You should have seen the man back in about 1949, defying the law of gravity, twisting and cavorting through the air shooting layups, warming up for a basketball game between Southwest Texas State Teachers College and East Texas Baptist College. The Bobcats of Southwest Texas, under the coaching of Milton Jowers, won the game and watching that man, wearing number 40, hooked me on the game of basketball.

That basketball player was Vernon McDonald. Vernon was an assistant basketball coach under Coach Milton Jowers for many years and then became head basketball coach at what is now Texas State University. He is the father of Donny McDonald, girls basketball coach at Hays High School who recently announced his retirement.

I never saw Donny McDonald play basketball. But I saw Vernon play and that was a treat. It was more fun watching him warm up than it was to see other people play. Once, so the legend goes, a school administrator told Donny he probably did not know what it was like to sit on the bench. According to the legend, Donny replied, “I did get to sit the bench as a senior and watch my younger brother play as a sophomore.” The administrator hurriedly ended the conversation as I understand things. I did see the younger McDonald play in college and that man was good. It was no disgrace to play behind him. But, being honest, Lynn McDonald was never as good as his dad.

You should have seen Vernon. No, he couldn’t dunk the ball. He wasn’t tall enough. But he could come flying in for layup shots in such a way that made you forget to notice if the ball went in or not. This man could move.

Summers, he announced softball games for teams consisting of junior high and high school students. No matter your batting average, when you came to bat he made you feel like you were playing in the World Series and leading the league in all areas.

He worked for the San Marcos Parks and Recreation Department in those days, and Kyle fielded a team in that league.

In six decades with the family I cannot remember a bad deal with them. When Vernon replaced Coach Jowers, I tried to never miss a basketball game. Several of us sat right behind the bench. Sometimes Mac would talk to his players, sometimes to us, and sometimes to everybody, but he was always talking. Somewhere along the line somebody named him Motormouth. If he wasn’t the most popular man in San Marcos I will accept nominations, but I cannot imagine anybody who was and is better liked.

Both Donny and Coach Mac would probably deny this, but I saw a lot of the same things in Donny that I saw in Vernon. They are two of the friendliest people I ever met. They both talk with their entire body. Coaches come in for quite a lot of criticism, and when I heard people fuss about Donny my stock answer was “Like father like son.” But I will assure all and sundry that neither of these two basketball coaches, for all their failings, ever acted out of mean spirit or malice.

When Vernon was coaching at Southwest Texas there was another McDonald coaching at Texas A&I and the two of them could put on quite a show. Once they literally switched places on the court, both hollering at the officials. That brought on a whistle and a double technical foul on both coaches.  Vernon McDonald stuck his tongue out at the other McDonald. The crowd loved it. This was a few minutes after the A&I McDonald challenged the inflation of the basketball. Vernon McDonald reached under the scorers table and shoved the cart that had about 10 basketballs out to the center of the floor as he yelled, “Just pick which ever one you want, and let’s play.” Within two minutes the referee called the double technical. That calmed the McDonalds down. Sort of.

It has been a good run. Basketball people everywhere appreciate the McDonald family.

There is one other thing: they, McDonald father and son, are two of the most decent people I ever met.

dbrooks7@austin.rr.com

I don’t know about all you folks, but I’m sick and tired of seeing all these drug commercials on TV these days. Seems like I can’t watch a single episode of “Deadliest Catch” without being subjected to some ad for a new drug for depression, heart disease or erectile dysfunction. Why do pharmaceutical companies insist on running these stupid commercials while I’m trying to unwind after a hard day at work? I’m sitting there on the couch, treating my sore back with a 12 ounce bottle of muscle relaxer, when some commercial pops up and subliminally suggests that I may be one molecule of animal fat away from having a heart attack. Dang it! It’s hard enough to keep up with plot of “The Simpsons,” but now I have to worry about that last slice of meat-lovers pizza that just slid down my gullet clogging up my cardiac plumbing? Is this my third or fourth beer tonight? I can’t recall! Isn’t memory loss a symptom of having a stroke? Call 911! And get me some Lipitor right now!

