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COLUMNS: HEART LAKE: The severe electrical storm of Saturday night cut a very curious, as well as disastrous prank, at the fine residence of Charles Bullard, near Heart Lake. The house was damaged more or less in every room, great patches of plaster being ripped off, and the fact that it was not burned down is a mystery. As it was, it caught fire in a couple of places, but the fire was extinguished before any damage from that source was done. When it was found that no one was badly injured, Mr. Bullard went to the roof where he found a large, gapping hole, about 2 ft. x 4 ft. made by the lightning. The roof had ignited at this point but he was able to put it out. It is said that every room had damage and some fires started but were extinguished. FOREST CITY: Peter Petrus and Miss Anna Mikuljak were married in the Greek Catholic church by Rev. V. Buscovage, June 3, 1911. NEW MILFORD: The Robinson-Sittenfeld Tanning Co. commenced running regularly and the sound of the whistle that has been silent for many years is welcome to the ears of all our citizens. Since the new company took charge of the business many improvements have been added that will enable them to handle a large amount of leather. It is the intention of the company to enlarge the business as fast as practicable. With the high grade of leather produced by this tannery we believe it will in a short time be one of the large industries in this section. EAST LENOX: A. E. Snyder was in Montrose the latter part of last week delivering flowers and plants raised at his green houses. Mr. Snyder and his father, Eldridge Snyder, deal extensively in hot house plant of all kinds and have developed a large trade in the eastern end of the county and also in Lackawanna Co. RUSH: Howard VanDyke’s team became frightened while coming to the creamery one morning this week. As they were coming down the steep hill by E. Granger’s, Mr. VanDyke and son were thrown out of the wagon and the team traversed Postmaster Granger’s garden, tramping down some of the weeds. The wagon was damaged somewhat. THOMPSON: In the electric storms of Saturday and Sunday nights, Fred Tyler, of Wrighter Hill, lost two valuable cows and Wm. Slocum of West Thompson had four high grade cows killed by the lightning. SOUTH ARARAT: Willard Spence, of Thompson, passed through this place on his motorcycle on Thursday. NIVEN, SPRINGVILLE TWP.: During the severe storm of Saturday night last, lightning struck the residence of Byron Oakley, near Niven, ripping siding off the house and playing the curious prank of tearing door casings out and opening doors, and also tearing out window casings and throwing the windows out without breaking the glass. BROOKLYN: H. A. McKinney has started a meat and green goods market and from the looks and neat appearance of everything and the puffs the citizens given him, we bespeak a splendid business for him. ALSO, Frank Merrill, of W. Brooklyn, has one of the finest, if not the best, water supply in the county. At the fountain head or spring a large and never failing one, he has built a concrete reservoir that holds 1500 gallons. The water supplies his mother’s house, thence to his own house, and then to his milk house and barn, with concrete water tanks. He can put in 28 large 40 qt. cans if he chooses and water so cold that he does not have to use any ice to cool his milk and in the winter on stormy days, he can water his stock without taking them out of his large basement barn. But to know how nice it is, you want to stop and have a chat with Frank, and see for yourself. GREAT BEND: Frank Gifford, Jr., encountered a large rattlesnake near Smoky Hollow and after a short battle he came out victorious. He brought his snakeship to town and the animal was on exhibit in Chas. M. Hamlin’s show window in the afternoon where he was viewed by many people. The striped gentleman carried 13 rattles and an overcoat button for his protection. MONTROSE: Tuesday marked the 50th anniversary of the departure of Co. H., 4th PA Reserve Infantry, the first company to leave Montrose, and of the ten survivors remaining of the 85 who marched away June 13, 1865, seven answered to roll call. They were: Lieut. James P. Gay, Sergt. Maj. R. S. Searle, Sergt. M. H. VanScoten, Corp. George E. Woodruff, of Montrose, Musician C. A. Kenyon of New Milford, Wm. K. Trippler, Brooklyn, N.Y. and Calvin S. Gay, of Sayre. A letter was read from Capt. A. T. Sweet, of Harford, expressing his regret that he could not attend owing to his serious illness. John Anderson, of Arlington, Kansas, and John L. Smith of West Auburn, was unable to be present much to the regret of their comrades. Co. H. has a record of which it may well be proud, and listed are some of the more important engagements in which they participated: Drainsville, Va., Dec. 20, 1861; Mechanicsville, June 26,1862; Gaines Mill, June 27,1862; Charles City Crossroad, June 30, 1862; Malvern Hill, July, 1862; Second Bull Run, Aug. 28-30, 1862; South Mountain, Md., Sept. 14, 1862; Antietam, Sept. 16-17, 