Hallstead – The Deemer Bros. glass cutting factory is now working full time since the installing of a new electric motor. ALSO One of the most contemptable and meanest acts of chicken thieving was pulled off last Friday evening when the lock on Mrs. Finley’s chicken house was broken and thirteen choice hens and a rooster were stolen. Mrs. Finley is a hard working widow lady, and not only were the hens bringing in an income from eggs, but were pets.  This is the third time her poultry has been stolen from her and no steps have been taken to find the guilty parties.  The thieves are doing a big business, as the barn of J. H. VanLoan was twice broken into last week and a quantity of household goods, stored there, were taken.  A reward of ten dollars has been offered for information leading to the arrest of guilty parties.

Johnson City – Earl and Elbert Tiffany have purchased one of the leading stores in Johnson City and have already taken possession of the same.  Elbert is in charge of the store and Earl will go there as soon as his business interests will permit.  For the present Earl’s family will reside on their farm in Franklin and he will sell his excelsior mill in order to have his entire time for the store.  The Tiffany Brothers have many friends here who will wish them success with their new enterprise.

West Auburn – The Binghamton Press contained a very good picture of Elmer B. Lacey, Village President of Endicott.  Mr. Lacey was a former resident of this place.  “Elmer” is made of the right stuff and the citizens of the bustling shoe manufacturing city are not slow to recognize his worth. ALSO The burning question among our dairymen is: “Shall we sell whole milk for shipment in New York city and get along without the creamery butter and the excellent pork that we raise on the skimmed milk?  One cannot “eat one’s cake and have it too.”

Brooklyn – That Brooklyn appreciates the efforts of the temperance workers in making Foster [Hop Bottom] a “dry town” and desires to help keep it so, will be shown on Friday evening, April 6th, when a community pie social will be held in the I. O. O. F. Hall for the benefit of the No License Fund.  Every family in the community is invited to come and bring a pie.  There will be games, music and a good time.

Susquehanna – The firm of Deakin & Woodard has been dissolved by mutual consent, Mr. Woodard retiring.  John Hurley, who has been with the firm for many years, has purchased Mr. Woodard’s interest and the business will be conducted under the name of Deakin & Hurley.  Mr. Woodard will, this season, build a fine dwelling house upon his farm property up the Canawacta creek in Harmony township.

Springville – Mrs. C. A. B. Stevens & Co. wish to announce to the public that she will be ready with a fine line of the latest trimmed and untrimmed hats, fancies & c., at her residence, the last week in March. ALSO Three new families have moved into Lynn this spring as follows: Ziba Schooley, of Wilkes-Barre; Philip Conrad, of Auburn Four Corners; and William Savercool, of Kasson Corners.

Friendsville The members of the A. O. H. Society and a party of friends celebrated St. Patrick’s day with a banquet and entertainment at St. Francis hall.  Those present other than Society members were: Mesdames T. F. Lee, E. H. Fitzgerald, C. J. Lake and Joseph Crowley, and the Misses Anna Foran, Margaret Gillen, Genevieve McManus, Kathryn Ryan, Julia Golden, Anna Hickey, Nelley Moynehan, Mary Lynch, Mary Purcell and Marie McMahon.

Herrick Center – A box social was held at the schoolhouse on Friday night.  A good crowd was in attendance and $23 was realized from the sale of lunches.  This sum will be expended for a wheel chair for Warren Crandall who has been unable to get around as the result of a stroke of paralysis suffered six months ago.  This is given as an expression of neighborly interest and regard.

Quaker Lake – The city of Binghamton has recently purchased, through its county superintendent of highways and members of the board of aldermen, machinery for the improving of its highways.  The road from Binghamton to this place will be the first to receive attention.

Montrose – “A garden for every home,” is the new Suffrage slogan.  There could be few better.  We expect to see our local, ardent suffragists, wielding hoes with Captain Hall, of the Lincoln Agricultural and Art society, promoting the vacant lot gardens this summer—when they are not too busy working their own.

Gibson – All who are interested in good reading matter should join our public library.  The cost is only 50 cents a year, ending on Nov. 17.  Many of the most popular magazines and books of fiction are available.  You are sure to get your money’s worth besides helping the library, as new subscriptions means new books.  Every subscriber also has the privilege of choosing one new book, for which a large order will be sent in soon.

