34th Regiment, Indiana Infantry

My Grandfather, Caleb Dooley is more than likely in this photograph. The history is a little long, but some might find it of interest.

Organized at Anderson, Ind., and mustered in September 16, 1861. Moved to Jeffersonville, Ind., October 10, thence to New Haven, Ky., November 15, and duty there until December 14. Moved to Camp Wickliffe, Ky., December 14, and duty there until February 7, 1862. Attached to 10th Brigade, Army of the Ohio, November-December, 1861. 10th Brigade, 4th Division, Army of the Ohio, to February, 1862. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, Army of Mississippi, to April, 1862. 1st Brigade, 3d Division, Army Mississippi. Garrison at New Madrid, Mo., to July, 1862. Helena, Ark., District of Eastern Arkansas, Dept. of Missouri, to November, 1862. 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, District of Eastern Arkansas, Dept. of the Tennessee, to January, 1863. 3rd Brigade, 12th Division, 13th Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee, to February, 1863. 1st Brigade, 12th Division, 13th Army Corps, to July, 1863. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 13th Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee, to August, 1863, and Dept. of the Gulf to March, 1864. Defenses of New Orleans, La., to December, 1864. Brazos, Santiago, Texas, U.S. Forces, Texas, to June, 1865. Dept. of Texas to February, 1866.

SERVICE.--Moved to Green River, Ky., February 7, 1862, thence to the Ohio River February 14, and to Cairo, Ill., with Nelson's Division, Army of the Ohio, February 17-20. Detached from Division and moved to Commerce, Mo., February 27-March 3. Siege of New Madrid, Mo., March 5-14. Siege and capture of Island No. 10, Mississippi River, March 15-April 8. Riddell's Point March 17. Garrison duty at New Madrid, Mo., April 7 to June 14. Expedition down Mississippi River to Fort Pillow, Tenn., May 19-23 (Detachment). Capture of Fort Pillow June 5 (Detachment). Moved to Memphis, Tenn., June 14-15. Expedition up White River, Ark., June 26-July 14. Action at Grand Prairie July 6-7. Near Duvall's Bluff July 7. Aberdeen July 9. Arrived at Helena July 14, and duty there until April, 1863. Expedition to Arkansas Post November 16-22, 1862. Ordered to Milliken's Bend, La., April 14. Movement on Bruinsburg and turning Grand Gulf April 25-30. Battle of Port Gibson May 1. Fourteen-Mile Creek May 12-13. Battle of Champion's Hill May 16. Siege of Vicksburg, Miss., May 18-July 4. Assaults on Vicksburg May 19 and 22. Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 4-10. Siege of Jackson July 10-17. Ordered to New Orleans, La., August 4, thence to Brashear City September 12. Western Louisiana Campaign October 3-November 30. Grand Coteau October 19. Carrion Crow Bayou November 3. At New Iberia until December 19. Regiment reenlisted at New Iberia December 15. Moved to Pass Cavallo, Texas, December 23, 1863-January 8, 1864, and duty there until February 21. Moved to New Orleans, La., February 21, and duty there until March 20. Veterans on furlough until May. Garrison duty at New Orleans until December 18. Ordered to Brazos, Santiago, Texas, December 18, and duty there until June 16, 1865. Expedition from Brazos, Santiago, May 11-14, 1865. Action at Palmetto Ranch May 12-13, 1865 (last action of the war). White's Ranch May 13. March to Ringgold Barracks, 260 miles up the Rio Grande June 16-28. Duty at Ringgold Barracks until July 24, and at Brownsville until February, 1866. Mustered out February 3, 1866.

Regiment lost during service 2 Officers and 32 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 5 Officers and 204 Enlisted men by disease. Total, 243.

Rockwell's 'Rookie,' featuring this PHS grad, fetches $22.5 million

It wasn't, said former city resident Sherman Safford, an enormous life-changing experience. But, Safford conceded, he still delights more than 50 years later in surprising new friends and acquaintances by pulling out his copy of the March 1957 Saturday Evening Post.

He then proudly displays the magazine cover that in illustration form shows Safford in the spring training locker room of the Boston Red Sox in Sarasota, Fla., greeting the likes of Ted Williams, Frank Sullivan, Sammy White and Billy Goodman.

He is, of course, "The Rookie," and the illustration of the then 17-year-old Safford was authored by no less of a Berkshire County icon than Norman Rockwell. Safford, 70, now living in the Rochester, N.Y., area, married a Pittsfield girl, Judy Nardin, and the two will celebrate 50 years of marriage in July.

