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COLUMNS: LITTLE MEADOWS: Born to Mr. and Mrs. Ed. Gould, Saturday, Jan. 21, twin boys, at their home. ALSO, skating is the order of the day, Palmer’s pond being frozen over, and the young people are making the most of it. BROOKLYN: A Freshman Co-Ed, by Alice Louise Lee, may now be found in the public library. This book is just published and we predict a large sale for it. It is a breezy story of college life and one that holds the reader’s interest to the last page. ALSO, David Robinove, the well known traveling merchant, met with an accident on Wednesday. While in Brooklyn, between M. W. Palmer’s and the Lyman Tiffany farm, his horses became unmanageable and started on a run that left Mr. Robinove behind. They made fast time down the steep hill to Kingsley, scattering the merchandise along the road. The loss financially amounts to a considerable sum. BIRCHARDVILLE: Frank Robinson, Birchardville’s well known merchant, and Thomas Flynn, also of that place, were run into Wednesday night by a team coming in the opposite direction. Mr. Flynn received a bad scalp wound and the wagon in which they were riding was badly damaged by the impact of the two vehicles. Dr. Preston attended the injured man, who was able to go to his home. BRANDT: It is rumored that the old brick yard, which has been idle for some years, will again resume work. EAST LYNN: A large number of young people from Springville and Lynn enjoyed the skating at States’ pond, Saturday afternoon. JERSEY HILL, AUBURN TWP.: David Angle, the veteran blacksmith of Angle’s Corners, whose “song of the anvil” is hushed for him, owing to his advanced years, has been visiting in Montrose. His son is in charge of the shop. MONTROSE: Harry Ross DePue, formerly of Montrose, now a student in the Medical College at Burlington, Vt., has received an honor of great merit by the institution. Mr. DePue has been made president of the graduating class of 1911, he having received the highest percent of votes given a president in many years. Harry’s picture, in a large frame, will hang upon the wall of the Burlington Medical College, along with the former presidents, as long as the college stands. HALLSTEAD: The Roberts Hardware Store, in the Vanness Block, was damaged to the extent of about $4000. The fire department saved neighboring stores. The alarm was sounded at about 4:30 a.m. and at that time the flames had eaten their way from the cellar to the first floor. Paints, oils, varnishes and other inflammable material stored in the cellar made a lively blaze, and the fire communicated to the second floor before it could be extinguished. HEART LAKE: Charles Cole is here running the engine to fill the ice house for the Heart Lake Ice Company. FOREST LAKE: No school this week on account of the death of the teacher’s father, John McCabe, who died Jan. 20, 1911. Mr. McCabe, who was born in Ireland, resided in Franklin Forks. HOWARD HILL, LIBERTY TWP.: Preston, the five-year-old son of Mrs. Jennie Howard, fell fourteen feet, striking on his head, while laying in the hay with other children. He is all right now. UNIONDALE: Mrs. G. H. Carpenter, while carrying two kettles of boiling water to Mr. Carpenter, who was butchering, slipped on the doorstep and fell on the sill, injuring her back, but fortunately escaped being scalded. ALSO, David Wademan took a fall on the ice and hit his lame shoulder, where he got hurt last fall, and now he thinks it is better than it was before he fell the last time. He says he can use his arm better. ALSO, Mrs. L. P. Norton got the fly all right. She saw one upon the ceiling and got up in the chair. The chair tipped over with her and she fell across the foot board of the bed and hurt her [self] quite badly. Her husband didn’t ask her if it [she] broke the chair, but hobbled upstairs to see what the racket was. DIMOCK: O. W. Chase, after a long, successful and most honorable career in the mercantile business, has disposed of same and W. J. Cronk, a highly esteemed citizen of East Rush, becomes the new proprietor. Mr. Chase took over Mr. Cronk’s farm and personal property and will offer a large number of registered and grade Holstein cattle horses, grain, hay, farming implements, etc., at public sale, on the premises at East Rush. SUSQUEHANNA: Closed but a week, the Susquehanna-Oakland bridge was opened to traffic Saturday morning. The bridge was closed a week previously and immediately a force of men, in the employ of the Owego Bridge Co., commenced the work of raising the Susquehanna end of the bridge eighteen inches. The work was pushed rapidly and by Friday afternoon the work was almost completed. The raising of the bridge will make this less dangerous in case of high water. For some years the Oakland end of the bridge has been higher than the Susquehanna end and last year the Susquehanna end narrowly escaped serious damage by the ice and high water. HOP BOTTOM: Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Pratt entertained a party of little boys at their home, Monday evening, it being the sixth birthday of their son, Willis. Those present were: Fred Stone, Homer Yeomans, Max Roberts, Ward Bertholf and Willis Pratt. Refreshments were served. It was a very enjoyable time for the boys. FOREST CITY: Frank Eichholzer, who has been employed by Aldrich & Co., for several years, has gone to Buffalo to accept a position. Frank was a member of the Forest City band, and one of the town’s popular young men. THOMPSON & NEW MILFORD: Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Gates, of Thompson, aged 90 and 84 years respectively, have lately celebrated the 60th anniversary of their marriage. This is the second aged couple who have celebrated this unusual event in this county during the past few months. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gillespie, of New Milford, having reached their 60th wedding anniversary on Oct. 14 last. Mrs. Gillespie’s death occurred, however, within the past fortnight, she being 90 years of age.
