| |
| COLUMNISTS |
|
Please visit our kind sponsors |
|
||||||
|
COLUMNS: MONTROSE: The Montrose Bible Conference Association is now an actuality. At a meeting in the Y.M.C.A. building in Binghamton, the committee appointed made its report. It was also announced that an auditorium to seat 3,000 people would be erected on the recently purchased farm in the spring and be ready for the conference in August. Among the recommendations made by the committee were: That the association be formed on the “no profit charter” plan, and its name be the Montrose Bible Conference Association; that Dr. R. A. Torrey be invited to assume the position of general leader; that the officers shall be a president, three vice-presidents, general secretary, treasurer, a board of 30 directors and an executive committee composed of the officers and five or more of the members chosen from the board. That active members be composed of all members of evangelical churches who contribute $10 or more to the support of the Association. That an advisory board be formed composed of the chairmen of committees to be organized in various towns for the purpose of promoting the interest of the conference. The first meeting of the newly formed executive committee will be held in Scranton on Feb. 24th. AND: Great snowdrifts obstructed the roads in the vicinity of Montrose last week, and this, added to the bitter cold, made traveling very difficult. This week the roads were opened, however, and the farmers can now come to town again. WILKES-BARRE: Prominent citizens from all parts of the anthracite coal region met at Wilkes-Barre Tuesday night to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first burning of Wyoming anthracite coal in the Wyoming Valley and to pay tribute to Judge Jesse Fell, who conducted the successful experiment as the real founder of the now mammoth coal business. SUSQUEHANNA: The engine of the Carbondale flyer on the Erie was frozen to death last Saturday morning. The train was pulled by switch engine #563 and when it was time for the train to leave Susquehanna for Carbondale the engine would not move an inch. An investigation was made and it was discovered that on account of the low temperature the steam pipes had become frozen. It took the galvanizers two hours to get the breath of life back in working shape. LENOX: Will Manzer has just completed one of the finest dairy barns in the township. HOPBOTTOM: Wednesday morning, Feb. 5, the thermometer registered 20 below zero at 7 a.m. It was the coldest morning of the season. NEW MILFORD: The opening of the Grange National Bank of Susquehanna County took place here on Wednesday. AND: Mrs. Emily Leach McKinstry Bullard died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. C. H. Ackerman, in Binghamton, N.Y. She was born March 14, 1812, the youngest of nine children, born at the old Leach Tavern at the foot of Mott’s Hill in New Milford township. LINDAVILLE, Brooklyn Twp.: Edwin P. Mack, for over 50 years a prominent business man in this section, died suddenly Tuesday evening at about 9 o’clock. He was 80 years of age. Tuesday Mr. Mack was in Foster and returned home at about 4 o’clock. He was in his usual health and ate a hearty supper. He retired early, but about 9 o’clock his wife noticed that he was breathing hard and summoned medical aid, but he died before a physician arrived. Apoplexy was the cause of death. He is survived by his wife and two sons, A.L. of Lindaville, and Andrew of Wilkes-Barre. Mr. Mack was a member of the local lodge of Odd Fellows and was prominent in politics. He had retired from business, but was once an extensive lumberman and furniture manufacturer. [Mack Furniture Factory]. HARFORD: The Harford high school was closed Monday and Tuesday. Cause--want of coal for the furnace. HEART LAKE: One of L. E. Griffing’s horses ran away Wednesday. No serious damage was done except that the driver, Mr. Denning, landed in a snowdrift. The horse being driven in an open bridle, supposed to have been frightened by the driver’s whiskers. GELATT: The Rebekahs who went to Harford last week were compelled to stay over night and had a splendid sleighride the next day, coming around by way of South Gibson. THOMPSON: The basket ball team played [the] Keuka team Monday evening of this week, in Keystone Hall, Thompson. AND: This week has been severe for the R.F.D. boys, milk haulers and the trains on the railroads. NORTH JACKSON: After an absence of nearly 20 years, James Nugent, of Hamilton, has been visiting his brother, Ed Nugent, and Will Nugent, in Susquehanna. LITTLE MEADOWS: Cornelius C. Fox, a much respected citizen, died Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 22, at his home. He leaves an invalid wife, one daughter, Louise M., and two sons, Leland S. and Lloyd C; one brother, James H. Fox and one sister, Mrs. I. R. Beardslee, to mourn his loss. FOREST CITY: At 8:15 o’clock Tuesday morning the Erie Flyer collided with a Forest City trolley car south bound at the Simpson crossing and to the spectators who witnessed the terrible crash it is almost a miracle how the passengers in the street car escaped with their lives. Engineer William Wolcott, of the “Flyer” also had a narrow escape from being seriously injured by the flying pieces of the car and glass. While the occupants of the car were all terribly shaken up, being thrown about in a dangerous manner, were all in a state of frenzy, the passenger most seriously injured was Miss Clara Devaney, of Vandling, a student of the Carbondale Commercial Institute who was on her way to school. When picked