A6 The Huntsville Times, Saturday, December 15, 2007

I noted a little reluctance to

Roop Light a tree
The Young Life Christmas
tree lot will be open for its
let me wield a chainsaw. Wise
men are everywhere this time
of year.
Continued from page A1 last day today. No reason- “We should give a $5 dis-
able offer will be refused,
count for people with a pick-
people’s organization. sellers say. The lot is on the
east side of Whitesburg up,” Speer said as we tossed a
That’s why volunteers like
Drive between Airport Road tree in the back cab of a truck.
the Speers, the Wellses, and
Siegfried Wendland show up
and Drake Avenue. One thing blessedly miss-
each year to help, as they did ing was a camera, video or
the night I appeared. They still, except for the one in the
tales of Christmas trees past. hands of a Times photogra-
tote trees, saw stumps, lop The airborne trees that ended
lower branches and load the pher. You’d think, you’d sus-
up in the middle of Bailey
finished results. Cove Road, the tree the cat pect, this would be one of
Tree-choosing is its own art decided was a personal gift, those events parents couldn’t
form. Kids can hijack the the trees bought so late the help documenting.
process with their glowing lit- choices were positively Char- No, no, no. Live it. Don’t
tle faces and “puhleez, this lie Brown. worry about filming it. That’s
one” that can cost you $100. The great tradition is the the way, and the people of
Fights over which tree is your live tree. With artificial trees Huntsville, at least this night,
tree – both within the family now sold with everything seemed to get that.
and with the family in the from lights to “natural” scents, Sure, everyone wants keep-
next row – can end in Christ- it takes commitment to spend er footage of Grammy in that
mas clashes. $50 or more every year on a ridiculous Rudolph sweater.
There is a better way. “live” tree. But some family traditions
“Compromise,” Mike Block- “We tried the artificial are best when they live as Bryan Bacon/Huntsville Times
er of Huntsville said Thursday trees,” Mick Speer admitted. family memories, when we
Police officers surround a police car with a suspect inside near the intersection of Weatherly
night. “But each year, they look a lit- can argue about them and Road and Bailey Cove Road.
There’s a good word for a tle worse, and it takes so have no Michael Moore docu-
happy holiday season. You much time to get each limb in mentary to show it wasn’t just pect, the officer’s condition cer Daniel Golden, who was
may never get better advice
for the season of stress.
Blocker and his wife,
position.”
Who needs it?
Working on a Christmas
the way we remember.
What are some of those
memories of a Christmas tree
Officer and possible charges early
today. Witnesses at the scene
said the suspect was a middle-
killed in the line of duty on Aug.
29, 2005, in front of a Mexican
Diane, had just compromised tree lot is pretty simple. Let lot? The smell of fir and sap, Continued from page A1 aged white male who was ap- restaurant on Jordan Lane.
on a tree for their south the people find their tree, use the whoops of children and prehended by officers at the Eight Huntsville police offi-
Huntsville home. He thought the chainsaw to trim an inch yelps of dogs chasing each whether there were any other Texaco station at Bailey Cove
it was fine; she thought it other through the tree rows, suspects. cers have died in the line of duty
or so from the bottom (to and Weatherly.
might be a little thin here and stimulate water absorption), that beautiful feeling of look- The police department will The department is still reel- since the department was
there. trim any lower branches that ing beside you and seeing release details about the sus- ing from the shooting of offi- founded.
But they compromised. would get in the way of a those you love best.
Lashing that tree to the top stand, and tie that baby to the That’s a lot for less than 10
of the family SUV, we shared vehicle. bucks a foot.
Deaths in Iraq down for December
Lowest since ’04; another was killed by gunfire security gains resulting from
in the capital, the U.S. mili- Iraqis’ rejection of insurgents
2 U.S. soldiers tary said. and to increased troop
killed Thursday In the first two weeks of
November, 23 American strength resulting from the
By TINA SUSMAN forces had been killed, com- addition of 28,500 American
Los Angeles Times pared with 10 in December, forces sent to Iraq earlier in
BAGHDAD, Iraq – The according to the Department 2007.
U.S. military said Friday that of Defense and www.icasual-
two American soldiers had ties.org. These factors also have led
died in separate incidents, but If the current pace of less to a drop in bombings and
despite the latest deaths, De- than one death per day is other attacks on civilians, say
cember was shaping up to be maintained, December could Iraqi and American officials.
the safest month for U.S. be the least deadly month
forces in Iraq since 2004. since February 2004, when Nevertheless, the country
The military gave few de- 20 U.S. troops died, accord- remains far from calm.
tails of the most recent casu- ing to www.icasualties.org. Shiite Muslim clergymen
alties. Both occurred Thurs- A total of 3,891 American used Friday prayers to con-
day. troops have died since the war
One soldier died of wounds began in March 2003. demn bombings in the south-
suffered when a bomb ex- U.S. officials attribute the ern city of Amarah that killed
ploded during a foot patrol; downward trend in deaths to 28 people.

