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Park for All
Once the tool of segregation, today
Warrensburg's Blind Boone Park
brings people together
Park for All
Once the tool of segregation, today
Warrensburg's Blind Boone Park
brings people together
Park for All
Once the tool of segregation, today
Warrensburg's Blind Boone Park
brings people together
Park for All
Once the tool of segregation, today
Warrensburg's Blind Boone Park
brings people together
by Bob McEowen
As one group of
volunteers finishes raking, clearing debris and spreading mulch on a
small parcel of ground along the railroad tracks in Warrensburgs
historic West Side another group arrives.
Like clockwork,
a parade of cars pulls into the long-forgotten park and dozens of eager
college students pile out, ready to work. Even before all the cars have
parked Sandy Irle has taken control of her troops, passing out work
gloves and divvying up assignments.
The students, sorority
and fraternity members from Central Missouri State University, will
fulfill a community service requirement by lending a hand at Blind Boone
Park, a 3-acre lot once set aside for use by Warrensburgs black
residents during the segregationist days of the 1950s.
For three years,
Irle has led an effort to restore the park. More than just providing
another place to picnic, the West Central Electric Cooperative member
says she wanted to break down divisions between people.
Our community,
like every community, has its separations, Sandy says. We
have Whiteman (Air Force Base) and theyre kind of naturally segregated
from us. We have CMSU and they have kind of their own community there.
There are color barriers in Warrensburg just like there are everywhere
and age barriers.
That has always
driven me crazy and I wanted to find a way that we could bring people
together, she says. This has been a really interesting way
to do that.
Since Sandy first
proposed cleaning up and restoring the old Blind Boone Park some 800
volunteers have pitched in to help. Local residents say the project
has brought people together like nothing before.
At no time
in my 25 years in Warrensburg have I seen the diversity of people who
have worked on this project, says David Curtis, director of the
citys parks department. Youve got incredibly poor
people and the wealthiest people in town involved in it. Youve
got every race under the sun involved.
Named for ragtime
pianist and Warrensburg native John William Blind Boone,
the park was created in 1954 as separate but equal accommodations
for Warrensburgs black population. Hardly equal, the tiny park
on West Pine Street offered little more than a few barbeque grills and
space to toss a ball.
In time, segregation
was overturned and blacks began using the towns other, better-equipped
parks. Soon Willie Blind Boone Park fell into disrepair.
They just
gradually stopped maintaining it over time, Sandy says. It
was so grown up you couldnt step into it. It was full of brambles
and brush and poison ivy and all that kind of stuff.
Although she grew
up in Warrensburg Sandy never heard of the park until her husband mentioned
it. Mark Irle wanted to do something to honor his father and grandfather
and said that if the city ever decided to restore the park he would
like to volunteer and, perhaps, ask to have the park renamed for them.
When Sandy approached
the city with the idea Curtis recalled the parks history and told
her Boones story.
The son of a runaway
slave and a white Army bugler, Boone was born in Miami, Mo., in 1864
but his mother soon moved to Warrensburg. At 6 months the child developed
brain fever and doctors removed his eyes in an effort to
reduce the swelling.
What Little
Willie lacked in vision he made up for in hearing. He demonstrated
remarkable musical ability, tapping out rhythms at age 3 and imitating
birdcalls and other sounds on a tin whistle by the time he was 5. At
age 8 he could hear a piece of music once and reproduce it on piano.
Educated at the
Missouri School for the Blind in St. Louis and later Columbia College,
Boone went on to a successful career performing both Ragtime and classical
music. Regarded as one of the most talented musicians in Missouri history
he broke racial barriers, performing at black venues one night and white
theaters the next.
The more she learned
about Boone, the greater was Sandys determination to reclaim his
legacy. Although the city did not have money to help it gave Sandy permission
to do what she could. She organized a community meeting and formed a
board of directors. In June 2000 the Blind
Boone Park Renovation Group began clearing the park.
At the heart of
the park will be a sculpture of Blind Boone, his hands pounding an undulating
keyboard. Also planned is a large gazebo, a wildflower area and a sensory
garden for the visually impaired.
While the sensory garden is an obvious nod to Blind Boone, as much as
possible the entire park from the gazebo down to the picnic tables
is designed to accomodate people with disabilities.
More than simply good public policy, the effort to make the park accessible
honors Boone, whose motto, Merit, not sympathy, wins, reflected
a determination to overcome any disadvantage.
Blind Boones
life was a series of barriers that he either had to climb over or go
around and he did every time until he became so famous and wealthy that
it was obvious he could do anything he wanted, Sandy says. We
hope to inspire other people to do the same thing.
Although the park
is not scheduled to open until later this summer already the project
is attracting attention. In April the Volvo Corporation named Sandy
as a top-10 finalist in its Volvo
for Life Awards, which recognizes ordinary people who act
with conscience, care and character to help others in need. The
award carries a $10,000 cash prize that Sandy turned over to the park
The park also recently
qualified for a $57,000 grant from the U.S. Park Service. Additional
money has come from local fund-raising events, including an annual Blind
Boone Music Festival in Warrensburg's historic district.
While Sandy says
the project is intended primarily to honor Blind Boone, it also serves
as a reminder of the segregation that created the original park nearly
50 years ago. If we dont remember the past well never
learn from it.
Still, Sandy says,
the park should serve to unite people and not to divide them.
I dont
necessarily see it as an African-American thing, she says. I
dont want this to become segregated again, either way. I want
everyone to feel comfortable here and everyone to have this safe haven
where they can come to be together.
That doesnt
mean everyone shared Sandys vision when she first began. Morris
Collins is assistant pastor of the Jesus Saves Pentecostal Church of
the Apostolic Faith, located across West Pine from Blind Boone Park
on the grounds of the Howard School, one of the first segregated schools
in Missouri. He recalls some questions about the project within the
black community when it was first proposed.
There were
people who had some reservations about it. They knew why the park was
put there and it took them back to a time when they realized they were
being segregated, says Collins, who has faced similar questions
about his efforts to restore the Howard School.
a part of the past that we can not deny. It happened, Collins,
also a West Central Electric member, says. But both of these institutions,
that park and this building here, stand as landmarks to how far weve
come. Even though they started off to separate us, years later what
do they do? They bring us together.
For more information
call (660) 747-3268; write the Blind Boone Park Renovation Group at
131 S.W. 300, Warrensburg, MO 64093 or log onto www.blindboonepark.org.


