Harford – Two died and thirty were injured in Harford’s I. O. O. F. Hall fire. Trapped on the 2nd floor of the Odd Fellows hall building, while flames poured up the only stairway used as an exit, nearly 100 persons were forced to leap for their lives, from the windows, to save themselves from death in the roaring furnace of flames beneath. The fire started in the kitchen, which is located near the one narrow stairway to the hall above.  A large lamp gave way and oil spurting from the lamp, as it struck the floor, quickly ignited the building. People had gathered at a reception for Mr. and Mrs. Neil Follett, newlyweds, when the cry of “fire” sounded. Rev. H. A. Green made ropes of curtains by which many were enabled to reach the ground in safety.  Others fell or jumped from the windows, a distance of about 15 ft., many breaking legs, arms and suffering internal injuries. The care given the children is shown in the fact that not a child was seriously hurt.  They were carefully let down by the curtain ropes or tossed into waiting arms. Mrs. Lee Forsythe, 35, died from serious burns and also, Miss Mary Sweet. Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Whitney were taken by automobile to the Moore-Overton Hospital, Binghamton, both suffering breaks in both legs. Rev. Mr. Green was the last to leave the hall, and the ladder having been brushed aside, he jumped, breaking both legs. Doctors came from surrounding towns and some worked until noon on Wednesday alleviating the suffering.

Forest City – A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph R. Kelleher on Sunday morning.  The youngster, who has been named after his dad, besides having a full quota of grandparents, has two great grandmothers living, Mrs. Nora Kelleher, of this place and Mrs. Quinn, of Scranton, mother of Mrs. James Malia. ALSO Bolus Kusmenski was fatally injured while at work in the Gray slope yesterday afternoon by a pre-mature blast.  His face and right arm were badly lacerated and the right leg was broken near the knee.  He died while being removed to the hospital.  He is survived by a wife and two small children, also by a brother Peter.  Deceased was 32 years of age and a native of Russia.  He had resided here the past ten years and was highly respected.

Thompson – E.[Edwin] P. Potter is erecting a large barn.  It will be one of the largest and most up-to-date in the country.  The structure is now going up and when the frame was raised, the first of the week, it required nearly a hundred men to raise it.

Dimock – Jesse Kitchen, a veteran of the Civil War, died at his home here of cancer of the stomach on Friday last and was buried on Monday in the Dimock cemetery.  He was nearly 79 years old. ALSO Byron Benninger will move, March 1, to his new farm, which he recently purchased, on the “back road.”

Shannon Hill, Auburn Twp. – Mark Overfield, who got the bones in his foot cracked by the horses starting up and his foot being caught in the spokes of the wheel, is able to be out with a crutch and hauls the milk to town.

Lakeside, New Milford Twp. – The farmers are busy filling their ice houses during the cold snap.  Those who have just finished filling their houses are: R. R. Jennings, N. B. Rice, C. J. LeRoy, the poor asylum, F. E. Rice, E. E. Mosher, Leo Williams and J. B. Hart.

Silver Lake – A. [Arthur] N. Hill has purchased a new horse and will draw the milk going from here to Conklin for the coming year.

Montrose – A business announcement which came as a pleasant surprise to a very large number of people was that of the purchase of the interest of the late Clark L. Voss, of the firm of Pepper & Voss, by ex-Register & Recorder Milton E. Birchard.  This firm sells D. L. & W. coal in Montrose, conducts the express business, and do a general draying business. 

Howard Hill, Liberty Twp. – Miss Violet LaSure, who has been ill at her home in this place for the past six weeks, was given a Sunshine Box by her many friends New Year’s day, it also being her 17th birthday.  She wishes to thank all who aided in making the box thus helping her in the passing of the lonely hours.

Clifford – Fine skating on the creamery pond is the verdict of the Clifford boys.

Hop Bottom – George Finn, of Kingsley, has opened a mercantile business in the store formerly occupied by G. A. Roberts.  Mr. Roberts is building a fine residence on his farm in Lenox, where he will reside in the near future.

Glenwood, Lenox Twp. – Miss Lucille Wilson, of this place, a recent graduate of Syracuse University Library School, has accepted a position in the Syracuse public library.

