If a Texas company’s hopes for a natural gas field west of Interstate 25 in northern el Paso County come to fruition, the landscape there will change dramatically. A big natural discovery would be good news, but residents are worried that regulations would allow drill rigs to be within 50 yards of their properties and there’s little they can do about it.

In addition to the issue of proximity, there are concerns about water quality. Natural gas fields have several impacts on the environment. To read about them, click on http://www.earthworksaction.org/airpollutionsources.cfm. That’s the web site for Earthworks, an environmental advocacy organization that specializes in issues involving sub-surface minerals and fossil fuels. It once was called the Mineral Policy Center.

Monument-area residents are just being introduced to an industry that has been mushrooming elsewhere in the state. Last year the Bureau of Land Management approved a huge leasing program for the Roan Plateau on the West Slope http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN0841733920070611. Huge drilling operations have been in place in the Four Corners area and in Las Animas County for years. Residents in those areas have faced the same issues now confronting the Monument folks.

District Attorney John  Newsome drank a lot of beer and drove home, there’s no getting around that.

Newsome also deserves credit for pushing the pedal to the metal in the case of Timothy Nichols, the man convicted in connection with the fire that killed his own children. The case had been hanging around for a long time before Newsome was D.A., and his office did a fine, aggressive job of prosecuting it.

Newsome wisely handled the recent case involving a mixed-race teenager arrested for assault after he reacted to other teens calling him the N word. Newsome made all the charges and counter charges go away, which was a good result — there was no need to tag kids with a criminal record for that.

Local police hold Newsome in high regard. That’s why the Police Protective Association still backs Newsome. Like all special interest groups, the PPA is willing to wink at the bad behavior of the officials it supports. There is nothing new, or brave, or intellectual about that. There’s little chance Newsome won’t be re-elected because he has no opponent. Might as well endorse the guy who is going to be there.

Some think there is a higher incidence of alcoholism among attorneys than the public at large. For a view to that, click on http://www.lawcrossing.com/article/index.php?id=2583 There is a group of lawyers and judges in recovery and you can read about them at http://www.ilaa.org/pages/home/ 

If you would like to read a bit about binge drinkers and functional alcoholics, here are a few websites:

http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/alcohol/binge_drink.html

 http://www.cspinet.org/booze/collfact1.htm

http://www.fastennetwork.org/qryarticledetail.asp?articleid=af12557f-bf97-49b4-997c-678e39f44d32

The thousands of people who have moved to the area since Bob Isaac was mayor can be forgiven for not knowing about him, but they should appreciate what he helped put in place. Isaac was a traditional conservative, meaning that he had no use for evangelical agendas. He resisted Douglas Bruce’s tax limitation proposal, but it passed anyway. Since it became part of the city charter, the local form of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights has slowly strangled City Hall. Isaac was right and Bruce was wrong.

For those who weren’t here, and for those who were and might like a trip down memory lane, here are some Mayor Bob stories from the archives. All of these stories are from 1994 or earlier.

Isaac, Bruce trade barbs during heated meeting

    Barry Noreen; Gazette Telegraph

    It was a heck of a way to earn a merit badge.
    A well-intentioned group of Boy Scouts attended the Colorado Springs City Council meeting Monday to see how adults go about making decisions.
    What the Scouts saw was tax-limitation guru Doug Bruce trading verbal fusillades with council members and Mayor Robert Isaac.
    During a lengthy monologue, Councilman Larry Small shouted that Bruce was “vain and vicious” and was setting himself up as “the emperor of Colorado Springs.”
    Isaac added that “Mr. Bruce is totally off base” in attacking a proposed charter amendment that would exempt the airport, the hospital and city utilities from the tax-limitation provisions Bruce successfully sponsored.
    Then, Isaac called a recess to let tempers cool.
    A moment later, though, Isaac turned to Bruce and said coldly, “If you were a man, I’d take you out.”
    Bruce replied, “If it helps you any, I’ll drop my pants.”
    Few heard Bruce or the mayor at first. But within minutes, the 42-year-old Bruce was back at the microphone, complaining that the 63-year-old Isaac was “threatening to assault me.”
    Then, both men repeated their remarks into the council chamber’s public address system for the benefit of the audience.
    Nowhere was the verbal joust more appreciated than in the fourth row, where a group of chuckling Scouts had just absorbed a healthy dose of City Hall ambience.

