New Milford – Fred Davenport, the Progressive candidate for governor of New York State, is a New Milford boy that has “made good.”  His many friends here are interested in his campaign and regret their inability to help him with their votes.

Forest City - E. Van Wagner, of Washington, N. J., is here making a map of the town for the Sanborn Map Company.  The Sanborn map is used by the insurance companies and is probably the most complete affair of its kind made.  It shows the size of every building, large or small, character of material in its construction, the location of all fire hydrants and a vast amount of other information.  Also old customers of John Franko will be pleased to learn that he is to open his new tonsorial parlors in the Central hotel today.

Montrose – Mr. Somerville, the new proprietor of the “Movies” here, has very properly adopted the name C-Nic Theater, resuming the name selected by D. V. Gardiner, when the place was opened a few years ago. Also “Ted Will Pose No Longer”  “Ted,” the pet cat belonging to Photographer L. G. Titman, is no more.  Eight years of good behavior made “Ted” a favorite feline and a happy nature added to his avoirdupois so that he tipped the scales at 16 pounds.  He was a high-minded cat, nor joined his fellows in ragtime rhapsodies on a neighboring back fence.  “Ted” was generally huddled up in a ball in his master’s studio, purring out soft Wagnerian melodies.  He posed for several pretty pictures which Mr. Titman delights in showing.  Death was due to eating too much salmon.

Uniondale –For some time Will Churchill has been losing poultry and how they disappeared was a mystery.  Sunday morning the miscreant was discovered.  Will loaded up his “safety first” and shot.  Down with a thud came a horned owl, the victim of Will’s unerring aim.  The owl measured nearly five feet from tip to tip of its wings.  A Scranton taxidermist will mount the bird, a rare specimen for this vicinity.  Also  L. W. Smith is going out of business and is closing out his stock of goods.  Also E. D. Card, who has been Erie agent here the past three years, has resigned and is now in California where it is said he has secured a good position.

Brooklyn – An orchard company, of which Mr. MacKaskey, of Scranton, is superintendent, will pack nearly 3000 barrels of apples here this fall.  E. S. Eldridge will place over 1000 barrels in storage from his orchard.

Hop Bottom – Our County Surveyor, Morris Tingley, of this place, while on the road from here to Glenwood, had a very narrow escape, being thrown down an embankment about 30 feet while the horse and wagon went down about 70 feet.  He was badly hurt, the wagon was demolished, and the horse, a valuable one, about ruined.

Thompson – Supervisor DeWitt and a force of men from N. Jackson and Thompson, last week, made a decided change in the dangerous bend in the Thompson road, near the Ed Gillet farm.  The rocks have been blasted out so that any two vehicles can now pass at any point on the curve.  The road was previously very narrow and was a menace to travelers.

Springville – Mr. and Mrs. Artie Johnson expect to move back to Hopbottom about Nov. 1.  They will both be missed in the church work, and also Mr. Johnson had a wide circle of patrons of his blacksmith shop, who regret his removal. The poor health of his mother (a widow) who lives at Hopbottom and who has been urging their return before next April is the main reason for the change.

Auburn Twp. – The death of J. C. Tyler came suddenly, Oct. 16, 1914, at his home near Carlin’s pond, where he has resided for over 50 years.  “Squire Tyler” as he was known, was 73 years and 9 months old and celebrated with his good wife, July 3rd last, the 50th anniversary of their marriage.  He was born in Dimock Twp. in January, 1831. His children are M. S. Tyler, of Auburn Twp., Mrs. M. G. Linaberry, of Port Dickinson, N. Y., C. B. Tyler, of Meshoppen and Alpha, who resided at home.  A brother, John Tyler, of Wilkes-Barre survives him.

Dimock – The foot ball game between Tunkhannock and Dimock, scheduled to be played Saturday, October 17, did not come off, owing to Tunkhannock’s backing out.

Forest Lake – The Kane School house is being rebuilt this week by the school directors, as it was pronounced unsafe.

West Lenox – Albert Phillips is the champion potato raiser in our section, this season.  In Lenox, Ed Collins and Frank Rose, of Harford, moved a barn for Benjamin Carr the past week.

West Jackson – Jesse Morse and John Dakin have a fine field of potatoes.  They have already dug 750 bushels.

Gelatt – Mr. and Mrs. William Manzer have moved from their farm here and opened up a new store.  Give him a call.

Franklin Twp. – Benjamin Conklin Vance, youngest and only living son [of 12 children] of James and Charity Vance, was born June 28, 1829, and always lived on the farm where he died Oct. 18, 1914, being 85 years, 3 months and 20 days old. He was born in a house which stood very near the house in which he lived.  He was brought up on the farm in the usual way of those days and attended the district school. In 1854 he married Kate Decker, who is still living, enlisted in the Civil War and was 1st. Sergt. In Co. C, 151st Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers; later re-enlisting in the 2nd New York Cavalry.  He has always been a kind and benevolent neighbor, helping and giving to those whom he thought in need with a free hand; and now he has come down to death and we lay him away with the thought that his has been a life well spent,

News Briefs: Susquehanna County Teacher’s Institute.  The town is fairly swarming with teachers of the county thus week, a fine appearing lot of young people, cheerful and vivacious, who show by every word and action that they are not only interested in their work and cheerfully accept the many responsibilities incident hereto, but feel a real zest and delight to discharging their duties.  The teachers of Susquehanna County would be a credit to any county in the State—or in the United States and Montrose people take very kindly to the teachers, too, and look forward with pleasure to their yearly visit. Also People, without regard to creed or denomination, have an opportunity to contribute toward the Christmas ship, which will leave in a few days to make glad the hearts of the great throng of orphans and widows, made by the great European conflict.  Toys, new or good secondhand ones, children’s clothing, underclothing and shoes, such as you would be glad to receive, or money, may be left at the Independent Republican office, in Montrose, not later than Monday, Oct. 24, from which they will be forwarded to the receiving station at City Hall courtyard, Philadelphia. Also the State Hospital at Farview is getting its supply of fuel from the old gravity railroad bed located on the hospital farm.  It is stated that the supply will last for many years.  Also a Williamsport woman has brought suit for damages against a private hospital of that city, alleging that she was seriously burned by a hot water bottle while under an anesthetic during an operation.

