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Since 1994, this is the 1595th issue of Randy Cassingham’s...

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5 January 2025: The Magic RailroadCopyright ©2025 https://thisistrue.com

The Horror ... The Horror: Ten people were injured at a New Year’s Eve event at The Game, a restaurant/arcade in Peabody, Mass. The incident was caused when a giant LEGO sculpture collapsed and fell on the crowd below. The four adults and six children received minor cuts and scrapes, and “Everyone is OK,” said Peabody Fire Dept. Chief John Dowling. (RC/NBC) ...Right. The screams of pain were not from victims, but rather first responders stepping on loose pieces.

Bad News, Good News: Neil Willenson, 53, founded One Heartland over 30 years ago. The organization’s 80-acre site in Willow River, Minn., called the Pine County Camp, provides a safe environment for kids living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. “We wanted to create a safe haven where children affected by the disease, perhaps for the first time in their young lives, could speak openly about it and be in an environment of unconditional love and acceptance,” Willenson said. But now the campis closing. According to the World Health Organization, new HIV infections among children up to age 14 have declined 38 percent since 2015, and AIDS-related deaths have fallen 43 percent. That there’s no longer a need for this camp “is the greatest story that I ever could have imagined,” Willenson said. “It’s something I never could have predicted.” The organization hopes to sell to another group that will help kids. (MS/Minnesota Star Tribune) ...It could be one his campers can send theirkids to.

Starting the Year Right: In this space in lieu of an ad I’ve been tallying the number of upgrades (or re-upgrades, for those of you who dropped off) — it takes 5 to cover the expenses of this free edition. (Free for you, that is: there are expenses for me!) In the past week there were 5 upgrades (and 4 of those were gifts — they count too), plus 1 re-upgrade, plus 1 $40 contribution. Thanks to them YOU get no ad this week! To keep it going upgrade here (re-upgrades in the same place), or contribute here if you’re too busy for a longer newsletter. Thanks!

International Travel: At the Piney-Pinecreek Border Airport, you could cross from the United States to Canada before you even reached the end of the runway. The airport, owned by the Minnesota Department of Transportation and run with the Rural Municipality of Piney, Man., Canada, originally had a grass runway that didn’t quite enter Canada. In 1978, Piney-Pinecreek became the only airport with a paved runway spanning the border. The pavement deteriorated over the years, and it wasestimated that bringing the airport into compliance with safety standards would cost $3.8 million. According to a Canadian official, the local government couldn’t come up with its share of that bill, and Piney terminated the joint operations agreement. With only around 200 airplanes using the airport per year, “the evidence was all there that now was the time” to close the airport, a MnDOT spokesman said. (AC/MPR) ...Sometimes the airport leaves you.

The Avalos children and some guy.Mormon Tale: The general image of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints — at least, the men — is cleancut and clean-shaven. But lately, certain men with long hair and beards are in high demand in the Salt Lake City, Utah, region. “Has anyone ever told you that you have a Jesus look to you?” one such man recalls being asked: Bob Sagers was at a music festival, and was being scouted as a model. He was hired, and used again and again in the role. It pays $100-200 an hour, and Sagers isn’t the only one. One big market: photos of children “with Jesus” to display in family homes, and it helps to havelocal landmarks in the background, such as the Great Salt Lake. Photographer MaKayla Avalos said she’s done 50-60 such photo sessions — including a set with her own children. But she has a caution for parents: “If your kid doesn’t like taking pictures on Santa’s lap, he probably won’t like this experience with Jesus, either.” (RC/Wall Street Journal) ...Funny, but I was going to make the same comparison.


Senseless Crime
Rolls Royce Driver Arrested for DUI and Possession of a Monkey
KSBW Salinas (Calif.) headline


Did You Find an Error? Check the Errata Page for updates.

This Week’s Contributors: MS-Mike Straw, AC-Alexander Cohen, RC-Randy Cassingham.


Stories This Week were Written/Edited during a sea day moving south along Peru.

For Those Who Enjoy my “EMS Stories” in my blog (that is, Emergency Medical Services), you probably want to watch a video I published last week. Kit, wanting there to be a speaker’s series aboard ship featuring ONLY residents, didn’t wait for the company to create it: she took it upon herself to create it, and does all the scheduling and introductions.

So she booked me into the first slot, right? Noooooooo! She had the first one booked before I even knew about it. But she did put me in the second slot. It’s about my time in EMS, and covers a couple of my calls in detail in a “then and now” fashion: during my first career in the early 1980s, and my second turn at it in Colorado. A friend took the video from the audience, and did such a terrific job you’ll swear it was a professional setup. It’s on the Residential Cruising site: The Only One There (Video). When I finished, a friend on board — a retired emergency room doctor — shook my hand with tears in his eyes. He knew exactly what I was talking about.

There’s also a recap by Kit about Our First 90 Days.

Jim in Florida is a 15-year Premium reader. He was quite interested in what Kit and I have been doing — selling our house and moving to full-time residential cruise ship travel. So much so that he and his wife, Chris, recently came on board and sailed with us for a bit, even managing to go through the Panama Canal with us. Some of you already know Jim and Chris: they run a popular Youtube channel called Geeks on Tour. They spent 14 years living in an RV, traveling around to put on trainings — their channel teaches geeky stuff, like “Printing with Google Photos” or how to use Google Maps on the go even if you don’t have cell service. Jim says when he casually mentions me or True, his viewers say they’re already subscribers.

Well, Jim and Chris seem to have liked their time here: they went home and are clearing out their house so they can join us in the spring. While they were here they decided to do a special video for their channel: an interview with one of their favorite writers. They showed up in my office with camera rolling and we chatted for about 20 minutes, and the resulting video is set up for a Premiere on Sunday (Jan. 12) at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time; it will be here. (That link currently goes to a “trailer,” and the full video will go live at that time, and then reside at the same location). Hope you’ll join the three of us for that Premiere! Heck, maybe even Kit will show up.


Ten Years Ago in True: As a politician, Kirby Delauter Should Know Better.

New on Randy’s Random today: the sad story of my Cattict.

The “Mormon Trail” is the Story of the Week, which means you’re welcome to share it from Telegram, Mastodon, Instagram, Threads, BlueSky, and/or Facebook, or grab from any of those to post elsewhere.

This Week’s Sunday Reading: Wait... this reader wanted me to do WHAT?! Get to Know a Cop Today.

This Week’s Honorary Unsubscribe goes to Britt Allcroft. A TV producer, Allcroft brought a beloved children’s book character to TV. The story in 2 minutes.


Basic Subscriptions to This is True are Free at https://thisistrue.com. All stories are completely rewritten using facts from the noted sources. This is True® (and Get Out of Hell Free® and Stella Awards®) are registered trademarks of ThisisTrue.Inc. Published weekly by ThisisTrue.Inc, PO Box 666, Ridgway CO 81432 USA (ISSN 1521-1932).

Copyright ©2025 by Randy Cassingham, All Rights Reserved. All broadcast, publication, retransmission to email lists, web site or social media posting, or any other copying or storage, in any medium, online or not, is strictly prohibited without prior written permission from the author. Manual forwarding by email to friends is allowed if 1) the text is forwarded in its entirety from the “Since 1994” line on top through the end of this paragraph and 2) No fee is charged. I request that you forward no more than three copies to any one person — after that, they should get their own free subscription. I appreciate people who report violations of my copyright.


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