10/15/12 by I-75 Newspaper Group

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Calling for a halt to all election phone calls

Browns hold off Bengals for win

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October 15, 2012 It’s Where You Live! Volume 104, No. 242

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INSIDE

Small increase in S.S. set Annual boost to be 1-2 percent WASHINGTON (AP) — Social Security recipients shouldn’t expect a big increase in monthly benefits come January. Preliminary figures show the annual benefit boost will be between 1 percent and 2 percent, which would be among the lowest

Shuttle makes its final trip LOS ANGELES (AP) — It was supposed to be a slow but smooth journey to retirement, a parade through city streets for a shuttle that logged millions of miles in space. But Endeavour’s final mission turned out to be a logistical headache that delayed its arrival to its museum resting place by about 17 hours. See

Page 6.

Miller to be celebrated TROY — Deb Miller, the executive director of Health Partners Free Clinic, is leaving to lead the Ohio Association of Free Clinics as its executive director. To celebrate her new position, and the work she has done with Health Partners, there will be an open house in her honor from 4-6 p.m. Oct. 17 at the Troy-Hayner Cultural Center. Miller has been executive director of Health Partners Free Clinic since 1999. Under her leadership, the free clinic has become a major player in the health care scene of Miami County. Health Partners last year had more than 4,000 clinic visits from 1,200 patients at its location on north County Road 25-A. The Ohio Association of Free Clinics, an organization providing direction and leadership for the entire range of free clinics throughout Ohio. “Deb has been a huge force in the growth of Health Partners,” said Dr. Mark Hess, chair of the board of directors of Health Partners. “We are sorry to see her move on, but this is a brilliant move both for Deb’s career and the future of the free clinics throughout Ohio. She has established a firm base here and I know that she will continue to be an inspirational leader in her new and expanded position.”

INSIDE TODAY Advice ............................7 Calendar.........................3 Classified......................10 Comics ...........................8 Deaths ............................6 Alan B. Blackburn Tac Huu Nguyen Hazel Bertsch Horoscopes ....................7 Opinion ...........................5

OUTLOOK Today Rain likely High: 57° Low: 47° Tuesday Mostly sunny High: 65° Low: 38°

Complete weather information on Page 9. Home Delivery: 335-5634 Classified Advertising: (877) 844-8385

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since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975. Monthly benefits for retired workers now average $1,237, meaning the typical retiree can expect a raise of between $12 and $24 a month. The size of the increase will be made official Tuesday, when the

government releases inflation figfor September. The ures announcement is unlikely to please a big block of voters 56 million people get benefits just three weeks before elections for president and Congress. The cost-of-living adjustment,

or COLA, is tied to a government measure of inflation adopted by Congress in the 1970s. It shows that consumer prices have gone up by less than 2 percent in the past year. “Basically, for the past 12 months, prices did not go up as rapidly as they did the year

• See INCREASE on Page 2

Carrying on Wife pays tribute to husband with book BY NATALIE KNOTH Staff Writer nknoth@tdnpublishing.com Katie Jordan said her husband Jay was always the writer of the family, and a skilled storyteller, to boot. But when Jay became ill with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease of the nerve cells, she found the roles being reversed. “He was the type of person who would get onto the phone to change the electric bill, and 35 minutes later, he’d have their life story,” Jordan said. But when Jay became ill in 2005, she found herself keeping journals, which became the foundation for More info her book, “We Carried published the Mat” is earlier available at this year. Around About “I Books in Troy, wanted it Barnes & as a lega- Noble, cy for my Amazon and children the book puband lisher grandWestBow children,” Press’s webshe said site, westbowpress.com. of “We Jordan can be Carried the Mat,” reached at comprised wctm2012@ gmail.com. of four journals as well as photos from two scrapbooks she kept. The book’s title and overarching theme are based on Mark 2:1-11, in which friends of a paralyzed man carry their dying friend to Jesus to be healed. Jordan, a faculty member in Edison Community College’s physical therapist assistant program, stressed that today’s caregivers are often unintentionally overlooked in the treatment of their loves ones, with their concerns unasked and unheard. Lead pastor Mike Slaughter of Ginghamsburg Church in Tipp City had read that passage in reference to Jay’s illness. “He preached about how the man wasn’t saved by his faith but by the faith of his friends. At the end of the sermon, he asked for friends to come to the front and put their hands on him (in an act of prayer), while I was still sitting. I said he had missed the point of the sermon,” Jordan said. And she told him so, 6

AP PHOTO

This photo provided by Red Bull shows the helium balloon carrying Felix Baumgartner, Sunday in Roswell, N.M.

Skydiver lands safely Completes 24-mile leap to Earth

Troy resident Katie Jordan recently had published. triggering an outpouring of support. Friends — whom she called the “Night Angels” — began stopping over to help put Jay to bed. Jordan also started journaling at night, and whenever a friend came over to help, she would take a photo. The Night Angels still meet but are now called “God’s Girls” with four of the original members plus new ones. As Jay struggled more and more with ALS, he began compiling a bucket list of activities he wanted to accomplish, to which Jordan faithfully tried to carry out. “Jay always had ‘last wishes.’ It was a joke. And they’d get harder,” she recalled. One of these was to ride in a fighter jet, and through a twist of fate, the couple happened to meet someone who owned a jet in Sidney and agreed to take him up. Jay was paralyzed at the time, as he had been since March 2006.

ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — Extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner landed safely on Earth after a 24-mile jump from the stratosphere in a dramatic, record-breaking feat that may also have marked the world’s first supersonic skydive. Baumgartner came down in the eastern New Mexico desert minutes after jumping from his capsule 128,097 feet, or roughly 24 miles, above Earth. He lifted his arms in victory shortly after landing, sending off loud cheers from jubilant onlookers and friends inside the misSTAFF PHOTOS/ANTHONY WEBER sion’s control center in holds a book titled “We Carried The Mat,” which she Roswell, N.M. It was the highest-ever jump for a skydiver, though it wasn’t immediately certain whether Baumgartner had broken the speed of sound during his free-fall, which was one of the goals of the mission. Organizers said the descent lasted for just over nine minutes, about half of it in free-fall. Three hours earlier, Baumgartner, known as — Katie Jordan “Fearless Felix,” had taken on the other side and his “The pilot asked, ‘Can off in a pressurized capsule he die?’ And I said, ‘Oh, but dog on his lap,” she said. carried by a 55-story ultrahe’ll die happy.’” At the end “We sang, prayed and thin helium balloon. After of the flight, he was blue in danced to send him off.” an at-times tense ascent, Jordan also has two the face, his head having which included concerns slumped during the trip in other children from her about how well his facial the air. Taking care of Jay first marriage, Sarah in shield was working, the 43San Francisco and Asher became trying at times, year-old former military but Jordan found strength in NYC, who were active in parachutist completed a caring for Jay, as well. in biblical scripture and final safety check-list with For a while, Jordan was mission control. the support of her friends. content holding onto the As he was dying, Jordan As he exited his capsule said she sometimes wished journals and allowing stu- from high above Earth, he God would take him soon- dents in her classes at flashed a thumbs-up sign, er, to free him of his paral- Edison Community College well aware that the feat ysis and her of her caregiv- to read them occasionally. was being shown on a liveBut one day changed all er duties. stream on the Internet. that. Jay passed away on During the ensuing “One of my students June 2007 at home, as he jump from more than three from Edison sat me down had wanted. times the height of the “He died with me on one side of him, (son) Luke • See BOOK on Page 2 • See LANDS on Page 2

“

My decision was to treat my husband the same as we did throughout our marriage. We did just crazy things.

