Visually impaired given hope; decades late apology; 30 years for broken jaw
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Odd and interesting news from the Midwest
- By MARA KLECKER Omaha World-Herald
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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Alex Curtis' grandchildren think the thick goggles make him look like a spaceman. With the dark lenses and the cord snaking down to a set of dials and controls, the device does look futuristic.
But what people see when Curtis wears the eSight device doesn't matter to him.
What matters are the details he can see on the faces of his seven grandchildren — the subtle ways he can now recognize his own expressions in theirs.
Born with glaucoma and cataracts, Curtis, 45, had known the world only through clouded sight. He could see color, light and shapes but couldn't make out the finer details of printed words or familiar faces. To watch TV, he'd have to sit within inches of the screen.
At his workplace, the nonprofit Outlook Nebraska Inc., Curtis spent five years stacking boxes of toilet paper on pallets without being able to read what was printed on the cardboard.
Then Outlook Nebraska purchased six of the $15,000 eSight devices to help its employees become more independent on the job. Curtis slipped the goggles over his eyes and he could see the words on the boxes and the details of the control panel he had been using for half a decade. He took the device home and he could see his wife — "Boy, that was a joy," he said, trailing off — and his children and grandchildren. He could plug in an HDMI cord to his goggles and watch "The Jerry Springer Show" from his couch. He could now see just how crazy some drivers are and could watch the fights on the ice during an Omaha Lancers hockey game.
"I finally got to see more of what other people see," Curtis said. "I finally got to see all the things I was missing."
Curtis is one of nine Outlook Nebraska employees who share the devices, each of which houses a small, high-speed camera that live-streams video on LED screens layered in front of prescription lenses. The user can adjust the color, contrast, brightness and magnification of the video they are seeing in real time. If the magnification makes movement too pronounced, the wearer can pause the video and take a photo.
The Omaha World-Herald (http://bit.ly/2egM6sA ) reports that according to 2013 figures cited by the National Federation of the Blind, an estimated 33,600 Nebraskans reported having a visual disability. It's difficult to estimate how many of those people could benefit from eSight, said Lisa Kelly, director of enrichment programs at Outlook Nebraska, where more than 60 percent of the workers are visually impaired. In her monthly demonstrations of the technology to the public, she recommends it for people with 20/200 (the definition of "legally blind") to 20/800 visual acuity.
The exact role and niche of eSight and similar products is unclear, said Dr. John Shepherd, director of the Weigel Williamson Center for Visual Rehabilitation at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Other products, such as Visionize, which magnifies real-time images from a smartphone rigged up in a kind of virtual reality headset, may offer cheaper and more accessible options, he said.
"We are starting to see these devices — wearable technologies that use someone's existing windows of sight and magnify it," Shepherd said. "It's really exciting and though the technology is relatively new, I believe it's here to stay. However, especially at the current price point, it's not going to be a panacea."
There's no data on what particular eye conditions this technology would address the most, Shepherd said, but as technologies like eSight advance, he expects to see those niches emerge.
Magnified real-time video such as that provided by eSight is best for stationary tasks, Shepherd said, making it a good fit for those working at Outlook Nebraska, which provides 100 percent recycled paper products to the U.S. government and other customers.
Kelly agreed, but she said that as soon as the eSight goggles arrived last year, she knew she couldn't just keep them in the office.
"It wouldn't be fair to give our people eyes at work and then not let them take that experience home," she said. "These allow them to take that independence with them."
Although Outlook Nebraska offers various adaptive technologies both on the production line and in the office, eSight is the most versatile and mobile, Kelly said.
Ben Micek, 30, works in accounting at Outlook Nebraska. Without eSight, his visual acuity is 20/200, meaning that the smallest letters he can identify from 20 feet away are the size of the smallest letters a person with normal vision can see from 200 feet. He was hesitant to even try eSight, fearing that he would get his hopes up just to be disappointed.
With the goggles, his vision improves to 20/10, allowing him to do his own laundry and cook his own meals while wearing them at home. Micek can watch Nebraska football games without having to sit with his nose just inches from the screen. He even wore them to the premiere of the latest "Star Wars" movie, where most people just thought he was just a fan in costume.
