Sleepless in Midland

New Texas Gun Laws - 2005

The Governor's office makes it so easy.  Here's the online press release listing new gun laws that went into effect 9/1/05.

Jun. 17, 2005 Gov. Perry Signs Bills to Protect Gun Owners' Rights

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today signed legislation aimed at clarifying existing firearm laws, enhancing protections for law-abiding gun owners and reducing barriers for gun ownership.

"The right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right of every law-abiding citizen of our country," Perry said. "This legislation will clarify existing firearm laws, enhance protections for law abiding gun owners and reduce barriers for gun ownership."

The bills Gov. Perry has signed include:

* House Bill 225 (Driver) which extends the renewal period for a concealed handgun license from four to five years without an increase in renewal fee.  Note: It only applies to licenses obtained new or renewed after 9/1/05.

* House Bill 322 (Hupp) which reduces all fees for a concealed handgun license for military members and veterans by 50 percent and lowers the age from 21 to 18 for members of the military or veterans to obtain a concealed handgun license.

* House Bill 685 (Rose) which exempts military members and veterans from taking the range portion of the concealed handgun licensing process if they had been weapons certified in the military within the past five years prior to application for the license.

* House Bill 1483 (Frost) which will expand methods by which applicants for a concealed handgun license may pay the fees to include personal check, cash, and credit card. Currently only cashiers checks and money orders are accepted.

* House Bill 823 (Keel) which clarifies the current definition of "traveling" as it relates to someone carrying a firearm. Current law is ambiguous and is interpreted differently by courts and law enforcement.   Note:  See Grits for Breakfast and  TSRA for a possible controversy.

* House Bill 1038 (Isett) which reduces the fee for renewal of a canceled handgun permit for senior citizen by 50 percent. The current renewal fee for a senior citizen is $70 for a four-year renewal period and this bill will reduce that fee to $35 for those 60 years of age or older.

All bills become effective Sept. 1, 2005.

(Italicized notes mine.)

A Chap Center Sleep Over for Hurricane Rita Evacuees

The floor of Chaparral Center at Midland College has seen everything from the Harlem Globetrotters to high school graduations.  Now the Chap Center court is a giant bedroom for Hurricane Rita evacuees.

Last night an unusual delivery was made to Chap Center.  Permian Mattress had a trailer full of foam mattresses.  Bobby Hennis of B&B Wrecker had the truck.  (Remember Bobby Hennis?)  And the County of Midland had employees and volunteers ready and able to stack those foam mattresses in Chap Center.  Let's not forget the Red Cross which was and is instrumental in this whole thing.

There were no cots, so the mattresses went flat onto the cement floor.  It is probably not the softest bed the Chap Center residents will have slept on, but it was on dry land and out of harm's way.  And with a half dozen police officers present it is sure to be a darn sight safer than the Superdome was a few weeks ago.

There will be meals served at the dining hall, there is a tv set available for viewing, and there are ten computers with internet access available for use by the guests.

Today several busses arrived from Port Arthur and other points along the Gulf Coast.  And their first stop was a processing center downtown.  Then the people were brought out to Chap Center which will be their home until it is safe for them to return home.

The center can accommodate 300, but around midday there were around 50 new residents at Chap Center.  So they all should have plenty of personal space.   Not a four star hotel, but all in all, not a bad place to stay under the circumstances.

A special thanks to Dennis Sever of Midland College for access to Chap Center for the photos.  And an observation:  Mr. Sever is extremely respectful of his new guests, and I'm sure they will be very grateful for his hospitality.  And once again I have the opportunity to say that I am so very proud to live in a region with such fine and generous people.

Updated 9/25/05; 2:49 pm.  Yesterday, City of Midland Public Information Officer Tina Jauz issued the following press release:

MIDLAND OPENS SHELTER TO RITA EVACUEES

The Red Cross of Southwest Texas is now operating a shelter for evacuees of Hurricane Rita.  As of 2:00 p.m. on September 24, 2005, Midland College's Chaparral Center is housing approximately 70 evacuees.

A handful of people arrived last night by private vehicle.  A charter bus and then school buses from the Dallas area started to arrive this morning.  The majority of the people are from Louisiana and the Houston area.  Some of the evacuees were already displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

The buses first arrived at the Midland County Exhibition Center on Business Interstate 20.  At this location, each person was checked in, received an I.D. badge, had their medical needs met by the Midland Health Department, fed by Midland College and Plains Marketing, as well as assisted with the needs of their pets by City of Midland Animal Services.  The Midland County C.I.U. volunteers, some of them new volunteers, helped check in luggage.