1862; Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862. Because of fearful casualties, the company being reduced from 85 to 27 they were relieved from service and sent to the defense of Washington, Feb. 16, 1863. Twenty-five of the 27 re-enlisted to serve three years or until the end of the war, participating in many more battles, serving under Gen. Crook. SUSQUEHANNA: Charles Oscar Jonnson, a native of Sweden, and who had resided in Tacoma, Wash., was run over and instantly killed by an Erie switch engine in charge of H. C. Pettis, on Tuesday afternoon. The engine was going down a heavy grade and although the engineer blew the whistle and applied the brakes, the engine could not be stopped until it had passed over the man’s body. The man either did not hear the whistle or intentionally remained on the track, as there was plenty of time for him to get out of danger, had he desired. His wife, from cards in his pockets, resides at Finn, Colo.
From the Desk of the D.A. From time to time, there have been movements in different communities to pass local ordinances that prohibit sexual offenders from living in certain areas of the community. Basically, the local governing body draws up a map, akin to a zoning map, and there are entire zones where sex offenders may not reside. Normally, these would be areas near schools, daycare centers, parks, playgrounds, or similar places where children are likely to be found. These restrictive ordinances have been challenged throughout the United States - and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently addressed the issue. In particular, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court considered an ordinance from Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) that provided as follows: “It shall be unlawful for any Sex Offender to establish a permanent residence or temporary residence within 2,500 feet of any Child Care Facility, Community Center, Public Park or Recreation Facility, or School for the duration of his or her registration under the terms of Megan’s Law.” Under Megan’s Law, there are two registration periods: (1) a 10-year period for less serious sexual offenses and for offenders considered less likely to re-offend; and (2) a lifetime registration for the more serious sexual offenses and for the most dangerous offenders. The registration requirements do not begin to run until you are released from incarceration - so a sex offender knows that they face either a 10-year or lifetime registration upon release (or upon being placed on probation if they are never incarcerated). The Allegheny County ordinance effectively banished sex offenders from the vast majority of the municipality. The issue for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court became one of preemption - whether the local ordinance was impermissibly interfering with the purposes and intent of Megan’s Law such that it would be preempted by it. The Supreme Court reviewed Megan’s Law and the stated reasons that the Legislature gave for its enactment. The Court determined that the Legislature had intended Megan’s Law to be a comprehensive solution to the state-wide problem of dealing with sexual offenders. In addressing this problem, the Pennsylvania Legislature did not place residency restrictions on sex offenders; rather, the Legislature determined that registration and community notice were the proper mechanisms to address the dangers presented by a sex offender to a community. The Legislature wanted neighbors to know that a sex offender was living across the street, which is significantly different from the outright residence prohibition enacted in Allegheny County. The Court found countless legal problems with the residency ordinance. First, the Court noted that ordinance defeated the parole system emphasis on placing offenders into situations where they have a support network. If a sexual offender was seeking a parole to a residence in Allegheny County, the fact that the offender had a significant family network there to support and help him could be thwarted because the family may have lived in a prohibited zone. Moreover, the Court questioned whether Allegheny County had demonstrated that the proposed ordinance provided a reasonable residency area for sex offenders within the municipality with adequate housing and other services so as to permit a sex offender to comply with the residency requirements. The Court also expressed significant concern that the ordinance would undercut and undermine the ability of the parole system to effectively rehabilitate the offenders. Essentially, there would be a very limited area in the county where sex offenders could reside - and this would either result in parole plans being denied or the offenders would be clustered together in what would become a sex offender hamlet without any demonstrable means to deal with and supervise such a high concentration of offenders. Generally speaking, the parole system wants to prevent offenders from having contact with each other - not gather them together in one community where the mere concentration