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September 25, 2006 -- Vol. 6 Issue 32 Written by Jack R. Simpson (unless otherwise noted), owner of J.R. Simpson & Associates, Inc. and contributing editor to The Waterways Journal.
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 In This Newsletter:
Thought For The Week
If you haven't already contacted your congressmen about WRDA, now is the time! 
Editorial Comment From Jack
 This isn’t as much an editorial as it is a plea for those who haven’t contacted their congressmen about WRDA to do it.
As usual with legislation, it is difficult to predict. But conference members who will be making the decision on the Water Resource Development Act have been selected, and there are some still holding out for amendments that would reform the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We think that is a bad idea and ask that you tell your congressmen so. As we announced last week, they are: Don Edward Young, Chairman, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (R-AK) John J. Duncan, Jr., Chair, Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee (R-TN) Richard Baker (R-LA) Gary G. Miller (R-CA) Henry Brown (R-SC) John Boozman (R-AR) James Oberstar, Ranking, Full Committee (D-MN) Eddie Bernice Johnson, Ranking Subcommittee (D-TX) Jerry Costello (D-IL) Timothy H. Bishop (D-NY) and… From the Resources Committee for various sections of the bill: Richard Pombo (R-CA), Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) and Ron Kind (D-WI). Proponents of reform want to establish a committee with lots of agency delegates who could upset the Corps’ handling of projects in all sorts of ways. We do not believe this would bode well for river-project construction and the backlog would likely get larger. House and Senate staff are trying to resolve major differences over the multibillion-dollar measure before a conference meeting this week that could determine whether the bill is cleared before the October recess. The National Waterways Conference tells us that due to time constraints on both floors, the vote may be delayed until after the recess.
For Those Inclined To Pray
 For those desiring prayer support for themselves or others, we invite you to join our Prayer Circle, which allows you to submit requests, thereby tapping into prayerful support of our 40 Circle members. There is power in prayer. Membership in the Circle and/or the submission of prayer requests is open to anyone and freë. Request lists are sent out via email, generally, on the day they are received. Come join us!
Newsletter News
Remember to email any changes in your email addresses so that we can eliminate the old and insert the new. If you just subscribe again without eliminating the old address, we get “nondelivery” messages, which tend to multiply.
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$elf-Publish for Profit
 “$elf-Publish for Profit” (by avoiding booby traps) has been released and is now available at www.littleriverbooks.com. We invite writers club members to contact us at jacksimpson@littleriverbooks.com to learn about special discount prices for clubs purchasing the book in quantity.)
On The Waterfront
Potomac River Ferry Operator Faces Fines A report out of Baltimore, Md., informs us that the Coast Guard is preparing to fine the owner of the historic White’s Ferry $71,000 for operating the vessel with an unlicensed captain, operating without a certificate of inspection, and defying order from the captain of the port to cease operations. Owner Edwin Brown reportedly said, “I’d say if they want to make a lot of damn problems, let them come at me.” (Editor’s note: Considering what the Coast Guard did to Capt. Joseph J. Kinneary who couldn’t comply with a drug-test requirement because he suffered from the well-known and documented shy bladder syndrome, I’d say it doesn’t look good. The ferry’s owner apparently did not deny the charges.)
Senate Approves Plan to Install Radar At 22 Major Ports The U.S. Senate last week approved a port-security bill that would require radiation monitors be installed at the nation’s 22 largest ports. The plan also would give the go ahead to a pilot program for three foreign ports to scan all cargo containers bound for the U.S. A new office would be added within the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate port security. The department would be required to prepare a plan to get cargo moving again after an attack. A 12-day shutdown of the ports would cost the U.S. economy an estimated $58 billion, one study said. (Editor’s note: It all sounds well and good, but it has been a year since Katrina struck, and we can’t even get New Orleans back on its feet. Once more the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been charged with inefficiency. A late report said many contracts in that Gulf City are being held up because FEMA inspectors underestimated the cost of reconstruction. The way the Coast Guard licensing program is operated by the Coast Guard, it may not be long before the industry dies on the vine. What makes the Senate believe the monitoring program will work?)
Speaking of Security Speaking about improvements in port security at Houston, Coast Guard Captain Bill Diehl said, “We have more boats, bodies and bullets.” Before the attacks of September 11th, the Coast Guard almost never boarded vessels as they entered the port. That’s changed. From a room full of computers and live cameras, the Coast Guard monitors the 70 ships and 350 barges entering the port each day. “The dots here are the ships coming and the information we have coming on the ships,” said Captain Diehl. “Three days before it gets here, they submit information about who’s on board, what’s on board, where they’ve been — the last 10 ports.” Before 9-11, the vessels gave only 24 hours notice, but now, with more advanced notice the information goes all the way to Washington for review.