"It's really hard to put into words how it feels to be able to see clearly and get to be independent," Micek said.
That newfound independence has allowed Katie Larson, also an accountant with the company, to pick out the appliances for her recently purchased home. Now she can check out a pair of the goggles and can read the descriptions on the tags at Nebraska Furniture Mart. After 14 years of playing piano, she finally can make out the musical symbols.
"It's the little things that people don't think about that we can now see and do," she said. "There were times I cried just at realizing what this meant."
Curtis said he likes the goggles and he's not complaining, but he is looking forward to a sleeker design in the future. Larson agreed — a couple of people have come up to her at stores and asked if she was playing a virtual reality game.
"I'm not going for style, but you know those glasses from 'Star Trek?'?" Curtis said with a smile. "I'm hoping for a pair like that. The grandkids would love those."
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Information from: Omaha World-Herald, http://www.omaha.com
An AP Member Exchange shared by the Omaha World-Herald.
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SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (AP) — A foul odor tied to a sewage line in South Sioux City has sickened some residents and forced them to flee their homes as officials look for the cause.
The odor is coming from 15 houses in a five-block area of a neighborhood where about 40 people live, South Sioux City administrator Lance Hedquist told the Sioux City Journal (http://bit.ly/2esC7lr ).
Hedquist said there's also a "horrific" odor coming from the Big Ox Energy plant, which recently started operations in the city's Roth Industrial Park about two miles from the affected houses.
Big Ox, a Wisconsin-based renewable energy firm, converts organic industrial waste into methane gas.
Hedquist said Friday that the new plant and the homes share the same sewer line.
Beyond that connection, "how they are tied together, I can't totally tell you," Hedquist said.
Resident Rob Baker said Friday that the toxic sewer smell led his family to evacuate the house for the weekend.
"This morning at 5 o'clock it woke us up," he said. "We were coughing and choking — it's toxic. We just are not going to live there until this gets fixed."
At least one other person has left a home because of the smell, and another person reported becoming physically ill from the fumes, Hedquist said.
Hedquist said building inspectors have looked at 10 of the affected houses, and he believes the problem is from faulty traps in plumbing drains that are designed to stop sewage odors.
However, he acknowledged that it's "extremely unusual to have 15 houses in the same area having the same problem. That just doesn't make any sense at all from that standpoint."
Baker said a plumber he called when the odor first arose said something has increased pressure in the city's sewer line, causing it to blow into homes, even through properly-working traps.
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Information from: Sioux City Journal, http://www.siouxcityjournal.com
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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — It took more than six decades, but the first black student to be named "Miss State University of Iowa" in 1955 has received official recognition — and an apology — from the university.
Dora Martin Berry was 17 when her fellow students elected her in the annual contest, the Iowa City Press-Citizen reported (http://icp-c.com/2dxWF64 ). The university at that time was called the State University of Iowa.
But university officials denied Berry representation as Miss SUI at official school events, including that year's Rose Bowl parade. Other events at which Miss SUI would have traditionally appeared were canceled.
At an event Friday, university President Bruce Harreld apologized to the now 78-year-old Berry "for 60 years plus of official neglect of your status."
"We as an institution are very proud of your accomplishments," Harreld said after a standing ovation for Berry. "And we're grateful that you are such an important member of our Hawkeye family.
Friday's event was part of a series this week focused on the publication of a new essay collection, "Invisible Hawkeyes: African Americans at the University of Iowa during the Long Civil Rights Era," by UI professors Lena and Michael Hill.
"In the 1950s, white universities weren't electing black campus queens every day," Berry wrote in her chapter of the new book. "Therefore, UI's inability to accept that it had created an environment where that could happen made me think 'shame on them.'"
On Friday, Berry thanked Harreld for his apology and said it was still meaningful to hear after all these years.
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This story has been corrected to show the university president's last name is spelled Harreld, not Herreld.
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Information from: Iowa City Press-Citizen, http://www.press-citizen.com/
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DETROIT (AP) — Officials commissioned the USS Detroit naval vessel on Saturday, after it spent more than a week in its namesake city.
