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The Lazy Bear Railroad rumbles past the Happy Camp Hotel, a ski shop and a Napa Valley winery before coming to a stop on a cul-de-sac near east Medford's Frohnmayer Park, and Jack Shaffer grins like a 71-year-old kid.
The train and the towns through which it passes are decked out in flags, banners and other accoutrements for Fourth of July. In the next few weeks, they'll get a holiday makeover for Halloween with skeletons, black cats, ghouls and whatever else Shaffer can imagine.
In between those holidays, it turns into a logging railroad complete with a brand-new sawmill. When the snow flies, it'll turn into a Christmas railroad, and about the time daffodils are pushing skyward next spring, it'll become an Easter train.
The Shaffers have combined Carole Shaffer's love of flowers and Jack's passion for scale-model trains to transform their tidy 1,854-square-foot bungalow into a veritable playland.
The Lazy Bear Railroad occupies a prime position in the couple's garage, where Jack has spent countless hours building not only the train and 32-foot-long track but the villages, buildings and countryside along the rail line.
He's meticulous, and it's full of detail, right down to the figures who recline outside the establishments, but it's just one small part of the tour you'll get when you visit the Shaffers.
An even bigger railroad set — dubbed the New Lazy Bear Railroad — runs in a gazebo in the backyard. To reach it from the garage, you'll have to pass through Carole's realm, the flower garden. A putting-green lawn with spotless walkways is lined with begonias, vincas, impatiens, marigolds and other annuals. Only annuals. No vegetables, perennials or herbs. Some are in colorful pots, others rise from manicured beds, but all are bright and healthy as state-fair entries.
"She has the greenest thumb west of the Mississippi," boasts Jack.
"The dirtiest thumb," corrects Carole, 69, and sure enough, the thumb she extends is as brown as the dirt at her feet.
After visitors pass a sign that announces Carole's Garden Cafe, The New Lazy Bear Railroad rises in the distance, a 240-foot loop dominated by Bear Mountain. It takes a long time to absorb all the details poured into this large-scale model-train set and all the towns, villages and establishments lining its route.
There's a circus train, a cow train, a ladybug train — Carole has a thing for ladybugs — and a passenger train. Jack, wearing a Great Northern Railway T-shirt, sounds like a tour guide as he points out details a casual visitor is sure to miss, such as the lions, tigers, monkeys and bears near the big top, and the moonshiners near the Wild West Saloon.
When he fires up the circus train, it chugs past a fire station, the A.C.M.E. Hardware Store, a biker bar, Walgreen's, Dutch Bros., Jackpot City Casino and Judd's Tiki Hut, named in honor of Judd, their border collie-labrador mix. Then there's a pet shop, a diner, a mocha shop and Vicky's 19th hole bar, and you still haven't seen most of it.
Jack reaches for a sound controller and injects a new level of animation into the scene as a rooster, horse, dog, chicken and cow announce their presence. He grins like a sprite over the screeching sound of brakes as an orange sports car crashes near the police station. Don't even get him started talking about the lights, including the strobes near the train tunnel on Bear Mountain that mimic a lightening storm.
He likes to dare visitors to guess the number of bears hiding in the landscape — 45 — but he doesn't like to answer questions about how much his creations, almost eight years in the making, cost.
Before going full-bore into trains, Jack was into radio-controlled model airplanes, a hobby he abandoned when a close friend who flew with him died a few years back.
"I was so lucky," jokes Carole. "He went from airplanes to trains. Trains are even more expensive."
You know she's kidding by the way she lights up when talking about the way their passions dovetail in the picturesque little yard.
To reach Jack's third model-train set — the Butte Falls Timberline Railroad — which is located in an enclosed back porch, you have to pass through "Gecko Corner," where Jack pauses to point out about a dozen gecko yard ornaments adorning the wooden privacy fence lining the rear property line.
"We go around spending endless hours looking for just the right ones," he says, leading the way toward the final stop on his homemade railroad tour.
The first question people always ask after seeing their creations for the first time is, "How much work did it take to do this?" he says.
Jack chuckles at that because he doesn't think of it as work. He and Carole worked 50- and 60-hour weeks — he worked for a defense contractor, and she was a customer-service rep before they retired — so they know about work.
"We just love the outdoors," explains Carole. "In the summer, we just live outside, and this combines both of our hobbies."
Reach Mail Tribune Features Editor David Smigelski at 541-776-8784 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
State Sen. George Maziarz said Tuesday that, in light of the events last week in Herkimer County where an FBI dog was killed, the Senate is pleased to stand by its legislation that gives proper recognition to those who are often overlooked in the law: law enforcement animals. Bill S. 1079 increases the penalties for killing or injuring a police animal by making the offense a Class D felony. Under current law, killing or injuring a police animal is a Class A misdemeanor.
State and local law enforcement agencies increasingly rely on the use of animals to assist in crime solving and rescue and recovery operations. These animals and the services they provide are valuable to the citizens of New York and, significant time and resources are devoted to training them. In addition, under current law, a person is guilty of this crime when the animal is killed or injured while the animal is performing its duties.
This bill expands the crime to include killing or injuring the animal when the animal can be identified as a police animal by means of its presence in a police vehicle or an emergency vehicle, or by its enclosure in a marked area.
"Police animals are often overlooked and don't get the recognition that they deserve as an integral part of the law enforcement community that helps keep our communities safe day in and day out," said Maziarz, the sponsor of this legislation. "Recent events in Herkimer County have shown us how important the actions of police animals like Ape, the FBI dog killed that day, can be in saving lives and apprehending criminals. The federal government and many other states have enacted laws to enhance the protections afforded to police animals, and it is long past time that New York does the same."
Sen. James L. Seward said, "Police animals serve and protect just like their human counterparts, and in many cases they are the first line of defense in a hostile situation. That was the case in Herkimer where an armed killer held a small community in fear until FBI dog Ape led officers to the criminals location, bringing to an end a tense two days. Ape gave his life to protect others and that type of courage should be honored. I have co-sponsored legislation elevating penalties for killing or injuring a police animal for some time, and I hope the added attention of Ape's death will help bring final adoption of the measure."
"As a former mayor, who has seen firsthand the work of these highly trained, heroic animals, we should consider felony charges when they are harmed." said Sen. Joseph Griffo. "These dogs are part of the law enforcement who protect the public, and when you attack them, you are a threat to law enforcement."
This bill, S. 1079 was passed by the Senate last year, and is currently on third reading. Assemblyman Zebrowski announced Tuesday that he will co-sponsor the legislation in the Assembly.

subset: commoncrawl


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News > Faith
On The Road Through Nothingness
It's rare to see a positive story about the Catholic Church in the mainstream media, especially in newer online-only publications like Slate, but Harold Fickett, a Godspy contributing editor, managed to publish an essay there recently about the Clear Creek Monastery, a new and growing contemplative Benedictine monastery in Kansas, and the wider story of how Catholic religious communities are attracting young people. It could be that the critical success of the three-hour documentary, Into Great Silence, which had a long run at Manhattan's Film Forum in 2007, left an impression on the editors. The appeal of that movie is captured in Harold's ending: "From its rich liturgical rites to the pastoral details of its life as a working farm, as the monks raise sheep, make furniture, tend their orchard, and care for a huge vegetable garden, Clear Creek is what a monastery is meant to be—a sign of paradise. Father Anderson says, 'We were only a bunch of bums, but by becoming nothing, you can be a part of something great.'" READ MORE >
News > Issues
Anglican bishops decry the 'new creed' of extreme capitalism
A trillion for the Iraq War, almost as much to rescue Wall Street, but basic health care for all is too expensive? Why aren't Christian leaders in the U.S. saying as much? In England it's a different story: "[T]he Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, warned in a magazine article that modern devotion to the free market is a form of idolatry and that Karl Marx was morally right in his analysis of the power of 'unbridled capitalism.' He believes that Marx's economic theories, as implemented by authoritarian state regimes, have proved equally wrong and harmful to unfettered market ideology, but that the protest against a greed-driven system is one that should be taken seriously." READ MORE >
News > World
Holy See Denounces Misuse of Protection Principle
The Vatican continues to take every opportunity to discourage preemptive war: "The use of violence to resolve disagreements is always a failure of vision and a failure of humanity. The responsibility to protect should not be viewed merely in terms of military intervention but primarily as the need for the international community to come together in the face of crises to find means for fair and open negotiations, support the moral force of law and search for the common good," Also see this statement. READ MORE >
News > Business
Behind AIG's Fall, Blind Eye to a Web of Risk
News > Faith
Libertarian Heresy
You don't often find Commonweal hunting heretics. In the latest issue, Daniel Finn takes aim at Fr. Robert Sirico of the Acton Institute and other Catholics who force fit Catholic social teaching into free market ideology. Sirico, he says, "uses his tendentious view of law and morality to conclude that raising taxes to help others is unchristian, since citizens have no choice but to pay the tax... One wonders if this conviction hasn't been engendered by a libertarian view of government actions, where such redistribution is always immoral." Commonweal isn't alone in recognizing this distortion of Church teaching, which has always recognized the authority of government to balance private property rights with the "universal destination of goods." There is a silent majority of orthodox Catholics who resent Acton and other Catholic think tanks that are so well-funded by wealthy pro-big business donors that they're able to drown out genuine Catholic social teaching. Finn thinks its time that "neoconservative Catholics inquire into the influence of libertarianism on their work and, most importantly, that they make Catholic moral theology the standard for judging right-wing claims about morality in economic life-and not the other way around." READ MORE >
News > Business
The Fleecing of America
Yes, greed fueled the crisis, but Cohen pinpoints what's unique about our penchant for financial manias: "...the U.S. economy is being socialized to the tune of $700 billion ($2,000 for every man, woman and child in the country) as a result of a giant mortgage-related Ponzi scheme... Let's be clear: this is an American mess forged by the American genius for new-fangled financial instruments in an era where the mantra has been that government is dumb and the markets are smart and risk is non-existent." READ MORE >
News > Issues
Pope Benedict: Pius XII 'spared no effort' to help Jews during WWII
A symposium held in Rome confirmed the Church's position on Pope Pius XII: "'Thanks to the vast quantity of documented material which you have gathered, supported by many authoritative testimonies, your symposium offers to the public forum the possibility of knowing more fully what Pius XII achieved for the Jews persecuted by the Nazi and fascist regimes,'" Benedict said."'One understands, then, that wherever possible he spared no effort in intervening in their favor either directly or through instructions given to other individuals or to institutions of the Catholic Church." READ MORE >
News > Business
Greed and ruthless pursuit of profits to blame for banking fiasco
This article gets Catholic social teaching right, and exposes the fallacy that 9/11 restored us to moral clarity: "'Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Lehman Brothers' fall is that it comes almost seven years to the day after 9/11... For all the talk of pulling together in the wake of the terrorist attacks that shook America to the core and supposedly set our priorities straight, Wall Street rushed headlong back to its mindless pursuit of profits and speculation without consideration for the consequences of its actions... At some point, society has to figure out that the way an investor earns his money is even more important than the amount of money he makes. This is why human beings were vested with moral sentiments, so they could distinguish the quality of human conduct from the quality of its results... It is incumbent upon the gatekeepers of capital ... to bring discipline to the system. This will require a rethinking of their priorities and a willingness to add to their investment calculus, considerations that exceed their own narrow interests about short-term investment returns.'" READ MORE >
News > Business
Ironic Speculation: Investment banks seek protection against short-selling
In an effort to slow panic selling, the SEC will try to force hedge funds to disclose their short selling positions. What's ironic is who's cheering the agency on: "Morgan Stanley and Goldman are the only two of the formerly five major Wall Street brokerages standing alone, and that is believed to have made them targets of speculators... Last week Lehman was the subject of a massive sell-off that eroded confidence in its business and sparked a funding crisis that ultimately led to its demise. 'It's very clear to me we're in the midst of a market controlled by fear and rumors, and short sellers are driving our stock down,' Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack said in a memorandum to employees Wednesday. 'You should know that the management committee and I are taking every step possible to stop this irresponsible action in the market.'" READ MORE >
News > Business
Credit Crunch: What Happens Next?
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Try to describe this video. You can't. You can only sit helplessly as it washes over you and ingrains itself in your mind. Yep, that's Brian Ching on the keyboard, Diesel on the drums. Watch, rinse, repeat.
Required viewing to appreciate context: Alphaville's original music video for "Forever Young," seen below.


