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COLUMNS: HEART LAKE: Frank Hutner, of Toronto, a large manufacturer of children’s coats and capes, was a guest of Mr. and Mrs. D. L. Robinove last week. Mr. Hutner used to be a peddler in this locality, making headquarters for two or three years at W. A. Brown’s, at Heart Lake, and will be remembered by a great many of the people he used to visit. But the road was not to hold him long, for he went to New York and began the manufacturing of children’s garments, and met with instant success. He continued in New York for some time but when competition became severe, he left the field to the other fellows, and established his plant in Toronto, where he finds conditions much more favorable and today is firmly established with a good business. The boy who works, waits, and saves, and has added to these qualities, that of honesty, has always a chance for a place high upon the ladder in life’s race, while the boy who does not make the most of is opportunities, must, and rightly remain near the bottom. BROOKLYN: All interested are requested to be present next Tuesday evening, June 13, at the final meeting of Rising Sun Company, No. 59, Order of American Boys. The Order was discontinued in favor of the Boy Scouts, on June 1. A means of disposing of the property will be decided on. THOMPSON: Ralph A. Howard, one of the most prominent residents of Thompson and for many years secretary of the borough council, dropped dead on the street in front of his residence about 9 o’clock Saturday, June 3. Mr. Howard had not been well for some time and last night had a fainting spell but was feeling a great deal better this morning and started to go to town and had just got out on the street when he suddenly sank to the sidewalk and was dead before assistance could reach him. ROYAL: Miss Hankinson, of Carbondale, Hotel Royal’s Landlady’s daughter, was in town Saturday and Sunday. She made our little town interesting with her vocal and instrumental music, while here. She is certainly a wonderful singer for a girl of her age. ALSO, Royal is to be head quarters for City Auto parties this summer and fall. ARARAT: Our old and highly respected veteran, Geo. Burman, attended to placing the flags on the soldier’s graves in Ararat cemetery. This has been Mr. Burman’s duty for a number of years; still he is along in his seventy’s. The work is done with the same neatness as years ago. [George H. Burman enlisted in Co. A, 56th Regiment on Oct. 4, 1861. He was captured at Bull Run, Aug. 29, 1862.] GREAT BEND: The citizens of Hallstead and Great Bend are planning for a home coming welcome for the Hon. James T. DuBois, who has been the representative of the United States Government at Singapore for the past two years and now expects to arrive at his home in Hallstead about June 15. SUSQUEHANNA: While at work in the Erie roundhouse Friday, Patrick O’Brien, employed in the truck gang, had his leg caught between two wheels and was badly pinched. ALSO, Robert W. Phillips, an Erie fireman, residing at Susquehanna, met with a serious accident at Ararat Summit last Friday morning. Mr. Phillips, in attempting to board his engine, missed his footing and fell beneath the wheels of the pony truck, which crushed the right leg. The injured man was taken to the S. H. Barnes Hospital. Erie Surgeon, C. D. Washburn, found that the member was so badly crushed that amputation above the ankle was necessary. Mr. Phillips is an industrious young man with a family. HOP BOTTOM: Miss Christine Mathewson, of Factoryville, is giving instrumental music lessons to a class of about 15 pupils in this place, this week. Miss Mathewson is a graduate of music from Keystone Academy. BENNETT’S CORNERS: Clarence Taylor and wife, of Lynn, were through here in his new auto and gave some of his friends a ride. The week previous Homer Young and R. L. Avery went to Philadelphia and brought up the new auto purchased by Mr. Taylor. It is a Maxwell, for which Mr. Young is agent. RUSHBORO: Martha and Hazel LaRue, who have been attending State Normal school at Mansfield, have returned to their home here. SOUTH AUBURN: A young man who visits at South Auburn, semi-occasionally, left his horse in the church shed. Apparently the horse thought the visit too long, for it broke its fastenings and went home, a distance of two miles, without a driver, where it was found with everything all safe when the young man reached there. DIMOCK: Several people from here attended the large barn raising at John Blakeslee’s, near Springville, on Saturday. NEW MILFORD: On June 7 occurred the marriage of Homer VanCott and Edna Chapman. ALSO, C. A. Garland, while working in Whitney’s crate factory, had the misfortune to have his hand partially cut off. Mr. Garland is an elderly man and the shock was severely felt. SILVER LAKE: The [pupils] of the Lady Jane Grey school of Binghamton were here for their annual outing last week. FOREST CITY: While playing ball in the valley, in the rear of his home, 10 year old Lester Clark was bitten in the leg by a dog belonging to a foreigner. The wound was promptly cauterized and the dog shot. Very proper treatment, all round. SOUTH MONTROSE: If you see some distinguished looking people riding around the streets of Montrose in automobiles, you may take them for Americanized Chinese or Japanese; you will probably think they are members of distinguished families, who are