Off Beat: City Council keeps on giving

To a columnist, the Marysville City Council is the gift that keeps on giving.

Only in Marysville would a council member accuse someone of "shucking and jiving."

Not surprisingly, the Hotel Marysville was the topic that prompted shuck and jive earlier this month.

It's been vacant for years. No, vacant for decades. It's gone through a variety of owners, some more colorful than others.

They all share something in common: They accomplish nothing.

The hotel was vacant when they bought it, and it stayed vacant.

The city has mumbled and fumbled its way through all of this, never accomplishing much and always finding some reason to criticize the hotel's owner of the moment.

So the most recent outburst aimed at the current owner wasn't that surprising. It's been worse in the past. This was rather mild.

Many years ago, the city had the chance to buy the building at a tax auction, but the council whiffed, as might be expected.

Now, in the 21st century, not much has changed. The building remains vacant, the owner blames the city and the city blames the owner.

The Price is wrong

In case you missed it, Dave Price, the weatherman on "The Early Show" on CBS, was at Beale Air Force Base a few weeks ago.

Was he there for an exposé on Air Force malfeasance? Was he investigating the truth about flying saucers? Was he there to bring down the Pentagon?

Nope, he was there on an important public relations mission.

Dave was going to learn everything you ever wanted to know about the U-2 spy plane. And then he would fly in one.

I am a kid in a candy store right now. The 9th Reconnaissance Wing is right here at Beale Air Force Base and, of course, this is the home of the U-2, only 31 of them still in existence. This is a wingspan of 105 feet. It can reach an altitude of above 70,000 feet, flying above 95 percent of the earth`s atmosphere, and we are going to hit that ceiling before the week is over. All that training comes as we started today. Now keep in mind the cost of this equipment is priceless and it is classified as well.

Yes, the same news network that gave you Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow now sends you a weatherman who says he's "a kid in a candy store" when he's at Beale.

Good morning to you, Harry. Beale Air Force Base is our location. And before the end of the week is done the only people who will be above us, when we are up in the U-2 just like this one, are going to be the astronauts in the space station. We're trained to fly at the edge of the Earth and we're going to bring you along with us through for all the excitement.

Thanks, Dave.