text:
[This article will be published in the November issue of ACEP News. See the entire ACEP News libary online at www.acepnews.com]
After considerable debate, the ACEP Council voted this month to refrain from participation in the national "Choosing Wisely" campaign in large part due to the other efforts being taken by ACEP to achieve the same and even larger goals.
"Choosing Wisely" is part of a multi-year effort of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation to help physicians be better stewards of finite health care resources, according to its website. As part of the campaign, specialty organizations identify five tests or procedures commonly used in their field, the necessity of which should be questioned and discussed by patients and physicians.
ACEP had considered joining this campaign three distinct times since its launch in December 2011. Three different workgroups of various ACEP members, committees and Board members looked at the campaign and decided that while the concept is positive, the scope of listing tests, especially for emergency physicians, was too narrow.
Despite this extensive review by ACEP members, a resolution was submitted by the New York Chapter asking the ACEP Council to decide if ACEP should join the "Choosing Wisely" campaign.
As part of the Council process, resolutions are first debated in a reference committee where members of the Council provide background about the resolution, give testimony to its merit or explain reasons why it should not be adopted. It was standing room only for the debate about this resolution and discussion was spirited. The debate continued the next day with many of the same reasons echoed on the open floor of the Council with mroe than 300 voting members in attendance.
Those in support of ACEP joining the campaign said that 26 medical specialties (except for emergency medicine and anesthesia) have joined or committed to participate. They added that participating could give ACEP more national visibility and bargaining power, and that ACEP could use its participation to educate other specialties about emergency medicine's particular challenges.
Those opposed to ACEP joining the campaign said that the Choosing Wisely campaign does not involve any negotiation with others in medicine, and that it could lead to unintended consequences, including a lack of liability protection, vulnerability to the False Claims Act and automatic payment denials from insurance companies based on tests that the campaign deems to be "unnecessary."
One large concern was that the intent of the campaign had already eroded, with several specialties offering only minimal savings and stepping outside of their field and including tests on their lists that are outside the scope of their practice.
The issue generated strong feeling on both sides and the majority of the Council ultimately decided to refrain from participation.
ACEP already had opted to strive to identify cost savings measures without compromising patient care. Three task forces were established in 2012 to work toward this idea – the Cost Effective Care Task Force, the Delivery System Reform Task Force, and the Transitions of Care Task Force.
ACEP's Cost Effective Care Task Force is developing recommendations on ways to reduce costs in emergency care. Through member surveys, a Delphi approach, and use of the Emergency Medicine Practice Research Network (EMPRN), this group will not only consider unnecessary tests and procedures but also processes with emergency care that might represent meaningful cost savings while improving patient care. This task force is expected to complete its work and offer its report to ACEP's Board in February of 2013.
It is hoped that these reports of significant recommendations can fuel a public campaign and support health policy advocacy concerning how emergency physicians are not just making a list of tests to cut, but instead are looking at much larger initiatives, processes and transitions that could result in real health care savings while improving patient care.
The Delivery System Reform Task Force gave its report to the ACEP Board of Directors on Oct. 5. It can be found online at www.acep.org/advocacy/federalissues/.
"The emergency department remains at least one of the reasonable solutions for addressing many of the health care system's most vexing problems from a delivery system perspective," the report states. "Emergency physicians are well positioned to provide innovation and leadership across the acute care continuum. Even from the perspective of employers, the patients, and payers, the allegedly high cost of care is incompletely characterized, often misconstrued, and lacks sufficient perspective in the broader context of community economics and the health care delivery system itself. Addressing these dynamics will require significant and intensive efforts to bring data, information, and solutions to a delivery system in rapid evolution."
In addition to efforts that should be continued, the report also lists several recommendations of efforts that should be started or enhanced, including information sharing to primary care providers (and specialists), care coordination for high-cost users, regionalization of patient care resources (mobile technology, telemedicine), cost effective alternatives to hospital admission and others.
The report also recommends efforts that should be stopped or reduced (because emergency physicians are not trained or resourced for it, or could be more efficiently delivered in an alternative setting), such as longitudinal care for chronic illnesses, primary preventative care, non-value driven convenience care, and treatment of medical conditions that have no incremental benefit to the patient or value to the system.
The Transitions of Care Task Force also developed an information paper that was submitted to the ACEP Board of Directors in draft form on Oct. 5. When it is finalized, it will be announced to ACEP members and posted on ACEP's website.
The Task Force paper notes that "The emergency department has an important, in fact pivotal, role in transitions of care and can enhance its value to the system by implementing more successful transition programs. As the emphasis and oversight of quality and cost increase, successful coordination of patients' journeys through the health care system will help advance the triple aim of better population health, better patient experiences, and reduced cost to the system. "
To achieve this goal, the Transitions of Care Task Force made several recommendations, including
- improve residency training and continuing professional development for emergency physicians on the importance of handoffs in effective transitions of care
- work with emergency department information system vendors to produce transition support tools
- identify strategies that make handoffs successful, and use them to establish goals for emergency departments
- develop a web-based toolkit that includes resources, assessment and support tools, and best practices
- develop education resources on palliative care in the emergency department to enhance knowledge and increase the number of emergency department-based palliative care programs
- and more.
ACEP has a strong focus on these issues of improving patient care and providing cost savings. To that end, multiple recommendations continue to be developed and adopted by the College. We are dedicated to ensuring that our specialty brings ideas that truly will improve care for the millions of patients we treat and provide real, substantial savings to the nation's health care expenses.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Leaderboard: Heroes
Workout Description
For time: 10 Thrusters, 95/65 lbs 15 Bar Facing Burpees 20 Thrusters, 95/65 lbs 25 Bar Facing Burpees 30 Thrusters, 95/65 lbs 35 Bar Facing Burpees U.S. Army First Lieutenant Omar Vazquez, 25, of Hamilton, New Jersey, assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, based in Fort Hood, Texas, died of wounds suffered April 22, 2011, when insurgents in Numaniyah, Iraq, attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He is survived by his parents Maria and Pablo, sister Marisel, and brothers Pablo and Javier.
Heroes Leaderboards
J.T. Michael Murph Daniel Josh Jason Badger Joshie Nate Randy Tommy V Griff Ryan Erin Mr. Joshua DT Danny Hansen Tyler Lumberjack 20 Stephen Garrett War Frank McGhee Paul Jerry Nutts Arnie The Seven RJ Luce Johnson Roy AdamBrown Coe Severin Helton Jack Forrest Bulger Brenton Blake Collin Thompson Whitten Bull Rankel Holbrook Ledesma Wittman McCluskey Weaver Abbate Hammer Moore Wilmot Moon Small Morrison Manion Gator Bradley Meadows Santiago Carse Bradshaw White Santora Wood Hidalgo Ricky Dae Han Desforges Rahoi Zimmerman Klepto Del Pheezy J.J. Jag 28 Brian Nick Strange Tumilson Ship Jared Tully Holleyman Adrian Glen Tom Ralph Clovis Weston Loredo Sean Hortman Hamilton Zeus Barraza Cameron Jorge Schmalls Brehm Omar Gallant Bruck Smykowski Falkel Donny Dobogai Hotshots 19 Roney The Don Dragon Walsh Lee Willy Coffey DG TK Taylor Justin Nukes Zembiec Alexander Wyk Bell JBo Kevin Rocket Riley Feeks Ned Sham Ozzy Jenny Spehar Luke Robbie Shawn Foo Bowen Gaza Crain Capoot Hall Servais PK Marco Rene Pike Kutschbach Jennifer Horton Scooter Matt 16 T.U.P. Harper Sisson Terry Big Sexy Woehlke Maupin Hildy T.J. Monti DVB Nickman Marston Artie Hollywood Manuel Tiff Paul Pena Yeti Liam Wes Miron Pat Scotty Rich Dallas 5 Dunn Kev Emily Andy Viola Coffland The Lyon T Havana Tama Otis Josie Dork Bert


text:
I love big, fluffy, and eggy popovers. There is something innately elegant about this oh so simple treats. Served in their simplest form with a dab of butter and a dollop of jam they are the perfect breakfast treat. Or you can follow an old Maine tradition and eat popovers and chowder on the lawn of the Jordan Pond House in Acadia National Park. In college I discovered Judie's Restaurant in Amherst, Massachusetts where oversized popovers were served as the foundation for hearty sandwiches, as an accompaniment for soup or salad or all on their own. (When I was back in Amherst this past summer I went to Judie's with the sole purpose of eating a popover).
I tend to forget how easy popovers are to make. This recipe from America's Test Kitchen only has six ingredients. Instead of using a blender I use a stick mixer which makes cleanup a breeze. With a little prior planning (the batter needs to rest before baking) they are a snap to make. If you want to serve them for breakfast you can even make the batter the night before and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight. If you do this there isn't any excuse for not serving them for breakfast.
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Blend the eggs and milk in a blender until smooth. Add the flour, melted butter, and salt and continue to blend on high speed until the batter is bubbly and smooth, about 1 minute. Let the batter rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- While the batter is resting, measure 1/2 teaspoon of vegetable oil into each cup of a popover pan. Adjust the oven rack to the lowest position, place the pan in the oven, and heat the oven to 450 degrees.
- After the batter has rested, pour it into a 4-cup liquid measuring cup. Working quickly, remove the pan from the oven and divide the batter evenly among the 6 cups in the pan. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 20 minutes without opening the oven door.
- Lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake until golden brown all over, 15 to 18 minutes more. Gently tip the popovers out onto a wire rack and let cool slightly before serving, about 2 minutes.


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Call to Action in Support of the Zapatistas
** MAS ABAJO ESTA EN ESPAÑOL** (a version in spanish can be found below)
Week of Action: May 18-24 (Day of Remembrance May 24)
Justice for Galeano; stop the war against the Zapatista communities!
Summary of recent events:
On May 2, 2014, in the Zapatista territory of La Realidad, Chiapas, Mexico, the group CIOAC-H, planned and executed a paramilitary attack on unarmed Zapatista civilians. An autonomous Zapatista school and clinic was destroyed, 15 people were ambushed and injured and Jose Luis Solis Lopez (Galeano), teacher at the Zapatista Little School, was murdered. The mainstream media is falsely reporting this attack on the Zapatistas as an intra-community confrontation, but in fact this attack is the result of a long-term counterinsurgency strategy promoted by the Mexican government.
Given the experience of the 1997 massacre at Acteal, we are concerned about the mounting paramilitary activity against Zapatista bases of support. It is clear that if we do not take action now, the current situation in Chiapas may also lead to an even more tragic end.
Why this matters to us:
Since 1994, the Zapatistas have shown us the bankruptcy of the world that dominates us and, most importantly, the ability to organize ourselves into self-determining communities autonomous from the political class and capitalism. It is this capacity to show that another world is possible in the here and now, one not rooted in exploitation, dispossession, repression and de-valorization, but rather in liberty, democracy and justice, that has inspired us all. An attack on the Zapatistas is an attack on the other world that we have all tried to build along with them for the past 20 years. (more…)


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Every Friday Night at The Saratoga Winery is…
Live Music & Dinner from 6-9pm
No cover charge!
Check out our website for the dinner menu and this weeks featured local musician/band.
We offer wine tasting, beer tasting, wine by the glass & bottle, cheeseboards and so much more!
Have a group of 5 or more? Call ahead so we can save you a table! (518) 584-9463


