners back slowly so as to not shock their system.

As we attempt to reintegrate our clients back into captivity, my staff and I will also address such problem areas as going outside to make water, riding one’s horse into living and eating areas, harassing and roping wildlife, betting large sums on trivial occurrences, playing cards all night and fist fighting.

In order to promote recovery and restore them to the men they once were, I recommend that for every week spent on a trail drive that each patient spend from one to six months in Lee’s Halfway House and Cattle Company. Because they might regress to their previous behavior, there will be a probationary period in which they will not be allowed to communicate with any trail driving buddies until next year. Still we must warn you, recidivism rates are high in dealing with this type of illness.

Thousands of men need your help today, so please, give generously. We think the $10,000 weekly cost per person of our halfway house will be picked up by Obamacare but until that happens, I beg you, Save a Cowboy! Send your cash, old clothes or cows to Lee’s Halfway House and Cattle Company. After all, someday you too may have a husband, relative or friend who will be afflicted with this dreaded malady.

Song Of The Day #414

Ranch Radio's Gospel tune today is from 1952 and is Hank Snow performing I Just Telephone Upstairs.

House Republicans Pledge to ‘Establish Operational Control of Border,’ But Say Nothing about Border Fence, Worksite Enforcement or Amnesty

While stating that the party would work to give the Border Patrol the “tools and authorities to establish operational control at the border,” the pledge does not mention any specific tools or authorities. Specifically, the word “fence” does not appear anywhere in the document. Nor is their reference to any other sort of structure the Republicans would favor erecting at the border. In a subsection titled, “Establish Operational Control of the Border,” the House Republicans say: “We must take action to secure our borders, and that action starts with enforcing our laws. We will ensure that the Border Patrol has the tools and authorities to establish operational control at the border and prohibit the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture from interfering with Border Patrol enforcement activities on federal lands. “...more

The whole "A Pledge To America" is a little on the wimpy side, but the section quoted above is important to us in the West.

The words "operational control of the border" are right out of H.R. 5016, which states:

On public lands of the United States, neither the Secretary of the Interior nor the Secretary of Agriculture may impede, prohibit, or restrict activities of the Secretary of Homeland Security to achieve operational control (as defined in section 2(b) of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (8 U.S.C. 1701 note; Public Law 109-367).

That is the bill introduced by Reps Bishop, King, Hastings and Smith. You can read more about it here, here, here, here and here.

Migrants experience deadly year crossing Arizona border

But the Guatemalan woman, who lives in Phoenix, knows those scenarios make little sense. The 13-year-old boy, Nelson Omar Chilel Lopez, would have called if he made it to safety. The coyotes would have demanded ransom if they were holding him. Lopez buries her face in her hands and weeps at the thought of a child she calls Omar becoming a statistic - one of a nearly record 236 corpses recovered so far this fiscal year along the Arizona-Sonora border. Coalición de Derechos Humanos (the Human Rights Coalition), which gathers data on border-crossing fatalities in Arizona, says the body count for fiscal 2010, which ends Sept. 30, is second-highest on record. Fiscal 2005 set the record, with 282 bodies recovered. We've passed the number of remains recovered last year," said Kat Rodriguez, coordinator for the non-profit organization, "and we still have a month to go. . . . This has been a horrid summer." The advocacy group gets data from medical examiners in Pima, Pinal, Cochise and Yuma counties, as well as other sources. Other immigrant-advocacy groups say fatalities appear to be increasing even as the number of illegal border crossers arrested has plummeted over the past five years. Using a formula based on the number of fatalities and arrests, No More Deaths, a non-profit organization that provides humanitarian aid to border crossers, describes the past year as the "most lethal" ever, up 30-fold since 1999...more

U.S. Education Secretary Vows to Make American Children 'Good Environmental Citizens'

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan vowed on Tuesday that his department would work to make American children into "good environmental citizens" through federally subsidized school programs beginning as early as kindergarten that teach children about climate change and prepare them "to contribute to the workforce through green jobs." “Right now, in the second decade of the 21st century, preparing our children to be good environmental citizens is some of the most important work any of us can do. It’s work that will serve future generations--and quite literally sustain our world,” Duncan said at the Education Department’s "Sustainability Education Summit: Citizenship and Pathways for a Green Economy." “This week’s sustainability summit represents the first time that the Department is taking a taking a leadership role in the work of educating the next generation of green citizens and preparing them to contribute to the workforce through green jobs,” said Duncan. “President Obama has made clean, renewable energy a priority because, as he says, it’s the best way to 'truly transform our economy, to protect our security, and save our planet.'...more

What needs savin' is our children from these nitwits.

