The 54th Anniversary of Co. H., 4th Pennsylvania Reserves will be celebrated by the surviving members of the company, namely, Lieut. James P. Gay, Sergt. M. H. VanScoten, Calvin S. Gay, of Sayre and W. K. Trippler, of Brooklyn, NY, on Monday, June 14. Dinner will be served at the Tarbell House (Montrose). Since the celebration of the 50th anniversary of this company, four other surviving members, Roger Searle, Charles Kenyon, George Woodruff and Capt. A. T. Sweet, have passed to the Great Beyond.

Dairymen Pay $10,000 for Bull: King Pontiac Alcarta Pletje, a prize 2 year old bull, said to be the best ever bred, was purchased by a combination of four breeders, one of whom is E. L.
Rose, of Binghamton, and the other three residents of this county, at a sale held Wednesday on the Waverly farm of Dr. D. B. Dalton, of Dalton, Pa. Associated with Mr. Rose in the purchase of the bull was A. E. Robinson, of Montrose, George E. Paige, of Gelatt and H. S. Brown, of Thompson. The animal, undoubtedly, will be placed at Mr. Rose’s farm at Silver Lake.

Auburn Twp. – Aaron Bump, a veteran of the Civil War, died at his home in West Auburn on Monday. The funeral was held yesterday. (Enlisted in Co. A, 151st Regiment, PA Volunteers and later in Co. C, 203rd Regiment, PA Volunteers.) In Pleasant Valley congratulations are extended to Mr. and Mrs. Harry Reimel over the arrival of a little daughter, Ruth Elizabeth, born June 2. At Auburn Four Corners it is reported that the government will abolish the postoffice on July 1, putting the place on an R. D. route.

Montrose – Joseph H. Williams has received an invitation to attend the 275th anniversary of the founding of the town of Southampton, L. I., also the celebration of the same event in the establishment of the First Presbyterian church of that place. The town’s celebration will occur tomorrow and the church will celebrate on Sunday. The old Sayre homestead, occupied by the ancestors of the local Sayre family, was one of the oldest buildings in that place and only within a few years was in a fair state of preservation, but has been torn down. [Mr. Williams died several months later, on Oct. 20, 1915, age74.] Also the citizens of Montrose voted, at a special election, to pave two miles of streets and for construction of a sewage disposal plant. The vote was 372 to 17.

Hallstead – Hallstead suffered another bad fire Wednesday morning in which two buildings were totally destroyed and the loss is estimated at about $6000. About 3:25 a.m. flames were discovered issuing from the confectionery and cigar store of John Farr, on Franklin street, adjoining the Y. M. C. A. building. The latter building also caught fire and, together with the store building, was soon totally destroyed. Hoffman and Ross, of the Blue Stone Co. owned the Y. M. C. A. building and the store occupied by Mr. Farr was owned by James Gillespie. There is partial insurance coverage on both buildings and it is not known how the fire started.

Little Meadows – James Hickey, of Warren Centre, died on Sunday, May 30, 1915, at the age of 64 years. Funeral from St. Luke’s church June 1 with Father Lynch of this place officiating. [The Hickey’s were early settlers of Friendsville, Middletown and Choconut Townships.]

Jackson – Geo. Leonard has purchased a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle with side car attachment. Also Jackson is planning to have an old fashioned Fourth of July celebration with a Brass Band and Flying machine. The program will be announced later.

Susquehanna – Carl Buckley has graduated from the law department of Fordham University. Also M. J. McCarthy, division supt. of the B. & O. railroad, at Cincinnati, has been visiting his sister, Mrs. D. F. O’Connell.

Herrick Center – Mrs. Smith, wife of John Smith, manager of the Forest City poor farm, died Friday last. Funeral services at the house Monday morning and the body was taken to Roscoe, N.Y. for burial.

Harford – Harley Smith, a superintendent at the extensive Walker-Gordon farms, at Plainsboro, N. J., is paying is parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Smith, a visit. Mr. Smith spent his boyhood days in Harford, and always cherishes an interest in old Susquehanna county. The Walker-Gordon dairies consist of upwards of 1000 head of cattle and supplies certified milk to a select trade in New York and Brooklyn. Several from Susquehanna county are living at Plainsboro, assisting at these big farms. [Henry Jeffers, of Harford, married to Anna Adams in 1898, became president of Walker-Gordon in 1918 and purchased the farm in 1944. A graduate of Cornell, his inventions did much to further dairy production. By 1945, Walker-Gordon had grown to be the world’s largest Certified Milk Farm.]