The Saffords do visit Pittsfield a couple of times each year, but the former Pittsfield High basketball and baseball player, who graduated in 1957, hasn't seen Wahconah Park in 47 years. That will all change Friday night when Safford and some local friends will watch the Pittsfield Defenders.

He is looking forward to it. "I'll see some people that I haven't seen in 50 years," said Safford about his visit.

Safford was having lunch at PHS and Rockwell was in the cafeteria and on the prowl. The legendary illustrator had a vision for the Post baseball spring training cover, but he needed someone to play the "hayseed" whose wide-eyed role in the painting was to introduce himself to the Red Sox veterans in the clubhouse. "I got into line for lunch and walked right past him [Rockwell]," Safford recalled. "Then I got lunch and walked past him again on the way back to my table. A friend, Dave Farrell, came over to me and told me that the guy with the long thin pipe was Norman Rockwell, and that he wanted to see me when I was done with lunch. He was a very distinctive-looking character.

"I knew who Mr. Rockwell was and immediately pushed the tray away and said ‘to heck with lunch.' If Norman Rockwell wanted to talk to me, then I wanted to talk to him."

Rockwell told Safford about his idea for the magazine cover and how he thought the tall and lanky 17-year-old was a perfect candidate to play "The Rookie."

"He asked me if I knew where his studio was in Stockbridge, which I did," Safford said. He said to be there on that next Saturday at 10 a.m. I actually posed twice for him and received $60 each time.

"I used that money to play for my car insurance, but I wished I had kept those checks as keepsakes."

Safford said he had a chance to talk with Rockwell at length on those two Saturday mornings.

"People don't always know that he worked a lot from photographs," Safford said. "He went to Sarasota and also took pictures of that locker room."

7 dead in drive-by shooting near UC Santa Barbara

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A drive-by shooter went on a "mass murder" rampage near a Santa Barbara university campus that left seven people dead, including the attacker, and seven others wounded, authorities said Saturday.

The gunman exchanged gunfire with deputies at the end of Friday night's rampage in the beachside community of Isla Vista and crashed his black BMW into a parked car, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.

Deputies found him dead with a gunshot wound to the head, but it wasn't immediately clear whether he was killed by gunfire or if he committed suicide, he said.

A semiautomatic handgun was recovered from the scene near the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Investigators know the gunman's name, but Brown said he couldn't release it pending notification of relatives.

"We're analyzing both written and videotaped evidence that this atrocity was a premeditated mass murder," Brown said.

The rampage broke out around 9:30 p.m. in the student enclave reputed for parties, including an annual spring bash that turned into a violent blowout last month. Brown said the shootings occurred at several sites, resulting in nine crime scenes.

Redskin spokesman states ..... well .... ah ....... really?

The English language features an anthropomorphic collection of nouns for the various groups of animals. We call a bunch of cows a “herd.” We call a group of geese a “gaggle.” We call a bunch of fish a “school.” We call a group of sheep a “flock.” However, less widely known is a “pride” of lions, a “murder” of crows, an “exaltation” of doves and, because they look so wise, a “parliament” of owls. Finally, let’s consider a group of baboons. They are the loudest, most dangerous, most obnoxious, most viciously aggressive and least intelligent of all primates. What is the proper collective noun for a group of baboons? Answer: a congress!

Baboons are furious at the comparison, Reid should do something about this

The Washington Redskins took on Democrats in the U.S. Senate on Friday, telling Majority Leader Harry Reid that his efforts to orchestrate a campaign to force a team name change were misguided and failed to recognize the name’s “deep and personal meaning.”

“I hope you will attend one of our home games, where you would witness first-hand that the Washington Redskins are a positive, unifying force for our community in a city and region that is divided on so many levels,” team President Bruce Allen wrote Mr. Reid.

The letter offered several rebuttals to arguments that Mr. Reid and other Democratic senators made in a letter earlier this week asking the NFL to force the team to change its name because they considered it racially offensive.

Mr. Allen argued the Redskins‘ name “originated as a Native American expression of solidarity” and that the team logo was designed by Native Americans in 1971. He also noted that 90 percent of Americans in one poll didn’t find the team name offensive, and that an Associated Press survey earlier this year found 83 percent of Americans supported keeping the team name. “What policy or issue generates 83 percent to 90 percent support is this era of negativity and division?” he asked.

