Local college student wants to raise awareness about unions

MACKENZIE ISSLER

Recorder Staff

GREENFIELD -- Inspired by the recent rights protests in Wisconsin, North Africa and the Middle East, Greenfield Community College student Samuel King wanted to raise awareness, so he organized a teach-in at the college.

"Despite being a fairly pro-union state, I wanted to show that we support these popular movements," in particular, the Wisconsin public employee labor troubles, said 23-year-old King. "I have always been in favor of groups getting together to further rights."

GCC's teach-in fell on the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., where 43 years ago he stood with sanitation workers demanding their rights. Monday's event featured several speakers, who argued that collective bargaining is a constitutional right and that these "attacks" on collective bargaining rights aren't just happening in Wisconsin, but all over the country and in Massachusetts.

"The issue that brings us together here isn't just an issue of contract rights," said Buz Eisenberg, GCC professor and local human rights lawyer, to a group of about 15 that had gathered in the college lecture hall. "It is an issue of constitutional importance, which like all constitutional issues, involves interpreting key provisions of the U.S. Constitution to decide where our values lie as Americans."

Eisenberg cited some previous times in history "when workers' rights were contested and the Constitution was invoked." By 1933, he said, West Coast dock workers felt a growing desperation with the harshness of the Great Depression and a rising anger at the danger and indignity of working conditions. "With the National Industrial Recovery Act, for the first time Congress recognized and codified the right to organize and bargain collectively. "But, on the West Coast, budding union activity led to great resistance from the owners and from the police who protected their interests."

"Pitched battles over the right to collectively bargain resulted in injuries and deaths up and down the West Coast these battles eventually culminated in the largest general strike in America history and resulted in 1934 in a victory for the strikers."

"Those dock workers won control of their hiring halls in 1934," he said. "They fought to create a union open to all races, religions and political leanings."

They argued for safe working conditions and eventually secured healthcare benefits and established pensions. They negotiated the need for paid holidays, vacations and took public stands on a wide range of issues that impact American workers and workers throughout the world, he said.

"While many spoke of it as a victory for the National Industrial Recovery Act, many others recognized it is as a victory for the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution the right to freely assemble with whomever you choose."

"The right to join others and collectively bargain should not be a right afforded only to certain people," he said. "It is an American right, to be enjoyed by each and every individual in our society." "Those Wisconsin workers demand it, our Constitution demands it and we should demand it."

The speakers all discussed their views on unions rights, in light of the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature's and its governor's rollback of the state public employees' right to collective bargaining.

Not just Wisconsin

"What is happening in Wisconsin is not just happening in Wisconsin," said economics professor Tully Fitzsimmons.

Across the country, there are battles over the rights of unionized labor playing out in state legislatures, Fitzsimmons said. He applied economic principles to the labor markets. He said individual workers sell their labor to their employers, which could be private or public. Those employers then sell the final products, whether goods or services, to consumers.

He said there are fewer solutions available to public employees to even the playing field. Anti-trust laws can not be applied to government structures, and government can not be broken up. "The only solution, then, to create equivalent market power, is to permit those at the bottom of the chain, the laborers, to organize and speak with a single voice," he said, on his blog. "And that is what unionism is all about."

Rosemarie Freeland, coordinator of GCC's Women's Resource Center, is a member of the Greenfield Community College Professional Association, a union affiliated with the Massachusetts Community College Council and the Massachusetts Teachers Association.

In 1993, Freeland came to GCC as a single mother with three children on welfare. "I was told then that welfare reform was necessary to balance the budget and now public workers are being told it is necessary to strip your right to collective bargaining to balance the budget."

"What I really want to get across is that we as a faculty and professional staff union are very aware of budget constraints and we work with the governor and with our employer all the time to come to terms with the difficulty of funding contracts," she said, after the event.

The Wisconsin move, billed as a necessary cost-savings measure, has been criticized by unions and others as a power play to emasculate the labor movement. But, the law is on hold, as a judge declared that the law hadn't properly been published and wasn't in effect as they claimed. The law would force public employees to pay more for their health care and pension benefits, which amounts to an 8 percent pay cut. It also would eliminate their ability to collectively bargain anything except wage increases no higher than inflation. The Associated Press contributed to this article.

A teen's struggle with eating disorders makes her want to spread the word

By MACKENZIE ISSLER
Recorder Staff

DEERFIELD -- When 17-year-old Jenna Gagnon first developed an eating disorder, her family didn't realize why she was losing weight -- they thought that she was just eating healthy and exercising and complimented her often on the way she looked.
Gagnon, a friendly and articulate blonde-haired senior at Frontier Regional High School, said she is in recovery from bulimia now and first became anorexic when she was 12. Several traumas in her family, including the deaths of her grandparents, intensified her eating disorder and she became bulimic, which means that she would eat, sometimes bingeing, and then would throw up her food.
She said her friends, frustrated, would sometimes yell at her about her eating disorders, but she was in denial. So, when Gagnon started helping organize this year's Community Coalition for Teens' Youth Conference, she wanted to make sure that there was a workshop offered about eating disorders. She wanted to help her peers understand the illnesses and what they can do to help.
About 200 students from across the area gathered on Wednesday at Frontier Regional School for the 20th annual youth conference. Each year, the conference offers myriad workshops and performances addressing youth issues, which included, this year, media education, stress, travel, mental health, employment, racism and publishing.
A group of Frontier students, known as the Frontier Friends, led by youth conference coordinator Gagnon, have been planning the conference since September.
Gagnon worked tirelessly to get Katie Heimer from the Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association in Newton to come and speak. The association is a nonprofit dedicated to the prevention and treatment of eating disorders and disordered eating.
Heimer, 26, spoke to a group of about 25, about her own experiences with an eating disorder, shared harrowing statistics and reiterated that people can fully recover from eating disorders and that they are "about emotions, not food."
Eighty percent of women are dissatisfied with their bodies, Heimer said. "It is kind of an epidemic when you think about it in those terms."
There are four primary types of eating disorders: bulimia, anorexia, binge eating disorder and "Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified," where, in some cases, someone may exhibit the signs of the other disorders but not completely fulfill the diagnostic definition.
Conservative estimates suggest that bulimia and anorexia affect 5 million to 10 million girls and women and 1 million boys and men and binge eating disorder affects as many as 24 million men and women, according to handouts at the workshop.
Heimer said the common causes of eating disorders are major life transitions, family problems, social/romantic problems, trauma, genetics, social values/messages and failure at school, work and/or competitive events.
Some of the medical complications associated with eating disorders are nausea, insomnia, increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and some forms of cancer, high cholesterol, dental problems (like damaged or discolored teeth), loss of monthly menstrual period, hair loss, hollow facial features, dry skin, osteoporosis, acid reflux, gastrointestinal problems and heart palpitations and heart failure, weight-related hypertension and/or fatigue.
Ten percent of people with anorexia die each year, Heimer said.

