The Independent-News, Volume 120, Number 35, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 12 January 1995 — Page 4

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- THE INDEPENDENT NEWS - JANUARY 12. IWS

| EDITORIAL I

IT’S YOUR TURN There is no editorial this week as the editor is taking a little forced time olt on paper da\ to have some surgery performed We hope bv next week to have our regular editorial comments available, as well as the Memories column once again. I his week is your week and we have for you in this space, several opinions of our readers through the Voice of the People column and we arc inserting in our viewpoint, a point and counterpoint about this year’s Indiana legsilaturc. I his could easily be featured each week during the long session of the Indiana I egislaturc which began last week in Indianapolis. With the Republican landslide, the promises made for and because of this, and control of both houses by the Republican party with Democratic Governor I van Bash still in office, this could lx* an interesting year. We will discuss this more in future weeks I his also is a sear when a two-year budget must be adopted by law in Indiana Keep tuned and don't be afraid to contact your Rcprescnta lives and Senators in Indianapolis. There are toll free telephone numbers published at another location in this issue of “The Independent-News" Happy reading!

[ VOICE OF THE PEOPLE [

"Uhrlatma* Decorations" During the month of December we criss-crossed well over 11.000 miles on our nation's highways, and have enjoyed seeing the Christmas lighting and decorations efforts of homeowners, businesses and communities across the country. Since Crete Carrier's east-west "route of choice" is U.S. Highway 6 across northern Indiana, we came through Walkerton several differ ent times during December. Though we were through everything from large metropolitan areas to smaller towns such as yours, we both have felt that the Walkerton Christmas decorations and lighting along your main street to be the most tasteful and effective of any town we went through. Elease extend our complimants to your "city fathers". It is indeed a pleasure to pass through your town on several occasions during this Christmas season. Wishing the Town of Walkerton a prosperour New Year! Lawrence and Ann Reimer Crete Carrier. Unit <20293 "Thank Ym North Libertyl” Sunday afternoon our future daughter-in-law stopped enroute back to college and locked herself out of her car. After two calls to our local police and one call to a local locksmith, we were told to call the County Police at North Liberty. In 20 minutes the North Liberty town officer arrived here. It certainly is appreciated that North Liberty town officer was kind enough to assist where our own Walkerton officers couldn't come a quarter of a mile outside town to help Thank you North Liberty! Richard A Annette Hesters " America* Legion MemberaHp" It seems like we are always asked to increase our membership The reason for this is obvious, membership is the life blood of the American Legion Without membership. there would be no Legion program Without membership we would have no voice on Capital Hill. Without membership there would be no accomplishment in assistance and support to veterans, their families, the community, state and nations The American Legion is the sum totaled of all its members has recorded for veterans and their families since 1919 It's not the price you pay to belong, but the price you paid to be eligible to belong Do you not feel as a Legionnaire your time and

money will be well spent in advancing many veterans programs of the American Legion? To eligible veterans here are the list of programs that we do support: Assistance to needy children and families; College scholarhisps to high school students; Veterans Administrations Volunteer Service; Blood donor program; High School oratorical contest; Boys State and Nation; American Legion baseball; School awards; Boy Scouts. Cub Packs and Explorer Units; Flag educations programs; Missing children programs; Drug abuse programs; Teenage suicide prevention programs; Special Olympics The American Legion Auxiliary/ Girls State and Nation; The National Emergency Relief fund; The fmaiiy support network; The Flag Honor Squad; and Sons of the Amercian Legions. You cannot put a dollar value to the life-long friendships that develope from being actively involved with others. I personally have benefited beyond my wildest dreams as to the great and really good veterans out there with whom I have very close contact with all these years through working together for the cause of the American Legion. And most importantly, the selfsatisfaction of knowing that just by being a member you are helping others less fortunate than yourself. As the American Legion continues to protect and preserve the veterans benefits programs, especially in the area of medical care, the strength of the American Legion is important. Please pay your dues. William Flaugher Post 189. Walkerton fT’nWTF' - - - i 1 I * in M , u J / &' I d like u word with the designer of your air bag "

