Behind the Headlines

I just submitted a story for the health page on Lyme Disease. Nothing out of the ordinary. Except, working on this story has intersected with my life. Each of the symptoms, the prognosis – it wasn’t just something that happens to other people; it was something that will or has happened to one of my people.
Someone close to me has Lyme Disease. He contracted it a few years ago as an employee of a state’s DNR department. It started with really sore muscles, a sore neck he couldn’t move, heart palpitations and eventually Bell’s Palsy – paralysis of his facial muscles. All this and the guy was still commuting 7 miles each way on his bike to and from work, digging holes and clearing paths in the mid-July weather.

Since he was on the east coast where they’re a little more familiar with the disease – it was named after a town in Connecticut where most of the population complained of similar health problems – it was a somewhat quick diagnosis. However, the nature of the beast is that it’s never truly gone for some people.

The more I researched, the more I cringed. Of course I had researched it then, when he first came down with it, but in the last few years more information has become concrete. Advances have been made. The uncertainty, the maybe it could do this horrible thing to you is the worst part.

After meeting with Tammy Soncrant and her mother, and seeing the pain she was in and the degeneration of her health that she credits to Lyme Disease, it became a very real thing. I thought about all the regular aches my person has. All of the tiredness. The irritability and mood swings – which is considered a side effect of LD. It brought it all under a microscope. For the last week, it’s been at the top of my mind. I guess, to a degree, I’ve become more sympathetic, a little less annoyed with the frequent “but my legs feel weird” complaint.

Tammy has been planning her funeral as a result of her current state of health. She contacted the news because she said she wanted to create more awareness of the disease and let people know it happens here. If one person, she said, was able to benefit from her story, then it was worth telling it.

If I count, then it’s already worked.

I got a chance to go on the day sail with the tall ship Niagara on Monday. It was a fascinating voyage and left me wondering how sailors of yore managed to figure out all the complicated ballet of lines, canvas and rigging that would push a square-rigged ship through the water. I couldn’t imagine captains maneuvering these ships so they could blast the heck out of each other with cannons.

Here are a few of the things I learned during the voyage on Niagara:

I was stunned to see that the ship was steered by a tiller rather than a wheel such as you might see in the pirate movies. Capt. Wesley Heerssen noted that warships of the day used tillers because the wheel and its more complicated mechanism would be harder to repair if cannon fire struck parts of it. A tiller, on the other hand, could be replaced by any stout piece of lumber.

In a sea battle of the day, it always was better to be upwind of the enemy and it didn’t have much to do with clean air or maneuverability. It meant that if you fired your cannon, the smoke would trail downwind toward the enemy, partially obscuring their vision. And when they fired, their cannon smoke would be blown back into their ship.

“Shiver me timbers,” a stereotypical seaman’s phrase, actually was a working ship order. The timbers were the yardarms holding the topsails. Shiver me timbers referred to spilling air or luffing the sails, causing them to flutter in the wind and shake or “shiver” the wooden yardarms.

The crew members on Niagara are confined to hammocks in the poorly ventilated and cramped belowdecks area even on steamy nights while the ship is under way because there’s too much activity involved in sailing the ship on deck to have sleeping bodies around.

The bowsprit – the front of the ship that extends out over the water ahead of the ship’s hull and holds headsail booms and stays once was part of the ship called the bird’s head because the bowsprit resembled a beak and holes for anchor chains on each side of the bowsprit resembled eyes – like the giant head of a bird. It used to be the place where crew crawled out to go to the bathroom. That’s why a ships toilet still today is known as the head.

The Niagara can carry as much as 12,000 square feet of sail. The crew last tried to move the boat with its onboard supply of long oars about five years ago. They moved it, very, very slowly, and no one’s hankering to try it again anytime soon.

The ship’s 800 pound anchor is raised and lowered manually, usually with crew members winching it aboard using a giant capstan amidships. It’s like a giant spool of thread on end and has slots around its diameter that pieces of stout lumber will fit into creating a spoke-like arrangement. Each crew member is assigned to push against one of the lumber “spokes” as they walk in a circle around the capstan to winch the anchor aboard.

The captain said the ship usually stays off the water or out of the way of storms, but he recalls one harrowing episode in the northern Great Lakes when a storm blew up while the ship was anchored near the coast. The anchor wasn’t holding and the ship had to use both its engines running at full speed to help the anchor hold and keep the ship from being dashed against the coast. Of course, in the old days, the ships didn’t have engines.

I ran into a situation this morning where I should have known better.

My daughter is listed in a scholarship announcement in today’s print edition of The Monroe Evening News. The editors who were working on the page asked me to double-check, on deadline, how her parents’ names were listed.

The question didn’t sink at first. Then I realized what the concern was. There were only two parents listed after her name (mom and stepdad). In previous newspaper announcements, we have also listed dad and stepmom, even though they live out of state. And my co-workers remembered that.

So I scribbled down their names and hometown so that information could be added to today’s article.

