Forest City – The graduating class this year is composed of Elizabeth Jannicelli, Helen Kehren, Henry Curtis, Donald Maxey and William Sredenschek. ALSO A baby girl was born to Mr. and Mrs. Pat O’Malley of New York on June 8th.  Mr. O’Malley who was for a long time with the Edison Film company is now starring with the Famous Players.  Rex O’Malley, another son of P. H. O’Malley, of this place, only 8 years old, is in New York with his brother and is appearing in Edison pictures.  Recently he was featured in a juvenile part in “The Fisher Boy.”

Thompson – A terrible wreck and smash-up occurred Tuesday morning about 1-2 miles below Thompson village, when a D & H coal train was derailed by a broken wheel.  Eight cars were thrown into a pile and seven entirely demolished.  The wreckage was cleared away so that trains began running again at night.  Half of Thompson was on the spot to view the scene in about the time it takes to get there.  One man was slightly injured when a heavy railroad tie fell on him, but he didn’t stop work.  Such a man would make a good soldier.

Lewis Lake, Uniondale – Work on the dam at the lake is suspended until such time as the railroad company knows where it is at.  It will be remembered that the dam was condemned by the state authorities some time ago. The railroad company sought to remedy the defection and incidentally raise the dam.  Property owners objected to having their land inundated and ordered the company to cease operations, which was accordingly done.  The tools and material were transferred to Hathaway’s pond where extensive repairs are to be made.

Montrose – William Post, the oldest member of the Susquehanna County bar, and probably the oldest man in the county, died Monday after a brief illness at the Tarbell House, in this place, where he had made his home the past few years.  He was born Feb. 10, 1825, and therefore had passed his 92nd birthday.  He began the practice of law in 1856 as a partner in the firm of Little & Post.  In 1864 he moved to Susquehanna, where he had large landed interests.  The borough of Oakland is built on land he formerly owned.  He returned to Montrose in a few years where he was greatly admired and respected.  He was married three times and by the first marriage had three daughters, all of whom preceded him in death, as did his first two wives.  His third wife survives, also six grand-children and one great-great grandchild. Mr. Post was the last charter member of Rough & Ready Fire Company.  He was a member of No. 1 at the time of his death.

Glenwood – William O. Medler passed away at his home on May 31, 1917. As a boy of 17 years he enlisted in the army during the Civil War and participated in may of its severest and most critical battles.  He was present at the supreme moment of Lee’s surrender and witnessed that momentous event.  In 1862 he enlisted in Co. C, 143rd NY Volunteers, serving until honorably discharged in 1863.  He re-enlisted in 1864 in Co. M., 15th Heavy Artillery, with which he remained until the close of the war. He was a member of Captain Lyons Post, No. 85, G. A. R., of Glenwood.

East Rush – Our blacksmith, D. A. Rosenkranse, had Myron Crisman arrested one day last week for trespass.  It seems that Myron and some of the boys wanted to go fishing, and one evening went up around Rosenkranse’s house to hunt for worms, and was ordered off.  But Myron refused to go, whereupon the arrest was made.  The suit was before ‘Squire Gray last Friday and resulted in a division of the costs between the parties.

Choconut –Our rain still continues and people are having hard work to get in any crops.  The freshet of last week washed most of the gardens out along the valley. ALSO Mr. Harrington has purchased a share in Nelson Green’s saw mill and they have moved it on to the Downs’ place, where they expect to commence work soon.

Susquehanna – The funeral of James Donely occurred Saturday morning, June 9, from St. John’s church.  Mr. Donely was one of the pioneer residents of Susquehanna.  He is survived by two sisters, Miss Bridget and Sister Mary Conception.

Hopbottom – A band of a dozen or more members has recently been organized under the leadership of Len Jerauld, formerly leader of the Glenwood band.  As the members are all players with previous experience, they will soon be able to do creditable work.

Clifford – The Memorial Day exercises were well attended in Finn’s hall.  There were but three veterans in attendance, reminding us that the days are swiftly passing.  The death of Dr. Snyder, of Scranton, cast a gloom over the day, because of the absence of his father, Comrade D. N. Snyder.  Comrade George Simpson, of Tunkhannock, was greeting old friends and he, with Comrades John Hunter, of Carbondale and Henry Race, of Dundaff, made up the roster.