Isaac to voters: One more time/ Mayor going for fifth term

    Rich Laden; Gazette Telegraph

    During his successful re- election campaign in 1991, Colorado Springs Mayor Robert Isaac promised to quit after he served one more four-year term.
    On Thursday, he reversed himself.
    Isaac, whose nearly 16 years in office gives him the longest tenure of any mayor in city history, announced he’ll seek a fifth term at the April 4 municipal election.
    ”I honestly didn’t think I would run again,” Isaac, who turns 67 next month, said during a news conference at the Antlers Doubletree Hotel. “But I just have to tell you, I’ve changed my mind. I didn’t intend to mislead anybody.”
    In spite of his 1991 pledge, Isaac’s announcement was hardly a surprise. A year after he was re-elected, he hinted he wouldn’t rule out another bid.
    And at his news conference, Isaac confirmed speculation of supporters and critics alike: He changed his mind because he still enjoys the give and take of public policy-making; he wants to tackle new issues, such as congestion on Interstate 25; and as a Republican with contacts in Washington D.C., he wants to work with the GOP majority in Congress to address city issues.
    If he wins re-election, this term will be Isaac’s last in the unpaid job. A city term-limitation law prevents him from running a sixth time.
    In a break with tradition, Isaac is the first candidate to enter the race. In the past he’s waited until January, after other candidates declare. He said he announced early this time because of speculation about his plans.
    Whatever the timing, Isaac’s decision likely will derail the plans of other mayoral hopefuls who won’t challenge him because of his experience and popularity.
    Councilwoman Cheryl Gillaspie said Thursday she won’t run. Instead, she plans to seek a second council term. Councilman John Hazlehurst declined comment but has said he doesn’t want to battle Isaac. 
    Councilwoman Mary Lou Makepeace could not be reached for comment; she has said she would decide after Jan. 1, and that her decision would not be affected by Isaac. 
    Two businessmen who considered running, Steve Bach and Buck Blessing, have decided against it.
    Elected in 1979 with 59 percent of the vote, Isaac scored 66 percent and 76 percent in subsequent elections. In 1991, he beat Councilwoman Mary Ellen McNally and four fringe candidates with 47 percent of the vote.
    As a fiscal conservative, Isaac’s meat-and-potatoes philosophy - provide quality services without a lot of frills - always has struck a cord with voters. He also wins over people with his knowledge of city, state and federal issues. The sometimes gruff Isaac also has a reputation for straight talk - a quality that appeals to many.
    ”He does not pull punches,” said retired Gen. Kenneth Curtis, who lost to Isaac in 1979. “He says what he thinks. He has lots of guts.”
    In running for another term, Isaac can point to several successes in the past four years. The city has opened a new airport on time and under budget; financial problems of special taxing districts have been resolved; a major portion of the U.S. Highway 24 Bypass has been completed. Isaac can’t take full credit, but they happened on his watch.
    ”I’ve been accused at times of not having too much vision,” he said. “But we seem to have done some things that involve vision over the years.”
    ROBERT ISAAC 
    A Colorado Springs native, Isaac, 66, holds an engineering degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a law degree from the University of Southern California.
    He served in Germany from 1951 to 1954 as an infantry officer and taught math at West Point from 1955 to 1957.
    Isaac became an assistant city attorney in 1962 and assistant district attorney for the 4th Judicial District in 1965. He was presiding judge of the Municipal Court of Colorado Springs from 1966 to 1969.
    First elected to the City Council in 1975, he was elected mayor in 1979.
    Appointed in 1987 by former President Ronald Reagan to the U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations; reappointed by former President George Bush. Served as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors from 1990 to 1991.
    Isaac retired in 1988 as a senior partner in the Colorado Springs law firm of Isaac, Johnson and Alpern. Twice divorced, he’s married to Carolyn Isaac. 
    ISAAC’S AGENDA
    Tackle traffic woes on Interstate 25, where the number of vehicles has increased 38 percent in three years.
    Set funding schemes for sorely needed public improvements. Part of the city’s sales and use tax, a key funding source for such work, will expire in 1997.
    Work with Republicans to reduce federal mandates, such as environmental regulations that Congress imposes on cities without providing money to carry them out.
    Continue efforts to keep Fort Carson, which could find itself on a military base hit list when federal officials consider base closures in March.