Second marriage story: Engagement

By MACKENZIE ISSLER
Recorder Staff

MONTAGUE -- In the home they built together, Oliver Williams asked his girlfriend of five-and-half years, Christina Chubb, to marry him.
Williams said once the couple got through building a house together, he knew that he was ready to make the commitment of marriage.
"We built a home together, not just a house," he says.
"I just gave her the ring right here," he said, as the couple sat in their kitchen recently.
Chubb said she had no idea the engagement was coming. In fact, she said they had recently gone to a wedding and that Williams was acting "so weird and so standoffish." She thought he was acting that way because he was "terrified of the idea of marriage."
"It turns out that he had bought the ring that morning," she said with a grin.
The two met through friends and went on their first date, which was a double date, after he called her two days later. "I kind of thought something was there a little spark," he said.
Both described their first date, which was spent on the Connecticut River on a warm summer day in 2005, as a success. For the next month, the two saw each other once or twice each week, and often Chubb would come to visit at the dairy farm where Williams worked.
The couple was apart for a bit, after they broke up briefly, but they got back together and started planning the house they wanted to build in Montague. They moved about a year ago into the two-story cream-colored house, and Chubb brought her two horses, her dogs and some recently added chickens to their homestead.
On May 25, 2010, her birthday, Williams proposed. The wedding is planned in Conway on Aug. 13.

Hector Is Gonna Kill Nate

"Hector Is Gonna Kill Nate" by Ari Issler is a tense drama about a dedicated high school basketball coach and his emotionally charged students. Judging from the dedication in the end credits, the compelling main character appears to be a tribute to the filmmaker's father. This short world premieres in Aspen. -- from Indiewire.com

At the end of Ari Issler's smartly visceral story of a high-school basketball coach who intervenes to stop an act of retribution, I wrote down the director's name. Then I noted his cinematographer (Jeffrey Kim) and editor (Matt Ruskin) They should all surface again. It's an agile bit of work with actual emotional payoffs. -- from the Denver Post.

My brother, Ari Issler's, short film premiered at the Aspen ShortsFest on Saturday. I am so proud of him!! And, his film brings me to tears every time and is so beautifully and skillfully done.

Haiti: "Sweet Micky" elected president

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – One of Haiti’s most popular entertainers, a provocative Carnival singer previously best known for disrobing and swearing on stage, has been elected president, a senior Haitian election official said Monday, placing him at the helm of a nation still struggling to recover from last year’s earthquake, a cholera epidemic and chronic poverty.

Photo: www.kreyolnetwork.com

Marriage series: 50 years of marriage and still going strong

Recent research shows that fewer Americans are marrying, and those who do, choose to do it later in life. This is the first of a three-part series.

By MACKENZIE ISSLER
Recorder Staff

NORTHFIELD — On a cool and sunny autumn day, 17-yearold Kay Lombard put on her white wedding gown of chantilly lace. Her short, dark brown hair was fastened with a flowing, translucent veil.

The church was decorated with baskets of chrysanthemums, fall foliage and potted greens. It was Oct. 22, 1960.

At 3:30 p.m. that day, Lombard picked up her bouquet of white roses, stephanotis and ivy, and walked down the aisle to marry her finance, 23-yearold Harold Snow. Snow waited at the end of the aisle, dressed in a black tuxedo with a white rose boutonniere and black bow tie.

The two said their “I dos” and set off on their week-long honeymoon. Since then, they have raised three children together and have watched them have families of their own. The couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last October and now are “going on 75 years,” joked Mr. Snow.

But, since the two were married five decades ago, opinions about dating, marriage, cohabitation and spousal responsibilities have changed and evolved — some say for the better and others, for the worse.

Taking notice that 72 percent of all adults in the country were married in 1960 and, by 2008, the number had dropped to just 52 percent, the Pew Research Center did research and compiled a report, asking several intriguing questions, like:

◆ Is marriage becoming obsolete?

◆ How much have gender roles within marriage changed?

◆ When it comes to marriage, does love trump money?

The Pew report, done in association with Time magazine, compiled its report after conducting a nationwide survey of 2,691 adults from Oct. 1 to 21, 2010 and including in its analysis half a century of demographic and economic data, drawn mainly from the U.S. Census.

Nearly four in 10 of the survey respondents (39 percent) said that marriage is becoming obsolete. Back in 1978, when Time magazine posed the same question to registered voters, just 28 percent agreed.

Those most likely to agree included those who are part of the phenomenon, 62 percent of cohabiting parents, as well as those most likely to be troubled by it (42 percent of selfdescribed conservatives).

Part of the decline may be explained by the average age at which men and women first marry — it’s now the highest ever recorded.

Also, part of the decline can be attributed to the near tripling of the group that is currently divorced or separated — to 14 percent in 2008 from 5 percent in 1960.

Greenfield man to distribute free fuel in Japan

By MACKENZIE ISSLER
Recorder Staff

This morning, Greenfield resident Bob Picariello boarded a flight to Tokyo, Japan, with his final destination being Ishinomaki, a city heavily hit by the recent earthquake and tsunami.

Picariello, 64, is traveling with and is on the board of the nonprofit, Fuel Relief Fund, which is now distributing heating fuel in Ishinomaki and Onagawa, a city and town in the Miyagi prefecture, where thousands are estimated to have died and are still missing after the two natural disasters.

The fuel distribution is now being manned by the nonprofit’s chairman, Ted Honcharik, a fuel distributor from southern California.

Honcharik will stay with Picariello for a few days after he arrives to show him the ropes, but then he will be departing, leaving the operation to Picariello and a translator. He will be in Japan for three weeks to distribute oil. If there is time left and no money left for oil, Picariello plans to find a carpentry crew to work with. Picariello has spent half of his career in the building trades and the other half as a counselor.