of offenders would increase the chances of recidivism. Based upon this reasoning, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court determined that Megan’s Law preempted the local ordinance and struck down the residency ordinance as an impermissible interference with the state law. While you may disagree with the Supreme Court, I would note that it was a unanimous decision - no dissenting opinion was issued. In the legal world, this means it was a no-brainer even if intuitively we would like to know that sex offenders are not living anywhere near our children. Of course, the Supreme Court did not indicate that such residency restrictions could be imposed - it just determined that such restrictions must originate from the Pennsylvania Legislature. So, if you don’t like it, call your state senator or state representative. 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. Whenever I go to the doctor and she takes my blood pressure it is a little high. Then, at the end of the office visit, she takes my pressure again and it's normal. Do you know what causes this? What you describe is a common symptom of “white-coat hypertension.” This means that your blood pressure goes up whenever anyone in a white coat (or reasonable medical facsimile) comes near you. I suffer from this myself so I have a visceral understanding of the problem. In a recent study employing 24-hour ambulatory monitoring, about a third of patients thought to have “resistant hypertension,” actually had white-coat hypertension. The study was published by the American Heart Association. Resistant hypertension occurs when a patient’s blood pressure remains above treatment goals, despite using three different types of drugs at the same time. “Ambulatory monitoring showed that many of these patients’ blood pressures were in the normal range when they were at home or participating in their usual activities,” said Alejandro de la Sierra, M.D., lead author of the study. “While those who actually had white-coat hypertension are not risk free, their cardiovascular outcomes are much better.” You can determine if your high blood pressure only occurs in the doctor's office, or if it's a persistent condition that needs treatment. All you need is a home blood-pressure monitor that you can buy in a pharmacy. All monitors have the same basic parts - an inflatable cuff or strap, a gauge for readouts, and sometimes a stethoscope, depending on the type of monitor you choose. Cuff. The cuff consists of an inner layer made of rubber that fills with air and squeezes your arm. The cuff's outer layer is generally made of nylon and has a fastener to hold the cuff in place. Gauge. Blood pressure monitors are either digital or aneroid. The aneroid monitors have a gauge with a dial on it that points at a number related to your blood pressure. Some older gauges look similar to a thermometer. There are two types of home blood pressure monitors: manual and digital devices. Manual blood pressure monitors use a stethoscope and an inflatable arm cuff connected by a rubber tube to a gauge that records the pressure. Digital monitors have a cuff and a gauge that records the pressure. The cuff automatically inflates at the touch of a button. These devices automatically calculate heart rate and check your blood pressure. Digital monitors can be fitted on the upper arm, wrist or finger. Arm devices are the most accurate. Doctors say you have high blood pressure if you have a reading of 140/90 or higher. A blood pressure reading of 120/80 or lower is considered normal. "Prehypertension" is blood pressure between 120 and 139 for the top number, or between 80 and 89 for the bottom number. The first number represents your “systolic” pressure when the heart beats. The second number represents the “diastolic” pressure when the heart rests. If only one number is elevated, you still have high blood pressure with all of its dangers. 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 Killer Mushrooms On Your Plate? It’s a classic plot device of murder mysteries: an evil killer slips poisonous mushrooms into the frying pan of an unsuspecting victim who dies an agonizing death. But in real life, poisonous fungi typically sicken and occasionally kill people for quite different reasons. Recently I learned a lot about what can go wrong in the world of mushrooms from Dr. Denis Benjamin, a medical doctor who is also a fungi and poison expert. As the weather improves over so much of the nation, this seems like a good time to review how you can avoid having yourself or members of your family join the ranks of those who eat the wrong mushrooms. Very young children (think toddlers) and dogs are two groups that mange to poison themselves each year. What three-year olds and Fido have in common is that they are natural omnivores, moving around and putting most everything they find into their mouths. Often they have the sense to spit out odd-tasting objects with unfamiliar textures, but not always. Luckily, most mushrooms that grow in places like your backyard are not highly toxic, so a large majority