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Hobbes family on a mission OC's global reach helps fulfill goals
Through the years, mission work and evangelism have taken the Hobbes family all over the world – from Washington, D.C., to Oklahoma City … from Guatemala to California.
Today, sharing the Gospel remains a big part of the family tradition. Pancho, who spent 12 years as a missionary in Guatemala, is the mission minister at an inner-city congregation. His wife, Lera, helps with the women's ministry there. And their four children regularly go on mission campaigns.
But now, when they spread the word about the Christian life, they also talk about the impact Oklahoma Christian has made on their family. And their passion has built a pipeline from northern California that has blessed their kids with a lot of friends and familiar faces on the OC campus.
Of course, that doesn't mean it wasn't hard sending Ben and their oldest daughter, Miriam, off to college thousands of miles away.
"Losing our son and first daughter was rough. It was like a punch in the stomach," Lera said. "But we were so excited because we always wanted them to get a Christian education. We believed in OC and we had friends in Oklahoma, so that took some of the angst out of it."
Ben and Miriam just graduated from OC. Ben was a mass communication major who had an award-winning radio show and played varsity basketball at OC. Miriam was a nursing major whose interests were a perfect match with courses that send students to practice in Honduras.
"I appreciate the way OC combines exactly what I'm looking for – my love for missions and service and medical care," Miriam said. "And I love that OC is welcoming to every continent. A lot of times, college students will stay in their shell, but we have a chance to really connect with the international students that OC brings in."
Ben and Miriam were joined last year by their sister, Rachel, who also plans a career in medicine. The Hobbes' youngest daughter, Rebecca, hits campus next year … along with several friends from her California bible camp.
"We know our kids will be making big decisions in this time of their lives," Pancho said. "Good teaching is so important because we want them to be challenged and supported. OC has a healthy environment with caring faculty who are so helpful, and it's a place where they'll make friends that last forever."
Besides the academic, spiritual and social support system his children have at OC, Pancho said the upgrades and growth on campus and in the Oklahoma City metro area also made an impact: "It showed that they weren't resting on their laurels, but had a vision to grow for the future," he said.
Of course, Pancho and Lera are playing a direct role in that growth by sending their four kids to Oklahoma Christian, and planting the seed in many other teens that have chosen OC. Though their commitment comes with financial sacrifices (OC hasn't put them on the recruiting payroll just yet!), they believe the sacrifices are worth it. And they'll share that belief with anyone who will listen.
"Your child's faith is going to be challenged wherever they are," Lera said. "We know OC isn't perfect, but it gives our kids the last vestige of a concentrated Christian environment before they go out into the world – not as protection, but as preparation. OC's a good place for them."
By Wes McKinzie


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The beeper next to my bed went off at 1:30 a.m. When I called the number, my supervisor said that my client was trying to kill herself. She was on the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls where she deliberately climbed over a railing, walked down a few feet and stood there, 100 feet above the Niagara River. Police cars, firefighters, ambulances, and a crowd of people stood in the dark, watching to see what happens. Does somebody save her? Is she willing to jump? Will she climb back up? She was a librarian, intelligent, with a dark sense ofhumor colored by an unremitting, depressive episode lasting over a decade. Before I started my car, I received a phone call that first line responders talked her off the ledge. She would attempt suicide two other times before I left the clinic and moved to another state. Every once in awhile those of us who worked at the clinic run into each other and when her name is mentioned, there is agreement that she is probably dead.
Suicide is newsworthy because life is precious. In 1993, a 6-year old girl living in Florida stepped in front of a train. She left a note saying that she "wanted to be with her mother" who recently died from a terminal illness. This is the power of the human mind. A girl in Kindergarten thinks of the past and imagines a future that is so bleak, so devoid of meaningful moments without her mom, that she takes her own life. The same mental tools that distinguish us from other animals, the same mental tools that allow us to solve problems and produce creative works that give us symbolic immortality are the same tools that allow a 6-year old to contemplate a future that is terrible enough to physically leap into an oncoming train. If a 6-year old has the cognitive capacity to kill herself, then we need to step up our efforts to understand and prevent it from happening.
There are a couple of instrumental studies that have helped make a dent in this problem.
1. Researchers dissected 20 suicide notes written by people who attempted suicide with 20 notes written by people who successfully killed themselves. The notes were evaluated on 5 dimensions: sense of burden (would my loved ones be better off without me?), sense of emotional pain (how much suffering is in my life?), escaping negative feelings (is death the answer to ending this pain?), altered social world (is death the answer to my troublesome social relationships?, and hopelessness (is there evidence that life is going to get any better?).
What they found deserves your undivided attention. The biggest difference was that the notes of suicide completers included much more detail about how they were a burden on other people and society at large compared to the attempters. In fact, this sense of burden was the only dimension that distinguished the suicide letters of these two groups. You might be as surprised as me that hopelessness, amount of pain, and the belief that death will end the pain were common themes in the letters of both groups. Other studies have replicated these findings.
In general, people do not commit suicide because they are in pain, they commit suicide because they don't believe there is a reason to live and the world will be better off without them.
2. But perhaps there is another piece of the puzzle that takes us back to the opening story. What is it that enables a person to be strong enough to follow through and swallow an entire bottle of pills, ingest poison, or push the chair out so that they dangle from a rope tied to the ceiling? It might be controversial to use the word courage, grit, or strength in this context. Nevertheless, a suicidal person often must overcome intense emotional distress to commit the final act. Leading suicide researchers speculated that a sense of burden is necessary but insufficient to understand who kills themselves. A person might also require the capacity to harm themselves. A person must be highly tolerant of pain and conflict to make room for the uncomfortable thoughts and feelings that arise when working toward the goal of ending life. This tolerance of distress must be acquired somewhere along the way. Researchers continue to find support for the notion that the greatest suicidal risk exists for people that believe they are a burden on society AND possess a history where they acquired the capacity to harm themselves. This acquired capability can arise in unusual ways such as:
- playing violent and extreme sports
- getting multiple body piercings and tatoos
- shooting guns
- getting in physical fights
These types of painful and provocative events offer a sense of fearlessness about lethal self-injury. A person might respond positively to items such as "Things that scare most people don't scare me" and "I can tolerate more pain than most people."
If you remain unconvinced about the importance of an acquired capacity to tolerate pain and distress, consider these sobering figures. One in 25 people who sought health care services at a hospital because of self-harm or self-injurious behavior will kill themselves in the next 5 years. By dealing with deep distress and emotional pain by harming yourself with acts such as cutting, burning, sticking objects in your skin, or intentionally preventing wounds from healing, you are becoming increasingly capable of suicide.
One of the odd things about this line of research is that in any other context, high pain tolerance is a strength, a gift, a form of emotional agility that allows a person to be more successful and satisfied with life. This is why I bring this research up. Look at the motives behind people's actions because what we might view as an admirable strength in another context, is a fatal risk factor.
Do not grow weary from the endless news stories of war veterans and emotionally distressed kids, teenagers, and adults who commit suicide. Let these stories be a call to action. And we have some valuable science to guide us in the right direction.
For more details on the science described above:
Carroll, R., Metcalfe, C., Gunnell, D. (2014). Hospital Presenting Self-Harm and Risk of Fatal and Non-Fatal Repetition: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PLoS ONE 9(2): e89944. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0089944
Joiner, T. E., Pettit, J. W., Walker, R. L., Voelz, Z. R., Cruz, J., Rudd, M. D., & Lester, D. (2002). Perceived burdensomeness and suicidality: Two studies on the suicide notes of those attempting and those completing suicide. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology,21(5), 531-545.
Van Orden, K. A., Witte, T. K., Gordon, K. H., Bender, T. W., & Joiner Jr, T. E. (2008). Suicidal desire and the capability for suicide: tests of the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior among adults. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76(1), 72-83.
Dr. Todd B. Kashdan is a public speaker, psychologist, and professor of psychology and senior scientist at the Center for the Advancement of Well-Being at George Mason University. His 2014 book, The upside of your dark side: Why being your whole self - not just your "good" self - drives success and fulfillment is available for pre-order. If you're interested in speaking engagements or workshops, go to:toddkashdan.com


