STATE MEDALISTS: Local athletes claim medals on first day of PIAA Track and Field Championships. Page 13
SATURDAY MAY 28, 2016
24 pages — 2 sections Vol. 112 — No. 276
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A-bomb survivors feel doubt, wonder By FOSTER KLUG and KAORI HITOMI Associated Press
JAMIE EMPFIELD/Gazette
DOUGLAS SLAY, an employee with the YMCA, power washed the walkway around the pool at Mack Park on Friday in preparation for the season opener. The pool season kicked off Friday for teens only and is open today to the public. The pool, which is heated, will be open for Memorial Day. Season passes can be purchased at Mack Pool or the YMCA.
Verizon, unions reach deal in principle for 4-year contract By TALI ARBEL
to step in but there were still delays in installations for Fios customers. Verizon said that it had high health care costs for its unionized workers, which have shrunk as it sold off large chunks of its wireline unit and focused on its mobile business, which was not unionized. It also wanted the union workers, just over one-fifth of its U.S. workforce, to agree to move around to different regions when needed, which the union opposed. The union and Verizon are not giving details of the contract, so it’s not
AP Technology Writer
NEW YORK — Striking Verizon employees may be back to work next week after the company and its unions reached an agreement in principle for a four-year contract. About 39,000 landline and cable employees in nine Eastern states and Washington, D.C., have been on strike since mid-April, one of the largest strikes in the U.S. in recent years. Verizon had trained other workers
clear yet what the agreement entails for workers. As the number of organized workers shrinks, union fights in recent years have tended to be defensive, aimed at holding the line for their members rather than winning new benefits, said Jake Rosenfeld, sociology professor at Washington University, in an interview before the agreement was announced. The president of the Communications Workers of America union, Chris Shelton, did say in a statement that Continued on Page 12
HIROSHIMA, Japan — The survivors of the world’s first atomic bomb attack are used to hearing grand vows to rid the world of nuclear weapons. They just don’t usually come directly from the leader of the country that dropped the bomb on them in the first place. Today, a day after Barack Obama left, there was gratitude — wonder, even — that he had become the first sitting U.S. president to visit the place where the nuclear age began. But there was also clear-eyed recognition that the realities of a dangerous, fickle world may trump Obama’s call for nations, including his own, to have the “the courage to escape the logic of fear” of nuclear weapons stockpiling. Hiroshima cherishes its survivors — a grove not far from the atomic bomb’s hypocenter proudly displays signs announcing that these “A-
bombed Trees” still thrive — but there’s also some skepticism when faced with yet another anti-nuclear call, even from the leader of the world’s sole superpower. “The world paid attention to what happened here, even if just for a while, because someone as important as (Obama) came to Hiroshima. So perhaps it could make things a little bit better,” Kimie Miyamoto, 89, a bomb survivor, said in an interview. “But you never know if it will really make a difference, because so much depends on what other countries are thinking as well.” Asked if Obama’s visit could inspire those countries to abandon nuclear weapons, she shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she said, “because there are so many (bombs) in the world.” Long after Obama left for Washington, people here were loath to let go of his whirlwind trip. Into the night, a line at Peace Memorial Park stretched from an arched Continued on Page 12
Family Cellphone study raises concerns despite low risk welcomes By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON — A new federal study of the potential dangers of cellphone radiation, conducted in rats, found a slight increase in brain tumors in males and raised long-dormant concerns about the safety of spending so much time with cellphones glued to our ears. But the study had enough strange findings that it has caused other federal scientists to highlight flaws in the research, and experts said these findings and those from other studies continue to suggest the potential risk from cellphone radiation is very small. The National Institutes of Health study bombarded rats with cellphone radiation from the womb through the first two years of life for nine hours a day. It found tumors in 2 to 3 percent of male rats, which the study’s authors called low. But females weren’t affected at all and, strangely, the rats
not exposed to the cellphone radiation died much faster — at double the rate — of those that were. The results were preliminary, and only part of what will ultimately be released. They were made public before they were officially published — and despite strong criticism from other NIH scientists — because the results were similar to other studies that hint at a potential problem, said study author John Bucher. The study is part of a seven-year, $25 million effort conducted by the National Toxicology Program at the request of the Food and Drug Administration. It looked at the specific type of radiation that cellphones transmit, called non-ionizing radiofrequency. “This is the first study to actually show that non-ionizing radiation (causes) cancer,” said Dr. Otis Brawley, the American Cancer Society’s chief medical officer. The cancer society in a statement praised the study for “evidence that cellphone signals Continued on Page 12
Index Classifieds ...............22-24 Comics/TV....................18 Dear Abby .....................21
its sixth generation By SEAN YODER syoder@indianagazette.net
There are 82 people who can call Bertha Lindsey grandma, in one form or another. The 100-year-old last December saw a sixth generation come into the family with the birth of baby Leon. Lindsey (née Brendlinger) was born Sept. 21, 1915, in West Wheatfield Township. Her family later bought a farm in East Wheatfield Township where they raised crops and animals. She said toward the end of her time on the farm they got a tractor, but it was all hard work and chores were divided up between her 10
Submitted photo
BERTHA LINDSEY recently held the sixth generation of her family, Leon Smith. Pictured clockwise are Russell Lindsey, Bertha’s son; Natasha Smith, Leon’s mother and Bertha’s great-great-granddaughter; Jeremy Dennison, Bertha’s great-grandson; and Sandra Ream, Bertha’s granddaughter. brothers and sisters. “For recreation, we went to bed” at the end of the day, she joked. She herself had eight children. “They’re a blessing now,”
Deaths
Entertainment..............19 Family ...........................20 Lottery.............................2 Religion ...........................8 Sports.......................11-17 Today in History...........21 Viewpoint .......................6
66 76 T-storm tonight. A p.m. storm Sunday. Page 2
Lindsey said as she sat in the kitchen of her New Florence home. Most of her family remains in the area and help to take care of her and the house where Continued on Page 12
Inside
Obituary on Page 4 Late death GORTON, Robert W. Sr., 79, Conemaugh Township
OFFERING RELIEF Fast-moving airport security lines at the start of the Memorial Day weekend could bode well for return travelers Monday, after weeks of slow-moving lines. Page 3
KASASA
VEHICLES IDENTIFIED Eight automakers are recalling more than 12 million vehicles in the U.S. to replace potentially dangerous Takata airbag inflators. Page 7
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