EZ Rider buses helped transport the evacuees from the Exhibition Center to Chaparral Center.

It is unknown how many, if any, more evacuees will seek shelter in Midland.

*Attention media:  the Red Cross is operating the shelter at Midland College.  Media will not be allowed inside Chaparral Center.  Please contact Tina Jauz if you have questions or need follow up information.

[Note:  No photos of evacuees appeared on these pages.]

Doggie Rescue Update

Raven's New Found Friends, the non-profit, no-kill animal shelter located between Midland and Odessa organized a drive to raise funds and animal supplies for a trip to Katrina country for an animal rescue mission.

The original plan was to leave on Monday and travel to Tylertown, Mississippi.  Then the itinerary changed, and they planned to go directly to New Orleans.  Eventually that reverted to the original plan to go to Tylertown with a first stop at Jackson.  If you are thinking that RNFF must be a little bit  disorganized to have changed its plan so many times, keep in mind that they are doing this as a service for the Louisiana Humane Society, and that organization is responsible for all of the changes.

Ravens New Found Friends hit the road yesterday (Wednesday) for a non-stop, sleepless drive straight to Jackson, Miss.  I spoke with RNFF president, RayeAnne Hawley, around 11 a.m. today, and she said they were roughly 25 miles from Jackson.  They took two vehicles, a bunch of cages and supplies, a U-Haul trailer and a stock trailer, but they don't know yet what they will come back with.

She said they hope to stop somewhere along the way and rent a motel room just so they can all take a shower and clean up.  And if all goes well, and they don't get delayed too much by Hurricane Rita or evacuation traffic, they to hope to return to West Texas Friday afternoon.

More information as it becomes available.

For previous items on these pages about this project, see Saving Katrina Animals and West Texans Poured Their Hearts Out for the Animals.

Updated 9/23/05; 4:16 pm. Okay, here's what happened. They got to Jackson, dropped off the supplies and picked up six dogs; a Border Collie, a Rottweiler, a German Shepherd and a Basset/Beagle mix with her two pups.

In the meantime, the Red Cross called with a need back home. It seems that Hurricane Rita evacuation has resulted in a sudden need for animal placement. So the crew headed back and arrived home this morning (Friday). RNFF will be taking in 26 dogs from Houston. So if you live near Midland and Odessa and can provide a foster home for a dog, give them a call at (432) 561-5412.

Thanks to Crystal Green of Raven's New Found Friends for the update.

Those gun confiscations in New Orleans

It seems as if an observer could fill up a legal pad listing the mistakes the local and state officials did in New Orleans.  And the confiscation of handguns by police certainly ranks up there among the top ten dumbest things done in New Orleans.

Resistance is Futile has an excellent roundup of items about that particular debacle at Carnival of Cordite #30, and it's well worth a look.

RIF makes some interesting observations.  There were some complaints that the NRA press release was a bit slow to arrive at the scene.  But, RIF suggests that the NRA is to gun rights as the U.S. government is to disaster relief.  Good analogy.  In other words, it isn't the first responder.  He suggests that anyone faced with such an illegal gun confiscation as occurred in New Orleans should cooperate with authorities, take notes, then go to local organizations for help.

It's hard to imagine the local police trying to confiscate privately owned guns out here in West Texas, and it's even harder to come up with a local organization that would help.  There's the Midland Shooters Association, but it's a recreational club and nowhere in its bylaws is there anything that would allow the organization to get involved as a third party in a legal dispute that didn't involve the club itself.

The Texas State Rifle Association has a nice website, but their information about the New Orleans gun confiscations consists solely of a link the above mentioned NRA press release.

Maybe the National ACLU would help out.  Oops.  Sorry 'bout that.  Their take on the 2nd amendment is this:  "Except for lawful police and military purposes, the possession of weapons by individuals is not constitutionally protected. Therefore, there is no constitutional impediment to the regulation of firearms. --Policy #47."

