COLUMBIANA CORNER Leader of shade tree panel gets to the roots of human nature

kBill Merdich, chairman of the Leetonia Shade Tree Commission, said he's learned a lot about people's attitudes toward trees since he began serving on the volunteer panel in 1988.
"Some people love trees so much, they get very upset about us removing them, even when they are a hazard," he said. "Others don't care for trees at all. They don't want even one leaf in their yards."
As old as the stars
During a discussion of a poem he wrote about Halley's comet, author J. Patrick Lewis told first- and second-grade pupils at Columbiana's Joshua Dixon Elementary that the comet would next pass by Earth in 2065.
"You'll all be about 70 years old then," he told the wide-eyed youngsters, then quipped, "and I'll be 75."
Lewis, who had his first children's book published at 46, turned 60 Sunday with 33 books published by nine publishing houses.
Mouse vs. mouse
The Columbiana County Job and Family Services Department is having a mouse war, of sorts.
Eileen Dray-Bardon, job and family services director, told commissioners recently that the department is troubled with mice.
What's more, one of the rodents recently attacked an electronic counterpart, Dray-Bardon reported.
Employees arrived at work one morning to discover a mouse had chewed through the cord of a computer mouse, she said.
XCONTRIBUTORS: Nancy Tullis and Norman Leigh, Vindicator Salem Bureau.