”

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Monday, October 15, 2012

LOTTERY CLEVELAND (AP) — These Ohio lotteries were drawn Sunday: Pick 3: 3-9-5 Pick 3: 5-4-1 Pick 4: 5-6-8-9 Pick 4: 3-4-0-9 Pick 5: 6-9-3-2-0 Pick 5: 9-9-5-4-8 Rolling Cash 5: 07-1024-28-39

GOP Senate moderate Arlen Specter dies

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, the outspoken Pennsylvania centrist whose switch from Republican to Democrat ended a 30-year career in which he played a pivotal role in several Supreme Court nominations, died Sunday. He was 82. BUSINESS Specter, who announced in late August that he was ROUNDUP battling cancer, died at his home in Philadelphia from • The Troy Elevator complications of nonThe grain prices listed below Hodgkin lymphoma, said are the closing prices of his son Shanin. Over the Friday. years, Arlen Specter had Corn fought two previous bouts Month Bid Change with Hodgkin lymphoma, 7.5600 - 0.2250 Oct overcome a brain tumor J/F/M 13 7.5100 - 0.2250 and survived cardiac arrest NC 13 5.9200 - 0.1400 following bypass surgery. Soybeans Specter rose to promiMonth Bid Change nence in the 1960s as an Oct 14.8250 - 0.2600 aggressive Philadelphia J/F/M 13 15.0200 - 0.2650 prosecutor and as an assisNC 13 12.6850 - 0.1500 tant counsel to the Warren Wheat Commission, developing Month Bid Change the single-bullet theory Oct 8.3200 - 0.2925 that posited just one bullet NC 13 8.0100 - 0.2025 struck both President You can find more information online Kennedy and Texas Gov. at www.troyelevator.com. John Connally an assumption critical to the argu• Stocks of local interest Values reflect closing prices from Friday. Symbol Price Change AA 8.69 -0.08 CAG 27.94 +0.09 CSCO 18.41 +0.15 EMR 48.35 +0.03 F 10.12 -0.02 FITB 15.27 -0.62 FLS 128.31 -0.43 GM 24.44 -0.22 ITW 58.55 +0.12 JCP 26.03 -0.15 KMB 85.65 -0.34 KO 38.23 +0.12 KR 23.31 -0.01 LLTC 31.51 -0.26 MCD 92.51 +0.15 MSFG 12.39 -0.20 70.05 +0.23 PEP SYX 11.79 -0.19 TUP 54.22 -0.42 USB 33.72 -0.67 VZ 44.62 -0.58 WEN 4.21 0.00 WMT 75.81 +0.80

ment that presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. The theory remains controversial and was the focus of Oliver Stone’s 1991 movie “JFK.” In 1987, Specter helped thwart the Supreme Court nomination of former federal appeals Judge Robert

H. Bork earning him conservative enemies who still bitterly refer to such rejections as being “borked.” But four years later, Specter was criticized by liberals for his tough questioning of Anita Hill at Clarence Thomas’ Supreme Court nomination hearings and for

accusing her of committing “flat-out perjury.” The nationally televised interrogation incensed women’s groups and nearly cost him his seat in 1992. Specter, who had battled cancer, was Pennsylvania’s longestserving senator when Democrats picked thenU.S. Rep. Joe Sestak over him in the 2010 primary, despite Specter’s endorsements by President Barack Obama and other Democratic leaders. Sestak lost Specter’s seat to conservative Republican Rep. Pat Toomey by 2 percentage points. A political moderate, Specter was swept into the Senate in the Reagan landslide of 1980. He took credit for helping to defeat President Clinton’s national health care plan the complexities of which he highlighted in a gigantic chart that hung on his office wall for years afterward and helped lead the investigation into Gulf War syndrome, the name given to a collection of

symptoms experienced by veterans of the war that include fatigue, memory loss, pain and difficulty sleeping. Following the Iran-Contra scandal, he pushed legislation that created the inspectors general of the CIA. As a senior member of the powerful A p p r o p r i a t i o n s Committee, Specter pushed for increased funding for stem-cell research, breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, and supported several laborbacked initiatives in a GOP-led Congress. He also doggedly sought federal funds for local projects in his home state. Specter was not shy about bucking fellow Republicans. In 1995, he launched a presidential bid, denouncing religious conservatives as the “fringe” that plays too large a role in setting party’s agenda. the Specter, who was Jewish, bowed out before the first primary because of lackluster fundraising.

Lands • CONTINUED FROM A1

• CONTINUED FROM A1 and said, ‘Why haven’t you published this? Are you afraid of people reading your thoughts?’” Jordan recalled. It was all the convincing she needed. Jordan began collaborating with editor Renee Anderson to create the book, which she says will intrigue all audiences, beyond those with a personal connection to ALS.

“I don’t want people to get the idea that it only applies to ALS. It’s about caring for someone,” Jordan said. “It’s OK to lose your mind, and it’s OK to be funny. My decision was to treat my husband the same as we did throughout my marriage. We had a lot of great times. We did just crazy things.” She also has words of advice for people facing a similar situation.

“I want to advise them not to be afraid to ask for help and to get that one person who can organize it all, because normally when you’re in it, you don’t have the energy to organize it,” she said. “On the other hand, if you know someone and just want to help out, don’t say, ‘If you need anything, call me.’ Say, ‘I’m here, and I’m going to do this. I’m going to bring food, take the kids or sit with him.’”

per month for 2013, according to government projections. The premium is currently $99.90 a month for most seniors. Medicare is expected to announce the premium for 2013 in the coming weeks. “The COLA continues to be very critical to people in keeping them from falling behind,” said David Certner, AARP’s legislative policy director. “We certainly heard in those couple of years when there was no COLA at all how important it was.” How important is the COLA? From 2001 to 2011, household incomes in the U.S. dropped for every age group except one: those 65 and older. The median income for all U.S. households fell by 6.6 percent, when inflation was taken into account, according to census data. But the median income for households headed by someone 65 or older rose by 13 percent. “That’s all because of

Social Security,” Certner said. “Social Security has the COLA and that’s what’s keeping seniors above water, as opposed to everybody else who’s struggling in this economy.” Seniors still, on average, have lower incomes than younger adults. Most older Americans rely on Social Security for a majority of their income, according to the Social Security Administration. “It’s useful to bear in mind that no other group in the economy gets an automatic cost-of-living increase in their income,” said David Blau, an economist at The Ohio State University. “Seniors are the only group.” Still, many feel like the COLA doesn’t cover their rising costs. “You have utilities go up, your food costs go up. Think about how much groceries have gone up,” said Janice Durflinger, a 76-year-old widow in Lincoln, Neb. “I would love to know how they figure that.”

Increase • CONTINUED FROM A1

before,” said Polina Vlasenko, an economist at the American Institute for Federal deficit tops Economic Research, based $1 trillion for fourth year in Great Barrington, Mass. WASHINGTON (AP) — The This year, Social Security federal budget deficit has topped $1 trillion for a fourth straight year. recipients received a 3.6 percent increase in benefits But a modest improvement in after getting no increase the economic growth helped narrow the gap by $207 billion compared previous two years. Some of next year’s raise with last year. The Treasury Department said could be wiped out by higher Friday that the deficit for the 2012 Medicare premiums, which are deducted from Social budget year totaled $1.1 trillion. Security payments. The Tax revenue rose 6.4 percent Medicare Part B premium, from last year to more than $2.4 trillion, helping contain the deficit. which covers doctor visits, is expected to rise by about $7

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AP FILE PHOTO

In this May 15, 2010, file photo, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., shakes hands with Victor Cazzone, 7, of Exton, Pa., during his campaign rally at Gateway Park in Coatesville, Pa. Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, longtime Senate moderate and architect of the one-bullet theory in John F. Kennedy’s death, died Sunday.