My daughter and I had filled out so many scholarship and award applications over the past year that I don’t remember who was listed on what paperwork. We didn’t list family names the same way on every application, because eligibility for various programs depends on parents’ employment, income, residency or memberships – and you want to play up those connections when appropriate.

But family names are also important for the announcements that run on Community Page and Classroom Page. And if parents are listed incorrectly or not at all, that’s not a good situation.

Here’s what happens … when you or your child is filling out an application for an award or scholarship, that application also provides the biographical information that the awards committee relies on when sending its announcement to the newspaper.

You will not, in most cases, be provided with a separate press release form.

As a result, you will want to list the appropriate people with complete spellings and hometowns on the initial application paperwork. If the form is confusing or has limited space for details, it’s perfectly fair to attach a note that says “If she should earn this award, please announce her parents as …”

That might not just be your stomach growling at work on Friday.

The day has been designated the ninth annual “Take Your Dog To Work Day,” sponsored by Pet Sitters International.

The group again is asking businesses to allow employees to bring their well-mannered dogs to the office as “a celebration of the great companions dogs make.”

Part of the idea, according to the group, is that it also “bolsters pet adoptions from shelters, humane societies and rescue groups by educating the working public on the benefits of responsible pet ownership and the power of the human-animal bond.”

“It confronts the realities of pet overpopulation in a positive and proactive way,” says PSI President Patti Moran. “We believe that businesses, animal shelters and pet-care professionals who develop goal-oriented partnerships through our event can make a dramatic impact on the pet populations in their communities. As we like to say at PSI, ‘It’s the leash you can do.’”

In addition to allowing dogs in the workplace, PSI wants businesses to open their doors to representatives from local shelters and pet-care professionals on the day. “All dogs, especially those without loving caregivers, deserve good homes,” Moran says. “Through partnering together, we can turn homeless dogs into dogs bound for home.”

Part of the observance is the PSI-sponsored “What is Your Dog Doing at Work?” photo contest. Dog day participants who upload photos of their canine companions “ruffing it” in the workplace will become eligible to win a $500 grand prize. Plus, a $500 donation will also be made to the winner’s shelter of choice. The winning photo, along with other submissions, will be posted on the Take Your Dog To Work Day Web site.

In case you missed this, here’s an image to ponder.

It’s really quite warm outside. I was out there earlier for the demolition of the Jeep towers in Toledo. I wilted and the batteries in my camera repeatedly died. (although the camera reported that they were “exhausted” so maybe they just needed to rest awhile before kicking up the juice again.)
But before wilting, I stepped in some irony. At the Jeep ceremony in Liberty Park, Toledo, there was quite a little spread. Part of it was these little foam brick replicas painted orange with the word “JEEP” on one side. I think they were meant to be commemorative. However, one of the workers pointed out to me a little sticker on the foam brick.

“China.” As in made in China. The worker said, if that isn’t irony, I don’t know what is. Before too much longer, all of the stickers had been removed. However, the few novelty bricks that had escaped before the organizers noticed still bore the mark.

By Paula Wethington / paula@monroenews.com

Today’s editorial cartoon in The Monroe Evening News editorial page is from Jeff Stahler at The Columbus Dispatch. Two girls are playing with fashion dolls. One says “I’m getting mine ready for rehab.” The other says. “Mine’s getting ready for jail or would an electronic bracelet look better?”

It just so happens that I am the resident Barbie fashion doll fan in The Monroe Evening News newsroom.

I startled co-worker Josh Kennedy the second day I worked here when he spotted a doll on my desk. “Is that a Barbie?” he asked. “Actually, it’s a Midge,” I said, and tried very hard not to laugh. My doll was wearing a summer-time outfit appropriate for a beach party.
But yes, there is always a doll on Paula’s desk. I started that tradition about three years before I moved to Monroe. And with the help of fun finds at the toy stores and craft shows, and a little bit of creativity, I’ve had some pretty unique doll displays. Over the months and years, I have displayed a firefighter, a Cleveland Cavaliers Barbie Doll (much to the annoyance of a co-worker who is a Detroit Pistons fan), a doll in a prom dress, military correspondent (mixing in a G.I. Joe uniform and military props with a camera and laptop computer from another doll), Girl Scout Skipper (I handcrafted that outfit), a variety of Halloween costumes, and currently a doll in a graduation cap and gown.

So I did laugh at Stahler’s cartoon. But I’m not going to display one of my dolls in a jail uniform!

I was researching the eligibility requirements to participate in the Miss Ohio pageant for a story I put together today. Most of them were what I expected. Resident of the state or working/attending school, between the ages of 17 to 24, etc. Then there was this:

• Never been married or pregnant.
• Never convicted of a crime.
• Always been a female.

Aside from the social issues the first one raises (I know there is a separate pageant for women who are married). But the pregnant or motherhood thing is different altogether…
And forget having turned your life around and seeking scholarship dollars through any of the pageant channels.