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From the New York Times, October 1, 2012, article by Daniel Lewis.
Barry Commoner, a founder of modern ecology and one of its most provocative thinkers and mobilizers in making environmentalism a people's political cause, died on Sunday in Manhattan. He was 95 and lived in Brooklyn Heights.
His wife, Lisa Feiner, confirmed his death.
Dr. Commoner was a leader among a generation of scientist-activists who recognized the toxic consequences of America's post-World War II technology boom, and one of the first to stir the national debate over the public's right to comprehend the risks and make decisions about them.
Raised in Brooklyn during the Depression and trained as a biologist at Columbia and Harvard, he came armed with a combination of scientific expertise and leftist zeal. His work on the global effects of radioactive fallout, which included documenting concentrations of strontium 90 in the baby teeth of thousands of children, contributed materially to the adoption of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963.
From there it was a natural progression to a range of environmental and social issues that kept him happily in the limelight as a speaker and an author through the 1960s and '70s, and led to a wobbly run for president in 1980.
In 1970, the year of the first Earth Day, Time magazine put Dr. Commoner on its cover and called him the Paul Revere of Ecology. He was by no means the only one sounding alarms; the movement was well under way by then, building on the impact of Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring" in 1962 and the work of many others. But he was arguably the most peripatetic in his efforts to draw public attention to environmental dangers.
(The same issue of Time noted that President Richard M. Nixon had already signed on. In his State of the Union address that January, he said, "The great question of the '70s is, shall we surrender to our surroundings, or shall we make our peace with nature and begin to make reparations for the damage we have done to our air, to our land and to our water?" And he followed through: Among other steps, the Environmental Protection Agency was established in December 1970.)
Dr. Commoner was an imposing professorial figure, with a strong face, heavy eyeglasses, black eyebrows and a thick head of hair that gradually turned pure white. He was much in demand as a speaker and a debater, especially on college campuses, where he helped supply a generation of activists with a framework that made the science of ecology accessible.
His four informal rules of ecology were catchy enough to print on a T-shirt and take to the street: Everything is connected to everything else. Everything must go somewhere. Nature knows best. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
Although the rules were plain enough, the thinking behind them required leaps of faith. Dr. Commoner's overarching concern was not ecology as such but rather a radical ideal of social justice in which everything was indeed connected to everything else. Like some other left-leaning dissenters of his time, he believed that environmental pollution, war, and racial and sexual inequality needed to be addressed as related issues of a central problem.
A Critic of Capitalism
Having been grounded, as an undergraduate, in Marxist theory, he saw his main target as capitalist "systems of production" in industry, agriculture, energy and transportation that emphasized profits and technological progress with little regard for consequences: greenhouse gases, nonbiodegradable materials, and synthetic fertilizers and toxic wastes that leached into the water supply.
He insisted that the planet's future depended on industry's learning not to make messes in the first place, rather than on trying to clean them up. It followed, by his logic, that scientists in the service of industry could not merely invent some new process or product and then wash their hands of moral responsibility for the side effects. He was a lasting opponent of nuclear power because of its radioactive waste; he scorned the idea of pollution credit swaps because, after all, he said, an industry would have to be fouling the environment in the first place to be rewarded by such a program.
In a "Last Word" interview with The New York Times in 2006, videotaped to accompany this obituary online, Dr. Commoner elaborated on his holistic views and lamented the inability of society to connect the dots among its multitude of challenges, calling it "an unfortunate feature of political development in this country."
Noting the success of movements that had promoted civil rights, sexual equality, organized labor, environmentalism and an end to the war in Vietnam, he said one might think that "if they would only get together, they could remake the country." But, he added, that has not happened.
Then he said: "I don't believe in environmentalism as the solution to anything. What I believe is that environmentalism illuminates the things that need to be done to solve all of the problems together. For example, if you're going to revise the productive system to make cars or anything else in such a way as to suit the environmental necessities, at the same time why not see to it that women earn as much as men for the same work?"
Dr. Commoner's diagnoses and prescriptions sometimes put him at odds with other environmental leaders. He is rightly remembered as an important figure inthe first Earth Day, April 22, 1970, a nationwide teach-in conceived by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, and he himself regarded the observance as historically important. But Earth Day also illustrated the growing factionalization of a movement in which "environmentalism" comprised a number of agendas, all competing for attention and money, and could mean anything from ending the Vietnam War to growing one's own cabbages.
That was the context for the rift between Dr. Commoner and advocates of population control, who saw environmental degradation as a byproduct of overpopulation. They had become a force on the strength of Paul R. Ehrlich's huge best seller "The Population Bomb." Conservationist groups like the Sierra Club and the National Wildlife Federation were strong supporters of Dr. Ehrlich's views.
Dr. Commoner took aim at the "neo-Malthusians," as he called those who, like the English scholar Thomas Malthus, foresaw perils in population growth. In a panel discussion with Dr. Ehrlich in 1970, he said it was "a cop-out of the worst kind" to say that "none of our pollution problems can be solved without getting at population first."
He elaborated in his best-known book, "The Closing Circle," published the next year. Reducing population, Dr. Commoner wrote, was "equivalent to attempting to save a leaking ship by lightening the load and forcing passengers overboard."
"One is constrained to ask if there isn't something radically wrong with the ship."
In the science establishment, Dr. Commoner's standing was ambiguous. Along with eminent figures of the postwar years like the chemist Linus Pauling and the anthropologist Margaret Mead, he was concerned that the integrity of American science had been compromised — first by the government's emphasis on supporting physics at the expense of other fields during the development of nuclear weapons, and second by the growing privatization of research, in which pure science took a back seat to projects that held short-range promise of marketable technologies.
It was a concern remarkably similar to that of the distinctly unradical Dwight D. Eisenhower, who warned of the dangerous power of "the military-industrial complex" as he was leaving the presidency. But although Dr. Commoner had a record of achievement as a cellular biologist and founding director of the government-financed Center for the Biology of Natural Systems, he was seen primarily as the advocate for a politics that relatively few considered practicable or even desirable. Among other positions, he advocated forgiveness of all third world debt, which he said would decrease poverty and despair and thus act as a natural curb on population growth.
His platform did not get him very far in the 1980 presidential race, which he entered as the head of his own Citizens' Party. He won only about 234,000 votes as Ronald Reagan swept to victory. Dr. Commoner himself conceded that he would not have made a very good president. Still, he was angry that the questions he had raised had generated so little interest.
His own favorite moment of the campaign, he recalled many years later, was when a reporter in Albuquerque asked, "Dr. Commoner, are you a serious candidate, or are you just running on the issues?"
Barry Commoner was born on May 28, 1917, in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn. His parents, the former Goldie Yarmolinsky and Isidore Commoner, were Jewish immigrants from Russia, his father a tailor until he went blind. (The original family name, Comenar, was Anglicized at the suggestion of an uncle of Barry's, Avrahm Yarmolinsky, chief of the Slavonic department at the New York Public Library.)
Young Barry grew up at a time when it was possible to be both a tough street kid and a studious sort. He spent hours in Prospect Park collecting bits of nature, which he took home to inspect under a microscope that Uncle Avrahm had given him.
He was so shy at James Madison High School that he was referred to a speech correction class, and after graduation he set out on the track of a quiet academic career. With money earned from odd jobs, he put himself through Columbia, earning honors in his major, zoology; election to Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi; and a B.A. degree in 1937, at 20. He went on to do graduate work at Harvard, where he got a Ph.D. in cellular biology. He taught for two years at Queens College and served in the Naval Air Corps in World War II, rising to lieutenant. In 1947 he joined the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis.
Role in Nuclear Test Ban
Parallel to his life as a public figure, Dr. Commoner had a reputation as a brilliant teacher and a painstaking researcher into viruses, cell metabolism and the effects of radiation on living tissue. A research team he led was the first to show that abnormal free radicals — groups of molecules with unpaired electrons — might be the earliest indicator of cancer in laboratory rats.
He found his political voice when he encountered the indifference of government authorities to the high levels of strontium 90 in the atmosphere from atomic tests. Quite simply, he said in an interview with The Chicago Tribune in 1993, "The Atomic Energy Commission turned me into an environmentalist."
He helped organize the St. Louis Committee for Nuclear Information in 1958, and was eventually its president. Dr. Commoner told Scientific American years later that the committee's task "was to explain to the public — first in St. Louis and then nationally — how splitting a few pounds of atoms could turn something as mild as milk into a devastating global poison."
"At about that time," he continued, "several of us met with Linus Pauling in St. Louis and together drafted the petition, eventually signed by thousands of scientists worldwide." The petition was part of the scientific underpinning for President John F. Kennedy's proposal of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963 — "the first of continuing international actions to fully cage the nuclear beast," Dr. Commoner said.
As the founding director of the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems in St. Louis, he led a staff drawn from many disciplines in investigating, among other things, lead poisoning in slums, the ecology of ghetto rats, the economics of conventional versus organic farming, and the pollution of rivers by fertilizer leaching.
Dr. Commoner moved the center from St. Louis to Queens College in 1981. He remained in the thick of things, helping to set up New York City's trash recycling program and defending it against critics like Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who had declared the recycling law irresponsible.
In 2000, at 82, Dr. Commoner gave up the center's directorship to concentrate on new research projects, including work on the effects of genetically altering organisms.
Waning Influence
By then he was no longer getting anything like the attention he had enjoyed in earlier times. Some experts had begun to think that his view of the planet, as a place harmoniously balanced by the trial and error of long evolution, left out too much complexity and too much potential for the unexpected.
Stephen Jay Gould, the Harvard paleontologist and evolutionary biologist, reviewing Dr. Commoner's book "Making Peace With the Planet" for The Times in 1990, said that it "suffers the commonest of unkind fates: to be so self-evidently true and just that we pass it by as a twice-told tale."
"Although he has been branded by many as a maverick," Dr. Gould added, "I regard him as right and compassionate on nearly every major issue."
Dr. Commoner married Ms. Feiner in 1980. He is also survived by two children, Lucy Commoner and Frederic, by his first wife, the former Gloria Gordon; and one granddaughter.
Dr. Commoner practiced what he preached. In his personal habits he was as frugal as a Yankee farmer, and as common-sensical. He drove or took taxis if the route by public transit took him far out of his way. On the other hand, he saw no need to waste electricity by ironing his shirts.
And when a Times writer once asked his Queens College office to mail some material, it arrived in an old brown envelope with the crossed-out return address of the botany department at Washington University — where he had last worked 19 years earlier.


