FOR YOUR HEALTH – It’s Flu Season: CDC Reminds Public That Antibiotics Do Not Treat Flu

(NAPSI) — Flu season is upon us and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) wants patients and families to remember that prescription antiviral drugs, not antibiotics, are the treatment for influenza (flu). Antibiotics do not treat viruses that cause colds and the flu. They are only needed for treating certain infections caused by bacteria.

Remember that the best way to protect yourself and your family from the flu is by getting your annual flu vaccine. It’s not too late to get vaccinated.

KNOW WHAT’S GOT YOU SICK

Viruses cause infections like the common cold, flu, runny noses and most sore throats, and none of these are treated with antibiotics. Illnesses like strep throat, pneumonia and whooping cough are examples of illnesses caused by bacteria that can be treated with antibiotics.

ANTIBIOTICS AREN’T ALWAYS THE ANSWER

If you have the flu, taking antibiotics won’t help to treat your flu illness. It is important to remember that any time you take antibiotics it can lead to antibiotic resistance and cause side effects.

Antibiotic resistance is one of the most urgent threats to the public’s health and occurs when bacteria become resistant to the antibiotics designed to kill them. Antibiotic side effects range from minor—e.g., rash, dizziness, nausea, yeast infections—to very severe health problems, e.g., life-threatening allergic reactions or Clostridium difficile infection (also called C. difficile or C. diff), which causes diarrhea that can lead to severe colon damage or death.

When a patient needs antibiotics, the benefits outweigh the risks of side effects. Antibiotics save lives and are critical tools for treating a number of common infections like pneumonia and life-threatening conditions like sepsis.

PROTECT YOURSELF FROM INFLUENZA (FLU)

You can protect yourself and others from the flu in three steps.

1) Get vaccinated. Everyone 6 months or older should get a yearly flu vaccine.

2) Stop the spread of germs by avoiding close contact with sick people. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, and cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue. Clean your hands often with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer or soap and water.

3) If you get sick, take antiviral drugs if your doctor prescribes them.

FIND OUT HOW TO FEEL BETTER

Most healthy people with the flu have mild illness and recover in less than two weeks without needing medical care or antiviral drugs. If you get sick with flu symptoms, in most cases, you should stay home and avoid contact with other people except to get medical care.

If, however, you have flu symptoms and are at high risk of having complications from flu, or are very sick or worried about your illness, contact your healthcare professional. Your doctor may prescribe antiviral drugs to treat your illness. People at high risk of having complications from flu include young children, people 65 years of age and older, pregnant women and people with certain medical conditions.

Visit www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use for information on antibiotic prescribing and use, and visit www.cdc.gov/flu for information about the flu.

Roland’s Trivia Question, Week of March 1, 2018

Answer to Roland’s Trivia Question of the Week:

Question: Chris Sale is scheduled to be the opening day pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in 2018. Who was the last Red Sox left-handed pitcher to start two consecutive opening days?

Answer: Jon Lester, 2011 & 2012. Mel Parnel holds the record at three.

<– Back to Scores & Outdoors

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Pesticides having a detrimental affect on bumble bee population

Bumble bee

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

Recently I read an article about the state of bumble bees and honey bees. It seems a common class of pesticide, neonicotinoids, is causing problems for honey bees and bumble bees, by attacking their central nervous systems, causing a reduction in weight and the number of queens in bumble bee hives. It also causes them to become disoriented, and fail to return to their hives.

Neonicotinoids are a class of neuro-active insecticides chemically similar to nicotine. As of 2013 neonicotinoids have been used in the U.S. on about 95 percent of corn and canola crops, the majority of cotton, sorghum, and sugar beets and about half of all soybeans. They have been used on the vast majority of fruit and vegetables, including apples, cherries, peaches, oranges, berries, leafy greens, tomatoes, and potatoes, to cereal grains, rice, nuts, and wine grapes. Imidacloprid is possibly the most widely used insecticide, both within the neonicotinoids and in the worldwide market.

For more than a decade, pollinators of all types have been in decline, mostly because of loss of habitat, inadequate food sources, diseases caused by parasites and viruses, and bee management practices, along with perhaps some pesticides.

In a British study, researchers dosed bees with the pesticide and moved their hives out to a field. After six weeks, they found the pesticide-treated hives to be 10 percent lighter than those that weren’t treated; and more important, the hives that had pesticides lost about 85 percent of their queens.

Even though lower doses were used with bumble bees, it seems that bumble bees are more sensitive to the pesticide and that issue is worthy of more study.