From the Desk of the D.A. An investigative grand jury has just completed an exhaustive report concerning an abortion clinic in Philadelphia that has resulted in 8 counts of murder being filed against Kermit Gosnell, the “physician” who owned and ran a women’s health clinic. Gosnell was a licensed physician, but he was not certified to perform abortions. Apparently, the easy money was too much for him to resist - so he started performing both legal and illegal abortions at his “clinic.” If you have the stomach for it, you can read the entire grand jury report online. It contains ghastly graphic and horrific details of a profit-driven unqualified physician making big money performing illegal late term abortions. Based upon reports, Gosnell made over $1 million last year alone. Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams described the abortion clinic as a “house of horrors.” One of the murder charges relates to the death of one adult female who died as a result of being overdosed on sedation medication during an abortion procedure. The other 7 counts of murder relate to little babies born alive during a “failed” abortion, i.e., the baby was not killed in the womb prior to being removed from the mother. The charges contend that on 7 different occasions, Gosnell took a living baby who had survived the abortion and used a scissors to cut into the back of the baby’s neck in order to sever the spinal cord and kill the child. When authorities raided the “clinic,” they found bags of aborted babies scattered throughout the building, including a freezer that was packed full of the bagged grisly remains. Gosnell also kept jars on his shelves containing different “mementos” of his work, i.e., some of the jars contained the severed feet of the aborted babies that he kept for no medical purpose. The investigation concluded that Gosnell was performing illegal late term abortions at his “clinic” for many years - and made millions of dollars in the process. Under Pennsylvania law, it is unlawful to perform an abortion after 24 weeks of gestational age unless the abortion is “necessary to prevent either the death of the pregnant woman or the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the woman.” Gosnell had obtained a reputation as the physician who would perform these abortions with no questions asked provided you had the cold hard cash to pay for it. The Crimes Code also requires that a baby who survives an abortion be provided with appropriate medical care and failure to do so constitutes a felony of the third degree. It does not take a physician to realize that appropriate medical care would not include a pair of dirty scissors punched into the base of the neck to kill the defenseless infant. It bears reminding that Pennsylvania has a safe haven provision that allows any parent to drop off an unwanted child at a local hospital with no questions asked. I have written about this provision in the past and it is intended to eliminate situations where unwanted babies are killed by the parents. Based upon the reports, the mothers never knew that their child had survived the abortion and had been killed outside the womb with a pair of scissors. I am not sure if any of the mothers would have taken steps to protect their little babies from Gosnell’s scissors. In the end, I fear that they would not have done so given that he achieved the result that they were seeking. Of course, if any of those infants had been taken to a local hospital under the Safe Haven provision, there was no guarantee that his dark secret would not have gotten out. Under Pennsylvania’s death penalty statute, there are several aggravating factors that could support the imposition of the death penalty if the prosecutor determines that he wishes to seek it. First, the homicides occurred during the defendant was perpetrating a felony offense, namely performing unlawful late-term abortions and not providing medical care to the surviving infants. Second, the offense was committed by means of torture, i.e., forcefully dragging a viable child out of a mother’s womb and then forcibly inserting scissors to the back of the baby’s neck. Third, the case involves multiple homicides. Fourth, the victim was under 12 years of age. As of this point, no decision has been made as to whether the death penalty will be sought by the prosecution. Under Pennsylvania law, the death penalty is administered by lethal injection, which seems rather peaceful and humane when compared to the pair of scissors that Gosnell used. It is rare indeed to see a prosecution under Pennsylvania’s late-term abortion statute. I suspect that this murder case will morph into something far more political than it deserves to be and, in the process, some will be willing to ignore the evil that Gosnell was perpetrating for profit. We may end up seeing the cries for justice battling those seeking to justify the abhorrent behavior. Hopefully, I am wrong. 