here studying American customs, or in some scientific research. In all of which and other guesses, you will be mistaken. The fact is, they are Japanese servants at the Ballantine home, and they are clean, sensible and intelligent looking people. DEATHS OF CIVIL WAR VETERANS: Henry W. Linderman, at the home of his sister, Mrs. Edward P. Munger, Lake Ave., Montrose. When but a boy he answered his country’s call to arms, and at the close of the Civil war was Captain of a battery of artillery attached to an Ulster Co., NY Regiment. Chas A. Carter died at LeRaysville, May 20, 1911, late of Co. H., 4th Pa. Reserve Infantry and 35th Regt. Pa. Volunteers., aged 72. He lived near Rushville nearly all his life. Daniel Hawley died near Evan’s Falls, Wyoming Co., April 12, 1911, age 83 years, late member of Co. H, 4th Regt., Pa. Reserve Infantry. He lived nearly all his life near Montrose. From the Desk of the D.A. A few weeks ago, I did a column noting Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Castille’s recent concurring opinion where he openly questioned the propriety of federal public defenders appearing in state court to litigate state matters. In particular, the Chief Justice lamented the abusive litigiousness of the federal defenders and the deleterious effect that their actions were having on the state courts. As I noted at the time, the federal defenders threw a legal temper tantrum and filed a 54-page motion demanding that the Chief Justice take it back! Right after that concurring opinion was filed, there was another development that underscored just how much the federal government is attempting to micromanage the state criminal justice system. The United States Supreme Court just came down with a decision relating to the state prison system in California - and ordered that tens of thousands of felons be released due to overcrowding and poor conditions. The decision was a close one - one justice decided it by a vote of 5-4. By the slimmest of margins, the federal courts decided to micromanage the entire correctional system of a sovereign state under the guise of constitutional violations for cruel and unusual punishment. I suspect that the conditions in the California penal system, albeit overcrowded, are still far better than the conditions under which a good portion of the world’s population currently lives. The inmates are provided with shelter, food, water, sanitary services, showers, exercise, medical care, and every other amenity that many of the working class in America struggle to provide for their families - and some law-abiding citizens simply cannot provide at all. Do you all have gym memberships? How about free medical care? Do you have a personal chef preparing meals for you everyday? When did living conditions that meet or exceed the living conditions of the some members of the general public become cruel and unusual punishment? Admittedly, California’s prison system is overcrowded - it was designed to hold around 80,000 and the current inmate population had reached 143,000. So, the inmates are double and triple bunked - and there is some delay in the provision of some medical services. Based upon their extensive expertise in corrections management, which is none, five justice of the United States approved a population of approximately 106,000, but an additional 37,000 inmates will have to be released back onto the streets. Somehow, these five justices told the California Corrections officials that they knew the magical number for overcrowdings and where it the mythical overcrowding line was crossed into the realm of cruel punishment. Let us stop here for a moment to remember that we are talking about the state correctional system - not the local municipal jails. The state system is designed to house the more serious offender, the repeat offender, the dangerous offender - the ones that the local options have failed to deter or rehabilitate. When we are talking about releasing 37,000 state prisoners, you are not talking about individuals with minor offenses. There is a reason they are there - and there is a reason that they have not been released despite the overcrowding. To put it bluntly, the Supreme Court’s decision will make communities less safe and simultaneously provide a more comfortable living environment for the remaining incarcerated felons - win-win scenario for the bad guys. I suppose that I am old fashioned - I generally think that jails should be uncomfortable environments that convince the prisoner that they do not want to come back. This is not to suggest that conditions should be inhumane, unhealthy or dangerous. On the other hand, I believe that management of the conditions in state prisons are better left to correction professionals at the state level - not Supreme Court justices who have no experience in managing a correctional facility. I suspect that there may be circumstances so extreme that merit federal intervention, but I would expect that such extreme conditions would be so outrageous that there would be no room for disagreement. It is shameful for the United States Supreme Court to order to release of tens of thousands of state prisons based upon conditions that only 5 out of the 9 justices believed merited such relief. If the conditions were truly that bad, you would expect that all of the justices would recognize the need for relief. This is not to say the prisoners would be left with no protection of their federal rights. A prisoner or group of prisoners could always sue for civil rights violations in federal courts for money damages. Let a jury decide whether or not their conditions were so egregious as to warrant monetary compensation. I suspect that the citizens of California would be less sympathetic to the prisoners’ claims than the federal judges. This latest Supreme Court decision simply underscores the point that Chief Justice Castille made regarding the unwarranted and unnecessary intervention of the federal courts into the business of the state courts. California is more than capable of managing its prison population - and California has an entire state agency dedicated solely to that task. Absent some truly dangerous conditions, the federal courts should simply stay out of it. 