Summer Reads, Kentuckians Do Good, Energy Star News
Quote: Dr. Joseph A. Stanislaw
50 years ago in Kentucky Living
London residents claim turkey call honors
ENERGY STAR toughens up on TVs
Liberty author Russell Vassallo didn’t grow up in Kentucky, but has always had strong ties to the South through his father’s ancestry. However, Vassallo’s childhood was filled with anything but Southern hospitality. Growing up the sickly son of a man with mafia connections left Vassallo an outsider among his peers. He often turned to animals as his only source of comfort, giving him a keen sense of oneness with them. This connection has left him with many stories to be told, including his latest collection, Heart of an Animal (Krazy Duck Productions, $19). “Over the years I discovered that people not only can hurt you physically but emotionally as well. A vicious dog or cat can hurt you physically, but not emotionally. For me, the choice was clear. The animal always came first in my life,” he says.
Vassallo advises pet owners who wish to form a bond with their animals to “regard them as equals, not dumb animals that cannot communicate or feel or sense emotions. Second, spend time with them, not just petting or loving, but reacting to them. Third, when you have an ailment, find consolation in your pet and look forward to a tomorrow with it.” This began for Vassallo with a Pomeranian named Palsy who kept him company during many winters of being confined to his bedroom due to poor health.
Living on a farm during his retirement from a law career, Vassallo enjoys working outside tending to farm chores, horses, dogs, and cats then lingering over a glass of wine with his wife, Virginia. “I was always a country boy at heart,” he says. “And I love the space around us. Our nearest neighbor is a half-mile away. In the city, I couldn’t open my car door without trespassing on my neighbor’s land.”
When asked what he would like his readers to know, Vassallo responds, “I’d like them to know how very important they are…There is no greater compliment to an author than when a reader comes back looking for that author to purchase his newest book. I have been honored in such a way and can tell you that it is the thrill of a lifetime to have that kind of support.”
Penny Woods for Joseph-Beth booksellers, pennymouse1@yahoo.com,(800) 248-6849, www.josephbeth.com.
Quote: Dr. Joseph A. Stanislaw
“Right now, clean energy is where the mobile phone industry was in 1983, when Motorola released its two-pound, $4,000 DynaTac 8000x.”
Dr. Joseph A. Stanislaw, independent senior advisor to Deloitte LLP and founder of the advisory firm The JAStanislaw Group, LLC
50 years ago in Kentucky Living
Number of Farm Tractors and Trucks Rises Rapidly
A reduction in the number of farms in Kentucky coupled with the increase in tractor and truck numbers results in a rapid increase in number per farm, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says.
In 1945 there was a tractor on one farm out of ten. By 1959 the ratio had increased to an average of one tractor for each two farms. A similar increase shows up for motor trucks.
Kentucky farmers owned 98,000 tractors and 77,000 trucks on Jan. 1, 1959.
Heat from sunlight coming through windows and hitting the roof can increase air-conditioner use significantly. Use shade trees and shrubs in landscaping design to reduce cooling costs. Block heat in the summer–but let it through in the winter–with deciduous trees, which will lose their leaves in the winter.
The 12th largest event in Kentucky takes place Saturday, August 14, in Louisville from noon until midnight, and it’s for a great cause. The St. Joseph Orphans Picnic takes place on the grounds of the St. Joseph Children’s Home, 2823 Brownsboro Road. Since its beginning in 1850, the picnic has grown to 64 booths including games of chance, raffles, food, and beverages. In 2003 the picnic added Friday Night Live, which this year will feature live music in addition to the regular activities and takes place August 13 from 5-10 p.m. Admission and parking are free for the event that supports the St. Joseph Children’s Home. More information is available at www.sjkids.org.
Contractors, readers, invited to be a part of the November Kentucky Living 2010 Energy Guide
Contractors
If your company provides energy-efficiency related products or services, you can put it front and center in the guide that’s all about home energy fixes by purchasing a Company Listing for just $500 or a larger Company Vignette for $1,200. Go to KentuckyLiving.com/advertise/index.asp for details or call the advertising department at (800) 595-4846. Deadline is September 17.
Readers
Did you have a good or bad experience with energy-efficiency tax credits or rebates in the past year? Did the credit or rebate influence your home energy-efficiency decisions? Tell us about it in 250 or fewer words and we may include your experience in the Kentucky Living 2010 Energy Guide that will be a part of the November issue. Describe your experience and send it to us by August 1 at e-mail@kentuckyliving.com,or to Kentucky Living 2010 Energy Guide, P.O. Box 32170, Louisville, KY 40232.