text:
Use Siri on your Mac
Siri on your Mac can help with everyday tasks, get quick answers and information, play music, and more. For example, Siri can open files and apps, send a message, or make a FaceTime call. You can ask Siri anything—from "Set up a meeting at 9" to "What was the score for last night's game?" to "Play some mellow music." Siri is there to help.
Ask Siri
To ask Siri, do any of the following.
Click the Siri icon in the menu bar or in the Dock.
Press and hold Command-Space bar. (You can change the keyboard shortcut in Siri preferences.)
If your Mac has a Touch Bar, tap the Siri icon there.
If your Mac supports it, say "Hey Siri." Your portable computer must be open to use Hey Siri.
If Siri doesn't respond, open Siri preferences and make sure Hey Siri is turned on. You can also use Hey Siri when your supported Mac is locked or in sleep.
If you're not sure what to say when the Siri window appears, ask Siri "What can you do?" or click the Help button in the Siri window.
If the Siri window doesn't close automatically, you can close it yourself—just swipe right or click the Close button .
Tip: Siri knows your name from your contact card (also called My Card) in the Contacts app. If you added a nickname to your card, Siri uses it. Try it out by asking "What's my name?"
Ways to use Siri
You can use Siri to get quick answers (say something like "What's the weather tomorrow?") or do a task for you, like send an email.
Open an app: Siri immediately opens an app for you. Say something like: "Open Notes."
Dictate text: Have Siri write a note or email for you. Say something like: "Create a note" and then dictate what you want to write.
Schedule a meeting: Have Siri set up a meeting for you. Say something like: "Create a meeting for today at 3 p.m."
Play music: When you listen to Apple Music, Siri learns your music preferences and can recommend songs or play a playlist. Say something like: "Play a playlist of happy songs."
Get music trivia: Siri can tell you about songs, albums, and artists, or read album notes for items in your music library. Say something like: "Play the top song from March 1991."
Find a location: When Location Services is enabled in Privacy preferences, Siri can give you information based on your current location or include maps to give you more details. Say something like: "Where's the nearest grocery store?"
Find files: You can complete robust searches for files—just ask Siri to find files created at a certain time or containing precise text. Say something like: "Find files that I created last week containing 'conference'."
Change a system preference: Siri can automatically change some preferences or open a preference pane for you. Say something like: "Increase my screen brightness" or "Open Night Shift preferences."
Tip: Siri is an easy way to start using accessibility features with your Mac—for example, ask Siri to turn VoiceOver on or off.
Siri can make suggestions in some apps even before you ask. For example, when you receive invitations in Mail or book flights in Safari, Siri suggests adding them to your calendar. Or, when you browse webpages, Siri can suggest related webpages.
Use Siri results
You can keep Siri results handy in Notification Center or use them in emails or documents.
Pin results to Notification Center: If you see an Add button in the top-right corner of the results, click it to add the results to Today view in Notification Center.
The results stay pinned and are kept up to date until you remove them. You can pin many types of results, such as stock prices, sports schedules, and more.
Open a result: Double-click a webpage to open it in Safari, or double-click a file or document to open it in the appropriate app on your Mac. You can also force click a result to preview it in a Quick Look window.
Use or save a result: Drag and drop to add images or locations into an email or document or to the desktop. (You can also copy or paste text.)
Troubleshoot Siri
If you're having trouble using Siri, try these solutions:
Make sure your Mac is connected to the Internet. Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Network.
Make sure Siri is turned on. Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Siri, then select Enable Ask Siri.
Make sure your Mac has a microphone and that it's not obstructed by your clothing or body or other objects.
If you're using an external microphone, check that it's connected to your Mac, selected under Input in Sound preferences, and that the mic's input volume is set high enough.
Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Sound, click Input, then drag the "Input volume" slider.
You can customize Siri—for example, change the voice Siri uses or the language Siri speaks. For more information, see Siri preferences.
Siri uses Location Services to provide information, services, and features appropriate to where you are. You can change the setting that allows Siri to do so. For more information, see Manage which apps can detect your location.


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This month the Movie Club will be screening 'The Artist'. A 2011 film made in the style of the silent-era: black-and-white and no talking (in this case, minimal talking). The film traverses many genres – comedy, romance, tragedy and melodrama – to form a coherent story of George Valentin.
George is at the top of his game as a silent film actor, he is famous and in-demand. He meets Peppy at a film premiere, and again later when she begins working as a film extra. There is chemistry between the two and Peppy continues to get work as an actor. When talking movies become popular, George refuses to perform in them, insisting silent film is an art form unlike the 'talkies'. As a consequence of this George loses his career, wife and money, while Peppy becomes a star of the new talking films.
The film is entertaining from the start, with a tight opening scene of a 'film-within-a-film', to George and Peppy shooting a dance sequence over and over while slowly and beautifully realising they are falling in love, to George firing his chauffeur because he hasn't paid him in a year.
There is no need for talking in this film, the actions speak clearly for themselves, and they are beautiful. It is clear the film is a 'love letter to cinema', as director Michel Hazanavicius intended.
'The Artist' will be showing on Wednesday 12 April, 6pm sharp at Narellan Library. Tea, coffee and biscuits provided, BYO snacks are more than welcome. Stay after the screening for a short discussion about the film. See the discussion questions to get some ideas.