Well then, how about the ACLU of Texas?  Believe it or not, there's a possibility, though remote, that they might be of help in a gun rights issue.  Their website doesn't spell out a position on the 2nd Amendment.  However, Scott Henson of Grits for Breakfast testified on behalf of ACLU of Texas at a meeting of the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee in favor of HB 823 which, if the law is construed correctly in the courts, allows Texans to carry firearms in their vehicles without a concealed handgun permit.  (More about HB 823 in a future post.)  But realistically, if the Texas ACLU appeared in the headlines on the pro-gun side of a lawsuit the national organization would disown them, and their donor base  would disappear in a New York minute.  But, it would be one very courageous move on their part.

There are reports that the NRA is seeking plaintiffs to come forward and sue over the gun confiscations, but that would be a slam dunk case for the plaintiffs.  And with a plaintiff who would likely prefer the money over a legal precedent and a defendant who would want the case to go away as swiftly as possible, there's not much chance that any such case would go beyond the trial court stage to set any legal precedent on gun rights.

As just about everyone knows, each of us is really on his/her own in a disaster.  It's up to each of us to plan ahead, evacuate, run, swim or whatever it takes to stay safe.  Don't wait on the government.  And as for gun rights, some large group might come in later and take up the cause of an illegally confiscated gun, but don't bank on it.

I, for one, am proud to live in West Texas where people respect each other for the most part, and the police wouldn't try to take away legally owned guns.  As for New Orleans, well, that's New Orleans, and what happens in New Orleans stays in New Orleans.  And what the police there did is just one more dumb item listed on that legal pad.

Katrina Relief Worker's Report

Teresa McMahan checks in.  (Readers of these pages may recall Teresa's first hand reports on the making of  "Friday Night Lights".)   She forwards an email from her brother who is in Slidel, Louisiana. (See his photos at end of this post.)

These are pictures and narrative from my brother who is working on relief efforts in La. Thought you might could use them for your blog. Later, Teresa.

----- Original Message -----
I don't know what emails got through and what didn't.  In any case.  Here's an update.

Right now we're moved into a Baptist church in Slidel across the lake from New Orleans.  I think they'll have us in New Orleans when and only when they think its safe.  We may stay here all week, or one phone call could take us into New Orleans.

I like it here better than LaFayette.  There we were cooking for the people in the Cajun Dome.  Here were cooking food and loading it into Red Cross ERVs (looks like an abulance).  They're taking the food to people around here who can't/won't leave their homes.  Many of these people are "camping" in their houses as they begin to "mudout".  Volunteers from all over the country are helping with that nasty job.  We're keeping all of them fed.

People are coming through here daily needing water, cloths.  Many have asked us, "any idea where we could do some laundry or get a shower".  Many of these people would like to just clean up and rest before they go into whatever they're doing again.

This church is in real trouble.  Staff being layed off at the end of the month, this just wiped them out.  Keep in mind, this is First Baptist.  Its huge.  They're 2 miles from Lake Pontchetrain and the title surge brough about 5 feet of water in here.  Yes, 2 miles.  There's dead fish in the parking lot.  I killed a snake half way up the stair going to the balcony in the auditorium.  Its a wreck and people (rescue workers) are living in the auditorium.  They already have the mud out, carpet out, sheetrock out (1/2 way up the walls).  I found some cots so I wouldn't be sleeping on the ground around here.  A lot of the people that go here have lost their homes and their jobs.  Amaizingly enough we went to their church services this morning and their response to this tragety was overwhelmingly obviouse, they are each and every one thankful for what they have and for the many opportunities this will bring them to grow stronger.  I don't just say that, that is really how they feel.  I would never have seen that on the news nor would I have believed it without being here.

More Later if possible.

Kyle.

Thanks Teresa!  And thanks to you, Kyle, for all you are doing!

Kyle's photos:

   

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West Texans Poured Their Hearts Out for the Animals

Reports indicate that the RNFF collection efforts at the Sam's Clubs in Midland and Odessa went very well.  There were lots of donations of items and cash contributions of all sizes.  The large ones always get everyone's attention, and Rosemary Marler told of a woman who brought a $500 bill.  And there was the couple who dropped off a check for $1,000.

And the children.  Oh the children.  Imagine, if you will, a little girl walking up with a zip-lock bag of coins and depositing each of those coins -- one by one -- into the collection jar.  You just know there's an empty piggy bank back home.