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average cruising altitude for jetliners Baumgartner was expected to hit a speed of 690 mph. Any contact with the capsule on his exit could have torn his pressurized suit, a rip that could expose him to a lack of oxygen and temperatures as low as minus-70 degrees. That could have caused lethal bubbles to form in his bodily fluids. But none of that happened. He activated his parachute as he neared Earth, gently gliding into the desert east of Roswell and landing without any apparent difficulty. He then was taken by helicopter to meet fellow members of his team, whom he hugged in celebration. C o i n c i d e n t a l l y, Baumgartner’s attempted feat also marked the 65th anniversary of U.S. test pilot Chuck Yeager successful attempt to become the first man to officially break the sound barrier aboard an airplane. At Baumgartner’s insistence, some 30 cameras recorded the event Sunday. Shortly after launch, screens at mission control showed the capsule as it began rising high above the New Mexico desert, with cheers erupting from organizers. Baumgartner could be seen on video, calmly checking instruments inside the capsule. Baumgartner’s team included Joe Kittinger, who first attempted to break the sound barrier from 19.5 miles up in 1960, reaching speed of 614 mph. With Kittinger inside mission control Sunday, the two men could be heard going over technical details during the ascension.

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“Our guardian angel will take care of you,” Kittinger radioed to Baumgartner around the 100,000-foot mark, and noted that it was getting “really serious” now. An hour into the flight, Baumgartner had ascended more than 63,000 feet and had gone through a trial run of the jump sequence that will send him plummeting toward Earth. Ballast was dropped to speed up the ascent. Kittinger told him, “Everything is in the green. Doing great.” As Baumgartner ascended in the balloon, so did the number of viewers watching on YouTube. Nearly 7.3 million watched as he sat on the edge of the capsule moments before jumping. After he landed, Red Bull posted a picture of Baumgartner on his knees on the ground to Facebook, generating nearly 216,000 likes, 10,000 comments and more than 29,000 shares in less than 40 minutes. On Twitter, half the worldwide trending topics had something to do with the jump, pushing past seven NFL football games. Among the tweets was one from NASA: “Congratulations to Felix Baumgartner and RedBull Stratos on record-breaking leap from the edge of space!” This attempt marked the end of a five-year road for Baumgartner, a recordsetting high-altitude jumper. He already made two preparation jumps in the area, one from 15 miles high and another from 18 miles high. It will also be the end of his extreme altitude jumping career; he has promised this will be his final jump.

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LOCAL

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October 15, 2012

TROY DAILY NEWS â&#x20AC;˘ WWW.TROYDAILYNEWS.COM

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Community Calendar CONTACT US Call Melody Vallieu at 440-5265 to list your free calendar items.You can send your news by email to vallieu@tdnpublishing.com.

â&#x20AC;˘ OUR STORY: The Miami County Historical and Genealogical Society will meet at 7 p.m. at the Piqua Library. The program, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Tippecanoe â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Our Story,â&#x20AC;? will be presented by local author Susan Furlong and Tippecanoe Historical Society President Peg Hadden. The program is free and open to the public. â&#x20AC;˘ PROTECT YOUR IDENTITY: Get practical advice on protecting your identity and planning your finances at 2 p.m. at the Troy-Miami County Public Library. A representative from the Graceworks Lutheran Services, Consumer Credit Counseling Services will go over some of the precautions to take to avoid identity theft. Call 339-0502 to register in advance. â&#x20AC;˘ TEAM MEETING: The Relay For Life 2013 team meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the Miami Valley Centre Mall, Piqua. Everyone is invited to come learn about the Relay For Life of Miami County. Find out what this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s theme will be and how you can join the fight against cancer. Contact RelayJoyceKittel@gmail.com or leave a message at (937) 524- 2214 for more information. â&#x20AC;˘ CHARITY RAFFLE: A charity ticket raffle will be held at the American Legion Post No. 586, Tipp City. Vendors donate products to this event for a Chinese raffle. Doors open at 6 p.m. for viewing of auction items and seating. Admission is $2. All proceeds from the auction go to a charity. Food will be available from the American Legion Post for purchase. â&#x20AC;˘ GUEST SPEAKER: The Stillwater Civil War Roundtable will present publisher Andy Turner, a lifelong student of the Civil War at 7 p.m. at the Troy-Hayner Cultural Center, Troy. His subject is the right wing at Gettysburg on the second day. For 15 years he has been editor of The Gettysburg Magazine, and owner and publisher for the last five years. Civic agendas â&#x20AC;˘ The Concord Township Trustees will meet at the Concord Township Memorial Building, 1150 Horizon West Court, Troy. â&#x20AC;˘ Pleasant Hill Township Trustees will meet at 8 p.m. in the township building, 210 W. Walnut St., Pleasant Hill. WEDNESDAY

â&#x20AC;˘ SPIDER SENSES: The Homeschool Nature Club at Brukner Nature Center will present Spider Senses from 2-4 p.m. at the center. Participants are invited to come along as staff investigate spiders and their â&#x20AC;&#x153;spidy senses.â&#x20AC;? The fee is $2.50 for member and $5 for nonmembers. â&#x20AC;˘ KIWANIS MEETING: The Kiwanis Club of Troy will meet from noon to 1 p.m. at the Troy Country Club. Richard Bender, executive director of the United Way of Troy, will speak about the campaign and Nicole Hanes, director of the Troy Rec, will speak about the United Wayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impact on local nonprofits. For more information, contact Donn Craig, vice president, at (937) 418-1888. â&#x20AC;˘ CHESS, CHECKERS AND FUN!: Students in grades second through eighth are invited to stop by the Troy-Miami County Public Library after school from 3:30-4:30 p.m. for a fun time of chess, checkers and other games. Snacks will be available. No registration is required. â&#x20AC;˘ SUPPORT GROUP: The Miami Valley Troy Chapter of the National Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Association Caregiver Support Group will meet from 4-5:30 p.m. at the Church of the Nazarene, 1200 Barnhart Road, Troy. Use the entrance at the side of the building. For more information, call the Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Association at (937) 291-3332. Civic agendas â&#x20AC;˘ The Elizabeth Township Trustees will meet at 8 p.m. in the township building, 5710 Walnut Grove Road, Troy. â&#x20AC;˘ The Covington Board of Education will meet at 7 p.m. in the Covington Middle School for a regular board meeting.

THURSDAY â&#x20AC;˘ BREAKFAST SET: The Sons Of The American Legion Post 43, 622 S.Market St., will host an all-you-can-eat buffet-style breakfast from 7-10:30 a.m. The cost is $7. Breakfast will include scrambled eggs, homemade fried potatoes, sausage gravy and biscuits, bacon, sausage, waffles, toast, orange juice and coffee. Takeout orders are available by calling 339-3502. â&#x20AC;˘ CHESS CLUB: Whether you are a chess master or an amateur, all types of players at invited to attend at 6:30 p.m. at the Troy-Miami County Library. Play against your friends and family or sit back and watch others capture the pieces. Learn new strategies to controlling the board and defeating your opponent. â&#x20AC;˘ DISCOVERY WALK: A morning dis-

FRIDAYSATURDAY

â&#x20AC;˘ ENCHANTED FOREST: The non-scary program for the entire family will be offered from 6-8:30 p.m. at Aullwood Farm, 9101 Frederick Pike, Dayton. Events will include wandering through the Farm Discovery Center and taking pictures with animal creatures, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, face painting, singing animated songs and a stroll down the luminary-lit trail with guides. The first 75 families who attend each evening will receive a free sunflower bird feeder. Admission is $6 per adult and $4 per child (ages 3-13). Ages 2 and under are free.

FRIDAY â&#x20AC;˘ POT PIE: The Tipp City Seniors will offer a pot pie supper beginning at 4:30 p.m. at the Tipp City American Legion, 377 N. Third St., Tipp City. Meals will be $7 and will include a vegetable, salad and dessert. â&#x20AC;˘ FRIDAY DINNER: The Covington VFW Post No. 4235, 173 N. High St., Covington, will offer dinner from 5-8 p.m. For more information, call 753-1108. â&#x20AC;˘ CHICKEN DINNER: The Sons of AMVETS will serve chicken dinners with fries, slaw and a roll from 5:30-8 p.m. for $8.