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. I've been losing some hearing the last few years. I have to travel far from home and I was wondering if you had any suggestions for handling my hearing problems on the road. About one in three Americans over 60 suffers from loss of hearing, which can range from the inability to hear certain voices to deafness. Traveling poses special problems for the hearing-impaired. At the outset, I am crediting the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) for the dozen valuable travel tips in this column. The ideas are from the academy; the words are mine. The AAO-HNS is the world's largest organization representing specialists who treat the ear, nose, throat, and related structures of the head and neck. Okay, here goes: 1.) Make travel arrangements in advance. Request written confirmation. 2.) Consider using a travel agent who can make reservations with airlines, hotels, and tourist attractions. If possible, meet with a travel agent in person to insure accurate communication. 3.) You can use your computer to make reservations. Be sure to print copies of important information such as confirmation numbers, reservations and maps. 4.) Arrive early for every event on your schedule so you have time to rectify possible problems caused by miscommunication. 5.) If you are severely hearing-impaired, tell ground personnel, flight attendants, train conductors and bus drivers that you would like them to give you important information face-to-face. 6.) If you need a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD), you can get service from many major airlines and transportation companies. A TDD will enable you to send and receive text messages. A typical TDD is about the size of a laptop computer with a keyboard and small screen. 7.) All public telephones should now have a “blue grommet” attachment to the handset indicating it is compatible with hearing aids. Some public phones have an amplifying headset. Or you may purchase a pocket amplifier. Cellular phones have solved many of these problems. All cell-phone manufacturers have models that are compatible with hearing aids. 8.) There are small portable visual alert systems available that flash a light when the telephone rings, an alarm clock goes off, or a fire alarm sounds. These can be installed easily in hotel rooms. Request a room that is equipped for an individual with hearing loss. These communication features are frequently provided free of charge to hotel guests. 9.) FM listening systems can help the hearing-impaired traveler listen to lectures and tours by having a speaker use a transmitter microphone to broadcast over air waves to a receiver. 10.) Portable infrared systems can be used with hotel televisions and radios. These transmit sound via invisible infrared light to a listener’s receiver. 11.) There are portable TV-band radios that can be tuned to compatible TV channels and listened to through an earphone. 12.) If you wear a hearing aid, be sure to pack extra batteries and tubing. It would be wise to take a dehumidifier for drying your hearing aids each night to prevent moisture problems. If you would like to ask a question, please write fred@healthygeezer.com.
Library Chitchat I have often mentioned in these columns that the Susquehanna County Historical Society and Free Library Association (SCHS&FLA) exists to be of service to its patrons and that our goal is to be your source for lifetime learning. However, SCHS&FLA is also a business. We are in the business of circulating information to our patrons in the most efficient and friendly manner. As with other enterprises, we hold an annual meeting providing our patrons (members) with the opportunity to report on how we have handled the mandate given to us. This year our annual meeting will be held this coming Saturday, January 29, at 2 p.m. at the historic St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Montrose. The meeting is free and open to the public and we cordially invite patrons to attend. In addition to the “business” portion of the meeting, we will have as our speaker, Meteorologist Barbara McNaught Watson. She has been the officer-in-charge of Binghamton Office of the National Weather Service since 2004 and will speak about “Weird Weather.” Refreshments will also be served. I would also like to remind readers that February is Library Lovers Month. SCHS&FLA, unlike some other businesses, does not derive its income from the sale of its products or services, but depends on community supporters that appreciate its value. February would be a good time to show your support for SCHS&FLA by making a “loving” donation to our annual fund drive and by including regular visits to your local library part of your schedule.