News Briefs: Although the sleighing is not the best, the roads being miniature glaciers, scores of farmers are hauling lime to their farms from Montrose.  Tons of this land stimulant are drawn along the principal avenues of traffic daily, the loaded sleighs at times making a veritable procession. ALSO That the 5,000,000 acres of barren land in Pennsylvania can be reclaimed by reforesting is finally established by reports given out by the Department of Forestry.  These reports cover the planting of 21,000,000 trees on 13,000 acres of State Forest land.  Pennsylvania set a record last year when almost 6,000,000 trees were planted in one season and a single plantation was made which contained over half a million trees. The nurseries will produce many more trees this year, but the work of planting will be hampered considerably by scarcity of labor and lack of funds.

200 Years Ago from the Centinel, Montrose, Pa, January 18, 1817. 

*MARRIED – In this town [Montrose] on Sunday last, by the Rev. Davis Dimock, Mr. John Bard Jr. to Miss Almeda Wilson, daughter of Stephen Wilson, Esq., all of this town.

*MARRIED – On Thursday last, by D. Post, Esq., Mr. Stephen Geer to Miss Abagail Olney, both of Waterford [Brooklyn].

* For Sale at Public Vendue. The subscriber will offer for sale at Pubic Vendue, on the 30th inst. at his dwelling house in Harford township, the following property: viz. One Yoke of Oxen, 1 Cow, some Young Cattle & Thirteen Sheep, and a quantity of WHEAT, RYE, & OATS, and a number of articles of Household Furniture; also, the Lot of Land on which he now lives, containing 88 acres, 30 of which are under improvement; some grain on the ground; there is on the premises a two story dwelling house, a small barn, and 150 apple trees.  Twenty days credit will be given for the moveables and a reasonable credit for the Farm.  The sale will commence at 10 o’clock A.M.    CYRUS CHEEVER. Harford, Jan. 15, 1817.

*Ardent Spirit – The synod of Pittsburgh, Pa., have recommended to all the ministers within their bounds, to endeavor both by precept and example, to abolish the use of ardent spirits except as a medicine.  Among the evils resulting from its present extravagant use, they enumerate idleness, poverty, wretchedness; the destruction of health and reputation; discord in families and communities; enervating the strong, making ideots of the wise: & as training up thousands for  disgrace, the prison, the gallows and eternal misery.

When a court enters a protective order in an abusive relationship, there is a commonly a provision that prohibits any contact between the abuser and the victim.  In a world with so many different forms of communication, the question of what constitutes “contact” can be a perplexing one.  A recent Superior Court case highlighted problems that can arise through the use of social media when there is a protective order in place.

In the case of Commonwealth v. Lambert, the trial court had entered a protective order against Jack Lambert prohibiting him from contacting his former girlfriend for a period of 3 years.  The court went further to add a provision that prohibited Lambert from posting any remarks or images relating to his former girlfriend on any social media site.  But Lambert just could not stop himself from making posts on social media so that all of his friends would know about his difficulties.

Despite the protective order prohibiting him from posting things about his former girlfriend, Lambert proceeded to post lamentations regarding his lost love, how he was wronged, and how he still loved his former girlfriend.  Lambert stated he had “lost my love and trust in people,” that he had given “her [his] full trust just for her to use it,” and that his former girlfriend now had three years without him and he hoped she would finally see things differently because she was his “soulmate.”  Lambert spoke about being depressed, that his heart was “crushed,” that he had lost his “best friend, [his] heart, [and his] soul.”  Lambert then stated: “God only knows that I will do next.”  He also criticized the court itself with the following post: “Justice system sucks and too many women abuse it.”  This is just some of the things that Lambert posted – and the Superior Court only printed a sample of them, but even that sample has too much volume to be reproduce here.

Lambert was then charged with an indirect criminal contempt for violating the protective order with his social media posts.  An indirect criminal contempt is an ungraded misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months of incarceration.  It requires proof that: (1) the protective order was definite, clear and specific as to the prohibited conduct; (2) the defendant knew about the order and its prohibitions; (3) the defendant intentionally violated the order; and (4) the defendant did so with wrongful intent.