Fuel Relief Fund began donating and distributing heating fuel in Japan on March 24, where temperatures in the northeast region drop below freezing at night. The kerosene is being mostly used in small heaters. The nonprofit is giving out 2.5 gallons to each person and has already served hundreds of people, Picariello said.

Picariello first met Honcharik when he was doing relief work in Haiti weeks after the devastating earthquake there. This spurred another trip to Haiti for Picariello, this time with Fuel Relief Fund, where he helped deliver fuel to areas within 50 miles of Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital.

American tsunami victim had family from Greenfield, Mass

By ZINIE CHEN SAMPSON and
MACKENZIE ISSLER
Associated Press and Recorder Staff

GREENFIELD — A 24-yearold English teacher from Virginia, whose body was discovered in the wreckage of the Japan tsunami, had roots in Greenfield.

Taylor Anderson may be the first known American victim in the Japanese disaster, as authorities continue the daunting task of finding and identifying more than 13,000 people believed to be missing.

Her mother, Jean Anderson, whose maiden name is Behaylo, graduated from Greenfield High School in 1976 and her father, Andy Anderson, also attended the town’s high school, according to school officials.

Her maternal grandparents, Frederick and Alice Behaylo, who are now both deceased, were lifelong residents of Greenfield.

Her paternal grandparents were Leroy and Lora Anderson, who also lived in Greenfield before moving to Virginia after his place of employment, Millers Falls Tool Co., closed down in the early 1980s.

Anderson’s family said in a statement that the U.S. Embassy in Japan called them Monday to tell them she was found in Ishinomaki, a city about 240 miles north of Tokyo. “We would like to thank all those whose prayers and support have carried us through this crisis,” said Andy and Jean Anderson, who now live in Chesterfield County south of Richmond.

“Please continue to pray for all who remain missing and for the people of Japan. We ask that you respect our privacy during this hard time.”

Taylor Anderson has a brother, Jeffrey, and sister, Julia.

Jean Anderson said her daughter was last seen after the earthquake, riding her bike away from an Ishinomaki elementary school after making sure parents had picked up their children. A tsunami struck shortly after the earthquake, completely wiping out homes and other structures.

Friends and relatives used Facebook and other social networks to spread the word about the search for Taylor. Officials first told the family last Tuesday that their daughter had been located, but the Andersons learned that night that the information was incorrect.

Taylor Anderson had a lifelong love of Japan and began studying the language in middle school. She moved overseas after graduating from Randolph-Macon College in 2008 to teach in the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme.

She taught in eight schools in Ishinomaki, in the Miyagi prefecture on Japan’s northeast coast. During her stay there she developed a love for her students and for the Japanese people, her mother said.

She was scheduled to return to the United States in August.

“What we can do to honor Taylor’s memory is by doing what she gave her life for, that is, reaching out to the Japanese people, in tangible ways,” said the Rev. Dorothy White, director of religious studies at St. Catherine’s School. Anderson graduated from its high school in 2004.

The school was planning a Japan-relief service project in her honor, White said.

Others said they missed her down-to-earth personality and smile. She liked the band Barenaked Ladies, J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings,” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

Anderson was a “low-key, easygoing, sometimes bubbly, always warm young woman with a lively mind and a generous heart,” said English teacher Derek Kannemeyer, who was her adviser when she was co-editor of the St. Catherine’s literary magazine.

Kannemeyer stayed in touch with Anderson after she graduated and said she possessed intellectual curiosity and a bright, lively mind. “That she took these strengths and went out into the broader world to live a life of engagement and caring about other people, and of exploration, of discovery — is just what teachers hope their students will do.”

Officials with U.S. Embassy in Japan and the State Department could not immediately confirm whether she was the first known U.S. victim in Japan. Another 25-year-old man is presumed dead after being swept into the ocean March 11 by a swell from the tsunami on the northern California coast.

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Five things you should know before dating a journalist

By Tom Chambers
So, you’ve been eyeing that smart, attractive journalist you’re lucky enough to know personally. You’re intrigued. Your journalist is smart, funny, confident. Visions of Clark Kent taking off the glasses and ripping off his clothes to reveal a perfectly toned body in blue spandex coming to save you run through your head.
Who can blame you? Journalism is a sexy occupation.

Check out this website to read the whole article.

Haiti: Aristide to return on Friday

(CNN) -- After seven years in exile, former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide will be back in his homeland Friday, two days ahead of a highly anticipated election, his U.S. attorney said.

Four NYT journalists are missing in Libya

The New York Times said Wednesday that four of its journalists reporting on the conflict in Libya were missing.

Haiti: Aristide's predicted return

(CNN) -- Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide will end his exile and return to Haiti within the next week or so, ahead of the country's elections, his lawyer told CNN Saturday.

New York Times Op-Ed by Amy Wilentz

Greenfield is hoping to rejuvenate with a growing arts scene

The town that I work in in western Massachusetts made the Boston Globe today.

GREENFIELD -- Located in the state’s most rural county, Greenfield is starting to wipe the sleep from its eyes. In the last year, an espresso bar, wood-fired pizzeria, and music hall have opened along the once-dormant Main Street and Bank Row. Long overshadowed by neighboring cultural heavyweights in the Knowledge Corridor (busy Amherst and Northampton), this former industrial town at the confluence of the Deerfield, Green, and Connecticut rivers is beginning to come into its own.

Bahrain launches crackdown on protestors

MANAMA (Reuters) - Bahraini forces backed by helicopters launched a crackdown on protesters on Wednesday, imposing a curfew and clearing hundreds from a camp that had become the symbol of an uprising by the Shi'ite Muslim majority.

Why nuclear power is a necessity

Glenn E. Sjoden, Ph.D., P.E. is professor of nuclear and radiological engineering at the George W. Woodruff School of Georgia Institute of Technology. For a different point of view, see How vulnerable are U.S. nuclear plants?

(CNN) -- We are all deeply saddened by the news of the terrible devastation, destruction and death that occurred in Japan on March 12 from the incredible destruction brought on by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami. As if this were not enough, on the heels of these two events, several large nuclear power plants are in severe peril.

Huge Quake and Tsunami Hit Japan

TOKYO — A huge earthquake struck Japan on Friday, churning up a devastating tsunami that swept over cities and farmland along the northern part of the country and threatened coastal areas throughout the Pacific.