The team also played up its recent charitable efforts through a new foundation that in just two months has funded 40 projects to help Native Americans. “It is our mission to help tackle the troubling realities facing so many tribes across our country,” Mr. Allen wrote.

Fifty U.S. senators, all Democrats except for one independent, sent a letter earlier this week to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, urging him to force Redskins‘ owner Daniel Snyder to change the team’s name. “Today, we urge you and the National Football League to send the same clear message as the NBA did: that racism and bigotry have no place in professional sports,” the letter read. “It’s time for the NFL to endorse a name change for the Washington, D.C. football team.”

Memorial Day - 2014

Well, I have lived long enough to see another Memorial Day. I thank Him for that.

Many of the same memories surface in my mind, first, my Grandfather, Caleb Dooley, 1844 - 1925 who served in the Civil War. Not too many walking around that can say that. I never knew him, or, my Grandmother, Lucy Bradford Dooley, and I regret never having met them. Actually, I never knew any grandparent, they had all passed by 1932 when I arrived. I have heard my Father relate a number of stories that Caleb had related to him. It ignited a Civil War knowledge fire in him, and he became quite an authority on a few of the various battles of the war.

I remember Dad relating the story of his enlistment in WWI. As he was leaving on the train in Marion, Indiana, he told of looking back on the station platform, at the aging figure of his Father, Caleb, who was aware of what was ahead for his son, because he had served through the horrendous carnage of our Civil War.

My Grandfather, my Dad, my Brother, myself, my two sons, have all served their country, four in the Navy and two in the Army. 

The start of the Summer, as it is called, a Summer that seems to pass with increasing speed each year. Not too many weeks away, and Walmart will start bringing out their Fall merchandise. Retailers lengthen the Winter Holiday season each year. I doubt that anyone will ever write about "The Long Hot Summer" again, more like "The Long Never Ending Winter Selling Season."

The last day of school was one of the great days of the year .... a whole Summer, with nothing to do but make memories. And, it seemed like it was so long till school started. 

I do "appreciate" each holiday more, the older I get, actually, I thank him for each day that he lets me stay around. Enjoy the weekend, no mail on Monday.

Federal security guards can’t read X-rays, handle firearms

Some security guards hired to protect federal buildings cannot operate screening devices such as X-ray machines, are not certified to handle firearms and are untrained in dealing with an active shooter.

The Department of Homeland Security — which is tasked with securing federal facilities — still faces challenges in ensuring that the guards it contracts through its Federal Protective Service have been properly trained and certified before they are deployed, a Government Accountability Office official told Congress on Wednesday.

The FPS is so inept that the Department of Homeland Security will no longer use the agency to protect its own headquarters, said Rep. Lou Barletta, Pennsylvania Republican. He is the chairman of the House Transportation subcommittee on federal buildings, which requested the GAO audit of the agency.

“I am very concerned with the conclusions reached by the GAO report, as well as the fact that overall confidence in FPS appears to be eroding. Fake bomb components and weapons have been secreted into buildings undetected, which is an alarming exposure of weakness in security,” Mr. Barletta told The Washington Times. “It’s necessary to know the challenges and problems, but we also need solutions.”

The Federal Protective Service provides security to 9,600 federally owned and leased buildings, properties and other assets around the country and protects more than 1 million employees and visitors at federal spaces each day.

According to the GAO report, an official from one of the security guard companies contracted by Federal Protective Services told auditors that about 38 percent of its guards had never received training in X-ray screening — raising questions about how well they actually perform their monitoring duties. Officials from five companies said their guards had not received training on how to respond to an active shooter.

“Without ensuring that all guards receive training on how to respond to active-shooter incidents at federal facilities, FPS has limited assurance that its guards are prepared for this threat,” the GAO said.

In 2012, the GAO told Federal Protective Services that it should develop a system for managing guards’ information on training, certifications and other qualifications to ensure that all information is complete and up-to-date. Yet when the GAO performed its most recent audit, FPS still hadn’t created such a database.

Tennessee Wheel decides fate of prisoners

Prisoner 947362 is shown here checking to see what the wheel has indicated as his choice for his execution. He shares a cell with Tom, a cat convicted of killing a mouse, which happened to be a pet of the Governor's daughter Elle May.

