Silver Lake – Miss Agnes Robertson entertained recently in honor of her sister, Miss Ida Robertson, of Milwaukee, Wis.  Music and dancing were the diversions of the evening, the music being furnished by Jos. Sweeney and Matthew Kelley, of Silver Lake.  A buffet supper was served.  Those present were: Misses Mary and Josephine Murphy, Susie Gubbins, Agnes and Ida Robinson, Bernice Rogers and Julia Carman.  Messers. Geo. Murphy, Thos. Conroy, Willie Shea, Robert Rogers, Cyril Darrow, Walter Anderson, Jerome Whalley, Joseph Sweeney, Andrew Robertson, Matthew Kelley, Leo Gregory, Graydon Rogers, Christian Robertson, Mr. and Mrs. Robertson, Mr. Harrington and Helen Kane, of Binghamton.  All report a fine time.

Dimock – Doherty & Winans removed a large stone from their quarry here on Sept. 21, which was 30 ft. long, 6 ft. 7 in. wide, 2 ft., 2 in. thick, 442 cubic feet, weighing about 40 tons.  ALSO A cold and long winter will soon be here, which reminds us to fill our coal bins and wood houses and also to get in readiness our extra stoves, which have been in summer quarters. ALSO School opened Oct. 2nd.  Until the new school building is completed the Community Building will be used for the Grammar and High School departments.

Choconut Valley – James Addison, who is in the treasury department, at Washington, recently spent several days with his brother, William Addison, at Choconut Valley Inn.

Susquehanna – Richard Fitzgerald, of Washington St., aged 24 years, a switchman employed by the Erie railroad, was instantly killed while at work in the local yards on Monday.  The unfortunate young man was hurrying ahead of a train to throw a switch, when he slipped and fell beneath the car wheels, his body being badly crushed.

Glenwood – Mrs. Corinda Marcy, who was 80 years old Sept. 27, was nicely remembered with a postcard shower from her many friends.  She received about 50, wishing her many happy returns of the day.

Uniondale – Forest City visitors were numerous in our town this week and include Mr. and Mrs. Henry Bayless and son, Clyde and Benjamin Maxey and Sarah Carpenter was a shopper in Forest City, between trains, Saturday afternoon. ALSO  Dr. John S. Tinker, of Philadelphia, has been spending his vacation at the home of his father, John K. Tinker.  He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, remaining in that city, where he has built up a good practice during the past eight years.

Bridgewater Twp. – There will be a box social next Wednesday night at the home of Adelbert McCollum, of E. Bridgewater.  The funds will go toward improving the E. Bridgewater school house. ALSO Daniel W. Swackhamer, who is employed as a teamster by F. F. Pepper, while standing on a wheel hub of a coal wagon, was thrown suddenly by the horses starting forward.  He sustained several broken ribs which will require some weeks to mend.

Johnson City – Last Sunday afternoon 53 persons were injured when a platform, on which 200 people were standing at the dedication of the new Presbyterian church, gave way, plunging them a distance of 18 ft. into the cellar.  A number of persons had arms, legs and ribs broken, as well as bruises and other injures, but no fatalities resulted. The platform was a temporary structure which had been put up for the dedicatory exercises.

Montrose - A goodly representation from both the Montrose No 2 and Rough and Ready No. 1 fire companies, escorted by the Montrose Band, left on the early trolley this morning for Scranton to participate in the festivities of firemen’s day in connection with the Semi-centennial being celebrated there this week. ALSO  F. C. Myers, proprietor of the C-Nic Theatre, is to be commended for the excellent pictures which he is showing.  The pictures shown at this moving picture house are of a character that will not harm the morals of a child, and his efforts to secure high class pictures should meet with the hearty support of those who enjoy photoplays.  He has just contracted with the Paramount Co. for a series of expensive films, among which are “Such a Little Queen,” with Mary Pickford in the title role, and “The Virginian,” a dramatization of Owen Wister’s famous book, with Dustin Farnum in the title role.

Lenoxville – David Nicholas and Juliette Gifford were married on Wednesday, Sept. 20th.

Elk Lake – Contractor H. E. Walton has a contract to erect a handsome cottage on the Fuller property at this place.

Birchardville – Maurice [Morris] Baker is the new bookkeeper at the First National Bank, taking the place of Robert Wood, who has resigned.  Mr. Baker is a graduate of Montrose High school, and last year graduated from the Philadelphia School of Business.

Heart Lake – The season here has practically closed, and only a few are at the resort.  There was much to feel proud over this season at the Lake, as the dances and social functions were of a very high order—and all who spent an outing there expect to go again.  The proprietors, Mack & Jenkins, of Montrose, are very grateful for the patronage which made the season such a grand success.

Auburn Center – The Auburn High school opened on Monday:  L. M. Payne as principal; Miss Helen Kast, ass’t. principal; Miss Anna Carney, intermediate; Miss Bessie Shannon, primary.

Lathrop Twp. – The schools of this township opened on Monday with the following teachers: Deckertown, Iva States; Lakeside, Lulu Sutton; West Valley, Ruth Miller; Maple Grove, Vina Quailey; Hillsdale, Lowell Smith.

