What Does NFL Rule Book Say About National Anthem

The Caldwell Guardian did some follow-up research on a post in the Boise Guardian about NFL Player conduct during the National Anthem.  Page A-62-63 was cited for the following quote:

"The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem.

During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses".

Given all the money these guys make for playing the game you would like to think they could at least follow the rules in the NFL Rule Book.  All The Guardian had to do was enter NFL RUlE Book Pages A-62-63 to find the above quote from the rule book.  

I ask myself everyday what these guys would be doing if not for their positions on a professional sports team.  Certainly few would be making what they make playing football.  The game is starting to suffer from a lack of parental support at lower levels now that we know about CTE brain damage.  

Time takes care of all problems and lack of future players looms large with this game Americans love so much.  More things that create a negative perception  aren't helping the image of the game.  

EQUIFAX SNAFU

The Guardian keeps hearing about how impossible it is for people to reach credit reporting agencies to put a freeze on their private credit information.  Has anyone asked WHY we are the ones who must put a freeze on our private credit information?  Credit reporting agencies have collected private information on all of us and have kept this information without our approval and now we are the ones who must contact all of the credit reporting agencies and "at our own cost" pay these agencies to put a freeze on our private information.

The Guardian thinks it is time for Congress to step in and make all the credit reporting agencies put a freeze on our private information.  If we want to release our private information to someone then we can do so of our own volition.  There are plenty of mistakes made with credit reporting that can ruin members of the public without having the very agency in charge of our information not keeping it private,

Take the time to let Congressman Raul Labrador know how you feel and ask his help in getting the credit reporting agencies to put an automatic freeze on our credit information until it it actually released by us. Here's a link to Congressman Labrador's Webpage:  https://labrador.house.gov/,  it takes just a few minutes to send him your thoughts on this matter.  They really do listen and want to hear how you think about this serious breach of our private information.

UPDATE 9/20/2017:  The Guardian went to the Equifax site and they now have a quick and easy signup for Cyber Security and Credit Monitoring.  Here's a link https://www.equifax.com/personal/
You can check to see if your credit information has been compromised and sign up at this site free of charge.

Are We Going for Another Jail Bond?

The local paper came out in favor of a new jail for Canyon County in the Sunday edition of the IPT.  Not much has changed other than the costs of building a new jail.  The Guardian has opposed all jail bond efforts in the past due to the extremely high costs of building, maintaining and other jail overhead costs like food, medical and staffing costs.

Typically it costs about $100K per jail bed to build a proper jail these days.  It also costs about $100/day to keep someone incarcerated in a jail when all the ancillary costs are put into running a jail.  

Our county commissioners have spent another $250,000 for this latest jail study.  The support for building a new jail is that we have over 200,000 people in our county.  No stats were given to support building a new jail other than the size of the jail in Ada County.  It would really be interesting to see how they came up with the data to support the costs of running a new jail.  One thing for sure is we will continue to use what we have in addition to any and all existing jail beds.

Here's a very good example of why we are not managing jail space properly.  I know a person who got a 45 day sentence for "malicious damage to property" over a $45 cell phone bill.  He owed the money so the judge sentenced his to work off his $45 damages in jail via 45 days of incarceration.  One has to ask if this was an appropriate sentence and questions "are the right people ending up in jail".  In this case I think not.

Incumbents Having Election Challengers

This post is for those of you who don't take either one of the local papers or watch the local news. This post is a short list of challengers and jobs they are seeking.

CALDWELL LIST:
Mayor challenger to Incumbent Garret Nancolas is Ted Brumet.  Mr. Brumet is a retired veteran from the National Guard he has been active in veterans organizations here in Caldwell.  He has lived in Caldwell for the last 14 years. Ted served 25 yrs. active duty in the National Guard.



City Council
Seat 1:
Teressa Dodge
Mike Pollard (Incumbent)
Magda Ruano

Seat 2:
Terrance Biggers
Dennis Callsen (Incumbent)

Seat 3:
Robert Hopper (Incumbent)
Jack Linton
Brian Ruehl

The local papers usually give candidate a set of questions to each candidate to answer when they are trying to ferret out their positions on various issues.  The Guardian will try to keep readers abreast of this off-year election.  In years past the turnout has been very low with about 3,000 total votes.  Generally the one with as low as 1,600 votes will win.  (Caldwell now has nearly 55,000 people living in this city.)

Election day is Tuesday,November 7, 2012.

New School Week 4.5 Days!

New School Week 4.5 Days! I didn't believe it at first when I asked a group of Jefferson Middle School kids how come they were getting out early on a Wednesday afternoon a couple of weeks ago. One of the kids shared with me they were going to get early release on Wednesdays all year long.

At first blush I thought it was a kid messing with an old man's mind.  I the following Wednesday I observed the same deal with kids walking by my house on their way home.  I had to get to the bottom of this and fired off an email to the Caldwell School District Office yesterday afternoon.  I got a prompt reply from Mr. Caleb Shore, the webmaster at Caldwell School District Office.  Here is what Mr. Shore said about the early out:

"Correct, Wednesday is an early release for students. We are using this time for professional development and training."

The Guardian also learned that Nampa is now into their second year of the 4.5 day work schedule for teachers.  Questions abound about how teachers are going to get done what they are expected to accomplish with the shortened work week.  It also raises the question of why not go to a 4-day week like what is done in other school districts to save money on all manner of things from bussing costs, heating and power costs etc.  

If anyone knows more about this, please do leave a comment below.