One of the wonderful things about putting out a newspaper is the knowledge that readers who pick it up are learning all kinds of new things.
They're learning about what's going on in our region and around the world. They're learning what people have to say about it all. They're learning "The Boondocks" is pretty edgy.
We're always learning. Right now, a lot of us at the Post-Gazette are learning how to use a new computer system to produce the newspaper. Frankly, it's kind of hard to teach old newshounds new tricks. But we're doing our best.
Sunday evening, I did some learning at Seven Springs Ski Resort. I learned how to make a turn while moving pretty fast. I learned how to come to a quick stop. And I learned that I can get down Little North Face without falling on my little own face.
The only thing that I can't seem to learn is that when you're heading up into the mountains of Pennsylvania, you have to pay attention to the weather forecast.
My friend Ian and I made this same mistake last winter. We ignored the meteorological doomsayers and dared to drive through a major snowstorm. Last year, we were lucky to make it home.
Sunday night we were lucky we didn't get killed.
The turnpike was as treacherous as any stretch of highway I've ever seen. Ian, who was driving, did his best to keep the car pointed toward Pittsburgh, but the elements were against him.
At one point, just around midnight, we slid to a 90-degree angle in the middle of the two westbound lanes. (This is when I learned that telling a skidding driver to turn into the skid will only make him turn angry.)
Fortunately, the truck that was bearing down on Ian's side of the car was able to swerve around us.
We pulled off the turnpike at the service plaza just before the New Stanton exit, where we calmed our nerves with warm beverages and waited with other drivers who were likewise overwhelmed by the snowstorm. It was nice to learn that we weren't alone.
Ian saw that the turnpike had a telephone number that drivers could dial for information. He called it and learned that salt trucks and scrapers were out and that the roads closer to the city might be a little bit better. So we pressed on, getting home shortly after 2 a.m.
It took us more than three hours to make a trip that usually takes just a little over an hour. But I think we've finally learned our lesson.
Sometimes the learning curve kicks in. And sometimes it kicks butt. Post-Gazette education reporter Jane Elizabeth has learned that several teachers from our region were among those disciplined recently by the state Department of Education's standards and practices commission. The teachers' misconduct ranged from delivering a controlled substance to complicity to an aggravated assault.
The Pittsburgh branch of the NAACP is concerned with learning. The civil rights group hopes to educate the community in proper methods for arresting suspects. A summit on the subject is scheduled for tomorrow.
Amanda Reeves is only 5, but she's got a big responsibility as this year's ambassador for the March of Dimes. Amanda, who lives in Greenville, S.C., was in town yesterday promoting the organization that battles premature births. But if you think Amanda is small now, you should have seen her when she was born.
First Published: January 27, 2004, 5:00 a.m.
