Little Creek Bar-B-Cue,

located at 1004 Washington Blvd., in Bangor, is

holding a benefit for Daniele Demler on January
31st, from 12pm to 6pm.
Eighty percent of the days
profits will benefit Daniele
Demler, former Slate Belt
resident who was severely
injured in October when she
was struck by a motorcycle.
For more information, call
Little Creek Bar-B-Cue at
610-588-3831.
Parking space rentals are
availabe in five municipal
lots
throughout
the
Borough
of
Bangor.
Always have a space to park!
Cost is $40 per month or
$100 for three months. Call
the Borough office at 610588-2216 for details.
Bangor Elks 2015 Hoop
Shoot Results are as
follows: Winners for age
eight and nine girls, Addison Karasek and runnerup Brooke Bond; age eight
and nine Boys, Jonathan
Frank and runner-up MJ
Siu; age 10 and 11 girls,
Caydence McLain and
runner-up Emma Toth; 10
and 11 boys, Anthony
DeFranco and runner-up
Ashton Kluska; age 12 and
13 girls, Madison Kluska
and runner-up Abigail
Giamoni; age 12 and 13
boys, Abram Dent and
runner-up Rein Farensbach. The winners will
advance to the Northeast
District Hoop Shoot on

Saturday, February 13th,

hosted by the Danville Elks
Lodge. A total of 41 girls and
boys participated in the local
event held on Saturday,
December 19th at Washington Elementary School in
Bangor.
Slate Belt Health and
Rehabilitation is looking
for volunteers. If you enjoy
talking, singing, dancing,
exercising, reading, and
more, and would like to
share your gifts with the
residents, stop by 701 Slate
Belt Boulevard in Bangor for
an application, or call 610588-6161. Volunteers must
be at least 16 years old.
St. Johns Cemetery is
seeking donations to help
with the upkeep of the cemetery, roadways and monuments. They are also exploring the idea of adding a
Community Columbarium
near the mosoleum. Donations can be sent to Carol
Hummel c/o St. Johns Cemetery, 136 Messinger Street,
Bangor, PA 18013.
The Slate Belt Heritage
Center Oral History Project is seeking Slate Belt
senior citizens who would
like to be interviewed. If
you know of anyone who has
a story, call Marc Blau at
570-897-5459.
The Ladies Auxiliary of
the Mt. Bethel Volunteer
Fire Company in Mt.
Bethel is seeking new members and volunteers. If you
are interested and would like
further information, contact
Gail at 570-897-6293 or Kris
at 610-392-7975.

Project Self-Sufficiency
will sponsor a free seminar
about issues related to
Family Law on Wednesday, January 13th, from
7pm to 9pm
at the
agencys campus, located
at 127 Mill Street in
Newton. The program will
address
child
support,
grounds for divorce, court
procedures,
custody,
alimony, parenting time,
equitable distribution of
assets, and other topics
related to divorce.
The
presentation is free and open
to the public, but registration
is required. To register, call
Project Self-Sufficiency at
973-940-3500.
Fresh, refrigerated and
frozen foods are available
to
northwestern
New
Jersey residents at reduced
prices through the Jolin
Food Box program. The
food assistance program
offers a variety of ordering
options, from breakfastlunch-dinner
combination
packs to boxes of dinner
entrees to special packages
just for children.
Each
month features a variety of
high-quality menu items
from seafood and poultry to
baked goods and prepared
meals. The price of a single
box ranges from $20 to $40.
There is no limit to the
number
of
boxes
an
individual or family can
purchase, and the menu
changes each month. Interested residents can order
online with a credit card at
www.jolinfoodbox.comor by
calling
Project
SelfSufficiency at 973-9403500.
Payment is made
when the order is placed.
The next deadline for placing an order is Wednesday,
January 20th; delivery will
be made to Project SelfSufficiency on Saturday,
January 30th. To find out
more about the monthly food
deliveries by the Jolin Food
Box Program at Project
Self-Sufficiency, or any of
the other programs and
services available at the
agency, call 973-940-3500,
or
visit
www.project
selfsufficiency.org.
Blairstown Recreation is

offering Winter workout

sessions of Zumba, PiYo,
and Pilates for adults and
teens. Zumba is on Tuesday
and
Thursday
evenings from 6pm to 7pm,
now through March 24th
at Blair Academy Dance
Studio. Pilates is on Tuesdays and Thursdays from
9:15am to 10:15am at the
Evangelical Free Church,
now through March 24th.
PiYo is on Tuesdays
through March 8th at Blairstown Elementary School
from 4pm to 5pm. For more
information, please visit
www.blairstown-nj.org and
click on Recreation or
contact the recreation office.
NORWESCAPs Career
and
Life
Transitions
Center for Women is hosting a collaborative monthly
workshop called At the
Table: Support, Information, Hope. The workshop
will be run by a local family
law attorney and financial
expert. They will be collaborating to help women navigate through the challenges
of untying the knot. The
workshop will be held at the
Career and Life Transitions
Center, 16 Broad Street in
Washington, starting on
Thursday, January 14th from
6pm to 8pm. For more information, please call 908-8352624 or www. conleyc2norw
escap.org.
Free exercise classes will
be held for adults at town
hall
in
Johnsonburg.
Classes are an hour long on
Monday and Wednesday at
10am, and Saturday at 9am;
or Tuesday, Thursday and
Friday at 4:45pm. For more
information, visit www.
frelinghuysennj.us/aerobics.
htm, call Cathy at 908-8527426, or email cathy@cathy
baobean.com.
Public Notice: Pursuant to
the Open Public Meetings
Act, Chapter 231, P.L. 1975,
and in accordance with
N.J.S.A. 40:20-75, notice is
hereby given that at the
Regular
Meeting
held
December 9th, 2015, the
Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Warren
took action as follows:
Scheduled a Regular Meeting for Wednesday, January
13th at 7pm. All meetings
will be held in the Freehold-

ers Meeting Room, Wayne

Dumont, Jr. Administration
Building, 165 Route 519S, in
Belvidere.
A March for Life Bus to
Washington, DC, sponsored by St. Jude Knights
of Columbus, will be leaving St. Jude parking lot at
6am, and return to St. Jude
around 10:30pm on January 22nd.
Those who
cannot make the walk and
desire to pray will be
dropped off at the National
Shrine of the Basilica of the
Immaculate
Conception.
Youth under 18 years old
must be accompanied by an
adult guardian. All denominations are welcome. Suggested donation is $25 per
person. Seats are limited.
Please contact Robert Ho at
908-382-1525 to reserve
your seats as soon as
possible.
Blairstown Recreation is

offering to boys and girls in

grades two through six
Junk Box Wars! Using
nothing more than junk,
the students will work in
teams to meet a new crazy
challenge every week. They
use their imaginations and
scientific knowledge to first
design, then draw, and
finally build a variety of
devices that perform all
kinds of tasks. Challenges
may include super slingers,
rocket rallies, bottle blasters,
zoom machines and more!
Registration is currently
being accepted at the Recreation Office. The program is
on Tuesdays, February 9th
through March 1st, from
3:15pm to 4:30pm at Blairstown Elementary School
small cafeteria. For more
information, contact the
recreation office at 908362-6663 ext. 232 or visit
www.blairstown-nj.org.