The third tripped me up a bit. It just made me curious, like when I read laws that seem kind of outlandish, what prompted this to be part of the eligibility requirements?

I was on my way to work this morning listening to NPR and I heard something about Target selling wedding dresses on its Web site for less than $200.

First, I thought it was a joke and didn’t think too much about it. After I got to work, I searched around and found a few stories about the retailer offering the dresses in their “Cheap Chic” collection.

I have shopped at Target for numerous things, but I just can’t see myself buying a wedding dress from them or online for that matter.

I think it’s a nice alternative for people who may not be able to afford thousands of dollars on a wedding dress, but how nice can the dresses be?

I’m all for cutting some corners to save some money when it comes to the photography, food, etc. But a Target wedding dress- now that pushes my limit.
What do you think about Target selling wedding dresses online? Any takers? Would you buy a dress from them? Would you be embarrassed when people asked you where you got it and you said Target?

Last night, I was a visitor to the Monroe Public Schools Board of Education meeting. Since my “beat” is now the Community Page, it’s been about four years since I attended a local government meeting as a reporter and six years since I attended one as a member of the public.

So I can definitely relate to the confusion that a first-time visitor has during a government meeting! When I did cover government meetings as a reporter, I found it took me about three meetings to get used to the format and procedures for a particular board or council. Here are some things I’ve noticed over the years:

• Are all visitors asked to sign in? Do they have to sign in if they intend to speak to the board or council?
• Who leads the Pledge of Allegiance? Sometimes they all chime in, sometimes there’s a lead administrator, sometimes a visitor is asked to do it.
• Do visitors who wish to speak raise their hands to be recognized from their seats, or do they have to “walk up to the microphone, state your name and address…”
• Is there an overall time limit or individual time limit on comments from the public?
• How long is this meeting expected to take? If the agenda lists a specific closing or end time for the meeting, does the board stick to that schedule?
• Can the board vote on first reading and under what circumstances are the second and third readings required?
• When a motion is made, is the next response “I second” or “I support”?
• When the board is allowed to meet behind closed doors, do they call that procedure “executive session” or “closed session”?
• Will there be a break during the meeting? (One of the village councils I covered in Ohio allowed a cigarette break at the mayor’s discretion. The mayor didn’t smoke, but many of the other elected officials did!)
• Where do the reporters sit? In many cases, the reporters sit among the audience. But some boards designate a “press table” where reporters have room to spread out paperwork or set up recording equipment.

One thing I did notice at the Monroe school board meeting is that the board members and administrators were very considerate of their visitors. One agenda item was rearranged to the first topic of discussion, because several people in the audience were representing that issue. After that topic was done, and also after the topic I came to watch was done, us visitors who were interested in those agenda items were told “you can go now, you don’t have to stay for the entire meeting!”

Harvard economist, Roland G. Fryer, is suggesting school districts pay students cash for high scores on standardized tests with the belief their performances will improve.

Some districts across the country have tried this approach. One district in Massachusetts paid children $25 for perfect attendance. Another in Dallas paid $2 for each book the children read.
I think it’s one thing if parents are rewarding their children for achieving good grades or scoring high on a test, but it’s another when school districts are paying for the achievement.

Should schools offer incentives such as money to entice students to do well? What should those incentives be? Are districts promoting the right thing? What do you think?

“They’re all hurricanes of annoyance – in the perfect storm [of this place],” said reporter.

I’m kind of reluctant to comment on it, lest Paris Hilton get more press than she already has. But. I find this whole Paris in jail thing interesting from a press person point of view.

After seeing the police reports and arrest records of people in Monroe County, caught doing the things PH has been caught doing, I’m pretty sure they would have been taken downtown at least until bail could be posted. However, that’s not what surprises me.

What does strike me is the line between hard news (some may say ‘actual’ news) and celebrity enews is more blurred now than ever. It’s been a progression, but when you hear about Paris Hilton’s jail antics on NPR, some sort of shift has occurred. NBC recently stated they were too busy to cover Lindsay Lohan passed out in a car, seemingly taking a stance on celebrities out of control.

I’m curious. Are people sick of this kind of coverage in the news? Would you rather read this kind of story than what happened at the county board meeting? Are more information outlets covering these kinds of beats because it’s what readers want?

In reference to an upcoming press conference on alternative energies:

“It’s kind of appropriate that the politicians will be talking about wind power.”

Who knew that Rauch Road had been built in the 1930’s? To me, that just sounds so crazy. At the road commission meeting the other night, I learned more about roads, Rauch and Samaria specifically, than I ever knew I wanted.

Crushing, chipping, sealing, grinding – it all sounds a little like a bad trip to the dentist. It was pretty informative though.

They estimate that about 500 cars go through Rauch on any given day. But that number would jump significantly if the road weren’t so horrible. No action was taken (and no one threatened to shove anything anywhere), but hopefully it’s the start of the movement to make positive changes.

What’s the general consensus? Do you think the road commission is just paying lip service to the Rauch situation or will this road actually get fixed in the next year or two?