At first the forecast was for Winter storm Ida Lee to bring 6-7 inches of snow and start sometime tonight. It appears now that the amount of snow in the forecast could go down to as little as 1-4 inches and the storm could start as late as tomorrow morning.

Another storm may be forming this weekend which we will call Winter Storm Jake. Wait a minute! Homer? Ida Lee? Jake? Whoever it is naming these storms has been watching way too much "Hee Haw"

Our Publisher looked at his work schedule, and noticed that he has the entire day off from the Hut on Sunday. This morning he heard that there are tickets still available to the Winter Dance Party at the Palace of Corn that evening. These two events could not have come at a better time!

     The Winter Dance Party is a tribute concert to the three entertainers who died in a plane crash near Clear Lake Iowa back in February of 1959. for those who are new to this Newsblog, those entertainers were Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Richie Valens. John Mueller, the entrepreneur of this musical cavalcade, impersonates Buddy. Not only is this the only tribute show that has the blessing of the estates of all three of the late stars, but The Big Bopper's son himself impersonates his father, as only he can, in this show. Jerry is hoping that in the Big Bopper's portion of the show, his son will be wearing Melvin, his father's coat. For him, that kind of thing is exciting.

The cost of this event is pretty reasonable. Seats in the bleachers are $20 and a table for 8 on the floor is $200. Unless 7 other people show up, Jerry will get a seat.

     I've been getting some interesting e-mail lately. Most of it is spam, but I'll take a compliment from anybody. One e-mail that stands out is one that told me, well here it is:

"Hello, you used to write great, but the last few posts have been kinda boring… I miss your great writings.

     After reading all that empty praise comes some empty criticism. Truth is, that this post may have a point. My writing style has changed since I started this Newsblog 11 years ago. I was a lot younger then, full of myself, having something to prove. It seems as though back when I was on the Ponderosa, there was always something happening, and I always had something to say about it. I have noticed that as I've aged, I've lost my edge. I don't believe maturity is necessarily a bad thing. I'm a little more careful about stepping on toes now, but that's good! We have enough Internet bullies out there, and I don't want to be one of them.

     The fact that at present an average of 8 people read this everyday proves that what I write is striking a chord with someone. It could be that I am off track. Maybe I need to look harder for inspiration. Whatever the case, I'm glad that the 8 of you are out there reading.some of you are reading at 5 AM! Why? Are you looking for something to put you to sleep? I'm glad to be of service, whatever the reason.
     I am looking at a few story ideas. I'd like cover the fight to help Forest City keep their movie house. Trouble is I'm pretty much stuck here in Kornfield County. If there is anyone in the area of Forest City Iowa that would like to help out on a series of articles dealing with the effort to save the Forest Theatre, I'd be more than willing to help give this movement the publicity it deserves! I'm also thinking about buying a gun to see how hard it is to do that here in the Midwest. I won't buy any bullets of course, that could get expensive after a while. at any rate, God be with you and do the best you can!