National Medical Assistants Recognition Week honored For the Troy Daily News

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Faculty, staff and students enrolled in the Medical Assistant program at Edison will join thousands across the country the week of Oct. 15 for Medical Assistants Recognition Week, recognizing the valuable contributions these members of the health care community provide on a daily basis. The series of events is sponsored by the Association of Medical Assistants, which provides professionals with education, certification, credential acknowledgment, networking opportunities, scope-of-practice protection and advocacy for quality patient-centered health care. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be having multiple social gatherings in classes and carry-ins during class throughout the week,â&#x20AC;? said Heather Young, director of medical assisting at Edison. Medical assistants work in ambulatory care set-

tings like clinics and physicianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s offices performing lab tests, administering medications and assisting in minor procedures, in addition to various other health profession-related tasks. They also perform many of the clerical and administrative tasks involved outside of direct patient care, such as medical billing and coding. The Medical Assisting program at Edison provides a strong foundation for those interested in entering a health services field. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One of the benefits is that it is a certificate program, which can be accomplished in one year. It gives a student the entry level skills needed in order to work in the medical field,â&#x20AC;? said Young. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We see students continue their education and move on to get their associateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree. The program allows our students to customize their degree so

AREA BRIEFS

Employee reunion offered

TROY â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The 26th annual reunion of employees of the former Dettmer Hospital SATURDAY-SUNDAY will be at 6 p.m. Oct. 23 in the dining room at the â&#x20AC;˘ HAUNTED WOODS: Brukner Nature Koester Pavilion. The dining Center will offer its kid-friendly evening filled room is to your left after you with a guided walk, live wildlife and cosenter the main door. tumed characters from 6:30-8 p.m. A guide Donation for the dinner is will lead participants down a luminary-lit trail $10, payable at the door. and stop at five stations to learn about crea- Bring your photos, memoratures of the night. Activities also include bilia, memories and stories free face painting, crafts and games, sto- to share. Reservations are rytelling at a campfire, plus cookies and due by calling 440-7663 or cider after the hike. A kidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s costume â&#x20AC;&#x153;con- by email at testâ&#x20AC;? also has been introduced, where elainebergman@koestereveryone is a winner. The program is $3 pavilion.com. per person for BNC members and $5 per person for non-members. Tickets are Adult lecture available on a first-come, first-served basis on the night of the event, handed offered Oct. 24 out in the order that you arrive at the gate. TROY â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The WACO The gate opens at 6 p.m. with the first Historical Society will host a group leaving at 6:30 p.m. and every 5 free adult lecture at 7 p.m. minutes after that. Parking is limited. For Oct. 24 featuring guest more information, call BNC at (937) 6986493 or email education@bruknernature- speaker Susan Richardson. The topic will be the center.com. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Physiological Support of the U-2 and SR-71 High SATURDAY â&#x20AC;˘ AUTUMN IN THE COUNTRY: An â&#x20AC;&#x153;Autumn in the Ohio Country 1812â&#x20AC;? event will be offered from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Staley Mill Farm and Indian Creek Distillery, 7095 Staley Road, New Carlisle. Event admission with a distillery tour will be $5. There will be free parking. The event also will include historic re-enactors and interpreters portraying War of 1812 militia and civilians, preparing food on a campfire for the militia, dyeing and sewing of uniforms and historical society displays from the area. Thomas Jefferson, portrayed by Steven Edenbo, featured on The History Channel, will speak from 1-2 p.m. and mingle with visitors after. â&#x20AC;˘ PORK CHOPS: The Pleasant Hill VFW Post No. 6557, 7578 W. Fenner Road, Ludlow Falls, will offer a marinated pork chop (non-marinated available upon request) dinner with baked potato and green bean casserole for $9 from 5-7 p.m. â&#x20AC;˘ FANTASTIC FACES: Students in grades K-5 and their families are invited to come to the Troy-Miami County Public Library from 1-2 p.m. to create fantastic fall faces using fruits, vegetables, leaves, sticks, bottle caps, buttons, yarn and other craft materials. Call the library at 339-0502 to register. â&#x20AC;˘ PIG ROAST: The A.B. Graham Memorial Center, 8025 E. U.S. Route 36, Conover, will have offer its annual pig roast and fall festival from 4:30-9 p.m. Dinner will be served from 4:30-7 p.m. Meals will be $7 for adults, $3 for children 4-12 and free for those 3 and younger. A kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; costume concert will be at 6 p.m. and bingo will follow. Kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; games will be held in the gym at 6:30 p.m. and a wrestling demo will be offered by Shore Sports Clubs from 7-8 p.m.

Altitude Reconnaissance Aircraft.â&#x20AC;? The lecture is open to the public. The WACO Air Museum is located at 1865 S. County Road 25-A, Troy. For more information, go to www.wacoairmuseum.org or call (937) 335-WACO.

Meet the candidates TROY â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The Meet the Candidate night, sponsored by Leadership Troy Alumni, will be held at Troy Junior High School cafeteria, 556

UVMC encourages UVMC encourages regular regular mammograms mammogr g ams according accordingg to A ACS CS guidelines. Call 440-7111 to schedule aatt Call anyy of our cconveniently an onveniently located locaated Mammography Mammogr aphy Centers: Centers: !

N. Adams St., Troy. The program will begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25 and will last one hour. The event will feature candidates and issues facing the voters in Troy and Concord Township in the general election including State Issues 1 and 2; Troy Health Levy; Concord Township Fire and EMS Levy; Trafalgar Rezoning; 2nd District Court of Appeals: Carly Ingram and Jeffrey Welbaum; and 80th Ohio District State Representative Richard Adams and David Fisher.

PERSONAL SERVICE-you deserve it!

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Upper Valley Valley Medical Center Cen nter 3130 N. County County RRd. d. 25A 25A,, Troy Troy Outpatient Care Outpatient Care CCenter/North enter/N North 280 N. Looney Looney Rd., Rd., PPiqua iqua Hyatt CCenter Hyatt enter 450 N. Hyatt Hyatt St., St., Tipp Tipp Cityy

FACT

Breast can Breast cancer ncer is the second second eading ca ause of cancer dea ths leading cause deaths in w omen n, after fter lung cancer women, cancer..

FACT

Nearly 23 0,480 w omen in the 230,480 women United Sta ates w ere diagnosed States were with br east cancer in 2011. breast

FACT

women It is projected projeccted 39,520 w omen will from die fr om tthe disease this yyear. ear.

FACT

breast About 1% % of br east cancers occur in each n men ea ach year. year.

American CCancer ancer Societ Society ty (A (ACS) CS) guidelines ffor or earlyy detec detection tion of breast brreast cancer include: ! !

Yearly mammogr mammogram am star sstarting ting aatt ag agee 40. Clinical br breast east exam exam eevery very 3 yyears ears beginning aatt age age 20 and and annually for ag agee 40 and oover. ver. Monthly Mon thly breast breast self self-exam -exam beginning aatt age age 20. Women W omen at at increased increased risk r (e.g. (e.g. family family histor history/past y/past br breast east cancer) caancer) should consult consult th i doc their d doctor t about tor b t the the benefits b fit off earlier li mammogr mammography aphy scr screenings, een nings, additional tests and/ and/or or mor moree fr frequent equent eexams. xams.