Adult Fiction: Alkemade,

Kim Van: Orphan #8; Cornwell,
Patricia
Daniels:
Depraved Heart; Fluke,
Joanne: Blueberry Muffin
Murder; Red Velvet Cupcake
Murder; Strawberry Shortcake Murder; Miller, Linda
Lael: Mckettricks Luck;
Rosenberg, Joel: The First
Hostage; Sanders, Ben:
American Blood; Trussoni,
Danielle: Angelology.
Adult Non Fiction; Franklin, Jonathan: 438 Days An
Extraordinary True Story Of
Survival At Sea; Simon,
Carly: Boys In The Trees;
Wilson, Rainn: The Bassoon
King My Life In Art, Faith,
And Idiocy.
Large Print Fiction: Demille, Nelson: The Panther;
Evanovich, Janet: Notorious
Nineteen; Quick, Amanda:
Crystal Gardens; Robb, J.D.:
Celebrity In Death; Roberts,

Nora: The Witness.

Young Adult Fiction:
Armentrout,
Jennifer:
Oblivion; Bronte, Charlotte:
Jane Eyre; Lee, Harper: To
Kill A Mockingbird; Meyer,
Marissa: Winter; Paolini,
Christopher: Ineritance Or
The Vault Of Souls.
Junior
Non
Fiction:
Chrisp, Peter: Explore Titantic.
Easy Fiction: Barnett, Mac:
The Terrible Two; Friedman,
Laurie: Thanksgiving Rules;
Martin, Bill: Chicka Chicka
1,2,3; Morrissey, Dean: The
Christmas Ship.
Easy Non Fiction: Arlon,
Penelope: Puppies And
Kittens; St. George, Judith:
Stand Tall, Abe Lincoln.
Dvds: Castle The Complete
First Season; The Complete
Second Season; Dawn Of
The Planet Of The Apes;
Inside Out.

After two and a half years

of community input, two
pieces
of
legislation
designed by House Republicans to greater assist those
attempting to achieve the
American Dream, were
signed into law by Gov. Tom
Wolf.
The
legislation,
cosponsored by House Majority Leader Dave Reed (RIndiana), encourages lowincome families in Pennsylvania to earn their way out
of poverty through educational supports and breaks
down the current so-called
benefits cliff for child care
assistance programs. House
Bills 1164 and 934, which
were both contained in the
Human Services Code (Act
92 of 2015), reform two
separate programs which
were serving as disincentives to economic growth
and self-reliance.
In the attempt to help
families in need, government sometimes adopts laws
that have unintended consequences, said Reed. This
new law makes the necessary changes so parents are
not dissuaded from finishing
their education or refuse a

raise due to the loss of

government benefits. These
reforms are essential in
helping families fulfill their
own version of the American Dream
through hard work, playing
by the rules, and working
their way off the welfare
system.
In the past, families who
earned more money eventually reached a so-called
benefits cliff at which
point even a slight increase
in their income made them
ineligible for services worth
substantially more than the
potential raise. This discouraged many families from
accepting pay increases or
working additional hours.
The legislation addresses
this issue by increasing copayments as parents earn
more income. Under the
new law, when parents reach
the current benefits cliff,
they would not be cut off
from services. Instead, as
they earn more money, their
responsibility for the cost of
services would increase
until their income can
support it entirely.
Additionally, the law redesigns the Keystone Educa-

tion Yields Success Program

(KEYS) to allow Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) recipients
the ability to graduate with
associate degrees in a
high-priority occupation
at any of Pennsylvanias 14
community colleges, a
career or technical school, or
a Pennsylvania State System
of Higher Education university. High-priority occupations are classified as jobs
Pennsylvania
businesses
desperately need filled that
pay
family
sustaining
wages.
Prior to the legislation, the
KEYS
program
only
allowed students to enroll in
the program for one year
which was not enough time
to complete an associates
degree. Therefore, many
students dropped out of the
program after one year. The
legislative
fix
ensures
students actually graduate
from the program armed
with the educational support
they need to find an indemand job with familysustaining wages.
The best anti-poverty

program is a job with a

family-sustaining income.
With a small programmatic
fix to the KEYS program, a
whole community is helped.
Job seekers find jobs; job
creators can fill long vacant
positions; and community
colleges
connect
with
businesses to assess a
communitys needs. Its a
huge win for Pennsylvania,
Reed added.
Reed, in his prior position
as House Majority Policy
Committee chairman, led
the Empowering Opportunities: Gateways Out of
Poverty initiative, which
held hearings across the
state to gain a better understanding of issues related to
gaining self-sufficiency and
crafting legislative solutions
to help fulfill the American
Dream. Both bills grew out
of the committees examination, which included input
from community groups,
nonprofits and municipal
officials.
For more information on
Reed and his legislative
priorities,
please
visit
www.repdavereed.net
or
www.Facebook.com/RepRe
ed.

By Dr. James R. Fedich,

Village Family Clinic

nesium
supplementation,
which helps with the blood
brain balance.
Another cause of headaches
is sinus problems, which can
happen for some people at
certain times of year rather
than another. Between the
"sniffles"
and
"colds",
common in the winter,
trouble often brews with
folks with sinus issues. No
matter when these problems
persist, many people who get
sinus
infections
have
increased pressure in the head
due to the sinus and thus also
get headaches. The only way
to alleviate the headache is to
alleviate the sinus pressure.
Sinus Pressure must be fully
evaluated by a family doctor.
Common conditions that can
cause sinus pressure are
sinusitis, or sinus infections,
which can be serious. Commonly sinus congestion can
be treated with antibiotics for
serious cases or other methods such as saline rinse or

over the counter medications

There are also cluster type
headaches, which are usually
felt on one side of the head
only and can be accompanied
with nasal problems and
sweating. These headaches
can be attributed to some type
of allergic reaction or other
cause.
But perhaps the most
common type of headache is
one brought on by tension.
Tension
headaches
are
usually felt in the shoulders
and the back of the neck and
usually have pressure in the
front of the head and behind
the eyes. Tension headaches
are caused by stress, general
everyday
tension,
and
pressure in the spinal bones
of the neck.
A study recently performed
at Duke University sought to
seek the best treatment for
these types of headaches.
The researchers studied
acupuncture,
medications,
exercise, and chiropractic.

