Month: September 2009
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Things that go beep in the night
I love having the house to myself on occasion. Then it’s mine, all mine and I relish every moment … well every moment except that night when someone left a beeping time bomb in my kitchen. Heart beating I tentatively went to investigate. The sound stopped. Barely breathing, I looked around. Nothing. Slowly my heart…
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Workers at Lion Oil turnaround
(This is the second in a series about the Lion Oil turnaround and its impact on the local community). By JOAN HERSHBERGER News-Times Staff With the downturn in the national economy, many former automotive, chemical and electrical engineers and employees have accepted entry-level jobs in the construction business — earning $10 to $12 per hour.…
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Lion Oil turn around
(This is the first in a series about the Lion Oil turnaround and its impact on the local community.) By JOAN HERSHBERGER News-Times Staff A daunting task, massive, a once-in-a-blue-moon type of thing, the largest project ever that J Christy Construction Co. – a wholly owned subsidiary of Lion Oil – has ever attempted. That…
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the day the house burned down
That day — a month after Christmas and four birthdays — began like many others for me. My brother, sister and I rode the bus to the small school in the nearby village of Woodhull, N.Y. With class barely under way, a fire siren split through the quiet of the winter day. Like every other…
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Coastal trip covers us in memories
“Pick a spot, any spot and let’s plan to vacation together there next year,” we urged the family last fall. Our destination vacation took us within 90 minutes of the Atlantic Ocean. “I know it’s a ways to the ocean, but I definitely want to go to the ocean at least one day,” my St.…
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Coastal family reunion
“Pick a spot, any spot and let’s plan to vacation together there next year,” we urged the family last fall. Our destination vacation took us within 90 minutes of the Atlantic Ocean. “I know it’s a ways to the ocean, but I definitely want to go to the ocean at least one day,” my St.…
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Health care begins in the pocketbook
Opinions about funding for government programs change when it touches one’s personal pocketbook. The man, who in his 30’s and 40’s adamantly vowed he would never dip into the federal bank to fund his health or his aging years, changed his mind as his age increased and his income decreased. Without a whisper of protest,…