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A lot of the things I do are environmentally friendly. I believe in being responsible with resources, from personal resources like money to common resources like the air we all breathe. I believe in stewardship, and I believe in taking care of things. That said, I am not an environmentalist. I don't hurt for the Earth. I don't go out of my way to do things on the sole basis that it will save the planet.
You can be green without falling into the "Green Consumerism" trap. Here are 10 things that irk me.
10. Specialty Organic-Food markets. Mostly, I despise the culture that surrounds these overprices places, but they tug at the heart-strings of people who want to exude smug greenness in their lives.
Farmer's markets and even large grocery stores often sell organic foods at more reasonable prices.
9. Carbon Credits and Carbon Offsets. Because money trumps responsibility.
I think it goes without saying that many corporations could do better to reduce their environmental impact on their own.
8. Ethanol made from corn. Seriously, folks. What are you thinking? When food and fuel compete, everyone loses.
In places like Brazil where more efficient (and less readily edible) plants such as sugar cane exists for making ethanol, it's not a bad thing. Here in the US, ethanol from switchgrass might be one answer. Walking or riding a bike for even part of those really short trips you make sounds like a much better idea.
7. Epic "Greeninating" projects. Tearing apart a building to re-do all of the insulation, windows, and HVAC systems to "go green" might be good for a tax credit, but it takes a lot of resources to move all those awesome, efficient construction materials. Then, what happens with all the construction waste?
Efficient building materials are expensive, but often worth the investment when building a new structure.
6. Sending hundreds of pounds of appliances to the landfill in the name of "Green." Replacing all of your 5-year-old stuff with shiny, new eco-friendly gear is a great way to make the company you keep "Green" with envy, but it's also irony defined.
Again, simple things like turning off lights, taking shorter showers, adjusting the thermostat on your water heater and climate control system at home will go a long way. Much like choosing efficient building materials, choosing efficient appliances as part of a new home isn't a bad idea.
5. Buying smugness at the cash register with re-usable "Green" (sometimes in color, always in marketing) canvas bags sold by grocery stores. The ones I saw at Hy-Vee were made in China. Assuming they weren't made in a sweat-shop by children who crank these out for a wage of pennies per day, there's still a great amount of irony in the amount of resources that were used simply to get these modern marvels of environmental friendliness into stores here in the US.
Instead, take your own backpacks or duffel bags along. Personally, I load up my panniers. On a side note, you could get bonus points for getting things from farmers' markets and buy things that were driven from halfway across the state instead of being shipped halfway around the world.
4. Hybrid gas-electric vehicles. More than 100 pounds of toxic, difficult-to-recycle battery materials go into each one. Much like "Green" appliances, at the end of the day it's just one more car on the road in addition to the (not Green) one you probably sold or gave to your kid. Those are just two of the many problems with hybrids.
In the long run, small cars powered by low-displacement gasoline or turbodiesel engines will save more money. Technology has come a long way, and many of these cars burn just as clean as a hybrid.
3. Plug-in hybrids and electric-only vehicles. These are not a panacea -- in fact, they're a less viable solution than traditional gas-electric hybrids. You see, the US still gets most of its electricity from coal-fired power plants. Most vehicles that leech from the power grid are essentially coal-burning vehicles. Once you figure the inefficiency of power transmission to the home, charging circuitry and electricity storage in the vehicle itself, it stops looking so sweet.
I could nod my head to EVs getting their daily fix from a solar or wind power source, though.
2. Guilt. Pack your bags; We're going on a guilt trip in a new GMC Yukon Hybrid! No one likes a guilt-tripper, and given the irony of some of the above points, it should come as no surprise that it's hard to be taken seriously when you're puffing your chest out while causing more harm than good with your Green antics.
Leading by example and encouraging others to make small, simple changes is a much better way to get the message across.
1. Consumerism. This sums up a lot of the previously mentioned items.
Until "Green" actually becomes more about conservation or simplicity and less about how much new stuff you can buy (and how much old, inefficient stuff you can send to the landfill) you'll have a hard time convincing me that the Green movement is about the green rainforests instead of the green-lined pockets.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Top 10 things I hate about "Green"
A lot of the things I do are environmentally friendly. I believe in being responsible with resources, from personal resources like money to common resources like the air we all breathe. I believe in stewardship, and I believe in taking care of things. That said, I am not an environmentalist. I don't hurt for the Earth. I don't go out of my way to do things on the sole basis that it will save the planet.
15 comments:
- Sirrus Rider said...
The problem with Ethanol from corn is for every one gallon of ethanol produced it takes two gallons of petroleum.. Not only that but it means there is less means of production for food crops. In short it's no solution either, but a feel good for Green-niks and politicians.
- March 02, 2008 1:46 AM
- Frogman said...
Noah speaks volumes if insightful stuff. This is another chapter of it. Isn't it amazing that many of the famous proponents of Green living and its other forms are simply mouth pieces for moving money.
- March 02, 2008 9:58 AM
I don't know if Ethanol from corn is good for society as a whole, but it has certainly been good for our neighbors in farming communities in the midwest. Rising corn prices have allowed farmers to pay off some of their frightfully expensive machinery, and has injected some much-needed cash into rural and small-town economies. Frankly, after decades or more of very lean times, they were due for some good fortune.
- March 02, 2008 10:12 AM
- Noah said...
For what you get from corn, though, it's an awful lot of work, fuel, and water used (and in my opinion, wasted) in the name of energy. On our home turf, switchgrass would probably be a better bet. It grows almost anywhere, requires less maintenance and water, and is easier to harvest than corn.
Much of the cash flow those farmers are getting is government subsidy as well, which means it's not only sapping food from our bellies and water from our canals, but money from our tax-burdened wallets as well. There has to be a better way.
Farmers prospering for a change is a great thing. Farmers prospering at the expense of our water resources, the environment and our society doesn't seem like such a good deal to me, though.
- March 02, 2008 10:53 AM
- Smudgemo said...
I mostly agree except for the #10 statement, "Specialty Organic-Food markets. Mostly, I despise the culture that surrounds these overprices places, but they tug at the heart-strings of people who want to exude smug greenness in their lives."
First of all, the way I see it, supporting the little guy is a good thing unless all we want is Safeway and Lucky (or whatever the biggies are in any particular area.) Second, if people are supporting specialty shops in spite of higher prices, it means that they are ready for a change and may be ripe for even more progressive ideas.
On the flip side, I agree about hybrids except I'll go further and say that it's flat-out stupid to buy one if you have any idea of what goes into the battery manufacturing process. And the very idea of a hybrid Yukon boggles my mind, never mind actually building it...
- March 02, 2008 10:29 PM
- Noah said...
Devil's Advocate speaking for a moment:
Did you call Whole Foods / Wild Oats "the little guy"???!?!
Notice I suggested farmers markets as one place to get your organic fix while ACTUALLY making a tangible difference. And those really are "the little guy"
"... if people are supporting specialty shops in spite of higher prices, it means that they are ready for a change and may be ripe for even more progressive ideas."
Not to burst your bubble, but couldn't the same be said about people who are spending too much money on hybrid cars? Just asking.
- March 03, 2008 12:13 AM
- Sirrus Rider said...
One other thing I have a problem listening to people like Al "Full or Green House Gas" Gore who lives in a house that can hold four of mine and uses more electricity in one month than I do in one year and keeps telling me I I have to make do with less.
What sort of crack is this jackass smoking? The message he's conveying is that we (the little guy, the great unwashed) have to give up more so that he can continue to live like some perfumed prince.
- March 03, 2008 1:43 AM
You do sound pretty irritated about "green", don't you?
We all do things for more than one reason at a time -- ignorance, smugness, concern, confusion, hopefulness, etc. I see some of that same combination of factors among those using cloth bags for their groceries as I do among those mocking the people who use cloth bags for their groceries; that same combination among those who buy gas-electric hybrids as among those who laugh at the people who buy gas-electric hybrids. In other words, I think that there's a risk of exactly the same kind of smugness among those who declare that "they are not an environmentalist" as there is among those who declare that they are.
What I take away from your posting as a constructive point is, first of all, to view one's commitments in a more holistic way rather than as a series of "good deeds" on a list to be checked off ("Canvas bags, check; compact fluorescent bulbs, check; Ford Escape hybrid, check; cloth diapers, check"). But also, and maybe more depressing, is the point that in an economic system like this one, almost every commitment that a person can express, will eventually be turned into just another way of being a "consumer". We all know that well enough about bicycling, for example! Avoiding that trap is not as easy as you make it sound...
- March 03, 2008 11:45 AM
- Noah said...
There's no doubt about it. Any time you see "hate" (as in Top 10 things I hate about "Green"), the bigotry it about to come on strong.
Smugness is self-satisfaction and self-righteousness, whether warranted or not. I do know one thing for certain: No one has it all figured out yet. We don't even know if we should be concerned about global warming from greenhouse gases or another miniature ice-age from the Sun's lack of usual activity lately. We don't know if, after we put all this effort into getting our atmosphere stabilized, we'll have our planet shredded to pieces by a huge comet or global thermonuclear war.
My beef isn't with cloth grocery bags. It's with how the ones made in and shipped from China on huge, inefficient boats are being marketed as "Green"
My beef isn't with hybrid gas-electric vehicles. Let's face it, many of them are much better than the other single-occupant behemoths I see on a daily basis. It's the deceptive tactics used to tell them, the elitism of many people who own them that think they are getting around with as little impact on the environment as possible while they start their little hybrid engine and drive 3 blocks to a coffee shop instead of walking.
I don't mind efficient building materials and appliances. I think it's ironic to clog landfills with waste and go through a lot of construction and renovations when the same amount of environmental impact can be had by making a few simple lifestyle changes.
Also, to the point of bicycling consumerism: You have it pretty much nailed. Even I fell into the "new bike" trap back in May. I don't regret it, either, but I could have likely rescued a nice, used bike instead.
That said, I still wish I could see more bike shops selling or at least showing off used bikes that already have utility and commuting modifications made such as racks, lights, a U-Lock and fenders as part of the complete package, ready to roll off of the showroom and around town.
From the outside (that's me) looking in at the things going on in the so-called "Green movement", what I see APPEARS to be a great many people who are more concerned with doing highly visible things that can be construed as being environmentally friendly to gain acceptance or kudos among their peers. That's part of the problem. It's easy to look green without being green if you spend enough cash.
Often, it's the little things that are hard for others to see that have the most impact. To that point, many of the people who are doing these highly visible things might also be making a huge difference personally behind the scenes. It would be hard for anyone to prove otherwise.
- March 03, 2008 12:14 PM
- Smudgemo said...
My apologies if I wrote something offensive. I thought I was mostly agreeing with you.
First, I never wrote anything about Whole Foods or Wild Oats being the little guy, and unless a link disappeared, neither did you. I was actually thinking of small specialty grocers, but even so, WF does claim to buy in-season local produce which supports local farmers. In fact, if you watch "The Past, Present, and Future of Food" presented by the CEO of WF, you might rethink your definition of what is a reasonable cost for food.
Second, I just stated that hybrids are stupid, not that people aren't trying to be progressive. So to answer your question, yes.
- March 03, 2008 1:55 PM
- Noah said...
No offense was taken, I was simply conversing.
when I said specialty stores, I was thinking WF and WO. Because those are THE specialty food stores around here. That's all we've got for that niche market as far as I know. I don't exactly go hunting for organic food, though, so I could easily be missing the "real" little guy.
Talking to Fritz, (cyclelicio.us), I guess the so-called "real" environmentalists call most of the stuff I'm bewailing "greenwashing"
It makes sense, because for any group, you're likely to stereotype that group with the most easily spotted (and usually most annoying or boisterous) members of that group.
- March 03, 2008 2:17 PM
My little green bags came over on the boat that brought your i-pod nano too. But I saved 6 plastic bags from being used today. And someone has to pay those kids more for working.
- March 03, 2008 2:53 PM
- Da' Square Wheelman, said...
Well said, Noah. A year ago I became the director of a youth-based enviro org. I'd never given green stuff much thought before that although I've been car-free for the last several years. One thing I've noticed is the utter lack of humility on the part of many greenwashers when it mystifies them that there are other folks who can't afford the time nor the money to Go Green.
- March 03, 2008 4:04 PM
Phooie on going green i cant afford those stupid compct florecents and that organic food is also too expensive and darn if im going to ride 30 miles on a bicycle with a load of mechedise from WAL-MART so screw the greens
- January 21, 2009 11:19 PM
- Erin said...
Wow, I can see I'm a little late with my comment but I just wanted you to know that I proudly PRINTED this out and posted it in my office. Great post! I stumbled across your blog while looking for some common sense answers to the ridiculousness of the green movement. My daycare provider informed me today that my rate is going to climb a $100 a month so that she can go green. She wants to switch to cloth diapers (does she have any idea how much energy she will be wasting to wash them 2-3 times every day??) and we can no longer send him with his favorite foods because they could be wrapped in WRAPPERS and could lead to littering! Seriously, the green movement can kiss my ass. Thanks!
- March 02, 2011 11:30 AM
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Original constitutional source materials for the Fisher affirmative action case
I'm involved with the Constitutional Sources Project, which is a non-partisan, non-profit organization devoted to research and discussion regarding original source materials related to the Constitution.
In anticipation of the Fisher case, research fellows at the project (particularly Erica Woebse at William & Mary Law School, overseen by Carl Cecere) have prepared a very interesting and helpful index of primary source materials that could be relevant to affirmative action.
Recommended Citation: Tom Goldstein, Original constitutional source materials for the Fisher affirmative action case, SCOTUSblog (Aug. 20, 2012, 5:00 PM), https://www.scotusblog.com/2012/08/original-constitutional-source-materials-for-the-fisher-affirmative-action-case/