Lambert contended that he did not act with “wrongful intent” because he never specifically mentioned his former girlfriend by name, he posted the items on his personal social media page, he did not alert his former girlfriend to his ramblings, and that his former girlfriend would not have even known about the posts unless she went and looked at his page.  The trial court disagreed with Lambert and convicted him, sentenced him to 30 days of incarceration followed by 5 months of probation.  Lambert then filed an appeal.

The Superior Court likewise dismissed Lambert’s arguments: “Though [Lambert] refrained from using [his former girlfriend’s name], the insinuation that [the former girlfriend] and the recent PFA order at issue were the subjects of [Lambert’s] Facebook activity was obvious and unmistakable.  The temporal proximity between the hearing and the posts, along with the various negative references to both a recently estranged paramour who would realize her mistake over the next three years and a judicial system which she allegedly abused to his detriment, lead to the inescapable conclusion that [Lambert] was referring to [his former girlfriend].”  Thus, the Superior Court found there was sufficient evidence to sustain Lambert’s conviction for an indirect criminal contempt.

Lambert had a second argument – that the protective order violated his First Amendment right of free speech.  Next week, we will take a closer look at that argument and how the Superior Court addressed it.

Let there be light!

Sue walked into the pharmacy and was wandering around the aisles. “Sue, can I help you find something?” asked the pharmacist. She replied, “No, not really. I am just feeling blah. All I want to do is eat and sleep. Maybe I should see my doctor about getting an anti-depressant.” The pharmacist spoke with Sue for a while to determine whether she was truly experiencing major depression or, instead, seasonal affect disorder, also appropriately called SAD. After all, it is winter and many are restricted from doing everything they want because of the relentless weather.

What are the differences between major depression and SAD? In major, or classical, depression, the person feels hopeless and worthless, almost every day. Sleeping is difficult and there can be thoughts of death or suicide. Food is unthinkable. In SAD, a person usually overeats, especially carbohydrates. That’s why mac & cheese is so comforting during a snowstorm. Also, in SAD, the person sleeps and sleeps and sleeps.

The specific cause of SAD remains unknown. Some factors that may impact a person’s emotionality include: One’s biological clock (circadian rhythm). The reduced level of sunlight in fall and winter may cause winter-onset SAD. This decrease in sunlight may disrupt the body's internal clock and lead to feelings of depression. A drop in serotonin, a brain chemical (neurotransmitter) that affects mood, might also play a role in SAD. Reduced sunlight can cause a drop in serotonin that may trigger depression. Melatonin levels may plummet. The change in season can disrupt the balance of the body's level of melatonin, which plays a role in sleep patterns and mood.

About 4-6% of people suffer from SAD. Another 10-20% have mild SAD. SAD is 4 times more common in women than in men. SAD is also more common the farther north you go. For example, it's 7 times more common in New England than in Florida. Hence, the snowbird phenomenon.

What’s the treatment for SAD? The pharmacist explained to Sue that, most likely, an anti-depressant drug might be overkill in her case. First, they can take a month to treat symptoms and, second, if one is on several medications, adding another one may cause interactions or side effects.

Since SAD is likely triggered by a lack of sunlight, light therapy (phototherapy) is one way to treat it. If you want to try light therapy, then you will need to purchase a special light box. You will place the light box to your side but do not stare into it. Generally, light therapy takes about 30 minutes a day in the fall and winter. If light therapy helps, you should keep using it until more sun is available in the springtime. Stopping light therapy too soon can make the symptoms come back. If light therapy is not helping, then Sue’s prescriber may want to include an anti-depressant.

When used properly, light therapy has few side effects. Side effects include eye strain, headache, and inability to sleep. Insomnia can happen if light therapy is used late in the day. Use it in the morning. Tanning beds should not be used to treat SAD. The light sources in tanning beds are high in ultraviolet (UV) rays, which harm your eyes and your skin. Sue brightened up a bit when she heard this information and decided to get a light box for her desk.

Ron Gasbarro, PharmD is a registered pharmacist, medical writer, and principal at Rx-Press.com. Visit him at www.rx-press.com. 