The study found that the most

effective
treatment
for
tension type headaches was
chiropractic manipulation of
the neck. Some patients also
seek relief from massage and
heat therapy. Headaches can
be a sign of a serious underlying condition, especially in
children. It is important to
seek consultation from a
doctor in order to rule out a
more serious cause of your
headache. If a headache is
accompanied by double
vision, dizziness, or numbness, this can be a very
serious problem and you
should seek emergency care
immediately.
This article is not intended
to diagnose, treat, or cure any
disease. This article is not
intended to substitute for the
advice of a doctor. To contact
Dr. Fedich at Village Family
Clinic, Route 517, Allamuchy, phone 908-813-8200
or
visit
www.hacketts
townfamilyclinic.com.

Millions of Americans
suffer from headaches, large
and small. Every day people
endure throbbing pains in
their head due to headaches,
many times without seemingly any good reason..There
are several different types of
headaches and each need to
be treated in different ways.
There are classic migraine
type headaches. Patients with
migraines typically report
seeing an aura, or light disturbance, they are usually bothered by light and must sit in
the dark for hours. They may
also have nausea and vomiting which will sometimes
actually alleviate the headache. These headaches have
varying causes and thus varying treatments.
However,
once a pathological condition
has been ruled out, many
times patients find relief by
eliminating their neck tension
and taking calcium and mag-

Red Thread Cafe Creativity Night: January 16th,

7pm-9pm. 32 Broadway,
Bangor. Supply cost of $7.
Bangor Womens Club
Meeting: January 19th,
noon. Prince of Peace
Church, Johnsonsville. The
program will be the annual
arts festival. FMI, call Ellen
Prudenti at 570-897-5787.

during the 40s. Ages 55+

invited to attend. FMI, call
Mary Lou DeRea-Lohman at
610-863-4846 or 610-8444630.
Families First Snow Ball
Dinner & Dance Fundraiser: January 23rd, 6pmmidnight.
Weona
Park
Recreation
Center,
Pen
Argyl. BYOB. Casual attire.
FMI or tickets, call 610-8639095, ext. 1308

Slate Belt Young at Heart

Club Meeting: January
21st, 1pm. St. Elizabeth
Church hall,
Pen Argyl.
Marc Blau will give a presentation on the Home Front
magazine, a local publication

Benefit for Daniele Demler:

January 31st, 12pm-6pm.
Little Creek Bar-B-Cue, 1004
Washington Blvd., Bangor.
80% of the days profits will
benefit Daniele Demler,
former Slate Belt resident
who was severely injured in

The kindergarten teams at

both Washington and Five
Points Elementery Schools
in the Bangor Area School
District are so excited to
meet the new kindergarten
class! A child is eligible for
admission to kindergarten if
he/she has attained the age of
five years by the first scheduled day of the school term
for students (August 29th,
2016) and successfully completes the districts kindergarten screening process
(School Board Policy # 201).
On February 1st, kindergarten registration packets will
be available for parents
and/or guardians at any
Bangor Area School District
elementary school (Five

Points, Washington, or
DeFranco). Parents and/or
guardians may pick up a
packet at any elementary
school or at the administration building. Please contact
either elementary school if
you would like a registration
packet mailed. Packets will
also be available for download from at www.bangor
slaters.org.
In order to
receive a scheduled screening appointment, the completed registration packet
and mandatory documents
need be returned to Mrs.
OBrien at Washington or
Mrs. Kelton at Five Points as
soon as possible, but no later
than March 23rd.
As part of the registration

October when she was

struck by a motorcycle.
FMI, call Little Creek BarB-Cue at 610-588-3831.
Valentines
Weekend
Magic & Illusion Show:
February 13th, doors open
at 2pm, show starts at
3pm. VFW Post 739, 202
Washington Blvd., (Rt.
191), Bangor. Tickets available at the door.

Class: January 14th-28th,

6pm-8pm. 1st Presbyterian
Outreach Center, 35 Main
St., Blairstown. Open to
Blairstown-area
residents.
Fee for the computer course
is $10; students must be
registered Family Success
Center or Project SelfSufficiency participants. To
register or FMI, call Project
Self-Sufficiency at 973-9403500
or
visit
www.
projectselfsufficiency.org.

Intro to Microsoft Word

Free Portrait Session:

January 15th, 2pm-9pm &
January 16th, 10am-5pm.
First UMC, Blairstown. 20%
off photo packages. All
participants will receive a
free 8x10 portrait. FMI or to
sign up, visit www. firstum-

process, parents must present

copies of their childs stateissued birth certificate, proof
of residency and clearly
documented copies of physician or clinic record of the
following immunizations:
Four doses of Tetanus and
Diphtheria (DTP, DtaP, DT
or Td - one dose after the
fourth birthday).
Three doses of Polio
(OPV, E-IPV).
Two doses of Measles,
Mumps and Rubella (MMR)
(first dose after first
birthday)
Three doses of Hepatitis B
(Hep B)
Two doses of Varicella
Vaccine or written statement
from parent or physician that
the child has had Chicke Pox
In order to determine school
assignment, parents will be

asked to inform the school

district where their child will
be picked up for school and
where he/she will be
dropped off.
Upon completion and
return of the registration
packet,
parents
and/or
guardians will be given a
date and time for a screening
appointment. Kindergarten
screenings for the 20162017 school year will occur
on April 6th and 7th at
Washington Elementary and
Five Points Elementary
Schools. All screenings will
be by appointment only. An
adult must accompany the
child(ren) for the screening
appointment.
In order to make the transition to kindergarten as organized as possible, timely
registration is vital.

Ridge & Valley Charter

School Open House: January 13th, 8:30am. 1234 Rt.
94, Blairstown. FMI or to
register, call 908-362-1114.

Warren County Community

College invites high school
students to enter the 2016
Warren County High School
Poetry and Fiction Contests.
The contests are open to any
Warren County high school
student (including those who
attend private schools or are
home-schooled). There is no
entry fee.
Over the years hundreds of
high school students have
participated in this highly
prestigious contest.
Each contest will be judged
by the creative writing professors at WCCC. Prizes for
each contest are gift cards on
the following denominations:
$60 for first place, $40 for
second place, and $25 for

cblair stown.com or call

908-362-6693.
Free Animal Care Careers
Seminar: January 27th,
6:30-8pm.
Project SelfSufficiency, 127 Mill St.,
Newton. Questions from the
audience will be welcome.
Open to teens & adults.
Registration req'd. FMI or to
register, call 973-940-3500.
Kids Junk Box Wars:
Febuary 9th-March 1st,
3:15pm-4:30pm. Blairstown
Elementary School small
cafeteria. Open to boys &
girls in grades 2nd-6th.
Registration currently being
accepted at the recreation
office.
FMI, contact the
recreation office at 908-362-