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Management Reports
Let us take care of the detailed, itemized reports you need. With a Business Credit Card, we offer easy-to-read, monthly Management Reports. You get an itemized listing of your employee's credit card activities, along with a record of tax-deductible expenses to help with your company tax filings.
Management Reports are provided on request to Business Credit Card customers, with detail including:
Cardholder Listing
We give you detail on each cardholder's name, account status, purchase credit limit, open date, and close date.
Consolidated Employee Spending
You get an overview of your card activity, including the opening balance, purchases, cash advances, finance charges, fees, payments & credits, and ending balance. We organize it by individual cardholder, in addition to totals for the company.
Cardholder Activity by Category
Individual account purchases are organized into the following spending categories:
- Airlines
- Auto Rental
- Transportation Expense
- Business Services
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- Food and Beverage
- Other
This section also includes the number of transactions and total dollars spent (month-to-date and year-to-date) for all categories. This section is listed by individual cardholder and company.
Transaction Detail
We give you detailed information on each individual transaction, including the transaction date, merchant name, city and state where it took place and the amount.


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Name Origination
Lafayette County, organized November 16, 1820, was originally named Lillard County after James Lillard of Tennessee. James Lillard served in the first state constitutional convention and the first state legislature. Lillard County was organized along with seven other counties at the beginning of 1821. Mount Vernon was the temporary count seat of the county. February 16, 1825 brought the name change of Lillard County to Lafayette, after Marquis de La Fayette's visit to the United States. The permanent seat of Lafayette County was placed in the "Old Town" of Lexington.
Early Settlers
Lafayette County was settled primarily from migrants from the Upper South states of Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. They brought
and slaveholding traditions with them, and quickly started cultivating crops similar to those in Middle and Kentucky: hemp and tobacco. On a rare map from 1851, thirty years after the designation of Lafayette County, six settlements are shown in the area: Cool Spring, Dover, Greenton, Lexington, Mt. Hope, and Wellington.
Lafayette was one of several counties settled mostly by southerners to the north and south of the Missouri River. Given their culture and traditions, this area became known as Little Dixie. In 1860 slaves made up 25 percent or more of the county's population.Residents generally supported the Confederacy during the Civil War. A map from 1862, during the Civil War, Lafayette County contained seven settlements: Cooks Store, Cool Springs, Greenton, Lexington, Moss, Napoleon, and Wellington.
Before, and more heavily after the Civil War, Germans and German Americans from the St. Louis area settled in the area making up a large part of the population of Concordia, Emma, Wellington, Napoleon, Higginsville, Mayview, and Lexington. The German population tended to support the Union during the Civil War.
By 1899, twenty settlements dotted the map of the county: Alma, Aullville, Bates City, Chapel Hill, Concordia, Corder, Dover, Emma, Greenton, Halls, Hodge (Edwards Station), Lexington, Mayview, Myrick, Napoleon, Odessa, Page City, Waterloo, and Wellington.
Courthouse History
Henry Renick, who was also the Justice of the Peace, built the first courthouse in 1824-25 on the square. The building was in use until 1832. It is claimed, (as told by William Chiles in a public address on July 4, 1876) that young "bucks" celebrated July 4
of 1831 by tearing down the walls and blowing up the foundation of the building. The following year the building was deemed unsafe, taken apart, and sold.
The second courthouse for the county, also on the square, was built in 1835. The three-story building was regarded as one of the finest in Missouri, as three-story buildings were rare during this time. The building was kept in use until 1849, when the present courthouse was occupied. The Baptist Female College bought the building in March of 1849. During the Civil War, it became a hospital, then a hospital for those infected with smallpox. It was later abandoned and sold for brick. There are no known illustrations of this courthouse building.
The business district of Lexington moved about one mile west after the town incorporated in 1845. The courthouse also moved to a new, more central location at this time. The court appropriated funds for the third and present courthouse and began putting plans for the new structure in March of 1847. The construction was completed in 1849, with the final cost being about $12,000. In 1854, a small annex was built to house the clerk's office, followed by a two-story annex in the 1880s. At the turn of the 1900s a two story building addition was added on the East side of the Courthouse.
During the Battle of Lexington in 1861, the courthouse was fired upon, leaving a cannon ball in one of the columns.
Lafayette Hall
In 1905, the Lexington City Hall was built down the block from the courthouse. The building has a floating dome, which was used during WWII for civil defense watches. In 2003, the county began a new project to renovate the building along with building new detention facilities for a new justice center. The building has been renamed Lafayette Hall, and currently holds the County Circuit Clerk Offices.
The original Lafayette County Jail was built in 1932 with funds from the Federal Works Administration under President Roosevelt. In 2002 a tax was passed that would fund a new building. The new jail housed its first inmates in the fall of 2004. The jail project is part of the Lafayette County Justice Center.
Historic sites located in Lafayette County:
of Lexington, the Anderson House:
The Battle of Lexington took place September 18-20, 1861. The "Battle of the Hemp Bales" gained its name from the large hemp bales the Confederate soldiers rolled down to the Missouri river and soaked with water. The bales were then used as a barricade from the flying shot and shells as they pushed them back up to the battlefield. The 100 acre battlefield is now preserved as a state historic site. The site also contains a visitors' center filled with Civil War artifacts and a fifteen minute video which tells the story of the three day "Battle of the Hemp Bales."
The Anderson House, built by Oliver Anderson, was home to the Battle of Lexington. The mansion, decorated in mid-nineteenth century fashion, was used as the hospital during the battle. The house changed hands three times during the skirmish. While today the house is restored, evidence of the shot and shell can still be seen in the walls and floors of the structure. Tours of the Anderson House are given at various times during the Battle of Lexington State Historic Site's operating hours.
For more information on the Battle of Lexington, and the historic site's hours, visit:
The Masonic College
The Masonic College was relocated from Philadelphia, Missouri, in 1848. It was intended to be used as a college for the children of masons, financially it faltered and went out of business in 1857. When the Union troops arrived in Lexington in 1861, they claimed the vacant college as their headquarters. The three-story building was located on a hill four hundred yards away from the Oliver Anderson House. The building was fired upon by Captain Churchill Clark, grandson of explorer William Clark, with a brass six pounder gun. Today the site is home to College Park, which contains a one-third size replica of the Masonic College building. The park also has four brick pillars which mark the four corners of the original Masonic building. Also at the park is a cannon from the USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides," and a marker where Union Col. Mulligan hid one million confiscated dollars underneath his tent during the battle.
For more information on the Masonic College visit:
The Confederate Memorial State Historic Site
Located in Higginsville, the Confederate Memorial Historic Site was once home to the Confederate Soldiers Home of Missouri, which provided refuge to 1600 Civil War soldiers and their families for almost sixty years. Today the park contains 165 acres, walking trails, fishing lakes, and picnic spots.
Bordering the Confederate Memorial State Historic Site is the Missouri Veterans Cemetery. The cemetery contains fifty-five acres, and will be able to provide resting places for 24,000 veterans and their spouses. The cemetery contains its own lake and walking path.
For more information on the Confederate Memorial State Historic Site or the Missouri Veterans Cemetery visit:
The J.O. Shelby Park
Joseph Orville Shelby was born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1830. At the age of twenty-one, after receiving funds from his deceased father's estate, Shelby moved to Waverly, MO. With the assistance of his step-brother, he began a farming operation and then added a steamboat service. When the Civil War began, Frank Blair, a Kentucky cousin of Shelby, offered him a commissioned position with the Union army. He declined the position, and in a short time after, he recruited hundreds of men to join the Confederate army. After several successful expeditions during the war, Shelby refused to surrender. He and his troops traveled to Texas, where they gained land from Emperor Maximilian. They gained the name, "The Undefeated" after refusing to surrender. Shelby, his wife, and two sons returned to Adrian, Missouri and began a farming operation. The citizens of Waverly wanted to celebrate the life of their hometown hero. They sold almost 2,000 copies of "Shelby and his Men," to raise funds to build a park in memory of the Confederate General. The park was dedicated on June 27, 2009.
Explore the additional sites listed below for an even deeper look at the rich history of our area:
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OTTAWA — The bulk of B.C.-destined debris from Japan's tsunami disaster in March of 2011 is expected to arrive on the province's shores in early 2013, but chances are remote that any material will be radioactive, according to the federal government.
The debris moved away from Japan's shores several days before radioactive material was released from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, and only a small percentage of the debris originates from the Fukushima area, Health Canada said in documents tabled in Parliament this week.
"For any items that were contaminated, prior to arriving on Canada's West Coast much of the contamination would have been removed through degradation and dispersion of the material at sea," the department said in response to questions from B.C. New Democrat Peter Julian.
The report rebuts a warning earlier this month from provincial New Democratic Party MLA Scott Fraser, who suggested B.C. could face dire consequences due to an allegedly lax response to the debris issue by the federal and provincial governments.
Both governments "have a responsibility to ensure the aftermath of that horrible disaster in Japan doesn't become a disaster for West Coast communities," he told a Vancouver Island newspaper.
Julian said the government's response is unconvincing since it indicates Ottawa has so far spent only $11,000 on ocean radioactivity sampling. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has set aside $600,000 for cleanup, while Washington State Gov. Christine Gregoire said in June that her state will set aside at least $100,000.
"The Americans are taking this seriously, the Canadian government isn't," Julian said.
The documents tabled in response to Julian's questions show numerous federal departments have been working with B.C. ministries as well as U.S. state officials on plans to deal with the debris moving slowly across the ocean.
The bulk of the B.C.-destined debris — mostly in small chunks — will begin arriving in the first half of 2012 and peak around March 2014. It will remain present along the coast for at least three years after that at reduced levels, the documents state.
But some debris has already made the journey.
Plastic and Styrofoam from the disaster has been routinely spotted along the U.S. and Canadian coastlines for months, and some larger pieces, such as a fishing vessel spotted in Alaskan waters in March, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle that landed in Haida Gwaii in April and a massive dock that arrived on the Oregon coast in June, signal more substantial pieces may be on the way.
According to a study from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the majority of the debris landing on the North American coast will arrive on the shores of Washington, Oregon, and California.
However more than 90 per cent of the debris that left Japan may never wash ashore even after five years, the report said, and is instead expected to circulate in the "North Pacific Garbage Patch" — a large expanse of ocean northeast of Hawaii where floating ocean junk, especially plastics, tends to accumulate due to wind-driven current patterns.
A Tsunami Debris Coordinating Committee co-chaired by Environment Canada and the B.C. environment ministry is working with B.C. municipal governments, first nations, U.S. federal and state governments, and other stakeholders on plans to deal with the arrival of the debris, the government documents said.
Several national and provincial parks on Haida Gwaii and the west coast of Vancouver Island are already participating in a debris monitoring program.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), meanwhile, is still testing food imports from Japan to ensure no food products — especially seafood — are contaminated.
The CFIA issued a preliminary report last spring saying that tests of imported Japanese food products and domestically produced milk in B.C. showed radiation levels below the Health Canada threshold for required action.
But the documents tabled in the House of Commons noted that the agency will be studying Japanese food products in Vancouver during the 2012-13 fiscal year as part of a semi-regular Health Canada analysis of contaminants in Canada's food supply that began in 1969.
"The CFIA with Health Canada continues to monitor food for radionuclides through the Total Diet Study (TDS). For 2012-13 the focus will be on testing food products from Japan, in the Vancouver area."
email@example.com/poneilinottawaRead my blog, Letter from Ottawa, at vancouversun.com/oneil


