East Rush – When T. S. James and son went to work in their hay field on Wednesday morning, they were treated to the sight of a fine doe deer, which after gazing at them, took a high rail fence at a bound then loped up the valley towards Elk Lake.  Several of the formerly plentiful noble animals have been seen in this County of late, evidently coming from a not distant reservation. (The deer population of Susquehanna and surrounding counties, at this time, was extremely low.)

In Rush, Miss Mabel Stewart, of Philadelphia, who was staying at Mr. Kintner’s, left their place on July 21 for a walk and has not been seen or heard from since.

Clifford -The Methodist Sunday School will hold their picnic at Newton Lake on Wednesday of this week. This will be a picnic of the entire Clifford charge, consisting of the Clifford, Lenoxville and Tompkinsville schools, together with the school at Hickory Ridge.  Better come and have a good time.  Bring your eats.

Jessup Twp. – Our Friend Edgar W. Bolles, of Fairdale, writes us on the subject of aged people: “In Jessup township there are now three persons who have passed 90 years of age—Robert Strange, Abram Carter and Mr. Stark, father of our esteemed neighbor, Mr. Wilson Stark.”  Few townships in the county, if any, with the same population as Jessup, can equal this record of longevity.

Harford – Sen. E. E. Jones has notified several automobile organizations that the governor has approved the bill passed by the last legislature permitting the State Highway department to take over the abandoned Lackawanna railroad route between Clark’s Summit and Hallstead.  It has been proposed to reconstruct it into a main highway for vehicle traffic, being especially adapted for automobiles. ALSO B. B. Freeman, the “rag man” was in this vicinity a few days ago.

Tunkhannock – Work on the soldiers’ monument in this place has begun.  It will stand at the rear of the court house.

Lynn – During the hard thunder shower on Sunday the barn of Abraham Taylor was struck by lightning, which resulted in the burning of the barn, silo, shed and hen house.  About all the contents except a few loads of hay were removed, but it was quite a loss after all, as he carried no insurance.

South Ararat – Two different parties, who are camping at Fiddle Lake, are the boss fishermen as yet.  The first night they caught 52 nice cat-fish and the next 42.  All report as having quite good luck.

Dimock – Bids are sought for driving school routes.  Route 1-Pleasant Grove Route. From Pleasant Grove school house to Turnpike road to Dimock. Route 2-Smith Route.  From Smith school house to Ballantine’s Crossing, Turnpike road to Dimock. Route 3-Parkvale Route. From Parkvale school house to Maine school house to Dimock. Route 4-Creek Route from Yeomans’ residence to Dimock. Route 5. Conklin Route. From Clayton Stone’s residence to Dimock.

Gelatt – The ice cream social held at the Home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Barnes was well attended.  Proceeds $10.75 for the benefit of getting lamps and singing books for the school house at Briar Hill.

Montrose – The Central Dairy Co. has sold its creamery here to the Borden’s.  This creamery was built by the farmers of this section and was conducted on a co-operative basis for several years. ALSO Prentice Kennie and Eva Huniford, of Syracuse, reached the County Seat in a great state of happiness for they had received a fatal dart from the sly cupid.  But just as they were to go to get the licenses, they discovered that the pocket book, with the money for the license, was gone.  It is pretty tough to be put on war rations when it comes to securing a license, with a wedding ceremony, and a wedding dinner to be provided.  However, it was managed and praises be they had a return ticket.

East Kingsley – The dogs are very persistent in trying to kill off the only two flocks of sheep that the neighborhood can boast of, W. W. Oakley’s and A. E. Tiffany’s.  Recently A. E. Tiffany had a fine lamb chewed so badly in his neck that it died before morning.  This is the third call this year.  Not very encouraging to farmers to keep sheep.

Glenwood – While Frank Pherrigo was out riding last Friday his horse became frightened and ran away, throwing Mr. Pherrigo out.  The horse was traced as far as West Lenox, and clew of its whereabouts has not been learned.  Searching parties have been looking in different locations for several days, but to no avail.