The Tennessee state prison system has announced that a new weekly show, "The Wheel," will be broadcast on a closed circuit prison television system. It is currently looking for a celebrity to host the show. Drew Carey, host of the popular daytime show, declined, stating, "I think it would be rather bad for my image."

"Down huere, weall let the prisoner decide how he wants to go," Warden Jefferson W. Murgatroid stated. "Some a um had a hard time, so they decided to let The Wheel decide for them. It's a win-win for us."

One un-named network has expressed interest in scheduling the show in its prime time schedule of shows.

No advertisers have come forth yet indicating their interest in advertising on the show. Contestants are chosen from prisoners from Cellblock 00, where the condemned prisoners are housed. All prisoners are encouraged to attend the live show as it is felt it would be somewhat of a deterrent.

Tennessee brings back electric chair

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee has decided how it will respond to a nationwide scarcity of lethal injection drugs for death-row inmates: with the electric chair.

Republican Gov. Bill Haslam signed a bill into law Thursday allowing the state to electrocute death row inmates in the event prisons are unable to obtain the drugs, which have become more and more scarce following a European-led boycott of drug sales for executions.

Tennessee lawmakers overwhelmingly passed the electric chair legislation in April, with the Senate voting 23-3 and the House 68-13 in favor of the bill.

Tennessee is the first state to enact a law to reintroduce the electric chair without giving prisoners an option, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that opposes executions and tracks the issue.

"There are states that allow inmates to choose, but it is a very different matter for a state to impose a method like electrocution," he said. "No other state has gone so far."

Oh, hi, 97426, right, OK, let's get down to business, do you have any preference on how we kill you?

Well, ah, I dunno, that's a hard decision to make.

The good news is that we have been able to get some "Killsumall" from a drugstore in Tijuana and the druggist there said it works quite well, he has given us a money back guarantee.

Wow, how great is that?

Of course, we now have a new electric chair, state of the art, made right here in our shop.

Yea, I know, I built it.

Oh!

Too much times on their hands ............ in Washington

To Notre Dame and others, I am Irish, I abhor the term, "The Fighting Irish" ... it implies that I/we are always fighting, why doesn't congress do something about that? 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Half the U.S. Senate urged NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday to change the Washington Redskins' name, saying it is a racist slur and the time is ripe to replace it.

In one letter, 49 senators cited the NBA's quick action recently to ban Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life after he was heard on an audio recording making offensive comments about blacks. They said Goodell should formally push to rename the Redskins.

"We urge you and the National Football League to send the same clear message as the NBA did: that racism and bigotry have no place in professional sports," read the letter, which did not use the word "Redskins."

Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, wrote his own letter saying he doesn't believe that retaining the Redskin name "is appropriate in this day and age." He described himself as "one of your great fans for both the game and you personally."

The letters come at a time of growing pressure to change the team name, with statements in recent months from President Barack Obama, lawmakers of both parties and civil rights groups.

Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has refused to change the name, citing tradition. The franchise has been known as the Redskins since 1933, when it played in Boston.

Last month, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., took to the Senate floor to say Snyder should "do what is morally right" and change the name. Thursday's letters were aimed directly at Goodell.

In a written response, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said "diversity and inclusion" have long been a focus of the NFL.

"The intent of the team's name has always been to present a strong, positive and respectful image," McCarthy said. "The name is not used by the team or the NFL in any other context, though we respect those that view it differently."

Reid and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., led the letter-writing effort. All senators on the letter are Democrats. Cantwell spokesman Jared Leopold said Republicans were not asked to participate.

Cantwell later said on the Senate floor that she was inviting Republicans to sign the letter or write their own.

"I'm convinced that if each member of this body speaks on this issue and is forceful in their resolve, that we can help initiate change," she said.

How America Treats Illegal Aliens vs. Veterans

• A government that fails to secure its borders is guilty of dereliction of duty. 
• A government that fails to care for our men and women on the frontlines is guilty of malpractice. 
• A government that puts the needs of illegal aliens above U.S. veterans for political gain should be prosecuted for criminal neglect bordering on treason.

Compare, contrast and weep:

In Sacramento, Calif., lawmakers are moving forward with a budget-busting plan to extend government-funded health insurance to at least 1.5 million illegal aliens.

In Los Angeles, federal bureaucrats callously canceled an estimated 40,000 diagnostic tests and treatments for American veterans with cancer and other illnesses to cover up a decade-long backlog.