Rock Doc Stunning Vistas And Recent Storms Here’s a classic poem that’s dear to me, both for its manic intensity and its meaning in the natural world. It’s so short you can memorize it right now and always have it at your disposal when you consider news of storms and their destruction. “Safe upon the solid rock the ugly houses stand: Come and see my shining palace built upon the sand!” The poet was Edna St. Vincent Millay. Her lines always come to my mind when heavy rains ravage the West and homes, bridges and roads are swept away by mudflows and flash floods. The poem seemed apt as California recently experienced torrential rains that triggered debris flows in canyons. Cascading down the steep hillsides, boulders, trees, mud and water flowed rapidly downhill, imperiling houses and those who lived in them. As usual, there were reports from the people who had built houses exactly where we geologists would predict the debris flows would be the worst. They had traded safety for the stunning views of living in the steep canyons of southern California. In so doing, they had not built upon the rock, but on the sands of impermanence. When the land above their houses started to move, they instantly knew the significance of their choice. “When you hear the boulders going ‘Bang, bang, bang,’ you know there’s going to be problems,” said canyon resident Steve Eighart to the Los Angeles Times. Rapidly moving boulders are, indeed, your first clue you’re in deep trouble. That’s because boulders and other large objects like logs are at the front or “head” of the flow as it comes downhill. Behind that comes finer material like sand, and then a great deal of muddy water. In some parts of southern California the authorities have built large depressions in the land called catch basins. They are meant to contain debris flows that reach them. Some basins have screens built into them to stop large objects like boulders while allowing the watery part of the flow to continue downhill. Mike Colgan, who has lived in Orange County’s Silverado Canyon for 30 years, was impressed by recent events. “This is only the second time I’ve seen this much debris flow, and it’s the first time I’ve seen it happen so quickly,” he told a reporter. But Colgan also had a refreshing sense of personal accountability concerning his situation. “When you live up here, you should accept the responsibility of dealing with nature.” The recent California flows were triggered by amazing rainstorms. By the end of the period, downtown Los Angeles was close to setting a record for the wettest December in 120 years, getting more than 7 inches of rain in seven days. For a dry part of the country, that’s a stupendous total. Actually, for pretty nearly anywhere it’s an impressive number! As the storm moved inland it brought many feet of snow to higher elevations. It continued further, providing white holidays to people more than a thousand miles away from California. The geologic factors that add to the dangers of debris flows in the West are steep slopes and loosened soils and rocks. Canyon walls are exceedingly steep, so it’s no surprise to geologists that they move downward when gravity overcomes a slope’s ability to hold itself up any longer. Bits of rock and soil then start heading downhill, and they can move as fast as a car on a highway. Other factors also increase the chance of debris flows. Forest fires remove vegetation that helps hold a slope together. So fires in the West in the summer add to the possibilities of mudslides and debris flows in the winters to come. Human activities like cutting down brush and trees do the same. Knowing where debris flow problems are likely, we could choose not to build on land that’s subject to frequent problems. That’s the logic of some zoning regulations. But people are often willing to risk the safety of their houses for the amazing views that canyons, bluffs and hillsides give them. They feel it’s better to have a “shining palace” that may not be permanent than a mundane house in a safer part of the world. Perhaps there’s a poet born every minute. Dr. E. Kirsten Peters, a native of the rural Northwest, was trained as a geologist at Princeton and Harvard. Follow her on the web at rockdoc.wsu.edu and on Twitter @RockDocWSU. This column is a service of the College of Agricultural, Natural and Resources Sciences at Washington State University.