Hallstead – Henry Talmadge, aged 80 years, died at the home of his son, Earl, in Scranton, Sept 23, 1916.  The remains were taken to this place and laid at rest in the family plot.  Mr. Talmadge formerly resided here and for many years was a conductor on the Lackawanna.  He was also a veteran of the Civil War. [Mr. Talmadge was a member of Simrell Post, No. 233, G. A. R., Great Bend].

Milk Situation in Susquehanna County – The organization of the Dairymen’s League is at present controlling 85% of the normal supply of milk in New York City.  A great credit must be attributed to the farmers of this County for doing their share in attempting to establish new prices. The County was thoroughly canvassed before Oct. 1st and 90% of the milk formerly sent to the New York market has been diverted to other channels.  The farmers, unorganized, competing with the organization of the dealers, has made it next to impossible to secure better milk prices. Several Brooklyn farmers did not join the Brooklyn League and Sunday evening their milk houses were broken into and the milk destroyed.  A note was also left advising them not to ship their milk again.  Excitement is high in Brooklyn, as strike methods are not customary in rural districts. The situation seems to be improving, judging from late reports.  An offer has been made of a half cent raise per quart.  The milk buyers are talking of bringing suit against the dairymen for forming a “milk trust,” contrary to the federal laws. The outcome is awaited with interest.

200 Year Ago from the Centinel, Montrose, PA, October 8, 1816. 

TO CORRESPONDENTS. [Follow up from last week] Hemlock is received, but as his “shots” are so wild and wanton, we shall not publish his production.  He wantonly sports with the feelings of an old soldier of 76, who wore out the best of his days to obtain Liberty for himself and his country, as his wounds amply attest; and to be treated in a manner that our correspondent treats him would make Humanity weep to see the Ingratitude of mankind.

A large majority of most criminal defendants end up in the criminal justice system as a result of addiction issues.  Likewise, in the dependency system, many children are determined to be dependent based upon the inability of their parents to care for them as a result of drug or alcohol addiction.  As part of the rehabilitative process, both parole officers and caseworkers utilize urine drug screening testing kits to evaluate whether a defendant or a parent has remained clean and sober.

The protocol is pretty simple: the defendant or parent is provided with a urine sample cup, the defendant or parent urinates into the cup, and there is a test strip that is used to determine whether the urine contains the presence of any controlled substances.  Of course, as with any testing, there are those who seek to cheat the system.  There is a criminal statute aimed at deterring people from cheating on their urine screening tests.

A person commits a misdemeanor of the third degree if the person “uses or attempts to use a drug-free urine . . . for the purposes of evading or causing deceitful results in a test for the presence of drugs.”  18 Pa. C.S. 7509(b).  It is likewise a misdemeanor of the third degree for any person to provide a drug-free urine to another person so that it could be used to evade a urine screening.  A misdemeanor of the third degree is punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of $2,500.

Over the years, I have seen various attempts to provide drug-free urines, including people attempting to use the urine from their younger child siblings.  I am not sure what excuse the person provided to their little sibling to convince them to urinate into a bottle, but it demonstrates the level of desperation and manipulation that a drug addict will utilize in order to mask drug use.  I have also seen people obtain urines from third parties who was are also drug addicts – and then when the false sample was submitted and tested positive, the defendant would get upset because it was a different kind of drug than they actually used!

A recent Superior Court case addressed what constitutes “drug-free urine” under the statute.  In Commonwealth v. Rodriquez, the Superior Court considered a case where the defendant provided his parole officer with an initial urine sample that the parole officer suspected was not legitimate.  The parole officer indicated that the urine sample was extremely diluted and appeared to be water.  When the temperature of the sample was taken, it was only 70 degrees, which was far below the normal temperature of fresh urine.  The parole officer also testified that the sample did not smell like urine.  The sample was negative, but the parole officer did not buy it.  He made the defendant sit there until he could provide a second sample, which tested positive for the use of marijuana and the defendant admitted to using marijuana.  The defendant was then charged and convicted of providing “drug-free urine” to his parole officer.

On appeal, the defendant made a simple argument: there was no proof that what he provided to his parole officer was “urine.”  Indeed, the parole officer testified that it did not appear to be urine, it did not smell like urine, and it did not have a temperature consistent with a fresh urine sample.  Thus, the defendant argued that he may have provided a false liquid to evade a drug test, but that it was not “urine.”

In construing this criminal statute, the Superior Court stated: “We conclude that the General Assembly intended the phrase ‘drug-free urine’ to include any liquid that an offender presents, which he claims is his own urine, in an attempt to achieve a negative result on a drug test. [Defendant’s] argument, that the statute requires the Commonwealth to prove that the liquid is urine, would create an absurd result wherein it would not be a violation of the statute for a person to submit a sample of water, diluted urine, or other substance, in an attempt to ‘evade or cause[e] deceitful results in a test for the presence of drugs.’”  As such, the Superior Court affirmed the defendant’s conviction for furnishing drug-free urine to his parole officer.