Isaac on Amendment 12: `It’s just a disaster’/ Springs council goes on record against measure

    Rich Laden; Gazette Telegraph

    Amendment 12, the election-reform measure on the Nov. 8 ballot, would cripple representative government if it’s approved by state voters, the Colorado Springs City Council says.
    At its meeting Tuesday, the council adopted a resolution opposing the measure. Among its concerns:
    A 90-day freeze on the effective date of many laws adopted by local governments would prevent cities from responding quickly to the public’s demands for services.
    Nearly every governmental decision - including routine ones - would be subject to a challenge by voters.
    Relaxed rules on petition circulation would open the door to fraud and allow gadfly groups to stand in the way of public projects.
    ”It’s just a disaster,” Mayor Robert Isaac said.
    The resolution encourages voters to read the proposal to understand its numerous provisions. The council yanked one part of its resolution that urged the public to vote “no” on the proposal; some council members said they shouldn’t tell the public how to vote.
    Douglas Bruce, the Colorado Springs landlord and tax-limitation author who also wrote Amendment 12, said the council should keep its nose out of the debate. He also denied that the measure would harm government or lead to petition fraud.
    Lisa Are Cook, the lone dissenter to the resolution, said it is improper for the council to take an official position on ballot questions. Vice Mayor Leon Young was absent.

Springs airport to have new everything - except name

    Rich Laden; Gazette Telegraph

    Brand-new, gleaming airport. Same old dull name.
    When the city opens its $130 million airport in October, just about everything will be different except the name: Colorado Springs Municipal Airport.
    Despite some calls by the public to spice up the name - Pikes Peak International being among the more popular - City Council members informally decided Monday there’s no reason to change.
    ”That’s kind of parochial,” said Councilwoman Cheryl Gillaspie, suggesting the city pick something jazzier.
    But Mayor Robert Isaac, who worked for years to get the airport built, said keeping Colorado Springs in the name helps promote the city.
    Besides, he said, it would be phony to include “international” in the name. There are no international flights. In fact, there are only a handful of domestic cities that can be reached nonstop from Colorado Springs.
    ”We’ll be getting some international flights eventually, five to 10 years from now,” Isaac said. “Then we can change it to `international.’ I think it would just be a little bit overplaying it myself - to say, `this is international, yeah, we have a charter flight to Mexico’.” Naysayers hurting city, mayor says/ Annual address targets critics

    Rich Laden; Gazette Telegraph

    Colorado Springs Mayor Robert Isaac lashed out at critics of local government Thursday, saying their constant finger-pointing is unfair and threatens to tear apart the community.
    Isaac delivered his blunt remarks during his annual “State of the City” address before the Greater Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp.
    But while Isaac’s audience was packed with white-collar executives who gave him a standing ovation, many of his comments were aimed at those who often voice complaints at City Council meetings, on radio talk shows or in letters to the editor - the same longtime Colorado Springs residents who have supported him since he was first elected mayor in 1979.
    ”The negativism is hurting this community,” said the 66-year-old mayor. “This community must begin to pull together at all levels, and I think that’s the most important message I can give you.”
    Isaac complained that the community’s naysayers have long memories for city problems, but are quick to forget its successes.
    For example, they harp about the city’s financial loss in 1987-88 when it unsuccessfully operated Ski Broadmoor,a now-closed private ski run. And they rehash the $450,000 spent to beautify a downtown intersection - a project opposed by Isaac, whose no-frills approach to city services has won support from conservative voters who tend to distrust government.
    Yet those same critics seldom - if ever - give credit for the city’s low utility rates and taxes, including a property tax levy that was reduced this year; its 8,000-acre park system; the maintenance of additional miles of streets with a reduced work force; and a Police Department that took 154,000 calls last year and made 27,000 arrests.
    To make matters worse, Isaac said, elected officials who complain about criticism find that they become targets.
    ”If you complain about it . . . then you get the old bromide: `If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,’ ” he said. “Well, I’ve been in that kitchen so long now, I can’t tell the difference.”
    The downside of the constant criticism: It discourages people from seeking public office or working for government, Isaac said.
    ”The people have gotten to the point where if they want to serve, and really want to serve, there’s just a limit of how much that they’re going to take,” he said.
    Isaac said the City Council has made several decisions in recent months that the public has misinterpreted because of its mistrust of government.
    For example, a decision to limit future ballot initiatives to single subjects became a rallying cry for critics who said the council was taking away their right to petition government.
    The council also drew fire for giving money to a privately financed civic center - even though the city will only finance street improvements and traffic signals, not construction.
    ”All hot-button items,” Isaac said. “People are operating on emotion. And I think we need to pull together.”
    Isaac also criticized some of his City Council colleagues. Without mentioning names, he said they should remember their job is to set policy and not make day-to-day decisions. He also advised his colleagues to make their decisions on facts and not on next year’s city election.
    ”The next election will take care of itself,” he said.
    For his part, Isaac has declined comment on whether he’ll seek a fifth term next year.
    On other issues, Isaac: 
    Decried government by initiative. Several proposals are slated for the Nov. 8 state ballot, a trend that means Colorado is following California in steering away from letting elected officials make decisions. “If we start loading up ballots, instead of following representative government . . . then I think we might be running into some trouble.”
    Highlighted the community’s current successes, including new job creation, the nearly finished new municipal airport terminal and a deal that will bring a new, privately financed visitors center to the Garden of the Gods.
    Lauded a community lobbying effort aimed at sparing Fort Carson from next year’s round of base closures.