What’s really embarrassing is watching some show with the family, maybe even your mother-in-law, when one of the ads for Viagra pops up, no pun intended. The subject matter is bad enough to cause a grown man to blush, but when the ad starts mentioning certain side effects (you know what I’m talking about), what’s a guy supposed to do? Pretend he fell asleep in his recliner? Maybe he should hop up and say, “Who wants ice cream?” Do we need the constant bombardment of these commercials while watching our favorite TV shows?

The commercials for numerous medications for depression are the absolute worse. After describing symptoms of depression and how this new medication may help, the ads go further to list the possible side effects of these drugs, such as nausea, suicidal tendency and possible death. Now, I’m no psychiatrist and I don’t suffer from depression except after a Cowboys’ loss in the playoffs, but what’s more depressing than knowing your new medication may cause sudden onset of dizziness or diarrhea if it doesn’t kill you first? Are these commercials really helping sell their products? You don’t see beer commercials with warnings of possible side effects like stomach upset, headaches or forgetting where you parked your car.

The ad that I really find disgusting often appears on certain cable channels. It’s for a product called “Colon Flow.” Hey, I’m not joking here. Constipation is no laughing matter, and I’m glad there are remedies to, um, rectify the problem, but this commercial goes to the extreme in describing in length what all is holed up in your innards. I had no idea my colon is as backed up as the Lincoln Tunnel at rush hour, or that I may be carrying an extra five pounds of luggage in my truck. I am so fortunate to have seen this informative advertisement so I can order this “Colon Flow” and unclog my plumbing. Before long, I’ll be five pounds lighter, feeling youthful and energetic again. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to go more than 30 feet from a commode.

Soon, the new fall television season will be here, along with the long-awaited football season, and I can’t wait to see what new ads will appear during time-outs and halftime. There may be a few good beer commercials, maybe a decent potato chip ad, but I bet there will be several stupid ads for new prescription drugs for every known malady suffered by football fans across the country. And after a few beers and chilidogs, some of the viewers may start experiencing symptoms previously described in those commercials, worried that their plumbing is clogged but are unsure whether to call 911 or gobble down some Tums. Why not leave the pill pushing to the doctors and let us guys enjoy a good football game without having to worry about depression, enlarged prostates, E.D., high cholesterol….

When Clint Younts isn’t parked in front of his television set investigating the latest medical claims, he works at a veterinary clinic and also runs cattle on his property.

rockytop78640@yahoo.com

The incredible success of this fundraiser would not be possible without the people of Kyle. Every dollar counts and the generosity shown by Kyle’s residents is truly appreciated.

Katie Vandegriff
Muscular Dystrophy Association

We found ourselves in a personal crisis due to Bobby needing medical attention and also having to deal with an inside broken water pipe causing our home some flooding.

Thank you again, Mike, and the crew for service performed beyond your duty and your commitment to our community.

Bobby and Hilda Barrera
Kyle

I thought your readers would be interested to know that since 2000, the Postal Service has reduced its costs by $1 billion per year every year except for 2009 when the reduction totaled $6.1 billion. In the same timeframe, we have reduced our employee complement by more than 200,000 employees, all the while maintaining record breaking independently measured service scores.

The editorial further asserts that the Postal Service is somehow flaunting the law by proposing a price increase above a CPA cap enacted in 2006. That same law permits the Postal Service to propose an increase under “extraordinary or exceptional” circumstances. You are aware that an anthrax attack would meet this standard, but since Congress did not offer a definition, we’d suggest that the worst recession since the Great Depression just might apply.

We have seen our mail volumes drop from 213 billion pieces in 2006 to 177 billion pieces in 2009. That’s the largest drop in our history, surely extraordinary is not exceptional.

You further note, correctly, that the Postal Service is burdened by a requirement that it prepay its retiree health benefit obligation by $5.5 billion per year; another aspect of the 2006 law referred to above. You say Congressman Lloyd Doggett has signed in to legislation a bill  that would relieve us of that requirement. Unfortunately, there is no such bill pending.

In summation, we’re doing our best to control our costs and believe that the 5.4 percent price increase we’ve proposed (two cents on a First Class stamp) is modest and reasonable and will help the Postal Service financially in the short term. There are a number of other actions that need to be taken, but be assured, our goal is a viable and healthy Postal Service working for the people of Kyle well into the future.