Congressman Calls For Schools To ‘Promote The Agenda’ Of Climate Change, Population Limitation

Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) told CNSNews.com at a "Sustainability Education Summit" hosted by the U.S. Education Department on Tuesday that environmental education in schools can "promote the agenda" of climate change and population growth through the influence it has on children. “Like I keep saying over and over again, if you get young people invested in those ideas early on, that will result in those kinds of positive policy developments," Sarbanes told CNSNews.com. "So, whether it’s climate change, whether it’s population growth, whether it’s all these factors that impact the health of our world, raising that awareness early among young people is only going to promote the agenda.”...more

So public schools should "promote the agenda." At least Sarbanes is honest about it.

Anyone still think our public schools aren't political?

Calif. renewable energy rules likely to advance

A state agency is expected to approve regulations Thursday that could break an impasse in a long-sought goal to require utilities in California to obtain a third of their power from solar and other renewable sources by 2020. The vote by the California Air Resources Board is being watched closely by clean-tech companies, many of which have curtailed expansion of their operations in the state because of the regulatory deadlock. As they wait for a resolution, solar, wind and other alternative power companies say they have been unable to lay out business plans, court investors or attract customers. Many said they were considering focusing their efforts in other states or abroad, where clean-tech policies are more comprehensive. "We're competing against international companies that have strong policies in their home markets that give them a huge advantage now that they're exporting into other markets," said Kevin Smith, chief executive of SolarReserve, which develops renewable energy plants. "We find ourselves behind the curve compared to Europe and China."...more

Don't ya just love these guys?

They need the strong arm of the government and subsidies before they can invest or plan.

And they want us to be more like China.

I hope they all go belly up.

In the meantime, they need to learn the free market is like your bathroom scales.

P.J. O'Rourke explains in this video:

Dog Poop Powering Park Lamp in Boston-Area Park

It stinks and it's a hazard to walkers everywhere, but it turns out dog poop has a bright side. Dog poop is lighting a lantern at a Cambridge dog park as part of a months-long project that its creator, artist Matthew Mazzotta, hopes will get people thinking about not wasting waste. The "Park Spark" poop converter is actually two steel, 500-gallon oil tanks painted a golden yellow, connected by diagonal black piping and attached to an old gaslight-style street lantern at the Pacific Street Park. After the dogs do their business, signs on the tanks instruct owners to use biodegradable bags supplied on site to pick up the poop and deposit it into the left tank. People then turn a wheel to stir its insides, which contain waste and water. Microbes in the waste give off methane, an odorless gas that is fed through the tanks to the lamp and burned off. The park is small but has proven busy enough to ensure a steady supply of fuel...more

This is why they want "open space" in our cities. They will soon be filled with solar panels, windmills and poop converters.

Of course us ignorant rural types try to protect ourselves from the sun, and the wind...and the crap that flows our way from town.

Mont. woman squashes bear attack with zucchini

Police say a Montana woman fended off a bear attack with an unlikely weapon — a zucchini. Missoula County Sheriff's Lt. Rich Maricelli says a 200-pound black bear attacked one of the woman's dogs just after midnight Wednesday on the back porch of her home about 15 miles west of Missoula. When the woman, whom police did not name, tried to separate the animals, the bear bit her in the leg. Maricelli says the woman reached for the nearest object at hand on the porch's railing — a large zucchini that she had harvested from her garden. The woman flung the vegetable at the bear, striking it and forcing it to flee. Maricelli says the woman did not need medical attention. Wildlife officials were trying to locate the bear on Thursday. AP

I'm gonna tread a little more lightly around Sweet Sharon.

Song Of The Day #413

Ranch Radio will wrap up this week's look at 1964 with tunes from Buck Owens and the Willis Brothers. First up is I Don't Care followed by Give Me 40 Acres.