Christian group hears mayor focus on families, blast Bruce

    Barry Noreen; Gazette Telegraph

    Violent crime has more to do with the breakdown of families than the failure of government to address society’s problems, Colorado Springs Mayor Robert Isaac said Tuesday.
    ”Government isn’t going to instill moral conscience into a generation,” Isaac said at a meeting of the Colorado Springs chapter of the Christian Management Association. “I think like most of you do: It’s a parental thing that’s not there.”
    Isaac also criticized the latest constitutional amendment proposed by Colorado Springs landlord Douglas Bruce, who seeks to force the city to spend a specific portion of its budget on road and bridge projects.
    ”It’s just another hamstringing of representative government. This is a representative government, and I don’t think he (Bruce) realizes that,” said Isaac, who has traded barbs with Bruce for years.
    ”We have some of the lowest property taxes in the state of Colorado. We also are in the home of our savior, Doug Bruce,” Isaac said sarcastically.
    The Christian Management Association had billed the mayor’s speech as a look at “How the Religious Nonprofits Impact the City.”
    Instead, Isaac began his remarks by saying, “I don’t like to talk about that because it puts economic development ahead of the work you’re doing.”

Westside Cares (http://www.westsidecares.org/) is a good example of a local faith-based organization that helps people at the grassroots level without a bunch of red tape. Westside Cares, a coalition of 21 local churches,  really does care about the needy. What it doesn’t care about is where people come from,  or their race or creed. Citizens can help by either making donations or volunteering for one of the many events the organization takes part in during the year.  Westside Cares partners with other agencies, including the Colorado Springs Department of Utilities, whose employees volunteer for various charities around town.

Those who took their kids to the immunization clinic this week weren’t subjected to requests for proof of citizenship. There was no “wallet biopsy,” and their statements that they had no health insurance were taken at face value. It’s about trust, it’s about welcoming and helping. It’s not about politics, although certain cynics are bound to make some kind of political statement about it. 

Medical science has done such a good job of fighting communicable diseases, people have begun to take it for granted. That’s dangerous. Tuberculosis, thought to be all but finished in the 1980s, has come back, sometimes in the form of a highly drug-resistant strain. You can read about it at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_n2597_v123/ai_16767450 but you don’t have to go too far to see evidence. Last year, a young woman who lived in Colorado Springs and attended school in Pueblo died of TB. When the health department tested 200 people she had been in contact with, 17 tested positive for TB.

A few years ago at the Gazette, an employee was found to have TB. No one else who was tested had it, but the testing was necessary and was completed promptly by the county health department.One point here is that it can be anyone who comes down with some kind of malady.

We need an agency that can respond quickly when deadly illnesses threaten us. It’s a bit shocking that more people don’t find the health department’s budget predicament troubling. Many people seem to have adopted the notion that whenever someone else gets sick, that’s just their problem. That attitude is a real departure from how Western civilizations have viewed infectious disease for the last few hundred years.  The plague, influenza, TB and sexually transmitted diseases all have been dealt with as serious threats in the past, but a growing numbers of citizens, and even some officials, are able to shrug it off now, because it is not happening to them.

