R-9 News Release.

The following is the news release that was received by the media last Friday evening. It is reproduced here in its entirety.

"Thursday evening, August 27, 2009, the Carthage R-IX Board of Education voted to terminate the employment of Ms. Lynda Homa. Ms. Homa was given full due process of law and an opportunity to refute the charges preferred against her. However, after deliberation and consideration of the evidence before the Board, the evidence demonstrated that termination was the necessary and proper course of action.

"The charges preferred against Ms. Homa were taken very seriously by the board as the charges were related to the failure to follow state guidelines pertaining to the Parents as Teachers Program. The conduct at issue broke the trust between the Parents as Teachers Program and the families it serves in the Carthage community and was not within the purpose of a public school district. Such conduct is not condoned by the Carthage R-IX School District.

"The district’s Parents as Teachers Program will continue to serve and guide the area’s children and families; however it is not, nor ever will be, the function of the District’s Parents as Teachers Program to engage in social work beyond the guidelines of the Program.

"The District will always act to protect the best interests of the children in this community."

Thank you,

Jeff Jones, President

Carthage R-IX Board of Education

DHS: No Political Influence in Stimulus Funding Decisions

by Christopher Flavelle, ProPublica

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano defended her department’s awarding of stimulus dollars after the Associated Press reported that political consideration influenced decisions over which border checkpoints got stimulus funding. Napolitano said the story "was just wrong and I’ll say that because there was no kind of political issues involved there." The Department of Homeland Security reportedly keeps an internal priority list of border stations that need repairs or upgrading; according to the AP, stations higher on that list were passed over for stimulus funds in favor of lesser-used facilities because of political lobbying.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has opened an inquiry in Missouri after the state chapter of the NAACP told Vice President Joe Biden that too few minority-owned businesses were involved in stimulus work there, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The NAACP claims the state Department of Transportation didn’t make "vigorous efforts" to maximize the involvement of minority- and women-owned businesses, as federal guidelines require. A spokesman for MoDOT said, according to the paper, that "most of the stimulus projects contracted so far have been in rural areas, where there are fewer minority contractors than in larger cities."

The Commerce Department has received some 2,200 applications for stimulus funding for broadband projects, USA Today reports. The applications request a total of $28 billion, nearly four times the $7.2 billion available from the Recovery Act for bringing high-speed Internet access to underserved areas. The flood of applications is particularly noteworthy because, as ProPublica noted earlier this month, major Internet providers AT&T, Verizon, Qwest and Comcast declined to apply for this round of grants, leaving the field to smaller players.

A construction company in Ohio is suing the administration of Gov. Ted Strickland for failing to act quickly enough to secure stimulus dollars, reports The Columbus Dispatch. The company, National Building Resources Inc., says Strickland was slow to apply for stimulus dollars for road projects, keeping thousands of workers who might have been employed on stimulus-funded projects this summer out of work. A spokeswoman for the governor claims he is moving quickly.

I see they are comin’ to some startlin’ conclusions ‘bout how ta live longer. They are sayin’ ta eat right, get some exercise, and don’t worry about it. Odd, but seems those have been words of advice for the last hunderd years or so.

The difference, before it was just common sense, now it’s a scientific fact.

Seems your brain wearin’ out causes more problems to appear and starts ya on the down hill slide. If you’re in general good health, payin’ attention to the gray matter can add years to your life. Excersise keeps plenty of blood flowin’ to the head, good eatin’ gives the brain the nourishment it needs to keep in shape, and keepin’ stress at a low level lets the brain spend more time doin’ some constructive mental excersise. Who’d a thunk it?

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

---

 

---

To Your Good Health

By Paul G. Donohue, M.D.

Leg Pain When Walking Suggests Artery Disease

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Please discuss peripheral artery disease. I think I have it. I get calf pain when I walk. I have seen the ads on TV where a woman and her grandson discuss this. The boy asks her if she has it. She says she doesn’t know. That’s where I am. I don’t know, but I think I might. -- N.O.

ANSWER: Peripheral artery disease, PAD, also called peripheral vascular disease, means that arteries in the legs -- the periphery -- are clogged and leg muscles aren’t getting enough blood. The proof comes from walking. People with PAD get leg pain when they walk a certain distance, and they can tell you almost to the inch when the pain will start. The pain leaves when they take a rest, but returns after they have resumed walking

The site of pain depends on where the blockage occurs. Pain in the buttock or thigh indicates a blockage high in the leg arteries. Pain in the calf comes from a block from midthigh to knee, and pain in the foot comes from a lower blockage.

PAD is a common malady. Five percent of men and 2.5 percent of women over 60 have it, even though some have no symptoms.

A doctor can make the diagnosis in the office. If there’s an obstruction to blood flow in the leg arteries, the pulses at the ankle and on the top of the foot will be weak. Many doctors are equipped to take the ankle blood pressure. The blood pressure at the ankle should be the same as the blood pressure in the arm. If it’s much less, that indicates an obstruction to blood flow in the leg artery.

People with PAD often have CAD, coronary artery disease. The same process that clogs leg arteries also clogs heart arteries. You must see your doctor. He can check the status of your leg arteries, and he can check the status of your heart arteries. There are medicines for both conditions, as well as recommendations for diet changes and exercise.