About Those Pesky Varmints In Ballast Water Did you hear last week where U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate ballast on ships just as if it were sewage pouring out of a factory? She said that the invasive species possibly stored in ballast water an “irreparable” degradation to the nation’s coastal environment. She ordered federal regulators to take a much tougher stand. An example of those pesky species is the zebra mussel, which now exists in many U.S. rivers and streams. It is believed to have come over in ballast water aboard foreign ships and dumped in the great Lakes.
Coast Guard Needs New Equipment The Coast Guard has been seeking to beef up its equipment for some time. Now the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security says that the Coast Guard will be unable to increase the total number of mission resource hours without the acquisition of additional aircraft, cutters and boats provided by the Deepwater recapitalization program. His conclusions were based on date taken from fiscal 2005. These needs were the subject of a recent House Coast guard subcommittee meeting.
Crossing The Bar
The U.S. Coast Guard reports that Capt. Dorothy Stratton, the first female Coast Guard officer and leader of the Coast Guard Women’s Reserve, died September 17, in West Lafayette, Ind., at the age of 107. She was a native of Brookfield, Mo.
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From Our Readers
Re: Looking for pictures of boat interiors I enjoy your website tremendously, especially the picture gallery. I was wondering if there are pictures on the web of the interior of towboats? Perhaps you can recommend some magazines or books that contain such? Sincerely, Bob Lenn
Welcome To The U.S. Inland Waterways Site Ring
Site name: Tucker Boats URL: http://tuckerboats.blogspot.com Owner: Lynn House Description: An accumulation of information about Tucker Marine-built boats.
Boat Photo Center
 Twelve new views grace our Photo Center this week. They include: the David L. Fields and James F. Neal from John Miller; the Joe T and Jesse Z from Eric M. Johnson; the Neil N. Diehl and Samuel B. Richmond from Jim Mihalek; the Janice Tyson from Tom Waller; two views of the Michael J. Granger from Jack Hickey, a new contributor in our midst; and three views of the Myra H from Brent Maletic.
Click here to see the latest pictures.
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Recipe Box
Do you have a good recipe you’d like to share? Submit your recipes here!
The Book Beat
We will soon have “Upper Mississippi River History” back on our web site. Please watch for this book. For a great read about Missouri River steamboating and detailed account of the Indian wars involving Custer, don’t miss “The Conquest Of The Missouri.” By Joseph Mills Hanson. Hanson, who trained on the Ohio River as a young man, helped survey the upper reaches of the Missouri, took his steamer to the shallows of Little Bighorn to return battle-weary soldiers to their homes, and watched as the region was transformed from a lonesome wilderness to a region of agriculture, commerce, and industry. This 496-book is chock full of interesting reading. Other good choices are “Between The Saints: Louis And Paul” by Kathy Flippo, and if you are a new boat owner who needs some tips on how to handle your craft, take a look at Charles T. Low’s “Boat Docking.” Still available at rock-bottom prices are “Let The Lower Lights Be Burning” by Dean Gabbert, and “In Search of Moon River” by Byron Rozier, both authors who are experienced on the river.
Get More Visitors To Your Web Site - Join The U.S. Inland Waterways Site Ring!
This is a web ring owned by Little River Books. It is dedicated to those who work, rest, or play on the inland waterways of the United States. Owners of river-related commercial or private sites can apply to join, bringing together as many waterways related sites as possible. Sign up (F-R-E-E), put the code on your page, and watch your hits skyrocket! Let’s see if we can make this one of the biggest and best river site rings on the web. Benefit from other river sites’ traffic and gain new visitors. If you sell a river-related product on your site, this is the ring for you! (You must copy and past the site ring graphic onto your web site as soon as your site is approved.) Chëck out the sites currently in the ring and their hit statistics as a dírect result of being in the site ring.
Tow Talkin'
September 25, 2006 By Kathy Flippo  On Wednesday the 20th we had a couple of different things come down the river. The first was a small dredge and a work flat pushed by the Corps of Engineers boat Mv. Bettendorf. We see the boat now and then but not that dredge. Nope! Neither Pat nor I can ever remember seeing it. I couldn’t quite make out the name on it, so I called down to the Clock Tower at Rock Island for information. They didn’t know, so they transferred my call across the river to the Corps work basin in the pocket behind Lock 14 below LeClaire. I talked with Jim Wilson there and he said…to continue reading, click here.
Click here to read previous columns. See you on the Web, Jack Little River Books jacksimpson@littleriverbooks.com Don't forget to visit our web site! |
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