The ceremony included speeches and appearances by military officers as well as Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, Mayor Mike Duggan and U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters. They were alongside the $440 million Freedom-class ship, which was docked on the Detroit River in front of the GM Renaissance Center since Oct. 14 and opened for festivities and tours.
Barbara Levin, wife of former Sen. Carl Levin and the ship's sponsor, gave the ceremonial order to "man" the ship and bring it "to life." The sponsor also performs the ceremonial breaking of the bottle on the bow and remains involved in special events throughout the ship's life.
The USS Detroit was built in Marinette, Wisconsin. Officials say it's designed to work in shallow waters and operate with speed and agility. It can be quickly modified to take on different missions.
The idea for the Navy vessel first came about after the 9/11 attacks, when the U.S. Navy held a design competition for an innovative kind of focused-mission ship.
According to the Defense Department, this is the sixth U.S. ship to be named in honor of Detroit. The first USS Detroit was a British sloop of war captured by the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812, and the most recent was a fast combat support ship serving from 1969 to 2005.
Ben Capuco, chief naval architect with Gibbs & Cox Inc., the firm that designed the ship, said previous Navy ships have carried the Detroit name but that none have moved like the new vessel. Critics believe the vessel might not be what the Navy needs at the moment due to the changing environment; there's concern for its "survivability" in combat.
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — An exhibition at the University of Michigan Museum of Art traces an African mask's 100-year, 10,000-mile journey.
The exhibit, "Traces: Reconstructing the History of a Chokwe Mask," chronicles the mask's origins from what is now Angola to Ann Arbor.
Museum officials say the mask was part of an elaborate costume and performance. Such masks were common, but this one is rare for its quality and documentation.
Officials say the mask was taken by a German explorer, acquired by a dealer in Germany and sold to Ann Arbor businessman and philanthropist Helmut Stern. Stern and his wife, Candis, donated it to the museum as part of their Central African art collection.
The exhibit, which runs through Jan. 22, aims to reflect the mask's history, which includes trade, interaction, colonialism and oppression.
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JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A southern Indiana man convicted of punching a jail officer so hard it broke his jaw in three places has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Raymond J. Taylor II was convicted last month of felony aggravated battery as a habitual offender for the June attack at the Clark County Jail. Chief Deputy Prosecutor Tim Gray said Friday that the jail officer was left with a permanent facial injury.
According to court records, two officers asked Taylor, 30, to stop sitting on a table in a jail commons area — a violation of jail rules — but the Jeffersonville man refused. As the officers confronted him, he punched one of them in the mouth, investigators said.
Gray said the punch broke three bones in the officer's jaw, which had to be wired shut for at least two weeks. The officer still has a plate and six screws in his jaw, he said.
Taylor's sister, Cassandra Taylor of Fort Wayne, said her brother could receive more prison time on other charges and she worries he might face what amounts to a life sentence. She said that would be a devastating prospect for her brother, who has a 10-year-old son and an infant daughter. She called her brother's 30-year sentence "extreme."
"Breaking somebody's jaw is a horrible thing to do, but 30 years is a very, very long time," she told the News and Tribune (http://bit.ly/2eujA3V ).
Gray said Taylor, who has a lengthy criminal record, could have avoided the sentence if he had only obeyed the officers' commands.
"But now we have a guard with a permanent injury that he'll always remember," the prosecutor said.
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Information from: News and Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind., http://www.newsandtribune.com
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — More than 1,000 non-union Illinois state workers whose bosses say are performing exceptional work are getting one-time merit bonuses from Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration.
About 1,100 workers will each receive a $3,016 bonus under the plan that will award between $3 million and $4 million in bonuses, The State Journal-Register reported (http://bit.ly/2eDnHK6 ).
Michael Hoffman, the acting director of the Department of Central Management Services, said in a memo to agency directors and others that the bonuses are a reward in part for "the hard work and dedication that non-bargaining unit employees demonstrate on a daily basis."
Hoffman said the last across-the-board salary increase for non-bargaining unit employees was in 2005, and the last merit pay program for them was in 2009.
Rauner's office said employees had to receive an "exceptional" rating on individual evaluations to qualify. The bonuses have already been issued to many of the workers who qualified.
