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COLUMNS: UNIONDALE: The Uniondale ice industry which in former years has given many people employment was practically abandoned this winter, the ice men claiming that the railroad’s rate is prohibitive. BROOKDALE: Patrick Quigley is preparing to leave for Ireland to visit his brother at Balley William, County Wexford. AND: The State surveyors are again at work surveying for a macadam road between Conklin and Franklin Forks. MONTROSE: Fred E. Lewis left for his new home in Kansas last week, taking about eight horses and colts in a car. Mrs. Lewis goes soon. AND: The first year of the Montrose Free Library closed Wednesday. During this time 24,000 books were issued. FOREST CITY: A number of Forest City people coming in a sleigh load, took supper at the Ararat House about midnight Saturday evening. JACKSON: The old bear saw his shadow so we will have six weeks more winter, but who ever saw February and March without six weeks of cold weather in Susquehanna County? If there is one let him speak. DIMOCK: Owing to the sickness of the teacher’s mother there was no school part of last week. GLENWOOD: Glenwood was put to its tension to find barn room to accommodate the Grange horses during Wednesday and Thursday of last week, there being the largest crowd that ever gathered in the hall at one time. Over 500 and standing room was at a premium. HALLSTEAD: Simon Quailey, a popular and well known employee in the Lackawanna roundhouse, recently returned from a ten days’ leave of absence from his duties, during which time he surprised his many friends by taking unto himself a wife in the person of Miss Anna Lynch, a popular and highly esteemed young lady of Athens, Pa. The ceremony was performed in the Catholic church at Sayre, Pa., in the presence of a large number of the personal friends of the contracting parties. After a brief wedding trip they returned to Hallstead to take up housekeeping. KINGSLEY: The ladies of the W. C. T. U. will hold an apron sale in the basement of the Universalist church, Feb. 17th. The date is in honor of the birthday of Miss Frances Willard, who was the founder of the organization of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. A supper will be served of substantial eatables, including warm biscuits, honey and maple syrup. There will be aprons and other articles for sale, also homemade candy. Supper 10 cents, all welcome. LYNN: The big oyster supper at Ernest France’s will occur this Friday evening. A large crowd is looked for from the surrounding neighborhood—Springville, Auburn, Lymanville, Lemon and West Nicholson. Let us make this the banner oyster supper of the season. Proceeds for the benefit of the M. E. church. SUSQUEHANNA: Sheriff H. S. Conklin went to Glenn Mills, Pa., Wednesday, taking Loren Swingle to the reformatory. Swingle is the young fellow who “borrowed” an Erie engine to go to Binghamton. The boy is considered incorrigible. BROOKLYN: The stage on the star route from Brooklyn to Foster [Hobottom], which makes three round trips each day, was driven on runners each trip, from Dec. 11 until Feb. 6, and the sleighing was good most of the time. HARFORD: W. S. Sophia is winning wherever he takes his Rosecomb Rhode Island Reds. He won ten prizes at the late poultry shows at Binghamton and New Berlin, N.Y., including two firsts, three seconds and one special. He just bought one Cockerel last season for $25, which is now bringing in eggs by the hundred. Commences before daylight and works until dark. What would he have done if he had bought a pullet? HERRICK CENTER: The lecture in the high school room on Japan by means of the magic lantern and slides, on Friday evening last, was a success, as was also the social which followed in the basement of the schoolhouse. COUNTY NEWS: The commissioners started yesterday morning on their overland trip about the county, delivering ballots for the spring election, which is to occur next Tuesday. Coming at this time of the year this is usually one of the unpleasant duties connected with holding a position on the board of commissioners. The keen, blustery weather yesterday morning was not conducive to making a pleasure trip of it, but the commissioners declare they can stand the cold if they do not get stalled in a snowstorm and be obliged to go on foot, which has been known to occur. Generally speaking, the ballots for the western districts will be delivered by Commissioner J. E. Hawley; eastern, Commissioner A. J. Cosgriff, while the middle section is covered by Commissioner W. H. Tingley. Owing to the bulkiness of the ballots and the fact that only a portion of the county is traversed by railroad, all the delivering is done by wagon and each package handed personally to the election officer in the district qualified to receive it. NEWS BRIEF: The penalty for burying a body without a permit is a fine of not less than $20 or more than $100, while for failure to report the birth of a child the fine is not less than $5, nor more than $50. The question has been raised as to whose duty it is to report births, and for pubic information the law is here given. The Act of 1905 says that in a case where a physician is employed, it is his duty to report; where a licensed midwife is employed it is her duty to report; if neither midwife nor physicians, then it is the father or mother. Even the owner of the premises on which a birth takes place is liable to arrest and fine as well as doctor or midwife.