Sarah Sar ah h Jones, Jones, Onc Oncology olo logy Clinical li i l Nurse Specialist, Special i list, lil will ill pr provide ovide id FREE FREE Counseling Counselin ng About Genetic Testing ffor or Cancer: Cancer: Thursday, Thursda y, Oct. Oct. 18 2-3 p.m. p.m. UVMC UVMC Cafeteria Cafeteria f t i feteria

SUNDAY â&#x20AC;˘ BREAKFAST SET: Breakfast will be offered at the Pleasant Hill VFW Post No. 6557, 7578 W. Fenner Road, Ludlow Falls, from 8-11 a.m. They are made-to-order breakfasts and everything is ala carte. â&#x20AC;˘ VIEW FROM THE VISTA: Come see who is visiting the Brukner Nature Center birdbath from 1-3 p.m. Come discover BNCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vista bird life, enjoy a homemade cookie and a hot cup of bird-friendly coffee and join members of the BNC Bird Club as you learn to identify our feathered friends.

they can pick up a certificate of phlebotomy and medical coding, so by the time they finish they have three certificates and an associateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree.â&#x20AC;? The program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs upon the recommendation of the Curriculum Review Board of the American Association of Medical Assistants Endowment. For more information on the medical assistant program at Edison, go online to www.edisonohio.edu. Founded in 1973, Edison offers a comprehensive two-year college experience to more than 3,500 students from across the region. With campuses located in Piqua and Greenville, Edison works closely with business and industry partners to help meet the growing demands of employers throughout Ohio by providing training and programs that lead to employment.

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â&#x20AC;˘ SUPPORT GROUP: A Mom and Baby Get Together support group for breastfeeding mothers is offered weekly at Upper Valley Medical Center from 9:30-11 a.m. at the Farmhouse located northwest of the main hospital entrance. The meetings are facilitated by the lactation department. Participants can meet other moms, share about being a new mother and learn more about breastfeeding and their babies. For more information, call (937) 440-4906.

covery walk for adults will be from 8-9:30 a.m. at Aullwood Audubon Center, 1000 Aullwood Road, Dayton. Tom Hissong, education coordinator, will lead walkers as they experience the wonderful seasonal changes taking place. Bring binoculars. Civic agenda â&#x20AC;˘ The Newton Local School Board of Education will meet at 7:30 p.m. in the media center at the school.

Receive R eceive helpful helpfful information. informa formation. En Enter ter prize prize drawings. drrawings.

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Word of the Week Mount Rainier: Highest mountain in Washington elevation — the height to which something is elevated or to which it rises

Newspaper Knowledge

• Mount Rainier is the highest peak in the Cascade Range, a long range of volcanic mountains that stretches from Washington through Oregon to northern California. Other Cascade peaks seen from the summit of Mount Rainier include Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams, Mount Baker, Glacier Peak and Mount Hood on a clear day.

Place news items or pictures about each state on a large outline map of the United States. See how many states you can find in the news in two weeks.

• Mount Rainier, a giant stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, is considered an active volcano with its last eruption in 1894. Rainier erupted over a dozen times in the last 2,600 years, with the largest eruption 2,200 years ago.

On This Day In 1964, it was announced that soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had been removed from office. He was succeeded as premier by Alexei Kosygin as Communist Party secretary by Leonid Brezhnev.

Did You Know? Mount Rainier: Elevation: 14,411 feet (4,392 meters) Prominence: 13,211 feet (4,027 meters); 21st most prominent peak in the world. Location: Cascade Range, Pierce County, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. Coordinates: 46°51 10 N 121°45 37 W First Ascent: First recorded ascent in 1870 by Hazard Stevens and P. B. Van Trump.

Word Search

• Mount Rainier is Washington's highest mountain. It is the 21st most prominent mountain in the world with an elevation rise of 13,211 feet from its nearest low point. It is the most prominent mountain in the lower 48 states (the contiguous United States).

• As an active volcano, Mount Rainier has many small high-frequency earthquakes, often occurring on a daily basis. Every month as many as five quakes are recorded near the mountain's summit. Small swarms of five to 10 earthquakes, occurring over a few days, also occur often. Geologists say most of these earthquakes result from hot fluids circulating inside the mountain. Go to “Recent Mount Rainier Earthquakes” to get the latest seismic data about what's shaking on Rainier.

climbed in comparison to the higher summit.

• The volcanic cone of Mount Rainier is about 500,000 years old, although an early ancestral cone composed of lava flows is more than 840,000 years old. Geologists say the mountain once stood at about 16,000 feet but debris avalanches, mudflows or lahars, and glaciations reduced it to its present elevation. The huge Osceola Mudflow, occurring 5,000 years ago, was a giant debris avalanche that swept • Rainier's summit has two overlapping volrock, ice, and mud more than 50 miles to the canic craters, each more than 1,000 feet in Tacoma area and removed more than 1,600 diameter. It also has a small crater lake that is 16 feet deep and 130 feet long by 30 feet wide. feet from the mountain top. The last major mudflow happened over 500 years ago. This is the highest crater lake in North Geologists say future mudflows could reach as America. The lake, however, lies beneath 100 feet of ice in the west summit crater. It can only far as Seattle and inundate the Puget Sound. be visited by following a network of ice caves in • Mount Rainier is the centerpiece of 235,625the craters. acre Mount Rainier National Park, which lies • Mount Rainier is the most glaciated mountain 50 miles southwest of Seattle. The park is 97 percent wilderness with the other 3 percent a in the contiguous United States with 26 major glaciers as well as 35 square miles of glaciers National Historic Landmark District. More than 2 million visitors come to the park every year. and permanent snowfields. President William McKinley created the nation• Mount Rainier has three separate summits – al park, the nation's fifth, on March 2, 1899. 14,411-foot Columbia Crest, 14,158-foot Point • Native Americans called the mountain Success, and 14,112-foot Liberty Cap. The standard climbing routes reach the crater crest Tahoma, Tacoma, or Talol from a Lushootseed word meaning "mother of waters" and a Skagit at 14,150 feet and many climber stop here, word meaning "great white mountain." deeming that they've reached the top. The actual summit at Columbia is a quarter mile • The first Europeans to see the great peak away and reached by a 45-minute hike across were Captain George Vancouver (1757-1798) the crater. and his crew, who sailed into Puget Sound in 1792 while exploring the northwest coast of • Liberty Cap at 14,112 feet (4,301 meters), is the lowest of Mount Rainiers three summits but North America. Vancouver named the peak for Rear Admiral Peter Rainier (1741-1808) of the has a prominence of 492 feet (150 meters) which makes it a separate peak from Columbia British Royal Navy. Rainier fought against the colonists in the American Revolution and was Crest, the high point. Most climbers, however, severely wounded on July 8, 1778 while capdo not consider it a separate mountain because of Rainier's huge size so it is seldom turing a ship. He later became a commodore and served in the East Indies before retiring in

1805. After his election to parliament, he died on April 7, 1808. • In 1792, Captain George Vancouver wrote about newly discovered and named Mount Rainier: "The weather was serene and pleasant, and the country continued to exhibit between us and the eastern snowy range the same luxuriant appearance. At is northern extremity, Mount Baker bore by compass N. 22E.; the round snowy mountain, now forming its southern extremity, and which, after my friend, Rear Admiral Rainier, I distinguish by the name of Mount Rainier, bore N(S) 42 E." • Through the 19th century the mountain was called both Mount Rainier and Mount Tacoma. In 1890, the United States Board of Geographic Names deemed that it would be called Rainier. As late as 1924, however, a resolution was introduced in the U.S. Congress to called it Tacoma. • The first ascent of Mount Rainier was thought to be in 1852 by an undocumented party. The first known ascent was in 1870 by Hazard Stevens and P.B. Van Trump. The pair were feted in Olympia after their successful ascent. • The great American naturalist John Muir climbed Mount Rainier in 1888. He later wrote about his climb: "The view we enjoyed from the summit could hardly be surpassed in sublimity and grandeur; but one feels far from home so high in the sky, so much so that one is inclined to guess that, apart from the acquisition of knowledge and the exhilaration of climbing, more pleasure is to be found at the foot of the mountains than on their tops. Doubly happy, however, is the man to whom lofty mountain tops are within reach, for the lights that shine there illumine all that lies below."