Hoffman's memo says the bonuses are available to non-bargaining unit employees whose base salary as of July 1 was less than $100,000. Those earning more were not eligible, as were a number of other merit-comp employees.
Members of Rauner's executive office were not eligible, nor were employees subject to confirmation by the Illinois Senate or workers who left state employment before Sept. 16. Employees who had worked less than three months during the fiscal year that ended June 30 also were ineligible.
Rauner's office said the exceptions left a pool of about 2,000 employees eligible for the bonuses, and about 1,100 employees got "exceptional" ratings.
The bonus payments are being made even though Illinois is delaying payments to many organizations and vendors because of the traditional fall slowdown in tax collections.
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Information from: The State Journal-Register, http://www.sj-r.com
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CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago woman faces federal charges for allegedly operating a fraudulent multi-million-dollar concert and sporting event ticket scheme.
Forty-two-year-old Tracy Monty pleaded not guilty Friday to seven counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering. She was released on a recognizance bond pending her next hearing, set for Nov. 7.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports (http://bit.ly/2dJK8A1 ) that prosecutors allege that Monty stole more than $5 million by misleading investors into believing that she could earn them profits by selling concert and sporting event tickets on the secondary market.
Prosecutors say she instead used her victims' money to buy a vehicle and a house in Chicago. She also allegedly used funds to make payments to "Ponzi-type" payments to other investors.
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Information from: Chicago Sun-Times, http://chicago.suntimes.com/
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PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — Caterpillar Inc. officials say the company's new CEO will bring experience in the global markets and an understanding and respect for the company's place in central Illinois.
The construction and mining equipment company announced Monday that Jim Umpleby will replace Doug Oberhelman as CEO on Jan. 1, the Peoria Journal Star reported (http://bit.ly/2etsuj4 ). Oberhelman will retire March 31.
Umpleby has worked at Caterpillar for more than three decades. He is currently president of the company's Peoria-based energy and transportation group, which reported $17.9 billion in sales last year.
Umpleby has worked in a variety of positions in the U.S. and Asia, including assignments in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
Caterpillar spokeswoman Rachel Potts says Umpleby is committed to making Caterpillar stronger and has deep roots in the Peoria area. Potts said the CEO switch was not due to the company's global restructuring plan, which is expected to save Caterpillar $1.5 billion by 2018 due to 10,000 job layoffs, facility closures and discontinuation of some equipment.
"As for the headquarters plans, we are experiencing an unprecedented business downturn," Potts said. "As everyone knows, in response to these conditions, we have reduced our workforce, closed facilities and made other difficult but necessary decisions to keep the company strong."
In a departure from the structure of the company's current administration, Umpleby will not take up the chairmanship of Caterpillar's board of directors. Instead, current board member Dave Calhoun will assume the role of non-executive chairman.
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Information from: Journal Star, http://pjstar.com
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ATHENS, Ohio (AP) — A husband and wife team who co-own a horse farm in Athens has made it their mission to rescue unwanted equines from the perils of Ohio's meat auctions.
While federal legislation outlawing the slaughter of horses for meat took effect in 2007, Rachel Bendler told The Athens Messenger (http://bit.ly/2edz2C9) there's a "loophole" that's been allowing the practice to continue.
The loophole gives "kill buyers" an opportunity to purchase horses at auctions for whatever purpose they choose. The horses are mostly slaughtered in Canada and Mexico, with Canada the closer option for Ohio horses.
Along with her husband Zack, Rachel Bendler operates Bella Run Equine as a safe haven for horses the couple rescues from the slaughterhouse.
"We go to the slaughter auction and we buy what horses we can in order to outbid the meat men, the kill buyers," Rachel said. "Then we take them home and rehab them. They are in the auction ring literally 10 seconds before they're sold."
Most horses that end up at auction are there because their owners can no longer take care of them.
Some suffer from neglect and maltreatment. Once the purchased horses fully recover from any ailments, the Bendlers sell them off to good homes.
"We try to get for each horse what we have put in," Rachel said.
The couple has received professional training from Rachel's parents, who own and operate a veterinary clinic in Sunbury.