Clifford – A remarkable series of revival services, conducted by Rev. Ross, of Addison N. Y., in Lenoxville, closed last week with conversions numbering over 120. A large number united with the M. E. church on probation. The talented preacher has now commenced meetings in Hop Bottom and, according to present arrangements, will come to Clifford ion September.

Lynn – There is much need of a traffic officer here as it is almost dangerous to cross the streets, some days, where the autos run through the place faster than the speed limit.

Lanesboro – Patrick Joyce, who will be well remembered in Susquehanna County, having been convicted of robbing a store in Lanesboro and sentenced to a term in the Eastern Penitentiary, but later released, by a pardon, is again in trouble. Joyce, after receiving his pardon about a month ago, immediately returned to Canavan’s Island, near Susquehanna [well-known for harboring thieves, etc., in the 19th and early 20th century] and has since been hanging around Lanesboro. He visited the Buckley store, which he robbed two years ago, and when asked by Mr. Buckley if he was not Pat Joyce, said “no he was his brother.” Joyce is fine looking, good natured and very pleasant and makes friends easily. While in the penitentiary he worked at his trade, that of a barber, earning $18 a month and was very popular with the keepers.

The Binghamton Press, Tuesday, contained the following: Confronted with Bertillion measurements and his photograph made before he was sent to the penitentiary in 1912, Patrick Joyce, alias “Whitey” arrested singlehanded at 3 o’clock this morning on Lewis street by Patrolman Jeremiah Donahue. He confessed to the police this morning that he is a yeggman known in a dozen states. When caught he was equipped with every implement necessary in the blowing of a safe and it is believed that he intended to pull a big job in this city. In his pocket was a pint bottle of nitroglycerine and at his belt was a loaded 44 caliber revolver. He refuses to admit that he is an accomplice of “Tennessee Red,” “Shorty,” Black and Johnny Quinn, the yeggs who were arrested in a raid on the house, 116 Washington street, last Friday. Joyce maintains that he is being set up and is innocent. He sassed Judge Little, after receiving a sentence in the Susquehanna county courts, two or three years ago, saying, “Judge, why didn’t you make it for life?”, whereupon Judge Little immediately doubled his term.

News Brief: A miner at Carbondale broke into an old mine chamber of the D. & H. colliery and found the skeleton of a miner, who was lost by a cave-in, nearly 70 years ago. It was in a sitting position against the face of the coal measures and still wore miner’s shoes. Around the chamber were the bones of a number of other men. It was determined by investigating the mine records that the bones were those of the eight men who were entombed by a fall of rock in the old drift, Jan. 12, 1846.

Social media has become a powerful tool for bullying and abuse – and the courts are struggling with where First Amendment speech becomes criminal words.  A recent United States Supreme Court decision highlights the continuing battle between the liberty to speak and the criminal prohibitions against threatening other people.  The case involved an estranged husband, Anthony Elonis, who created a separate online (Facebook) identity (“Tone Dougie”) after his wife left him.

Elonis then wrote “rap” lyrics that contained graphic violence aimed at his estranged wife as well as others.  Elonis would include “disclaimers” in his threatening work stating that it was all “fictitious.”  As a result of some of the Facebook posts, Elonis’ estranged wife obtained a protective order.  Elonis responded with a post that questioned whether the protective order was “thick enough to stop a bullet.”  In another post, Elonis suggested that he was going to go on an elementary school shooting spree – and he simply wondered which school he would pick.

The elementary school threat prompted a visit from the FBI – which then prompted Elonis to post threatening the FBI agent’s life with the following language: “Pull my knife, flick my wrist, and slit her throat, leave her bleedin’ from her jugular in the arms of her partner.”  He went further to say that the next time that the FBI knocked on his door, they better have a warrant, a SWAT team and an explosive expert as Elonis claimed he would detonate a bomb.

At this point, the information was presented to a federal grand jury, and Elonis was indicted under a federal statute that makes it unlawful for a person to transmit in interstate commerce “any communication containing any threat . . . to injure the person of another.”  Given that Elonis was posting on Facebook – there was no real dispute that the messages entered interstate commerce as Facebook covers and transmits across the globe.