Lymanville – Rev. P. N. Taylor, pastor of the Methodist church at North Jackson, took part in the program connected with the reopening of the Lymanville church.  Rev. Mr. Taylor was a former pastor of the Springville church.  He is one of the most active young clergymen in the Methodist church in the county and has accomplished much in his present charge.

Brooklyn – Rev. Alfred Judge, who accepted a call to the pastorate of the Universalist church and moved his family here about the first of May, resigned on Sunday last, as he has been called in to the Ambulance service and expects to leave for the front before many weeks.  During his short stay he has made many friends.

Great Bend – The high school commencement exercises were held in the M. E. church on Tuesday evening.  Dr. William R. Straughn, of Mansfield State Normal school, presented the diplomas.  The invocation was by Rev. W. E. Elwood.  The graduates were: Stanley Kuhns, James Enright, Gladys Flynn, Ruth Franks and Bernice E. Williams.

200 Years Ago from the Montrose Centinel, June 14, 1817.

*”Teaching By Example.” It is stated in a Connecticut paper, that, of the house of representatives now in session, one-hundred and sixty members are clad in American, and 38 in foreign cloth.  Let all America imitate the example of the majority; and we shall soon be really independent of England.

*Mr. Lecatelli, mathematician, of Milan, has invented a machine for propelling even ships of war against the current.  A horse power is sufficient to put the machine in motion.

*The late United States schooner Spitfire, armed and manned, bound from Havana for the Coast of Africa, has put into Charleston to refit.

If you are a hockey fan, you have been watching the Stanley Cup Finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators.  Even if you were not a hockey fan, you may have saw the news report of the arrest of a Nashville Predators fan by the Pittsburgh police in connection with his decision to throw a catfish onto the ice in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals in Pittsburgh.  If you have not seen the story, I will rehash what the news media has reported.

Nashville fans apparently have a tradition of throwing catfish onto the ice for good luck.  It sounds strange – but they do something similar in Detroit where they throw octopi onto the ice at home games.  This particular Nashville fan decided to support his team by secreting a catfish in his pants so that he could throw it onto the Pittsburgh Penguins’ ice.  How did he do it?  He flattened and vacuum packed the catfish and then put it between his underwear and compression pants.  In order to mask the smell, he dosed it with a good helping of Old Spice aftershave – and he walked right into the arena.  After getting to his seat, he went to a restroom, removed the catfish and then quickly got to a position where he could lob it onto the ice.  As he expected, he was immediately ejected from the game.  What he was not expecting were the criminal charges that followed.

In particular, the police filed a criminal complaint charging him with misdemeanor offenses of disorderly conduct, disruption of a public gathering, and possession of the instrument of a crime.  What would be required to prove these criminal violations? 

As to disrupting a meeting or gather, the Crimes Code would require proof of the following elements: (1) that the defendant disturbed or interrupted a lawful meeting or gathering; and (2) that the defendant did so with the intent to prevent or disrupt the meeting or gathering. 

As to the disorderly conduct section, the Crimes Code would require proof that (1) the defendant created a hazardous or physically offensive condition through an act that served no legitimate purpose of the defendant; and (2) that the defendant did so with the intent to cause either substantial harm to the public by the way of annoyance or alarm, or serious public inconvenience.

At to these two alleged criminal violations, you will note that the intent of the actor must be aimed at disrupting the gathering or causing substantial public inconvenience or alarm.  The Predators fan did nothing more than what he would have done on his home ice – tossing a catfish onto the ice for luck.  Was it his intent to disrupt the “gathering” or to cause “substantial” public inconvenience?

As to possession of an instrument of a crime, the Crimes Code defines an instrument of a crime as any item: (1) specially made for criminal use; (2) specially adapted for criminal use; or (3) any item that is used for criminal purposes or possessed by the defendant under circumstances not manifestly appropriate for lawful uses it may have.  In this case, the police believed that the catfish was not possessed for any of the lawful uses that it would normally have, i.e., to be battered, fried and eaten with a nice side coleslaw and cornbread.