There is an old question out there that defies any answer: which came first, the chicken or the egg – I can still remember the Sesame Street tune that had the same title. From a philosophical perspective, Thomas Aquinas once used something similar to the chicken/egg question to frame a logical argument to support God’s existence, i.e., there must be a first parent for everything, i.e., the chicken came first, then the egg.

In a meeting a few months ago, I asked this question to a mental health professional in connection with drug abusers. Over 15 years as a prosecutor, I have seen a strong connection between drug use and mental illness, so I was wondering whether the mental illness came first and led to the drug use, or the drug use came first and led to the mental illness. I was told that it is a little bit of both worlds – some people have mental illnesses and end becoming drug abusers, i.e., they “self-medicate.” Other people acquire mental illness as a result of their drug use, and the mental illness then helps to feed the addiction.

I remember a conversation I had with a family member of a young man who had recently been sentenced and incarcerated at our local correctional facility for drug offenses. The family member was distraught and said “we will never get him back.” I was surprised by the statement and tried to reassure her that nothing would happen to him in the correctional facility and that he would eventually be paroled. The family member shook her head and said that she was not talking about physically – she was talking about the person that he was before he used drugs. She said something that really struck home – she said his brain had changed and that he was no longer the same kid. It was a chilling thought – and it goes back to the mental illness connection with drug use. A normal mind can be changed by drug use.

I had an inmate at our local correctional facility send me some news clippings – this particular inmate had been through the system many times and had been in both state and county correctional facilities. The clippings he sent related to mental illness in prisons – and noted that ten percent of all inmates in federal prisons are receiving medication for mental health issues. He wanted to highlight his belief that the prison systems were becoming a repository for the mentally ill and that the mental health system was in a state of crisis. This inmate argued that the criminal justice system was not the right forum to treat individuals with mental illness.

The mere existence of a mental illness, however, does not provide a defense to criminal behavior, unless the mental illness is so severe as to eliminate the ability to control behavior or understand right from wrong, which would be very rare. As such, the criminal justice system gets a good percentage of people suffering from varying degrees of different mental health issues who are prosecuted and incarcerated. Mental health treatment and drug and alcohol treatment is then provided at the correctional facility with the goal toward rehabilitation of the offender and, upon parole, a treatment plan is set up with both mental health providers and drug and alcohol counselors. It is not a perfect system, but it is still designed to protect the community and reform the offender.

In the meantime, people will continue to debate the chicken/egg connection with drug use and mental illness. Last week, the news reported a 20-year marijuana study that noted there is a connection between the use of marijuana and serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, especially if the use of marijuana began as an adolescent. For those of us who deal with individuals who use controlled substances every day, these kinds of studies simply confirm our observations – drug use and mental illness tends to go together – regardless of which came first.

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/.

Why is it OK for pharmacists to give vaccines?

Roger, 53, stepped into his pharmacy and saw a sign for vaccinations right in the store. He asked the pharmacist as to what kind of vaccines she gives. The pharmacist answered, “Flu, pneumonia, and shingles.” “You mean right here? Right now?” exclaimed Roger. “Isn’t that my doctor’s job?”

Currently, all 50 states allow pharmacists to administer vaccinations, with Maine becoming the last state to allow pharmacists to administer immunizations, catalyzed by the threat of the H1N1 virus in 2009. The pharmacist’s authority to administer vaccines is determined by each state’s laws and regulations governing pharmacy practice. Some states require specific education or certification requirements; some limit the types of vaccinations pharmacists are allowed to administer. Other states set boundaries on the age of patients that pharmacists can vaccinate – typically over age 18 years. Some jurisdictions require pharmacists to have a prescription from a physician before administering a vaccine. In addition to the 3 aforementioned immunizations that pharmacists can give, some states allow meningococcal (meningitis), hepatitis B, human papillomavirus (HPV), and Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) vaccines.

Vaccination rates, although improving, are still drastically low, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As of 2012, only 20% of adults at high risk for pneumonia had received the pneumococcal vaccine. Also, just 20% of adults received the shingles-fighting herpes zoster vaccine in 2012, a modest increase from 16% in 2011. Thus, the need exists for simpler, easier ways for adults to get the vaccinations that can prevent life-threatening diseases. Pharmacists can improve these rates.

There has been some pushback from physicians who want to limit the expansion of immunizing patients by pharmacists, contending that only they are equipped to handle the occasional and rare side effects of vaccines. In my opinion as a pharmacist who immunizes, I feel that physicians who are threatened by pharmacists who give vaccines may only be thinking about the income they may be losing, not the importance of having the population staying healthy.

Pharmacists, on the other hand, through their training and availability are completely qualified to administer vaccines, and many pharmacies allow walk-ins. Opening up pharmacies for vaccination will provide low-cost accessible vaccination without the usual impediments of time, money, distance, and transportation.

Because of this information, Roger, who had chicken pox as a child and, therefore was at risk for shingles – a horrible disease that crippled his elderly mother – opted right then and there to receive the herpes zoster vaccine from the pharmacist.

Ron Gasbarro, PharmD is a pharmacist, medical writer, and principal at Rx-Press.com. Write him at ron@rx-press.com.