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Future Primitive Radio & MP3 Speakers Dial In Yesteryear's Style
I've got a friend who still swears by the analog sounds of an old timey dial-style AM radio even in this era of Bluetooth and Airplay audio devices. He says he likes the quality of the mono sound, and probably more importantly, he holds a flame for a bygone era where audio equipment borrowed many the stylings cues from home furnishings. But even a time traveling day dreamer like my friend owns an iPhone and listens to MP3's, thus he might be a candidate for one of these elegant retro-styled radios engineered that look like yesterday, but work with today's mobile music devices...
Etsy seller, Future Primitive, offers six different models, three which are restored audio radios that have been rewired to work as MP3 players while retaining their AM or AM/FM sounds from yesteryears. The other half are handmade FM radios with an AUX In for use with your iPod or Android device, available in walnut, oak, or maple wood finishes, and simple to use dual front face dials.
And check out the cool FM to AUX switch on the back! Prices range from $199 to $300, depending on the model.


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LAUREL HILL � When McDonald Campbell was born 99 years ago, Laurel Hill was the largest community in what is now Okaloosa County.
Editor�s Note: We enjoy sharing stories about old North Okaloosa County from long-time residents turning more than 90 years old. Email firstname.lastname@example.com if you or someone you know has a birthday and would like to share memories.
LAUREL HILL � When McDonald Campbell was born 99 years ago, Laurel Hill was the largest community in what is now Okaloosa County.
Campbell vividly recalls when Laurel Hill boasted two banks, a movie theater, a hotel and bustling stores such as Campbell Company, which relatives owned.However, she prefers the town's current, more laid back atmosphere.
"On the Fourth of July I did not hear a single firecracker, and that is certainly indicative that we've grown much quieter,� she said.
Birthday and independence
Campbell celebrated her 99th birthday Saturday with family and friends, including fellow retired educators, with some coming from Alabama and Tallahassee.
After several medical problems this past year, she said jokingly, "If 99 is worse than 98, I don't think I'll be here for 100."
Now recuperated, Campbell remains fiercely independent, recently "letting go" caregivers who sat with her around the clock when she last returned from rehabilitation.
"I just couldn't abide all those strangers in my house," she said. "They'd come in my room uninvited and then want to sit and talk for hours."
To placate relatives, she wears a medical emergency communicator and reluctantly gave up occasionally driving around town to keep an eye on things.
School and church
Campbell started her teaching career after graduating from now-defunct Palmer College in DeFuniak Springs.
"When I started in the fall of '35, the Depression � the Great Depression � was with us, and we teachers made $75 a month for eight months a year with a four-year degree," she said.
"We had heat and lights and that was good, but there was no money for field trips and that kind of thing. And we didn't have any resource officers and we didn't need them."
After teaching seventh through 11th grades, Campbell helped establish Laurel Hill School's library.
"I started at Laurel Hill and I ended at Laurel Hill. I was the librarian � no! I was a �media specialist,� but I didn't care much about the media part of it," she said. "I liked being just a librarian."
Campbell is fascinated by evolving technology, but she said not all developments in education are as beneficial as they're touted to be.
"I know a woman who's taking courses online and she studies hard and she seems fairly intelligent, but ... I think you need somebody there to explain things you don't understand. There's nobody there to teach you if you don't understand something.
"... There's no interaction with other students and taking part in extracurricular activities. All that, to me, is part of your education."
Church and home life
Campbell is Clerk Emeritus of the Session, Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church's governing body. She hosts its meetings and those of the Presbyterian Women community outreach group.
She's renowned among fellow congregants for bringing Bugles chips to church gatherings.
Also close to her heart is her lifelong home.
"I was born right here, in the front room, at 9 o'clock on a Monday morning," Campbell said, adding the house appears in tax records as early as 1908. Her family moved into it in 1914.
Campbell has beaten the nursing home at least three times � a source of pride � and said returning to the tidy white home motivated her, though others couldn�t relate.
�... Home is home. It has connotations they wouldn't understand,� she said. �When you've lived in one house all your life, you feel an attachment. It's part of you."
Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.


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Donations to the window restoration fund can be made to:
First United Methodist Church of Bend
680 N.W. Bond St.
Bend, OR 97701
Contact: 541-382-1672
Maybe you've driven by the First United Methodist Church in downtown Bend and idly noticed its large stained glass windows fronting Bond Street and Kansas Avenue, plus some facing south, toward the parking lot.
Maybe you briefly turned your head for a better sense of the images in the panes. But you quickly drove on, and maybe even forgot you tried to look in the first place.
Donations to the window restoration fund can be made to:
First United Methodist Church of Bend
680 N.W. Bond St.
Bend, OR 97701
Contact: 541-382-1672
The windows are, after all, forgettable. At least, from the outside. Covered with Lexan plastic shielding that has fogged with age, the stained glass is barely visible from the outside of the church, bland blocks of gray interrupting the staid red brick of the building.
But step inside the church's sanctuary and it's a different story. Even on a cloudy day, the light passing through the stained glass causes the windows to glow with purpose.
There is the light of creation filtering through a scene depicted on the south wall. Here is the face of Jesus, lit, like the lantern he carries, with a light that seems brighter than stained glass should be able to render.
These windows, a fixture at the historic Bend church since its construction in 1922, inspire.
"I really think the windows preach a sermon every Sunday," said Pastor Thom Larson.
Their sermon is about to get brighter. First United Methodist is three-quarters of the way toward raising the $48,000 necessary to restore the windows, work that will see the foggy protective covering on the outside replaced with new, clear acrylic, plus repairs to sections that sag and bulge. The work, planned for May, will be done by renowned stained glass studio Associated Crafts of Arizona.
And the thing is, these windows are not just windows. They are art, says Larson.
Indeed, the windows — 13 in all — were made by Portland's Povey Bros. studio, Oregon's largest and best-known glass producer in the late 19th and early 20th century. David and John Povey's windows, which can be found in churches and other buildings throughout the West, were known as the "Tiffany's of the Northwest," according to Portland's Architectural Heritage Center.
The First United Methodist windows are also documents of Bend history. Many of them honor early Bend families or notable religious leaders.
They tell a story of beauty. Of faith. Of family. Of community.
The windows
Every Sunday since 2004, Larson has preached from a low stage placed beneath two of the largest of the church's stained glass windows. He loves the quality of the light that comes through them.
"It is interesting especially at this time of day," he said late one afternoon in early December, standing in the soft glow from the windows, "to watch the windows and how the light changes. In the summer it is spectacular."
Church member Greg Brown, who grew up attending First United Methodist and who is spearheading the restoration effort, said he remembers the color of the light that came through those windows during his mother Barbara Brown's memorial service in 2009. He said listening to Larson speak during the service, with the golden light filtering through the windows behind him, made him feel like an angel was present.
It's no wonder. First United Methodist's windows line three sides of the sanctuary, flooding the long room with light. Like many church windows, they are meant to not only illuminate, but to inform and inspire. They are architectural, but they are also art.
"Povey did exceptional artwork," said Tim Hudson, vice president of consulting for Associated Crafts. "He designed a nice window, with very detailed hand painting." The face of Jesus in one window has six shades of color in it, he said. "That means it's been hand painted and fired five to six times," Hudson said.
In the context of churches, stained glass was often called the "poor man's Bible" because of its frequent portrayal of Biblical scenes, Hudson said. The peak use of stained glass in churches in the Middle Ages coincided with a time when few could read. Stained glass windows incorporating themes from the Bible allowed worshipers to learn scripture through scenes represented in the glass.
At First United Methodist, the large windows on the south side of the sanctuary tell tales of the Old Testament, Larson said. One panel shows the clouds of creation lit in ethereal light. Then comes Noah's ark, followed by the giving of the Ten Commandments. A snake wound around a cross represents the Israelites wandering in the wilderness and salvation through Jesus, said Larson. Another panel shows the promised land with a scale representing judgment. Finally, there is a scene showing the beating of swords into plowshares.
The large windows on the north wall depict New Testament stories and scriptures. A candle with three flames represents the Trinity. Sheaves of wheat represent the bread of love, Larson said. A particularly detailed panel shows Jesus standing at a door with a lantern in hand, a visual depiction of Revelation 3:20: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock. If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."
Another New Testament panel shows Jesus depicted as a shepherd, surrounded by sheep. A pair of panels suggest the birth and death of Jesus with a star image and a crucifix. The final panel shows the parable of the sower from the Book of Matthew.
But aside from the literal interpretations of the images, Larson said, there is art in the glass itself.
"Art is the way you express your deepest insights and feelings about your faith," Larson said. "The church has been, at some points in history, the main promoter of arts. There's such an intimate connection with the spirit that does draw from people something no one can convey with words — not even just the concrete symbolism, but the collective beauty. It's like seeing a sunset."
The beauty of Povey glass is evident even in the borders around the main panels. Intricate leaf detailing surrounds some panels, filigreed designs top others. Jewel-toned panes create bold borders and architectural details are recreated in the glass.
The people
The largest window at First United Methodist is a west-facing piece dedicated to former Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Co. vice president and general manager John Pease Keyes. The 12-by-20-foot window dominates the entire west wall of the church and features some of the most intricate painting of all the Povey windows. The center panel shows a forested mountain and river scene, a nod to the Brooks family and their vast timber holdings in the region (Keyes was a member of the Brooks family, said Brown).
Other notable early Bend residents are memorialized in the windows.
Kathryn Grace Vandevert, whose family owned a large ranch south of Bend, is honored in one small window. Another honors Mr. and Mrs. E. Coyner, likely Elmer and Metta Coyner, who filed for a homestead near Crescent and brought their large clan to the Bend area.
Lon and Mary Fox are honored in a window, their names painted in fancy script at the bottom. Lon Fox was a pioneer auto stage manager and city councilman, according to historic Bulletin accounts, and died two days before the Aug. 13, 1922, dedication of the new Methodist church building. Fox was chairman of the church building committee, and Bend businesses closed their doors from 2 to 3 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 14, 1922, for Fox's funeral, the first one held in the new Methodist church.
Other names are neatly remembered on the windows: Caldwell, Gibson, Gilson — these names also appear on the church building committee roster. D. Ray Miller, Mr. and Mrs. R.H. Munry, A.F. and M.F. Morrison. Rev. J. Edgar Purdy, a former pastor of First United Methodist.
But one of the most interesting is Rev. William Clyde Stewart, to whom the window depicting the parable of the sower is dedicated.
Stewart was a beloved pastor of the church, according to Brown. His most selfless act was also one of his last. In 1918, when the Spanish flu outbreak hit Bend, Stewart pastored to hundreds of ill Bend residents, regardless of their religious affiliation (sometimes conducting up to three funerals per day). But Stewart was also exposed to the deadly virus and died from it.
The restoration
Undertaking a project like this one at a church is no easy job, according to Hudson. For one thing, "nothing happens fast at a church," he joked. For another, windows like those at First United Methodist are precious beyond their financial value. He estimated their replacement value at $315,000.
"The people of the congregation may say 'wow' at that number, but in their hearts, they're irreplaceable," he said.
According to Hudson, aging stained glass often needs work. "They need to be taken care of," he said.
Lead being a soft metal, the leading used between each piece of glass can allow the window to sag over time. First United Methodist's windows do have a few sagging or bulging spots, which craftsmen are often able to flatten in place without disassembling the window.
Every 25 to 30 years, stained glass should be re-cemented on the exterior, meaning cement is carefully worked between the lead and the glass with a brush. Once the cement is cured, workers removed any cement from the glass with a wooden tool.
Other work on the Methodist windows will include sealing any cracks in the glass with epoxy, installing steel braces to support and strengthen some sections of windows and removing the old Lexan covering on the outside. It will be replaced with a clear, pure-cast acrylic that will protect the windows but still allow them to be seen. Stained glass is always designed to be seen from the inside, not the outside, but the new exterior covering should improve the appearance of the windows significantly.
And as Brown said, the windows are a piece of history for Bend, for the church, for its people.
They mean something more than just a collection of glass and lead.
"Even though these are works of art of monetary value, many times you're going to have more sentimental value for the parishioner," Hudson said. "There is family heritage, family history there, that exists across denominations, across the country. It's a big deal to a lot of people."
— Reporter: 541-383-0308, firstname.lastname@example.com


