Columns

By BOB URBAN

rurban@tnonline.com

Eighty one percent of the taxpayers in the U.S. are getting a refund this year. Wish I could say the same. The average refund is $2,794, according to the IRS: Pew Research Center.

That seems awful high to me, both the percentage and the average refund.

The Masters Golf Tournament last weekend was great sports drama. Script writers couldn't have written a better ending - two birdies on the 72nd hole. A sudden death playoff. Adam Scott, the first Australian to win the coveted green coat, really worked for his title.

The bombing in Boston earlier this week angered each and every American. The incident demonstrated that Americans are at risk every day on our streets, in our schools, and in our businesses. The Boston bombing would have been difficult to prevent, as we do not track dangerous commodities such as kitchen pressure cookers, hydrogen peroxide and acetone. I'm sure that some people will blame the authorities for the failure to identify and avert this dastardly act. Already, television news stations are showing video of the bombs clearly visible on the ground near the finish line.

You know how in a fairytale, the last line is "And they lived happily ever after?"

Well, I think every day we learn over and over, there is no "happily ever after."

I interviewed a "new" artist this week because he was selected as the "developing artist of the year."

Howard Spielman gets a kick out of that designation.

"Imagine that," he says with his characteristic sense of humor. "It only took me 70 years to become a 'developing artist.'"

Howard says he's been an artist ever since he could hold a pencil and a paintbrush. He wanted to live his life as an artist but quickly realized he had to do something that would keep a steady paycheck coming in. He worked as an art teacher for 30 years.