College Town At Christmas, 2016: Dreams, Technology and The Christmas Spirit

     BOWLING GREEN, KY. _ Today is Friday, Dec. 23, and I am off work for the Christmas holiday until Tuesday morning.

I had a horrible dream last night. So I woke up early telling my wife, Patty, about it while she was still asleep.  She barely listened I suppose.  I don't think there's anything to dreams. And I never do.  I think dreams are merely a way to work out all of the clutter and crap in your subconscious mind.  I know some people call them stress dreams. But I haven't had a whole lot of stress in my life lately. It's almost like your conscious mind shuts down when you go to sleep and your subconscious mind wakes up and drinks his coffee and goes to work as a superhero.  Or so he thinks he's one. Except, this guy is crazy!   He will always take you places far and wide and makes unimaginable things happen.  He's a nut! I don't pay any attention to him or my dreams.  They mean nothing! Absolutely nothing, okay! Lol.

     Anyway, I have to admit that I have been struggling this year to find some inspiration to write my annual Christmas blog called, "College Town At Christmas" which usually centers around our fair city of Bowling Green, Ky., with a population of about 65,00-70,000 citizens now.  Yes, our town is booming!  Our local college of Western Kentucky University is booming too! Our WKU football team just beat Memphis in the Boca Raton Bowl in Florida, 51-31.  Another great victory for WKU and Bowling Green!

    But I will say that this holiday season has been an interesting one for Patty and I.  Mainly, I would say it's about new technology for all of us living in today's modern society.  As we all know, things are not the same and never will be. (Of course, being Republicans, we have been elated that President-Elect Donald Trump won the presidential election recently! I lost 12 Facebook friends on social media because of my beliefs or because of way my way of thinking.  I guess I was an asshole to some of my friends on FB or they were an asshole to me.  I do give them my apologies though-boo hoo!)  But back to technology.  I think the biggest thing I have been thinking about this year is how we as a society are adapting and using all of the technologies available to us in general way.  For instance, Patty and I did all of our Christmas shopping on-line this year mainly with Amazon.  It appears that UPS, FedEx and the USPS are booming these days too!  Our world has become what people have been predicting for years-a virtual high tech society with people communicating in incredible ways and sending each others packages at lightning speed without even having to leave your home or office. And lately, we have been ordering our groceries from Kroger on-line and picking them up too. And Patty and I just received an Amazon Fire table as a Christmas gift from her daughter in North Carolina yesterday.  So we already have WiFi high speed-internet, a desk top computer, iPhone's and now we have the tablets!  It appears that everyone in society is connected to each other in more ways than one these days. Also, I got a new work truck a couple months ago and it came with six months worth of  free Sirius satellite radio.  I have been really in tune with politics lately listening to POTUS and Fox Headline News.  And Patty and I have not even tapped into the new television technologies yet such as Hulu or Amazon.  We're still on Time-Warner/Spectrum but they are coming along with great, new technologies also.

    But the bottom line as far as I can tell,  is that somehow, somewhere we are still able to find a lot of Christmas spirit in our college town as we muddle through our high tech society which is connected to the world in a much greater way.  People still listen to Christmas music, decorate (probably not as much as they did back in the 60's, 70's and 80's), shop at the mall, wrap presents, give gifts, bake cookies, family members traveling in from out of town, mail Christmas cards, have family Christmas dinners and parties and attend church together.  And the best thing about this year, President-Elect Donald Trump says he going to bring back saying "Merry

Christmas!"  So Merry Christmas everyone and I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday spending time with your loved ones.  And please don't forget to give your pets some love and Christmas gifts too!  Remember they are you fur babies and are a part of your family also!  God Bless!

A&E's 'Live PD" Lands In Bowling Green, Ky., Featuring The Warren County Sheriff's Office

   Warren County Sheriff Jerry "Peanuts" Gaines posted a comment on his Facebook page this past Friday night that he was proud of his deputies being featured on Live PD on the A&E network for the first time.

    "Proud of my deputies being featured on Live PD on the A&E station tonight for the first time.  The production crew will be with us through March.  If you haven't tuned in, check it out,"  Gaines posted.