A volunteer group from Los Angeles is helping out in New Orleans, and according to the information received by the RNFF, those volunteers will drive to a corner and start putting out dog and cat food.  Animals seem to come out of the woodwork, and within minutes there may be 50 starving animals gulping it down.

The Louisiana Human Society has told RNFF that all area shelters are full and can't accept any more animals.  And the RNFF group is planning to take the collected item directly to New Orleans rather than to Tylertown, Mississippi, as originally planned.  And they plan to leave the Permian Basin Monday evening and travel non-stop until they reach a meeting point at a Win-Dixie in New Orleans, drop off their good, pick up what they can, and head back home.  I hope they take along a camera.

More info as it becomes available.

Previously on these pages: Saving Katrina Animals. And see Doggie Rescue Update.

Saving Katrina Animals

Meet Twink.

"They used to call me 'Twinkle,' but when my hair turned grey people started calling me 'Twink.'"

Twink Leftwich worked in the West Texas oil fields for years.  That's right, the fields, not the offices.  But her true calling is training and helping animals.  She and RayeAnn Hawley founded Raven's New Found Friends, a very friendly 501(c)(3) animal shelter located between Midland and Odessa.  They have a no-kill policy, and they've rescued an untold number of dogs from the local Animal Services, and right now they've got some beautiful and friendly dogs available for adoption.

But they've taken on an even bigger project.  They are organizing a very ambitious program to rescue animals that have been separated from their owners by hurricane Katrina.

They've already got two hurricane dogs, April and Beau.  Poor April must be a dog with nine lives having already been adopted following a career in greyhound racing and now as a hurricane survivor.  Their owners are sheltered at the Hotel Elegante in Odessa which doesn't allow canine guests, so their dogs are having a great time out at the RNFF facility.

This Friday and Saturday RNFF will set up in the parking lots of the Sam's Clubs in Midland and Odessa from 10 am until 8 pm to collect items to take to the Humane Society of Louisiana emergency shelter for Katrina rescues at Tylertown, Mississippi.

They plan to hit the road on Monday with three people per truck, a driver, a navigator and a sleeper for the non-stop journey to Tylertown.  The Humane Society of Louisiana website has a list of things they need, however RNFF has a much more extensive list.  If you have or can provide any of the following items then RNFF would very much appreciate it if you take those items to Sam's Club on Friday or Saturday.  Here's their wish list:

Cash
ventilated trailers
pet crates and cages
food and water bowls
bottled water
slip leashes
Cat litter and litter boxes
bird cages
bird feed
used towels and blankets
pet toys and chewies
tarps
cleaning supplies for the crates heavy duty gloves
ice chests
paper towles
disinfectant hand wipes
flashlights and "D" batteries
hip waders
walkie talkies (water proof)
insect repellent
sun screen
non-perishable human food
dog food
cat food
"Frontline" and "Advantage" brands flea prevention
Large storage boxes
generators, and
air conditioners that can be powered by a generator.

But there's one thing they need more than anything.  And this one is the hardest one.  Many, many dogs perish annually in Midland and Odessa at the respective Animal Control facilities, and there is a huge need for humans to offer a home to sheltered animals.  RNFF will be glad to answer any questions about this.  Call them at (432) 561-5412.

And what will they bring back from Mississippi?  That's anybody's guess at this point.  Could be humans.  Could be animals.  Could be both.

Good luck and God speed, Raven's New Found Friends.  May your journey be a productive one.

Related link:   Odessa American.

And here's a special shout-out to Teresa McMahan for the heads-up.  Thanks T.

Coming up, "Twink's Training Tips."

Updated at West Texans Poured Their Hearts Out for the Animals and at Doggie Rescue Update.

Would you buy a used car from the mayor of New Orleans?

There are sure to be plenty of used cars available from New Orleans.  Here's a tip for anyone in the market for a used car anytime soon:  Inspect it for tell tale signs of flood damage.

The State of Texas Department of Transportation has a website that allows a consumer to check if a vehicle titled in Texas was titled as a Flood Damaged Vehicle.  And at that same TxDOT site there's a link to a Florida site that purports to allow checking for flood damaged vehicles that have been issued Florida Certificates of Title.

Maybe the state of Louisiana will do the same.  Ya think?

Just to be on the safe side, here is Progressive Casualty Insurance Company's flood inspections guidelines.  And more tips can be found at this Ezine Article.