See if you can find and circle the words listed. They are hidden in the puzzle vertically, horizontally, and diagonally — some are even spelled backwards.

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OPINION

Contact us David Fong is the executive editor of the Troy Daily News. You can reach him at 440-5228 or send him e-mail at fong@tdn publishing.com.

XXXday, 2010 Monday, October 15,XX, 2012 •5

TROY DAILY NEWS • WWW.TROYDAILYNEWS.COM

In Our View Troy Daily News Editorial Board FRANK BEESON / Group Publisher DAVID FONG / Executive Editor

ONLINE POLL

(WWW.TROYDAILYNEWS.COM)

Question: If the election were today, would you vote for Josh Mandel or Sherrod Brown?

Watch for final poll results in Sunday’s Miami Valley Sunday News.

Watch for a new poll question in Sunday’s Miami Valley Sunday News.

PERSPECTIVE

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” — First Amendment, U.S. Constitution

ANALYSIS

The trend line Obama has been looking for WASHINGTON (AP) — September’s lower unemployment rate breaks the 8 percent psychological and political barrier that has stubbornly dogged Barack Obama through his presidency, halting the kind of stagnant high joblessness that has weighed down past presidents seeking reelection in economically troubled times. For Obama, the trend line now looks more like Ronald Reagan’s in his successful re-election in 1984 than Jimmy Carter’s in his losing effort in 1980. The 0.3 percentage point drop to 7.8 percent unemployment last month comes at a welcome time for Obama, one month before Election Day and less than 36 hours after he delivered a lackluster debate performance that reinvigorated the campaign of Republican challenger Mitt Romney. “The main effect of this particular number is going to be primarily political,” said Bruce Bartlett, an economist in President George H.W. Bush’s administration. “It gives Obama a talking point, something to get people’s attention off his debate performance.” “As long as people are seeing improvement,” Bartlett added, “at least some voters are going to say to themselves, ‘Well, best not to switch horses in the middle of the stream.’” A recent Associated Press-GfK poll found that the vast majority of voters already have settled on a candidate, but 17 percent of likely voters are considered persuadable either because they’re undecided or showing soft support for Obama or Romney. Roughly 56 percent of persuadables approve of the way Obama is handling his job as president, but fewer, 47 percent, approve of his handling of the economy. Moreover, a Pew Research Center survey in September found only two issues rated as “very important” for more than 80 percent of voters: 87 percent rated the economy that way and 83 percent placed jobs in that category. John Sides, a political scientist at George Washington University who has examined the intersection of economic data and politics, said Obama could benefit simply from the good media coverage the jobs numbers might get after a debate where his performance was panned. “It changes the story line, but that may be what affects voter behavior in the end,” Sides said. “A small number of undecided voters may be sensitive to good news and bad news about the two candidates. In that way the good economic news is helpful for Obama.” The new threshold, which drops unemployment to a level unseen since Obama took office in January 2009, carries more political than economic weight. The Labor Department reported that employers added 114,000 jobs in September, slightly better than expected but still below levels needed to sustain a reduction in unemployment. The long-term unemployment rate was little changed at 4.8 million. Jobs have been a central theme in this election. The words “job” and “jobs” were among the most frequently mentioned in Wednesday’s debate in Denver, uttered at a rate of more than once every two minutes in a 90-minute showdown. Carter lost his re-election bid to Reagan in 1980 as unemployment climbed from 6 percent in October 1979 to 7.5 percent in October 1980. George H.W. Bush lost to Bill Clinton in 1992 in the midst of rising unemployment, which went from 6.9 percent September 1991 to 7.6 percent in September 1992. Obama can now hope he is more like Reagan in 1984, who won reelection with a jobless rate of 7.3 percent in September of that year, after dropping from 8 percent nine months earlier.

EDITORIAL ROUNDUP Kearney (Neb.) Hub on the federal farm bill: Don’t allow federal lawmakers to shrug off their inability to pass the 2012 Farm Bill by claiming their inaction before recessing for the campaign season won’t affect very many Americans. That’s a cop-out. The U.S. Senate and House Ag Committee both passed their versions of the farm bill, but the full House of Representatives did not take up the legislation before the election recess. Lacking a vote in the full House, the farm bill expired Sept. 29. Farmers who need to finance their planting for next year may face problems completing that process because neither they nor

their lenders will know exactly what to expect when Congress revisits the farm bill after the November elections. Also waiting with concern are farmers who depend upon federal programs to boost foreign trade, fight soil erosion and help dairy operations. Dairy farmers have uncertainty because the Milk Income Loss Contract program has expired. … The USDA’s Foreign Market Development Program is a cost-sharing trade promotion partnership with agricultural producers and processors, but its funding will run out later in October. … Thirty-one percent of U.S. gross farm

income comes from exports, which also help to counter our nation’s trade imbalance. Finally, there will be no new signups in the Conservation Reserve Program. About 6.5 million acres are enrolled in CRP, a voluntary land retirement program that helps ag producers fight erosion, restore wildlife habitat, and safeguard ground and surface water. In addition to CRP, signups have ceased for wetlands and grasslands reserve programs. It seems unlikely that the same legislators who dropped the ball before the election will be of much use to America’s farmers after the election.

WRITETO US: The Troy Daily News welcomes signed letters to the editor. Letters must contain your home address and a telephone number where you can be reached during the day. Letters must be shorter than 500 words as a courtesy to other writers. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. MAIL: 224 S. Market, Troy, Ohio, 45373; E-MAIL: editorial@tdnpublishing.com; FAX (937) 440-5286; ONLINE: www.troydailynews.com (“Letters To The Editor” link on left side).

DOONESBURY

Calling for a halt to all election phone calls Now here is a statement you don’t hear very often…I’m starting to feel sorry for telemarketers. With the presidential election still several weeks off, my phone along with everyone else’s, is ringing off the hook with calls from folks who are preternaturally interested in some pretty private information. My mother spent most of her twenties trying to teach me manners. Mostly she succeeded. But even a person such as myself in whom courtesy has been deeply ingrained will find it hard to be civil after the fifth call from a perfect stranger asking who I’m voting for. Yesterday was just such a day. My phone rang and I was not near a phone equipped with a caller ID readout. (Just for the record, the idea of caller ID is almost as good a brainstorm as the iPad. The person who invented caller ID should be given a Nobel Prize or some other huge award.) True, I should know better than to answer the phone during a hotly contested campaign because odds are, it’s an annoying “fact-finding” call. But, my bad. I picked up and a person not comfortable with the American idiom asked to speak to me. This might have been “Bruce in Orlando” or “Donna at our Cleveland calling center” but I

Marla Boone Troy Daily News Columnist doubt it. The quality of the connection and the accent of the speaker put the origin of the call somewhere in middle Asia. This is where the curse of courtesy comes in. I should have hung up right then. But the caller was just trying to make a living, and I was too polite, and blah blah blah. The caller wanted to know if I intended to vote. Brother, we did not fight a war of independence and those brave women suffragettes did not go on hunger strikes for me to sit home on election day. I always vote. Then came the deal breaker; the caller wanted to know which presidential candidate I was going to vote for. I (very politely) told him that was none of his business. Then he wanted to know who I was going to vote for in the Ohio Senate race. Except he mispro-

nounced Sherrod Brown’s name. Really. Perhaps his was the accepted pronunciation in Outer Mongolia, but in Ohio the accent is on the first syllable of Mr. Brown’s given name, not the second. Again I (very politely) explained to him this information was none of his business. Since a trend was obviously in the making, I (very politely) cut him off at the beginning of his next question to tell him the call was over. That is where the sympathy comes in. You just have to wonder how many phones get slammed in this guy’s ear every day. At least there was a human ear on the other end of that call. Following closely down the telephone line was a recorded call from our friends at the National Rifle Association. Right off the bat, the disembodied voice recited the number from which it was calling. You had to be pretty quick with a pen to write it down, but I managed. I managed because exactly one minute after the first call from the NRA came a second call from the NRA. They must like the shotgun approach, if you get my drift. Here is the problem with those recorded calls. You can’t cut them off. You can hang up, but they’re still there, clogging up your phone

line. I know this because I tested it. (It was a very slow day here.) Every 15 seconds or so over the next two to three minutes, I’d pick up the handset and there would be some faceless bureaucrat still blathering on about how every 2year-old needs an Uzi. Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against guns themselves. I own guns. I’m a pretty decent shot, too. I just think there ought to be some way to keep assault weapons out of the hands of teenagers and disgruntled ex-employees. Realizing my rights as a guntotin’ American, I called the number provided by the NRA to ask them to remove me from their calling list. But the NRA will not answer the phone. (Try it…call 703-267-1200 and see if you can roust anybody out.) Another recording will inform you the office is closed for “staff training” and that the office will re-open at “3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.” The Eastern time zone is, of course, still on Daylight Saving Time. Let’s hope they’re more careful with their guns than they are with their clocks. It’s all enough to make you do something rude.