(NAPSI)
Students,
researchers,
community
leaders and anyone who
needs to find information
published by the U.S.
government can get help
from a great online resource.
You can access library
catalog records on a wide
range of topics including
defense, citizenship, U.S.
laws, health, science and
more from the Government
Publishing Offices Catalog
of U.S. Government Publications (CGP).
Thats the major finding
guide for locating publications produced by the federal
government, both current and
historic. There are also direct
links to the documents-

third place.
The first, second, and third
place poems and stories (or
excerpts of them) will be
published in Ars Poetica, the
WCCC student art and
literary
magazine.
The
winners will be invited to read
at the April 28th Ars Poetica
release event, which will also
feature the published student
writers of WCCC.
Each students name, home
address, high school, and
contact information (email
address and phone number)
should appear at the beginning of every short story
and/or poem submitted.
Students who are homeschooled should mention that
in lieu of the name of a high

6663,
ext.
232,
www.blairstown-nj.org.

or

18th Annual Stateliner

Spring
Classic
5K
Run/Walk & Childrens
Fun Run: April 17th.
Phillipsburg High School,
Maloney Stadium. FMI,
contact James Bronico at
908-213-2404 or spring
classic@hotmail.com

unless the publication exists

only in print. People who
need or prefer a print document can learn where to find
the nearest federal depository library from the CGP.
The CGP even has a feature
called MetaLib that lets you
research and retrieve reports,
articles and citations by
searching across multiple
U.S. federal government
databases at once.
Whats more, theres a
collection of U.S. government eBooks from a variety
of federal agencies, all free
to access.
You can make use of all
these services and learn
more
online
at
catalog.gpo.gov.

school. A student may enter

both contests (poetry and
fiction) if she/he wishes.
Each poem should be no
longer than four pages. Each
story should be no longer than
twenty pages. All entries must
be typed. Short stories must
be double-spaced.
Submissions should be sent
to Professor BJ Ward, Warren
County High School Poetry
and Fiction Contests, Warren
County Community College,
475 Route 57 West, Washington, NJ 07882. The postmark
deadline for submissions to
the contest is Saturday,
February 29th. The contests
results will be posted on the
colleges website at www.
warren.edu in early April.

The goal of investing is

simple: to grow your assets.
Yet investing involves risk,
which means you may end
up with less than you started
with. Without risk, however,
theres no potential for
reward. Thats the investors
quandaryhow much risk is
tolerable in the quest to meet

your financial goals? As you

review your investing strategy for the upcoming year,
consider how your risk tolerance may be affecting your
portfolio.
Personalities and life experiences shape risk tolerance
Your comfort level with risk
has roots in your personality
and life circumstances. For
example, growing up in a
financially strained household or living through a
period of economic difficulty
can dampen your enthusiasm
for investment risk. Whether
you are generally optimistic
or pessimistic can also influence how much risk you are
willing to take. On the other
hand, there are the thrill seekers who are drawn to the
potential for large gains.
Generational influences can
also shape whether you lean
toward financial restraint or
have a more carefree attitude

about money. For example,

men tend to be more likely to
embrace risk, while women
may be more cautious.
A 2015 Ameriprise study,
Financial Risks & Investor
Attitudes, found that many
U.S. investors allow their
feelings about risk to influence their investment behavior in ways that are detrimental to their financial goals.
Three risk profiles illustrate
how attitudes can trip up the
best investment intentions.
1. Avoiding risk at all costs
For example: A retiree
receives a monthly income
from Social Security and a
generous pension. His combined income has been sufficient to meet expenses and his
lifestyle, so he hasnt had to
dip into his savings. Despite
his financial comfort, he is
only comfortable investing in
assets that provide a fixed
return or allow him to cash

out quickly.
In this example, the retiree
represents a risk-adverse
investor. He has the financial
leeway to invest in higher
yield investments, which
offer greater growth potential,
yet he chooses a more conservative path. Does this sound
like you? If so, your dislike of
risk may be hampering your
ability to capitalize from a
more diversified portfolio. At
the minimum, make sure your
investments are keeping up
with inflation. Talk to your
financial advisor for reassurance if you suspect you can
handle more investment risk.
2. Overreacting to market
changes
For example: A working
couple with two teenagers
contributes the maximum
amount to their employersponsored retirement plans,
with the intention of retiring
in 15 to 20 years. Theyve

taken care to purchase sufficient insurance to protect

their family. After the last
market downturn, they redistributed their portfolios to
hold only low-risk investments.
Are you like this couple,
quick to react to external
events without considering
the long-term? A balanced
portfolio can help you
weather bumps in the market
that tend to even out over
time. Your financial advisor
can help you employ a
consistent
strategy
that
periodically rebalances your
assets to align to your investment goals and time horizon.
3. Investing beyond your
capacity to withstand losses
For example: A middle-aged
single architect earns a good
living but has difficulty
setting aside funds for the
future. She enjoys researching and investing in startup
ventures in the technology
sector. She admits to invest-

Women who have lost their

primary source of income due
to the death or disability of
their spouse or after divorce
or separation may be eligible
for employment readiness
training at no charge from
NORWESCAPs Career and
Life Transitions Center for
Women. Services the Career
and Life Transitions Center
(CLTC) offers focus on
assisting women prepare for a
return to the workforce and

includes a 50-hour computer

training program, career
interest inventories, career
counseling, job search skills,
a job club, support groups,
confidence-building workshop, and referrals to community resources. The Career
and Life Transitions Center
also provides these services
to women who have been in a
long term relationship that
has ended, women with
spouses who have been

actively deployed, as well as

to women who must return to
the workforce when their
spouse has become unemployed. To learn more about
the services offered by the
center or to register for one of
the upcoming information
meetings scheduled for January 14th, 21st or January
28th at 10am, call 908-8352624. The CLTC is located at
16 Broad Street Suite 7, in
Washington, NJ.

The CLTC for Women,

sponsored by NORWESCAP,
has been serving displaced
homemakers in Warren,
Hunterdon, Somerset and
Mercer Counties for over 30
years. Displaced Homemakers are women who have lost
their primary means of financial support following the
death or disability of a spouse
or due to divorce or separation and now must return to
the workforce.
Displaced

Homemakers have traditionally been out of the job market

for a significant period of
time, lack marketable skills
and are now faced with
supporting both themselves
and their family. They also
provides services to women
who have been in a long term
relationship that has ended,
women with spouses who
have been actively deployed,
as well as to women who must
return to the workforce when

ing in long shots, hoping to

hit the jackpot.
Investing in high-risk investments when you have limited
assets or a short time horizon
is asking for trouble. If you
are tempted to take bigger
risks than your portfolio can
withstand, enlist a financial
professional to help you
maintain a more disciplined
approach to investing.
Find Balance and Opportunity in Risk
If you relate to any of the
three scenarios above, your
risk tolerance may be
preventing you from reaching
your investment goals. An
experienced financial advisor
can help you arrive at investment decisions based on
financial principles rather
than emotions. Together you
can factor in your assets, time
horizon and capacity to
manage losses as you select
investments with the best
chance of generating optimal
returns.
their spouse has become
unemployed.
Services offered focus on
assisting women prepare for a
return to the workforce and
includes a computer training
program, career interest
inventories, career counseling, job search skills, support
groups, self-esteem workshops, and referrals to community resources. NORWESCAP is a non-profit community action agency.