up by onlookers she was unconscious and was removed to the home of Mrs. Gallagher, nearby. It was some time afterward when regained consciousness and was able to realize what had happened. On the west side of the Erie tracks there is a short but steep incline. At the top the street car stopped to allow two of the passengers to get off and then proceeded down the incline to the tracks. The Erie signal bell was working and a train was approaching slowly on the northbound track. The car could have easily passed over the tracks sometime before the train reached the crossing and the conductor, seeing no other train, signaled to the motorman to start. The car had advanced but a few feet when the flyer came at the usual rate of speed over grade crossing from around a sharp curve. The motorman noticed its approach and jumped before the crash came. The pilot of the engine struck the front vestibule of the car and crushed it, derailed the car and turned it around in a position parallel with the train. The street car was a total wreck. The engineer’s cab of the Flyer was badly damaged. Occupants of the trolley were: Charles Melville, Forest City; Clara Devaney and Edith Lyewelyn [Llewellyn?], of Vandling; two little girls, Wagner sisters, Wilson Creek; Mary Anderson, Margaret and Ella Kleinbauer, of Vandling.
From the Desk of the D.A.
Last year, the Susquehanna County District Attorney’s Office initiated a new county-wide DUI Task Force. Given limited resources, the plan for the task force was quite limited, namely one 8-hour patrol once a week to cover a small portion of the 850 square miles that comprise Susquehanna County. The genesis for the task force was a number of tragedies – four separate DUI homicide cases over the span of less than 12 months. Unfortunately, the national rate of alcohol-related accidents and deaths is staggering. In 2006, 17,602 people died in alcohol-related accidents in the United States. This means that approximately every 30 minutes, someone dies in a traffic accident caused by a drunk driver. This statistic does not even count the number of people injured in alcohol related accidents, and, one study estimates that every two minutes someone is injured by a drunk driver. Alcohol impairment accounts for 41% of all traffic accidents nationwide. Thus, approximately 30% of us will be involved in an accident caused by a drunk driver at some point in our lives. According to one study, alcohol-related crashes cost this nation approximately 51 billion dollars a year. There is little debate that alcohol impairment and driving are a lethal combination. Despite the sobering statistics, there are an alarming number of impaired drivers on the roads. A recent national survey revealed that the average drunk driver will drive intoxicated 87 times before being stopped by a police officer for the first time. Another survey revealed that the average first time offender has a blood alcohol content of .16%, which would be two times the legal limit. Moreover, studies show that 70 to 80 percent of DUI offenders have an alcohol abuse problem, i.e., they are not simply social drinkers. How do we make our highways safer? Studies and history have demonstrated that increased law enforcement coverage results in not only the apprehension of intoxicated drivers, but also provides a deterrent effect. In other words, when people know that the police are out looking for intoxicated drivers, they are less likely to drive while under the influence of alcohol. The first year of the DUI Task Force resulted in 24 DUI arrests with the average BAC level being approximately .14%. There were a number of drivers with BAC levels in excess of .2% with the highest level being .28%. Due to scheduling problems, the DUI Task Force did not go out every weekend, but there were over 40 patrols, which equates to a DUI arrest for every two patrols. In addition to DUI arrests, the Task Force also made arrests (or issued citations for) underage drinking, possession of drugs or paraphernalia, suspended drivers, as well as other traffic violations. While I am proud of the work that the DUI Task Force did over 2007, I have also indirectly heard many complaints and attacks. The DUI Task Force has been called Nazis, a Gestapo, or a secret police. To some degree, I am aware that there are residents who are dissatisfied with me and the efforts that I have taken with the DUI Task Force. One person recently told me that a friend of hers told her that he could no longer go out and have a beer after work thanks to Jason Legg. While I never hear these comments directly, it is still disheartening to know that people are angry over the DUI Task Force efforts. In the end, however, the DUI Task Force remains an important asset to Susquehanna County. All of the complaints and disparaging comments tell me one thing – people know about the presence of the Task Force, they are thinking about the Task Force, and they are making better decisions. It is truly gratifying that such a small effort could be working to change the entire atmosphere and attitude in Susquehanna County. At a minimum, the Task Force took 24 drunk drivers off the roads last year. There is no way to measure how many people made better decisions simply because they knew that the Task Force might be out there. Given the feedback I have received, I suspect that the deterrent effect has far exceeded all expectations. Please submit any questions, concerns, or comments to Susquehanna County District Attorney’s Office, P.O. Box 218, Montrose, Pennsylvania 18801 or at www.SusquehannaCounty-DA.org.