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Dakota Fanning covers the March issue of Glamour Magazine, talks about her Marc Jacobs controversy!
Dakota Fanning lands the March cover of Glamour Magazine. The almost 19-year-old actress continues to try and shed her little-girl imagine, although if you're wearing a Mickey Mouse sweater, it is rather confusing.
In the article, Dakota opens up about her Marc Jacobs "Oh Lola" perfume advertisement that was banned in the UK for being "sexually provocative", and how Dakota thinks if you see something wrong with it – then the problem lies with you. (You can see the controversial ad here)
On fame & fashion: "It's really fun when you're getting dressed for something. It's not when you're in the rain with an umbrella and trying to carry a case of water. Yep, that's me, alone, coming from Duane Reade. I'm not wearing a bra. Deal with it."
Being surprised about her Marc Jacobs ad? "Yeah, I was! If you want to read something into a perfume bottle, then I guess you can. But it's also like, Why are you making it about that, you creep? I love Marc and trust him, and we just laughed about it."
Could she ever be a fashion designer? "I don't think so. I mean, I won't rule it out, because then one day I'll be like, 'I said that in Glamour in 2013, and here I am now [with my own line].' But when you know designers and see the work that they put into making their collection, and how much passion they have for that–I think that's so amazing. And I don't have the passion to design clothes. It's nice to be able to grow up and know what you want to do…. I'm reminded of that every time I make a film."
On her little sister, Elle: "She's very uninhibited and will try pretty much anything. Even the way she dresses– she dresses totally for herself. She risks being made fun of…by me, which I sometimes do, because I'm an older sister! But I totally admire her and think she's very cool."
I like Dakota, I think she's very talented. Her younger sister, Elle, is pretty cute as well. I thought these pictures were really pretty. I do think it's hard to see her as a woman. I think it's crazy that she's still just 18… given all she's done already, it seems like she should be 25 or something!


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Browse for FREE all available properties in North York!
(use the criteria on the left to narrow your serach)
An accurate value estimate for your home is just one aspect of selling a property.
441 Spadina Road
Toronto, ON, M5P 2W3
Phone: 905.709.1800
Cell: 416.722.4072
Email: email@example.com
Keep up-to-date with the latest listings, tips for the real estate market, or to get in touch with me online.
Trademarks owned or controlled by The Canadian Real Estate Association. Used under license.
The information provided herein must only be used by consumers that have a bona fide interest in the purchase, sale or lease of real estate and may not be used for any commercial purpose or any other purpose.
Information is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed accurate by TREB.
Toronto Real Estate Board - IDX Last Updated: 11/15/2018 1:14:59 PM


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Marina Del Rey, Calif. - UTV Ignition Games, together with developer Denki is pleased to announce the release of Quarrel on iOS devices.
Quarrel is a word game which combines the need for quick thinking, dictionary smarts, and a lot of guile. Whether you choose speed and fast reactions or slow methodical planning, the key to success is in the players' control.
Quarrel takes place on islands where two, three or four forces battle for total control of each island, which is split into territories. The aim of the game is simply to take over all the territories.
Success is achieved by creating the best scoring word from a selection of letters - each with a designated value. The length of the word you can make depends on how many troops you have on each territory. In the case of tie, whoever made their word fastest is the victor.
Deciding whether to attack, defend, retreat, transfer troops around, or reinforce your armies, while successfully winning the ongoing word challenges, will win the day.
Quarrel features nine fiendish artificial players, all of whom have unique personalities and play styles. Rex is methodical and plays great words, but takes his time so is vulnerable to trigger fingered players like Caprice (but she's not got so good a vocabulary). Malik is a great all-rounder, but too many times he is bent on revenge and lets his pride cloud his judgement. Kali is an all round genius and should be challenged by expert players only. And Dwayne is a simpleton.
Quarrel Deluxe is available now for $4.99 from the iTunes App Store, and this Universal App functions on any iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad operating system of any version above 3.1.2.
A trial version of Quarrel is also available for those eager to sample its uniquely brain-boggling strategy, but this free sample only offers limited gameplay options.
A good vocabulary takes you a long way in the game but a sense of strategy will take you further.
To download Quarrel Deluxe, please click here.
To try Quarrel for free, please click here.
About UTV Ignition Games Ltd
UTV Ignition Games is a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Software Communication Ltd, India's only global media and entertainment conglomerate. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in the U.K. with offices in Marina Del Rey, California, Austin, Texas and Tokyo, Japan. For more information on Ignition and its products, visit https://www.utvignition.com
UTV is the No.1 media and entertainment brand in South Asia today reaching out to over 247 million consumers. This leading global media conglomerate in:
Motion Pictures: Have built the no. 1 movie studio in the country in just 5 years; pioneered the integrated studio model in India with creative, production, marketing, distribution and syndication all under one banner.
Television: Are the No. 1 TV producer with the largest number of shows on air and in production with reach across 20 countries in 7 languages across 27 channels. It has also emerged as the fastest growing broadcasting network in India, which in 3 years is among the top 5 networks of the country. Has powered India's No.1 youth brand - Bindass.
Interactive: Is the only Indian Company to enjoy global presence in the Games space with studios across London, Tokyo, Beijing, Austin and Mumbai making it one of the largest gaming entities from South Asia. Also providing personalised entertainment on the mobile and web across the country and gearing up with content to leverage the 3G - 4G space.
UTV is listed on India's premier stock exchanges, The National Stock Exchange (NSE) & The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and The Walt Disney Company holds a strategic stake in the company.
About Denki
At Denki, we make toys to help you squeeze more fun from every day.
We all know the feeling- even at our busiest, our lives are littered with those odd moments where we're bored or waiting around. Wouldn't it be great if we could use those times to give ourselves a lift? Stretch our minds a little? Have some fun?
That's precisely what we do: build the best toys to brighten your day and lighten your mood. Toys to make you think; toys to make you smile. Bright toys for bright people. Toys like those in Denki Blocks! and Quarrel.
We're on a mission to brighten the world, and we hope you like what we're doing so much you'll join in at www.denki.co.uk.