By Jana Morris

The post-holiday season can

be a very difficult time for
people.
Between rushing
around, family get-togethers,
disappointments, and the
pressure to spend a lot of
money, it can leave many
people feeling empty, sad and
overwhelmed. It is also a
time when problematic drinking is more noticeable and
individuals that are trying to
work on a program of recov-

Veterinary medicine is a
rapidly changing field with
the advent of new technologies, pharmaceuticals and
surgical techniques. Here are
some items that are up-andcoming for 2016.
Fitbits for dogs: Okay, not
exactly a fitness tracker, but
an activity tracker that a dog
wears like a collar. While it
may seem like a novelty, the
practical application is being
able to follow the amount of
activity your pet is getting to
help judge if he is slowing
down. Arthritis or some other
medical issue may be going
on and should be investigated.
Joint supplements: Yes,
these have been around for a
while now, but new ingredients are making them even
more effective. With wide
safety margins and few drug
interactions, these can really
help our pets get around
better as they age. Because
this is still an unregulated
industry, it is important to be
using a quality product and
we can help with recommendations.
Allergy control: Many pets
get seasonal allergies manifested by itchiness. Corticosteroids such as prednisolone
have been the main-stay of
allergy management. Dogs
and cats do not respond to

antihistamines as well as
people and there has been
much research looking for
medications that can help.
We now have new oral and
injectable
allergy-control
products that are very safe
and effective and give us an
alternative to steroids.
Dietary therapy: In veterinary medicine, many disease
conditions are managed, at
least partially, with diet. New
therapeutic diets that address
stress, obesity and chronic
disease can add to our arsenal
of treatment options.
Vaccines: The pharmaceutical industry is constantly
researching how to improve
vaccines. We now have
recombinant technology that
reduces vaccine reactions.
This same technology is
being investigated for use in
treating certain cancers.
Pet insurance: This is not
new by any means, but is
becoming more mainstream.
Having the ability to afford
the necessary care for your
pet lets us provide the best
possible treatment without
cost being the deciding
factor. All the new innovations come with a price-tag,
but we want to be able to
offer the best for your pet.
Part of our job as veterinarians is staying abreast of all
of these advances and decid-

ing how they will fit into our

practice to benefit our clients
and patients. We want to
foster the human-animal
bond that is so important to
so many of us. Rest assured,
we always are looking out for
the well-being of our furry
friends.
We at Blairstown Animal
Hospital wish you a happy
and healthy new year!

ery have many temptations

and challenges. Whether you
are in recovery or not, a key
to addressing the post holiday
blues is finding a healthy
network of people that
encourage and support you.
Though the feelings of
sadness and depression may
make you feel that you should
isolate, many times it makes
the symptoms worse. Also,
it is crucial to know when to
ask for help. There are many

different
resources
and
programs available in our
community to address addiction, mental health, or isolation problems that you may
be having. There are people
to direct and guide you five
days a week at A Clean Slate.
There is information about
local programs that can assist
you and computers that can
help you learn how to make
your new year's resolution
become a reality.

The Blue Mountain Community Library would like to

thank everyone who participated in the Christmas tree
fundraiser. Your donations
will help the library to meet its
needs and purchase new
books in 2016.
Are you looking for a gift
idea for a book lover or want
to add to your own collection?
On Friday, January 15th and
Saturday, January 16th from
10am to noon, the Blue Mountain Community Library is
having a Semi-Annual Book
Nook Sale in the Book Nook,
located on the second floor of
the library. Snow dates will be
January 22nd and 23rd. All
items will be half-price for
those two days. Purchase
gently used books, CDs,

DVDs and puzzles.

The library is located at 216
S. Robinson Ave. in Pen
Argyl. Hours are Monday
through Saturday, 10am to

noon, and Monday through

Thursday, 6pm to 8pm. For
more information, call Lisa at
610-863-3029
or
visit
www.bmcl.org.

Ciao Amici,
When I was young, Grandmom and Grandpop were
already in business for many
years, not including when
they were growing up in
Roseto Valfortore, Italy.
Instead of turning on the

television, Mom and Grandmom would clear the table

and Grandpop with all his
wisdom would start story
time. The nut bowl and fruit
were put on the table and la
storia inizia [story time
begin]. Many times it had to
do with being in business,
like these stories:
A grocer put up a sign that
read Eggplants, 25 cents
each - three for a dollar.
All day long, customers
came in exclaiming: Don't
be ridiculous! I should get
four for a dollar! Meekly the
grocer capitulated and packaged four eggplants. The
tailor next door had been
watching these antics and

finally asked the grocer,

Aren't you going to fix the
mistake on your sign?
What mistake? the grocer

asked. Before I put up that

sign no one ever bought more
than one eggplant.
Another story goes like this;
a man goes into the butcher
shop and asked, How much
are your pork chops?
The butcher says, $3.99 a
pound.
Wow,
the
customer
exclaims. The butcher down
the street sells them for $2.99
a pound.
Why did you stop here, the
butcher asks? Well he is
sold out!
When I am sold out, the
butcher says, I sell them for
$1.99 a pound!
A buon intenditor poche
parole

Few words (are sufficient)

for the good listener
Con cordiali saluti, Joe
Growing up in the Butcher
Shop, is available at the
shop or on our web page. To
receive menu specials and
our newsletter, join our mailing list at JDeFrancoAnd
Daughters.com, click on
mailing list and enter your
email. Send your Roseto
stories, recipes and comments to portipasto@epix.net
or call 610-588-6991. J.
DeFranco and Daughters is
located at 2173 W. Bangor
Rd. in Bangor, PA. Store
hours are 7am to 7pm, seven
days a week, with catering
available anytime or by
appointment.