Wisconsin Assembly Approves Bargain Curbs

MADISON, Wis. — The state Assembly voted 53-42 Thursday on a bill that sharply curtails bargaining rights for government workers, sending the bill to Gov. Scott Walker who promised to sign it as soon as possible.

Overheard in the Newsroom

Overnight Producer: “We have a caller who is convinced he IS Charlie Sheen. We are on call number 11, and I’ve been here an hour. Is it a full moon?!?”

Morning anchor: “I want to be Charlie Sheen when I grow up.”

Associate Editor: “I need $2 from petty cash so I can buy a 40 of malt liquor from that store the city’s purchasing. It’s research.”
Account person, handing over the money: “Well, you are the editor.”

Editor, the day after an election: “Before I commend you all on a job well done, were there any fuck-ups that I’m not aware of?”

Reporter, after dealing with an upset parent: “And then she asked me if there was a manager she could speak with… do we look like a grocery store?”

Copy editor: “Do restraining orders extend to Twitter?”

Copy Editor: “Here’s a story slugged ‘Drunken Driving Nun.’ But it’s just a nun who was hit by a drunk driver. Booorrring.”

Reporter 1: “I’m going to an interview. Can you guys try to not burn the office down.”
Reporter 2: “You don’t want us to burn the place down?”
Reporter 1: “Yeah.”
Reporter 2: “Are you sure?”
Reporter 1: [Silent, contemplating.]

Reporter: “I’m seriously considering jumping off the top of the building.”
Student Journo: “Oh don’t do that! You’d become a story and that’s not good ethics.”

Metro reporter on phone with source apprehensive about being directly quoted: “Oh, don’t worry. We make everyone sound smart — not that you’re not.”

Reporter: “Do I have a photographer that I can take with me?”
Photographer: “So we’re purses now?”

(from www.overheardinthenewsroom.com)

Medical supply drive

Hey everyone!

I am collecting medical supplies and other items for the clinic in Haiti. Below is a list of what is needed now. If you want to donate, let me know and I will give you details about how you can get your donations to me. I will be bringing them down when I return to Haiti on April 9.

Items needed:
Tylenol adult/kids
Motrin adult/ kids
kids and adult vits
laxatives
sterile 2x2's (gauze pads)
sterile 4x4's
ace bandages
baby powder
dandruff shampoo
vitamin B12
iron
blood pressure cuffs (all sizes)
otoscope
pens
clip boards

My favorite of the day

Editor, arguing with a reporter over edits: “This is not a democracy! We report on democracies. We don’t practice them.”

from Overheard in the Newsroom

(To the right, I am dodging one of my editors trying to take my picture.)

26 years old today

37 days and counting.

It is official.

I am going to Haiti April 9-23. I bought my ticket yesterday! SO excited.

The Recorder goes national

My co-worker Arn Albertini (picture to the right) wrote a story about the arrest of an ESPN baseball writer in Franklin County, Mass, where our newspaper is located. His lawyer says allegations that Bryant assaulted his wife and a police officer over the weekend are racially motivated.

This story made the Huffington Post and The Recorder was cited.

Here is Arn's story.

By ARN ALBERTINI
Recorder Staff

The local lawyer for ESPN writer Howard Bryant of Ashfield says allegations that Bryant assaulted his wife and a police officer over the weekend are racially motivated.

“Mr. Bryant was the victim of excessive force,” lawyer Buz Eisenberg said after his client’s arraignment in Greenfield District Court Monday. “(Police) responded to the scene and rather than do an investigation they made an arrest of a black man with white wife.

“This is a sad end to Black History Month.”

In response, David Procopio, director of media communications for the Massachusetts State Police, said, “To claim race had anything to do with his arrest is not only wrong, but is also an affront to domestic violence victims and to the vast majority of people from all racial backgrounds who choose to obey the law.”

On Monday morning, Bryant pleaded innocent to charges of domestic assault and battery, assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. He was released on personal recognizance with the condition that he not abuse the alleged victim.

“I am so sad today,” said Bryant, speaking from his Ashfield home on Monday afternoon. “I am sad today because this attack on me by the Massachusetts State Police and the Buckland Police has made it necessary for me to defend untrue allegations and repair my reputation when one conversation with either Veronique (his wife) or with me would have diffused the entire situation. Instead, the police chose violence over dialogue, threatened to Taser me whenever I tried to speak, all in front of my 6 year-old son.

“As a result, I have to defend a charge that I attacked both the woman I love and the police when nothing could be further from the truth.

“I’m a 42-year-old black man. Why would I hit a cop?

Justices Rule for Protestors at Military Funerals

WASHINGTON — The First Amendment protects hateful protests at military funerals, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in an 8-1 decision.

“Speech is powerful,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the majority. “It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and — as it did here — inflict great pain.”

One of my favorites

I wrote this article about two years ago about a gay couple adopting their first son. And, because of Facebook, I have been able to see Hugh grow up. He is such a little man now.

December 2, 2008

GREENFIELD -- Three-year-old Hugh Hart is a bundle of energy. Hugh slipped on his yellow rubber boots, insisting that they were ice skates, and started "skating" throughout the rooms of the house. "Where did you hide the ice?" he asked. Lindel Hart, 45, scooped up his son and plopped him down on his lap as he begins to read a story to the energetic and inquisitive little boy.
Hart kept Hugh occupied, as his husband, Rod Hart, reflected about how he has changed since they have adopted their son.
"Oh, I love it," said Rod, beaming, about being a father. "It has made me a better person."
"It has made me better at my job,' he said. Rod is an English teacher at JFK Middle School in Northampton.
"I am more sympathetic to parents, envisioning I will be on the other side of the desk soon," he said with a laugh.
Rod, 36, said he was adopted and that he was never treated differently in his family. Therefore, adoption was Rod and Lindel's choice to have a child because "it was familiar."
"Rod always had positive experiences with his parents and grandparents," he said. "It seemed the natural way for us to go."
Both said they haven't felt any negativity or criticism about being gay and having a son, saying that wherever they go they get smiles and compliments.
"I love being a dad with another dad," said Rod. "I've loved that because there aren't traditional gender roles to fall into."
"We are two dudes raising a kid and we get to shape our roles to our strengths and situations," he said.
But, unlike many other adoptions, it didn't take much time at all for the Greenfield couple to get a child. Within two months of starting the adoption process, they had Hugh in their home.
In August 2005, the couple visited Full Circle Adoptions in Northampton to meet the staff and to learn more about the process. They started the paperwork the next day, which Lindel described as a "ream of paperwork." He said they finished it in a few weeks and started doing home study sessions, which are a series of meetings with social workers and "essentially it is an opportunity for both parties to discuss adoption and some issues around adoption."