Finally, Carfax reports purport to alert consumers of whether a car was flood damaged.

Caveat emptor.

What's going on with the MHS & LHS Youth Centers?

There was a time way back there when the Youth Centers of Midland High School and Lee High School were vibrant places where high school kids could gather after school to play ping pong, shoot pool, listen to the top tunes on the juke box or sip malts and just hang out.  And on occasional weekend nights there would be dances featuring live local bands.

But, that was then.

I visited both Youth Centers recently to find out what's happening now, and here's what I found out:  There's not much happening there now.  Why not?  Their funding dried up.

The Youth Centers are owned by the Midland Independent School District, and a non-profit corporation was set up to accept donations to run it.  And that corporation ran it on donated funds for many years.

Funding Stopped

There is a very generous philanthropic organization here called the Abell-Hanger Foundation.  And at one time they were funding the Youth Centers.  You can visit their site and download their annual reports for the years 2000 through 2004.  And it appears from those reports that funds were donated to the Youth Centers during those years except 2004.

In 2004 the Abell-Hanger Foundation celebrated its 50th anniversary, and that year's report recapped the grants of the past 50 years.  Get the 2004 50th anniversary report (PDF) here.  The report said that the Foundation had given the Youth Centers sums totaling $369,315 between 1959 and 2003.  That's a whopping sum, and hopefully the money was well spent.  But, note that there was nothing given in 2004.  And there will probably be nothing in 2005.  So there's a mystery.  Why was funding cut?

So far I've been unable to find an answer to that one.  I have a phone number for a person who is said to be the only active member of the Youth Center board of directors.  As of the time of this writing she hasn't returned my calls.

Corporation dissolved by Secretary of State

Some clues can be found in the Texas Secretary of State's records.  A Texas non-profit corporation is supposed to file a form 901 pursuant to Article 9.01 of the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act every four years, and they are supposed to keep a current name and address of a registered agent for service of process on file with the S.O.S. office.  Youth Centers of Midland, Inc., was painted on the walls of both the MHS and LHS youth center buildings, however, the S.O.S. office doesn't have a listing in that name.  They do have one for Midland Youth Center established on October 1, 1945.  But, the last 901 report was filed on October 1, 1985.  So the reports would have soon been 16 years overdue had the Secretary of State's office not dissolved the corporation on June 3, 2005.

That's right.  The corporation was dissolved.  This is all a matter of public record.

What's Next?

Any major donor is going to insist that certain corporate and bookkeeping formalities are observed.  And it's possible that the donations stopped because of the failure to keep the corporate filings current.  But, I'm speculating -- I don't have all of the facts.

In any event, the Youth Centers have lost their funding.  And one individual with whom I spoke suggested that an option might be for the buildings to be turned back over to the Midland Independent School District.  What happens then is anybody's guess.  But, if MISD elects to keep them running then the funding source would seem to be our school tax dollars instead of private donations.

This is an unfinished story.  More info if and when available.  Or if you have information please get in touch.

Oh those gasoline prices!

Just returned from a road trip, and the place where my wallet rests is really aching right about now.

I reserved a full size car from Alamo car rental, and they bumped me up to a Chevy Trailblazer.  (One nice thing about renting cars is that you get to sample a variety of vehicles -- it's an extension of that same drive that causes some of us to flip tv channels every two seconds.)

It was a nice SUV, but a trip in any sized vehicle can certainly draw your attention to just how much it costs to hit the road these days.  It's one thing to have to fill up every few days.  But, it's another thing to fill up a couple of times a day.  No lines at the gas pumps, though.

And it's good to be home.

By the way, for those keeping track of these sorts of things, the Chevy Trailblazer got around 20 MPG on the highway.

Do conservatives and liberals donate equally

It's hard to know just what this means without knowing the poll question.  But,  ABC is reporting a poll on the views of the hurricane response with this result, among others:  Blame Bush?  Yes 44%; No 55%.  You can see the article here.  (Found at Drudge Report .)

Listeners to C-SPAN's Washington Journal have gotten an earful of vitriol from people calling in on the "Oppose Bush" line.  I'm amazed at how the Bush haters have so smoothly segued from hating Bush for the war in Iraq to hating Bush for the hurricane response.