EARTH TALK Dear EarthTalk: Are Atlantic bluefin tuna really about to go extinct? What are the contributing factors and what is being done to try to head off this tragedy? -Edward According to many marine biologists, Atlantic bluefin tuna, one of three closely related bluefin tuna species, are in danger of going extinct within a decade if the governments of the world can’t come together to ban catching and/or selling the lucrative species. The non-profit International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which maintains an international “Red List” of threatened species, considers the Atlantic bluefin “Critically Endangered” given that its population numbers have declined by upwards of 80 percent since the 1970s. Even recently instituted stricter restrictions on allowable catch levels may be too little too late for the huge migratory fish. The trouble began in the 1960s when fishing boats using purse seines and long lines to pull in fish for the canned tuna market harvested huge numbers of juvenile Atlantic bluefin. This highly efficient method of fishing decimated generations of Atlantic bluefin, constraining their reproductive capacity accordingly. Today catch limits for Atlantic bluefin - even more in demand worldwide for sushi - are implemented and enforced by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), a multinational group of fisheries regulators charged with maintaining sustainable levels of tuna throughout the Atlantic and neighboring waters. In 2007, ICCAT set the international annual catch limit for Atlantic bluefin at 30,000 tons; double what the commission’s own scientists recommended. More recently, ICCAT’s scientists recommended lowering the limit to 7,500 tons; ICCAT compromised with fishing interests and settled on a 13,500 ton limit. But despite these rules, analysts estimate that the fishing industry is actually still harvesting around 60,000 tons of Atlantic bluefin annually. ICCAT says that if stocks have not rebounded by 2022 it would consider closing down some tuna fishing areas. With ICCAT’s limits having little effect on the animal’s decline, environmentalists took their case to the United Nations’ Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in hopes of getting an international ban on the harvesting and sale of Atlantic bluefin. But in March 2010, 68 nations voted down the proposal; 20 countries, including the U.S., voted for it, while 30 others abstained. The leading opponent of the ban, Japan - which consumes three-quarters of all bluefin tuna caught around the world - argued that ICCAT was the proper regulatory body to sustain Atlantic bluefin population numbers. As for what concerned individuals can do, the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program recommends avoiding bluefin tuna - sometimes called hon maguro or toro (tuna belly) at the supermarket and at restaurants - altogether. And that would not only be a good environmental move but good for your health, too: The non-profit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), a leading environmental group, recently issued a health advisory recommending that people avoid eating Atlantic bluefin due to elevated levels of neurotoxins including mercury and PCBs that can be found in the fish’s tissue. It seems the only way we can continue to live with bluefin tuna and so many other at-risk marine wildlife species is to live without them on our dinner plates. Dear EarthTalk: Is it true that organic tobacco production is booming in the U.S.? And are cigarettes made from organic tobacco any healthier for smokers? -Nanci To say business is booming would be an exaggeration, but it is true that many American tobacco farmers are beginning to transition to organic growing methods. Given the hard times growers have faced in recent decades - most Americans now revile smoking and farmers in other countries can produce higher volumes for substantially less cost - going organic is one way to keep charging premium prices. While growing organically costs more and yields a slightly less marketable product, farmers can make up the difference and then some since their organic tobacco will command double the price of their competitors’ conventionally grown, chemical-laden variety. Companies like Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company and Organic Smoke, Inc., for example, are willing to pay this premium for the privilege of marketing the resulting “natural” cigarettes - which also avoid the chemical fillers and even extra nicotine of the standard smoke - as friendlier to the environment. Of course, buyers beware: No cigarette is good for you, whether it contains organic tobacco or not. If you have to smoke, a so-called “natural” cigarette will expose you to fewer toxins overall, but the primary risk still comes from the inhaled carcinogenic smoke of the burning tobacco leaves. For its part, Santa Fe, maker of the American Spirit brand of “natural” cigarettes, has seen sales increase 10 percent yearly over the last decade to the point where its sales account for about 0.6 percent of the total U.S. cigarette market. During its first year of business two decades ago, Santa Fe bought and processed 4,000 pounds of organic tobacco. In 2008, the company processed two million pounds. Upwards of 100 different farms spread across the U.S., Canada and Brazil now provide Santa Fe with organic tobacco leaf. Besides buying only organic tobacco and eschewing chemical fillers, the company walks the socially responsible talk, too, powering its facilities with clean energy, extending benefits to same-sex domestic partners, and donating funds and volunteer time to the clean-up of New Mexico’s Santa Fe River. But what even some of its own customers may not know - you won’t find it on the packaging - is that Santa Fe’s profits are all going toward the bottom line of its corporate parent, Reynolds American, an outgrowth of longtime leading cigarette maker R.J. Reynolds, purveyor of such esteemed conventional brands as Camel, Winston and Salem. Reynolds American, which today sells one out of every three cigarettes sold in the U.S., rolled up Santa Fe as part of a major reorganization in 2004 and has been reaping the benefits of the growth in sales of cigarettes made with organic tobacco ever since. Growing organic tobacco also benefits the burgeoning organic farming business overall: “Organic certification allows the growth of other high-value seasonal crops, which can demand a premium price on the ever-expanding organic market,” Santa Fe’s leaf director, Fielding Daniel, told the trade publication Tobacco Farm Quarterly, adding that growers are heartened by this new and profitable market and worry less about the cost of, and risk of mishandling, synthetic chemicals. SEND YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS TO: EarthTalk®, c/o E - The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; earthtalk@emagazine.com.
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