In New York, doctors report that nearly 40 percent of their patients receiving kidney dialysis are illegal aliens. A survey of nephrologists in 44 states revealed that 65 percent of them treat illegal aliens with kidney disease.

In Memphis, a VA whistleblower reported that his hospital was using contaminated kidney dialysis machines to treat America's warriors. The same hospital previously had been investigated for chronic overcrowding at its emergency room, leading to six-hour waits or longer. Another watchdog probe found unconscionable delays in processing lab tests at the center. In addition, three patients died under negligent circumstances, and the hospital failed to enforce accountability measures.

In Arizona, illegal aliens incurred health care costs totaling an estimated $700 million in 2009.

In Phoenix, at least 40 veterans died waiting for VA hospitals and clinics to treat them, while government officials created secret waiting lists to cook the books and deceive the public about deadly treatment delays.

At the University of California at Berkeley, UC President Janet Napolitano (former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security) has offered $5 million in financial aid to illegal alien students. Across the country, 16 states offer in-state tuition discounts for illegal aliens: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington. In addition, the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education, the University of Hawaii Board of Regents and the University of Michigan Board of Regents all approved their own illegal alien tuition benefits.

In 2013, the nation's most selective colleges and universities had enrolled just 168 American veterans, down from 232 in 2011. Anti-war activists have waged war on military recruitment offices at elite campuses for years. The huge influx of illegal aliens in state universities is shrinking the number of state-subsidized slots for vets.

In 2013, the Obama Department of Homeland Security released 36,007 known, convicted criminal illegal aliens, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. The catch-and-release beneficiaries include thugs convicted of homicide, sexual assault, kidnapping, and thousands of drunk or drugged driving crimes.

The same Department of Homeland Security issued a report in 2009 that identified returning combat veterans as worrisome terrorist and criminal threats to America.

In Washington, Big Business and open-borders lobbyists are redoubling efforts to pass another massive illegal alien amnesty to flood the U.S. job market with low-wage labor.

Across the country, men and women in uniform returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan have higher jobless rates than the civilian population. The unemployment rate for new veterans has spiked to its worst levels, nearing 15 percent. For veterans ages 24 and under, the jobless rate is a whopping 29.1 percent, compared to 17.6 percent nationally for the age group.

A Forbes columnist reported last year that an Air Force veteran was told: "We don't hire your kind."

And last December, Democrats led the charge to reduce cost-of-living increases in military pensions -- while blocking GOP Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions' efforts to close a $4.2 billion loophole that allows illegal aliens to collect child tax credits from the IRS, even if they pay no taxes. The fraudulent payments to illegal aliens would have offset the cuts to veterans' benefits.

America: medical and welfare welcome mat to the rest of the world, while leavings its best and bravest veterans to languish in hospital lounges, die waiting for appointments, and compete for jobs and educational opportunities against illegal border-crossers, document fakers, visa violators and deportation evaders. Shame on us.

Michelle Malkin is the author of "Culture of Corruption: Obama and his Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks and Cronies" (Regnery 2010). Her e-mail address is malkinblog@gmail.com.

COPYRIGHT 2014 CREATORS.COM

New York City Program Would Pay for Environmentally Friendly Toilets

Tired of your toilet? New York City is proposing to buy a new, environmentally friendly commode for thousands of apartment dwellers.

The city's Department of Environmental Protection is launching a $23 million program to replace as many as 200,000 toilets in up to 10,000 buildings citywide. Officials expect the program to ultimately save about 10 million gallons of water each day and reduce city costs by $9 million a year.

On Friday, the city's Water Board, a five-person panel appointed by the mayor, is expected to authorize funding for the program when it adopts the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The board is slated to approve a 3.35% increase in water and sewer rates, the lowest increase in nine years.

The toilet replacement program is part of an effort by the city to reduce overall demand for water by 5% by 2020. Between 1994 and 1997, when the city offered a similar toilet replacement program, 1.3 million toilets were replaced.

"Conserving water is not only the right thing to do, but it can also save money, reduce the amount of energy we use and improve the quality of our air," said Emily Lloyd, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection.

The first phase of the program targets between 7,000 and 10,000 residential buildings that are among the 28,000 properties in the city's multifamily conservation program, which bills ratepayers based on a fixed charge rather than meter readings. These buildings are required to install high-efficiency toilets by June 2016 to remain in the program.

For eligible buildings, the city is offering a $125 voucher that can be redeemed from five vendors for the purchase of a toilet certified as high efficiency by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The cost of the toilets varies by model, but officials said several sell for $125 or less.