DEAR DOCTOR DONOHUE: I love mixed nuts. Bui I wan! to wakh and limit my cholesterol intake. Can you tell me which nuts are the good nuts and which the bad, so far as cholesterol is concerned? I like cashews, hazel nuts, walnuts, Brazil nuts, pecans and almonds. DEAR READER The most im portant point for you is that nuts have no cholesterol in them The second important jx»ini is that they do con tain fat Otherwise, (he nut story is an interesting one I know of two studies One study was on nutealcrs The nuts involsed were varied and the researchers concluded that eating nuts offered a reduced risk of heart attack A second study zeroed in on walnuts specifically Eating walnuts, the researchers concluded, might help lower cholesterol, interesting given the fact that nuts have no cholesterol in them (They suggested that other nut types might have yielded similar results ) Not too much to go on, really The overriding concern in all this is that, while nuts have no cholesterol, they do contain other fats Fortunately, nut fat is the polyunsaturated kind, the kind (hat docs not increase bkxxl cholesterol Good news The bad news is that you still have to stay within limits for total daily fat consumption, and so nuts have to be taken into account Your daily diet should not have greater (han 30 percent of ns calories in the form of fats, whatever their source or kind So you cannot gorge on nuts or make nuts a major part of your diet I wonder if, after having read all this, you are a nut fancier are happier or sadder You might be interested in the cholesterol report, which (ells the full story, which l‘m sending you Others who want this report can order a copy by writing: Dr. Donohue — No. 5-WS, Box 5539, Riverton, NJ. 0H077-5539 Enclose S 3 and a self-ad-dressed. double-stamped .No. 10 envelope ©1995 by King Feature* Synd

| This Week In History]

On January 10, 1901, Texas experienced its first oil strike near Beaumont January 13, 1908, a fire al the Rhoads Theater in Boyertown, Pa , claimed 170 lives January 12, 1909, a mine caved in al Switchback, W Va , causing 67 casualties January 13, 1926, a mine disaster in Wilburton, Okla , caused 91 people to die .. January 12, 1939, President Franklin D Roosevelt asked for another hike in the defense budget ... January 10, 1940, a mine caved in al Bartley, W Va and 91 people died . January 14, 1950, the US recalled all consular officials from China after (hat country seized the American Consulate general in Peking January 9,1964, Panama suspended relations with the U S after a series of riots about the Panama Canal January 9,1970, a fire in a nursing home in Martella, Ohio, caused 27 deaths January 11 and 15,1973, five of seven defen dants in the Watergate break in trial pleaded guilty January 11, 1977, a Panamanian registered (anker sank off (he coast of Cape Cod. Mass , claiming 38 lives January 13, 1977, an Aeroflot TU 104 exploded and crashed at Alma Ata in Central Asia, causing 90 deaths January 9, 1981, a fire in a boarding house in Keansburg, N J , resulted in 30 casualties January 13, 1982, an Air Florida Boeing 737 crashed into the Potomac River after takeoff, resulting in 78 lives being lost Activity is the only road to knowledge George Bernard Shaw

