Behind the Headlines

Are you frightened by the cost of candy, costumes, parties and decorations for Halloween?

Chat with Paula Wethington of Monroe on a Budget about how to keep your holiday expenses on the frugal side. Go to monroenews.com or follow #trickortreat hashtag on Twitter at 8 p.m. Wednesday Sept. 30.

She’ll have tips on buying fall decorations, costume ideas that won’t break your budget, how to manage the candy expenses for trick-or-treat, cheap tricks for the kids to carry their candy, and information about free or low-cost Halloween events in Monroe County.

Here’s a link to her holiday archives.

Charles Slat has a post on the Consumer Alert blog about flu shots vs. flu sprays.

– Paula Wethington

By Charles Slat

Parle vous Francais? Sprechen zie Deutsch?
What nationality are you?
That’s a common question when people hear a surname and wonder about its origins.
But what nationality is Monroe County?
It’s tempting to assume that French is the dominant ancestry, considering that early settlers of Frenchtown were, obviously, French.
But the latest Census figures show that most county residents — about 34.9 percent — consider themselves of German ancestry.
Irish was a distant second at 15.2 percent. French was third at 11.1 percent.
Following closely was Polish at 10.5 percent and English at 8.9 percent.
Other nationalities hardly were a blip on the radar.
Those who considered themselves of Danish descent were the least represented among major nationalities. Only 45 Danish descendants live in the county.

By Charles Slat

Frenchtown Township Supervisor Jim McDevitt had an awkward, but perhaps understandable, moment during the grand opening of the new Walmart supercenter Wednesday.
Called to speak before a large crowd of store employees and eager customers, Mr. McDevitt stepped up to the microphone at the podium and commended “Kmart” for its 17 years in the township.
“Walmart!” the crowd roared in unison, correcting him.
He turned and asked store manager Robert Decant, “What did I say?”
Later, Mr. McDevitt was still upset by his gaffe. “I can’t believe I said that,” he told me.
But there might be an explanation found in Mr. McDevitt’s earlier career as used car manager at Friendly Ford.
That was awhile ago when the dealership’s used car lot was at the corner of N. Monroe St. and Stewart Rd. where a Walgreens now stands – right across the street from Kmart.
For years, Mr. McDevitt had a constant view of the home of the Blue Light Special.