(This was the first time I'd heard about it. I only take Wednesday's and Sunday's Bowling Green Daily News these days.  And I tend to listen to a lot of Sirius Satellite radio and Spotify in my work truck.  And it seems the rest of the time, I am either on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter or channel surfing.  So I get most of my local news from either Facebook or Twitter.)  Then cracker jack, crime beat reporter for the Bowling Green Daily News, Debi Highland, also tweeted, "You can see some familiar sheriff's deputies right now on A&E network's Live PD. Warren Co. SO is being featured through March."

   

I had written a blog this past April about a possible police reality show should come to Bowling Green to film because we've have had so much usual criminal activity this past year and local police have done incredible job fighting crime while making headlines in our local newspaper.  Also in that blog, I wrote about a car chase with police that had been reported by Debi Highland in the BGDN where a young guy was chased from Portland., Tenn., all the way to downtown Bowling Green where he was finally stopped by Kentucky State Police and local authorities. I made the suggestion that it would have a made an awesome segment for "America's Dumbest Criminals" and I wondered if their had been cameras recording the chase.http://acriticfromthesouth.blogspot.com/2016/04/recent-bowling-green-ky-police-chase.html

 

Highland also recently wrote a story for the BGDN that was published in yesterday's newspaper. "A film crew began riding along with Warren County sheriff's deputies earlier this week and will continue filming through March."  And then she quotes Warren County Sheriff "Jerry" "Peanuts" Gaines, "It just shows what we do and what different departments do."  Highland wrote that Gaines informed her that the series includes both live and previously filmed segments, along with commentary about what is being shown.  The show follows several departments in each episode. Highland also quoted Deputy Chris Shelton, one of the deputies to be featured on the show and he said he is "looking forward to giving the public real life, front-seat access to police work."

   "From a lot of folks, especially here lately, law enforcement has been painted in a negative light, and this will show that the Warren County Sheriff's Office is very transparent in everything we do, and it gives everybody a chance to see it, not only here but across the country."

    I think it's a great idea to have a national show from a major cable network of this caliber such as A&E to come to our town to set up production and film.  Just think about all of the national and international exposure that Bowling Green and Warren County will receive.  Like Shelton said, the Warren County Sheriff's Department will not be shown in a negative light, but in a transparent way where the world will see where our boys have been doing a damn good job in law enforcement by fighting crime and keeping our county safe here in Southcentral Kentucky!  They already have been making the headlines in our newspaper to prove it thanks to Debi Highland's excellent reporting for the Bowling Green Daily News.  Mainly though, I can't wait to see my first episode of "Live PD" featuring the Warren County Sheriff's Department next Friday night on A&E!

    

Jude, The Australian Shepherd From Bowling Green, Ky.

     He's wild, energetic, spunky and crazy!

He's Jude, the Australian Shepherd from Bowling Green, Ky!  He even has his own Facebook page. Check it out at https://www.facebook.com/judetheaussie/  Patty and I took Jude, an American Kennel Club Australian Shepherd dog into our pack in May of this year. Currently, he is eight months-old and he is a beautiful Red Merle Aussie with awesome markings.  This is our third Aussie to own.  The first two were Foster, a male, a National Stock Dog Registry Aussie, and Katie Red-Dog, also from the National Stock Dog Registry, who was Foster's mate.  They had two litter of puppies together and gave us many years of pleasure and happiness until they both passed away of health complications at 12 and 13 years-old, about the average life span of Australian Shepherds. Besides Jude's wild side, he has a sweet, calm side. He loves to have his belly scratched and songs sang to him in his ear while holding him on your lap and on his back.  He loves to play with his toys in the backyard especially any kind of game of fetch with a ball or frisbee and he loves to go for long walks while he is on the lease in our neighborhood and on the Greenway which is a wide, concrete bike/walkway path located down the street from our house next to the CSX railroad tracks.  But mainly Jude is a great  friend and protector and gives us lots of love and affection. He is very loyal and protects our home letting us know when strangers come onto the property or ring the doorbell, day or night.  