Toyota recalls 15,600 Tundras

NASA's Super Guppy arrives at Ellington Field in this February 2006 photo.
Guppy
Continued from page A1
NASA is using the bulging
cargo aircraft, which is capable
of moving more than 50,000
pounds of cargo, to collect a
space station program truss
segment that is fitted with a
movement joint currently in
storage at Marshall Space Flight
Center, Marshall spokesman
Steve Roy said.
The joint, called a Solar
Alpha Rotary Joint, or SARJ, is
needed at Johnson Space Cen-
ter, near Houston, to help en-
gineers and astronauts better
understand its malfunctioning
twin now on the International
Space Station. The station uses
Gunman didn’t send hate mail
By GEORGE MERRITT
The Associated Press
DENVER – A gunman who
killed four people in two shoot-
ings did not send hate mail to
a Christian missionary train-
ing center where some of the
victims were shot, authorities
The Lure of
the Outdoors
Before you head out to catch the
By KEN THOMAS have been improperly heat- rear propeller shaft helps
Dave Dieter/Huntsville Times The Associated Press treated, leading to an inade- drive the rear axle, which
WASHINGTON – Toyota quate amount of hardness. A turns the rear wheels.
Motor Corp. said Friday it is section of the rear propeller Toyota has learned of one
Guppy is slated to leave Red- recalling 15,600 four-by-four shaft could separate at the case that could be linked to
On The Net
http://spaceflight.nasa.
gov/station/assembly/su-
stone Army Airfield on Tuesday,
Boyd said.
The massive Super Guppy
versions of the 2007 Tundra
pickup truck in the United
States because of problems
joint and immobilize the
truck and force it to coast to
a stop, the company said.
the problem. It involved an
abnormal amount of noise
coming from the truck’s un-
perguppy/index.html looks like a flying whale and has with a propeller shaft con- Toyota spokesman Bill dercarriage.
been used for more than a nected to the rear axle. Kwong said in an e-mail that Customers with addition-
there were no accidents or in- al questions can contact Toy-
two of the joints to rotate its decade to move parts of the In- The automaker said a joint
power-generating solar arrays. ternational Space Station. Sim- in the rear propeller shaft may juries linked to the recall. The ota at 800-331-4331.
Spacewalking astronauts dis- ilar NASA aircraft were used
covered metal shavings in the during the Saturn and early
ing wall. The bus fell 30 feet to He was ejected from the vehi-
joint, which is 15 feet wide and
located on the starboard, or
right side, of the space station.
The shavings have frozen one of
space shuttle eras to move large
rocket parts.
It’s front section is hinged and
opens like a giant mouth to
Crash the ground and crashed nose
first.
Attorneys for the victims
cle before it left the elevated
roadway.
The suits seek punitive and
Continued from page A1 started filing lawsuits against compensatory damages.
the station’s solar panels, cutting move special cargo canisters in
the amount of power it can draw and out of the aircraft. comparison with those the Laidlaw in January. The bus The lawyers are scheduled to
from the sun’s rays. The joint is Even though the Super company follows in Alabama. driver, Scott, and the car’s driv- take recorded statements from
also experiencing unexplained Guppy lives up to its name of The collision of the Laidlaw er, a minor whose name is Laidlaw officials on Dec. 27 and
electrical power surges. looking like a fat fish with Transit bus and a car driven by being withheld, also are de- from Scott on Jan. 4. The driv-
A truss section is joined with wings, Boyd said the aircraft a Lee High School student oc- fendants. er of the car will be 19 years old
the solar array joint, said Boe- gives a smooth ride. “It flies pret- curred near the on-ramp of In- The suits say Laidlaw failed in March. He will no longer be
ing’s Scott West. Both will be ty well through the sky. It does terstate 565 on Nov. 20, 2006, to ensure the bus had proper- entitled to a court-appointed
loaded Monday, and the Super a good job.” at the Church Street overpass. ly functioning and fitting seat guardian to protect his legal
Forty students from Lee belts and to enforce the use of rights, so the lawyers will take
High School were on the bus seat belts by the bus driver, who his statement sometime next
when it plunged over a retain- was not wearing his seat belt. year.
said Friday, backing off from
their earlier statements.
Police now say Matthew
Arvada Police Cmdr. Kathy
Foos blamed the misstate-
ment on miscommunication
Drivers
Murray sent e-mails to an af- Continued from page A1
between police in Arvada and
filiated group in which he
criticized Christians but did Colorado Springs. Now, he said, senior drivers
not threaten violence. The e-mails in question are get the best buses.
Police in Colorado Springs, separate from Internet screeds The point system is de-
where Murray opened fire at linked to Murray that bitterly signed to reduce driver ab-
the New Life Church, had said sences and protect the school
condemned Christianity and
in a court document this week system’s $14 million investment
that the 24-year-old had sent threatened to kill believers. in buses, Evans said.
death threats to the Youth Police still have not said When a driver is absent, an-
With a Mission center in the whether they are certain Mur- other bus must run that route,
Denver suburb of Arvada. ray wrote those diatribes. sometimes doubling the num-
ber of students on board. Get-
ting those kids to school on
time also becomes more chal-
HUNTSVILLE’S BEST WINDOW VALUE! lenging and the absence irks
parents, Evans said.
“It puts everybody at a loss Eric Schultz/Huntsville Times
when drivers don’t show,” he
A student boards a Madison County School bus after school at
said. Riverton Elementary School Friday.
Nearly all of the 247 county
bus drivers are diligent, Evans referrals and dirty buses. don’t have air-conditioning.
said, but just a few absences can Senior drivers do get a head Those buses will be replaced or
VINYL DOUBLE HUNG OR 2-LITE VINYL SLIDER create chaos during pick-ups start, however. They automat- used for minor purposes after
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10 years on the road, Evans
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buses clean and correct bad be-
havior. They can lose two
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tion. Attempts to reach AEA
points for excessive disciplinary Buses built before 2000 were unsuccessful.