Elk Lake – John Arnold bought a fine team of horses, also a single driver, at the Brumbaugh sale in Montrose last Saturday.

Clifford /Herrick/Uniondale – Argument will be heard at Montrose on a rule recently obtained by F. M. Gardiner, Esq., representing the petitioners for the road, on the supervisors of Clifford and Herrick townships and the borough council of Uniondale to show cause why they should not be held in contempt for not opening road as directed by court.  The road in question runs from the road leading from Uniondale to Elkdale near the Ed Burdick farm to Main street in Uniondale.  Court ordered the road opened more than a year ago but the officials have made no effort to comply with the order of court, hence the contempt proceedings.

Thompson – Several mistakes occurred in last week’s issue.  We will mention only one.  It should have read the funeral of Mr. Weir, instead of Mrs. Weir.

Forest City – A campaign is being inaugurated to stop the selling of intoxicants in Vandling and the Warren tract on Sunday.  It is alleged that at present some of the places are “wide open” seven days in the week.

Uniondale - About 20 boys from Forest City played sad havoc in the sugar camps of A. M. Williams and J. J. Tuttle, Sunday afternoon.  They broke spiles, threw away pails, put mud in the reservoir and committed other mischievous pranks.  They made their exit by jumping a coal train.

News Brief: The following Marriage Licenses were issued: E.H. Everett, Jackson and Myrtle M. Bryant, North Jackson; Shirley B. Stephens, Brooklyn and Edith O. Corwin, Hallstead; Elwin D. Rought and Marion D. Quick, both of Lenox; Henry T. Hall, Owego, N. Y. and Mary Louise Fox, Little Meadows; John D. Decker, Gibson and Lena E. Gardner, Bridgewater.

200 Years ago from the Centinel, March 29, 1817.

*Married – On the 23d inst. by J. W. Raynsford, Esq. Mr. Asahel Southworth, of Middletown, to Miss Mary Darby, of Bridgewater.

*Singular Customs. The errors of the human mind are sometimes so ridiculous that we can scarcely give credit to them.  In Egypt it was formerly a custom for the master of the house in which a cat died to shave his left eye brow as a token of grief.

Michael and Jeanne were both attorneys.  They married in 1992 and divorced in 2009.  At the time of their divorce, they had two minor children.  They agreed to share custody on an alternating week basis.  They were very cooperative with each other and their separation agreement required them both to exchange their income tax returns each year to determine if any adjustment should occur relative to Michael’s child support obligation.  Both parents were successful – but Michael’s income was substantially greater than Jeanne’s income.  For instance, in 2009, Michael had approximately $4 million in income while Jeanne earned just under $200,000.

Even though the parties were sharing custody of the children, the income disparity still required Michael to pay child support to Jeanne.  From 2010 through 2011, Michael paid Jeanne $15,878 per month in child support.  Then, Michael’s income dipped and his child support obligation the following year was reduced to $3,702 per month, then rebounded the following year to $7,851 per month.

In 2012, Michael had an exceptional year and earned over $15 million.  In providing Jeanne with his tax return, Michael suggested that the child support calculations would “yield a result that is way beyond any realistic estimate of the reasonable needs of the children.”  At this point, the parties’ cooperation ceased.  Michael would not agree to increase his child support obligation, but he continued to pay $7,851 per month in child support.  Michael did take several additional steps to provide for the children from the monies he earned in 2012.  First, he created a $2.5 million irrevocable trust for the benefit of the children.  He also agreed to pay directly approximately $70,000 to cover the children’s private school tuition, camps and other activities.  Jeanne was not placated and she filed a petition seeking to enforce their separation agreement which required child support based upon the child support guidelines.

The trial court considered a variety of issues in determining that Michael owed over $50,000 per month in child support for the year that related to his 2012 income.  The trial court agreed with Father’s assessment that this amount of money exceeded the immediate needs of the minor children for support.  As such, the trial court decided to order Jeanne to place $30,000 per month into separate savings account for the minor children so as to create an additional fund that would benefit the minor children later in their life in the event that their parents income disappeared for any reason.  Jeanne appealed this requirement contending that the trial court lacked the authority to dictate how she spent her child support.