London residents claim turkey call honors
Three of the nation’s top decorative turkey callmakers are London residents who recently won National Wild Turkey Federation awards. Lindsey Vaughn, age 11, was named the Youth Decorative Turkey Callmaker of the Year. Robert Hibbard placed second in Best Overall Presentation, and Nicholas Metcalf placed third in both the Decorative Box Call and Air-Operated Call categories. A panel of experts in callmaking, calling, and hunting judged hundreds of entries on appearance and sound quality at the federation’s annual convention in Nashville. The federation’s contest is recognized as the premier callmaking competition in North America.
Several other Kentuckians walked away with top federation awards in other categories:
* Jim Williams of Eddyville was honored with the federation’s first JAKES Volunteer of the Year Award. The JAKES program is for youth ages 13 to 17.
* David Gibson of Glendale won the Wheelin’ Sportsmen Volunteer of the Year Award for helping people with disabilities enjoy the outdoors.
* Alicia Love of Glendale won three awards for wild turkey taxidermy–Best of Show, Competitors’ Choice, and Best Strutting. She also took home the Best Closed Mouth Deer Professional Taxidermy award.
* Ferrell Cosby of Alvaton won first place in the White-tailed Deer Commercial Taxidermy category.
* Brent Stoner of Louisville was third in the Trough Calls and Striker category, Hunting Turkey Calls.
For a list of all winners and more information about the federation, click on www.nwtf.org.
New rules strengthen efficiency ratings
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy have changed the ENERGY STAR certification process to ensure that only products meeting the program requirements can receive an ENERGY STAR label.
The changes accelerate steps DOE and EPA have initiated over the past several months to bolster the verification, testing, and enforcement of the ENERGY STAR program.
“Consumers trust the ENERGY STAR brand to save them money and reduce carbon pollution,” says Cathy Zoi, DOE assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “The steps we are taking to strengthen the program will ensure that ENERGY STAR continues to be the hallmark for energy efficiency in the years to come.”
Manufacturers wishing to qualify products as ENERGY STAR must now submit complete lab reports and results for review and approval by EPA prior to labeling. EPA says that instead of using an automated approval process, all new applications will be reviewed and approved individually.
EPA and DOE say that by the end of the year all manufacturers must submit test results from an approved, accredited lab for any product seeking the ENERGY STAR label. Testing in an accredited lab is currently required for certain product categories, including windows, doors, skylights, and compact fluorescent lighting. The new process will extend the requirement to each of the more than 60 eligible product categories under the ENERGY STAR program.
The Department of Energy also says it is conducting off-the-shelf product testing for some of the most common household appliances.
Super heroes, Disney characters, imaginative mascots, and the power of the Internet are making energy efficiency both fun and educational for kids. To find interactive games, videos, and lessons to bring energy awareness to your children, click on the following Web sites:
- Touchstone Energy Kids Zone, www.touchstoneenergykids.com, features a spunky energy-efficiency mascot, CFL Charlie, who teaches children kindergarten through 5th grade how to be Super Energy Savers.
- At the Web site of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, www.eere.energy.gov/kids/tvads.html, kids can learn to save energy with Tinker Bell and her friends. The department also offers lesson plans, science projects, math problems, and more for K-12 students at www.eere.energy.gov/education.
- Project Super Powers at www.projectsuperpowers.com, sponsored by the Alliance to Save Energy, highlights videos of super heroes saving energy.
- ENERGY STAR has a youth-oriented site at www.energystar.gov/kids, which provides interactive ways to learn how to make small changes with a big impact in places like a child’s bedroom.
ENERGY STAR toughens up on TVs
It got harder this spring for a TV to earn the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR. Since May 1, TVs that carry the government’s ENERGY STAR label are, on average, 40 percent more efficient than conventional models.
Qualifying TVs now must use less energy when turned on, but still ensure a satisfactory level of brightness, and they must curb power associated with downloading program guide data.
With more than 19 million TVs with screens larger than 40 inches expected to ship to American homes in 2010, the new specifications also offer important savings in larger size TVs. For example, the new requirements for 46- and 50-inch TV models will deliver almost 50 percent savings over conventional models of the same size.