Manny Arguello
District Manager Rio Grande District,
USPS

Much to my chagrin, I realize that I’m a relatively deficient environmental steward. I seek refuge in my frigidly chilled house during these Hades-inspired Texas summers, I drive an eight-year-old gas guzzling behemoth and I take incredibly long leisurely showers on an as-needed basis. But one thing I do refuse to do is allow my groceries to be placed in a plastic bag. It took me a couple of months, but I finally got into the habit of keeping reusable bags in the back of my car and then, after having to run back out to the parking lot to retrieve them a couple of times, I trained myself to remember to actually take them into the store with me. It’s been a couple of years now and it’s just habit. I wouldn’t forget my wallet or my grocery list. I don’t forget the bags. It’s not rocket surgery.

At the grocery store last Sunday, though, I was staggered by the amount of plastic bags being filled. Hundreds a minute. And into those plastic bags went tons of other smaller plastic bags holding produce – sometimes a whole bag for a single lime. Out of the six or so check-out stands within my range, only one other customer brought bags. I wonder what part of the environmental disaster plastic bags are wreaking is lost on them.

So, for you plastic bag stalwarts, here’s just a few of the facts I turned up:
• Plastic bags do not biodegrade. Ever. Bags in landfills can take up to 1,000 years to decompose and in the process, they break down into toxic particles that pollute the soil and water.

• 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are discarded each year worldwide (that’s more than a million per minute).

• The U.S. goes through 380 billion plastic bags a year, but recycles only 1-3 percent of them.

• Plastic bags are made from oil: it takes about 430,000 gallons of oil to produce 100 million plastic bags. That’s 1.6 billion gallons of oil used each year to make those little bags.

• The average family accumulates 60 plastic bags in only four trips to the grocery store. You can do the math.

• 45 percent of shoppers have bought a reusable bag but only 12 percent use them regularly.

And paper isn’t better than plastic, as I had always smugly thought. The reality: paper bags emit 51 percent more global warming gasses in their production, create 50 times more water pollution, use 4 times more raw materials and consume 2 times more energy. And, although they are biodegradable, around 80 percent end up in landfills where they do not biodegrade because of lack of oxygen.

Eight years ago Ireland imposed a 15-cent plastic bag consumption tax which reduced bag use by 90 percent and saved the country 18 million liters of oil. The average Irish citizen went from using 328 to 21 bags per year. Remarkable. But, I’m certainly not for more taxes or fees so it just makes sense to use our own bags and skip the government regulation, don’t you think? From what I read, the best reusable bags are made of renewable, biodegradable resources such as jute, hemp and cotton. But even better than that is scouting your house for bags you already own and utilizing them rather than buying more bags.

Okay. Here’s the snag: evidently you’ve got to run these reusable bags through the laundry on a pretty regular basis. A recent study examining random reusable bags found 10 percent were infected with e-Coli and 50 percent tested positive for coliform.

Evidently not only are people putting their raw meat in the same bag with their fresh vegetables and cross-contaminating, they are then folding up those tainted bags and putting them in the hot trunk of their cars to fester. To add insult to injury, quite often those same bags are being used for alternate purposes such as toting sweaty gym clothes or the occasional soiled diaper, creating little bacterial jamborees. The good news? Machine washing in hot water reduced the bacteria by 99.9 percent. Need an extra push to wash your bags every time you use them? A household toilet seat typically has 50 coliform bacteria; in these latest studies, the reusable bags had 500 to 1000 coliform bacteria. Uh, gross. Just wash them.

So, first of all, you have to commit to refusing plastic bags entirely. Put a couple of reusable bags in your car, take them with you everywhere and then force yourself to make the trek out and get them if you find yourself at the cashier without them.  It only takes a couple of times before you “make it a habit and grab it.” I’ll do my part by turning up my thermostat and slowing down. I’m not sure I’ll go so far as to shower with a friend.

brenda@haysfreepress.com

January 2, 2011 will be a day that businesses, churches, non-profit groups – anyone using the U.S. Postal Service – dreads.

It’s the date that the USPS is proposing to implement another price increase, with a 2-cent hike on the first-class stamp, and a much more serious increase for the mailing of newspapers and magazines.