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Kenmore 12.1 cu. ft. Upright Freezer
Brand: Kenmore
With 3 fixed wire shelves, 1 trivet and 5 door bins, this Kenmore upright freezer 2826 lets you to store over 400 lbs. of your favorite frozen foods without missing a beat. The shallow depth makes this 12.1 cu. ft. upright freezer the right choice for small spaces or basements. An advanced air baffle ensures the proper air flow for efficient cold air distribution and the convenient frost-free design ends the need to manually defrost this upright freezer.
- Enhanced air flow design channels cold air, around, over and across your freezer's contents for superior refrigeration, balanced performance and consistently frozen foods
- Bright interior lighting provides clear visibility that helps you find food, ingredients, treats and more quickly
- Designed to prevent thick ice, frost-free freezers eliminate the hassle of having to hack at, chip away and defrost icy build-up while still delivering cold you can count on


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Bobby and Lisa had to leave on Thursday for other commitments at home so Pat and I stayed and toured other places on our list of things to do. One of those places for me was English, Ind., admittedly not your typical tourist destination spot, but a place that I have wanted to visit again for a long time.
Years ago, when I decided to follow a career in printing and the graphic arts industry, I decided that I needed to learn how to operate the Linotype machine. Linotype operators during those days were high paid and actively sought after by newspapers and magazines to set the type for their publications.
The Linotype machine was a line-casting machine used in printing along with letterpress printing. It was the industry standard for newspapers and magazines from the late 19th century to the 1960s and 70s, when it was replaced by offset lithography printing and computer typesetting. The name of the machine comes from the fact that it produces an entire line of metal type at once, hence a "line-o-type," a significant improvement over the previous industry standard, which was the composing stick and drawers of letters.
The Linotype machine operator enters text on a 90-character keyboard. The machine assembles matrices, which are molds for the letter forms, in a line. The assembled line is then cast as a single piece, called a slug, of type metal in a process known as "hot metal" typesetting. The matrices are then returned to the type magazine from which they came, to be used later. This allowed much faster typesetting and composition than the original hand composition in which operators placed down one pre-cast metal letter, punctuation mark or space at a time.
The machine revolutionized typesetting and with it publishing, making it possible for a relatively small number of operators to set type for many pages on a daily basis. Before Mergenthaler's invention of the Linotype in 1884, no daily newspaper had more than eight pages.
As a high school student working after school at a daily newspaper, I was mesmerized by the 2,000 moving parts of the machines as they worked in complete harmony with each other, producing columns of type from molten lead. After school, I used to clean the space bands and pour the liquified lead into molds for the machines, but was not allowed near the machines otherwise.
While researching Linotype schools I settled on the Milo Bennett Linotype School in English, Ind., because of their reputation as being a premier institution. It was operated by Mrs. Flanigan, the widowed wife of Maurice Flanigan of the English Publishing Company. She arranged my boarding and that of a fellow student with Mrs. Brown, another widowed lady of that small town.
I boarded a Greyhound Bus in Escondido, Calif., in July, 1961 and traveled Route 66 to St Louis, where I spent the night in a sleazy hotel in order to catch my connecting bus the next morning. The connecting bus only came within about 25 miles of English so when the bus driver pulled over to the side of the highway and told me that was where I was to get off, it seemed like I was out in the middle of nowhere standing there alone with my suitcase. As the bus pulled away and continued on down the road I noticed a little road that intersected with the highway and I figured that must be where I needed to go. Several miles down the road, an old gentleman driving a rickety Model A pickup stopped and gave me a ride to English, Ind., where I spent the next six months learning the keyboard and mechanics of the Linotype machine. When I went to work for The Times-Independent in 1980, Sam Taylor still had an old Linotype sitting idle in the backroom of the shop.
So after 50 years I was excited to visit the old town, which I remember as a bustling little place, especially on a Saturday night when the local farmers and their families came to town to buy groceries and supplies. There was a weekly newspaper office across the street from the school, several restaurants nearby, a hardware store, a grain mill, a gas station and garage, and several other businesses that could be found in a typical midwestern town. There was usually a Saturday night square dance in a pavilion not far from the center of town and a softball game during the evenings. It was a neat little town located at the confluence of Bird Dog Creek and Brownville Creek that connected with the Blue River, and I was looking forward to the visit.
But when I drove into the town last week, there was nothing there. The town was gone except for an old gas station and small convenience store and a few houses at the higher elevations. Come to find out after doing some research, the town of English suffered five major floods after I left there in 1961 and the town council decided that the only solution to the flooding problem was to move the town. The town purchased 160 acres of high ground and a partnership was formed with Lincoln Hill Development Corporation, and the entire town was relocated. This was the second-largest relocation of an entire town in U.S. history and it is located high and dry several miles away next to the old U.S. 64.
So, similar to the old Linotype machine, the old town of English is gone and replaced by a new sterile version that lacks the charm and uniqueness of the original. One of the local residents said that it is not the bustling little town that it used to be because farming is no longer a viable profession there.
So it is with some sadness that I can scratch that experience off of my bucket list.


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Hi all,
this is probably more of an emotion dump than actually looking for advice but in looking through the pp topics I was surprised that there wasn't much about people struggling with infertility and the pain of miscarriage so I thought I'd get the ball rolling with my own experience and maybe others might want to join in. Miscarriage is an extremely lonely time. You think the pain will never go away and because we don't tell people about our pregnancies in the first trimester most people around you have no idea why you suddenly took two weeks off work, no-one knows what happened to you and your partner and the little loved one. We just grieve silently alone then put on a happy face, go back to work, socialise with friends and acquaintances, chat with the cashiers at tescos, all with a broken heart. People you see every day have no idea you're grieving. And that's mum as well as dad. Studies (I read a lot of studies) show that the effects experienced by women having suffered a miscarriage are symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder. The shock and trauma of having hopes, dreams, and plans ripped away from you in an instant can have a long-lasting effect on women, but there is little to no support for couples following miscarriage. I didn't even see a doctor, which I massively regret now.
I fell pregnant quite quickly after my husband and I got married a year and a half ago and we were delighted! I was surprised it happened so quickly but didn't give it too much thought as I really didn't know or understand the struggles so many couples face so this was great news for us. Full of optimism and anticipation we started already having jokey arguments about names, conversations about the nursery, childcare and how happy our families would be to welcome the first grandchild. We told Mr Spacegirl's parents first, he stole Del Boy's pregnancy announcement when he told his family he and Raquel were expecting: "How many people do you see in front of you? Three!" (getting plenty of dad-joke practice in). The following week I was due to go home to Ireland to see my family and Mr S was on a trip with friends so I went alone. When I told my mum and dad they erupted with joy, they were so happy. The whole family were out for lunch the next day and my mum being my mum she couldn't keep a secret and started talking about getting all of our old toys down from the loft so of course my sister twigs on! That was a lovely day and it was nice to enjoy that moment of celebration with my extended family.
That night, I was awakened by the most horrible, seizing period-like cramps. I rushed to the bathroom and there was just blood everywhere, and that was it, over.
The hardest thing was waiting in Edinburgh Airport for Mr S. to get back from his trip. I hadn't told him as he wouldn't have been able to get home any earlier so there was no point in distressing him. I'll never forget the heartbreak on his face when I told him we'd lost our baby and all I remember is both of us just crying and hugging in the middle of the airport surrounded by crowds of holidaymakers and tourists in see-you-jimmy hats.
That was a year and a half ago. Every month my period comes and goes, I don't even bother with pregnancy tests anymore. We've been tested for everything imaginable and this week I was told I have polyps (benign tumours) in my uterus, probably causing the miscarriage, infertility and irregular bleeding. I'm over the moon to finally have something of an explanation but now I'm just terrified of what comes next. What are the risks if having them removed? If I get pregnant again will i have another mc? I don't know if I can do that again.
With 1 in 4 pregnancies ending in miscarriage, we just don't talk about it enough. Having a miscarriage was the loneliest experience of my life and I was astonished to learn how many people either had experienced it or knew someone who had when I told people what I'd been through.
While I'm still grieving, it does get easier, even if it doesn't feel like it ever will at the time. Lots of people get pregnant straight after miscarriage, I just have these pesky polyps getting in my way (mostly in Mr S's swimmers' way - sorry, TMI). I do try and take things in my stride and tell myself if it happens it happens, if it doesn't we have our lives ahead of us (although it's hard to ignore cold camera wands being shoved up your hoo-haa every few weeks when trying to keep my mind on other things!!!). Anyway, as I said this is probably more of a therapeutic brain dump but hopefully it gives some comfort to anyone reading this who has gone through or is going through the same thing.


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How Full Is Your Bucket?
Recently our kids were given a book called, "How Full is Your Bucket" and it's one of those that teaches some incredible life lessons….all this book needed was the main character to be riding his bike and it would be totally awesome.
Okay, so Felix (the main character) is taught by his Grandpa about the importance of filling up other people's baskets. What he means by this is saying and doing nice things for others and each time you do it a drop of water is placed in the imaginary bucket above their heads. It's a cool concept and it's written in a way that kids can relate to and understand.
Ever since receiving the book we have added a new phrase in our house….."What can you do to fill up their bucket". Yeah, we have three kids and although I feel they are the best kids in the world they definitely have their share of fights and arguments. So over and over again we encourage them to find ways to fill up all the buckets.
It may be written for kids, but us adults and cyclists can learn a valuable lesson from it as well. The next time you're out walking around, imagine that every person around you has an imaginary bucket above their head. What can you do to make sure you add to it and not take any water away?
How about your fellow cyclists? What can we do to encourage them and push them to be all that they desire on the bike? Make it Happen. Drop, Drop, Drop.
How Full Is Your Bucket?