What do you think?  Did the Predators fan commit a criminal offense by lobbing his flattened and Old Spice smelling catfish onto the Penguins’ ice in the Stanley Cup Finals?  Or was this simply something that should have been handled by his ejectment from the game with no further criminal repercussions?  The Predators fan described himself as an “ignorant redneck” but vowed to fight the criminal charges to the bitter end.

The end was far from bitter – or even as smelly as the catfish itself.  After reviewing the incident and the criminal complaint, the Allegheny County District Attorney made the determination that no criminal offense occurred and directed the criminal charges to be withdrawn.  The end result still provides quite a fish tale which will be told in Pittsburgh and Nashville for years to come – as well a new market for “instrument of crime” catfish t-shirts and other similar paraphernalia.

The misery of the hangover

Joe came into the pharmacy looking miserable. Holding his head, he asked the pharmacist “What’s good for a hangover, Doc? I couldn’t even go into work today.” The pharmacist just shook his head. “I thought I had a good time,” Joe lamented. “Until I saw it posted on YouTube.”

Alcohol hangover is one of the most commonly experienced consequences of alcohol consumption.

Hangovers contribute to workplace absenteeism, impaired job performance, reduced productivity, poor academic achievement, and may compromise potentially dangerous daily activities such as driving a car or operating heavy machinery. A hangover develops when blood alcohol concentration (BAC) falls considerably and peaks when the BAC returns to almost zero. Why? When metabolized, alcohol is converted mainly into acetaldehyde, which is between 10 and 30 times more toxic than alcohol itself and can remain at an elevated plateau for many hours after initial ethanol consumption. This usually coincides with the moment you stop dancing on tables with a lampshade over your head.  

A hangover may last a day or two, and besides a feeling of general misery, it also causes headache, tiredness, concentration problems, thirst, dizziness, nausea, cognitive impairment, and mood changes. The impact of a hangover on daily activities can be profound. A survey among university students revealed that more than half reported being unable to study when experiencing an alcohol hangover often or always. With an average hangover frequency of 2.7 days/month, 1 month a year is “lost.”

Hangovers are common in the workplace. One study found that 9% (11.6 million workers) of the US workforce reported to work with a hangover in the past year. There is a significant relationship between alcohol consumption and next-day workplace absenteeism. A survey among 280 employees revealed a 2-fold increased likelihood of absenteeism the day after alcohol consumption. From the 173 days of absenteeism (of 5,493 days “at risk”), 74 days (43%) occurred the day after alcohol consumption. Some alcoholic beverages can result in a hangover more than others. In general, dark liquors cause more hangovers than clear booze. For example, bourbon is 37 times more likely than vodka to make your head feel like there is a jackhammer in there.

So what is head-hurting Joe going to do? The search for hangover cures is as old as alcohol itself. Many cure-all products exist on the market, but they mostly resolve headache and vomiting and do nothing to reverse fatigue or drowsiness. And they will not make you more productive on the job. While nothing has been shown scientifically to "cure" a hangover, Dr. Richard Besser, ABC News' chief medical editor, offered these tips to help nurse the pain: 1) Drink plenty of water. Alcohol is quite dehydrating. Caffeine is also, so black coffee is out. 2) If you have a headache, take aspirin or ibuprofen the next morning, notacetaminophen (Tylenol®). Acetaminophen is processed by your liver that has just taken a direct hit from your overdrinking. 3) Go to bed. Most hangovers will pass but before it does, take a selfie to remind yourself of the fun time that you were too drunk to enjoy. Do not post it on YouTube or Facebook. It is for you to remember how lousy you felt. “Not to be a buzzkill,” the pharmacist told Joe, “But the best way to avoid a hangover is to stay away from the booze. Completely.”

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

Revelation 13. 16-18: "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name...and his number is Six hundred three score and six."

My money's no good! And it's not just me. There are others. I know; they've contacted me. Our electric company-Penelec-is no longer an electric company. It apparently has been radicalized. Like some radical Islamist hell-bent on converting or killing us, our electric company thinks of us as an impediment to its full potentiality for profitability. Ah, if only we would submit; if not, we WILL be made to submit!