   

 Most of all, Jude loves going to the "Bark Park," located in our City of Bowling Green on old Cave Mill Road next to Lost River Cave.  There, Jude gets to socialize with other dogs and Patty and I have learned that dog people are crazy just like us!  Many people in our city, regardless of skin color, political background, sexual orientation or social or income status love dogs!  We are very fortunate to have a "Bark Park" in Bowling Green a.k.a. a "dog park" where dogs can socialize and mingle with other dogs in a fenced in area while the dog owners talk amongst themselves about their favorite pet or pets. It's amazing how a dog can neutralize any political affiliation or social status amongst humans where nothing negative in conversation hardly ever comes up because everybody in Bowling Green loves dogs it seems!

As We Honor Our Veterans Today We Still Have Every Right To Be Cautious And Concerned

"When I think of Veterans Day, I think of my late father, Army Major Vester Brooks Smith, and his service in World War II and the Korean War. He made sacrifices to leave his family putting his life at risk. By the grace of God, he made it home alive. If he hadn't, me and my two other brothers wouldn't have been born because we were born after his time in Korean. Also, I think of his time and service he gave to our country while he was enlisted in the Army and the local National Guard in Memphis where I grew up. Although he was not killed in war, he paid the ultimate price by obtaining the dreaded Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (PTSD). However, he was a high functioning member of society and went on to get his college degree from Memphis State University and had a very successful career in

accounting and bookkeeping. And as I think of us as American citizens, we pay the ultimate sacrifice too by honoring our veterans and America everyday, working hard and paying our taxes. We were born here legally and because of our heritage of our family member's sacrifice in the military, we have the right to be proud and to be concerned for our country, our homes, our jobs, our community and our families. We have right to be concerned for our way of life, our peace and our freedom from threats and of acts of violence against our citizens and our nation from terrorists such as Muslims extremists and other such terrorists. We have a right to be cautious and leery of these Syrians Muslim refugees that Obama and his administration are bringing into Bowling Green and other small towns across the nation. We work hard, pay our taxes and are law abiding citizens and we have every right to be concerned and on guard. And we do not seek handouts. We pay our own way and apparently the way for others who are not even citizens who have not even made any sacrifices nor have their family members. Nevertheless Happy Veterans Day!"-Galen A. Smith Sr.

Fall In Bowling Green, Ky., Is A Time For Memories

"Fall reminds me of many things living in Bowling Green, Ky. It is a time of reflection into one's own memory-childhood, school, marriage and the raising of children. I notice how the leaves on trees are changing color and falling. I feel the cold temps on my face in the morning while I sip on a cup of coffee. I think of my late parents and friends of the past. This season offers me something much more than the others."-Galen A. Smith Sr., Nov. 5, 2010.

Trains, Lawyers, CSX And The Fight For Bowling Green's Robinson Avenue Crossing

     I have lived in Bowling Green, Ky, (Pop. 65,000) for almost 30 years now.

And 18 of those years, I have lived six houses down from some train tracks owned by CSX Transportation of Jacksonville, Fla. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARC4D1dKkD4  CSX operates its many trains that travel up and down the railroads pulling railcars filled with tons and tons of cargo. Who knows what's passing by our neighborhood in the middle of the night?  It's could be railroad cars full of nuclear waste or parts of a nuclear warhead for all I know. lol. But I am used to hearing the trains passing through our neighborhood at night or during the daytime and I hardly even notice them blowing their loud horns anymore. It has become something in the back of my subconscious mind and part of  my dream's landscape when I am sound asleep. My wife, Patty and I, use the Greenway (a wide public sidewalk) that runs along the CSX tracks and Creason Avenue just about everyday.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMs5LD0Wq3c  We walk our Australian Shepherd, "Jude" on it and I ride my bicycle up and down the Greenway, riding all the way down and back from Western Kentucky University which is about a mile from my house.  Usually, a train or two passes by when I am on the Greenway which is a very usual and normal occurrence to say the least.  To me, the CSX train tracks and trains are synonymous with the City of Bowling Green and its citizens.  The trains here have a long history and have been traveling through our city for many, many years. Bowling Green even has a restored L&N Depot now called "The Historic Railpark and Museum" https://historicrailpark.com/ where you can pay to take tours of the building and go aboard some parked rail cars next to the depot. We have lots of train lovers in this part of Southern Kentucky.