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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) In the right place at the right time, Jason Pominville came through once again for the Minnesota Wild.
With the Wild reeling after surrendering a two-goal lead in the third period, Pominville scored his second goal of the game to lead Minnesota to a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night.
Pominville scored the winner from just outside the left crease, beating goalie Carey Price and notching his team-leading ninth goal with 5:28 left.
''Pucks are finding me and I'm finding ways to put them in,'' Pominville said. ''But I think it's just kind of finally getting rewarded for all the work we put in. I think as a line we went through a little bit of a tough stretch and weren't able to generate much in the goal column and now we're starting to chip in, in that way.''
Justin Fontaine and Nino Niederreiter also scored for Minnesota.
Brendan Gallagher, P.K. Subban and Brian Gionta scored for Montreal, which rallied from a 3-1 third-period deficit but couldn't win its third straight game.
''We could feel it as soon as we made it 3-2, we had a push. We tied it up and continued to push, but give them credit,'' Gallagher said. ''They got the fourth goal. We continued to push, but it just wasn't enough.''
Pominville gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead in the second after he corralled a long lead pass from Mikael Granlund and beat Price through the five-hole on a breakaway.
''He's a smart player. Sometimes I feel like he knows what's going to happen next,'' Granlund said of Pominville. ''He can make plays and good decisions, so I like to play with him.''
Although it wasn't as pretty as his pass that sailed across the ice and set up Pominville in the second, Granlund added another assist on Niederreiter's goal from in close that made it 3-1 early in the third.
But just like they did after Fontaine's goal in the first, the Canadiens answered quickly.
After a Dany Heatley penalty, Subban fired a slap shot past Wild goalie Josh Harding at 7:12 of the third period to make it 3-2 and Gionta tied it 3 minutes later.
Wild coach Mike Yeo called a timeout after Gionta's goal and the Wild settled down.
Pominville's winner was his fifth goal in his last three games.
The goal left Price so frustrated that he was still slamming his stick on the ice two minutes later.
''We didn't play a full game,'' Gionta said. ''We had spurts where we did it and you saw that we were successful at that time, but this league is too tough. You've got to do it for 60 minutes to get wins.''
Harding returned from a lower-body injury he sustained on Oct. 24 and made 28 saves in the win.
Center Charlie Coyle returned after missing 11 games with a knee injury and Yeo shuffled his lines in an effort to generate more 5-on-5 scoring opportunities.
Coyle centered the top line with leading scorer Zach Parise, bumping Mikko Koivu off Parise's line for the first time since Parise signed with the Wild last offseason.
Yeo switched things up again to start the third period on Friday, putting Koivu back on the top line with Parise and plugging in Coyle at right wing.
None of the main players involved in the shuffling scored Friday, but the Wild did create several scoring chances and scored at least four goals for the third time this season.
NOTES: Canadiens D George Parros returned from a concussion he sustained in the season opener when he crashed to the ice during a fight with Toronto's Colton Orr. Parros also shaved his trademark mustache so he can grow a new one and raise awareness for men's cancer during November. ... Wild D Keith Ballard returned after missing seven games with a concussion. ... The Montreal cheering section was larger than usual at the Xcel Energy Center. Twenty fathers accompanied their sons on this road trip to Minnesota and Colorado. Team personnel also were invited to bring along one guest apiece.


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It may not look too different on the outside, but take heed: This Mazda6 test mule is longer and wider than the current model; the familiar body panels merely obscure the future. The Brenda Priddy bunch caught these shots, which may show Ford's updated CD-3 platform in action. Dubbed CD3-2, the new derivation will form the basis for FoMoCo's next wave of midsized cars, crossovers and SUVs, many of which will be powered by the company's new -generation 3.5-liter V6 — with horsepower in the 240+ range. Fans of the Mazdaspeed6 (guilty) will likely have to wait until 2009 for their flagship to come in.
Spotted - 2008 Mazda 6! [Winding Road ]
Spy Photos: Pre-Production Mazda CX-9 Spotted in Cali [internal]


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12:08 East of Bucharest (US - DVD R1)
Gabe just found out about the revolution, and now he hears it may not even exist?
It's the 22nd of December. Sixteen years have passed since the Romanian revolution, and Christmas is right around the corner. Jderescu, the owner of a local television post, is not interested in the upcoming holidays. Instead he decides to devote the evening's show to memories of the revolution, and he invites two friends aboard to answer questions about their involvement. Piscoci, a retired elder preparing for another Christmas alone, and Manescu, a drunken history teacher desperately trying to square his debts, try to answer the question of a generation—"Was there ever an actual revolution in their town?"
Are you sick of the same old Christmas movies? Have you exhausted all the usual classics like It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street? Do you even find yourself bored with the slightly skewed alternatives like Scrooged, Gremlins and Die Hard. How about giving a small time Romanian feature that's not really about Christmas at all, would that maybe float your Yule tide boat this year?
12:08 East of Bucharest (a title referring to the time of dictator Nicolae Ceauseacu's escape from the country) grinds slowly for its first half while pumping away at the humdrum lives of our three main protagonists. The camera never moves, the actions are mundane, and the plot is ill-defined. It's strange that things pick up as much as they do when our characters finally arrive for their telecast, considering they sit stationary for the next forty minutes or so (it's also amusing that it is at this point that the camera begins to move to better emulate the inexperienced cameraman), but the interest increase is exponential. I'd argue that the downer first half is unnecessary, but without it we wouldn't have quite the same understanding of these characters.
I am very, very unfamiliar with the Romanian revolution (even though I've somehow ended up with more than the usual share of Romanian acquaintances over the years), so I'm not sure about the validity of the film's argument, but I find myself quite intrigued by the questioning of a well know revolution's existence, it's just so…existential. The theme would probably resonate with me on a much deeper and personal level had I been born a Romanian, but at the very least director Corneliu Porumboiu has made me take a trip to Google for a brief history lesson.
Of course, few films work only on such levels alone, so we're fortunate that Porumboiu has infused his little tale with plenty of bone-dry wit and deadpan delivery, as well as a few clumps of basic physical humour. When callers begin tossing about damning accusations the awkward reactions are simply priceless. The teacher is caught in what very well may be a public lie about his heroism, the show's host realizes his fluff piece episode has taken a turn he was not at all prepared for, and the kindly old man busies himself with origami and limp defences of his friend's honour. Fans of typical British sit-coms like Fawlty Towers or The Office will likely be in hog heaven once the defecate hits the fan. The production and performances are almost frighteningly natural—just perfect for underwear bunching, squirm inducing laughs aplenty.
The two halves of 12:08 East of Bucharest are quite obviously stylistically divided. The first half is made up mostly of lopped off, documentary-like camera work, using natural lighting. These scenes are dirty, grainy, and often quite dark overall, but this is a stylistic choice. The detail levels on the disc are about as high as the source material will allow, though edge enhancement is not unheard of, and bright reds (like the Santa Claus outfit) are rife with compression blocks. The latter half is filmed like a real amateur telecast, with rough angles and awkward zooms. This section is much brighter and more colourful, though still a bit on the grainy side. The overall transfer is marred by interlacing effects, especially during its first half.
There is quite a bit of low-key traditional Romanian (and a little Latin) music throughout the film, and a few bits of incidental sound effects, but overall 12:08 East of Bucharest is strictly about the dialogue. The DTS and Dolby Digital tracks, both in the original Romanian, are sparse, but clean, and the dialogue as clear as it can be considering some of the cinema verite moments aren't as sharply recorded as the telecast portion. There isn't too much to say about either track, other than they sound like real life, just like they're supposed to.
Director Corneliu Porumboiu's commentary track is in English, and Porumboiu's English is pretty good. The track is a little on the apprehensive side, but tells the story of a young filmmaker's entry-level success, and effectively gets across the intentions of the film. As an American ignoramus I could've done with a little more political history, but I guess that's what Wikipedia is for. A trailer and trailers for other Tartan releases finish the disc off.
Surely not for everyone, 12:08 East of Bucharest is still a sardonic mini-masterpiece, and something for jaded foreign film fans to seek out. Though only eighty-nine minutes in length, the deliberate pacing may turn some folks off, as will the lack of flashback action, but those willing to test their patience will find themselves in stitches by film's end. The disc is about as low key as the feature, but does feature an interesting commentary track.
Review by Gabriel Powers
sjp1966 Member Join Date: September 2006 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 87
nice review, not something that I think I would watch to be honest but my interest has been tweaked.
Jonny Member Join Date: April 2006 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 26
Excellent review, I agree wholeheartedly, the opening half was a bit slow, but the second half was nothing short of brilliance, one of the biggest surprises of the year. Might consider picking this up.
Chaos Engine Member Join Date: April 2006 Location: Anguilla Posts: 625
I read about this in Sight & Sound, worthy of a look for sure.
This product has not been rated
Disc Details
Release Date: 9th October 2007
Discs: 1
Disc Type: Single side, dual layer
RCE: No
Video: NTSC
Aspect: 1.85:1
Anamorphic: Yes
Colour: Yes
Audio: DTS 5.1 Romanian, Dolby Digital 5.1 Romanian
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Extras: Director Commentary, Trailers
Easter Egg: No
Feature Details
Director: Corneliu Porumboiu
Cast: Mircea Andreescu, Teodor Corban, Ion Sapdaru, Lucian Iftime, Mirela Cioaba
Genre: Comedy
Length: 89 minutes
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Steve, this is great!
I'm still hoping that Graham will stop by with his thoughts about what we're saying about his piece. I DID check with him--more than once--to be sure that he wanted this to go public (in fact, it was his idea). Graham, if you're out there reading this thread, check in with us, will you?
Anyway, Steve, your insights were very helpful, and I especially appreciated your thoughts about what I didn't say. I think that in my future critiques, whether for FW or elsewhere, I'll make sure to say "I had no problem with _________, ________, and ____________." I wish I had done more of that in the body of Graham's story; except for one instance of 'this semicolon is used correctly,' I didn't note any of his positives there.
Theology is my weakest area, and that's certainly why I didn't catch some of the things you did.


