Why didn't I think of this?

SCHAGEN, Netherlands (AP) - The massive central door in the side of Noah's Ark was thrown open Saturday -- you could say it was the first time in 4,000 years -- drawing a crowd of curious pilgrims and townsfolk to behold the wonder.

Of course, it's only a replica of the biblical Ark, built by Dutch creationist Johan Huibers as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible.

Reckoning by the old biblical measurements, Johan's fully functional ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That's two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house.
Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras, bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main hold.
"The design is by my wife, Bianca," Huibers said. "She didn't really want me to do this at all, but she said if you're going to anyway, it should look like this."
A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine -- biblical scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been.
Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands, using modern tools and occasional help from his son Roy. Construction began in May 2005.
On the uncovered top deck -- not quite ready in time for the opening -- will come a petting zoo, with baby lambs and chickens, and goats. And one camel.
Visitors on the first day were stunned.
"It's past comprehension," said Mary Louise Starosciak, who happened to be bicycling by with her husband while on vacation when they saw the ark looming over the local landscape.
"I knew the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been so big."
In fact, Noah's Ark as described in the Bible was five times larger than Johan's Ark.
But that still leaves enough space near the keel for a 50-seat film theater, where kids can watch the segment of the Disney film "Fantasia" that tells the story of Noah.
Another exhibit shows water cascading down on a model of the ark. Exhibits on the third level show ancient tools and old-fashioned barrels, exotic stuffed animals, and a wax model of an exhausted Noah reclining on a bed in the forecastle.
Genesis says Noah kept seven pairs of most domesticated animals and one breeding pair of all other creatures, plus his wife, three sons and three daughters-in-law together on the boat for almost a year while the world was deluged.
Perhaps it was only logical that the replica project would be the brainchild of a Dutchman: Fear of flooding is ingrained in the country's collective consciousness by its water-drenched history.
Lois Poppema, visiting from California, said she thought the Netherlands was exactly the right place for an ark.
"Just a few weeks ago we saw Al Gore on television ... saying that all Holland will be flooded" by rising sea levels, she said.
"I don't think the man who made this ever expected that global warming will become (such an important) issue -- and suddenly having the ark would be meaningful in the middle of Holland."
Under sunny skies Saturday, Huibers said he wasn't worried about another biblical flood, since according to Genesis, the rainbow is the sign of God's promise never to flood the world again. But he does worry that recent events such as the flooding of New Orleans could be seen as a portent of the end of time.
Huibers said he hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands, where churchgoing has fallen dramatically in the past 50 years. He also plans to visit major cities in Belgium and Germany.

Something to look for

I had the distinct pleasure this morning of talking with Master Sgt. Thomas Hastings – a Brighton resident serving our country as a member of the Colorado National Guard currently deployed in Iraq. I have to tell you I was a little hesistant about being part of an Army-organized interview – fearing that it would be a rah-rah story with little substance and a lot of stuff that couldn't be talked about but kudos to the Army and Master Sgt. Hastings. Hastings has been in harm way's over there- one of a group of soldiers from his unit to be awarded honors after their convoy was targeted by a IED. It was a wonderful interview and I hope you'll read it in next week's Brighton Standard Blade.

Sunshine

Morning, blog readers, what shall we talk about today? Carrie McCandless? School threats? Rosie leaving The View? No, no, how about this gem – everybody silently read and then we'll discuss.
Car thief nabbed by DNA from half-eaten pastry

EASTPOINTE, Mich. (AP) - Norman O. Wheeler probably wishes he had finished that cinnamon bun. DNA evidence from the partly eaten pastry led to Wheeler's arrest in a 2004 car theft.
The 40-year-old Detroit resident already was serving time for another auto theft when authorities made the DNA match. Wheeler pleaded guilty earlier this month, and he now faces sentencing May 22.

Eastpointe Officer Ed Lulko was investigating the car-theft report when a witness described seeing a man arrive in one car and then break out the windows of the other car and steal it, according to police in the Detroit suburb.
"Officer Lulko found the partially eaten pastry in the car and sent it to the Michigan State Police crime laboratory with hopes that the DNA left on the roll could lead to the identity of the perpetrator," Detective Eric Keiser told The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens. As a convict, Wheeler's DNA was on file, leading to the match and arrest.
Yes, kids, when Mother told you to always eat all the food on your plate, she had your future criminal interests at heart!