 However, some trouble started arising during the last year or two, when the citizens of Bowling Green noticed that CSX was beginning to block some busy road crossings more often than usual such as Emmett Avenue and Robinson Avenue that lead to Russellville Road just off Creason Avenue.  CSX always blocked them some but not as often it seems lately.  I began posting pics of the Emmett Avenue road crossing being blocked CSX on Twitter and tagged local newspaper journalist and photographer, Joe Imel {@joeimel} who now has 37,000 followers.  I was doing it as a PSA (public service announcement) to let people know that the road is blocked and that they should make a detour.

 I think some followers appreciated it but I know a lot of followers would get angry when they found out that CSX was blocking the crossroads again.  It seems like the Robinson Avenue crossing was always being blocked.  It's about a mile down the street from the Emmett Road crossing close to my house.  However, in May of this year, the City of Bowling Green had made a deal with CSX to sell them a portion of land for $50,000 at the Robinson Avenue at-grade crossing and to allow them to closed it off this summer without the citizens knowing about it until our local newspaper, the Bowling Green Daily News published a story regarding the closure. The reason for the closing of Robinson Avenue is that CSX claims that they are running some longer trains now and they need to more trains that run from Indianapolis to Nashville. So the need for "passing" or "side" tracks has also increased to allow the trains to pass each other as they travel in opposite directions.  Apparently, the City of Bowling Green had tried get CSX back away from closing the crossing at Robinson Avenue after they realized it had caused an uproar with a lot of its citizens.
     Naturally, a lot of citizens especially those who lived in a neighborhood known as "Cedar Ridge" and in the WKU general area which is basically next to the tracks separated by Creason Avenue and a Greenway  where people walk and ride bicycles between Western Kentucky University and WKU's South Campus were upset.  Mainly, the residents became upset with the city over this because they felt that they were not informed first before the deal was made with CSX.  Also, Kelly Thompson who also lives in the neighborhood, is a local lawyer and a judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, where he represents the 2nd Appellate District, Division 2, filed a lawsuit against CSX and the City of Bowling Green.

     Then it was announced in September that several businesses on the Russellville Road which just across the tracks had join the lawsuit.  But for now though, I understand, CSX has decided not to close the crossing. Bottom line is that CSX had originally said it would close the crossing at Robinson Avenue although the city sought a temporary injunction to prohibit the railroad from closing the street.  I made a video of the Robinson Avenue crossing this past summer on my blog's Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/acriticfromthesouth/
     In a motion filed in Warren Circuit Court recently, CSX said it would refrain from closing the crossing until the court had ruled on the railroad's motion. So Robinson Avenue will stay open at least until the next court date which is set for November 7.  Yay or nay, I will make the proper adjustments and take the necessary short cuts on certain streets to get where I am going if Robinson Avenue is closed.  And course, I will obey the speed limit and watch out for pedestrians, dogs, cats, children playing and squirrels while driving through our beautiful neighborhoods. But I am like most citizens who live in our neighborhood, I do hope that CSX and the City of Bowling Green as well as our area residents, can come to agreement to keep the Robinson Avenue crossing open. Because it's a very important function to our network of city streets, neighborhoods and business districts which are close by.

NBC's Lester Holt Was Possibly Under Pressure From Comcast After Last Night's Presidential Debate

"You know, I personally like Lester Holt as an anchor of NBC, one of the largest networks in television history and his evening news is the one I watch most often. Because my wife, Patty, is a big Jeopardy fan and it comes on between the two game shows each weekday night. But let's see, NBC is owned by Comcast https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comcast and Comcast is one of Obama's biggest contributors as well as the Democratic party. Makes sense to me after last night's debate, right?"-Galen A. Smith Sr.

"Comcast was among the top backers of Barack Obama's presidential runs, with Comcast vice president David Cohen raising over $2.2 million from 2007 to 2012.[47][48] Cohen has been described by many sources as influential in the US government,[49] though he is no longer a registered lobbyist, as the time he spends lobbying falls short of the 20% which requires official registration.[50] Comcast's PAC, the Comcast Corporation and NBCUniversal Political Action Committee, is the among the largest PACs in the US, raising about $3.7 million from 2011-2012 for the campaigns of various candidates for office in the United States Federal Government."-Wikipedia