Currently the Bendlers have 28 horses on their 22-acre ranch. Rachel said that number needs to get back down to around 23 or so before the couple can go to another auction.
The inaugural Bella Equine Fun Show, held Oct. 8 at the Athens County Fairgrounds, raised $2,500 that will be put toward the couple's rescue efforts.
"We believe that every horse we save is making a difference," Zack Bendler said.
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Information from: The Athens Messenger, http://www.athensmessenger.com/
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ST. LOUIS (AP) — Not every tattoo client at Iron Age Studios on the Delmar Loop wants trendy art, a Bible verse or a Japanese symbol. A growing number of clients are breast cancer survivors dealing with mastectomies.
Tattoo artist Kerry Soraci typically works with three or four breast cancer survivors every month, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/2eZgkkB ) reported.
The American Cancer Society says more than one-third of women with early-stage breast cancer opt for a mastectomy, and the number of women who choose to have a healthy breast removed as a preventive measure has tripled in the past decade.
Theresa Schwartz, a breast surgeon at Saint Louis University, said that after a patient heals, the patient can remain flat-chested or undergo breast reconstruction. If the nipple and areola have been removed, the woman can decide whether she wants to get a tattoo to mimic the look, or she may seek something artistic to create a new appearance.
"It's the one thing they have control over after 18 months of treatment," Schwartz said, noting that the post-op tattoo can help relieve a patient's anxiety.
Soraci, 49, can blend an infinite combination of pinks and browns to complement skin tone, and use shading and highlights for a three-dimensional illusion.
"Plastic surgeons are not graphic artists," Schwartz said. "And they can't do anything different," like a cascade of ivy or a blooming sunflower. "The tattoos are a means of self-expression. It's realizing you have a new beginning once you're done with treatment."
Schwartz found out about Soraci a couple of years ago and sends her clients there. Soraci, who has a degree in fine arts from Washington University, finds fulfillment helping women figure out how they want to look and feel in their new bodies.
"Post-mastectomy tattoos encompass the true nature of tattooing," Soraci said. "They mark a real rite of passage, a celebration to an end of a very traumatic journey."
The nipple tattoos for Melissa McHale, 34, of St. Peters, mark her sixth and seventh tattoos. After a stage 4 cancer diagnosis she endured two years of chemo, surgery and radiation.
"After every step that I've been through, this is the end of my journey," McHale said. "Everything has worked up to this: It's the light at the end of the tunnel.
"I think I'm just going to feel complete."
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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Community college graduates in Ohio can now transfer to Western Governors University and receive a tuition discount toward earning a bachelor's degree under a new partnership.
Cleveland.com reports (http://bit.ly/2ea57um ) the Ohio Association of Community Colleges announced the agreement Oct. 11.
The deal offers competency-based learning opportunities at the online school to all graduates of Ohio's 23 community colleges.
It also extends a 5 percent tuition discount and establishes a transfer program in nursing.
WGU is a nonprofit institution established in 1997 by 19 governors seeking to expand access to affordable higher education. The university has 1,456 students in Ohio and offers programs in teaching, information technology, business and health.
The school's competency-based programs allow students to demonstrate that they've attained the required level of knowledge or skill through various assessments.
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Information from: cleveland.com, http://www.cleveland.com
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CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man took home the top prize in the 110th annual Circleville Pumpkin Show with a gourd that weighed in at a whopping 1,553.5 pounds.
The Columbus Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/2enNaMI ) Washington Township's Cecil Weston was on a mission to beat Bob and Jo Liggett after their 2014 pumpkin broke the festival record he set a year earlier.
While the Liggetts' record-setting pumpkin still stands as the benchmark at 1,964 pounds, Weston says he's unsure what to do after beating Bob Liggett — a 12-time champion — "at his best" in 2016.
The Liggetts took second place at this year's contest with a 1,543.5-pound pumpkin. There's no hard feelings for Bob Liggett, who says he's happy to see a new generation of giant-pumpkin growers.
Weston says there's no greater pastime.
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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com
- By KATHRYN HARRIS Norfolk Daily News
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NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) — Shayla Wheeler learned to juggle her schedule when she returned to work after maternity leave.
That became a necessary skill to keep up with the realities of life with an infant.