Ready to rumble

Hey kids, the MetroWest Web site is back up – www.metrowestfyi.com – with lots of good stuff. Hurry back!

Moving on

Yikes, is anyone else glad last week is finally behind us. I'm talking TGTTWAIO (Thank God The Third Week of April Is Over.) Virginia Tech tragedy, Oklahoma and Columbine Anniversaries, disgrunted NASA employees (someone stole his love triangle/kidnapping scheme) and Blue Angels crashing. Can we get Congress to just officially eliminate that week. I can do with a 358 day year, how about you?

Worried

Just a short Friday post, does anyone else find it alarming you can't find gas at a lot of places after a certain time of night? Scary!

Walk, don't roll

There are a lot of things to be worried about in this society – the events of this week prove that enough. But, if there is one thing that scares the heck out of me – it these kids with these darn roller shoes. Maybe, you've seen them. I usually encounter them in the grocery store – they're walking towards me, oh no, suddenly they're rolling toward me like some demented circus performer on a unicycle. It's almost like something out of a zombie movie. Is this how pathetic we've become – that kids are bored with just walking or running – so we have to give them another option? A tiny pet peeve but still a gripe. You'll never catch me in a pair!

Don't be boobs, it's only cleavage

Discrimination comes in all forms, my friends. The latest to feel the specter of hate and self-righteous behavior is a group of high school girls in Louisiana turned away from their own prom because their dresses revealed too much and we're deemed too provocative.
The scorn, the outrage.
"It's not right," parent Wayne Nelerine said. "It's not right. For 12 years they look for this, and they deny it. They can't do it. It's not right."
How can you argue with a Dad who has no problem with his daughter leaving the house in a prom dress that would make the Girls Gone Wild! producers blush?
School district officials contend they are simply enforcing an already in-place dress code.
Despite my headline (I just wanted to see if they'd let me use boobs ... and yes, I am 13 – thanks for asking) I have to side with the school district. The innuendo of sex that comes with prom is bad enough as it is (yes, that's right, Gertrude, sometimes after the big dance, the kiddos do the dirty), can we avoid letting them walk in the door naked or should we just start holding proms at the town brothel?

Say cheese

If you haven't seen the grisly footage yet, I envy you and, for the brave, I'm sure you can find it online or, better yet, the link: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=270416102. During a Boston Red Sox game Monday, a fan was savagely hit in the back with a large piece of pizza. The incident happened following a Red Sox player reaching over into the stands to grab a foul ball. Between the spilled beer and the piece of pizza, (whose thrower was easily picked up by another camera angle) I cannot remember a more disturbing instance of food waste. And the way the pizza splattered off that guy's jacket, it looked like the really good, greasy kind. Hope you can check out the footage yourself but, again, not for the squeamish. Oh yeah, above, is an artist's rendition of what the pizza slice looked like.

Tragedy

I don't think many of us thought the dark day of Columbine could be equaled let alone exceeded. So, it's with a heavy heart, that I keep reading updated news reports on today's shooting at Virgina Tech in Blacksburg, Va. where more than 30 are now reported dead. I have no solutions, no rants, just sadness that this has happened. I'm sure in the coming days we'll find out why or probably not because the individual behind this took the easy way out like so many cowards before him (OK, a little rant). A truly sad situation, keep those folks in your prayers and feel free to share any thoughts here.

It's not rocket science

First the good news, two Colorado School of Mines students were safely rescued from Mt. Zion last night after they became stranded on the mountain. I'm glad they're safe. The bad news, two Colorado School of Mines students were safely rescued from Mt. Zion last night after they became stranded on the mountain. Apparently, they were uninjured but became stuck after their flashlights died and they couldn't make it back down the mountain. Aren't you guys future engineers? Isn't this what you're supposed to do? Fashion a flashlight out of tree bark and power it with juneberries? OR build a parachute out of tree leaves and float to safety? Maybe, I'm picturing CSM a little too much like Gilligans Island (Big ups to my little buddy) but I worry about the future of our world when future engineers get stuck on mountains with dead batteries.