On appeal, Jeanne argued that making her place those monies into a saving account would then result in her having to spend down her own assets before she could get permission to utilize those monies.  Jeanne further argued that the money would not be immediately available for the needs of the children.  Finally, Jeanne concluded her argument by contending that the trial court had singled her “out as the only Pennsylvania support recipient who is not entitled to free and unfettered access to the child support awarded to her which is contrary to Pennsylvania law . . . .”

The Superior Court agreed with Jeanne and reversed the trial court’s attempt to protect some of the child support for the use of the children when they were older.  In particular, the Superior Court noted that if the support monies were placed into a restricted savings account, it would limit Jeanne’s ability to access those funds for the needs of the children.  Moreover, the law clearly provides that “child support monies awarded under the Guidelines should be immediately available for the children’s needs.”  In other words, the trial court simply lacked the authority to restrict the use – or to direct the saving – of child support monies even when the support obligation is an exceptional amount. 

Of course, Jeanne could take the prudent step of protecting and saving some of these monies for the benefit of the children but the trial court could not force her to do so.

“Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.” ~Doug Larson

How do you treat your books? I’m not talking just about your own, private library, but, also, about the tomes you borrow from your local library location. Do you handle them with tender loving care?

Do you make sure that the book jacket stays clean, no matter what your fingers have handled? How about bookmarks? Do you grab the closest thing at hand and, groggily stuff it in between the pages? It’s difficult to even contemplate that you would turn down the corner of the page, but some of us have done it, in a pinch within our own private selection (not recommended). If you loan someone one of your favorites and they find toast crumbs or a slight coffee stain within the pages, they might figure that you couldn’t wait a minute more and read while having breakfast or on a lunch break. Bookmarks-in a way I suppose, but more likely a subtle note about a juicy passage. The majority of readers care for library books as if they were precious jewels awaiting another reader’s perusal and enjoyment. But, it still seems as though we like to leave things behind in the books we read. An acknowledgment sometimes perhaps, of how much one liked the book for the next borrower to find.

“Tin House Publishing” recently asked librarians to name the most interesting, memorable or, just plain odd items found in books. Some answers weren’t that surprising. The items probably were the closest thing at hand to hold their place, a photograph, an event ticket, a wine label, but, there were instances where paper money, paychecks, and even divorce papers were discovered. However, the biggest puzzle was the amount of food they found tucked between the pages. Imagine finding a cooked shrimp, pickle slices, French fries or a PopTart while checking in the bound beauties? Three librarians reported finding slices of bologna and two found strips of raw bacon. Now, you can imagine that the bologna may have been left by a child, unhappy with his lunch, but, raw bacon? The top three in the Tin House Publishing “competition” were a taco, perfectly preserved like a dried, pressed flower, a photograph of the librarian’s own Russian grandparents and uncle who had been persecuted for their religious beliefs and last but not least, a sealed, stamped envelope that had never been sent (the librarian added postage and sent it off without steaming it open). In the category of “Inquiring minds want to know”, I asked our local librarians what oddities they had found over time.

Susquehanna’s Laura Nichols told me they get lots of store receipts, envelopes and the occasional birthday cards and photos, which they attempt to return to owner. The item they like finding the least is hair stuck between the pages. (Hmm a hairy bookmark, maybe to be found in “Harry Potter” tomes?) Sorry, I couldn’t resist. She said the oddest returned in a book to date was a (still wrapped) lollipop! Now, Forest City’s librarian, Diana Junior, has found a somewhat different assortment, such as Mass Cards, scratched-off losing lottery tickets, book lists, recipes, and boarding pass photos. Hallstead/Great Bends' librarian, Angie Hall reported that they hadn’t found anything too out of the ordinary, yet. They also found money, birthday cards and photos, with the occasional grocery lists, doctor’s notes and personal bookmarks. I have a feeling after reading this column; more readers will be shaking out their volumes before returning them to you.

