Thank goodness the last of the five American tourists detained in Turks and Caicos has been able to return home.

When I first heard about the ordeal southeast of The Bahamas involving Michael Lee Evans of Texas; Sharitta Grier of Florida; Bryan Hagerich of Pennsylvania; Ryan Tyler Watson of Oklahoma and Tyler Wenrich of Virginia, I was mad at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees in the United States not catching the ammunition when the five American Nationals left their home airports.

They were all accused of bringing various amounts of ammunition to Turks and Caicos, a 40-island chain southeast of the Bahamas.

But upon further review, the TSA officials may have seen the ammunition but since it is not against the law in the United States to bring ammo and unloaded weapons on-board to airplanes in checked bags, nothing was said.

Then came the news of the mandatory 12-year sentence and my heart sank even further for the five U.S. citizens and their families, even though none of them are known to me.

But then, the TSA equivalents in Turks and Caicos took umbrage to the ammo – and fines and extended stays on the island ensued. At least they all finally were able to return to their homes and families.

jdm

I’ve got a couple of fraternity brothers who live in Houston.

Luckily, one of them was without power for only a couple of hours after Hurricane Beryl blew through.

However, the other one was out for about a week in the Houston heat and humidity.

Ironically, the one who lost power for the shorter time owns a generator.

The other one does not but I bet that changes in the near future.