Why should you care?

Because this same increase is also going to affect churches, community organizations, the Hays school district, the Lions Club, Hays Youth Soccer Association, the booster clubs – basically any group that uses the postal service.

Unless the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) puts a stop to this, all of our rates will be going up – at a time when most businesses are holding the line, trying to keep their heads above water, having to make salary cuts and laying off workers.

But the postal service has not done anything like that. There have been no layoffs. There have been no salary cuts.

USPS is claiming “exigent” circumstances. Back in 2006, a price cap that held postage rates within inflation levels  was established by the PRC, with the exception of an “exigency.” The postal service is arguing that the recent recession plus the major use by many people of the internet equal exigency.

But their facts are wrong. The exigency clause was established by Congress for true emergencies. When that clause was included, the USPS had just suffered an attack of anthrax in the mail. That’s the kind of exigency that Congress was referring to.

USPS was having troubles way before the recession hit. Mail volumes were freefalling back in 2007. Competition is something that local businesses are used to; it’s something that businesses plan around, implement new services for. For the USPS to blame the internet for its financial woes  and claim exigency just doesn’t cut it.

Postal losses have been caused in part by Congressional mandates requiring $5.5 billion a year for 10 years prepaid into a retiree health benefit fund. That’s something that no other federal agency is forced to do.

But the postal losses also came about because they are unwilling to address high labor costs.

Instead, the postal service wants to keep its salaries, its regulations and ways of “doing business,” passing on these increases to local groups, all the while expecting everyone to jump in line to do their bidding on new requirements.

This postage rate increase comes at a bad time, and Congressman Lloyd Doggett, who represents Hays County, said he is signing on to a bill that would eliminate the requirement  for the USPS to prepay its retiree health benefit fund.

The National Newspaper Association, of which this newspaper is a member, has joined forces with the Affordable Mail Alliance in this fight.

But we can’t do it alone. Call Rep. Doggett and encourage him to fight for this bill. While Congress doesn’t have an immediate role in this rate case, Rep. Doggett needs to be aware of your opposition and how this rate increase will affect your business, your community group, your personal bottom line.

If the cap put in place by the PRC back in 2006 is broken for this simple reason – because of competition and the USPS unwillingness to cut labor costs – then the cap is meaningless.

This is not an exigency.

Let them know it.

We may choose to remain a little quiet for a time but be assured that we are ever present and watchful when it comes to our original town of Kyle and we will remain active in supporting Kyle and our summer activities.

Thanks to Brenda and all who have supported our group and will continue to do so.

Gene and Moe Johnson
Kyle

Kyle City Limits
by BRENDA STEWART

As I was reading the story about local ex-bus driver, Edwin Graning, filing a lawsuit last week claiming that his employer violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in U.S. District Court, something just didn’t sit right. It wasn’t adding up. Graning accepted a job in 2009 with the Capitol Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS) in Austin, to provide public transportation to residents living outside of traditional bus routes. His job description entailed driving citizens to the destinations they requested. He refused to do his job so they fired him. Seems pretty cut and dried.

The back-story? Evidently, early one morning last January, Graning was assigned to transport a woman to a Planned Parenthood clinic. For reasons known only to Graning, he jumped to a totally unfounded conclusion that the woman he was hired to transport was in route to having an abortion, and subsequently, he could not “in good conscience” drive her to her medical appointment. When he informed his supervisor of his insubordination, he was terminated. Not because of his religious convictions but because he refused to do his job.

Just for perspective, though, let’s take a look at the clinic that so riled this man’s conscience. Planned Parenthood provides a wide range of medical services to men and women, young and old. In 2007, one third of their services ensured that folks who wanted birth control had affordable access to it. Hence, fewer appointments with abortion clinics. Almost 50 percent of Planned Parenthood clinic traffic is to identify and treat diseases, from herpes and AIDS to breast and testicular cancer.  Then, they offer those morally volatile prenatal visits and, at the other end of the spectrum, counseling for couples dealing with infertility. And, here you go, case in point, three percent of Planned Parenthood’s clients receive abortion services. Three. What are the chances that Graning just happened to hit that inappreciable percentage that winter morning?

