July 1st, 2009, 12:57 pm by Len
Preview of short editorial publishing Thursday:
Local swimming death water safety reminder
Michael McCullah will be mourned tonight during a memorial gathering at Sam Brannan Park in Yuba City. The Linda resident drowned last week in Lake Francis in the Yuba County foothills. McCullah’s death is the just most recent painful reminder that being in and around the water carries some risk.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 3,600 Americans died by unintentional drowning in 2005. More than 700 others drowned or died from other causes in boating incidents. The percentage of fatal drowning victims age 14 and younger tops 25 percent.
Also, drowning is the second-leading cause of accidental deaths for persons 15-44 years of age, according to the National Water Safety Program, which offers these basic safety tips for swimmers:
- Don’t take chances, by over estimating your swimming skills.
- Swim only in designated swimming areas.
- Never swim alone.
With summer temperatures soaring, people are naturally flocking to pools, rivers and swimming holes to beat the heat. The Fourth of July holiday weekend offers the potential for great fun in the water – as well as tragedy.
We urge everyone to act safely and responsibly - and live to swim another day.
Posted in: Appeal-Democrat • Current events | Post a Comment »
June 30th, 2009, 11:55 pm by Len
In my home library is the beat-up 1959 hardcover book, “The Favorite Works of Mark Twain,” which, of course, includes “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” My mother picked it up at a garage sale back in the day, and I read it cover to cover
The Yuba Sutter Regional Arts Council and the Yuba County Library are working together to help promote greater literacy and a love of reading in area residents, especially young boys, through The Big Read program. Funded in part by a $12,500 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the effort will see adults and children reading and discussing Twain’s classic novel. The reading program will kick off in January and run for six weeks.
Full disclosure: I’m a newly minted board member of the regional arts council, so of course this program has my support. But I’m also a Samuel Clemens fan (he apprenticed to a newspaper as a teen and later wrote for the old Sacramento Union, among other newspaper jobs) and a firm believer that people who read are people who succeed.
Check out the recent story on the program’s launch.
Posted in: Current events | 1 Comment »
June 28th, 2009, 11:13 am by Len
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Darrell Steinberg, president pro-tem of the Democratic-controlled state Senate, apparently can find time to joke around even as California sinks further into the abyss.
As The New York Times recently reported, the two exchanged some “gifts” designed to jab at each other over how to handle the state’s $24 million budget defict. Two words for you: mushrooms and testicles. You’ll have to read the linked story for full details.
Posted in: Current events | Post a Comment »
June 28th, 2009, 10:57 am by Len
Not to brag or anything - but my inaugural live blog drew a crowd, so we’re going to do it again. Log on 1 p.m. Thursday, July 2, to engage me in a conversation about the Appeal-Democrat. Maybe there will be some “fireworks.”
Posted in: Appeal-Democrat • Current events | Post a Comment »
June 26th, 2009, 11:01 am by Len
HIV and AIDS may not dominate the headlines, but the virus and killer disease haven’t gone away. In fact, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one out of five people living with HIV in the U.S. are unaware of their HIV status.
Do you know your status? You can find out Saturday (June 27). Here’s the news brief published earlier this week:
National HIV Testing Day is scheduled Saturday, with several health sites in Yuba, Sutter, Gridley and Colusa counties taking part.
Sites include the health and human services departments in Yuba, Sutter and Colusa counties; the Family Health Center in Linda, Wheatland, Gridley, Colusa and Arbuckle; Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, Del Norte Children’s Medical Center and Family Health Center and Richland Family Health Center in Yuba City; and La Paloma Family Health Center in Gridley.
For information about the testing sites and National HIV Testing Day, visit http://hivtest.org.
The day was established in 1995 by the National Association of People with AIDS and coordinated with the Centers for Disease Control.
