Slashing trees

Those of us who travel within McLennan County may remember seeing all the strangely mutilated old trees that ran along power poles a couple of years back. This was the cost-cutting results of Oncor’s subcontracting to a company in Houston to “trim the trees” along local power line routes.

Like the proverbial bull in a china shop, Oncor is again raging through, waging war on the homeowners of Woodway and their property.

The company has shown residents a condescending attitude that basically says, “We’re the power company, and we’ll do as we please!”

Remarks by Oncor representative Ted Kostohryz would seem to threaten residents in the power-line right of way with this slash-and-burn statement: “It’s just my job to inform you Oncor will remove any and all trees and shrubs within the easement of the power lines.”

Some of the threatened trees are 75 years old and have never been in question or jeopardy before. And while none of the folks in Woodway oppose safety, progress or maintenance, we want to work with Oncor to assure that the integrity of the environment and our property is upheld.

I’m glad there will be a meeting about this at 7 tonight in the Woodway City Council chambers.

It’s not always about the bottom line. Oncor needs to get with the times and become both eco-friendly and more customer-oriented.

George C. Harvey

Woodway

Is the sea level rising?

In his Jan. 23 column in the Trib [“Oceans rise and we dither”], Gary Johnson points out that the earth is warming, CO2 is increasing in the atmosphere, and the sea level is rising.

All these statements are true. What’s questionable is his interpretation of what the facts mean. Using actual scientific data and the analysis of these data in peer-reviewed papers, Patrick Michaels and Robert Balling, in their book Climate of Extremes, point out that between 2000 and 2100, global warming will be around 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit and that the sea-level rise will be about 5.7 inches.

In fact, they state that the global average sea level rose at an average rate of 1.8 millimeter per year from 1961 to 2003. This is considerably less than the 1-to-100-meter possible increase in sea level stated byJohnson.

John D. Pierson

Waco

Outstanding artists

Recently I have been to two very exciting art shows in Waco. Congratulations go to both Laura Walton and Rolando Saenz for gathering a group of serious and very creative local artists for their show and sale, “Art House III.”

More than 20 artists displayed work in watercolors, oil, acrylic, pottery, marble and granite that would have been impressive in any city. Viviana Ruiz-Smith provided a beautifully restored Victorian home for the show, and 20 percent of sales were donated to the Community Race Relations Coalition.

The show proved again that Waco has many talented artists here who are doing outstanding work. Let’s hope we see many more Art House shows.

Meanwhile, don’t miss the chance to see Walton’s and Saenz’s work at the Croft Gallery on Austin Avenue through this month.

Susann McDonald

Woodway