Don't let Buccaneer/Weems on your property for seismic testing unless they pay you and post bond for property destroyed. Make sure they are totally insured. In consultation with engineers, they advised me that the seismic testing could cause problems twenty years down the line.  The thumping machine can put stresses on water or sewer pipes, pavements, and foundations. It can also stress trees or other plant life, destruct aquifers, and cause other damages. The fee for coming on your property should be well over $3,500. Get the money up front.

As we say goodbye to 2011, many of us have been taking the opportunity to reflect on the year that was.

For those of us in the media, that means looking back at the biggest stories of the past year. Around the world, quite often, those stories judged to be the biggest frequently involve the greatest tragedy. Among the top national and international stories were the tsunami disaster in Japan and devastating tornadoes and storms across our country. Those ranked only behind the death of Osama bin Laden, which gave some closure to one of the most tragic events in American history.

The LeeShore Center is very grateful to ConocoPhillips for their generous charitable contribution of $2,500, which assisted us in providing violence prevention and healthy relationship education to students grades K-12 and area youth in our community during 2011. With the help of ConocoPhillips, LeeShore was able to provide a total of 151 education presentations to 3066 youth.

The phrase “Happy Holidays” has beenused so much over the last several weeks that frankly we are having a hard time remembering what exactly we are supposed to be celebrating.

It’s something you are almost expected to say when finishing a phone call, bidding a friend farewell or when signing the annual family letter.

You could say we should all be giving our attention to whatever name your chosen late December celebration is — Christmas or Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, perhaps even Festivus — and the coming New Year.