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Car Deals
Luxury SUV Deals: September 2012
Shoppers interested in a brand new luxury SUV for the winter will find several great deals available in September as the model year winds down. Our latest list highlights luxury SUV deals and incentives, giving buyers important information before they add a new vehicle to their garage.
Acura MDX
In an effort to clear out remaining inventory, Acura is offering several incentives on its midsize MDX luxury SUV throughout September. According to the automaker, shoppers interested in a remaining 2012 MDX can get interest rates as low as 0.9 percent for up to 60 months--a rare offer for a luxury brand. The automaker is also advertising two 36-month lease deals to cut stock levels as 2013 models begin to arrive. The first, which requires a $1,999 down payment, touts monthly payments of just $449. The second is a zero-down lease--a rarity among luxury automakers--which offers payments starting from $490 per month.
Although BMW isn't running any specials on leftover 2012 X5 models in dealer inventory, the automaker is advertising several attractive lease rates on 2013 models. According to the automaker, lease shoppers interested in a base-level 2013 X5 xDrive35i can get a 35-month lease with payments of just $539 after $4,264 at lease signing. That makes the X5 just $40 per month more than the recently redesigned X3 xDrive35i, which BMW is offering with a similar down payment. And despite its aging design, we'd recommend the X5 for its larger size, increased practicality, and improved standard equipment--especially for such a reasonable price jump.
Buick Enclave
Buick's handsome Enclave crossover is available with two good deals in September. The first is for shoppers looking to buy outright, as Buick is offering up to $2,000 cash back--a rare figure in the upscale SUV segment. For qualified buyers interested in financing, Buick has another generous offer: zero percent interest for up to 72 months, which is practically unheard of among the Enclave's rivals. Both deals are available for any of the Enclave's trim levels, which feature GM's muscular 288-horsepower 3.6-liter V6 and standard features like tri-zone automatic climate control, Bluetooth and 19-inch alloy wheels.
Infiniti JX
Infiniti's latest crossover is available with an attractive lease deal in September. According to the automaker, shoppers interested in leasing a 2013 JX35 can get a 39-month term with payments as low as $499 per month. Better yet, that payment applies to both the rear-wheel drive JX35 and its more capable all-wheel drive stablemate, meaning buyers in the Snow Belt don't have to pay more to contend with bad weather. The only difference is the lease's down payment: the rear-drive JX35 is available with $3,499 down, while the all-wheel drive model commands only a slight premium with $3,799 due at signing.
Mercedes GL-Class
Although Mercedes is offering lease deals on each of its SUVs in September, the best rates are available on the full-size, highly luxurious GL450. According to the automaker, shoppers interested in the SUV can lease it for just $729 per month, a rate that's just $100 higher than the smaller ML350. And while taking advantage of the GL450's lease rate requires a large down payment of nearly $6,400 at lease signing, the SUV boasts refreshed styling and a new turbocharged V8 that achieves improved fuel economy compared to its naturally aspirated predecessor.
Find a Mercedes GL-Class for sale
What it means to you: The latest luxury SUV deals mean you could be closer to a new upscale SUV than you think.


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CHICAGO, IL (January 18, 2012) – The Chicago Fire Soccer Club announced Wednesday the club has re-signed midfielder Pavel Pardo ahead of the 2012 season. Per league and team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Having joined the Men in Red last July, Pardo appeared in 14 competitive matches, tallying one goal and five assists while helping the side to the second best regular season finish in club history at 7-2-1.
"Pavel helped kick-start our turnaround at the end of last season," said Chicago Fire head coach Frank Klopas. "He provides tremendous experience for us in the middle of the park, serves as a great example for our younger players and plays for the badge every time he steps on the field."
Pardo began his career with hometown Mexican Primera side Club Atlas, where he appeared in 156 matches and recorded seven goals from 1993-98. Following a brief stint with UAG Tecos, Pardo joined Mexican giants Club America for the first of two career stints in 1999. It was with las Aguilas that Pardo made his mark, appearing in 224 matches, scoring 24 goals from 1999-2006 while helping the club to the 2002 Verano and 2005 Clausura championships as well as the 2006 CONCACAF Champions Cup.
His play for America propelled him to Europe, signing with German side Vfb Stuttgart in 2006. While with Die Roten, Pardo appeared in 71 matches, scoring four times while helping the Reds to the 2006-07 Bundesliga title, the club's first since 1992. He returned to Club America following the 2009 Bundesliga season, going on to play in another 86 matches for las Aguilas through the 2011 Mexican Clausura.
Pardo is the second-most capped player in Mexican National Team history, with 148 appearances for el Tricolor. The central midfielder appeared in seven matches for his country during the 1998 and 2006 FIFA World Cups, helping the side to Round of 16 appearances in both tournaments. Pardo was also a member of the Mexican side that hosted and won the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup and has twice been a part of Mexico's CONCACAF Gold Cup winning teams in 1998 and 2003.
Name: Pável Pardo Segura
Position: Midfielder
Height: 5'9" (1.75m)
Weight: 150 lbs. (68kg)
Date of Birth: July 26, 1976
Place of Birth: Guadalajara, Mexico
Hometown: Guadalajara, Mexico
Citizenship: Mexico
Last Club: Club America (MEX)
Acquired: Re-signed by the Chicago Fire on January 18, 2012


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Common made headlines in May when conservatives criticized first Lady Michelle Obama for inviting him to the White House, but the Chicago rapper/actor — known for being a positive and politically conscious rapper, not the controversial thug some made him out to be — didn't mind the extra attention.
If anything, he just wishes the timing could have been better.
His memoir, "One Day It'll All Make Sense," hit stores September 13; his new TV drama, "Hell on Wheels" premiers on cable channel AMC November 6; and his album, "The Dreamer, The Believer," is scheduled to be released November 22. He can't help but wonder what could have been had his projects come out around the same time as the drama.
"Oh man, that would have been perfect," said Common (real name Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr.) while hosting his Moët & Chandon-sponsored book release party at Roof in The Wit hotel Tuesday. "When that drama happened, we wished everything — from the book to 'Hell on Wheels' — was all out there. That was a time of heightened publicity for me and people were interested in what was going on with me.
"At the same time, I'm here trying to contribute quality art to the world. It doesn't matter when the hype is going on as long as the art is still there and people are responding to it."
In the book, the normally tight-lipped Common opens up for the first time about his past sexual experiences and girlfriends, including tennis star Serena Williams, R&B singer Erykah Badu and actress Taraji P. Henson.
Why is he just now speaking about his love life after all these years?
"I feel like this is the medium to do it," Common said. "When I'm in a relationship, I'm not going to parade that relationship. It's not for public consumption. It's my life. But when I'm talking about things that happened in the past, this is perfect for me.
"The stories I'm telling are not only to entertain, but they're there to inspire and to relate to and to say, 'Man, this guy is not perfect, this guy been through some of the same things I've been through and he just decided to make some choices and is doing well. But he's still a work in progress.
Twitter @aboutluisgomez


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NFL Draft Podcast: Forget Johnny Football, What About Jimmy Football?
On the latest Sports Retort, the Journal's Kevin Clark empties his notebook and bares his soul to tell us everything he knows about the NFL draft, including, but not limited to: the final word on Johnny Manziel's pro potential, the bloom off the rose of Alabama players and a theory on why Bill Belichick drives Patriots fans crazy with his draft philosophy. We argue about whether the NFL should move to other cities—should the team with the worst record and top pick host it?—or stay close to the league's New York headquarters. One unusual argument for staying put: the effect it would have had on Eastern Illinois quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
Plus, we present dueling Jon Gruden imitations, an imaginary draft-night scenario involving Rex Ryan and M&Ms and everything you ever wanted to know about Canadian college football, in honor of McGill prospect Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.


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The Sister Michael Francis Hearon, O.S.U., Scholarship Offered by The Ursuline College Department of English
The English Department of Ursuline College offers the Sister Michael Francis Hearon, O.S.U., Scholarship to recognize and encourage an outstanding incoming full-time, first-year student who has expressed an interest in the English major. The student may apply for renewal of the scholarship each year for a maximum of four years of full-time study as an English major at Ursuline College.
This award is presented annually from the Sister Michael Francis Hearon, O.S.U., Endowed Scholarship Fund, which was established in 1989 by many of the College's English major alumnae with the support of the English Department, other alumnae, and friends. The scholarship is designed as a lasting tribute to Sister Michael Francis Hearon, O.S.U., who retired in 1987 after thirty-three years of service to the College. She is fondly remembered as an extraordinary teacher of English language and literature.
The scholarship will be awarded to a full-time entering first-year student. Applicants must have applied and been admitted to Ursuline College and intend to major in English. Applications are encouraged from students who have no financial need as well as from those who do.
Selection Criteria
The award will be based on the following criteria: SAT or ACT scores, grade point average, and letters of recommendation from two high school teachers, one of whom was an English teacher of the applicant.
Scholarship Awards
Normally, the annual grant to a Sister Michael Francis Hearon Scholar is $1,000. The grant will be renewed each year for four years provided that the student continues to make satisfactory progress on a full-time basis toward a degree in English. At the direction of the English Department faculty, a grant may be withdrawn following any semester in which such progress is not made.
Application Procedure
To apply for the Sister Michael Francis Hearon, O.S.U., Scholarship, an applicant must complete and return this form to Ursuline College, Attention: Department of English Chair, 2550 Lander Road, Pepper Pike, OH 44124-4398. Letters of recommendation from two high school teachers must also be submitted, and one must be from an English teacher who has had the applicant in class.
All scholarship application material will be received and considered on a rolling basis. Early application is encouraged. The application deadline is April 1, and the award recipient will be announced April 15. Adjustments regarding the application deadline can be made by contacting the English Department.
For Further Information, Contact
Sr. Cynthia Glavac, O.S.U., Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, English Department
2550 Lander Road
Pepper Pike, OH 44124