| IHEWPOIN^I

"Point/Counterpoint" Subject! Preview of the 1995 MMloa of the Indiana General Araembb. BACKGROUND! The 109th Indiana General Assembly resumes its 61-day "long" session on January 4 Republicans have control of both chambers in the Legislature, holding a 56-44 majority in the House and a 30-20 advantagle in the Senate. By law, the long session must be completed by the end of April. This is the session when legislators must pass a state budget covering the next two fiscal years, but it is expected legislators also will consider such issues as welfare and property tax reform, excise tax relief. improvements in education and additional measures to combat crime. Offering a preview of the 1995 session are Indiana House Speaker Paul Mannweiler (R-Indianapolis) and House Minority Leader John R. Gregs (D-Sandbom). Mannweiler. hrst elected to the House in 1978, originally served as speaker during the 1986-87 sessions of the Legislature and was co-speaker of that body during the 1989-90 sessions. Gregg was first elected to the He iser in 1986. He served as House majority leader from 1990 to 1994 Hmm Speaker Paul B. MannweOert The Indiana General Assembly will face a number of extremely complex issues during the 1995 legislative session. Health care, education funding, crime and tax controls will be at the top of the Republican agenda. I certainly think the Indiana House is up to the task of tackling these and other pressing issues. Welfare reform will be another debated topic. Republicans have been supporting reform in this area for six years, and we’re pleased to see the governor is now agreeing with many of our proposals. Postering responsibility in welfare recipients will be the goal of any and all reforms we approve. If you would like to make your feelings known about welfare or any othe issue, call or write your local legislator. Let them know what you think. Their job is to represent your interests, and they can’t do their job unless they know how you feel on these issues. 1 hope that the lines of communications between caucuses in the House and between the House and the Senate will remain open and that we all keep in mind that the reason we are meeting in session is for the betterment of the people of Indiana. With this soft sort of agreement between the House. Senate and Governor’s Office, we should be able to address a number of complex issues during the 1995 legislative session. Hmm Minority Loader John R. Graggi As 1 look at the upcoming ses sion, I’ve been pleased to see both parties actively working to cooperate and have better relations. 1 think that type of cooperation bodes well for the people of our state. I believe this session will see us working toward fulfilling some of the objectives that certainly received a good deal of attention during the most recent election. For example, I think both parties will be working toward providing some form of substantive property tax relief. This has been a priority for House Democrats the past few sessions. and I fully anticipate our caucus will work to see what can be 1 done to offer additional assistance. Now that the state’s financial picture seems to have improved. I feel there will be some changes in relief for people who annually face those huge excise tax bills for their f vehicles.

House Democrats also will be continuing to see what can be done to reform our state s welfare system. We are supportive of thinitiatives offered by Gov. Eva Bayh that were recently approved 1 by the federal government. These programs arc designed to help people get off welfare by providing them with job training and addi tional assistance. We will be keeping a careful watch on the budget process as it evolves over the next few months There has been no general tax increase in this state since Evan Bayh took office, and we certainly intend to see that the new biennial budget is put together responsibly without reform requiring more from Indiana s taxpayers. I think it’s going to be a great session, and really look forward as getting about doing the people's work, and I think we re going to continue to do more work with less money and be a very responsible General Assembly.

Health & Nutrition by Judith Sheldon

FACTS ABOUT SAFETY BELTS: The sad statistics don't end when the holiday driving season is over As a matter of fact, there's some indication that driving acci dents tend to go down during the holidays because of added aware ness of the dangers of drinking and driving, and increased police presence on the roads at (hat time One way in which serious injuries and fatalities can be avoided when driving is to use safety Im- Its, as the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons points out in (heir literature The AAOS indicates that there are two collisions in every motor vehicle crash The first involves a vehicle striking an object The second collision is the one that causes death and injury that happens when the person or {arsons in the car collides with the interior of the vehicle, or is ejected from it The best way to protect yourself and those who ride with you is to use lap belts and shoulder restraints What about airbags’’ Aren't (hey sufficient to prevent injuries'’ The fact is, airbags inflate only during frontal collisions They offer no help in multiple collisions or rollovers or side contact Safety lielts. however, do offer protection in these examples Okay, what about the "bad" things that can happen if you wear a safety belt’’ Leet's examine some of those "bad" things and answer (hem Myth Safety belts trap you Incase of a fire or submersion, it's better to be ejected Fact Death by fire or drowning makes up only one tenth of one per cent of motor vehicle- related (rauma However, most people who are ejected from their vehicles die — and most of them are ejected through the windshield Myth Safely belts can cause injuries Fact While some injuries have been reported, it's been found that m most cases, it's because they've been worn incorrectly Myth Safety belts arc important only if you're driving long distances on high speed expressways Fact Some 75 percent —that's three out of every four traffic crashes, occur within 25 miles of home, and at speeds under 40 miles per hour Indeed, unbelted occupants have been killed at speeds of less than 12 miles per hour And, as I'm sure you know if you're a driver, that's parking lot speed ©1905 by King Fealuiw Synd God created things by naming them; the artist recreates them by taking their name off or giving them a new one. —Marcel Proust