Ohio father and son face sex trafficking charges

The family that "traffics" together .........................

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio authorities say a father and son are facing federal charges of sex trafficking involving a child and transporting women for prostitution in exchange for heroin.

The Ohio Attorney General's Office says 46-year-old Keith Arrick Sr. of Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, and 21-year-old Keith Arrick Jr. of Lima (LY'-muh) were indicted this week on charges that included conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.

The indictment says the pair took the juvenile and the women to Columbus hotels and advertised them as prostitutes on the Internet. Arrick Sr. is accused of giving the women heroin in exchange for prostituting themselves and threatened to kill them if they tried to leave.

Both were in jail in Columbus. No attorney information was available.

Cleveland in as possible GOP 2016 convention site

By Jessica Wehrman
Washington Bureau

Cincinnati withdrew itself from the competition to host the 2016 Republican National Convention Thursday, leaving Cleveland the sole Ohio contender for the nominating convention.

Cleveland will now face Dallas, Kansas City, Mo., and Denver, Colo., in the final stages of the competition to win the convention.

Columbus, which had also submitted a bid to host the GOP convention, was cut from the competition last month. City officials plan to submit a bid for the Democratic National Convention instead.

Landing a national party convention can mean an economic boost of hundreds of millions of dollars for the host region and bring in more than 50,000 visitors.

Cincinnati officials reportedly withdrew their bid because of concerns that U.S. Bank Arena did not meet the facilities requirements for the convention. Las Vegas, once thought to be a front-runner, also withdrew from the running because of concerns about the availability of convention sites in the days leading up to the convention.

Fleet Week back in New York City with impressive ships, enthusiastic sailors

The Dayton Triangles

I have heard of The Dayton Triangles all of my life. Born and raised in Dayton I have heard many stories about this team. I number of "Doctor" friends, either as Interns or Residents, attended games as team physicians.

My Dad, the Doctor, had a few of the players as patients over the years.

Triangle Park, the origin of their name, I have been at many times. My Brother, Dean Shannon Dooley, went to Steele High School, played basketball and track. He was a high jumper and broad jumper. Steele had no track, a downtown school, surrounded by commercial buildings. They practiced and held their meets at Triangle Park.

Dayton was famous for many things, General Motors, National Cash Register, and other manufacturing plants. Charles Kettering lived in Dayton. Among other things, he invented the electric starter for cars. The Wright Brothers were from Dayton.

I grew up and around so much history that I didn't realize the importance of it until later life. I delivered newspapers on occasions to Orville Wright. Thought nothing of it at the time.

I remember being in the Navy, my first cruise to Japan, went in to a store in Tokyo, far away from home, first things I saw, a cash register, NCR, made a few blocks from my home. It made the world much smaller.

Runnymede Playhouse

I lived in Oakwood, moved there in '43. Walked by this area, often, knew something was going on, but very hush, hush. Knew some kids whose parent's worked there, they said nothing. A few blocks from where we lived was Sugar Camp, housed Waves who were working on the Enigma Code Machine. Have seen them marching around the camp. There were a number of "secret" things going on around Dayton. Found out about them ..... after the war.

Located a near Dixon Avenue and Runnymede Road, a contemporary home stands on the former site of the Runnymede Playhouse, a building that played a unique part in the City of Oakwood’s history. Originally part of the Talbott family estate, Runnymede Playhouse was first a social and entertainment center for the Oakwood community. During World War II, the playhouse was used as a facility for research and refinement of polonium bomb triggers.

Harry Talbott was one of the founders of the Dayton Metal Products Company and the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company. A civil engineer, he was one of OakwoodÂ’s first residents and became OakwoodÂ’s first mayor. Following his death in 1921, his wife, Katherine Houk Talbott, remained prominent in DaytonÂ’s social and cultural life. In 1927, she had the Runnymede Playhouse, a glass-topped structure large enough for 1200 women to play bridge, built on the family’s property in west Oakwood. The Runnymede Playhouse was used for community functions such as graduations, dances, and meetings as well as serving as an entertainment venue for the Talbott family. The complex included indoor tennis and squash courts as well as a ballroom and stage.