The World Health Organization says there is a growing threat of another flu pandemic like the one the killed tens of millions in 1918. Various new disease have emerged in recent years and they can spread virtually anywhere. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/aug/24/health.medicineandhealth1

There are about 2.3 million people behind bars in the United States; about 23,000 are in Colorado. About half of the prisoners who are released wind up in prison again after committing new crimes or violating their parole in some fashion.

Gov. Bill Ritter, a former district attorney,  made reducing recdivism a goal for his first term and has made a bit of progress early on. Success of his initiatives will be better judged over a longer period of time, though. The first goal is to reduce crime, and the second goal is to spend fewer tax dollars on the prison system.

It shouldn’t be too surprising that for the small number of ex-cons who manage to go to college, recidivism is not a problem. One of the programs using private donations to work on recidivism is the College and Community Fellowship, http://www.collegeandcommunity.org/ which reports remarkable success, albeit on a relatively small scale, with inmates who get college diplomas. They don’t commit more crimes, don’t return to the prison system, lead much more productive lives than they otherwise would have.

It doesn’t mean we should suddenly take millions of tax dollars to pay for prisoners’ educations, but it is great reminder of how valuable education is. Clearly, the notion of lock-them-up-and-build-more-prisons is not working. It is like a cold medicine that addresses symptoms. Education is like preventative medicine when it comes to crime and criminals.

The Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition http://www.ccjrc.org/ has targeted prison recidivism and works non-stop on the problem.

It’s fine to talk tough about locking up criminals and throwing away the key as long as those doing the talking are willing to pay the consequences in the form of high recidivism and an unending prison construction campaign.

There’s no question that violent sociopaths have to be warehoused. For a broad swath of other inamtes, it’s past time to explore other solutions.  

One reason it has taken so long for wind energy to take off is that the initial expense of building major transmission lines meant that it takes a long time for the technology to pay off. If we can build nuclear power plants, one compromise will be that they must be in relatively remote areas, away from big cities. Nuclear power plants must have a water source for cooling purposes.

What if we found a remote area on a river where it is also windy? Then the wind farm could piggyback onto the transmission lines needed for the nuclear power plant. To anti-nuke people, I know this all sounds crazy. To others, it sounds like Lamar, Colorado, situated on the Arkansas River. There’s already a wind farm there.

Nuclear power is a growing industry outside the U.S. and the price of uranium has quadrupled in recent years and the Colorado Plateau, including parts of Colorado, Utah and Arizona, is the best source of uranium in the nation. Yes, we have our own fuels source and we wouldn’t have to buy it from people who hate us. Even if we wanted to import uranium, 40 percent of the world’s known deposits lie in Australia, one of our allies.

For info regarding France’s nuclear power industry: http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf40.html

Just for fun, a list of fatal railroad accidents  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pre-1950_rail_accidents

History of Fort St. Vrain in Platteville, Colorado. http://www.nukeworker.com/nuke_facilities/North_America/usa/NRC_Facilities/Region_4/fort_st_vrain/index.shtml

For information about nuclear plants in the U.S. http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/at_a_glance/reactors/states.html

Evidence of the changing perspective  http://blog.tomevslin.com/2005/04/its_time_to_go_.html

 Here is a web site that warns of the pitfalls when raising a wolf-dog. It doesn’t sound too promising:http://www.inetdesign.com/wolfdunn/whate/whate1.html. There is a lot to look out for, apparently: Behavioral Traits