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Local legislators respond to mental health cuts

By MACKENZIE ISSLER
GREENFIELD — As the Green River House fights to keep its funding, local legislators says the agency isn’t alone in its struggle, as they expect that next year’s state budget will be “disastrous.”
“There is no question that we are going to see a lot of programs and services lost,” said Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst. “There is going to be a lot of pain and a lot of shared pain … there is no question about it.”
Staff and members at the Green River House, a day program that serves people with serious mental illnesses and has a focus on employment, is afraid it will have to cut staff and services and possibly close, after the governor proposed his lean budget for the year beginning July 1.
Gov. Deval Patrick has proposed a $3 million budget cut next year to the state Department of Mental Health’s “adult community mental health services” account, which includes programs like the Green River House statewide, called clubhouses. It is the DMH’s commissioner’s plan to cut $3 million from the state’s clubhouses, if the reduction is enacted. The $3 million represents 17 percent of the funding for these programs, according to the Massachusetts Clubhouse Coalition.
Rosenberg said the first he heard about the governor’s proposed cuts to so-called mental health clubhouses was last week, after being contacted by The Recorder.
The Greenfield clubhouse’s staff and members have invited the local delegation to a legislative breakfast in March. Rosenberg said he hadn’t heard about that yet, but if invited, schedule permitting, he would “be happy to go.” But, the Greenfield day program won’t be his only stop and he knows that. “We will be asked to visit and we will visit scores of constituency meetings and programs of this sort … there is $1.5 billion that is going to come out of this budget.”
“I tell everybody the same thing … the important thing is to stay in the budget because if you get eliminated from the budget, getting back into the budget will be extraordinarily difficult.”

Mental health program facing budget cuts

By MACKENZIE ISSLER
GREENFIELD — When Susan Howell was 23 years old, she was living in the “back ward” of a Texas state hospital, where she felt “depressed and lifeless.”
Howell’s mother came to visit one day and took her out of the hospital for what she thought was a short outing. Howell thought they were going to grab a burger nearby, but her mother drove her five hours to her home in Texas. Outside, there was a big U-Haul truck and her mother told her they were going to Massachusetts, where there were better mental health services.
Howell’s relationship with her mother had always been rocky. She had grown up in foster care homes. But, Howell will never forget her mother’s decision to get her out of Texas. “It was the best thing she ever did for me.” “I was in deep trouble.”
This was in 1983. After arriving in Massachusetts, Howell had a short stint in the now shuttered Northampton State Hospital. After it closed, she started attending a day mental health program in Greenfield. When that program also closed its doors, she joined the Green River House, also in Greenfield.
The Green River House, located at 37 Franklin St., is a Clinical Support Options day program for people with mental illnesses and its main focus is securing employment for its members. It is one of 33 “clubhouses” statewide, which serve residents who have serious mental illnesses. It sees about 40 people each day and has about 160 active members.
The staff at the Green River House helped Howell, now 51, get a job, and now she works at Clinical Support Options as a peer advocate. She helps people “help themselves,” working at the drop-in center at One Arch Place. “It makes me feel great … helping taking care of people.”
Howell said the clubhouse’s staff often go above and beyond their job duties. “If someone needs something, (the staff) will take care of it … we feel cared for here.”
Without the Green River House, she feels she would never be where she is today and that is the consensus among many of the program’s current members. But, Gov. Deval Patrick has proposed a $3 million budget cut next year, which would fall on the shoulders of clubhouses statewide, which is threatening the sustainability and existence of the local programs next year.

Last Hospice Article

GREENFIELD -- When many people think about hospice care, they think it is only for people who have days to live.
But, that's not the case at Hospice of Franklin County -- a nonprofit hospice that currently serves about 40 patients in the Franklin County area and has a staff of about 35.
Sometimes the local hospice is called in for people when they have only hours to live, but often, they work with patients who have been using their services for months, if not for a year or more.
"Many people think that hospice is only for the last few days or the last week of life," said Executive Director Terry Gaberson. "Although we can certainly help patients referred that late, they aren't able to take advantage of the full range of services. Patients can receive hospice care as long as they continue to qualify, some have received hospice care for year or more and some have recovered and graduated from hospice care."
She said for patients who are not seeking "aggressive, curative therapy," hospice provides the education, support and service they need to "gain some control and choice over how they will live the rest of their lives."
"Much of this work is based on relationships, and it takes time to build those along with the trust that is so important at this vulnerable time," she said. "Most of our hospice families say they wish they'd known about hospice sooner, and that before signing on they thought that hospice meant you only had a few days to live."
Gaberson said many people have the perception that hospice is just for cancer patients, but that isn't true. Gaberson said there are many illnesses that meet the criteria for hospice care, and someone doesn't necessarily need a diagnosis. Someone's health could be deteriorating just because of old age.
"Some people think that hospice care is just about dying, that we're the ones you call when there's nothing left to be done to treat an illness," she said. "This is high quality health care with a focus on comfort and quality of life when cure is not an option and most chronic illnesses such as heart failure, or chronic lung disease eventually fall into this realm."
Hospice of Franklin County offers many services, including nursing care, with on-call service 24 hours a day, seven days a week; pain symptom management; emotional and spiritual support; medical social services; home health aide service; volunteer services, like someone who will run errands; home delivery of prescriptions, medical supplies and equipment related to a hospice diagnosis; physical, occupational, dietary and speech therapy, complementary therapies, like Reiki, music therapy and massage therapy; and bereavement support.
"It's a sensitive subject to bring up; we have a very hard time talking about death and end-of-life planning in this country," said Gaberson. "When a person with advance illness requires more and more hospitalizations, their treatments become less effective, and they want to remain home and comfortable as much as possible, it's a good time to talk with their physician about what kind of care they want and review options for getting that care."
If someone chooses hospice care, his or her physician does need to confirm that he or she qualifies, she said.
When people are accepted into hospice, they can pick and choose what services they want to use. Referrals and information requests come from people seeking services, family members, physicians, nurses, social workers, case managers, discharge planners and friends. Free informational services are offered to those considering hospice services. The hospice benefit is covered by Medicare, Medicaid, HMO's and most private insurances. No one is turned away for inability to pay.
The Hospice of Franklin County's board of directors was established in August 2004. On Sept. 9, 2004, its organization was incorporated as a free-standing, independent, nonprofit.