Honey bee

Honey bees, which aren’t native to America, are managed by professional beekeepers, carted from farm to orchard, and raised to produce honey. Bumble bees, native to this country, are wild pollinators.

Bumble bees are typically found in higher latitudes and high altitudes, through exception exist. They are also found in cold climates where other bees might not be found because bumble bees can regulate their body temperature.

Bumble bees are social insects that feed on nectar and gather pollen to feed their young. Bees are also needed to pollinate fruit, vegetables and nuts. Without them, experts say our diets would be very bland.

Bumble bees generally visit flowers exhibiting the bee pollination syndrome. They tend to visit the same patches of flowers every day, as long as they continue to find nectar and pollen. Pollen is removed from flowers deliberately or incidentally by bumblebees. Once a bumblebee has visited a flower, it leaves a scent mark on the flower. This scent mark deters visitation of the flowers by other bumblebees until the scent degrades.

Once they have collected nectar and pollen, bumble bees return to the nest and deposit the harvested nectar and pollen into brood cells, or into wax cells for storage. Unlike honey bees, bumble bees only store a few days’ worth of food, and so they are much more vulnerable to food shortages.

Queen and worker bumblebees can sting. The bumble bee stinger has no barbs and is capable of multiple stings. They are not normally aggressive, but will sting in defense of their nest or if harmed. They will attack host colony members, but usually ignore other animals and humans unless disturbed.

Multiple species of bees are either seing a decline or disappearing entirely from the European landscape, along with some native to America, some of them may even be extinct.

According to 20th century folklore, the laws of aerodynamics prove that bumble bees should be incapable of flight, as it doesn’t have the capacity to achieve flight with the degree of wing loading necessary. In 1934, French entomologist Antoine Magnan included the following passage in the introduction to his book, Le Vols des Insectes: “First prompted by what is done in aviation, I applied the laws of air resistance to insects, and I arrived … at this conclusion that their flight is impossible.” Apparently, the bumblebee’s wing function is that the wings work similarly to helicopter blades. Bees beat their wings approximately 200 times a second. Their thorax muscles do not expand and contract on each nerve firing but rather vibrate like a plucked rubber band.

So, environmental activists and some beekeepers are convinced the pesticide is a problem. Entomologists have said without bees, “we’d be a scurvy-ridden society.”

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Chris Sale is scheduled to be the opening day pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in 2018. Who was the last Red Sox lefthanded pitcher to start two consecutive opening days?

Answer can be found here.

I’m Just Curious: Eighth grade test, Part II

by Debbie Walker

Okay, I am about to fulfill your excitement about the rest of that 1895 8th Grade Final. How many of you figure you’d still be in a lower grade now?? I probably would have been in a much lower grade!!!!

1895 test continued:

Orthography (Time, one hour), [Do we even know what this is?]

  1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication?
  2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
  3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
  4. Give four substitutes for caret ‘u’.
  5. Give two rules for spelling words with final ‘e.’ Name two exceptions under each rule.
  6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
  7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
  8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
  9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane , vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
  10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)

  1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
  2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
  3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
  4. Describe the mountains of North America .
  5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa , Denver , Manitoba , Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco .
  6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
  7. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
  8. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
  9. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

I would love to hear about your test results! I hope you got a kick out of it. When I come across funny or odd stuff I have to pass it on.

If I have ever written anything you might want to check out again you are encouraged to go to our website and check out the archives.

I’m just curious how your test results came out, Contact me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com. I’ll be waiting to hear. Thank you for reading.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Singer: Dick Haymes; Composer: Irving Berlin

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Dick Haymes Sings Irving Berlin

MCA, MCL 1773, LP, released 1983 and based on Decca 78 originals.

Irving Berlin

Irving Berlin (1888-1989), born Israel Baline, in Czarist Russia, came to America with his parents to escape the frequent bloody pogroms occurring there. He left home at the age of eight years, eking out a living as a newsboy. Other subsistent jobs would eventually lead to songwriting, begun with Marie from Sunny Italy, his first published song; the publisher misspelled his name as I. Berlin and Baline kept it for the rest of his very long life.

Within a few short years, the hits started with Alex­ander’s Rag­time Band, Play a Simple Melody, and Everybody’s Doin’ It.

Meanwhile, for more than 70 years, he created an avalanche of songs, of which at least 60 were megahits that still generate royalties for his estate. Dozens of singers covered them on record, especially Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Pat Boone, etc. George Gershwin considered him, “the greatest songwriter who ever lived;” Jerome Kern quipped, “Irving Berlin has no place in American music; he is American music.”