Troy Daily News

FRANK BEESON Group Publisher

DAVID FONG Executive Editor

LEIANN STEWART Retail Advertising Manager

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BETTY BROWNLEE Business Manager

SCARLETT SMITH Graphics Manager

AN OHIO COMMUNITY MEDIA NEWSPAPER 224 S. Market St. Troy, Ohio 45373 www.TDN-NET.com

Marla Boone appears every other Monday in the TDN

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OBITUARIES

Big Endeavour

Alan B. Blackburn

Shuttle’s final miles all-night affair LOS ANGELES (AP) — It was supposed to be a slow but smooth journey to retirement, a parade through city streets for a shuttle that logged millions of miles in space. But Endeavour’s final mission turned out to be a logistical headache that delayed its arrival to its museum resting place by about 17 hours. After a 12-mile weave past trees and utility poles that included thousands of adoring onlookers, flashing cameras and even the filming of a TV commercial, Endeavour arrived at the California Science Center Sunday to a greeting party of city leaders and other dignitaries that had expected it many hours earlier. Endeavour was still inching toward a hangar on the grounds of the museum mid-Sunday afternoon. “It’s like Christmas!” said Mark Behn, 55, a member of the museum ground support team who watched the shuttle’s snaillike approach from inside the hangar. “We’ve waited so long and been told so many things about when it would get here. But here it is, and it’s a dream come true.” Movers had planned a slow trip, saying the shuttle that once orbited at more than 17,000 mph would move at just 2 mph in its final voyage through Inglewood and southern Los Angeles. But that estimate turned out to be generous, with Endeavour often creeping along at a barely detectable pace when it wasn’t at a dead stop due to difficult-to-maneuver obstacles like tree branches and light posts. Another delay came in the early morning hours Sunday when the shuttle’s remote-controlled, 160wheel carrier began leaking oil. Despite the holdups, the team charged with transporting the shuttle felt a “great sense of accomplish-

AP PHOTO

The Space Shuttle Endeavour is slowly moved down Martin Luther King Blvd. in Los Angeles Sunday. In thousands of Earth orbits, the space shuttle Endeavour traveled 123 million miles. But the last few miles of its final journey are proving hard to get through. Endeavour’s 12-mile crawl across Los Angeles to the California Science Museum hit repeated delays Saturday, leaving expectant crowds along city streets and at the destination slowly dwindling. Officials estimated the shuttle, originally expected to finish the trip early Saturday evening, would not arrive until later Sunday. ment” when it made it onto the museum grounds, said Jim Hennessy, a spokesman for Sarens, the contract mover. “It’s historic and will be a great memory,” he said. “Not too many people will be able to match that to say, ‘We moved the space shuttle through the streets of Inglewood and Los Angeles.’” T r a n s p o r t i n g Endeavour cross-town was a costly feat with an estimated price tag of $10 million, to be paid for by the science center and private donations. Late Friday, crews spent hours transferring the shuttle to a special, lighter towing dolly for its trip over Interstate 405. The dolly was pulled across the Manchester Boulevard bridge by a Toyota Tundra pickup, and the car company filmed the event for a commercial after paying for a permit, turning the entire scene into a movie set complete with special lighting, sound and staging. Saturday started off promising, with Endeavour 90 minutes ahead of schedule. But accumulated hurdles and hiccups caused it to run hours behind at

day’s end. Some 400 trees had been removed along the route, but officials said most of the trees that gave them trouble could not be cut down because they were old or treasured for other reasons, including some planted in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. The crowd had its problems too. Despite temperatures in the mid-70s, several dozen people were treated for heat-related injuries after a long day in the sun, according to fire officials. But it was a happy, peaceful crowd, with firefighters having only to respond to a sheared hydrant and a small rubbish fire, and no reports of any arrests. And despite the late problems the mood for most of the day was festive. At every turn of Endeavour’s slow-speed commute through urban streets, spectators jammed intersections as the shuttle shuffled past stores, schools, churches and front yards through the workingclass streets of southern Los Angeles. Sidewalks were off-limits due to Endeavour’s enormous wingspan. Endeavour’s arrival in

Los Angeles was a homecoming. It may have zipped around the Earth nearly 4,700 times, but its roots are solidly grounded in Its main California. engines were fashioned in the San Fernando Valley. The heat tiles were invented in Silicon Valley. Its “flyby-wire” technology was developed in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey. In 1991, it rolled off the assembly line in the Mojave Desert to replace Challenger, which blew up during liftoff in 1986. As Endeavour shuffled by crowds, its age was evident after 123 million miles in space and two dozen re-entries. Stephanie Gibbs, a longtime Inglewood resident, passed the Forum, where the Los Angeles Lakers used to play and where Endeavour made a pit stop Saturday, many times in her life. But she wasn’t prepared for what she saw. “There was a space shuttle blocking the street and I said, ‘Whoa,’” she said. Gibbs, who lives off Crenshaw Drive, the narrowest section of the move, would like to see a sign designating it as a shuttle crossing.

CDC works to halt meningitis breakout THE TOLL An outbreak of fungal meningitis has been linked to steroid shots for back pain. The medication, made by a specialty pharmacy in Massachusetts, has been recalled. Latest numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Illnesses: 205 Deaths: 15 States: 14; Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. 200 people in 14 states have been sickened, including 15 who have died. There is a sense of urgency people are dying, and lives could be saved if those who are sickened get treated in time. But it’s not a race against a fast-spreading illness like avian flu or SARS or even the fictional virus the CDC fails to unravel in the popular TV series “The Walking Dead.” Unlike those outbreaks, this strain of meningitis isn’t contagious and doesn’t spread between people. It is likely isolated to the contaminated steroid, produced by the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass.