Second Hospice Story

(Picture of Robert Brassor)

NORTHFIELD -- Some of the last words that David Brassor's mother said to him were, "Take care of your father."
And, 61-year-old Brassor has taken that charge seriously, and quite literally.
Last November, his father, 95-year-old Robert Brassor, came to live with him and his wife in their Northfield home, which the elder Brassor built and raised his family in. Now, David Brassor is his father's primary care giver 24/7.
When the elder Brassor first moved in, he was much more mobile that he is now. In February, he broke his hip after a fall in his bedroom. An ambulance came and he had surgery, which doctors feared he wouldn't survive at his age.
But, the talkative and friendly old man pulled through. He went to Buckley HealthCare Center for six weeks, but there too, he had a health scare after he got a bacterial infection.
"There were two days when I thought he wasn't going to make it," said David Brassor.
Robert Brassor came back to Northfield in April and that is when it was suggested that the Brassors start using hospice, especially with the elder Brassor's diminishing health.
David Brassor admitted that he once felt a stigma applied to hospice -- that hospice workers were only called in three days before someone was going to die.
But, after talking to Hospice of Franklin County and now experiencing their services and support firsthand, he stands corrected.
Hospice of Franklin County offers an array of services and quality health care with a focus on comfort and quality of life when cure is not an option.
Sometimes the local hospice is called in for people when they have only hours to live, but often they work with patients who have been using their services for months, if not for a year or more.
Patients get to pick what services they want.

PM Newslinks

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Why Russia's Medvedev can't deliver
Inflation rate: why prices are rising on everything, from cornflakes to socks
Iraq War: why US military withdrawal might not happen in 2011

Series on Hospice Care

I wrote a three-part series on hospice care in Franklin County, Mass., where I work. I think many of us have the same impression about hospice -- that these services are for people right before they are going to die. While this can be true, people often utilize hospice services months and sometimes years before death. And, even some come out of hospice care and live for many more years. The goal is to improve their quality of life and to make them more comfortable when they have a life-limiting illness or are just getting old.

Here is the first article that I wrote. Mary Tirrell and I became good friends and I visited with her after the story published. Sadly, Mary passed away on Sunday. I saw her the week before and her health had taken a turn for the worse.

I feel so lucky that I got to know her and we became friends.

Published on Jan. 31, 2010
(Picture above is Mary Tirrell)

TURNERS FALLS -- Mary Tirrell has one goal: to make it to her 84th birthday on Jan. 27.
Even with her health deteriorating, and recently at a rate quicker than before, the talkative and witty Tirrell has stayed steadfast to that goal.
Tirrell, now a mere 84 pounds, was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in September 2009. Soon after, she joined Hospice of Franklin County -- a decision that she credits for making her life better as her health started to fail.
Tirrell said her health would be a "mess" if it wasn't for hospice and that she would have to go to a nursing home.
"I am afraid if I go to a nursing home, I would never leave," she said, as she sat in a rocking chair in her living room, with a blanket covering her frail body.
The hospital suggested that she look into hospice.
Since her diagnosis, she has gone from about 140 to 84 pounds.
Tirrell, who has clear blue eyes and always sets her hair in curlers, says she gets tired quickly, has trouble breathing and feels weak often. In recent days, these symptoms have gotten worse and she says she has been doing less during her days. She is also wearing a nasal cannula more often, which is a device used to deliver oxygen.
Her nurse, Michelle Rogalski, visits Tirrell once each week. Her nurse sorts out her seven different medications into a plastic container and checks on Tirrell's overall health and is there to help manage any symptoms of her disease and old age.
Because of her nurse's care, Tirrell says that she is able to sleep much better at night.
"I love my hospice nurse," she said.
Hospice delivers all of Tirrell's medications. Hospice volunteers also come to sit with Tirrell and simply talk with her for a few hours.
"They are wonderful," she said. "I love when the woman comes to see me she goes places and tells me about them I used to go places."
"I look forward to people coming to see me," she said.
Tirrell says that she plans to stay on hospice "until the end."

Police fire on protestors in Iraq

BAGHDAD — Security forces in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut on Wednesday fired on a group of protesters calling for the provincial governor to step down, killing at least three people, according to a local government official.

Haiti update

So, I have already raised about $320. So, I just need about $140 more until I can buy my ticket for April 9-23!! And, then about another $500 for the nonprofit. I know I can do it!

I am going to hit up my family this weekend, saying that I don't want b-day presents, just money for my trip.

PM Newslinks

Iranian lawmakers call for death of opposition leaders

Unrest grows in Bahrain as police kill a second protester
Obama offers defense on budget and Egypt
Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to be a political party
CBS news correspondent attacked in Egypt
"Curveball" admits he made up tales of WMD to topple Hussein
Italian PM to face trial over prostitution scandal
Food prices at dangerous levels
Clinton: Internet repression will fail
South Sudan massacre killed 200
Aristide seeks no political role in Haiti

A new landmark HIV and TB program in DR

On Feb. 11, Zanmi Lasante (ZL), Partners In Health’s (PIH) sister organization in Haiti, celebrated the expansion of its HIV and tuberculosis program into the Dominican Republic. The program located within the Rosa Duarte Hospital in Elias Piña will serve hundreds of Haitians and Dominicans living and working in the border town, and marks a major step towards strengthening health systems in the DR.

Egypt: Ruling generals meet with opposition

CAIRO — Egypt's military leaders have told a coalition of young opposition leaders that they plan to convene a panel of distinguished jurists to submit a package of constitutional amendments within 10 days for approval in a national referendum within two months, setting a breakneck schedule for the transition to civilian rule.