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- Early College
- HCS Early College Homepage
Return to Headlines
Flu Prevention at HCS
Here's what HCS is doing to help prevent the spread of the flu:
- Teachers are limiting the number of shareables in their classrooms (crayons, pencils, etc.).
- Teachers are stressing to students the importance of handwashing. Hand sanitizer DOES NOT take the place of soap and water.
- Teachers and school custodians are frequently wiping down non-porous surfaces in their classrooms, this would also include items such as keyboards, headphones, etc.
- School custodians are increasing the cleaning of frequently touched services and wiping down door handles, sink handles, light switches, water fountains, and the bathroom and cafeteria areas through EPA approved disinfectant.
Here's what parents can do to help:
- Please encourage your child to wash his/her hands 10 times a day with soap and warm water.
- Encourage your child to cough and sneeze into a tissue and throw it in the trash right away.
- If your child does not feel well, please check their temperature before going to school.
- If a child has a fever of 100 degrees or more before taking fever-reducing medication, keep your child home.
- Your child should not return to school until he/she has been fever-free for 24-hours without the help of a fever-reducing product.
- Please make sure your child's school has your current emergency telephone numbers. If you need to make any changes to your student's information these corrections can be made in the Parent Portal. This would include: address, phone number, parent information, and emergency contact updates. Please log in to your Parent PowerSchool account and click on year-round updates
Learn more about the flu and ways to prevent it on the CDC's website.


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Call 404-778-7777
7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST (M-F)
Women's Health:
Conditions & Treatments
Stress and Infertility
For many infertile couples, there seems to be no cause; however, in recent years, researchers have found a link between stress and infertility. While we know the common physical effects of stress on our body all too well, many are not aware that stress can actually be a cause of infertility in both men and women. Recent studies have shown that a woman's ovarian function is negatively affected when she is stressed, often to the point that she develops amenorrhea.
In women, the stress reaction causes functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA), which is characterized by menstrual irregularities, short cycles, or the lack of a cycle (amenorrhea). The negative consequences of stress are not only limited to reproductive compromise. Fortunately, treatments such as lifestyle counseling can give women a new outlook on life and restore cycles and fertility without resorting to expensive medications.
The fertility of men may also be compromised by stress, especially nutritional stress and excessive exercise, but stress-induced reproductive compromise is generally more difficult to recognize in men.
Overcoming stress-induced infertility is important beyond conception as well. Having control over stress during pregnancy can mean a healthier pregnancy overall.
Attend a free fertility seminar.
NewsView all News
Emory Healthcare news from the Emory News Center
Emmy awarded to 'Your Fantastic Mind' TV series on brain health
September 13, 2020
Second Lady Karen Pence tours Emory Healthcare Veterans Program
September 11, 2020
Coffee Regional Medical Center strengthens relationship with Emory Healthcare Affiliate Network; adds new bariatric program supported by Emory
September 10, 2020
How COVID-19 impacts the brain
September 09, 2020
'Your Fantastic Mind' TV series features Emory's work on COVID-19, opioid crisis and more
September 02, 2020
2020 Winship Win the Fight 5K Walk/Run will be virtual
September 01, 2020
Lilicia Bailey named chief human resources officer for Emory Healthcare
September 01, 2020
Emory pilot study to evaluate freezing procedure for patients with Type 2 diabetes
September 01, 2020
Emory Healthcare first in Georgia to introduce device to attach a leg prosthesis directly to the bone for patients
August 24, 2020
Dane Peterson named president of Emory Healthcare
August 20, 2020


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With a national shortage of nurses, it makes good sense for medical facilities to streamline tasks so as to accomplish the most in the least amount of time.
With a national shortage of nurses, it makes good sense for medical facilities to streamline tasks so as to accomplish the most in the least amount of time.
Department heads at Lenoir Memorial Hospital are attempting to do just that by systematically sifting through each area and process.
Through the Carolinas Rural Hospital Lean Culture Transformation Collaborative, LMH received an $87,500 Duke Endowment grant to focus on eliminating waste and creating efficiency, Derek Vestal, Lean coordinator at LMH, said.
�Operating within the constantly-changing environment of healthcare,� he said, �LMH will use Lean principles to ensure resources are being utilized efficiently to provide the best possible experience for our patients and staff.�
A hospital�s goal is, after all, to provide quality healthcare for patients.
�Anything we do to improve our process allows us to have more time with the patient,� Elaine Penuel, director of in-patient nursing, said. �The patient is our focus.�
The streamlining process originated through the manufacturing procedures implemented at Japan�s Toyota manufacturing facility and was later developed for a number of other industries, including healthcare.
Simpler provides consulting by a sensei, the Japanese term for the person who provides training, coaching and mentoring at facilities that are implementing the Lean Transformation system.
The company works with a variety of industries in the U.S., Europe and Asia, and developed a Lean model for military branches in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, according to its website.
�We�ll be working very closely with (the sensei) through the whole three-year process,� Penuel said.
LMH has six �rapid-improvement events,� or intense reorganization efforts, planned for the first year, starting out with the medical and surgery in-patient units.
The first of these weeklong events began April 1 in the surgery unit and focused on storage and ordering of supplies, Penuel said.
All staff who deals with those aspects in that particular unit were involved in the RIE. Through the week, employees learned new policies and procedures that will continue to be carried out and revamped, as necessary.
�We saw results during the week that we did it,� Penuel said, emphasizing that there had always been organization to the hospital�s procedures, but the RIE provided visible transformation.
In about 90 days, another weeklong RIE will take place in another in-patient unit. Other RIEs will be held during the second and third years. Meanwhile, smaller team projects will be taking place, and all of the newly-created policies and procedures will continue to be maintained and upgraded, as needed, Penuel said.
The idea is to identify waste of time, motion, transport, over- and under-supplies of inventory and human potential, she said.
It will be a never-ending process. After three years, LMH staff will no longer use the consulting service, but will have learned how to transform their processes to the point where they will be able to continue improving efficiency as the departments and their technology and systems change.
Vestal said the focus isn�t about saving money, but efficiency will, no doubt, provide cost savings, as well as increase face-to-face time with patients.
�Through process redesign,� Vestal said, �we create efficiencies within the hospital that can increase quality, decrease cost, increase staff engagement and lead to an improved patient experience.�
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.
More information:
For information about Simpler�s Lean Transformation system, visit simpler.com.


