Channeling Safety
When Danny Williams started his career as a lineworker at McCulloch Electric Cooperative—which no longer exists—in 1965, color TVs were the latest technology coming into homes.
Williams and his co-workers in Brady made sure the power always stayed on for those TVs. “I loved linework,” he says. “I loved climbing.”
Williams later became an instructor, teaching work skills and safety to utility employees. And in 2007 he became manager of Texas Electric Cooperatives’ Loss Control program, where he changed (and likely saved) lives at co-ops across the state.
Williams, 80, will retire this month after more than 38 years of teaching generations of lineworkers, in a career that spanned seven decades.
“Oh, my God, how many people has he touched?” says TEC’s Curtis Whitt, a co-worker for 21 of those years. “Countless. To do it as well as he’s done it for as long as he’s done it is a pretty incredible feat.”
A Power Trip?
Four electric school buses in South Burlington, Vermont, deliver more than students. When sitting idle during school hours, their batteries store excess renewable energy that can be pumped back onto the grid.
More Than Luck
Lucky Lady II, an Air Force B-50A bomber, headed east from Carswell Air Force Base northwest of Fort Worth on February 26, 1949. Ninety-four hours and 1 minute later, it landed back at Carswell, completing the first nonstop round-the-world flight.
The aircraft refueled four times during its 23,452-mile trip. The 13-man crew saw its fourth sunrise of the trip over El Paso, and at 9:22 a.m. on March 2—75 years ago this month—the Lady circled Carswell and landed.