On January 5th, a new

exhibit of narrative paintings
opened in The Romano
Gallery, at Blair Academy in
Blairstown, where they will
remain on display until the
end of the month.
These painterly paintings
are psychologically inquisitive in that they describe the
artists interest in ambiguity
through changes in scale and
the intersection of reality and
fantasy,
figuration
and
design, said Gallery Codirector Rita Baragona.
Each artist we have shown
this year has chosen to focus
on a different aspect of
creativity, depending on his
or her materials and influences. Ms. Hall works simultaneously from direct observation from her imaginative
dioramas. What makes her art
different is that she is observing and painting a world of
her own creation.
Noting that the process by
which Ms. Hall creates her
paintings involves two intertwined
processesconstructing a diorama of
found objects, cardboard, and
scraps
of
hand-drawn
patterns, and then painting
from direct observation as

her feelings and thoughts

manipulate those objectsMs. Baragona looks forward
to students reactions to the
artists interweaving of inner
and outer perception. These
paintings are narratives with
no set story, she said. They
can be interpreted not only as
Ms. Hall painted them, but
also through the filter of the
viewers own feelings and
thoughts.
Ms. Hall, who is just beginning her career as a professional artist after earning a
BA in studio art and French
from the University of
Virginia and an MFA in
painting from the University
of New Hampshire, hopes her
paintings evoke a window
into an illusionistic world.
where there are signs, scraps
of paper, bits of tapethat
point to the subject in the
paintings as a fabricated
stage set, precariously held
together.
I am compelled to make
changes to my setups or
paintings so that both practices evolve simultaneously
and inform one another,
explained Ms. Hall. In this
way, the studio itself, the
shifting of light and the flux

of materials, becomes part of

the subject matter. The work
begins with a narrative theme
or feeling that may come
from a variety of sources,
from art history to things
observed in my everyday life.
However, the element of
discovery and play is what
ultimately sustains my interest in the painting process.
Over the course of her
career, Ms. Hall has done
residencies at Yaddo, the
Alfred and Trafford Klots
International Program and
the Cite Internationale des
Arts, as well as a fellowship
at the Vermont Studio Center.

In 2014 she was artist-inresidence at St. Mary's

College of Maryland. Her
work is in private collections
across the U.S. and in France.
To learn more about the artist,
visit kathleencareyhall.com.
Located
in
Blairs
Armstrong-Hipkins Center
for the Arts, The Romano
Gallery is open from 10am.
to 6pm., Monday through
Saturday, when school is in
session. All exhibit receptions take place at 7pm. For a
detailed listing of exhibitions
for the 2015-2016 school
year,
visit
www.
blair.edu/romano-gallery.

(NAPSI)Choosing
the
right mattress can be a very
stressful experience. With so
many choices, gimmicky
sales and often-times commissioned salespeople, the
decision can often be rushed
and without careful consideration. Before you decide, a
first step is to look at
whether memory foam or
innerspring is the right
choice for you, and it often
depends on the unique needs
of you and your family.
Which is right for you
depends on your needs.
Heres a look at a three key
considerations that can help.
1. Consider Construction:
An innerspring mattress is
engineered with tempered
steel coils and in premium
models the coils are
individually
wrapped.
Wrapped coils respond and
contour better to your body.
The innersprings firmness
and durability is determined
by the thickness of the coil as
well as its coil density or
number of coils. The higher
the coil count, the firmer the
mattress.
Most premium models have
two layers of coils and a
thick pillow top for added
comfort and support. A
premium
innerspring
mattress is traditionally what
you experience in a luxury
hotel. Memory foam, commonly referred to as viscoelastic foam, was developed in the early 1960s
about the time NASA
improved the safety of
aircraft cushions. Its main
purpose is to expertly

contour and mold to the

human body and is used in
medical settings such as burn
wards.
The durability and firmness
of memory foam is determined by the density and
thickness of the foam. The
lower the density, the shorter
the life of the mattress and
the sooner it will sink in
around you. Higher density
foam has a better reaction
time and compression rating.
Many American foam
manufacturers now incorporate renewable plant oils,
making for healthier and
safer foam that is practically
odorless.
The memory foam experience is excellent for pressure
relief and the elimination of
motion transfer in bed.
2. Expecting Comfort.
During pregnancy, you
should consider a mediumfirm memory foam mattress.
Because joints and ligaments
in the pelvis loosen during
the second and third trimesters, pressure on the sciatic
nerve increases. A memory
foam mattress can relieve the
pressure all along the body. A
thick, contouring pillow top
on an innerspring mattress
can also help.
3. Besting Back Pain. No
matter which type of bed you
spring for, the right mattress
is one thats supportive and
comfortable. It should maintain the natural alignment of
the curve of your spine and
offer proper support for the
neck and lower back. It
should support your hips,
and acclimate to the front,

side and back sleeper. When

your mattress stops offering
this support, its time to get a
new one.
According to the U.S.
National Institutes of Health
and the Canadian Chiropractic Association, lumbar
support is very important for
comfortable sleep at night
and less risk of back pain the
next day. Thats because the
support distributes the force
of gravity more uniformly
while you sleep. To that end,
Saatva mattresses have a
densified foam layering
system to provide additional
support in the middle third
of the mattressthe lumbar
region. The cushioning is
pre-compressed in that area
to eliminate breakdown and
provide even more support.
In addition, theres a layer of
visco-elastic memory foam
for extra pressure relief in
this part of the body most
commonly associated with
pressure points.
Otherwise, your posture
could be affected in a noticeable way and your normal
routine could derail due to
lower-back pain. Each year,
more people visit their
doctor for back pain than for
the common cold. The mainstream belief previously
favored a firm mattress as
the best back pain solution.
New research, however,
shows medium-firm may
offer more of a reduction in
clinically diagnosed back
pain, shoulder pain and spine
stiffness. In one study, 48
percent of subjects felt less
back pain and 55 percent had

an improved sleep quality

with a softer mattress. Participants also noticed a reduction
in stress.
Within the past five years a
rapidly evolving e-commerce
movement has revolutionized
mattress buying, pioneered by
the luxury mattress company,
Saatva. The Saatva Company
is Americas definitive online
luxury mattress source, delivering luxurious sleep through
a specialized approach that
combines
modern
ecommerce with old-fashioned
customer service. They are
now the leaders in the luxury
innerspring market with The
Saatva Mattress and the
premium memory foam
market with The Loom and
Leaf Mattress.
The largest online only
luxury mattress firm, Saatva
develops, manufactures and
distributes an impressive line
of ultrapremium mattresses in
America with what many
consumers have called unparalleled price, performance
and serviceand it has a 15year warranty.
The companys unique
online only business model
means it can offer highly
reduced prices for luxury
mattresses and help customers with true comparison
shopping, providing easy-toread, objective measures on a
website designed for easy
navigation:
www.saat
vamattress.com.
Choosing a mattress type
and comfort level no longer
has to be a stressful experience. For more information
on what mattress type is best
for
you
visit
www.
saatvamattress.com
and
loomandleaf.com. Here, you
will find 24/7 customer
service that has made Saatva
the best-reviewed mattress
company online for five years
running.