From the Desk of the D.A. A few weeks ago, Mountain View High School invited me to speak at a program that the school had put together regarding cyber safety. The program addressed a variety of topics involving new technologies, including chat rooms, emails, personal web pages, cyber bullying, cellular phones, and other technological issues. The issue that I addressed involved a growing and alarming phenomenon where kids are taking nude pictures themselves, and sending them out through their phones and/or computers. In particular, I discussed the criminal liability that attaches to such conduct. The Crimes Code prohibits any person from possessing any photograph of a person under 18 in a state of nudity if “such nudity is depicted for the purpose of sexual stimulation or gratification of any person who might view such depiction.” The statute also prohibits any person from taking such a picture, and also prohibits the dissemination of any such picture. While a person taking a nude picture of himself (or herself) is not necessarily a crime, a crime is committed when the person sends the picture to another person, and a new crime is committed when that person receives and possesses it. In essence, this statute is aimed at combating child pornography. It is a serious offense – it is a felony to take, disseminate or possess a nude photograph of a child under 18 for sexual purposes. The offense is also designated as a Megan’s Law offense that requires a sexual offender evaluation, registration and posting on the Megan’s Law website for a minimum period of at least 10 years. In other words, the legal consequences for taking, sending and receiving such a photograph are severe. Aside from the legal consequences, these photographs do not disappear. Once they are posted in a digital form and sent across cyberspace, there is no guarantee where they will end up, there is no sure way to eliminate or destroy them, and the potential exists that the compromising photographs will last forever. We no longer live in the days where we can burn the paper and the negatives and rest assured that the offending photograph has been eliminated. There is no way to know where these digital photographs will appear, for what purposes they will be used, and how long they will circulate in cyberspace. Apparently, there is a rising rate of children using technologic devices to take these types of pictures and send them to other people – and those people sending them out to even more people. With each click or message, the potential pool of criminal conduct grows larger and larger. There is some controversy as to whether kids should be charged when they are caught possessing this material. CBS News just reported an incident in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where three girls and four boys were charged with the possession of child pornography after it was found that girls had sent nude photos of themselves to the boys. According to news reports, all of the children have pled to lesser misdemeanor offenses, but one boy is fighting the felony charge. Several months ago, the news reported a similar instance in the Tunkhannock High School in Wyoming County. If you think that Susquehanna County is immune, you are wrong. The State Police just filed charges against two boys for the same behavior. In that case, two girls sent naked pictures to two boys, and the boys followed up by sending photographs of their genitalia to the girls, together with sexually explicit text messages. The girls were juveniles under 18, but the boys had the bad misfortunate of being 18 years of age – and are now in the adult criminal system. While this behavior is difficult to understand, it seems to be occurring at an alarming rate. In the end, parents need to be aware that this conduct is occurring and take appropriate steps to address it. For many people, it is hard to imagine that a child would take a naked picture of himself (or herself) – let alone take the steps to disseminate it to other people. In the past, general standards of decency would have made such an act unthinkable – together with the shame and humiliation that would have attached to such conduct. Now, societal restraints seemingly have eroded to the point where some children view this behavior as normal. It is important that they understand that the conduct is criminal – and, if discovered, it will be prosecuted. Please submit any questions, concerns, or comments to Susquehanna County District Attorney’s Office, P.O. Box 218, Montrose, Pennsylvania 18801 or at our website www.SusquehannaCounty-DA.org or discuss this and all articles at http://dadesk.blogspot.com/.