There was really no dispute that Elonis was threatening to injure other people – his Facebook page was filled with threats.  Elonis was convicted by a jury of his peers – and the Third Circuit affirmed his conviction – but the Supreme Court reversed the conviction by a vote of 8-1.  There are several media reports on the case that garble the holding of the Supreme Court and some people are now suggesting that the First Amendment protects threatening posts of Facebook.  This is not what the Supreme Court found – the holding was a much more legalistic decision that dealt with the intent necessary to support a criminal conviction.

Most criminal statutes define an intent – and the categories include intentional acts, knowing acts, reckless acts, grossly negligent acts and sometimes simply negligent acts.  There are some statutes that simply impose strict liability – no intent is required, if you commit the prohibited act, you are guilty.  In the Elonis case, the federal statute did not include an intent element – so the trial court instructed the jury that it could find the defendant guilty if a reasonable person would have believed that the Facebook posts were threatening.  Elonis had requested an instruction that would have required proof that Elonis intended his posts to be threats – as opposed to his “artistic” rap work.  The trial court denied that request – essentially removing the intent element from the offense and making the proof akin to a negligence standard of care, i.e., what would a reasonable person believe when they read the Facebook posts.

The United States Supreme Court determined that this was the wrong standard of proof – and stressed that the Court will not presume that mere negligence would be sufficient to support a criminal conviction.  If Congress wanted to have the intent to be a negligence standard, then it should have provided that language in the statute.  Because the trial court did not give an appropriate instruction as to the level of intent required, the Supreme Court reversed the conviction and remanded the case.  The Supreme Court specifically refused to address the First Amendment issue – as stated, this was simply a legalistic determination on the standard of proof question and the appropriateness of a jury instruction.

The media reports on this case are generally getting it wrong – they seem to believe that the holding means that there is some First Amendment protection for overtly threatening social media posts.  The Supreme Court never even addressed that question – it simply found that a jury instruction was defective and reversed the conviction.  For those who are so inclined, this particular decision does not give you free license to engage in internet bullying or threats.

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.

“Graduation is only a concept. In real life every day you graduate. Graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of your life. If you can grasp that, you’ll make a difference.” ~Arie Pencovici

Many of us have read the Pulitzer-Prize winning work from Author Harper Lee, “To Kill A Mockingbird”. Each of our four Library locations has a copy waiting on a shelf for those who haven’t read it, or would like to re-discover it.

A historic Literary event is about to unfold shortly.

Did you know “To Kill a Mockingbird” was not Ms. Lee’s first novel? Originally written in the mid-1950s, “Go Set A Watchman” was the first novel she submitted to publishers.

It was presumed to be lost, only to be discovered in 2014 and will be released on July 14th, 2015. I, for one, am hoping that it is on the “Wish List” for our Library System. “Go Set A Watchman” has many of the same characters that we enjoyed in “To Kill A Mockingbird”. We are invited back to Maycomb, now 20 years later, with Scout visiting her Father, Atticus, and struggles with both personal and political issues within the small Alabama town.

How much attention did we pay and retain about the details within “To Kill A Mockingbird”? This easy quiz will refresh your memory. 1.Who attacks Scout and Jem on their way back from the pageant? Was it Tom Robinson, Bob Ewell, Charles Baker Harris or Hector Tate? 2. How old was Jem when he broke his leg? 10, 11, 13 or 14?

3. (Easy Peasy!) What is the profession of Atticus Finch? Was he a teacher, policeman, lawyer or farmer? 4. What is in Dolphus Raymond's brown paper bag? Was it cola, beer, rum or orange juice? And last, 5. What is Boo Radley’s real name? Is it James, Arthur, Jacob, or Thomas? The answers are at the bottom of this column—no peeking!

The Summer Reading Program at Susquehanna will start on June 23rd at 11:00 am, and will continue for the following five Tuesdays, ending with a special program on August 4th. More details will be forthcoming in this column.

As was announced in the last column, the Hallstead/Great Bend Library Location’s Summer Reading Program also kicks off on Tuesday, June 23rd, starting at 9:30 am. On Tuesday, June 30th at 10:00 am, the Hallstead/Great Bend Summer Reading Group Participants will have a special guest dropping by, as “Echo” the Susquehanna County Drug Task Force Dog will be visiting.