Hello fellow readers,

A friend from Stillwater, NJ
stumped me when he asked
what the plastic tubes are
along routes 80 and 94. The
plastic thingies look like tree
tubes of sorts, but the
mystery is, you cant see any
signs of trees. Curt (my better
half) thought the tubes were
part of a Superfund clean up
to vent toxic gas. In years
past waste was routinely
dumped along rivers or open
spaces. Congress initiated the
Superfund program in 1980
and tons of cleanups are still
on-going.
I reached out to my go-to
mystery solver of all things
in nature, Dennis of Blairstown.
Yes they are tree tubes. The
Nature Conservancy has
planted trees and shrubs
along the Paulinskill River.
There are very small trees
inside the tubes to protect
them from rodents.
I asked if he knew what
species were planted, as
many of us have low-lying
areas that can flood and was
curious about the history of
the initiative. Mr. Speedy
reached out to Allen Barlow

of The Nature Conservancy

in charge of the project and
learned they received a large
grant from the Dodge Foundation to help restore the
open bottom lands next to the
Paulinskill River. Theyve
planted about 25,000 trees so
far.
In the lineup are Yellow
Birch / Betula alleghaniensis,
a native species with bright
gold fall color. Its not often
seen in the trades, but worth
scouting out for the beautiful
yellow-brown or red-brown
bark. Oil of wintergreen can
be distilled from the tree,
which is likely why deer
favor it. Theyve also planted
River Birch / Betula nigra,
which I often recommend for
its magnificent salmoncolored pealing bark, glorious yellow fall color and deer
resistance.
Theres Pin Oak/Quercus
palustris, one of the fastest
growing oaks, and Swamp
White Oak/ Quercus bicolor,
which tolerates wet soil and
occasional flooding, as can
Carpinus caroliliana, known
as Ironwood or American
Hornbeam. Theres Black
Willow/Salix nigra (deer
almost surly stay clear of
willows)
and
Red
Maple/Acer rubrum sporting
brilliant red foliage come
fall. The American Sweetgum / Liquidambar styraciflua, with star-shaped glossy
leaves, has a glorious mix of
fall color. Of course Platanus
occidentalis, also known as
American Sycamore or Planetree, is in the lineup
known for handling wet feet
and striking camouflage
mottled trunks.
Thanks, Dennis! Grateful to
know we have baby trees and
not toxic waste.
Garden dilemmas?
Askmarystone.com

The Nature Conservancy

Paulins Kill Restoration
Project: The Nature Conservancy, (TNC), a world-wide
organization devoted to
preserving and protecting the
natural
environment,
presented a proposal for
returning the Paulins Kill to a
free-flowing
stream
by
taking down the Columbia
Dam.The Paulins Kill is an
important tributary of the
Delaware. It is viewed as
having good water quality
with the potential of having
great water quality. The
TNC has designated its
projects along the Kill, which
include reconnecting 40
miles of river habitat by the
removal of dams, preserving
land, and planting trees in the
floodplain, as Good to
Great. The most serious
problems with the Kill are
high levels of fecal coliform
and high water temperature,
which decreases the amount
of dissolved oxygen in the
water. Trout need fairly high
levels of dissolved oxygen in
order to survive and are not
known
to
reproduce
presently in the Kill because
summer water temperatures
are too high. One of the main
causes of higher temperatures is lakes and open bodies
of water that are not shaded
by trees. The Columbia Dam,
which now owned by the
State of New Jersey, was
constructed on the river in
the early 1900s by the
Paulins Kill Consolidated Ice
and Power Company to
create a pond for ice harvesting and to provide energy to
light the towns of Columbia
and East Stroudsburg. Most
dams have a 75-year life
expectancy, and at over 100,
the Columbia Dam has
reached the end of its useful
lifetime.
Significant
sediment has become deposited both below the dam and
above it in Columbia Lake.
Over time the lake has
decreased in size as sediment
that is brought downstream
has filled in the lake to form

areas of marshes and swamp.

This process will continue
until the lake eventually
becomes almost all swamp.
Fish that come upstream to
spawn such as shad or that
spawn in the ocean and swim
upstream to live, such as eel,
are blocked by the dam. The
sedimentation that forms
below the dam decreases the
population of macro invertebrates, which are vital to a
healthy ecosystem. Taking
down the dam would transform the marshy and
swampy area above the dam
into a meadow or forest with
a stream meandering through
it. Access to the water would
be increased and fishing
would improve as anglers
would come for shad in addition to the bass and trout that
are already in the Kill. Water
quality above and below the
dam would improve.
The Columbia Dam is now
used to produce hydroelectricity. The TNC proposal
would replace the green
energy lost with a solar
energy
installation
that
would be built over the fish
channels at the Pequest Fish
Hatchery. The hatchery is
covering the channels to
keep fish-eating birds such as
osprey, which have been the
source of devastating disease
named Furuncolosis, away.
The solar energy created
would replace 150 percent of
the energy produced by the
dam.The license for the
hydroelectric plant at the
dam is up for renewal in
2025. In order for the license
to be renewed, the plant
owner will be required to
install fish ladders, which are
very expensive. The revenue
from the plant cannot support
the installation of the ladders
and therefore the plant owner
has agreed to TNCs plan to
buy out the rest of the plants
license. The dam removal
project, including engineering, the installation of solar
panels at the hatchery, and
the work of removing the
dam and reforming the

stream channel, will be paid

for by the TNC. There are no
costs to Knowlton Township.
If the project does not
proceed the dam will face
abandonment in 2025 and be
left to the State for removal.
Since State money for such
projects is hard to come by,
in all likelihood, the dam
would slowly deteriorate
until it became a danger that
demanded attention. The
existing dam is a run of the
river dam, meaning that the
amount of water flowing
over it cannot be controlled
and therefore it cannot
provide storage when high
water is anticipated. Thus the
dam provides no downstream
flood control. It does, however, contribute to some
upstream flooding. Mayor
Starrs expressed support for
the project saying that since
Columbia Lake is atrophying
to the point of not supporting
recreation, and we have the
chance to fix a problem at no
cost to our residents, it is an
easy decision to support this
project.
Committeeman
Mathez called it a transformational project for Knowlton that would replace a lake
that has been overtaken by
swamp into a stream that
would provide good opportunities for recreation and
fishing. He said the project is
consistent with the Township
Committees
longtime
support of ecotourism. Plans
call for the removal of the
Columbia Dam in 2017. Any
residents with questions
about the project can email
Mayor Starrs or Committee-

man Mathez who will try to

get the answers from the
TNC or the NJDEP.
Gypsy Moth Spraying:
After some discussion the
Committee voted by a three
to one vote, with Mayor
Starrs dissenting, to approve
the States recommended
spraying to control gypsy
moths in a 183-acre block
along the upper stretches of
Mount Pleasant Road. Spraying would be done with
b.t.k., which is considered
very safe.
Mayor Starrs objected to the
cost, which is estimated to be
around $10,000, and pointed
out that even if there is a
gypsy moth infestation it
generally takes two or three
years before trees are
severely damaged. She also
stated that effectiveness of
the spraying would be
limited because Blairstown
and Hardwick have decided
not to spray surrounding
areas that are infested. In
voting with the majority
Committeeman
Mathez
pointed out that the federal
government is expected to
reimburse about half the cost
and that trees experiencing
drought after a severe gypsy
moth infestation can die. The
Committee can revisit the
issue at a later date and is
interested in hearing from
residents of the upper end of
Mount Pleasant Road for

their opinion of the matter.