Dick Haymes

Tommy Dorsey

Many music lovers consider Dick Haymes (1918-1980) the finest singer among the sizable pool of talent to emerge during the ‘30s and ‘40s Big Band Era. The story has been verified that Haymes began writing songs as a means to earn a living, and submitted a few to bandleader Harry James. The trumpeter refused the songs but hired Haymes as a singer to replace then recently departed Frank Sinatra, who had meanwhile signed with Tommy Dorsey.

Haymes worked with Benny Goodman and then was introduced by Sinatra himself to Dorsey as a suggested replacement when Sinatra decided to pursue a solo career. Inevitably, Haymes too left Dorsey, became a success and signed with Decca records, scoring nine gold records. His popularity in films increased with 1945’s State Fair. And, even later when his career waned, all of his records would be treasured by collectors simply because he was a great singer and conveyed a sincerity and passion for singing right up to his last years before his death at 61 from lung cancer .

Benny Goodman

Finally, he was married six times, one of his wives being Rita Hayworth and this side of his life having considerable potential for a biographer.

The above reissue contains sixteen 78 sides devoted to Berlin, who was a special favorite of Haymes and includes The Girl That I Marry, Little Fish in a Big Pond, All Alone, Let’s Take an Old-Fashioned Walk, Say It With Music and my own personal favorite, You’re Just In Love, with Ethel Merman and the most exquisite, enchanting arrangement by Gordon Jenkins. A gem of an album!

IF WALLS COULD TALK: Though lost in construction, library still serves the people

Katie Ouilette Wallsby Katie Ouilette

WALLS, here’s a good one for you! History? Well, I watched the crows flying in the trees and thought of the crow that used to perch on a street post in Waterville and, yes, literally would say, “hi” to folks passing by. I guess the policeman who found the bird that had been wounded taught it to say ‘“hi.” Well, that was a long time ago, but those who remember must have a smile at the thought.

Yes, that was a happening in Waterville about 70 years ago. Now, as Stephen Aucoin recently wrote to the editor of the Morning Sentinel, downtown Waterville is changed, but the Waterville Public Library, though lost in the high rising new buildings, still stands ready to serve the people and the award for community service given to it. Certainly, those who faithfully work there are proud to say “we did it.”

WALLS, do you remember my giving the book that I wrote…Two Birds in a Box,” to the librarian at the time? Mr. Dee, the dad of the Denis family, grew up in Waterville and was a graduate of Colby College. Now, Colby College is the library’s neighbor! Yes, faithful readers, times do change!

Y’know, WALLS, Maine has wonderful colleges and even those have grown in number. Many of my grandkids have attended University of Maine. Yes, when I think of Colby’s first having been on College Avenue in Waterville and then moving to Mayflower Hill and now expanding to downtown Waterville and Maine’s, once, Abner Colburn contributing to Maine education and his name having been placed on so many college buildings in this grand state of Maine, WALLS, you must be proud that this was a Skowhegan man who was educated at Bloomfield School (which was still a school until SAD #54 came into view). Yes, little wonder that Attorney Robert Washburn, a member of Skowhegan Heritage Council, proposed that the council have a Governor Abner Coburn Day on his March 22 birthday. Faithful readers, Abner Colburn was a famous man who had an education until he was 14 years of age, He lived in Bloomfield (South side of the Kennebec River in what is now Skowhegan). He did much for education worldwide and had a mountain near Jackman named for him.

Yup, and here we are, back with libraries again, faithful readers. Gov. Abner Coburn gave funding that made the Skowhegan Public Library possible. Proudly, the Skowhegan Heritage Council with Attorney Robert Washburn as chairman, will celebrate our famous governor’s birthday at the Skowhegan Public Library at 3 p.m., on Thursday, March 22, 2018.

Legal Notices, Week of March 1, 2018

STATE OF MAINE
SOMERSET, ss.
DISTRICT COURT
LOCATION: SKOWHEGAN
CIVIL ACTION
DOCKET NO:
SKODC-RE-18-4

SHAWN DIXON, Plaintiff,
v.
ABRAHAM SCHLOSBERG, Defendant.

ORDER PERMITTING
SERVICE BY PUBLICATION
M.R. CIV. P. 4(g)
(Title to Real Estate
Is Involved)
8 Newhall Street, Fairfield
Map 19, Lot 53
Book 4536, Page 142

A Complaint has been filed with the Court against Defendant ABRAHAM SCHLOSBERG, which requires personal service in accordance with Rule 4(d) of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure.