The Healthy Geezer
I’ve also heard that you can get relief by rubbing WD-40 on painful joints. I’m not being facetious; there are people who believe this multi-purpose liquid is an arthritis fixer. There is no scientific evidence that copper bracelets do anything more than make a fashion statement. However, there is no proof that the bracelets don’t provide relief to arthritis sufferers. Copper bracelets for arthritis have been around for a century or more. Many people swear that they work. Some doctors suspect that the positive reports are based upon symptoms going away by themselves. For the record, there’s no proof that WD-40 helps either, but it will make you smell like lubricated door hinge. Folk remedies like copper bracelets seem to be harmless. However, they often delay effective medical treatment, so these so-called “cures” are not completely benign. This brings us to today’s topic – health frauds, which are malignant. Con artists tend to target people who suffer from serious diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, AIDS, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and arthritis. They also tend to go after the overweight with quick-loss schemes, and seniors looking to battle the effects of aging. A government study found that most victims of health frauds are over age 65. The products these thieves are selling can be very harmful to your body. They are rarely covered by insurance, so many of them hurt your wallet, too. Because there are so many weight-loss schemes out there, let’s address that subject first: To lose weight, you must burn more calories than you take in. Any shortcut is baloney. Period. And now here are some tips for avoiding scams. Beware of claims of: quick results; cures for multiple conditions; scientific breakthroughs; secret ingredients; miraculous anything; ancient remedies; revolutionary innovations; painless treatments; no dieting. And here are some expressions that should sound alarm bells in your brain: limited availability; advance payment required; exclusive product; send a check now; money-back guarantee; no questions asked; only available by mail; not yet understood by medical science; natural; simple; free gift; like magic; fountain of youth; folklore. If you are confronted with a pitch for a remedy that seems too good to be true, it probably is. Your first step is to contact your personal physician for advice. Treating yourself with an unknown product without consulting a doctor is simply nuts. And NEVER give your Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security number to anyone you don’t know. In addition, if you want to be a good citizen, there are ways you can help prevent frauds from succeeding. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shares federal oversight of health fraud products with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FDA regulates safety, manufacturing and product labeling, including claims in labeling, such as package inserts and accompanying literature. FTC regulates advertising of these products. You can report suspected frauds to both agencies. To report a product that you believe is fraudulently labeled, call your local FDA office. The number is listed in the blue pages of your telephone book. For more information, call toll-free, 1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332), or visit the FDA website, www.fda.gov. Contact the FTC by phone, toll-free, at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); by mail to Consumer Response Center, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC 20580; or online at www.ftc.gov. If you have a question, please write to fred@healthygeezer.com.
Straight From Starrucca No Straight From Starrucca This Week
No Veterans' Corner This Week
No A Day In My Shoes This Week
Food For Thought No Food For Thought This Week EARTH TALK No Earth Talk This Week
News
|
Living
|
Sports
|
Schools
|
Churches
|
Ads
|
Events
Military | Columns | Ed/Op | Obits | Archive | Subscribe © |
|||||||
Q. I was told that a copper bracelet can help relieve arthritis pain? True?