Brighton family displaced after fire

Photo by Kevin Denke
Brighton Fire Marshal Kris Krengel investigates what caused a mobile home fire Thursday that left a family homeless.

Kevin Denke
MetroWest Editor

BRIGHTON — A family was left homeless Thursday morning after a fire gutted their mobile home.
The fire happened shortly after 8 a.m. at the Sylmar Manor Mobile Home Park at the northwest corner of U.S. Highway 85 and Weld County Road 2.
Three young children and at least one adult were able to escape from the home and were not injured. Red Cross officials said they were assisting one adult and eight children displaced by the fire with temporary shelter and supplies.
Israel Ontiveros, a relative of the family, said he helped guide the children out of the mobile home and that the family’s other children were not home at the time because they were in school.
Ontiveros said he believed the fire started near the mobile home’s water heater. Greater Brighton Fire Protection District Fire Marshal Kris Krengel said the investigation center on the area around the water heater and that he believed it to be the “point of origin.”
While Krengel said he believed the fire to be accidental. He said he was interested in how a exterior door to the water heater closet became detached from the mobile home and whether debris entered through that opening and possibly sparked the fire.
Krengel also confirmed that a large propane tank had been connected to the home’s water heater.
Sylmar Manor property manager Jim Williams said the family had its utilities turned off and was using propane as an energy source. But he said he did not know that until firefighters began fighting the fire Thursday.
Williams said, with knowledge that there was a large amount of flammable propane nearby, he was relieved that no one was injured and no other mobile home damaged.
Krengel echoed that, indicating it could have been a “nightmare.” He credited firefighters with how they quickly suppressed the fire.
“These guys did one heck of a job with what they did here,” Krengel said.
They worked so quickly Williams said the trailer is actually salvageable. But, more than likely, he said he would replace it with a newer home because of the smoke damage.
“Anytime (the smoke) gets up into the roof and travels through, it’s no good,” he said.
The investigation into the fire is continuing.

Opening it up

Hey, hope you got a chance to read our look back at the Brighton false rape claims from a year ago in yesterday's Brighton Blade. Already getting some feedback – some are criticizing our treatment of Dawn Delay. I feel bad our Web site is down so people can't comment on this story. So, I want to open up this blog post and let people who have read the story, or just want to comment on that issue overall. Hope you'll be willing to share your thoughts – critical, supportive, indifferent – I miss hearing what you have to say.

Open your eyes, son

Three blog posts in one day? I know I can't believe it myself but I couldn't end today without mentioning that the three men from the Duke University lacrosse team have been exonerated of any wrongdoing in sexual assault allegations from a year ago. Good. I think we, at least around Brighton, know the impact of false rape allegations.
But, arrgggh, a couple things from today.
The three men said they owe their lives to their lawyers – yuck, yuck, yuck. Don't stroke their egos. Give them their checks and get away. We don't need any more lawyers taking up martyrdom.
Second, one of the men, Reade Seligmann, says he has been enlightened.
"This whole experience has opened my eyes to a world of injustice that I never knew existed," Seligmann said.
Are you serious? I mean, granted you went to Duke, played on the lacrosse team and it's probably been a rough row with that pesky silver spoon but did you just say that?
How about the African American slaves, how about the American Indians, how about women who actually are raped and dragged through the media and have their own horror trashed into a sea of doubt and speculation?
Hey, kid, tough break but welcome to the world. Things aren't always fair but you aren't exactly a Sudanese refugee over there.

