“I now call the House to order on behalf of all of America’s children.”

Having just been administered the Oath of Office for an historic second time, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi D-CA12, gavels the House to order saying, “I now call the House to order on behalf of all of America’s children.”

Nancy Pelosi of California, a Democrat from that state’s 12th District has made history again not only as the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, but as the first woman to have ever been twice Speaker of the House. She further joins an even more rarefied group – 7 Speakers who were re-elected to the position, i.e. having served nonconsecutive terms.

The 116th Congress is historic for several other reasons, not just because of

Toomer’s Oaks May Have Fighting Chance

In a previous entry, I shared that Auburn University‘s historic Toomer’s Corner oak trees were poisoned with the powerful herbicide Spike 80DF, according to a telephone call made by the now-arrested prime suspect, 62-year-old Harvey Almorn Updyke of Dadeville, AL.

Mr. Updyke called the Paul Finebaum sports radio talk show and confessed on air that, “The weekend after the Iron Bowl, I went to Auburn, Alabama – because I live 30 miles away – and I poisoned the two Toomer’s trees. I put Spike 80DF in ‘em.“

In that entry entitled “Arrest Made in Poisoning of Auburn’s Historic Toomer’s Corner Oak Tree,” I remarked that “There may be some saving grace in this issue because warm weather and Spring have not arrived with any consistency yet, and therefore the trees may not yet be in bud, and (I suppose) do not yet have foliage, thus preventing significant uptake of poison.”

Now, it seems that at least one other voice concurs.

And, that’s good news!

Expert: Toomer’s trees may stand a chance

By Elizabeth Zimmerman

The outlook for the poisoned trees at Toomer’s Corner is grim, but they may