Graning accepted a driving job, eyes wide open, knowing full-well that he might have to transport folks to all kinds of places that he might not personally frequent himself.  Did he refuse to take women to doctor’s appointments in general, knowing that abortion services are provided through private practices as well? How about hospitals? Surely, though, in retrospect, he, as an ordained minister, cannot justify denying this woman the option of receiving medical attention, based on some edict he decided to enforce that day. One would think.

But, six months later Graning decides his civil rights have been violated and sues, seeking reinstatement, back pay and damages for pain, suffering and emotional distress? Something was amiss. And then I read the fine print. Seems that this ex-bus driver’s lawyers are from the huge D.C.-based American Center for Law and Justice (a tax-exempt religious corporation also known as Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism, Inc.) founded by none other than publicity-mongering televangelist Pat Robertson, who ironically, also has pending litigation against Planned Parenthood in California. So, that was the crux: political wrangling by the anti-choice faction, seeking to further their cause at any cost, catapulting an uninformed pawn into the national news.

The man refused to do his job and he was fired for it. This is not lawsuit material. Here’s to hoping that Mr. Graning gets on with his life and finds employment that he feels does not conflict with his ethics. And, more pointedly, here’s to the lawyers representing CARTS inflicting some pain, suffering and emotional distress on these D.C. lawyers ramming their unrelated agenda down the throats of central Texans.

brenda@haysfreepress.com

Another merchant has lost my business, this time a barber. And it’s unfortunate, because my hair and I are in the market.

I’d love to hand someone money to manage what fiber remains on my head, but I won’t sit there and endure a forced march through the brain of Glenn Beck in the process.

That was the case the other day when my locks were placed in the care of a generally competent cutter, and the rest of me had to join a studio audience bathing Beck in starry gazes.

Since the barber has no notion that such an imposition would be excruciating to many, I won’t be back.

In how many places have you, a captive audience, been so exploited? To whose twitchy-eyed, market-driven indoctrination were you exposed: Bully Bill O’Reilly? Pretty boy Sean Hannity?

Having Fox News crowbarred past my eyelids has happened while giving blood, while downing a burger, while waiting for a physician.

You may love said exposure, and good luck with that.

You may be saying that when I get my hair cut I want TV news that fits my liberal slant, like CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, PBS, BBC, all of those.

Actually, no. When I get my hair cut, I don’t want to watch oil being belched from the brine, or soccer fans losing their minds, or even the face of LeBron James scratching his beard about all the hubbub.

The fact is, I just want my hair cut. I don’t want the TV on at all.

The imposition of television has become one of the information age’s most annoying and counterproductive conditions. For one thing, in most cases the television peeking in over your lunch partner’s shoulder can’t be heard. And if it’s loud enough to be heard, it’s intruding into every conversation.

Airports are the worst abettors, and the most problematic since airports are generally more serene than the average restaurant. Also, people have a longer wait time to be cordoned off in an information tunnel supplied by a cable network.

Yes, generally it’s CNN, not Fox. But as clear-headed and agenda-lacking as CNN may be, it’s still offensive.

I want silence. I want to read. I want to think.

How many of you out there have sought refuge from TV’s incessancy in an airport or hospital waiting room? I know I have (sometimes having to move again because someone three seats away wanted to share business or intimate life details with the person in his cell phone earpiece).

Having a music video instead of news does not make unrequested TV less intrusive. I’m no fan of Brooks and Dunn, sorry. You wouldn’t want me making your musical selections, either. Talking Heads, anyone?

Sports is probably the least objectionable thing to have on the screen, and is something that people can tune out more easily if they desire, say in a restaurant. Still, whatever happened to silence and eye contact?

My point: Be you a merchant, airport manager, doctor, mechanic, whatever public/private space you command, let me choose what channel my brain is on. You have no right to be fingering my remote.

More people need to start complaining about this. In a place where I’ve donated liberal amounts of blood, I informed the staff that if I was going to bleed for the greater good, I would not do so listening to a Fox News right-wing foot soldier.

And if no one listens to you, or can’t hear you over the TV, walk out.

Former Texas newspaperman John Young resides in Colorado.

jyoungcolumn@gmail.com