Hop Bottom – Mrs. Mary Miller, whose husband was killed on the grade crossing in this place, was awarded $1000.00 by the D. L. & W. Railroad.  The jury, because of Mr. Miller being an old man, gave a verdict for that amount.  The company tried to have the verdict set aside but the Superior Court took the same view and sustained the lower court.

Lathrop Twp. – The death of Orlando Taylor, aged 78, occurred Saturday, July 21, 1917, at his late home here.  Mr. Taylor for many years resided on the farm where he died and was highly esteemed.  He was a retired locomotive engineer of the Lackawanna railroad, seeing over 40 years at the throttle.  He is survived by three daughters.

Herrick Center – The public service commission has directed that signals be established at the grade crossing of the Erie railroad at this place.  The order is believed to be the forerunner of the campaign to eliminate grade crossings throughout the state.  The commission was of the opinion that ultimately an improvement must be made at his particular crossing.  In coming east one is prevented from seeing the trains moving south.  It is surprising how many accidents have occurred there from time to time.

Forest City – It is seldom that a father is arrayed against his son, but such is the case of Louis Vidovich, who has enlisted under Uncle Sam.  Louis was born in Forest City and when about four years of age his parents went to Austria and Louis was taken along with the family.  About four years ago he returned to this country, the family remaining in Austria.  Friday he donned the olive drab suit of a soldier.  Louis is one of the best known young Slovenians in town and when his name was drawn in the draft he quickly made up his mind what to do.  He said. “While I have relatives galore in the Austrian army I am an American first, last and all the time and am ready to shed my blood if need be for my country.”

200 Years Ago Today from the Montrose Centinel, August 2, 1817.

PUBLIC NOTICE.  Whereas Betsey Sweet my lawful wife by virtue of the marriage covenant, has left my house without any other inducement than the gratification of her headstrong propensity for dissention, having no just provocation that can be alleged for her abandoning my bed and fire side; she has taken with her two notes of hand signed F. A. Burman for $72.10 cents each, one payable in goods, the other cash due November 1817, one against James Oakley, bo’t of Jacob Brown, payable in wheat after harvest of $23; one other drawn by Samuel Howard of $16 made in 1816, and an order drawn by Stephen Green on William Ward of $5.  The drawers of said notes, &c. as well as all other persons are forbid purchasing or receiving said notes; and all persons are hereby forbid harboring or trusting said Betsey on my account as I will pay no debts of her contracting.  Times are hard, and those indebted to me on book or otherwise must call and settle at the house of Elias Sweet in Harford within 20 days as I shall prosecute all delinquents immediately thereafter. T. C. Sweet, Harford, July 29, 1817

In June 2015, the Philadelphia Narcotics Unit obtained a search warrant for the residence of Darnell Faison in connection with drug trafficking offenses.  Prior to executing the search warrant, the police used a confidential informant to purchase additional controlled substances from Faison and immediately arrested him.  The police then used the keys in Faison’s pocket to gain entry to his home to execute the search warrant.

As the police entered the home, they encountered Deshannon Petty in a bed with an adult female.  As Petty saw the police, he got out of the bed, grabbed his pants and attempted to put them back on.  The police did not have an arrest warrant for Petty nor had Petty been involved in any of the prior drug transactions involving Faison.  Petty was directed to put his pants back onto the floor.  A police officer then searched Petty’s pants and discovered cash and controlled substances in the pockets.  Petty’s pants were then returned to him, but he was charged with various drug offenses.

Petty filed a suppression motion seeking to suppress the contraband that had been found in his pant pockets.  Petty argued that the police illegally searched his pants as they did not have a warrant that allowed them to search his personal property, only Faison’s residence and Faison’s personal property.  Petty’s argument was simple: the police had a search warrant for Faison’s home and property, not Petty’s pants.  The trial court agreed with Petty and suppressed the evidence.  The Commonwealth appealed.

The Superior Court reversed and concluded that the search warrant allowed for unattended items of personal property inside Faison’s residence to be searched.  If Petty had been wearing his pants when the police entered, the search warrant would not have allowed the police to search Petty’s person.  Because the pants were on the floor of Faison’s residence when the police entered, they became like any other item of personal property inside the residence subject to the search warrant.

