Glimpses of the Past

GLIMPSES OF THE PAST - FULTON

1983: Mayor selects panel to inter view candidates for police chief

60 Years Jan. 9, 1963

Roger McCabe, a foreman of the press room at the Patent Novelty Co., has retired after continuous employment with the company since 1913. Prior to the time he was foreman, he served as assistant foreman and die setter under Stanley Wilson. At the time of Wilson’s death in 1943, McCabe was appointed foreman.

Arlyn Eugene Koenes, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Koenes, is Fulton’s New Year’s baby and has been showered with gifts from Fulton businesses. He was born Jan. 3 at 7:15 a.m. and weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces.

50 Years Jan. 10, 1973

Petitions are being circulated asking Mrs. Lois Wierenga to be a candidate for a four-year term as city clerk in the city election in April. Other officers in the election are mayor, city treasurer and an alderman from each of the three wards.

The two bids submitted for sewage treatment facilities at the Fulton City Council meeting are being analyzed by the city ’s eng inee rs. Th e dat e for accepting a bid remains open. The lowest bid is $576,000. The highest bid is $729,700. While city officials consider the bids, there remains the question about when the state and federal grants will come through for the sewage treatment facilities.

40 Years Jan. 12, 1983

A panel chosen by Mayor Maliszewski will meet to interview seven top candidates for the position of Chief of Police. Members of the panel in addition to the mayor are Earl Lawton, chairman for the Public Safety Committee of the Fulton City Council; Lon Richey, city attorney; Winston Brass, Chief of Police in Rochelle; Joseph Maciejewski, Chief of Police in DeKalb; and Keith Chandler, Chief of Police in Bettendorf, Iowa.

A committee headed by Mrs. Gary Orman is making an effort to inform all voters that they must be registered no later than Jan. 24 to vote in the special election in February. On that date, voters in the River Bend School District will decide whether to grant a request f r om t he B o ar d o f E d u c a t i o n f o r increased taxes to help meet the grave financial shortage in the schools.

30 Years Jan. 6, 1993

Howard Van Zuiden, an alderman from the First Ward, announced he plans to become a candidate for mayor of the City of Fulton. Van Zuiden picked up the necessary papers from City Clerk LaVonne Huizenga. Incumbent mayor Kenneth Ven Huizen also has taken out papers to become a candidate.

A gr i - K i n g ’ s c o v e t e d F o u n d e r ’ s Award recently was presented to members of the Amino Acid Research Team, which was pioneered in 1985. They include Dr. Marty Vogel, director of Lab Services and Forage Research; Randy Smith, development chemist; Frank Talbot, nutritional programming manager; and Lola Manning, programmer.

20 Years Jan. 8, 1993

In December, the fire department in the small town of Fillmore lost its fire station and much of the equipment stored there for use to fight fires in the town. As a result, a plea was made asking other fire departments to help regain some of the town’s firefighting capabilities. Delbert Housenga, longtime member of Fulton Fire and currently a member of the Board of Trustees, received one of the requests. The Fulton Fire Department responded by donating and delivering 10 sets of turnout gear. Savanna helped with equipment from its surplus. Firefighters Dale and Ray Sikkema and Housenga delivered the donation.

Fulton’s newest business is a service designed to help customers with their automotive needs. It is called SOS M o b i l e M e c h a n i c . O w n e r R o b e rt Edmunds advertises his business by displaying a huge tire. The new automotive shop offers pickup and delivery service to customers and a 24-hour road service. It is located at 1405 Third St. in Fulton, just to the south of the Route 136 bridge approach.

10 Years Jan. 9, 2013

Lizzy Webber, a sixth grade student at Unity Christian School and daughter of Jane and Dwight Webber, was moved by the Spirit of Christmas and decided to donate her piggy bank funds to the Fulton Food Pantry. Arky and Harlan Wiebenga of the food pantry accepted the gift from Lizzy.

Chris Streets and Chris Meyer spent hours in the cold outside of Wal-Mart. The food collected from shoppers went to the Clinton Benevolent Society and the Fulton/Thomson Food Pantry. Each charitable agency received a pickup load of groceries and a cash d o n a t i o n . K C L N s p o n s o r e d t h e “Freezin’ For Food” drive to help area families in need.

YOUR HEALTH

The messenger RNA vaccine for COV ID-19 is discussed

By DR. STEPHEN D. HARRISON. M.D.

The most common vaccine against COVID-19 is the messenger RNA vaccine. We need to appreciate that these vaccines have been in development for more than 30 years and were not a rush job because of the COVID-19 virus. The messenger RNA encodes a protein for an antigen, which is delivered to the host muscle tissue. This stimulates the immune response. This is followed by the host rapidly degrading the messenger RNA in the vaccine and eliminating it from the host. The immune response, however, remains effective.

There are several attractive features to the messenger RNA vaccine. First, they are not replicating. Secondly, and contrary to misinformation, they do not integrate into the host genome, meaning they do not affect someone’s genetics. Next, and moreso than the influenza vaccine, they are highly effective. They also produce antibody and cellular immunity. Another attractive feature is they can be produced and modified quickly on a large scale without having to grow the virus in eggs.

The two vaccines that are messenger RNA and approved in the U.S. are Pfizer and Moderna. The other two vaccines, which do not use messenger RNA technology but have emergency use authorization, are Johnson & Johnson and Novavax. All of the vaccines have shown significant effectiveness, but because of the differences noted, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have dominated the market. These vaccines have been more than 90% effective in preventing hospitalizations in adults 65 and older. During the end of the delta variant wave of the pandemic and the emergence of the omicron variant, the unvaccinated were five times as likely to be infected as vaccinated people. They also went to the hospital and intensive care and died at a higher rate.

A significant factor of the updated vaccinations that had not been established with other vaccinations before the development was the COVID-19 vaccination improved the immune response even after a natural infection of the virus. In fact, while there will be breakthroughs in those who are fully vaccinated, such people are far less likely to be hospitalized and die compared with those who are unvaccinated. Furthermore, those who have been vaccinated are better protected in terms of immunity than those with immunity acquired from natural infection.

That’s not to say there are not significant potential side effects. The most notable has been the cardiac or heart issue, known as myocarditis and pericarditis in young males ages 12 to 18. This occurs most commonly after the second dose of the vaccine. Even then, this serious cardiac problem occurred more in young men who were infected with the virus who had not had the vaccination. This condition has been closely monitored with the recommendation there be at least eight weeks between vaccination for males ages 12 to 39. Nonetheless, the results continue to show that those who have been vaccinated have less hospitalization and death and the benefits exceed the risks.

Another condition of concern is a clotting disorder, known as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome. This condition largely occurred in younger women ages 18 to 49. The incidence occurred in seven cases for every million vaccine doses administered. Even then the benefits of the vaccine exceeded the risks. This phenomenon was limited to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

It is important to dispel some of the myths associated with the COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccines do not contain tissue from aborted fetuses, do not cause sterility in men or women, and do not alter anyone’s DNA. The safety and the effectiveness of the vaccine have been established for pregnant women as well. There also is no problem for those who are breast-feeding.

The case for the children’s vaccine has taken some time to unfold. Suffice to say, the advisory committee for all immunizations supports the conclusion of giving the vaccine to children beginning as early as six months. The American Academy of Pediatricians supports this recommendation as well.