• Early, consistent socialization of the hybrid is necessary at an early age, to adults, children, other animals, noises, situations, etc. If this is not done, the animal may grow into a skittish, unmanageable, fear-biting adult.
• Destruction - the wolf is a digger by nature, and the destruction in your home can be extreme, i.e. the living room couch, other furniture, even the walls themselves. Many high content hybrids can open just about anything (despite baby-proof locks) including the refrigerator, cabinets, and doors.
• The fact that wolves do not defecate in one area like domesticated dogs, combined with the natural inclination to mark their territory, makes housebreaking wolves and high content hybrids extremely difficult.
• High content hybrids are not good watchdogs, due to the wolf’s timid nature. Do not expect a high content hybrid to protect you or your property. High contents and pure wolves don’t bark much (usually one warning bark, as opposed to the dog’s repetitive bark), so they don’t make good “alarms”, either.
• Howling - wolves and hybrids howl, whether out of loneliness, at sirens, or for their own wolf reasons. Take into consideration what type of neighborhood you live in and what your neighbors will put up with. Not everyone appreciates the eerily beautiful howl of the wolf, especially at 4:00 am.
• Mouthing - mouthing and nipping are natural behaviors which must be modified at an early age. Teaching an adult 120 lb. hybrid not to bite is no fun, not to mention dangerous.
• As far as being good with kids, yes, they can be brought up and socialized with children. But be aware that the prey instinct may be triggered by the young/small child running, or falling down and crying. Many hybrids grow to be very large in size, and play roughly as well. * Regardless of breed or content, no large dog should EVER be left alone with a child.*

You can look up dozens of web sites to buy a wolf-dog. Before you waste your money you might want to read this one: http://www.angelfire.com/nv/tmyst/facts/wolf_dog_hybrids.htm

Full disclosure: I am the proud owner of a golden retriever named Gilda. She is still young and rambunctious, but she is harmless and loves all kids on sight. We’ve two other golden retrievers who got so old we had to have them put down, and those were very sad days.

But that is the reality whenever one gets a pet. Some day they will die, or you’ll have to put them out of their misery. The owners of the wolf-dogs roaming the foothills didn’t have the guts or the integrity to do that, so now the community has a problem. One person already called me to say the wolf-dogs should be trapped and hauled away, given a chance. Trouble is, someone already couldn’t manage them, so they dumped them. Now the animals are wilder than ever and fully grown. No one is going to make a house pet of them now and it sure isn’t up to the taxpayers to feed them. They’re just going to have to be killed.

Full disclosure: I have paid my stormwater “fees.” I believe Colorado Springs officials when they say the city’s backlog of drainage work is a serious problem. There is no doubt that the addition of many paved surfaces, from streets to parking lots, means stormwater runoff reaches streams must faster than it once did. These manmade, regular flash floods damage property and even create life-threatening situations in some cases. For many years the city, unlike metro Denver and other Colorado cities, has lacked a way to fix the problem.

City officials adopted the stormwater “fees” after much wrangling with the business community, which resisted “fee” formulas at the outset. There is no doubt city officials figured an election to create a stormwater enterprise would fail, so they sought a way to avoid the constitutional requirements of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. The City Council is looking citizens straight in the eye and telling them the stormwater charges constitute a fee, not a tax. That is a bunch of baloney. Sure, they got a judge to go along with it. The judge is full of baloney, too.

Then how come the U.S. Post Office and other federal agencies in town are refusing to pay the “fee”? Federal property is always exempt from local property taxes. So is other public property, such as all the parking lots owned by local schools districts. The school districts all are paying the stormwater bills. El Paso County is paying them, too, after balking at first.

This is all a very big mess. Citizens who refuse to pay apparently will be pursued by the city via their property tax bills. But the Post Office, which has large parking lots and much deeper pockets than your average Joe, will be a tough nut for the city tax collectors to crack.  The city could go to the same district judge and he could huff and puff, but the federal government would ignore him. The city goes to some lengths to explain itself on its web site http://www.springsgov.com/Page.asp?NavID=6600#How_is_a_fee_different_from_a_tax without being very persuasive. Our stormwater system is modeled after Denver’s which has been in place for about 30 years, so it predated TABOR.

The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) has been helping grieving military families since 1994. More than 4,000 soldiers and contractors have died in Iraq, and TAPS estimates that as many as 10 family members are deeply affected by each loss.

The program offers educational seminars about how to cope with grief, individual grief counseling and operates a toll-free crisis hotline, 1-800-959-TAPS. All TAPS services are free. Experts say the idea is not to forget one’s grief but to learn to live with it. Having friends and relatives to share memories and daily experiences with helps.

To learn more about TAPS, click on www.taps.org or call the Washington, D.C., office at 1-202-588-8277. TAPS Director Bonnie Carroll can be reached via email at bonnie@taps.org.

To donate to TAPS, send a check to: Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, 910 17th St. NW, Suite 800, Washington, D.C. 20006.