of both toddlers and canines survive their experiments with fungi. But parents and dog owners sometimes get quite the scare when they see the objects of their love chewing blobs of fungal material. Older kids can get into trouble because they dare one another to eat mushrooms they stumble across. Being brave in such games can lead to a stomachache or even serious medical problems. Immigrants also run real danger of eating the wrong mushrooms. While they may know safe mushrooms overseas, here in the U.S. some similar-looking fungi can be quite poisonous. A variation on this theme are mushroom pickers who hail from one part of the U.S. but use a mushroom field guide for another part of the country. That mistake is sometimes made even by experienced mushroom experts who fail to think through their methods. In a related vein, it’s worth emphasizing that matching a photo in a field guide or internet source with what you pick isn’t a good way of guarding your life. Many poisonous fungi are look-alikes for safe ones. Sometimes only microscopic differences separate the two - so don’t go by photos as you decide what to eat for supper tonight. Then there are the truly careless adults who end up each year in emergency rooms courtesy of mushrooms. It’s no surprise that campers who are drinking heavily while spending time in the woods sometimes fry up what they pick among the trees. As the police blotter says about a variety of emergency situations, “alcohol was a factor.” Even sober, professional chefs make mistakes with mushrooms. The expensive Morel mushroom is a case in point. It must be cooked to decrease the toxin in its flesh. Unfortunately, from time to time, even professional chefs fail to remember this point, inadvertently poisoning their patrons with raw Morels in salads. I once picked a whole hatful of what I hoped were Morels that had sprung up literally overnight next to the building where I worked. I’m no gourmet, so I knew if what I had were really Morels, I wouldn’t fully appreciate them. I therefore took them to a friend who really cares about food (and wine). He was delighted to get them, but I made it clear as I handed him the fungi that I took no moral responsibility for my gift. Still, overnight I had plenty of time to question my judgment in giving someone mushrooms I was in no position to truly identify. My friend cooked and ate the mushrooms in the company of another gourmet the same day I picked them. The mushrooms were delicious, he told me the next morning, and I was relieved the meal had led to no ill effects. That brings up an interesting question Dr. Benjamin highlighted in my mind. Why do we always wonder, when we see a mushroom, if we (or our friends) could eat it and live to tell the tale? Maybe we’ve all been reading too many murder mysteries. 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, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University.
EARTH TALK Dear EarthTalk: Recently the UN voted to declare access to safe and clean water a “human right.” Isn’t that a no-brainer? What are the ramifications of this declaration? ~P. James In July 2010 the United Nations (UN) agreed to a new resolution declaring the human right to “safe and clean drinking water and sanitation.” One hundred twenty-two nations voted in favor of the resolution; 41 (primarily developed) countries abstained; and there were zero “no” votes. The agreement comes on the heels of a protracted effort on the part of Bolivia and 30 other (mostly developing) nations determined to improve access to clean water and proper sanitation systems for the poorer human residents of the planet. Bolivia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Pablo Solon, cheered passage of the resolution that he had campaigned hard for, and stressed the need to recognize access to safe drinking water and sanitation as a human right as global supplies of fresh water get fewer and farther between. “Approximately one out of every eight people does not have drinking water,” Solon told reporters. “In just one day, more than 200 million hours of the time used by women is spent collecting and transporting water for their homes.” According to the declaration, approximately 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water. “The lack of sanitation is even worse, because it affects 2.6 billion people [or] 40 percent of the global population,” Solon said, citing a 2009 World Health Organization and UNICEF study which found some 24,000 children in developing countries were dying each day from preventable causes like diarrhea resulting from polluted water. “This means that a child dies every three-and-a-half seconds,” added Solon. The resolution itself carries no regulatory weight, but backers view it as important to raising awareness of the problem and engendering support for solutions. “We are calling for actions… in communities around the world to ensure that the rights to water and sanitation are implemented,” said Anil Naidoo of the Council of Canadians, a group that has been crucial in the international struggle for the right to