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There are some recent changes in the recommendations for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Thankfully the death rate from CVD declined by 60% since 1950. Heart attacks and strokes caused well over 50% of deaths in 1980, but approximately 35% of deaths in 2016. Improved lifestyle, less tobacco use, and treatment of modifiable risk factors have helped. In the 1960s approximately 42% of Americans were regular smokers. This is currently down to 14%. There has also been improvement in management of...
When I was in elementary school, the teachers gave us a report card every quarter that we were supposed to show our parents. I dutifully handed this over to my parents, and they would make comments. They were pleased that I got As in Math and Science, but were not happy if I got a D in Conduct and Behavior. . . That is another story, but it is analogous to how "Glycosylated Hemoglobin Testing" is used in diabetes. You already know that Diabetes mellitus ("sugar diabetes") is a serious medical...
On November 29th of 2011 our Knights of Columbus group (chapter 3002 of Sidney) was asked to help prevent abortions. The Sunrise Resource Pregnancy Center (SRPC) had been recently started in our city, and they wanted the KCs to buy them an ultrasound machine. It was hoped that having an ultrasound would help undecided pregnant women make “life-affirming” choices. There have been over 55 million abortions performed in the United States since 1973. Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRCs) attempt to dea...
In case you didn’t notice, Spring is here. Many lawns in town are already looking pretty good. Most of the others will green up with some moisture. Regardless of how your lawn looks, however, it doesn’t hurt to go through a spring routine to improve the health and appearance of your lawn. The first thing that yard owners need to do is clean up the mess that has accumulated over the winter months. Dog droppings, decayed leaves, and other garbage needs to removed. Many people use a hand rake and...
Whether you love him or hate him, Bill O’Reilly is a celebrity that you probably know. His news show, “The Factor”, can be seen on the Fox news channel on weekdays at 8 p.m., 11 p.m., and 5 a.m. He claims that he has had the number one rated news show for the last 12 years. I haven’t found anything to refute this claim. The Fox news channel, in fact, draws more viewers than CNN, MSNBC, and HLN combined. O’Reilly is a broadcaster who not only reports the news but also expresses his opinion o...
I recently visited the great state of Texas. The plan was to take the Amtrak to St. Paul, and then for my brother (Roger) and I to drive down to the San Antonio area. We hoped to see a few new places, play a few rounds of golf, and join up with Father Ned Shinnick, who spends each February in the Canyon Lake area. The Amtrak provided transportation for the first leg of my journey. I made the 7 pm to 7 am ride from Williston to St. Paul without incident. The “clickety clack” of the rails lul...
In case you didn’t realize it, last Thursday was Groundhog Day. February 2nd is the day when a legendary groundhog (Punxsutawney Phil of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania) comes out of his winter lodging. If he sees his shadow then there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If he doesn’t see his shadow, there will be an early spring. Last year there was no shadow – yet it turned out to be anything but an early spring. This year there was a shadow. That is supposed to mean six more weeks of winte...
It has been 40 years since singer and songwriter Jim Croce died in an airplane crash. His music inspired me in the 1970s; and some of his words have recently come back to haunt me. “Photographs and memories,” Croce sings, “Christmas cards you sent to me . . . all that I have are these to remember you.” I’ve been doing a lot of reminiscing lately. That’s because I recently put together a “best of” DVD of our family videotapes. Working on this compilation has been a bittersweet experience. On...
Is President Obama, as Newt Gingrich claims, the biggest “food stamp president” of all time? You be the judge . . . There are now about 46 million people on food stamps. That compares to 29 million in 2009, at the beginning of Obama’s term, and 17 million in 2001, at the beginning of George W. Bush’s term. The economic recession of 2007-2009 caused a doubling of our unemployment rate. That undoubtedly led to an increase in applications for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)...
The events of the past week point out a few things about our community. “Life in Sidney,” several people have told me, “will never be the same.” The worst possible thing has happened. One of our favorite citizens (teacher, daughter, sister, wife and mother) has been missing – and has reportedly been abducted and murdered. We mourn her loss, and commiserate with her family for what they are going through. Everyone knows we are in the middle of a major upheaval in our economy. Sidney and surro...
Bible Baptist Church When you walk into Sidney’s Bible Baptist Church, you can’t help but notice that it is a hub of activity. The church runs the Liberty Christian School, and the school’s 25 students were all busy when I visited their facility. The church and school are in the process of adding a 1400 square foot addition to their building. The new construction will house a classroom, a nursery, bathrooms, office space, and a wheelchair lift. Bible Baptist Church came into being in 1974 when...
The Richland County Disaster & Emergency Services (DES) held a workshop this past Saturday at the St. Matthew’s Parish Center. The goal of the workshop was to help people get ready for the winter season. Butch Renders, the director of DES, was the moderator for the session. The workshop was not well attended. Several people commented that it may take a major storm for people in the MonDak region to realize how truly dangerous winter weather can be. Becky Bradley, Richland County Safety C...