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Today because I was antsy before the 3:30pm playoff game, I tuned in to some inconsequential college basketball game between two teams I didn't care about whatsoever. One of them was Oklahoma and I don't remember the other. Well I've commented on this before, but I'm growing concerned about what I see as the inappropriate affect demonstrated by athletes in all sports celebrating a nice play. It used to be that a nice basket, or a TD, or a homerun or a goal was celebrated by a small acknowledgment by others that you'd done nicely. Originally, it may have been a simple head nod from a teammate – as if to say "that was nice, but it is your job too, so I'm not going to go overboard here".
Eventually, that gave way to the high five and some more overt demonstration of joy. I think of 60's or 70's basketball players with socked jacked up to their knees and shorts that were little more than glorified jock-straps. I think of their high fives after a nice play – maybe an awkward jump into the air of jubilation. That's about it. Still, back then positive plays were generally met with smiles, happiness, joy.
Fast forward to the last decade or so and something has shifted. It's rare for an athlete now to make a great play and show a form of joy or happiness afterward. What you see instead is a painful fist bump or an even more painful chest bump coupled with the inevitable face of anger. Lots of aggressive pointing, screaming. No smiles, no happiness, just a portrait of anger despite the positive play.
As I was watching the game today, after a particularly nice basket by one guy, his teammate ran full speed and offered a chest bump – a collision that the guy who scored will feel tomorrow – and then they both made angry, defiant faces at one another. What were they so angry about? His basket was in fact a critical basket in the game.
So anyway, this has made me start to wonder, what will be next in this line of inappropriate affect celebrations? There has been a progression (regression?) from minimal acknowledgment to muted joy to outright joy to apparent anger. What's next then? How about a punch right in the face? Guy scores a fade away 3 pointer to win the game, or makes a one handed TD grab – how about sprinting over and taking a swing at him? Then maybe spit on him. Seems possible. Seems it would convey the apparent anger that some of these guys want to convey in a far more direct an efficient way.
Funny flip-side to this whole thing is that when these same athletes screw up seriously hurting the chances for their team what do they do? Smile of course.


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Review and Pictures of Roland Mouret 2012 Spring Summer Paris Fashion Week Runway Show
2012 Paris S/S Fashion Week: Roland Mouret
Roland Mouret knows what women want: to appear incredibly sexy, without ever feeling like you've gone too far or tried too hard. For Spring 2012, he exercised that same restraint via cut-outs and form-fitting shapes — but only to a certain extent. While his A/W '11 looks veered into softer femininity, there is a mix both of retro-inspired silhouettes giving way to more modern details. Dresses are, at first, printed and ladylike, then sharper and tailored, some with curve-hugging fits and flashes of skin via unexpected eye-shaped cut-outs. Then, he counters with suiting; bright, slim trousers and button-downs, and midi skirts, all embellished with black ribbon bow-ties to temper the cut-outs and sexier fare. You could just as easily find your standout cocktail dress as you could your workday office wear, and it would all be the perfect kind of sexy for whatever the occasion.
- Trends: Brights, cut-outs, ladylike dressing.
- Colours: Black, white, blues, red, mustard yellow.
- Key Look: The navy shirtdress and sheaths with surprising, sexy cut-outs.
- Accessories: White and black platform sandals.
- Who Would Wear It: Girls who crave polish, but not without a little sex appeal.
Take a look at the collection in full . . .


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With all the really great people who have come into my life – you included – since my diagnosis with multiple sclerosis it's easy not to focus on those who have left it because of my disease… but I have lost friends and I'm sure you have as well.
Now, it would be easy to brush it off and say that they weren't friends to begin with. In the case of some, that could be true. We might chalk some abandonment up to the natural course that some friendships take. Some of us might still be in that place where we defend those who bail with "I can't blame them… who'd want to be around this if they had a choice."
All of those (and more) may be true at one time or another, but it still hurts.
To be fair, some of us are to blame for friendships that are no longer after MS. We can pull away for different reasons just as our former comrades might have. We should take responsibility to repair any damage we might have done. But this blog is about those who have turned tail on us.
Over the years I've read too many heartbreaking comments from you about best buds that stopped calling or faded away. You've written of childhood pals who treat you like you've a contagion and besties that now blame you for your disease so no longer want anything to do with you. Worst of all is the one-time chums who stuff us with negative and feed on our pain.
Seriously; who needs them?
I'm a firm believer in "better bad breathe than no breath" when it comes to living with MS. I cannot, however, say that we should be willing to suffer a bad friend just to have someone to call "friend".
There is only so much room in my Friend Ship. If someone doesn't want to come along for the ride, let them swim away. If another is causing toxic waste to fill up my boat – OVERBOARD! I would rather float around alone that to put up with those who don't want to be there or those who think that it's their gift to me that they are.
All the more room for the next bunch of really great people – once again, yourselves included – to jump in and help me row sometimes and enjoy the party others. Who knows, if you push enough of the false fellow flotsam into the sea, you might just need a bigger ship for all your new friends.
So, good riddance to bad friends! I'm sorry you didn't find it worth your time to hang around and find out what this new turn of events was going to be about. MS is a mean, terrible and nasty thing… but we're still good people and good friends.
How about you; old friends gone? Bad friends still around? New friends "via" MS?
Wishing you and your family the best of health.
You can also follow me via our Life With MS Facebook page, on Twitter, and in our group on MS Connection.org. Also, check out our bi-monthly MS blog for the United Kingdom, look for our very special new monthly blog for the National MS Society, and don't forget to check out TrevisLGleason.com.
Important: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not Everyday Health.


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[Verse 1]
Ay yo, it ain't no need to talk
Just know when I squeeze, you won't have no knees to walk
I ain't never gon leave New York
I'm the opposite of Weight Watchers -- I'm getting diesel off
Move like I did time before
Got bread for the Feds -- who said you can't rob the law?
By all means, I'mma break the rules
Got cops on payroll, snitches on interludes
Move coke through inner tubes
I don't trust no bitch, so they cook mines in the nude
Make em strip like the Moulin Rouge
Four-fifth in the clip make the back of your medulla ooze, nigga
You's a fool, I use the tool
Leave you in a blood pool the size of hula hoops
So you better warn you crew stop playing with dude
The four-fifth'll cut em short like Daisy Dukes
Y'all know who it is; if not, you better find out
Be eager to die, show you what a nine 'bout
Fifty rocks bust into dimes what my grind 'bout
That's what my grind 'bout, that's what my grind 'bout
[Verse 2]
Compare me to smoking at the gas station
I'm about to blow -- you get it? I'm about the blow
Nah, dog, I ain't about to blow -- I been done that
Way back in a suede black Alfred Dunn hat
Your mouth, you run that, I gotta sit you down
Let a few rounds down where your lunch at
Clowns trying to come back
Dog, you ain't Mike
Even that dude can't get right
I'm not that dude, get that right
Stack clap two, ransack back room, get that white
Fiends wonder how I get that white
Cause I whips that right
Baking rain or gain or tool in each hand
Background, clap down you and your man
Nigga calling me Yosemite Sam
Two semis in hands
Mac spit, backflip, have you send me a fam
Understand, I'm the boy, yeah, great
Bringing the rock back like we balling yay
[Verse 3]
Y'all know who it is; if not, you better find out
Be eager to die, show you what a nine 'bout
Fifty rocks bust into dimes what my grind 'bout
Players trying to pause the game, need time out
Last quarter, got more head than tails
In the street, been in more blaze battles with shells
I don't need a team of Ghostbusters
All I need is a mean exhaust pipe on a muffler
Did I mention I started the rap tension?
Ain't no love, so bulletproof your henchmen
Gucci rain suit for the jewels that I'm drenched in
Fifth got a slick kick back like it's flinching
Slide the clip in, start to spitting
And I shoot clumsy -- bystanders be thinking I'm tripping
Used to ball in Chicag-izzy like Pippen
Wrists every bit of plat is, you know, given
Watch look like it's holding its breath
Won't be able to hold on when the bullets rip through your flesh
A previously unreleased gem from Stack, released five years almost to the day after his tragic murder