Upon motion, the Court hereby ORDERS:

That service cannot be made upon ABRAHAM SCHLOSBERG in any of the usual manners prescribed by Rule 4 despite the due diligence of the Plaintiff. Service shall therefore be made upon ABRAHAM SCHLOSBERG and all those who claim or may claim by, through, or under ABRAHAM SCHLOSBERG by publishing this Order once a week for three (3) successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the County of Somerset, the county in which the property at issue in the Complaint is located.

The first publication shall be made within twenty (20) days after this order is issued. Service by publication shall be complete on the twenty-first (21st) day after the first publication.

The publication shall read:

Plaintiff seeks a judgment in Skowhegan District Court against ABRAHAM SCHLOSBERG to quiet the title of certain property now owned by Shawn Dixon as a result of a municipal tax foreclosure, said property being located at 8 Newhall Street, Fairfield, Maine.

The property at issue in the Complaint consists of the property described in the deed recorded at Book 4536 Page 142 at the Somerset County Registry of Deeds.

A copy of the complaint to quiet title may be obtained from Plaintiff’s attorney at the address and number below.

If you wish to oppose this lawsuit, you or your attorney MUST PREPARE AND SERVE A WRITTEN ANSWER to the complaint WITHIN TWENTY (20) DAYS after service is completed by the foregoing method.

You or your attorney must serve your answer by delivering a copy of it in person or by mail to the Plaintiff’s attorney, Bryan B. Ward, of the firm of O’Donnell Lee, 112 Silver Street, Waterville, Maine. You or your attorney must also file the original of your answer with the Court by mailing it to the following address: Skowhegan District Court, 47 Court Street, Skowhegan, Maine, before or within a reasonable time after it is served.

IMPORTANT WARNING: IF YOU FAIL TO SERVE AN ANSWER WITHIN THE TIME STATED ABOVE OR IF, AFTER YOU ANSWER, YOU FAIL TO APPEAR AT ANY TIME THE COURT NOTIFIES YOU TO DO SO, A JUDGMENT BY DEFAULT MAY BE ENTERED AGAINST YOU IN YOUR ABSENCE FOR THE RELIEF DEMANDED IN THE COMPLAINT. IF YOU INTEND TO OPPOSE THIS LAWSUIT, DO NOT FAIL TO ANSWER WITHIN THE REQUIRED TIME.

IF YOU BELIEVE THE PLAINTIFF IS NOT ENTITLED TO ALL OR PART OF THE CLAIM SET FORTH IN THE COMPLAINT OR IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE A CLAIM OF YOUR OWN AGAINST THE PLAINTIFF, YOU SHOULD TALK TO A LAWYER. IF YOU FEEL YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY A FEE TO A LAWYER, YOU MAY ASK THE COURT FOR INFORMATION AS TO PLACES WHERE YOU MAY SEEK LEGAL ASSISTANCE.

Dated: 13 February 201
Hon. Andrew Benson
Judge, District Court
Plaintiff’s Attorney:
Bryan B. Ward
O’Donnell and Lee
112 Silver Street
Waterville, Maine 04901
Telephone: (207) 872-0112
(3/15)

SOLON & BEYOND: Solon school opens preschool registration

Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percyby Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

It is time to begin the preschool application process for the fall of 2018 at Solon Elementary School. If your child will be four years old by October 15, 2018, you can apply for enrollment into the RSU #74 2018-19 preschool program. The program is open to all four-year olds regardless of family income.

Applications can be picked up at any of the elementary schools, you can have one mailed to your home by calling the school at 643-2491, or you can download one from the district website.

You will need to provide income verification and a copy of your child’s birth certificate, MaineCare card, and immunization record.

If you have any questions about the preschool program, please contact the school at 643-2491.

Grades 3-5 students at Solon Elementary are preparing for State Assessment Tests.

Grades 3-5 students are getting ready to take the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA), which will start the week of March 19. Students in all three grades will take tests in reading, writing/language, and math. Later the fifth graders will take a test in science.

This test will be taken on the computer. The test will be administered over multiple days so that students do not get too tired. Teachers are using practice items and teaching test-taking strategies with the students to help prepare them. Please encourage your child to do his/her best on this important test, which helps us to assess each child’s achievement level as well as the progress of our school.

Again this year Solon Elementary School scheduled some fun activities to brighten the winter season. The Solon Kids Care Club sponsored a Secret Cupid activity in which each of us decorated a heart with some kind words for another person in the school. The hearts have been displayed on the bulletin board in the lobby.