In this regard, the Superior Court noted: “Visitors to premises could frustrate the efforts of police by placing contraband among their unworn personal effects or by announcing ownership of various articles of clothing and containers in order to place those items beyond the scope of the warrant.  We cannot sanction any rule that through fraud and gamesmanship erects barriers to the effective and legitimate execution of search warrants.”

The Superior Court expressed concern that the trial court’s decision would put the police in the difficult situation of having to “guess whether items in proximity to a person not identified in a warrant would be used by that person.”  Rather than create a subjective rule, the Superior Court adopted a bright line test that required a third party to be wearing an item of clothing when in another’s person’s residence where a search warrant was being executed in order for that item of clothing to be exempt from the search warrant.  The Superior Court concluded with this simple statement: “Because [Petty] did not physically possess the pants when officers found them, police were authorized to search them.”

You might remember this advice from your parents: keep your pants on.  As you can see, it was not just generational parental wisdom, but there are also legal ramifications that arise when your pants end up on someone else’s floor.  If you are caught with your pants down, but still on, at a friend’s house, the police cannot search them pursuant to the warrant to search the friend’s house because you are still wearing them.  In this scenario, it is better to be caught with your pants down but not all the way off.

The emotional effects of power outages

The pharmacist was frustrated and angry. The power has been off in her area for the last 6 hours. This means that prescriptions can neither be filled nor dispensed. Without a computer, labels cannot be printed and profiles cannot be read. Without a working cash register, sales cannot be completed. She cannot even shut the place down for the day because she will not be able to put on the security alarm. All she can do is stand in the dark and wait – and worry about lost business. A Department of Energy report noted that power outages cost US businesses nearly $150 billion in 2014. 

Blackouts are on the rise in the US. The number of power grid outages has risen 6-fold since 2001. The duration of power outages is rising as well. Why? An aging infrastructure, combined with a growing population and more frequent catastrophic weather, are straining our archaic electric grid. Loss of electricity has been shown to adversely affect mental health. The longer the outage, the greater the degree of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). People, who depend on electricity to work and to communicate, become anxious, worried, irritable, and sometimes panic. And they can act in ways they normally would not act.

Take Mr. Brown, for example. He walked into the pharmacy and yelled out, “Is anybody here?” The pharmacist asked him to be careful that he did not knock anything over in the darkness. “I need this medication filled,” Mr. Brown barked. The pharmacist explained that without power, the pharmacy cannot function. The new prescription was for an expensive new drug that she was not even sure his insurance would cover. “Well, give me a few tablets,” Mr. Brown demanded. She then informed him that the drug was not in stock and, without power, could not guarantee its delivery. With that, he pushed over a greeting card carousel and stormed out the door. 

The most notable issue a business faces when a power outage occurs is an inability to work. Employees may sit around unable to do anything until the power is back on. Once the power does return, additional time is needed to safely turn everything back on and to catch up on work that was stopped. There are also outage-related consequences. These include a loss of revenue from potential sales, a decrease in customer satisfaction and a drop in the company’s reputation. However, the more a company is prepared for a power outage, the more continuity will be seen and the less damage will be done. 

A big frustration during a blackout is losing computer files. Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) are one way to buy employees a little extra time should the power go out. The computer is plugged into the UPS, which acts as a battery when the power fails. The life of these power stations is between from 10 to 60 minutes, enough time to properly shut down a computer. Another way to keep productive is to use a 4G-enabled device; with Office 365 or Google Apps, one can continue to work on files that have been saved and stored on the cloud.

Regardless of what your company’s plans are during a power outage, you will need to test them on a regular basis to ensure everything runs smoothly when the real thing does happen. If you utilize a UPS, you will want to test its functionality every 6 months. If your business has special plans for what employees need to do during a power outage, you should run an annual practice drill to ensure everyone is in control with respect to their duties.

As the pharmacist stood in the dark, she mentally outlined a plan for the next blackout, as she did not want to lose any more customers or sales. 

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