Salt in Columbia: Mayor
Starrs reported on a meeting
she and Committeeman
Mathez had with representatives of the Delaware River
Joint Toll Bridge Commission. The Commission does
not concede that salting
roads is the cause of high salt
levels in Columbia well
water and maintains that it is
doing everything possible to
spread the least amount of
salt consistent with keeping
the roads safe. They agreed
that they would work
together with Knowlton to
try to find ways of decreasing the amount of salt spread
on the roads. It was recognized that the NJDEP analysis of the well sampling
results would help to determine the cause of the problem. One aspect of the meeting that concerned the
Knowlton
representatives
was the Commissions assertion that it would no longer
plow areas owned by the
county and the state that it
has been plowing for a
number of years. Mayor
Starrs and Committeeman
Mathez strongly stated that
what appeared to be a unilateral
decision
on
the
Commissions part should be
coordinated with the county
and the state so that the areas
do not go untreated during a
snow storm. Mayor Starrs

will contact the state and the

county so they understand
the seriousness of the situation. Resident Pam Rusweiler reported that her attempts
to procure information from
the DRJTBC about their
salting practices in Columbia
have been denied so far. The
Commission, which is not
subject to New Jersey or
Pennsylvanias
right-toknow laws, decides internally which information it
will or will not share with the
public. Appeals are also
processed by the DRJTBC.
KAA Insurance: The Township Committee agreed to
continue assisting Knowlton
Athletic Association with
insurance costs for the
foreseeable future. New
insurance requirements for
volunteer coaches total
roughly
$2,000.
The
nonprofit
organization
spends all its funds from
registration and fund-raising
on uniforms and referee
costs.
-- Rene Mathez, Adele
Starrs
*Please note our summaries
are intended only to inform
residents of issues that might
be of interest to them. The
summaries are not the
official minutes and have not
been approved by the Township Committee. They reflect
the views of the authors
only.

Twenty-four Bangor Area

High School students will join
approximately 200 vocalists
in the 29th annual Northampton County Chorus on Friday,
January 22nd. The concert
will be at 7pm in the M. Craig
Paine Theater at Bangor High
school. Admission is free.
Selected BAHS students are
Shannon Would, Jennifer
Patchen,
Hannah
Mort,
Allison Steinert, Madison

Cruz, Louis Ortiz, Viktoria

Swanson, CJ Kizer, Kristofer
Swanson, Elisha Hoyte, Seth
Furman, Kyler Palkow, Justin
Khan, Michael McDanolds,
Jacob Happel, Chad Schafer,
Nicolas Martocci, Jaden
Boyd, Jasmine Newland,
Alexis Culp, Aileen Burke,
Jillian
Kolibas,
Jennifer
Sumual and Kristen Reid.
Schools participating are
Bangor, Easton, Freedom,

Liberty, Moravian Academy,

Nazareth, Northampton, Pen
Argyl, Saucon Valley, and
Wilson.
Musical selections will
include Al Shlosha D'varim,
Dream a Dream, Hosanna to
the Son of David, I Loved
You, Let There Be Praise,
Nella Fantasia, Nyon Nyon,
Oh Sing Rejoice (Handel),
Sunday, True Light, and
Tshotsholoza.

Q: Im sixteen and my
boyfriend
pushes
and
shoves me when he gets
upset. Will he grow out of
it? He says this just means
he loves me. Is this true?
A: Never accept mean,
disrespectful or violent treatment as a normal part of a
relationship or mistake it for
what it means in to be in a
healthy, caring relationship.
When someone regularly
mistreats you, it erodes your
self esteem and can lead to
other problems such as
depression or smoking.
One thing to remember is
that abusive behavior can
happen to anyone. Unfortunately, its common in your
age group. In fact, about two
in 10 female high school
students report being physically or sexually abused by a
dating partner.
If your boyfriend is pushing
and shoving you, he is
displaying abusive behavior
toward you, not affection and
caring. Physical abuse such

as pinching, slapping or
hitting often begins with
emotional or verbal abuse.
That may include teasing,
putdowns, jealously and
controlling behavior.
The first step is to recognize
that your boyfriends behavior is totally unacceptable
and an indication that he is
wrong for you. Now is the
time to get out of this
relationship. Dont be afraid
to reach out for help by
asking a guidance counselor
or trusted adult.
You also should also be
aware of what makes a
relationship unhealthy. Here
are some signs of an abusive
relationship, according to the
Office on Womens Health:
Constantly texting or sending instant messages to
monitor you.
Insisting in getting serious
very quickly.
Acting very jealous or
bossy.
Pressuring you to do
sexual things.
Posting sexual photos of
you online without permission.
Threatening to hurt you or
them if you break up.
Blaming you for the abuse.
When people mistreat
others, it is often because
they themselves have been
on the receiving end of this
type of behavior. So they are
just imitating the abusive
behavior of family members.
Since they never learned
healthy coping skills for
dealing with lifes ups and
downs, they simply act out

on rage and anger. Sometimes

they feel worthless and are
trying to make others feel the
same way.
The second step is to understand that you deserve to be in
a healthy, loving relationship.
That means being treated with
respect, trust and caring all
times by your boyfriend.
Even if someone you care
about is having a bad day, you
are never responsible for their
feelings or behavior.
Your first responsibility is to
yourself. Here are my tips on
how to establish healthy
relationships:
Strive to have good
connections with family and
friends.
Treat others with respect.
Expect the same in return.
Learn to love yourself. You
can build your self esteem by
doing things you enjoy and
striving to reach your goals.
Without a lot of dating experience, its easy to confuse
excessive attention, jealously
or even flattery from a
boyfriend as signs that they
really care. But those behaviors are not hallmarks of a
loving relationship. Starting
today, focus on forming
positive, healthy relationships. These relationships
will support you in all you do
and lead to a lifetime of
happiness.
Sharon Cline, MD, is Board
certified by the American
Board of Family Medicine.
Dr. Cline practices at PMC
Physician Associates, Family
Medicine, located in Portland, PA.

The Easton Area School

District has been awarded a
more-than $384,000 grant
through the 21st Century Community
Learning
Center
(CCLC) program, according to
state Rep. Joe Emrick (RNazareth). Recipients of the 50
statewide grants were determined by the PA Department of
Education.
Id like to congratulate the
Easton School District on being
recognized among the more
than 100 applicants for these
competitive grants, Emrick
said. The money will be used
to further expand learning
opportunities in the district.
Applicants for the awards
included school districts,
community-based organizations, charter schools, interme-

diate units, faith-based organizations and institutions of

higher education. The CCLC
program is authorized under
federal legislation for the establishment of community learning centers that provide
academic, artistic and cultural
enrichment opportunities for
children.
Emrick says the goals of the
grant include allowing recipients to meet state and local
standards in core academic
subjects and offering literacy
and other educational services
to the families of participating
children.
Questions about this or any
legislative issue should be
directed to Emricks district
office at 570-897-0401 or 610746-5090.