Fredmo

I finally got around to skimming this paper....very interesting and seemingly well-written (not addressing it's quality as a thesis, about which I have almost no knowledge). It was interesting to see the names I recognized from the Bellflower Dairy battles, including Terry Feldmann, the engineer for Bos, and the ever-present Warren Goetsch, who never saw a CAFO he didn't like and approve. The issues are also similar to those arising around Lake Bloomington at the present time, as the City is drilling to see if they can place wells to use to dilute nitrogen-heavy water in the lake. They are concerned with what the subterrane structure is and how it will affect family wells if they drill large deep wells.

Is there somewhere else, besides reading the court file, where this case is discussed? I didn't realize anything had been filed. It sounds as if a nuisance theory is being used, seeking some kind of injunction, right? We had tried a similar tactic at the Bellflower, IL dairy to try to stop it. Different kind of area, and I'm not hearing a lot of complaints now that that dairy has been up and going for a while. Fortunately, there have been no know escapes from the ponds used to collect the animal waste, so as far as I know, disaster has been avoided there.

Well, I did it. I bought the canoe posted in August for sale, with a special ISA price. I went up to Varna (down and out for Chicago folks) and looked at it a week ago, and tried it out on Lake Wildwood. It's a 12-ft Old Town Pack, the kind Jonn Graham floats! I had read lots of reviews about this model, and everyone seems to love it. They do say that at first it's a little tippy, but it's something you learn to handle. My brief experience on the lake confirmed that it's a little concerning at first. I never got over that. But I did go back a few days later and bought it. Then I got word that we had an odd number of guys scheduled for our annual Current River trip in Missouri, and the request got out that I bring the new canoe, since it's a one-man boat. So I did. We floated on Friday and Saturday (no fishing) as our tradition requires. The river is up a bit, but it's still a beautiful river. One of the suggestions I got was to get a long kayak paddle. I couldn't find one as long as suggested, but a couple of the guys have kayaks and loaned me one of theirs, just over 6-ft long. Since you sit further forward, the longer paddle helps make those turns by sweeping the back-stroke, and with a shorter paddle, you can't reach as far. That may have been part of the reason that on two occasions, once Friday and once Saturday, I didn't make the quick turn around the tree and ended up in the water. The Current is spring fed, so it's a cool dip, but fortunately it was a warm day. Glad I had a dozen other guys along to pick up things. Only thing lost, besides some pride, was my ISA cap. Don't know where it ended up. Another reason I may have ended up in the water was because I was getting comfortable with the canoe, and wasn't worrying about tipping over. I think it's really going to be fun on some of the rivers around here, just need to get my anchor rigging arranged, find a reasonably-priced long kayak paddle and a rod or two in the boat, along with a rock or cooler in the bow, and I'll be ready. I think Mark Durham owes Jonn G and Steve Jordan a commission, since they both were encouraging in the decision-making process.

I had both wrists done several years ago, only a little incision on the wrist, nothing on the palm. Not sure if you call that "arthroscopic" on not, but it was not what they used to do. The results were great, at least thus far. Hope you do as well.

I assume that other remedies may be available in the future if in fact our fears are well-founded and this megadairy does result in conditions detrimental to the area and the environment. There is a legal theory of nuisance that can be used. We tried to stop the Bellflower megadairy, in advance of the actual approval and construction, but the court ruled the action was premature. It was constructed and I don't know what the current conditions are and how many of the fears there were realized. The suggestion that we need to take the decision out of the hands of the Dept of Ag. is probably a good one. They never saw a CAFO they didn't like.

tried my darndest to pm you but I guess I'm not competent with a computer, either! Can you PM me and I'll try to respond.

Is anyone else having trouble putting up a reply to someone else's topic? I keep getting some kind of error message, in color, and it tells me to go to "help" if I have questions or further troubles. All I'm trying to do is reply to someone else's message or announcement. For example, it was impossible to tell anyone I was going to Saturday's outing on the lower Vermilion, and I can't reply to Steve Jordan's post describing his day on the river a that event. HELP!

The "kicking up the silt" idea makes sense. I'm curious if it's any different if you are using a flyrod instead of lures. I often let a fly drift past a rock or other obstruction, going downstream if I don't have room to get over to the side, and have found some success. I wonder if casting upstream might spook the fish, espec. with a floating flyline on the surface.

Little confused, John. Does this event conflict with the Bassbugger outing? Or IS this the bassbugger event?

California dairymen placed a dairy factory farm in McLean County several years ago, near Bellflower. There were a number of meetings and lots of opposition raised, but there were supporters as well. The State Ag. Department folks have never met a megadairy they didn't like. Anything putting more animals on the land seems to be viewed as progress. At the time the Bellflower dairy was approved, which incidentally was Sept. 11, 2001 (State govt. stayed open long enough to issue that approval, then shut down), they had never turned down one of these applications, be it for cows, pigs, or others.

Great Effort, thanks for the hard work! Now, if I can just get the sound working on my computer, I'll try it again with music.

I'm going on the Mackinaw Saturday, probably some rain.Anyone have ideas of good flies to use if I want tot try a cast or two?