Americans have opened up their hearts to the hurricane victims, and the non-governmental relief agencies have been inundated with donations.  There won't be any way to verify this, but I suspect that a disproportionate amount of the money, food, clothes, blankets, shelter and whatever else people have contributed to help the hurricane victims came from that percentage who don't blame Bush.

By shifting the blame onto Bush or his appointees, the "Blame Bush" crowd probably feels no personal responsibility to help.  Blaming Bush get's them off the moral hook to do anything themselves.  Just as many see the Iraqi war as "Bush's war," they probably take that same attitude toward the problems in Louisiana and Mississippi.  "It's Bush's problem.  Let him clean it up."

But, maybe I'm wrong about this.  Here's a liberal site titled DropCash --  supply your own jokes about that name -- and it's goal is to raise $1 million for hurricane relief.  I wish them all the success.

9/18/05; 5:26 pm -  I've tried to avoid participating in the partisan bickering that seems to bubble constantly on the airwaves.  But, I broke my rule here, and I regret it.  American are generous people, and there is no party line dividing them when it comes to helping those seriously in need.  And the suggestion that liberals would not be generous?  Hogwash.  I'm humbled by the email from a life long liberal who reported making a four figure contribution to the Red Cross.  Kudos to you.  And thanks for demonstrating that when we all pull together great things can happen.

Lookee who's back!

After a long absence Jessica's Well has returned to the scene.  Welcome back!

Games for a Labor Day Holiday

Here are a couple of enjoyable Flash games that not only entertain but waste time as well.

First up, Avoider, where all you have to do is keep the little fellow from catching your curser arrow.  Warning:  he can jump, fire rockets, shoot cannons and more, and he wants your curser.

Next up, Planarity.  It's a connect-the-dots game in which the dots are already connected, and the player moves dots around so that no lines are crossed.

All of this is courtesy of Little Fluffy Industries whose motto is:  "Wasting your time... and ours."  Thanks for that, Little Fluffy.

People pitching in, helping hurricane Katrina victims

We can't avoid it.  The tv screens have put it right in front of our faces, and if we can see it, we can feel it.   Each of us has probably seen something on the screen that has nearly brought us to tears.  Those people in areas hit by hurricane Katrina really do need help.  And true to form, Americans are putting aside their own problems to help someone who is worse off.  It's the everyday heroes at their finest.

Case in point.  B&B Wrecker is collecting canned and bottled goods and other items the displaced hurricane victims might need.  That's Bobby Hennis, one of B&B's principals, in the photo.  There's a warehouse in Odessa loaded with stuff ready to haul.  And B&B has the trucks, trailers and drivers ready to load up and head for the small towns outside of greater New Orleans.

And that's just one example.  Stewart Doreen and Colin Guy report in today's Midland Reporter-Telegram that the American Legion, the North "A" church of Christ, the Red Cross in Odessa and the Hilton Midland Plaza hotel are also helping.

Speaking of the Hilton, an email circulating locally says that the Hilton Midland Plaza is putting up 17 families until they can go home, and the Hilton is also asking for food, clothing, and necessities in their work with a food bank that will be shipping all the donated items to affected areas.

And the President has requested our help in a speech on 8/31/05:

At this stage in the recovery efforts, it's important for those who want to contribute, to contribute cash. You can contribute cash to a charity of your choice, but make sure you designate that gift for hurricane relief. You can call 1-800-HELPNOW, or you can get on the Red Cross web page, RedCross.org. The Red Cross needs our help. I urge our fellow citizens to contribute.

The Red Cross website was very slow to load, but once there it provides ways to help.  Here's what the RedCross.org FAQs says:

Individuals wishing to make a financial donation to the American Red Cross may send a check to their local Red Cross chapter or to

American Red Cross
P.O. Box 37243
Washington, DC 20013.

Also, donors may call 1-800-HELP-NOW (1-800-435-7669) or, for Spanish speakers, 1-800-257-7575 to charge a financial contribution to their credit cards. Donations may also be made on our  secure Internet site.

The local Red Cross office is located here:

American Red Cross
102 E.2nd St.
Odessa, TX 79761
(432) 570-6161

I've just returned from mailing my check.  (I noted on the check that it's for Hurricane Katrina victims so that it doesn't get put into general funds.)  You've probably already contributed, but if not, the American Red Cross is a good cause, and they are sure to need help with this one.