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29 Aug 2014 11:24:11 AM
'ONE FC: Reign of Champions' Results + GIFs — Aoki, Askren, Huerta Score First-Round Finishes
(Roger Huerta destroys Christian Holley with the help of ONE FC's "Sure, knee 'em in the head when they're down, we don't really care" rule. / GIF via ZP)
ONE FC: Reign of Champions (aka ONE FC 19) went down today at the World Trade Centre in Dubai, featuring Shinya Aoki, Ben Askren, and the return of Roger Huerta after a two-year absence and four-fight losing streak. Quick results are below, and more GIFs are after the jump, via ZombieProphet.
- Shina Aoki def. Kamal Shalorus via submission (rear-naked choke), 2:15 of round 1; Aoki retains the ONE FC lightweight championship
- Ben Askren def. Nobutatsu Suzuki via TKO, 1:24 of round 1; Askren becomes the new ONE FC welterweight champion, and secures his second-straight first-round stoppage. How 'bout that!
- Jadamba Narantungalag def. Koji Oishi via unanimous decision; Narantungalag becomes the new ONE FC featherweight champion
- Roger Huerta def. Christian Holley via TKO (knees & punches), 3:13 of round 1
- James McSweeney def. Cristiano Kaminishi via KO (punch & soccer kick), 1:17 of round 1
- Herbert Burns def. Hiroshige Tanaka via unanimous decision
- Mohamad Walid def. Vaughn Donayre via submission (armbar), 1:05 of round 1
- Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke def. Ali Yaakub via submission (rear-naked choke), 2:34 of round 1
- Ann Osman def. Ana Julaton via split-decisionRead More DIGG THIS


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May 3, 2011
When thrown properly, a boomerang will always come back to the thrower. (When thrown improperly, it ends up over the neighbor's fence where a dog chews on it, and you don't get your boomerang back, but that is another story for another day.) This afternoon, Matt and I enjoyed what is known as a boomerang – after an hour and a half flight to Swiss Camp, we weren't able to land, and so returned to Kangerlussuaq for the night. Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself.
The weather observations from Swiss Camp reported by Dr. Koni Steffen (who is already out at Swiss Camp, the lucky guy) revealed high winds all morning, up to 40 kts. Far too windy for the Twin Otter to safely land. Consequently, the Twin Otter went elsewhere to pick up cargo from another science group. Matt and I watched the weather carefully during the day, and tried to get some productive work done.
Around 2 p.m. local time, the report from Koni was that the winds had died down, and the weather was improving. After additional reports at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., the pilots decided it sounded good enough to fly north and check it out. Matt and I helped the cargo crew load the plane with our remaining bags, boxes, and pipes and head north to Swiss Camp.
It is a short flight, about 90 minutes. As we approached our destination, the cloud layers were low, and it was very difficult to make out any features on the surface (other than Koni's tents!) or the horizon. Without being able to see either the surface or the horizon, the pilots can not safely land the plane. After a few passes, we turned around and headed back to Kangerlussuaq.
We've left the cargo in the plane with the hopes of making a second try tomorrow morning. The forecast at the moment calls for cloudy skies and snow, which is not so promising for us. Things look to improve significantly on Thursday, so we are optimistic we'll rejoin Koni and the crew very soon!
So, dear reader, this might be our last post for a couple of days, but then again – you never know when you'll boomerang again!
ROGUE: Real-time Observations of Greenland's Under-ice Environment
The goal of the ROGUE project is to examine the nature and cause of short-term ice velocity changes near Swiss Camp, Greenland, by observing interactions between the ice sheet, the atmosphere and the bed.


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The United community enjoys an ethos that is ecumenically Christian in spirit and distinctively enriched by our United Methodist heritage. The Center for Evangelical United Brethren Heritage is a prized resource that links the seminary to the historical pietism and missionary emphasis of our founders. Our United Methodist heritage is expressed in special events, worship, exhibits, connections with denominational resources, and course offerings.
United Methodist students at United will benefit from the United Methodist heritage and character of the school as well as from its wide-ranging theological and denominational diversity.
These accredited online seminary courses are offered both on-site as well as online. We are now offering them in Spanish online.
Required Denominational Courses
United provides the three required denominational courses for UM ordination in online and hybrid formats, and in classroom settings in Dayton, OH. These courses are:
United Methodist History
Contemporary United Methodist Polity
United Methodist Doctrine
Elective Courses
In addition, United offers a variety of important elective courses that draw upon the Wesleyan, Methodist and Pietist traditions, including:
Methodists, Evangelicals, United Brethren and Women's Ordination
John Wesley Seminar
Evangelical United Brethren Heritage Seminar
United Methodist General Conference
Wesleyan Theology
United Methodist Worship
Sacraments of Christian Initiation


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One family - three nursing grads
This graduation season was particularly busy for one local family, who had three family members graduate from college within a week Tanya Allen, her daughter, Megan, and her niece, Ann Scott are all three Broken Bow High School alumni, and all received nursing degrees. Megan is the youngest of the family trio of grads, a 2007 graduate of BBHS. She had taken some college classes while still in high school toward her degree, through Mid Plains Community College. Megan started full time at Central Community College-Kearney in the fall of 2007. In the fall of 2008, Megan moved back to Broken Bow, taking on-line classes through MPCC. She started in the nursing program in the fall of 2009, and May 7 received her associate's degree in nursing. She will be working as a registered nurse at Jennie Melham Medical Center in Broken Bow. Megan says she has known since she was a little girl that she wanted to be a nurse. She began working at Heritage Hall as an aid while still in high school, and continued to work there until she went to Kearney for college. Since moving back to Broken Bow, Megan has worked at JMMMC as a nurses aid. Megan's graduation from CCC was even more special in that walking across the stage after her was her mom, Tanya Allen. Unlike her daughter, Tanya didn't always know she wanted to be a nurse. In fact, at one time in her life college seemed pretty much out of the question all together. School was not something that was terribly important to Tanya when she was younger. When she was a sophomore she dropped out of high school, but was talked in to coming back by John Sweeney. During her junior year she again made the decision to quit school, and again Sweeney stepped in. "John made me promise to work with him to complete my G.E.D., so I did," Tanya recalls. She completed that at the same time her class graduated. In 1990, she started working at Sandhills Manor Nursing Home as an aid, and a year later took a medication aid class. By 1992, Tanya had decided to make nursing her career - at least for now - and started LPN school at MPCC in North Platte. She continued working at Sandhills until her last semester of school. She graduated in 1993, and had her third child three months later. Shortly after receiving her LPN license, Tanya began working on some classes toward her RN. She also took an IV certification class in 2006. In May 2010, she started full time in the nursing program with Megan at CCC in Kearney. The mother and daughter drove back and forth to Grand Island once a week and Kearney twice a week for the past year. Tanya has worked at JMMMC for 16 years in various departments, including Home Health and Hospice, long term and acute. She says she had always planned to get her RN degree. "I wanted the opportunities that will now be available to me in different areas that RN can provide," she explains. Tanya's youngest daughter has one year of high school left, and Tanya says after that she would like to travel as a nurse. "I want to see the world I missed out on when I was younger," she laughs. When asked what she enjoys most about nursing, Tanya did not hesitate. "The thing I like most is getting paid for doing what I like to do. I feel very fortunate to be a nurse. Even when I'm old and can't be a nurse anymore, I will want to volunteer. I can't imagine not doing this anymore!" The third recent graduate of the family received her master's degree the following Saturday. Ann (Holland) Scott, niece of Tanya and cousin of Megan, graduated May 14 from Creighton University in Omaha with a Master of Science in nursing degree. Like both Megan and Tanya, Ann worked as an aid prior to and during nursing school. She started taking LPN classes at Northeast Community College in Norfolk in 1999, where she attended for one year. She completed her LPN studies at MPCC in 2001, and worked as an aid at JMMMC while in school in North Platte. After receiving her LPN degree she went to work at Gothenburg Memorial Hospital. Ann would spend the next decade working toward her goal of becoming a nurse practitioner. She earned her associate degree from MPCC in 2004, and like Tanya says she always knew she would at least be an RN. But she decided not to stop there. "It just seemed like a natural progression for me. I just felt like I wanted more," Ann explains. In May 2009, she earned her BSN from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She transferred to Creighton that fall so she could finish sooner. She was a very expectant mommy at the time she started at Creighton, and welcomed her first child in December 2009. Completing her masters program has been a long haul she says, and she is excited to move on. "I look forward to now being the patient's primary care provider," says Ann. "The nurse practitioner field is built on nursing experience and background. The nurse practitioner treats the patient as a whole, and I have 10 years experience with that." Though she did not get to graduate with Tanya and Megan, Ann did also have another family member as part of the Creighton class. Her cousin, Jacob Holland, received his BSN that same day. While statistics continue to show a shortage of nurses in the U.S., this family is certainly doing its part to help reverse that trend. All three of these women have taken different paths and overcome obstacles to achieve success. And now all three have the degrees to prove it.


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Recycled Rubber Flooring– Strong, Beautiful, and Environmentally Conscious.
Recycling consumer tires for use as flooring has more advantages than just creating extremely durable, attractive and resilient rolls and tiles. Using this discarded rubber to create the rolls and tiles helps keep a portion of the nearly 242 million tires discarded each year from landfills. Due to the number of tires used worldwide and their durability, they cause a significant amount of waste when no longer suitable for vehicles. Tires especially are not desired at landfills due to the ley occupy. (Tires are up of 75% void space which quickly consumes valuable landfill area.)
These same characteristics make them an excellent and inexpensive raw material for the production of resilient building materials such as the rolls and tiles sold by companies like Rubberflooringinc.com. In fact, many cities, counties and states even give various types credits in the form of LEED points or tax breaks for using recycled products in construction. There has been a notable shift in the public's attention and effort to protecting the environment. Recycled rubber flooring is a great way to be environmentally conscious along with the benefit of having a floor surface that will outlast carpets and linoleum flooring in most cases.
Rubber flooring has a very wide variety of products and thicknesses and can be used just about anywhere. Popular uses are home and commercial gyms where impact resistance is desirable to protect weights or the subfloor, dog day care and agility courses where grip for the dogs and handlers is a priority or any room where cushion, sound dampening and durability is high on the list. Recycled rubber has also been used for years in horse stalls and grooming areas due to the traction, ease of cleaning and durability. Outdoor play grounds have also begun too used recycled rubber tiles and "pour-in-place" rubber more frequently due to the bright colors and anti microbial qualities the rubber offers.
If you are looking for a way to update, beautify and/or protect your floor or space while doing your part to help the environment, recycled rubber flooring is certainly one of the best choices available.