I know this sounds fantastical. I must be making this up, right? I wish I were. My voyage into Penelec's twilight zone of horrors blasted into hyper-speed on Monday, May 8, 2017. On that otherwise ordinary day I received notice from Penelec. They "may" have to shut off my electricity. No, not because I hadn't paid my bill. I did, and I always have for the nearly 20 years I've lived in Penelec's service area. No, not because of unpaid bills or balances due, but because of failure to fall into line and surrender my cognitive function for the sake of sheep-like submission to their demand I have an AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) smart meter.

While I carefully considered how I might impress upon Penelec the implausibility of their position I received another letter informing me that my power would be shut off in 10 days-on May 30, 2017, unless I called before that date to SUBMIT and make arrangements for Penelec to install a smart meter on my property. I was gobsmacked!

The possibility of my life being upended, totally, overnight provided the impetus to analyze and to act. Let's get this straight. For my entire relationship with Penelec we have agreed that Penelec would provide me with electricity and I would pay for it; Penelec agreed that at monthly intervals it would make a reading of the bulk amount of kilowatt hours used (or make an estimate thereof) and bill me for the amount. I agreed to pay and have always paid. Looks like a relationship made in heaven. We had a meeting of the minds, and this was a mutually beneficial business relationship.

But now Penelec insists my money is no good. They care not a whit about my excellent credit or my record of faithful and prompt payment. Penelec insists that it is so vital ("It's the law, dontcha know!) that Penelec would prefer to sell me not a solitary kilowatt hour of electricity, and blackball me from buying electricity in this state-for life-unless and until I consent to an easement to install a surveillance AMI smart meter on my private property.

I said, "No; not now; not ever!" Instead, I filed a Formal Complaint (with the PA PUC) against Penelec/FirstEnergy, and I'll await my administrative hearing. I'm hoping, but have no certainty, that cooler heads will prevail at First Energy's corporate headquarters. Since electric utility companies in many other states are allowing customers to keep their analog meters this would seem a reasonable inference.

But what does Penelec's misadventure so far tell me? It tells me this: Penelec used to be primarily an electric company, publicly-regulated and interested in generating, distributing, and selling electricity to customers, be they residential or commercial. That is clearly NOT how Penelec perceives its role in this day and age.

Today Penelec, along with the other six EDCs (Electric Distribution Companies), constitute an oligopoly which has a stranglehold on 98.5% of Pennsylvania's electric consumers. Since at least October 15, 2008-the date Act 129 passed-utilities have become obsessed, not with serving their customers' needs, but instead with instituting "conservation and energy efficiencies." In a stunning display of group-think the PA PUC and virtually the entire leadership of the electric industry, under the direction of the federal Department of Energy, have focused relentlessly on reducing energy consumption, the public be damned.

The health and safety of electric consumers in Pennsylvania have taken a back seat to issues of extreme conservation, reduction in energy availability, TOU (time of use) pricing, DR (Demand Response), control of consumer consumption, and implementing consumer surveillance of every household appliance via the AMI smart meter's ZigBee radio, which monitors all household appliances. What is going on is a scandal of monumental proportions; proportions so mind-boggling that many people find it incomprehensible that the authorities to whom we have entrusted our well-being could be so recklessly and wontonly unconcerned with their solemn responsibilities.

These words I write are not to be taken lightly; they are not hyperbole. If anything, I understate the extent of the problems our state government, the PA PUC, and the electric companies have created, even as they proclaim what they have done is in your name and for your welfare. Their interests apparently bear no relationship to the interests of individual electric consumers.

The General Assembly (unwittingly?) opened the door to the present unhappy state of affairs when it passed Act 129 in 2008. From the legislative debate that preceded passage it is clear that our legislators thought they were passing a bill which gave electric customers the right to opt in for smart meters, with the proviso that electric companies having at least 100,000 customers OFFER those customers the opportunity to request a smart meter, and be provided one, so long as the customer was willing to pay for the smart meter. When Penelec offered me the opportunity to have an AMI smart meter installed on my property, I declined their offer and in writing. I am likewise not amenable to paying for an AMI smart meter which I did not request, do not need, and for which I have no use.

