Traffic Stops Increase in October.

Police Chief Greg Dagnan reported to the Public Safety Committee last Monday that the department made 760 traffic stops during the month of October. This compares to 554 for the same month last year.

When questioned by Committee Chair Bill Welch, the Chief said that the increase is not a case of over exuberance by the officers. He said he watches closely the ratio of tickets to warnings, and he considers the current ratio of two warnings issued for every ticket to be a good indication that stops are not made without justification.

Dagnan also reported that overall arrests for the year to date are up from 3080 last year to 4914 this year. He told the committee that part of that increase in the fact that the force is operating with a full staff of officers this year.

In other business, the committee voted to accept a bid from Galbraiths to replace carpet in most of the Police Station. The Chief requested that twenty-four in square carpet tiles be used so heavy traffic areas could be replaced as needed without replacing all carpet.

It’s odd how technology trickles down through the economy.

Take air conditioners for instance. Anyone lookin’ at the effect of keepin’ a house or office cool in the summer would probl’ly realize that small circulatin’ fans would be in less demand.

What may not have been so evident is the almost complete extinction of another appliance that was common when fans were always runnin’ and windows were open in an office, the paper weight.

‘Course now that computers are eliminatin’ at least some of the paper bein’ used in the office, the future of this formerly useful device in almost certainly doomed for eternity. My guess is that few mourn the absence of these functional desk ornaments, now hidden in a drawer with the ash tray.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

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Weekly Columns

artCentral

ART NOTES from Hyde House

by Sally Armstrong, Director of artCentral

In 2004 artCentral hired a new director, a professional artist with art publishing experience, Carol Adamec. Carol was living in the area for a short time as caretaker to her parents, and came to artCentral when it became possible to pay a part-time person as director. During her tenure of one year, Carol produced a more professional newsletter, and began other innovations that we have continued today. When she resigned in the fall of 2005, she moved to New Mexico to pursue her art again full time. A native of Chicago, Illinois, this artist earned her Bachelor’s Degree of Fine Arts in drawing and painting from the Art Institute of Chicago. Since then, she has been involved in art in the capacities of painter, gallery director, art instructor, arts administrator, and art business coach. She currently lives in Orlando, Florida. "It is truly a great pleasure and heartwarming honor for me to be invited to exhibit my paintings at artCentral, where I was fortunate to serve as Director. Following my retirement from the arts administration field in 2007, I returned to the studio to resume my pursuit of capturing light and beauty as an oil painter. Since I have been traveling back and forth between Albuquerque and Orlando during the past three years-- two very beautiful and very different landscapes-- I have added plein air painting to my repertoire. Mostly I work on small canvases and panels, painting simple objects of my personal environment, views photographs, memory and imagination. Consistent in all of the work is my desire for capturing the light that makes the world seem alive and beautiful." See Carol’s work in the Member Gallery beginning this weekend, in her show entitled "IN NATURAL LIGHT" and visit with her at the artist’s reception Friday night beginning at 6:00, along with featured Main Gallery artist Ken Southwick. This exhibition remains in the gallery through December 5th.