Generally, yes, according to John Dipko, spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.

This reader is referring to the state and federal laws that prohibit felons from having firearms. A compound bow doesn't fit the official definition of a firearm, Dipko said.

Still, he said, the state could conceivably put that restriction on any individual who's being supervised after release.

When the new railroad crossing near Spring Street and Airline Road was widened, why wasn't it carried through at four lanes until it tied up to the four-lane road east of the tracks by Roma Lodge?

That is a little odd. From above, the road must look like a snake that swallowed two cans whole.

Filling in that gap is tentatively scheduled for 2011, said David Prott, public works director for Racine County. The work done there this year was a small, targeted project funded largely by the Federal Highway Administration.

Racine County simply didn't have the cash to complete the rest right now, Prott said.

When you fly an American flag, do you have to take it down at night or shine a light on it?

David Kurtz, state adjutant for the Wisconsin American Legion, spotted the appropriate section in the United States Flag Code. Flags are supposed to come down at sunset unless they're illuminated.

So what's proper illumination, you ask? The preferred option is to have a light shining directly on the flag, but any light is OK as long as the flag is "recognizable as such by the casual observer."

Because the law doesn't provide any punishment, it's essentially voluntary to respect the flag and those who fought under it. They're worth it.

Indian summer feedback

An answer earlier this week about the origin of the term "Indian summer" left readers unsatisfied. I included a reference to Indian Ocean shipping to show how wide-ranging the theories are, but Kay Nechvatal of Union Grove wrote to assure me it refers to American Indians.

"My deceased father was a Native American historian. According to him, you can't have Indian Summer until you've had Squaw Winter (which is the first frost or snowfall)," Nechvatal wrote. "If you notice each fall, that is certainly true."

Ray Harding of Caledonia wrote in with another clue to the etymology from a book called "The Americans: The Colonial Experience." Although the warm fall weather brings smiles to faces now, author Daniel J. Boorstin quoted a pastor as saying the colonists dreaded it "because it afforded the Indians another opportunity of visiting the settlements with their destructive warfare."

Presumably there's another side to that story, but it's the source of the phrase we're hunting.

Mike Moore compiles the Glad You Asked column. Call (262) 631-1758 or e-mail:

ask@journaltimes.com