Posted in: Current events • General | Post a Comment »
June 24th, 2009, 12:15 pm by Len
The newspaper is making some changes, starting this weekend. Here’s the story appearing in Thursday’s edition:
Appeal-Democrat readers have two new reasons to pick up the print edition on weekends: the return of the weekly TV schedule and the addition of Parade magazine.
Starting this weekend, readers who buy the Saturday newspaper in stores and from vendor boxes will get the 16-page TV Preview featuring seven days of programming – including prime-time highlights and sports schedules – as well as such features as “Soap Opera Update,” “Hollywood Q&A” and the TV crossword puzzle.
“We eliminated the TV book, for the most part, about a year ago in a cost-savings move,” said Len La Barth, Appeal-Democrat editor. “But we’ve found the resources to offer it to our single-copy readers.”
Home-delivery subscribers, who can purchase the newspaper at a discounted price, can “opt in” and pay a minimal additional cost for TV Preview. The Appeal-Democrat provides hundreds of free copies of the TV book to local senior care facilities.
Beginning July 5, the Sunday edition of the Appeal-Democrat will include Parade magazine, the Sunday newspaper magazine distributed in more than 400 newspapers nationwide. Parade, of course, is known for its signature issues, including “What People Earn,” “Where America Lives” and “What America Eats,” and the columns “Ask Marilyn” and “Walter Scott’s Personality PARADE.”
Parade replaces the USA Weekend supplement.
“Parade is the premiere national Sunday newspaper magazine and its addition will further enhance our Sunday product,” La Barth said.
Readers with questions can contact La Barth at 749-4718, llabarth@appealdemocrat.com or log on to “Ask the Editor” at www.appealdemocrat.com.
Posted in: Appeal-Democrat | 1 Comment »
June 19th, 2009, 4:54 pm by Len
Sunday marks the official start of summer, and to celebrate the new season, we’d like our readers to share their start-of-summer photos with us.
Pick your best Sunday summer kick-off photo and e-mail it to us at mnews@appealdemocrat.com. The editorial staff will pick the one it thinks best shows the spirit of the season, and the winner will receive four free movie passes to Cinemark Movies 12 in Yuba City.
Entries must include a brief description of the photo including the names of those pictured and where the photo was taken. Submissions must also include the photographer’s name and phone number. Please put “Summer Photo” in the subject line of the e-mail.
Photos should be a minimum of 150 dpi and no bigger than 10 inches wide or 10 inches high, depending on how the photo was framed.
All entries will be featured in an online photo gallery at appealdemocrat.com and the winner’s photo will appear in the newspaper. The deadline to enter is 5 p.m. Friday.
For more information, call 749-4782.
Posted in: Appeal-Democrat • Current events • Fun stuff-misc | 1 Comment »
June 16th, 2009, 10:07 pm by Len
A newspaper veteran has been named Freedom Communications’ interim CEO.
Burl Osborne, who’s been on Freedom’s board of directors for five years, replaces Scott Flanders, who resigned to take the CEO post at Playboy Enterprises Inc.
Read the company’s press release here.
Posted in: Uncategorized | Post a Comment »
June 12th, 2009, 7:29 am by Len
Mark September on your calendar - that’s when the recession will end, followed by movement toward a mild economic recovery, according to evidence in a new index released this week.
What do you think? Are you seeing signs of a recovery in your profession? In your personal finances? The budget news out of Yuba City this week - and what we expect to hear from Yuba County next week - suggests there are some uphill battles ahead.
Posted in: Current events | 1 Comment »
June 11th, 2009, 7:34 am by Len
This weekend sees the staging of the 12th annual Relay for Life event, 9 a.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday. The 24-hour event at Geweke Field in Yuba City is fun and inspiring - a great combination.
I encourage you to attend the fundraiser; the luminaria ceremony (at 9 .m. Saturday) will grab you by the heart.
Check out staff writer Ashley Gebb’s preview from Thursday’s A-D.
Posted in: Current events | Post a Comment »