I recently learned that my son (Ian) made a Facebook posting saying that my wife and I should never have pretended that there was a Santa Claus. His Facebook note tells the world that we “completely abused my trust in them,” and we now “feel bad” that we ever did that. “I’m not,” Ian says, “going to do the same thing to my kids whether they believe me or not.” Ian goes on to say: “I believed in [Santa Claus] until 5th grade. My friends told me that Santa wasn’t real, but I didn’t listen to them...
For the last two months the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement has dominated the national spotlight. I find the goals of the movement to be somewhat nebulous, however. Some say they are hoping to make America a more equitable place to live, others say they are protesting just for the sake of protesting. The OWS phenomenon is interesting. I agree that our society has become fragmented. Some pundits say that President Obama created this “class warfare” dissension. He repeatedly says that one percen...
Eight months ago my wife and I suffered through the death of our beloved dog, Oscar. Coupled with the fact that our kids are all in college, our house has become an awfully quiet place. “Why don’t you just get another dog?” our friends would ask. Well . . . it’s not that easy. A dog that has been a part of your family for 13 years is not that easy to replace. My wife wanted us to get a Labradoodle, which is a cross between a Poodle and a Labrador. That sounded like too much of a gimmick to me....
Hal and Jean Campbell moved to Sidney in 2008. Hal was a college professor at the California State University, and continues to teach via online courses. Jean is active in a variety of church and community activities. Jean and my wife (Shelley) have become the best of friends. I am friends with Hal Campbell, and find him to be a “regular guy” and also someone who has extremely intelligent and interesting views on Science, Philosophy and Religion. Hal Campbell wrote the book, Why: The Phi...
The name Rance Haralson is synonymous with Sidney Flag Football. And it should be. Rance and his wife, Colleen, have run Sidney’s Flag Football Program for the last 16 years. Wayne Swigart is the one who started the Sidney program, back in 1990, and he ran the program for the first 5 years of its existence. This program has been highly successful. Many kids and parents have enjoyed their “flag football days,” and appreciate the work that these community benefactors have done. Ninety-two kids...
We were out of town when Sidney experienced a terrible storm on April 30th of this year. Many trees were blown down. When we got home we discovered that seven of our fence posts were broken off at ground level. Our beautiful white picket fence was broken, lying on the ground, and seemed to be damaged beyond any possibility of repair. It was an attack on our home from a devastating spring storm that came on the heels of a terrible winter. Many people sustained more damage to their homes than we...
Last Friday’s airplane crash at the Reno NV National Championship Air Races had a Sidney connection. Phil Petrik, a longtime local pilot, was about one thousand yards away from where the P-51 Mustang airplane crashed into the VIP seats in front of the grandstands. Petrik was a member of the deceased pilot’s pit crew. The pilot of the crashed plane, Jimmy Leeward, was highly regarded. Many people think that Leeward attempted to steer his plummeting aircraft away from the grandstands before it...
If you dial 701-744-5759 you will hear a pleasant voice informing you that “Green Acres Sod Farm” is able and willing to take care of your sod needs. That is the voice of Josie Riedel. She might even tell you that sod provides “instant grassification.” She does remind people, however, that you need to install sod “green side up” to have good results. Josie’s husband Richard got into the sod business back in 1986. They were living in Flathead Valley at the time. Richard saw that “there was a...
There was an early morning fog on the day of our planned mountain bike expedition – an omen that I should have paid more attention to. Eight members of the family reunion said they would make the trip, but only 5 followed through on the plan. We wanted to try out the famous Maah Daah Hey Bike Trail System, which is Native-American for “an area that has been or will be around for a long time.” The side trail that we were directed to was the “Bully Pulpit Trail.” This was supposed to be “easier” t...
Another Richland County Fair has come and gone. This year’s Fair was greatly influenced by the weather. When it was storming (as it was on Friday) the traffic was slow and the vendors didn’t have much to do. When the weather was nice (as it was on Saturday) the crowd was overflowing, the vendors were busy, and everyone had a good time. The Fair is a rite of summertime that has been a part of Kessler family life for the last 25 years. Some of you have Fair memories that go back much further tha...
“Debate over the age of the universe and earth and the duration of the Genesis creation days have . . . deeply divided” the Christian community. So says Hugh Ross, astronomer, pastor, and author of the book, A Matter of Days: Resolving a Creation Controversy. In his book (which was loaned to me by my son) Dr. Ross says that it is his hope that his work will “bring reconciliation” to this controversy. Ross’s book states that the scientific community almost uniformly agrees that the earth is...
Is your house filled with too much stuff? Ours certainly is. Twenty-six years of “Conspicuous Consumerism” has taken its toll on our household. It’s a common problem. To paraphrase Thoreau, author of Walden, instead of us owning our possessions – it has gotten to the point where our possessions now own us. Thank God for Yard Sales. They are an opportunity for us to clean out our garages, basements and attics of stuff that we no longer use. And this is the season when Yard Sales are especia...
Last weekend my wife (Shelley) decided to have a gathering. It was a belated “4th of July” celebration. It was also a chance for her to make a statement about where she thought our country has been, where it is now, and where it might be heading . . . The theme of the day was “God & Country”. We had two dozen people at our picnic, and they were warned ahead of time that there would be a program consistent with the title of this event. With that being the case, the guests squeezed into our fam...
