Columnist Ruthe Deskin: Feeling rescued from grief

Ruthe Deskin

Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002 | 8:16 a.m.

When Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker stood before reporters Saturday night, raised his arms and emotionally announced that rescuers had reached nine miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek mine at 240 feet below the Earth's surface, an entire nation rejoiced.

The rescue of the miners, one by one, shown on national television, was a welcome respite from the daily doses of war, floods, fire, disaster and crime.

The courage of the trapped miners was matched by the grit of rescue workers, who were determined to bring all nine miners to safety in spite of overwhelming odds.

Ironically, the rescue scene was only 10 miles from the spot where 40 passengers and the crew of Flight 93 died when the plane was taken over by hijackers during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

We mourned over that tragedy. Today we are rejoicing over the incredible rescue of nine miners, whose faith never wavered under the most horrific conditions.

If determination is a criteria for a winner, cyclist Lance Armstrong rates a 10.

We watched with pride as Armstrong, wearing the yellow championship jersey, won his fourth straight Tour de France.

I haven't a clue how the Tour is scored, but I know it is a grueling three-week battle of more than 2,000 miles of cycling through all kinds of weather and terrain.

Armstrong has become one of America's most beloved athletes, albeit in a sport about which most of us are rather ignorant. His exposure is not comparable to, say, Tiger Woods, Shaquille O'Neal, Andre Agassi or Barry Bonds and others, which makes his success all the more admirable.

That Armstrong continues his victorious performances after a battle with cancer is indeed incredible.

It will be interesting to see how Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa rules on the legality of "failure to exercise due care" driving citations handed out by police.

The law is being challenged by attorney Ben Little of the city attorney's office, who received such a citation.

Actually "failure to exercise due care" is a sort of catch-all for a multitude of traffic misdemeanors.

Should the Las Vegas Valley Water District buy Nevada Power? I don't know.

However, the appointment of former Clark County Manager Pat Shalmy as president of Nevada Power is a good move. Shalmy will be responsible for day-to-day operation of Nevada Power.

The board of directors of Sierra Pacific Resources made a wise move in electing Shalmy to the presidency of Nevada Power. Shalmy is smart, aggressive and respected by his peers.

We wish him well.

In June of 1994, after there was a brouhaha about taking "God" out of the Boy Scout oath, I wrote:

"I'm just waiting for someone to discover that the salute to the American flag contains the words, 'under God.' "

Eight years later those words have become cause celebre.

Will the monetary "In God We Trust" be the next victim?