The Domino Effect

Officials in Iran confront biggest rallies since 2009

Clashes erupt in Bahrain as tumult ripples across the Mideast
Government supporters clash with protesters in Yemen

Egypt’s Military Dissolves Parliament; Calls for Vote

CAIRO — The Egyptian military, for the first time publicly laying out the terms of its rule, said Sunday that it had dissolved the country’s parliament, suspended its constitution and called for elections in six months, according to a statement by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces read on state television.

MUBARAK STEPS DOWN

CAIRO — President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt turned over all power to the military, and left the Egyptian capital for his resort home in Sharm el-Sheik, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced on state television on Friday.

"President Hosni Mubarak has decided to step down as president and the higher council of the armed forces will run the affairs of the country," Suleiman said in a brief statement.

Mubarak Leaves Cairo as Crowds Surge

CAIRO — President Hosni Mubarak left the Egyptian capital for his resort home in Sharm el-Sheik, amid indications that a transfer of power was under way, Western officials said Friday. State television said Mr. Mubarak would issue a statement later.

Haiti: Aristide issued new passport

(CNN) -- Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's first democratically elected president, who has been living in exile in South Africa for seven years, has been issued a new passport to return home, the Haitian interior minister said Wednesday.

Egypt: Mubarak won't step down

CAIRO — President Hosni Mubarak told the Egyptian people Thursday that he would delegate more authority to his vice president, Omar Suleiman, but that he would not resign his post, contradicting earlier reports that he would step aside and surprising hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered to hail his departure from the political scene.

(Photo: nytimes.com)

Daydreaming: last summer's balloon ride

My article: first time quoting an Obama official!

By MACKENZIE ISSLER
Recorder Staff

For years, Community Action has helped the area poor get on their feet. But, the future of many of the agency’s programs is up in the air, as President Obama has proposed cuts to some of its federal funding.

Local social service officials and all 11 Democratic members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation are fighting this proposal, saying it will hurt those who need help the most and will hinder, rather than help, the nation’s economic recovery.

“As the Community Action agency for Franklin and Hampshire counties, Community Services Block Grant funding is crucial to our ability to help over 30,000 residents each year, many living with incomes significantly below the poverty level,” said Executive Director Jane Sanders. “This funding was specifically designated over 45 years ago to enable local organizations to respond to local needs.”

“President Obama said in his State of the Union address that he wants to make sure that budget cuts are not made on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens. His proposal to cut CSBG funding is just that.”
Sanders said Community Action receives about $626,000 from CSBG and its goes to support many of its programs, including First Call for Help, the Family Center, the Center for Self Reliance food pantries, Youth Programs, tax assistance, financial education, Women, Infants and Children nutrition program, the Family Learning Center GED program, the Mediation & Training Collaborative, and CommonCents asset development (which helps people buy a first home, start a business or go to school).
The state’s 11 congressional Democrats have expressed their deep concern and opposition of the president’s proposed Community Service Block Grant cuts, which will be included in the administration’s budget request for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

They said “that cuts to CSBG funding would sever the indispensable lifelines that are relied upon each day by our country’s most vulnerable.”

According to an official from the Obama administration, the president made the “difficult decision to cut funding for CSBG in half, to $350 million.”
“While many of its grant recipients do good work, the program has had weak oversight and accountability,” said the official. “Grant recipients have been virtually guaranteed funding for the past 30 years. These are the kinds of programs that the president worked with when he was a community organizer, so this cut is not easy for him. With the remaining funds, the administration proposes to use competitive procedures to target funds to the highest-performing organizations.”

Top Headlines

Protesters in Egypt regain initiative as workers strike

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Virginia senator not to run for re-election, chance for Republicans to gain majority
Republicans assail E.P.A. chief on emission limits
Obama plans to send South Korean trade deal to Congress
Republicans plan new abortion bills

Wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords speaks

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has begun to regain her speech a month after being shot in the head in an assassination attempt, media organizations reported on Wednesday.

HELPING HAITI

With April 9 around the corner, I am starting to ramp up my fundraising!

I am returning for two weeks to continue writing about Isabelle, the head of a tent city that has gotten permission from the mayor there to start building houses for some of its residents. I will be staying with the same nonprofit, Partners in Development, and will be working in the clinic and helping build homes.

The trip will cost me about $900 -- with about $400 for my plane ticket and the rest to the nonprofit for my stay, which includes food, water, translator, transportation, etc.

The nonprofit is an amazing and priceless resource for me, helping me go to places that I wouldn't have been able to go to safely, as they supplied me with a driver and translator.

So, if you want to help, leave a comment and I will give you the details about how to donate. Every little bit will help!

Nate's Sweet Sixteen Marsalapalooza

Haiti: Government-backed candidate out of election

Amid pressure from international observers, Haiti's election commission advanced singer Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly into a runoff vote for the presidency against former First Lady Mirlande Manigat.

Egypt: Slide show

Washington Post Slide Show of Egypt

Haiti to issue ex-president Aristide a passport

The Haitian government says it is ready to issue former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide with a passport, opening the way for his possible return.

Mr Aristide was ousted seven years ago, and has been living in exile. Aristide fled the country in 2004, but says he is ready to return from exile in South Africa.

Additionally, supporters in Haiti of Aristide demonstrated for his return on Wednesday as the country nervously waited to hear who would contest the presidency in a March run-off election.

Clashes Erupt in Egypt

CAIRO — President Obama's calls for a rapid transition to a new order in Egypt seemed eclipsed on Wednesday as a choreographed surge of thousands of people chanting support for the Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak fought running battles with a larger number of antigovernment protesters in and around Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

Check out Talking Points Memo Egypt Wire for updates.

Haiti: Swiss law blocks Duvalier's assets

(CNN) -- A Swiss law that took effect Tuesday blocked millions of dollars held in bank accounts belonging to former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, who made a stunning return to his homeland last month.

Illinois allows civil unions for same-sex couples

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Governor Pat Quinn on Monday made Illinois the 16th U.S. state to give spousal rights to same-sex couples by signing into law a measure allowing civil unions.

Jordan: King dismisses cabinet as tremors spread through region

AMMAN, Jordan — King Abdullah II of Jordan fired his government in a surprise move on Tuesday, in the face of a wave of demands of public accountability sweeping the Arab world and bringing throngs of demonstrators to the streets of Egypt.

Egypt: Mubarak says he won't run for president

President Hosni Mubarak's decision came after President Obama told the embattled president of Egypt that he should not run for another term in elections scheduled for the fall, effectively withdrawing American support for its closest Arab ally, according to American diplomats in Cairo and Washington, according to the New York Times.