clean water. “Governments, aid agencies and the UN must take their responsibilities seriously,” he added. Some developed countries - including the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several European nations - tried to block passage of the resolution in hopes of minimizing their future obligations. As one official from the United Kingdom put it, these countries “don’t want to pay for the toilets in Africa.” Also, six African countries (Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Tanzania and Zambia) and two in the Caribbean (Guyana and Trinidad/Tobago) - all former European colonies - joined efforts to try to kill the declaration. But when it was time to vote, these nations abstained so as not to go on record as opposing it. “This matters because we are a planet running out of water,” said Maude Barlow, an expert affiliated with the Council of Canadians as well as the Blue Planet Project and Food and Water Watch. Indeed, a still-growing human population, global warming and other factors combine to make fresh water supplies scarcer around the world. A recent World Bank study predicted that demand for fresh water will exceed supply by some 40 percent within just two decades. While the UN resolution may not move any mountains, it is a step in the right direction for the world’s increasing number of have-nots. Dear EarthTalk: Were Japan to close all its nuclear plants following the recent damage and radiation leaks from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, what could its energy mix look like? Would it be able to provide all of its power in other ways? ~Richard Most experts agree that Japan would be hard pressed to close all of its 54 nuclear reactors anytime soon, especially given that these plants provide over a third of the nation’s electricity supply and 11 percent of its total energy needs. Japan relies so much on nuclear power because it has so few other domestic sources of energy to draw upon. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Japan is only 16 percent energy self-sufficient, and much of this comes from its now-wounded nuclear power program. Despite producing only trifling amounts of oil domestically from fields off its west coast, Japan is the third largest oil consumer in the world behind the U.S. and China, as well as the third largest net importer of crude oil. Imported oil accounts for some 45 percent of Japan’s energy needs. Besides bringing in a lot of oil, Japan is the world’s largest importer of both coal and liquefied natural gas. Against this backdrop of imported fossil fuels, it’s no surprise that Japan has embraced nuclear power; worldwide, only the U.S. and France produce more nuclear energy. Factoring in that it would take decades to ramp up capacity on alternative renewable energy sources - right now hydropower accounts for three percent of Japanese energy usage and other renewable sources like solar and wind only one percent - and that Japan must import just about all its fossil fuels, it becomes obvious that the country will need to rely on nuclear power for some time to come, despite the risks. “Supplying the same amount of electricity by oil, for example, would increase oil imports by about 62 million metric tons per year, or about 1.25 million barrels per day,” says Toufiq Siddiqi, a researcher with the nonprofit East-West Institute. He adds that at the current price of oil per barrel (roughly $100), switching out nuclear for oil would cost Japan upwards of $46 billion per year. “Further, it would take almost a decade to build enough new oil, coal or natural gas-fired power plants to provide the equivalent amount of electricity, and tens of billions of dollars per year would be required to do so,” he concludes. In the short term, the easiest way for Japan to make up for its reduced nuclear output is by importing more natural gas and other fossil fuels, sending its carbon footprint in the wrong direction. What’s less clear is whether Japanese policymakers’ pre-existing plans to increase the country’s nuclear capacity - the stated goal is to generate half of Japan’s electricity via nuclear power within two decades as part of a larger effort to trim carbon dioxide emissions - will still be followed following the Fukushima accidents. The Fukushima plant failures are likely to impact the always evolving energy mix worldwide as well, not just within Japan. Many analysts expect the nuclear disaster in Japan to cause a shift toward the increased use of natural gas worldwide. Of course, the downside for the environment is that natural gas is a fossil fuel and its use contributes significantly to global warming. While solar and wind power can take up some of the slack, these and other renewables are at least decades away from the scalability needed to power a significant share of a modern industrial society’s energy requirements. EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E - The Environmental Magazine (www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: earthtalk@emagazine.com.
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