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. Are generic drugs as good as brand-name drugs? According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA): “A generic drug is the same as a brand-name drug in dosage, safety, strength, quality, the way it works, the way it is taken and the way it should be used. The FDA requires generic drugs have the same high quality, strength, purity and stability as brand-name drugs.” More than 70 percent of prescription medications taken today are generics, which are identical - or “bioequivalent” to a brand name drug. Generics can be as much as 90 percent cheaper than brand-name drugs. According to the Congressional Budget Office, generic drugs save consumers almost $10 billion a year at retail pharmacies. Even more money is saved when hospitals use generics. The savings have a simple explanation. There are patents on new drugs; most of them are protected for 20 years. No one else can make or sell that drug while it is under a patent. When the patent expires, other companies can begin to sell a generic version of the drug once it is approved by the FDA. Generic drug makers can sell the drugs for less because they don't have the high research and development costs. The FDA won't permit drugs to be made in substandard facilities. The FDA conducts 3,500 inspections a year to ensure standards are met. Generic firms have facilities comparable to those of brand-name firms. In fact, brand-name firms are linked to an estimated 50 percent of generic drug production. They frequently make copies of their drugs and sell them without the brand name. So, substituting a generic for a brand-name drug won't create any problems? Not exactly. The FDA acknowledges that a handful of prescription medications have a "narrow therapeutic window." Too little of the generics for these drugs isn't effective and too much is toxic. Therefore switching to the generic forms of these medications can be difficult. The FDA uses an average bioequivalence approach. The core of the bioequivalence concept is the absence of a significant difference between drugs. The FDA considers a significant difference to be less than 20 percent. Generic drugmakers are required to conduct tests to prove that the amount of active ingredient absorbed into the bloodstream from their copies is equivalent to the originals. The FDA said the average variance between the name brand and the generic is 3.5 percent, but about 50 medications vary by 10 percent or more. While there is no official list, the following drugs are generally accepted to have a narrow therapeutic window. The generics are in parentheses. Thyroid medications: Levothroid, Levoxyl or Synthroid (Levothyroxine) Blood thinners: Coumadin (Warfarin) Heart medications: Digitek, Lanoxin (Digoxin) Psychiatric drugs: Eskalith, Lithobid (Lithium) Antiseizure Medications: Dylautin (Phenytoin), Tegretol (Carbamazepine) If you have a question, please write to fred@healthygeezer.com. Library Chitchat Last week I went to my grandson’s fifth grade band concert. On stage, these 87 novice musicians produced a powerful sound that included 23 trumpets, 17 saxophones, and five drum sets. The music teacher had done an excellent job of teaching her raw recruits and blending them into a mostly harmonic band. She has also started the beginnings of a fine marching band, although that is several years in the future. Planning for the future is an important function of any organization, including the Susquehanna County Historical Society and Free Library Association. For several years now, the Board of Directors has been working toward the goal of building a new facility to serve all of Susquehanna County. It will also house all the administrative offices and the county-wide Outreach Department as well as the Main Library and free up the entire building on the Green for use by the Historical Society. To help us reach our goal, we will have our third annual Library Lottery. Fifty winning tickets with prizes ranging from $500 to $50,000 will be drawn from only 2,000 tickets sold. If less than 2000 tickets are sold, winnings will be prorated at 74%. This year’s drawing will be held from 3-4 p.m. at the free picnic on July 23 at the Harford Fair Grounds. Applications are available at any library location or online at www.susqcolibrary.org/lottery. If you have questions call (570) 278-3106 or 278-1881 or e-mail mkhjr@aol.com. We would appreciate your support. Rock Doc No Rock Doc This Week EARTH TALK No Earth Talk This Week Barnes-Kasson Corner No Barnes-Kasson Corner This Week
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