In the 1940s, Dr. Charles Allen Thomas, an engineer who had married into the Talbott family, assisted the Monsanto Chemical Company in procuring a lease on Runnymede Playhouse. He promised his mother-in-law, Katherine Talbott, that heÂ’d return the playhouse in the same condition. The playhouse was used to conduct research into polonium, an element used in the production of atomic weapons. Polonium forms part of the bombsÂ’ triggers and is still a part of atomic weapon construction. 

Known as Unit IV, the Runnymede Playhouse was one of five facilities around Dayton involved in nuclear bomb research. Nearly 90 people worked at Unit IV. Oral histories state that big trucks rolled in and out, and floodlights and heavy duty power lines were strung around the property. In 1949, operations moved to Miamisburg, and the following year the Runnymede Playhouse was demolished. 

The structure and ground were transported to Tennessee for safe burial. In 1998, The Ohio EPA working with the Ohio Department of Health determined that no immediate health risks are posed by the site.

Bear cub charms police in Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Police in southern Oregon held an unlikely suspect overnight: an adorable black bear cub.

Myrtle Creek Police Chief Don Brown says a teen boy and his parents dropped off the cub in a large plastic storage bin at the police station Monday. The teen found the small animal whimpering in the bushes outside his house on the outskirts of town. He told police the bear's mother was nowhere in sight. Still, Brown said it was dangerous for the teen to pick up the cub, because the mother bear could have spotted him and attacked. Adult female black bears can weigh up to 300 pounds. The 12-pound cub was "very well behaved" while spending the night at the station, Brown said.

Police and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife officials looked for the cub's mother the next day using a device that mimics a cub distress call, but couldn't find her.

The orphaned cub is now at the University of Oregon receiving a veterinary checkup. Fish and Wildlife officials said the cub is a female and is in generally good health, other than being underweight.

They said the cub will be placed at a zoo, but they didn't yet know which one.

Oregon is home to 25,000 to 30,000 black bears. Myrtle Creek, 90 miles south of Eugene, has an abundance of wildlife, the police chief said. Residents often call authorities about bear and cougar sightings.

"We've had two baby rattlesnakes brought into the station, but nobody has brought in a bear in the last nine years I've been here," Brown said.

Wildlife officials say they do not know what happened to the cub's mother. Spring bear hunting season kicked off April 1 in Oregon, but it's illegal to kill sows with cubs that are less than a year old.

Officials say no dead bear has been found in the area, no hunter has reported killing one, and there have been no reports of a bear being hit by a car.

Admired college professor maintains lie about doctorate for five years until he’s revealed as a fraud

A respected and popular professor at Polk State College (PSC) in Lakeland, Florida has been revealed as a fraud after forging documents to show he held a doctorate from the University of South Florida (USF). 

As reported by The Ledger, 55-year-old David Scott Broxterman was arrested Wednesday and now faces charges of grand theft and cheating. 

Broxterman secured a teaching position at PSC, which required a doctorate degree, for five years, starting in 2009, and was paid a total of $258,760 during that time period. Because of his falsified documents, the State Attorney’s Office is labeling that money ‘stolen wages.’

Marine Debris - A tremendous problem

Marine debris is defined as "any manufactured or processed solid waste material that enters the marine environment from any source." Debris is everywhere—found around every major body of water on the planet, and below water as well. Marine debris is a global pollution problem that impacts human health and safety, endangers wildlife and aquatic habitats, and costs local and national economies millions in wasted resources and lost revenues.

Many people assume that if trash exists in the ocean, it must be that the fishing and shipping industries are to blame. But in fact, only 20% of the items found in the ocean can be linked to ocean-based sources, like commercial fishing vessels, cargo ships (discharge of containers and garbage), or pleasure cruise ships.

The remainder (80%) is due to land-based sources, like litter (from pedestrians, motorists, beach visitors), industrial discharges (in the form of plastic pellets and powders), and garbage management (ill-fitting trash can lids, etc).

Pope Faces Serious Health Concerns as Holy Land Trip Begins

As Pope Francis begins a trip to the Holy Land on Saturday with a rigorous schedule that could be challenging even for the healthiest person, Vatican insiders are raising questions about the pontiff's health.

Some in the Holy See are beginning to openly discuss concerns about Francis' condition and asking if the Holy Father is overtaxing himself.

Less than two years into his papacy, the 77-year-old Pope has been on a remarkable whirlwind of activity that a man half his age might find difficult to keep up with.

But close observers are noting that the Pope's physical body may be failing to keep up with his youthful energy and vigor, especially considering he only has one fully functioning lung.