"We really struggled to find daycare when Kinley was first born," Wheeler said. "My family had to step up and come watch her while we worked because we couldn't find anything."
For the first five months of her daughter's life, Wheeler relied on four different people to care for her baby each week.
The couple eventually found a daycare provider in Battle Creek. Although it required the Wheelers to drive out of town twice each day, the couple — who have since moved to Battle Creek — were happy to find someone.
"It was hard on us," Wheeler said. "It was very, very stressful in the beginning."
The Wheelers' struggle is not unique. It's a challenge faced by many parents of small children in the Norfolk area, where a shortage of daycare providers has many beginning the search for child care as soon as they decide to have a baby.
"There are not enough spaces for infants up to 18 months and 2-year-olds," said Leonor Fuhrer, coordinator for the Norfolk Family Coalition, which is seeking to help address the issue.
The Norfolk Daily News (http://bit.ly/2ek0Lln ) reports that according to data gathered by Schmeeckle Research in the August 2013 Norfolk/Madison County Early Childhood Community Assessment, the population of children under 5 years old grew by 14.6 percent from 2000 to 2011, while the total population grew by only 1.8 percent over the same time period.
Those figures equate to about 1,963 children under the age of 5 years old in Norfolk. The numbers are expected to grow to 2,100 by 2025.
Currently, there are 13 licensed child care centers and 53 licensed in-home daycares in Norfolk, creating 1,538 licensed slots for children ages six weeks to 12 years old.
"That's what they're licensed for, not what they'll take," said the Rev. Dustin Petz, pastor at First United Methodist Church, which operates the Wesley Center Childcare Center in Norfolk. "They're often licensed for a larger number than they want to serve."
Those figures don't take into account the unlicensed daycare alternatives available, but there is no reliable way of assessing the number.
Courtney Kaiser, a mother of three who moved to Norfolk from Clearwater in hopes of finding daycare, left her job when her youngest son was born because she couldn't find adequate care. Her son is now 8 months old, and she's still searching for someone who can accommodate her needs.
"It is a very tiring process, calling everyone and getting turned down," said Kaiser, whose search is complicated because she requires a provider who will agreed to be paid by the state since Kaiser is receiving government assistance.
"In Norfolk, the places that have (an) opening don't accept state pay, and the ones that accept state pay have no opening," she said.
Chad Bryant, director of Helping Hands Childcare, a mission of Christ Lutheran Church in Norfolk, said he fields calls from parents looking for daycare — especially for infants — many times per week.
"It's very emotional," Bryant said. "Most families need a dual income just to pay their bills. They're not doing anything fancy. I have people stopping to talk to me constantly, saying they would have a full-time job if they could only find daycare."
Bryant said he wants parents to feel secure in their choice for daycare providers, but the current shortage situation has many making choices that aren't comfortable.
"Some people have to be really creative," he said. "Sometimes they're putting themselves in a situation where they're not totally secure in the care they're getting. ... I want them to feel as secure as possible when they leave this building."
Sierra Doescher of Norfolk started looking for daycare when she was about six months into her pregnancy. She found someone to care for her son when he was 2 months old.
"I was really scared and wondering what I was going to do," she said.
Doescher said she called numerous places and received a lot of suggestions, but she received the same answers from nearly every call she made: "We're full, but we can put your name on a waiting list."
"I was getting really nervous, wondering if I was going to find daycare in this town," she said.
Doescher said she was prepared to have her mother — who lives in Beemer and also works — watch her son, which would've required daily trips to Pilger to meet her.
"Luckily, I ended up finding a daycare lady who had an opening when I was on maternity leave, but it was a struggle," Doescher said.
Ashley McManaman, a working mother who commutes between Norfolk and Battle Creek each day, said she would like to see more daycare centers open in the Norfolk area or, perhaps, employers becoming open to the idea of having daycare available on site.
"I lived in Minnesota before I came here," she said. "A lot of the big (companies) had daycares on site. That seemed to work out pretty well."
McManaman started looking for a provider as soon as she found out she was pregnant; she didn't find someone to care for her baby until about a month before her daughter's birth.