“This is a very unusual infection,” said Dr. John Jernigan, a CDC medical epidemiologist who is leading the clinical investigation team for the outbreak response. “So, treatment recommendations, diagnostic recommendations are all going to be new, and we’re learning as we go on this one.” Meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, is not uncommon. But it is usually caused by bacteria, and it is very unusual to see it in patients with normal immune systems, Jernigan said. This strain is caused by a fungus that is common

in dirt and grasses people routinely come into contact with it without getting sick but it has never before been identified as the cause of meningitis. By Friday morning, officials believed they had reached about 90 percent of those who were potentially affected, Jernigan said. They planned to continue trying to reach every person to see if they’ve had problems and to warn them to be on the lookout for symptoms, which can include severe headache, nausea, dizziness and fever. The CDC says many of the cases have been mild, but some people had strokes. A meeting is held each morning to review overnight developments and plot a course of action for the day, and another at the end of the day summarizes the day’s developments and looks ahead to the next day. Maps on big screens in the front of the emergency operations center track the states where the tainted medications were sent and the tally of cases reported in affected states. 2322730

ATLANTA (AP) — Scattered across the carefully landscaped main campus of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are the staff on the front lines fighting a rare outbreak of fungal meningitis: A scientist in a white lab coat peers through a microscope at fungi on a glass slide. In another room, another researcher uses what looks like a long, pointed eye dropper to suck up DNA samples that will be tested for the suspect fungus. Not far away in another building is the emergency operations center, which is essentially the war room. There’s a low hum of voices as employees work the phones, talking to health officials, doctors and patients who received potentially contaminated pain injections believed to be at the root of the outbreak. Workers sit at rows of computers, gathering data, advising doctors and reaching out to thousands of people who may have been exposed. Overall, dozens of people are working day and night to bring the outbreak under control. More than

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TROY — Alan B. Blackburn, 85, formerly of Troy, Ohio, more recently of West Chester, Ohio, passed away Monday, Sept. 17, 2012, at Chesterwood Village in West Chester. He was born Dec. 5, 1926, in Sioux City, Iowa, to the late William Bruce and Frances (Mueller) Blackburn Palmer. Alan was a U.S. Navy veteran, a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Troy and the American Welding Society. He attended Marietta College and The Ohio State University and was an electrical engineer with Aeroproducts in Vandalia and Hobart Brothers in Troy. Alan enjoyed auto racing and race car design and was the chief engineer on a car that won the USAC National Sprint Car Championship. He also enjoyed sharing his electrical and mechanical talents by being “Mr. Fix-it” to friends and family. He is survived by his three children, Alana Plessinger of West Chester, Ohio, Brad (Anne) Blackburn of Columbus, Ohio, and Lisa (Thomas) Parliament of Mt. Dora, Fla.; two broth-

ers, Douglas (Norma Jean) Blackburn of Maryland and James (Ellen) Blackburn of Virginia; six grandchildren, Kara (Josh) Plessinger Jenkins, Alex Plessinger, Ashley Blackburn, Sarah (Brent) Blackburn Gerrity and T.J and Lexi Parliament; three step grandchildren, Rob (Susan), Ben and Abby Littleton; and three greatgrandchildren, Avery, Colby and Zachary Jenkins. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Pollyanna (Schultz) Blackburn, on Feb. 27, 1992; and his son-in-law, Ronald Plessinger. A memorial service will be at 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21, at First Presbyterian Church, Troy. The family will greet friends immediately following the service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to The National Parkinson’s Foundation, Hospice of Southwest Ohio, or a charity of your choice. Baird Funeral Home, Troy, is assisting the family with arrangements. Friends may express condolences to the family through www.bairdfuneralhome.com.

Tac Huu Nguyen TROY — Tac Huu Nguyen, 55, of Troy, died at 11:55 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012, at Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton. He was born May 24, 1957, in NGUYEN Binh-Dinh, Vietnam, to the late Phai Nguyen and Mai Ho. His mother survives in Denville, N.J. He married Tran M. Huynh; she survives in Troy. He also is survived by a daughter, Cynthia Nguyen; a son, Michael Nguyen of Troy; and seven siblings, Thuan Nguyen, Chat Nguyen, Tam Nguyen, Tuyen Nguyen, Viet Nguyen, Linh Nguyen and Thien Nguyen. He was preceded in death by four siblings. Mr. Nguyen was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church of

Dayton, where he served as chairman of the Pastoral Council. He worked as a regional manager for Schindler Elevator Corporation, and also was involved with the Boy Scouts of America. A visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16, at the Jamieson & Yannucci Funeral Home, 333 W. High St., Piqua, where a prayer service will be conducted at 6 p.m. with Bishop Joseph R. Binzer officiating. Funeral services and burial will be in Dallas, Texas. Memorial contributions may be made to Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 217 W. Fourth St., Dayton, OH 45402. Condolences to the family also may be expressed through jamiesonandyannucci.com.

FUNERAL DIRECTORY • Hazel Bertsch SIDNEY — Hazel Bertsch, 61, of 553 Culver St., Sidney, died at 12:55 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012, at her residence. Private graveside servic-

es will be Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012, at Shelby Memory Gardens, Sidney. Arrangements have been entrusted to Adams Funeral Home, 1401 Fair Road, Sidney.

AP PHOTO

In this 1986 file photo comic-book writer Harvey Pekar poses with a copy of his “American Splendor” in his Cleveland Heights, Ohio, home.

Tributes to comic writer Pekar set CLEVELAND HEIGHTS (AP) — Two Ohio libraries will honor the late comic book writer Harvey Pekar (PEE’-kar) of the “American Splendor” series with a sculpture at one facility and a likeness of him on the other library’s new cards. A statue of Pekar mounted on a wooden desk will be unveiled Sunday at the main branch of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library system in suburban

Cleveland where Pekar did research. He also spent time at the Cleveland Public Library. That library on Monday will offer cards imprinted with a drawing of Pekar. Pekar’s comic books and graphic novels portrayed the lives of ordinary people and chronicled his life as a file clerk. He appeared on TV with David Letterman, and “American Splendor” was made into a film starring Paul Giammati.

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ANNIE’S MAILBOX

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Husband must take responsibility for things he has done

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Dear Annie: I have been married for 36 years. Eight months ago, I learned that my husband had been calling other women, one in particular, for the past two years. The calls included text messages and pictures. The woman he was mostly in touch with is someone I know. She is married. My husband would call her multiple times, and each call would last nearly an hour. In addition, they would text each other 40 times during the day. My husband refuses to explain why he started calling her and will not tell me what they talked about. This has led to some terrible fights. I don't know what to do. I love my husband very much and was devastated to learn about these calls. He says they did not have a sexual affair, and I want to believe him. I have gone to counseling. He went once, but when the counselor asked him to talk about the phone calls, he became angry and stomped out. I suggested going to a different counselor, but he says he doesn't need to. I have forgiven him, but I am haunted by images of them together. I would like him to respect our marriage enough to tell me the truth, but I have no idea how to get him to open up. Am I being too demanding? — Lost in the Country Dear Lost: You are not wrong. Your husband doesn't want to take responsibility for his affair (physical or emotional) and has made you believe that you are not entitled to the truth. But he has an obligation to be completely transparent about his motives and behavior. Since he refuses counseling, please continue on your own and work through this in whatever way is best for you. Dear Annie: I am really concerned about my husband. He became unemployed at the beginning of this year when we were expecting our second child. Right now, he is selling cars to get by, but the hours are brutal, and the pay is inconsistent. He went back to school to study computers and network security and applied for a job with a computer company. This is an exciting opportunity for him. The company asked to schedule an interview. My husband told them he is busy this time of year, but would be available as soon as he has next month's schedule and can check the dates. He left his cellphone number for them to contact him, and now we are just waiting. It has only been a few days, but I am so stressed about this. By saying he was busy, did he take himself out of the running for an interview? — Mrs. Concerned Dear Concerned: No. Your husband should call the company as soon as he knows his schedule. The fact that he is busy with another job could actually work in his favor. There is, of course, a possibility that the company will hire someone else in the meantime, but that could have happened regardless. Concentrate your thoughts on a positive outcome. Good luck. Dear Annie: This is in response to "Kids First," who took a cruise with her in-laws. She was upset when she had to leave and discovered that her husband and in-laws went out drinking and took the 12- and 14-year-olds along to watch. I think she should lighten up. These were adults having a good time on vacation. Also, these kids are not toddlers. If Mom sits down and talks to her children about her feelings, they will learn to be responsible. She shouldn't shield them from life. — D. Dear D.: We agree that the best way to teach your children to hold fast to the moral standards you set is to teach and explain, not avoid and shield. But it helps when those relatives and friends the children look up to do not deliberately undermine the parents. Annie's Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please email your questions to anniesmailbox@comcast.net, or write to: Annie's Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

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