Dwight Merriam

<p> The display of yellow ribbons in remembrance of friends and family serving far away goes back hundreds of years. Dr. Gavin Finley has an <a href="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://endtimepilgrim.org/yellowriboak.jpg&amp;imgrefurl=http://endtimepilgrim.org/yellowrib.htm&amp;usg=__Ksf0tpiIRNuBejziPwNGMPQdJfw=&amp;h=384&amp;w=248&amp;sz=54&amp;hl=en&amp;start=13&amp;um=1&amp;tbnid=naMNZ7Kvgpah_M:&amp;tbnh=123&amp;tbnw=79&amp;prev=/images%3Fq%3Dyellow%2Bribbons%2Baround%2Btree%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4SUNA_enUS286US270%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1">interesting website </a>on the history. The American Folklore Center at The Library of Congress has more intriguing history and also cites the 1949 John Wayne and Joanne Dru film, <em>She Wore a Yellow Ribbon</em>. </p>

<p> I am prompted to report on this issue I came across in a <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/pennsylvania/20091125_ap_papastorseeksokforsonsgraveonchurchland.html">news item</a> last week. A Baptist minister in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, buried his 18-year-old son, who died three days after a car crash on July 12, in the backyard of the pastor’s church. While state law doesn’t prohibit this, some county and local ordinances do, and this county, Fayette County, only allows burials on large parcels zoned for agricultural use. The church has only five acres and is in a residential zone. </p>

<p> Those of us whose professional lives are inextricably linked to the real estate development economy in one way or another have had plenty of time in the last year to twiddle our thumbs and attempt to figure out what the heck happened. This much we know — there was a housing bubble some places, it burst, and the economy collapsed. Have you ever slipped and fell – one those unexpected spectacular aerial feats where your feet fly out from underneath you, you look down your legs and see your toes at eye level pointing to the sky, and you say to yourself “this is really going to hurt when I land”? That’s what this year has been like for many, some of whom are still waiting to hit hard because they had projects in the pipeline and they are grinding their way through “inventory” of unfinished work. Plus, we started from a high plateau. Wall Street types call the unexpected but apparent life in the market during the first part of a recession “<a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/deadcatbounce.asp">dead cat bounce</a>” which Forbes defines as “a temporary recovery from a prolonged decline or bear market, after which the market continues to fall.” Even a dead cat dropped from a very high place will bounce a little when it hits the ground… </p>

<p> &quot;Don&#39;t Bogart That Joint, My Friend&quot; </p> <p> Lyrics: <em>Lawrence</em><em> Wagner</em><br /> Music: <em>Elliot Ingber</em> </p> <p> <em>(on the soundtrack of &quot;Easy Rider&quot;) </em> </p> <p> <em><span style="text-decoration: underline">Chorus</span></em><br /> Don&#39;t bogart that joint my friend<br /> Pass it over to me<br /> Don&#39;t bogart that joint my friend<br /> Pass it over to me </p> <p> Roll another one<br /> Just like the other one<br /> You&#39;ve been holding on to it<br /> And I sure will like a hit </p> <p> [<em>chorus</em>] </p> <p> Roll another one<br /> Just like the other one<br /> That one&#39;s burned to the end<br /> Come on and be a real friend </p> <p> [<em>chorus</em>] </p> <p> Marijuana is prescribed for certain medical conditions, such as pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation. Since 1996, <a href="http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/54">at least 13 states have legalized</a> the sale of medical marijuana. </p> <p> Now, check your zoning regulations and see what districts allow this land use: &quot;Retail Sales – Medical Marijuana.&quot; Couldn’t find it, right? </p>

<p> A couple of weeks ago, the South Dakota Supreme Court in <em>Anderson</em><em> v. Town of Badger</em> held that a town had the power to grant a waiver of a distance requirement set by Kingsbury County for a CAFO. <a href="http://www.sdjudicial.com/opinions/downloads/y2009/25045.pdf">Click here </a>for the decision. </p> <p> Wait a minute. Why wouldn’t you want to live near a CAFO? What’s a CAFO? It’s not Community Association Facility Operations. It’s not Centralized Area of Fun Outside …no, it’s Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, something akin to dinner time at my fraternity house in the mid-1960s… </p>