The Healthy Geezer Q. We’re about to have our first grandchild. I was wondering whether you are a grandfather and have any tips? My wife, Gale, and I entered grandparenthood with a thud. We were given seven grandchildren in less than seven years. Let me give them all a plug. They are Morgan, 8, Carly, 6, Ethan, 5, Maggie, 5, Christian, 5, Aaron, 3, and Patrick, 2. First, let me tell you what most grandparents know; you can’t imagine how happy these little people will make you. And I think grandkids improve your mental health by keeping you positive and forward-looking. I’ll give you a column of what I think is the most helpful advice on this matter that I’ve collected from trusted sources. Probably the single most important piece of advice I can share is this: your grandchildren are not yours; they are your children’s children. Sounds obvious. It’s very easy to forget. As a grandparent, you are in a supporting role. You have to provide emotional support to both your children and your grandchildren. And you have to do it without interfering. Unsolicited opinions are off the table. So learn to bite your lip on those occasions when you want to suggest or, worse, criticize. Become a font of enthusiastic support for all concerned. There will be times that your children will ask for parenting advice. Be constructive. Cite examples from your own experience with them. Always allow for alternate solutions. No one has all the answers when it comes to rearing children. Act like a grandparent. The grandchildren have parents. They need someone who is more forgiving and fun. Be silly with them. Within reason, spoil them with treats, toys and permission to act like fools. Tell them stories about when you were a child. Grandchildren especially love stories about when you misbehaved or acted stupidly. These tales make them feel better about their own failings. The first time I went to a playground with a grandchild, I discovered that I was a thousand times more nervous than I was with my children. Safety became a major concern for me. The following are safety tips. Some you will remember from the first time around, but they’re worth repeating because you’re starting over with toddlers. Go to playgrounds that have forgiving surfaces to fall onto. Look for rubber matting, sand, wood chips or mulch. I feel so much more relaxed at these playgrounds. Keep all medicines hidden. Lock cabinets containing household chemicals. Put safety plugs in your electrical outlets when the grandchildren visit. Don’t give grandchildren foods you haven’t cleared with their parents. Peanut allergy is the most common cause of food-related death, so be especially vigilant about any foods that contain peanuts. Post the number for the poison control centers in your home. The number is 1-800-222-1222. The centers are open 24/7. Today’s parents know that you place infants on their backs, not their stomachs. This newer way has cut down the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Use a firm, flat mattress and no soft bedding. To prevent choking, don't allow small grandchildren to play with anything smaller than a tennis ball. Avoid anything children can tie around their necks. Dress grandchildren in clothing without drawstrings. Keep window blind and curtain cords out of reach. Children today ride in the back of cars in safety seats. Infants face rearward. Never let a child ride in front – in or out of a safety seat. A child could be severely injured or killed by an air bag. Never leave a child alone in a bathtub or on a changing table. Buy safety gates for stairs. Open sash windows from the top. Helmets are a must for bikes and trikes. If you have a question, please write to fred@healthygeezer.com.
Straight From Starrucca No Straight From Starrucca This Week
What’s Bugging You? No What's Bugging You This Week
Food For Thought No Food For Thought This Week EARTH TALK Dear EarthTalk: Is it true that some baby bottles contain chemicals that can cause health problems for babies? If so, how can I find alternatives that are safer? Amy Gorman, Berkeley, CA No links connecting specific human illnesses to chemicals oozing out of baby bottles have been proven definitively. Nonetheless, many parents are heeding the call of scientists to switch to products with less risk. A 2008 report by American and Canadian environmental researchers entitled “Baby’s Toxic Bottle” found that plastic polycarbonate baby bottles leach dangerous levels of Bisphenol-A (BPA), a synthetic chemical that mimics natural hormones and can send bodily processes into disarray, when heated. All six of the leading brands of baby bottles tested – Avent, Disney/The First Years, Dr. Brown’s, Evenflo, Gerber and Playtex – leaked what researchers considered dangerous amounts of BPA. The report calls on major retailers selling these bottles – including Toys “R” Us, Babies “R” Us, CVS, Target, Walgreen’s and Wal-Mart – to switch to safer products. According to the report, BPA is a “developmental, neural and reproductive toxicant that mimics estrogen and can interfere with healthy growth and body function.” Researchers cite numerous animal studies demonstrating that the chemical can damage reproductive, neurological and immune systems during critical stages of development. It has also been linked to breast cancer and to the early onset of puberty. So what’s a concerned parent to do? Glass bottles are a tried-and-true chemical-free solution, and they are widely available, though very breakable. To the rescue are several companies making BPA-free plastic bottles (out of either PES/polyamide or polypropylene instead of polycarbonate). Some of the leaders are BornFree, thinkbaby, Green to Grow, Nuby, Momo Baby, Mother’s Milkmate and Medela’s. These brands are available at natural food stores, directly from manufacturers, or from online vendors. Most of the major brands selling BPA-containing bottles are now also offering or planning to offer BPA-free versions of their products. Consumers should read labels and packaging carefully to make sure that any product they are considering buying says unequivocally that it does not contain the chemical. Unfortunately, switching to a BPA-free bottle is no guarantee the chemical won’t make its way into your baby’s bloodstream anyway. BPA is one of the 50 most-produced chemicals in the world. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), it is used in everything from plastic water jugs labeled #7 to plastic take-out containers, baby bottles and canned food liners. It is so omnipresent that the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has found that 95 percent of Americans have the chemical in their urine. Also, nursing mothers – especially those who haven’t discarded their old BPA-containing Nalgene water bottles – may be passing the chemical along through their breast milk. And if that weren’t enough, BPA is also used in the lining of many metal liquid baby formula cans. The nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) has posted email links to the consumer affairs offices of the major formula manufacturers so concerned parents can ask them to remove BPA from their product offerings and packaging. CONTACTS: Baby’s Toxic Bottle Report, www.chej.org/documents/BabysToxicBottleFinal.pdf; NRDC, www.nrdc.org; CDC, www.cdc.gov; EWG, www.ewg.org. Dear EarthTalk: How much “old growth” forest is left in the United States and is it all protected from logging at this point? John Foye, via e-mail As crazy as it sounds, no one really knows how much old growth is left in America’s forested regions, mainly because various agencies and scientists have different ideas about how to define the term. Generally speaking, “old growth” refers to forests containing trees often hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years old. But even when there is agreement on a specific definition, differences in the methods used to inventory remaining stands of old growth forest can produce major discrepancies. Or so complains the National Commission on Science for Sustainable Forestry (NCSSF) in its recent report, “Beyond Old Growth: Older Forests in a Changing World.” In 1991, for example, the U.S. Forest Service and the nonprofit Wilderness Society each released its own inventory of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest and northern California. They both used the Forest Service’s definition based on the number, age and density of large trees per acre, the characteristics of the forest canopy, the number of dead standing trees and fallen logs and other criteria. However, because each agency used different remote sensing techniques to glean data, the Forest Service came up with 4.3 million acres of old-growth and the Wilderness Society found only two million acres. The NCSSF also studied the data, and they concluded that 3.5 million acres (or six percent) of the region’s 56.8 million acres of forest qualified as old growth – that is, largely trees over 30 inches in diameter with complex forest canopies. By broadening the definition to include older forest with medium-diameter trees and both simple and complex canopies, NCSSF said their figure would go up substantially. In other parts of the country, less than one percent of Northeast forest is old growth, though mature forests that will become old growth in a few decades are more abundant. The Southeast has even less acreage – a 1993 inventory found about 425 old growth sites across the region, equaling only a half a percent of total forest area. The Southwest has only a few scattered pockets of old-growth (mostly Ponderosa Pine), but for the most part is not known for its age-old trees. Old-growth is even scarcer in the Great Lakes. It is hard to say whether the remaining pockets of scattered old-growth in areas besides the Pacific Northwest will remain protected, but environmentalists are working hard to save what they can in northern California, Oregon and Washington. The outgoing Bush administration recently announced plans to increase logging across Oregon’s remaining old-growth reserves by some 700 percent, in effect overturning the landmark Northwest Forest Plan of 1994 that set aside most of the region’s remaining old growth as habitat for the endangered spotted owl. Protecting remaining old-growth is important for many reasons. “These areas provide some of the cleanest drinking water in the world, critical salmon and wildlife habitat, world-class recreational opportunities and critical carbon storage in our fight against global warming,” says Jonathan Jelen of the nonprofit Oregon Wild, adding that as much as 20 percent of the emissions related to global warming can be attributed to deforestation and poor forest management. “A growing body of evidence is showing the critical role that forests – and old-growth forests in particular – can play in mitigating climate change.” CONTACTS: NCSSF, http://ncseonline.org/NCSSF/; Oregon Wild, www.oregonwild.org GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/ or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.
Barnes-Kasson Corner CHD Awareness Week February 8 – 14w Barnes-Kasson Hospital is observing National CHD Awareness Week, February 8through 14. CHD is short for Congenital Heart Disease, which usually isa narrowing of the small blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to the heart. This disease is usually present at birth, letting it fall under the classification as a birth defect. According to the Congenial Heart Information Network, CHD is the most common birth defect in the world. When a child is born with CHD, the tiny heart structure of the newborn is defected. The defect can be either an obstruction of the heart’s blood vessels or an abnormal flow of blood through the heart. Symptoms and signs are directly related to what type of heart defect a child exhibits. Some children have no symptoms at all, while others may exhibit shortness of breath, cyanosis, chest pain, sweating, heart murmur, respiratory infections, underdevelopment of limbs and muscles, poor feeding, or poor growth. Almost every defect causes a whispering sound, or murmur, as blood moves through the heart, which causes some of these listed symptoms. All of these signs can occur at an early age of a child or infant, and are usually found during a routine physical examination. Sometimes CHD can improve without any treatment, usually because the defect is incredibly small. Most of the time however, CHD is very serious and requires immediate treatment. Some defects require surgical procedures to repair as much as possible to restore circulation back to normal. In some cases, multiple surgeries are needed to balance the circulation. Some cases of CHD do not require surgery, but most of the time, will require medications. One commonly prescribed drug is a diuretic, which aids a child in eliminating water and salts, which will strengthen the contraction of the heart. By making the contraction stronger, the heart beats at a different rate and can then remove excess fluid from its tissues.
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