A “Cult of Ugliness” reigns in America. Despite the best efforts of the formerly-dominant news media, a politicized “leadership” of so-called intelligence agencies, and a discredited has-been president, the American people are waking up. The Cult of Ugliness is enraged at the American people. In its fury for revenge upon the honest, God-fearing people of the heartland, it seeks to wreak havoc and “fill the swamp” to over-flowing. As all else has failed, it has finally come to this: the Cult of Ugliness seeks war, or at least a level of distrust and international tension not seen since the height of the Cold War in 1962. 

By now anyone who has been exposed to American news since Election Day knows that there has been a cacophony of miscreants screaming that the Russians hacked our election. Not only did the Russians hack our election, but Vladimir Putin personally ordered and oversaw the hacking operation; at least that's the story being told. The story has morphed over time. The Cult's conflation of the word “election” with the word “hacked” led many ill-informed news consumers to mistakenly conclude that votes cast, as well as vote totals, and election outcomes were altered by Russian actions. After leaving that story hanging out for as long as possible the Cult was finally forced to admit that no voting machines or vote tabulation equipment is hooked up to the internet. As such there is absolutely no possibility that any votes were “hacked” by the Russians. The charge itself was ludicrous from the very beginning, and the Cult knew it. But it did maliciously plant discontent and distrust. 

Phase II of the Cult's plan was two-pronged: (1) delegitimize the election of Trump, and (2) paint Trump as unfit for the presidency because of his “cozy” relationship with Russia. While President-elect Trump has urged calm and expressed skepticism that any Russian actions changed the election's outcome, President Obama seems unable to control himself in taking swipes at both Trump and Putin. Obama further demonstrated his faux toughness by expelling 35 Russian diplomatic personnel and closing two of their recreational compounds here in the United States.

Obama additionally ordered two separate reports to prove the culpability of Russian hacking for our 2016 election results. The unclassified reports available to the public not only do NOT prove that Russian operatives influenced American elections, they actually demonstrate what an incredibly weak case our government has against the Russian government and President Putin. Not only is there no smoking gun in the reports, there isn't even any gun, much less smoke. Notably, the NSA expressed only moderate confidence in the reliability of the most recent report. The first report contained a lengthy disclaimer that the contents of the report could not be verified. 

So what exactly is going on here? To clear the air, let's begin with basics. Both the United States and Russia (formerly constituted as the USSR until 1991) seek to influence the elections of each other, as well as other countries. According to a Ph.D dissertation authored by Dov Levin of Carnegie-Mellon University the United States intervened in 81 foreign elections between the years 1945 and 2000; the USSR/Russia intervened in at least 36 elections in the same period. Most notable of U.S. election interventions was President Bill Clinton's heavy-handed influence in Russia's 1996 presidential election—to ensure election of Boris Yeltsin. 

More recently, Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel did not hide his clear preference for election of Mitt Romney over President Obama in 2012. President Obama had already shown Netanyahu the back of his hand on numerous occasions during his first term, and PM Netanyahu knew Israel needed a true friend in the White House. Netanyahu's gamble, of course, did not pan out. 

In July of 2015, President Obama returned Netanyahu's “favor” by attempting to influence the outcome of Israeli elections. With the full muscle of U.S. government resources, as well as Democratic Party dollars and manpower flown into Israel, Obama tried with all his might to push Netanyahu out of office. And much to his chagrin Israeli voters returned Prime Minister Netanyahu's government to office for another term. 

Okay, it is clear the United States seeks to “influence” the elections of foreign countries. So too does Russia. And so too do all other countries which have any kind of strategic interests. The faux shock expressed by the formerly-dominant news media, the President, and politicized heads of American intelligence agencies concerning Russian “influence” in our election is out-and-out laughable. America commits espionage against other nations and they do the same against us. We constantly hear of cyber-warfare being carried out against America, but our government never has press releases for the cyber-warfare it is carrying out against nations whose interests conflict with ours. 