Death to computers

It's double-blog Wednesday, kids. I meant to drop a post yesterday but, ugghh, you won't believe the day I had yesterday. Wait, don't go, I won't whine that much. Long story and a long day short, our computer server crashed. Anybody frustrated you can't get to our Web site, please send those comments to MetroWest Newspapers, 139 N. Main St., Brighton, CO, 80601 c/o Our stupid, dumb, double crossing, broken computer server. For those of you unfamiliar with computers (Hi, Grandma, how's the baby?) the server is our lifeblood, we store everything on it – stories, photos, ads, templates, Social Security numbers, blood types, emergency numbers, snow removal plans ( Hi, Brighton, still got the plan – storm coming) and then, with the confidence a computer will never malfunction, we foolishly believe nothing will ever happen to this server. Well, something did. My suspicion – one of those stray cats behind our building snuck in and was looking at porn or something less insidious. Nevertheless, we were flying blind for most of yesterday and had to lay out the papers using a primitive technique know as human communication. I know, I know, it was awful. But, not to worry, a new server is on the way. This would be my opportunity to climb on a soapbox and rant about our dependence on computers, but my computer might hear me and erase this whole post. Just in case: Repeat with me: "We love computers, what would we do without them?" This statement does not currently reflect the views of Kevin Denke and anyone else at MetroWest Newspapers. Uh-oh, better go, steam coming out of the monitor.

Tell Al Roker, I said Hi

Okay, okay, I really don't want to get mixed up in the Don Imus scandal – he used the N-word (n***y) but I had to crack up when I saw this picture this morning. My first thought – Hey, look Jesse Jackson in the Today Show crowd. Apparently, it was a separate protest but you can see how I was confused!

Give me thine sample, old lady

I've had it, fed up, enough already. I've had an ongoing beef (or lack of beef) with the old hags that divy out the samples at our local wholesale retail stores. This weekend, at a store I will not name but ends with AM'S, I was especially troubled. My wife, I and the girl were closing in on some crackers smeared with Brie when Grandma Goodwrench actually pulled the crackers back from her sample table as if she saw us coming. Ridiculous! C'mon, beside a 900-ton bottle of detergent and a 10-pound plastic container of cheese balls, why do we go to these places? This isn't my first problem. A few weeks ago, I snagged a sample off one of those little metal tables (on loan from the county coroner's office) and had the audacity not to say thank you. As I walked away. I received a sardonic "thank you" from the woman. I wanted to smack her over the head with a box of 600 muffins. Pardon me, aren't we supposed to take the samples or did I just accidentally stumble into your kitchen. This is all complicated by my experience a couple years ago when my Dad and I actually watched a sampler pack up her Peanut Nut Roll in a plastic container ( there was still plenty) and head for the door. Leave the sample on the table lady, we'll take over from here. I don't know where they get these women from – I presume they truck them over from the nursing home. I don't mean to demean old people, I love old people and, someday, hope to be one. But these women are mean, they're grumpy and, unfortunately, they've got the goods.

Let's be reasonable, people

First, this blurb from 9News.com:

DENVER – You don't have to be a great athlete. You don't even have to be a great student. Still, you can get a scholarship to go to college.

"We really want to give everyone an opportunity," said Katie Powell, spokesperson for CollegeInvest.
CollegeInvest is an arm of the Colorado Department of Higher Education. It wants to give away $400,000 to 125 students to help them attend undergraduate courses at a Colorado college.
Does this idea just make you shudder? So, now we're going to let anybody go to college? What's next? Free health care? I know, I know, I had to read it twice. It's disturbing. Who's Utopian ball of cheese idea is this? There's a reason college costs an arm and leg, people. We have to discourage some people from going to college so they can flip our burgers and pick up our trash. If we're going to swing open the doors and let everybody into college then we're just asking for problems. The last thing we need is a society of educated people running around ... being educated. Not to mention our great athletes and great students having to share dorms with also rans. They'll be dragged down. The educated people need somebody to step on. The road to run is paved with good intentions. Good idea but do we really want to open this Pandora's Box?