The dates and time for the July sessions will be on the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th, all starting at 10:00 am. Again, this year, (at the Hallstead/Great Bend Library only), a free lunch, sponsored by the Blue Ridge School District will be provided to all Summer Reading Program Participants.

The theme for both Summer Reading Programs is “Every Hero Has A Story” and promises lots of fun while learning plus some surprises at both locations. If your child enjoyed this program last summer, please stop by at your earliest convenience and speak with Laura, Pam, Deb or Elizabeth at the Susquehanna location or Angie, Valerie or Heather at the Hallstead/Great bend location and sign them up. It’s definitely a sure cure for the “I’m bored” summertime blues.

Don’t forget—If you have items for donation to the White Elephant Table at the Blueberry Festival, You may leave them off at the new location of the JHA garage, conveniently located next to the Montrose Inn on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 9 am to 1 pm during the months of June and July (June 2nd-July 23rd). Please watch for signs.

Answers to the Quiz are: 1. Bob Ewell , 2. 13, 3. Lawyer, 4. Cola, 5.Arthur

As I thumb through my old yearbook and walk down “Memory Lane”,

I leave you with this thought:

“You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world.” ~Tom Brokaw

Diplomas—Class Colors—Hopes & Dreams

Congratulations Class of 2015!

Kids’ ADHD meds make it “easier” for mom.

Christy came into the pharmacy with prescriptions in hand. “I don’t know what I would do without these drugs,” says the working mother of 3 children ages 12 and under. “They make my life a lot easier.” The prescriptions for psychostimulants were for two of her children who had been diagnosed with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by her primary physician. Certainly, statistics show that about 1 in 25 children have ADHD. Christy lamented that because she works, she has little time or energy for disciplining her children and, so much so, she feeds them whatever comes packaged and can be microwaved.

Here we have several problems: overstressed mom, subpar parenting skills, processed foods containing whatever chemicals included in these products and children who are chemically restrained by medications. “But the drugs work pretty good,” Christy contends.  Yes, they work well for an exhausted mother. But how do they work? Scan the prescribing information for these drugs, and you will see statements like “the mode of therapeutic action in ADHD is not known.” You can give a baby a bottle of vodka and he will be knocked out. However, what are the long term effects of giving vodka – or ADHD drugs for that matter – to this child? The parents are not concerned because the drug makes their lives easier. This is not to say that there are children who need these medications to function. Nevertheless, who is benefitting here: the child or the parent?

The pharmaceutical industry has made billions convincing adults that if their children have ADHD, if they, themselves, cannot concentrate, have had a bad work history, cannot sustain healthy relationships, or get too many speeding tickets, then they must also have ADHD. And again, the prescription pad appears. In the case of adults, psychostimulants are dangerous to the heart and with manufacturers’ warnings about sudden heart attack, stroke, and sudden death. The drug companies also caution that there may be a delay – perhaps permanent – in the growth of children on chronic ADHD medications. If these drugs slow or outright suppress weight and height, what are they doing to the mental development of these patients? The results of long term studies are pending, at the expense of the children.

Animal studies as well as anecdotal reports suggest that ADHD drugs can be gateway drugs to cocaine and other psychoactive substances. Singer Courtney Love, whose husband rock legend Kurt Cobain who was started on methylphenidate at age 7, graduated to stronger drugs, and committed suicide at age 27, said that she was also given that drug as a child and has battled with her own addiction problems. She described the experience this way: “When you’re a kid and you get this drug that makes you feel that [euphoric] feeling, where else are you going to turn when you’re an adult?”

Several points: Do not diagnose your child yourself. Just because he got a D in spelling and acted out on the playground does not mean he needs to be chemically restrained. See a psychologist for an initial assessment who will refer you to a psychiatrist if necessary. Do not let your primary physician experiment on your child. As educated as that person may be, psychiatry is a specialty. If you had a brain tumor, you would seek out an oncologist. Likewise, a child who is too active may benefit not from medications but from a more structured environment with nutritious meals and thoughtful parental guidance. And by all means, avoid “over the back fence” advice from friends or neighbors. What may work for one patient may have nothing to do with your own kid. Be an advocate for your children’s’ health.

Ron Gasbarro, PharmD is a registered pharmacist, medical writer, and principal at Rx-Press.com. Write him with any ideas or comments at ron@rx-press.com.