The proximate incident which upsets the aforementioned parties of the Cult of Ugliness is not a hack at all; it is, possibly, a phish. John Podesta, Democratic big-wig serving as Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, so the story goes, gave up his password—the word “PASSWORD”—to a spammer who phished him. With that password, the spammer gained access to all of Podesta's emails. That is one scenario for how Podesta's emails were leaked. During the course of the presidential campaign, Julian Assange, of Wikileaks fame, made Podesta's emails available online. Neither Podesta nor the Democratic National Committee has ever denied the authenticity of the contents of the emails. 

The formerly-dominant news media for the most part refused to report the contents of Podesta's emails. Additionally, many internet sites refused to make Podesta's emails public. What was in Podesta's emails? Well, they confirmed that the Democratic Party had, in fact, rigged the Democratic primaries to ensure Hillary Clinton's nomination over Sen. Bernie Sanders. DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Shultz was forced to resign. (Candidate Trump had said as much before the emails were made public.)

But that's not all. Podesta's emails revealed much, much more about the Clinton campaign. For example, an email dated January 25, 2016, from a Clinton staffer to John Podesta and Jennifer Palmieri outlined a whole series of problematic quotes by Hillary Clinton to Wall Street bankers in paid speeches. The quotes contained in the email clearly revealed Mrs. Clinton's disconnect from reality, as well as the disconnect of her private position from what she was publicly telling voters. 

Probably the most damaging discussions revealed in Podesta's emails touched on a topic that came to be known as “Pizzagate.” The formerly-dominant news media won't touch the subject with a ten-foot pole, except when they extract some misconstrued detail, build a straw-man argument around it, and knock down the obviously false narrative they themselves have just created. To this date, the coverup of “Pizzagate” continues. 

The sum and substance of Podesta's emails were that Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party lied. They lied; they deceived; they prevaricated; they misled and misinformed consistently, day-in and day-out, to ensure their own voters never understood the depths of their corruption. Their goal was to manage sheeple and to keep voters ignorant—ignorant of their lust for unlimited power and greed. Podesta's emails make clear that had Hillary Clinton been elected, what shred of the rule of law was left in this country would have been eradicated during her term of office. 

Julian Assange, Wikileaks founder, has stated that the emails released by Wikileaks did not originate from either Russia or any other “state actor.” The former Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, backs up Assange's story. His story, though suppressed in America, has been widely reported in the British press. According to Ambassador Murray, he flew to Washington, DC, and served as an intermediary between disgusted Democratic staffers and Wikileaks, and he noted that the Democratic Party staffers who gave him access to the emails said they had the legal authority to possess them. Readers should note that the British press possesses curiosity and skepticism virtually unknown in the major American news operations.

CIA Director James Clapper and FBI Director Jim Comey have asserted that Russia was involved in Podesta's leaked emails. It's a shame both are still drawing government paychecks. It has been more than 1400 days since Clapper committed perjury before Congress (lying to Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon on March 13, 2013). As for Comey, he has already demonstrated his corruption in the handling of the Clinton-server scandal (mis-stating/misapplying applicable law concerning Clinton's felonies, and covering up President Obama's use of an alias to communicate Top Secret information to Clinton on her private server). Both Clapper and Comey have zero credibility concerning any matter of national security. The American people can only hope President Trump removes both of them, as well as others of their ilk, the day he takes office. 

Did Russia seek to influence our 2016 presidential election? Yes, it's quite likely. Did the Russians make Podesta's emails available to Wikileaks to ensure their publication. I think NOT, though if they did, they did the world a favor by letting the public see who Hillary Clinton was, and why she was unfit and unqualified on every level to be the leader of the free world. 

In delivering a speech before the Democratic National Convention last year, President Obama hyperbolically insisted, “There has never been a man or a woman, not me, not Bill, nobody more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as president of the United States of America.” In truth, on Election Day 2016 American voters recognized that Hillary Clinton was the only candidate less qualified than Barack Obama to be entrusted with the power invested in the presidency of the United States of America. 

President Obama promises to hang around Washington, DC, unlike all his predecessors when they finished their terms. Such is his determination to continue to sew divisiveness in collaboration with a disgraced and discredited news media. Much of America has caught on to his manipulations and dissimulations of the last eight years; too many remain asleep. Wake up, America!