Received this e-mail from my good friend, Nancy Whittemore, and she wrote: I would like to extend a sincere thank you to all of the folks in the community of Solon, and surrounding communities for all of the many kind deeds and encouraging words to me during my difficult journey with Terry’s illness and death. It meant so much to me.

And now an e-mail from the Happyknits Crew with some news that perhaps many of you didn’t know about. “We’re starting to notice that the days are lengthening and the temperatures are shifting as we move in fits and starts towards spring. Happyknits is making a bit of a shift too. Julie Cooke, who first opened this yarn shop on her own and gave us all a little place for yarn paradise, has decided to change directions and move on to other interests. We’d like to express our gratitude to her for being our partner and good friend for the last several years, and we wish her the best in her new adventure!

Sarah, Mary Lou and Karla are looking forward to continuing to serve you all. They are grateful to all of you for helping to make Happyknits such a happy place and we hope to see you soon!

Percy’s memoir this week is entitled, The Magic of Love:

Love is like magic.
And it always will be,
For love still remains
Life’s sweet mystery!
Love works in ways
That are wondrous and strange
And there’s nothing in life
That love cannot change!
Love can transform
The most commonplace
Into beauty and splendor
And sweetness and grace!
Love is unselfish,
Understanding and kind,
For it sees with its heart
And not with its mind!
Love is the answer
That everyone seeks –
Love is the language
That every heart speaks –
Love can’t be bought,
It is priceless and free,
Love like pure magic
Is a sweet mystery!

(words by Helen Steiner Rice)

Letters to the Editor: Is the Legislature Serious?

Is the Legislature serious?

To the editor:

Is the the Legislature seriously considering imposing property tax on nonprofits, educational institutions, and hospitals? How about churches? What part of “tax-exempt” don’t they understand?

All of the above organizations and institutions provide services to the people of the community, which are beyond the scope of governmental responsibility, but which are still necessary. Nonprofits also allow people and businesses with taxable assets to invest in our communities without penalty, or without the risk of the stock market. Besides, the federal government has delineated which organizations and institutions are tax-exempt, and it’s not up to the state to change that.

Thank you.

Connie Bellet
Palermo

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY: Slippery facts on Sheepscot Pond re-introduction of species

Alewives by John Burrows (source: mainerivers.org)

by Buck O’Herin
Montville resident

Feelings are running high in some communities about the potential re-introduction of sea-run fish species into Sheepscot Pond and the potential for these species to impact the fresh water fishery through disease and predation. The front page article in The Town Line newspaper on January 25 quoted several reasons why a couple of community groups oppose the re-introduction of these species. Many of the points listed were misleading and did not give appropriate context, and some were outright false.

It is crucial to remember that both alewives and sea lampreys are native to Maine and our rivers, lakes, and ponds. They both spend time at sea and migrate back to lakes and rivers to spawn. Sheepscot Pond represents 40 percent of the historic alewife habitat above Head Tide in the Sheepscot River. Many Maine lakes have healthy runs of alewives and other sea-run species and also maintain healthy populations of freshwater game fish. Alamoosook Lake, in Orland, has had an alewife migration for years, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a hatchery there. The lake has a healthy fresh water fishery that includes salmon, brook trout, brown trout, bass, and eel.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service tested alewives from the St. Croix River from 2014 to 2016 for seven different diseases. None were found to be carrying any diseases. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has been offered assistance to ensure there is proper filtration and disinfection of water at the Palermo facility. Even though most other IF&W hatcheries have this equipment, the Department has so far chosen not to accept the help.

Adult sea lamprey cannot survive in freshwater and die after spawning. As young adults, they are primarily trying to get to sea, not feed when they do attach to fresh water fish. It is very common to install small notches in a dam to make sure young adult lampreys can get to sea with a trickle of water, even if water is not flowing over the dam. Sea lamprey are probably already in Sheepscot Pond. They can get through the open fish ladder at the Coopers Mills Dam, into Long Pond, and over the Sheepscot Pond dam as long as water is flowing.

The proposal in front of the legislature would open the Sheepscot Pond fish ladder year-round, that IF&W currently blocks for two months of the year. Water already flows over the dam, especially in the spring. U.S. Geological Survey records show the Sheepscot River flows at an average of 734 cubic feet per second in April. The fish ladder at Sheepscot Pond is designed to use about 6 cubic feet per second. Allowing the fish ladder to be open increases flow to the river by only 0.82 percent. The lake level would not be significantly affected.

We should be thoughtful about how we make this decision and depend on the science. There is abundant evidence that restoring fish passage to the entire Sheepscot River is beneficial for all native fish species and the Sheepscot Pond ecosystem.