The 2017 Auction Night is right around the corner on April 8th at the Montrose VFW Hall on Route 706, and promises to, once again, have some beautiful and unique items to please the most discerning auction attendee. The Library Auction Fundraiser is now the second largest fundraiser for the association, following closely behind the Blueberry Festival. It also features a delicious dinner, included in the admission price which is payable at the door. Items up for auction are of exceptional quality and feature antiques and collectibles, furniture, paintings, sculptures, pottery, gift baskets, event ticket, sporting items and much more. A smattering of auction items can be seen on the library website http://www.susqcolibrary.org/auction- .

Please mark this date on your calendar and join us for an enjoyable evening as well as helping us to provide the programs and services you and your family have enjoyed.

As I fashion a basket of nesting materials for the birds to find and use, I leave you with this thought:

“In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours.” ~Mark Twain

Hidden Crocus Blossoms—Piping Hot Soup—A Giraffe Calf

Enjoy!!

When vitamins are not your friend                           

Rich, 38, came into the pharmacy and asked the pharmacist to recommend the strongest multivitamin he could get. While the pharmacist carried a high-potency multivitamin, he rarely recommends it.  Taking vitamins seems like a good plan. After all, vitamins are essential for life, and vitamin deficiencies can hurt you. Millions of Americans believe that vitamins are an inexpensive way to get healthier. In fact, close to half of the US population takes vitamins; multivitamins are the most popular. The vitamin industry, which is immensely profitable, relies on the belief that if a small amount of something is good for you, a larger amount is even better. After all, vitamins are safe. Right?

Wrong. Not only is that commercial hype, but also you can overdose on certain vitamins. There are 2 types of vitamins: fat-soluble, which builds up in fat tissues and the liver (vitamins A, D, E and K), and water-soluble (B and C), in which the body urinates out the excess. While you can overdose on megadoses of fat-soluble vitamins, high doses of water-soluble vitamins have their own issues.

Let’s start alphabetically. Vitamin A, an antioxidant, has been promoted to prevent cancer. However, the evidence does not support this. For example, in a National Cancer Institute study, smokers who took vitamin A were more likely to get lung cancer than those who did not. Perhaps the most famous cases of vitamin A toxicity occurred in early polar explorers, who ate the livers of their sled dogs and were poisoned, not realizing that the livers had excessively high amounts of vitamin A.

The B vitamins, particularly B6, are present in many foods, and deficiencies are rare. But taking B6 supplements for a long time can be harmful, according to the National Institute of Health which explains that taking high levels of vitamin B6 for a year or longer can cause severe nerve damage and heart problems, particularly in those with diabetes. Vitamin C has been studied since its discovery in the 1930s, and data going back 50 years has never proven that C prevents or cures colds. Although C is generally safe, megadoses of 2000 mg or more can increase the risk of agonizingly painful kidney stones. Eat an orange instead.

Too much vitamin D can cause high blood calcium levels, which could result in nausea, constipation, confusion, abnormal heart rhythm, and kidney stones. Get D from salmon, tuna, fortified dairy products and sunlight. For years, the antioxidant vitamin E was purported to be an anti-cancer agent. However, a recent study of over 35,000 men found that the risk of prostate cancer increased in those who took E. In an even larger review done at Johns Hopkins University, researchers observed that the overall risk of death was higher in people on vitamin E. Eat spinach, avocados and almonds instead. Vitamin K is the antidote for warfarin, a drug that thins the blood. So, if you are taking warfarin, vitamin K is stopping it from working, increasing your chance of a stroke.

Multivitamins may be the worse culprit of all. In a study that included 38,772 women over 25 years, the results showed that the overall risk of death increased with long-term use of multivitamins, vitamin B6, folic acid, iron, magnesium, zinc, and copper. Percent Daily Value (DV%) on the Nutrition Facts label is a guide to the nutrients in one serving of food. For example, if the label lists 15% for E it means that one serving provides 15% of E you need each day. The label of one high-potency multivitamin lists the DV% as 500% for E, 3750% for B6, 4412% for B2, and 5000% of B1 – incredibly high doses. Rich decided that he would forgo buying a high-potency vitamin and pay attention to the foods he eats, now that he knows vitamins are not always the magic bullet for staying healthy.

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