From what I've been able to divine through extensive research, the PA PUC decided to put their own spin on the interpretation of Act 129. The PUC took an Opt-in smart meter bill and rewrote it by regulation, deciding that virtually every electric ratepayer-of electric companies having more than 100,000 customers-MUST have a smart meter, and no one having the right not to have one.

The big seven electric companies point to the PUC as the authority insisting you must have a smart meter. The PUC points to the General Assembly as the authority insisting you must have a smart meter. Customers complain to their state representatives and senators for relief. Legislators issue mealy-mouthed statements, issue electric industry talking points as excuses, or just sit by silently, leaving customers to suffer indignity after indignity and assault after assault upon their health. Penelec and the others of the big 7 electric companies advance with merciless iron-fisted efficiency, ensuring the lights are snuffed out on anyone daring to oppose.

But from where did this scam originate, and what was the thinking behind it? For that I found the answer in a book titled, "Technocracy Rising," by Patrick M. Wood. Mr. Wood succinctly explains the philosophical origins of technocracy, and then explains its refinement in the early 1930s. He cites technocrat M. King Hubbert as the author of "Technocracy Study Course," as developing technocracy's principles for the distribution of energy resources, as well as the monitoring and measurement of all of energy's outputs.

Five of the seven requirements necessary for Technocracy's implementation were these (Think of them in terms of smart meter technology today.):

(1) Register on a continuous 24 hour-per-hour-day basis the total net conversion of energy.

(2) By means of the registration of energy converted and consumed, make possible a balanced load.

(3) Provide a continuous inventory of all production and consumption.

(4) Provide a specific registration of the type, kind, etc., of all goods and services, where produced and where used.

(5) Provide specific registration of the consumption of each individual, plus a record and description of the individual.

AMI smart meters provide for all the above to be implemented and become the new operations paradigm for utilities.

Of course, the technology to do these things did not exist in the 1930s; today it does, and the keystone device to accomplish these requirements is called a smart meter. Americans of the 1930s actually debated-and rejected-these ideas as antithetical to Constitutional Republicanism.

But while America politically rejected Technocracy, Technocracy's tenets found fertile fields in which to germinate-in National Socialist Germany. I won't dwell on the crimes of Nazi Germany, many of which could never have been carried out, certainly to the degree they were, without Hitler's army of technocrats.

What the PA PUC, what Penelec, what the other six EDCs, and what the federal Department of Energy hope to institute is a modern-day Technocracy. In order to build a national Smart Grid, and ultimately a worldwide Smart Grid, the technocrats are determined to place a smart meter in every residence and business globally. No electric consumer is to be left behind. Or it might be better phrased, "No one can be permitted to escape the Technocracy's control.

The Nazis of the 1930s well understood what American technocrats were trying to do. While they didn't buy into the exact system American technocrats were developing, they did comprehend the obsession with absolute control of electric power. The Nazis called the American Technocrats' system of energy credits, "electric dollars."

It occurs to me that I am being banished from buying electricity because I possess no electric dollars. I have only the green coupons issued by the Federal Reserve Bank, and in the New World Order of the Technocracy my account has just been zeroed out.

Never forget that smart does not equal intelligent. It's a psy-op. Smart is really S.M.A.R.T., an engineering acronym for "Specific - Measurable - Achievable - Relevant - Time-based." The reality that will ultimately evolve from this psy-op is a dystopian future destructive of dignity and freedom. Your liberty, your privacy, and the American way of life are on sale right now for electric dollars. The Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G are being represented and presented as the harbingers of a global utopia. They are, in fact, a Faustian bargain of illusory promises many will live to regret when their electric dollars and individual freedoms run out.

Author's Note: Because Penelec has claimed the right to shut off of my electricity at any time, and to refuse to sell electricity to me, I have formally resigned from my position of covering governmental meetings in Starrucca, Lanesboro, and Susquehanna Community School District. (I cannot be certain of fulfilling my duty to my employer, as I may suddenly lack the means of filing my articles.) I will endeavor to continue this column to expose the Smart Meter Scandal that is being imposed on unsuspecting ratepayers. Freedom is not free, but purchased at the price of eternal vigilance.