Drunk drivers: The scourge of our society

This is a reprint of a column I wrote for today's Standard Blade
On the way home from the funeral for Jennifer Kois last week, I stopped by home and hugged my 15-month-old daughter.
It was on the way. Even if it hadn’t been on the way, it would still have been on the way.
That’s how I reconciled the loss I had just seen. By taking a minute to remember what I still had.
I shouldn’t have to worry about these things yet. I should only have to worry about my daughter taking a tumble down the stairs or sticking a curious finger in an electrical outlet.
I’ll tell you first I always get a little heartburn about covering funerals – capitalizing on other’s people’s grief as I often think of it.
“What the hell am I doing here?” is often the question that rattles around in my brain.
There was undoubtedly a little uneasiness last week, but no such question. Somebody had to see what some jerk allegedly took away from this family.
In case you’ve forgotten – that was two beautiful lives cut cruelly short by a drunk driver who had no business being behind the wheel of a vehicle let alone a still active member of our society. I make no pretense of knowing Kois or her boyfriend, Jake Brock, besides the anecdotes I gathered last week. But, I have no hesitation in telling you, they were pretty special kids. They were going to make a difference in this world, they already had.
But, like I said, that was all taken away by a man who socked a sheriff the day after Valentine’s Day. Maybe I’m skewed by an ultra respect for authority (blame my parents) but I seriously don’t think I’d be driving around anytime soon if I decided to fight with the sheriff. But maybe that’s just me.
Innocent until proven guilty – blah, blah, blah – throw the book at him. It’s bad enough that so many of our own kids ruin their lives by making bad decisions. We manage to teach them to do the right thing and then some loser wipes them out.
Enough.
We’ve got too much prison overcrowding to lock up every drunken driver. Our legal system has too much heart to not give a first-time drunken driver a second chance, or a third chance, or a fourth chance.
And time and time again, those extra chances result in death. Then we lock them up.
I was at the sentencing March 22 of the Fort Lupton man who killed 20-year-old Ricky Bird in a drunk driving accident last June in Brighton. His public defender actually argued at one point on behalf of him – pointing out the victim’s car might have had its bright lights on. I don’t envy the tough and often unsavory role of a public defender, but come on.
Let’s get real folks.
These people are out there. They’re preying on us.
And until they kill a couple innocent kids or mow down a family crossing a street, they’re getting a free pass – a slap on the wrist and their driver’s license taken away.
It’s time to cut out the niceties. It’s time to start fighting back.
Enough with civil liberty.
If you’re a drunken driver, the whole neighborhood should be informed when you buy a new house in the neighborhood, similiar to what we currently do with sex offenders. It should be painted all over your car so everyone driving around you knows and can act accordingly. Drunk drivers should be microchipped so when they enter a bar, liquor store or any other liquor-serving establishment, they can quickly be turned away.
I’m not talking about Prohibition here. I’m talking about taking the people off the street who have so little regard for the rest of humanity that they would willingly get behind the wheel of a car and risk injuring and killing other people.
I was so struck by the words of Jennifer Kois’ stepfather last week as he vowed, “I will stand up for you and make sure nobody will do this again.”
I know better than to question the passion of a father. I just hope he hurries.
I’ve got a little girl at home I’m already worried about.

Video game nation

I have to snicker at the "experts" who say video game playing is making our kids violent. Is there some merit to their concerns. Possibly. Are our children becoming Little Goombas who attack innocent Italian brothers who happen to be plumbers (hi Super Mario Bros. fans)? I'm not so sure. I think the impacts of constant video-game playing can be more subtle. Take me, for example, I'm a recovering video-game addict. How did I quit? I credit my wife's 12-step rehab program that includes a strict regimen of taking out the trash, watching the baby, mowing the lawn and other domestic duties. She should write a book – I'm almost cured.
When I was growing up, I was completely engrossed in video games. In fact, while my dad was building new rooms in our house, fixing everything that broke and other manly duties, I was playing video games. I thought that ability to fix anything would translate by osmosis. The only thing I got was the myriad of homeowner issues that I must grapple with on a daily basis. So, now I'm virtually incompetent. I break more things than I can fix, I just can't figure out when I'll be able to wave my magic Legends of Zelda sword to make the sprinkler system work. Now. I'm backtracking, trying to learn everything I already should know. The results are messy at best. So, as a recovering video-game junkie (thanks honey, yes I'll take out the trash in a second) I implore parents to pull your kids away from the X-Box. They'll hate you for it now but they'll appreciate it later. And for adult addicts, I think my wife will be holding a summer seminar – I'll keep you posted. Main task? Probably fixing the sprinkler system.

Mayday, mayday

This just in ... I just read online that Amelia Earhart, 70 years later, is still missing. No, no, not the Denver radio traffic reporter – the actual Amelia Earhart. Why, after this long, does this story still captivate us? The mystery of it of course. Still, after all this time, I don't think anyone can actually believe this woman got lost. I think everyone believes she is still on some island drinking Mai-Tais.