Editorial from Sen. John Kerry: Allying Ourselves with the Next Egypt

Happy Birthday to Nate and Amy!

(All of my brothers, Nate is on the left)

(Nate, two years ago)

(Amy is on the left)

Federal Judge Rules Health Law Violates Constitution

A second federal judge ruled on Monday that it was unconstitutional for Congress to enact a health care law that requires Americans to obtain commercial insurance, evening the score at two-to-two in the lower courts as conflicting opinions begin their path to the Supreme Court.

Clinton visits Haiti

(CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton returned early Monday from a one-day visit to Haiti with major concerns about the Caribbean nation's presidential elections

(Clinton met with former first lady and leading Haitian presidential candidate Mirlande Manigat on Monday.)

Two women remember their days in the schoolyard

By MACKENZIE ISSLER
Recorder Staff

GREENFIELD — About 82 years ago, two young girls, a shy brunette with straight hair that fell just below her chin and a talkative red-head with bouncy curls, met for the first time.

The two girls had attended public schools for their first three years of school, but when Holy Trinity School opened in 1929, their families decided to send them to the parochial school.

So, when the first day of fourth grade arrived, the two walked from their homes to their new school, which was located in the same brick building it is housed in today on Beacon Street.
Ninety-one-year-old Doris Powlovich, the once red-head, and 90-year-old Kay O’Hara, the once quiet brunette, now both live in Charlene Manor Extended Care Facility, and were in the first class of eighth graders to graduate from the Holy Trinity School.

The two, who both have gray hair now, sat in wheelchairs as they reminisced about their years at Holy Trinity School, after hearing the news that the school will close at the end of this year. “I think it is awful … it is too bad that it is closing,” said O-Hara. “Some children are missing a good opportunity.”

“There are a lot of good memories,” she said.

O’Hara started to chuckle when she started to share one of these memories. When she was in the eighth grade, she recalled, she was with a group of friends on the school’s second floor near the staircase. By accident, one of her friends knocked into a wooden door stop, which then went flying into the air down to the first floor.

“It landed in a nun’s habit and my friend was scared stiff,” she said with a laugh.

Back to Haiti!

I am finalizing dates now, but it looks like I am going back April 9-23! I am so, so excited. I am going with the same nonprofit, Partners in Development, and I can't wait to see all the friends that I made during my first trip.

Also, I am at my best friend's for the weekend, Amy, who has a wonderful cooking blog, Third Floor Bakes. I am here to celebrate her birthday, which involves playing video games, eating homemade bagels that her fiancé Doug made and probably some crafting at some point.

Doug and Amy

All Eyes on Egypt

Egypt Protests Continue as Military Stands ByAl Jazeera Covers Protest Despite Hurdles

A Nobelist Has an Unfamiliar Role in the Protests

Egyptians Fury Has Smoldered Beneath the Surface for Decades

Egypt's Military is Seen as Pivotal in Next Step

Another protest in the Middle East

Thousands in Yemen Protest Against the Government

Partners in Health: New Hospital In Rwanda

On a stunning, remote mountaintop in northern Rwanda, scores of government leaders, PIH staff, friends and supporters, and community health workers looked on as Butaro Hospital opened its doors to the world. This 150-bed, world-class teaching hospital features two operating theatres, an intensive care unit, a dedicated neonatal unit, and state-of-the-art medical equipment. Its innovative design employs natural ventilation techniques that reduce the transmission of dangerous diseases, such as tuberculosis and H1N1 influenza, while creating a tranquil, dignified environment.

Heard this on NPR this morning ....

Ugandan Gay Rights Activist is Beaten to Death

Contest

Help me think of a better blog name. My good friend pointed out that my blog is not really following its original intentions.

So, I challenge you to be creative and witty and help me think of a new name. I may stick with what I have now, but I'd like to hear your ideas.

Winner gets a surprise homemade gift mailed to them.

News of the Day

Budget Deficit to Hit $1.48 Trillion

Dispute With Parliament Leaves Afghan Leader Isolated

Egypt Intensifies Crackdown

Giffords Moved to Rehab Center

Romney Edges Closer to an Announcement

Report: Loughner Studied Assassins

Tunisia: Arrest Warranted Issued for Ex-President

Jude Celestin Withdrawn from Haiti Presidential Poll

Cholera Alert Reaches Venezuela via Dominican Republic

My own Overheard in the Newsroom

Me: "So are you excited about reading 80 inches on domestic violence?"

Editor, who normally works the night desk so he reads all my stuff, but is subbing in for our features editor so he isn't doing that this week: "Is that running this week, so I won't have to read it?"

Me: "No, next week, succcccccker."

Editor: "Can't you write about something happy?"

Me: "I don't do happy."

Partners in Health: A Hymn of Hope

With a giggle, Esther Balthazar bursts into song. Her head sways in time with the music, her smile grows with the melody. She’s singing one of her favorites—a hymn of hope. A cold breeze rustles through the lush grove of palm trees at her home in central Haiti, but Esther’s warm, confident voice cuts through the chill.

News updates

Loughner Pleads Not Guilty

Hezbollah Chooses Lebanon's Next Prime Minister

Top News

Deadly Blast at Moscow's Main Airport Seen as Terrorist Attack

Palestinian Leader Sees Political Motive in Release of Files

Iran Rules Out Fuel Swap Plan

Pope Weighs In On Social Networking

More Troops Lost to Suicide

Loughner to Appear in Federal Court

Tunisia Arrests TV Channel Owner for "Treason"

11 U.S. Cops Shot in 24 Hours

Notable news of the day

Climate Threatens Species At Every Altitude

Giffords Heads to Rehab Facility

South Sudanese Vote Overwhelming for Succession

Iran Nuclear Talks Resume in Istanbul

FDA Sees Promise in Alzheimer's Imaging Drug

Senate Dems Plot Aggressive Strategy to Fight Health Care Repeal

Abortion Interjected into Health Care Reform Repeal

Haiti: Aristide says he is ready to return

Port-Au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) - On the heels of an exiled despot's arrival home, former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide said he is ready return to help his troubled homeland. He has been living in South Africa since he fled Haiti in 2004.

And, here is more Baby Doc news.

More Haiti pictures