McManaman said she realizes the solution to the daycare shortage won't be easily found, but it's a challenge that needs to be addressed sooner than later.
"They tell you when you start trying (to get pregnant) to get your name on a waiting list. It's sad that you have to plan around having a child based on whether or not you're going to have daycare," McManaman said. "Having a child is a happy thing. If you have to work, you shouldn't have to stress about who's going to care for your child."
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Information from: Norfolk Daily News, http://www.norfolkdailynews.com
An AP Member Exchange shared by the Norfolk Daily News.
- By Kaija Swisher Black Hills Pioneer
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SPEARFISH, S.D. (AP) — He's collected so many aluminum can pull tabs he could literally bury himself in a kiddie pool full of them — and that's just what Grayson Chapeau, 6, of Spearfish, did when he recently collected 160 pounds, exceeding his goal to collect 150 pounds. The amount that he and his dad, Jeremiah, delivered to the Upper Minneapolis Ronal McDonald House in Minneapolis this week, though, was nearly triple that original goal: More than 420 pounds were collected for their most recent donation.
"It is awesome," Jeremiah said.
Grayson, diagnosed in 2014 with an inoperable, cancerous brain tumor called astrocytoma, underwent intense treatment including radiation and chemotherapy and is currently taking an experimental targeting drug, which he takes daily, the Black Hills Pioneer (http://bit.ly/2drlsIN ) reported. Jeremiah said that Grayson is continuing to do very well, and when the family must travel to the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital in Minneapolis for checkups, Grayson delivers aluminum can pull tabs to the nearby Upper Minneapolis Ronald McDonald House.
These aluminum can pull tabs raise funds for the nonprofit, which provides a nearby "home-away-from-home" at little or no cost for families with a hospitalized child. The vision of the Ronald McDonald House is to "create a world where children have access to quality health care and their families are able to better comfort and support them while actively participating in their care."
Jeremiah said that Grayson will keep collecting and delivering the tabs during the periodic trips to Minneapolis, and the family encouraged everyone to get involved. There are collection containers at Spearfish Regional Hospital, Spearfish McDonald's Spearfish Hospital, Spearfish McDonald, Spearfish Eye Care, All About Potential Chiropractic, Spearfish Middle School — the Chapeaus even had a "trunkful" of tabs delivered to their house.
"Everybody's kind of spreading the word, so it's kind of been a community effort," Jeremiah said. "It's been very cool."
People can find updates and more information at the "Prayers for Grayson Chapeau" Facebook page, which describes Grayson as "an incredible superhero during this 21 month journey . He has endured all appointments, treatments and medication with an attitude of joy. He has taught us how to be brave, courageous and how to be joyful in all circumstances. He is our real-life Superhero!"
And the family acknowledged their gratitude to friends, family, and everyone who has supported Grayson and their family during the journey.
"We just want to say thanks to the community," Jeremiah said. "We live in an awesome community, and we appreciate all the support that we've gotten. . It means a lot to us."
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Information from: Black Hills Pioneer, http://www.bhpioneer.com
An AP Exchange shared by the Black Hills Pioneer.
- By MARA KLECKER Omaha World-Herald
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Alex Curtis' grandchildren think the thick goggles make him look like a spaceman. With the dark lenses and the cord snaking down to a set of dials and controls, the device does look futuristic.
But what people see when Curtis wears the eSight device doesn't matter to him.
What matters are the details he can see on the faces of his seven grandchildren — the subtle ways he can now recognize his own expressions in theirs.
Born with glaucoma and cataracts, Curtis, 45, had known the world only through clouded sight. He could see color, light and shapes but couldn't make out the finer details of printed words or familiar faces. To watch TV, he'd have to sit within inches of the screen.
At his workplace, the nonprofit Outlook Nebraska Inc., Curtis spent five years stacking boxes of toilet paper on pallets without being able to read what was printed on the cardboard.
Then Outlook Nebraska purchased six of the $15,000 eSight devices to help its employees become more independent on the job. Curtis slipped the goggles over his eyes and he could see the words on the boxes and the details of the control panel he had been using for half a decade. He took the device home and he could see his wife — "Boy, that was a joy," he said, trailing off — and his children and grandchildren. He could plug in an HDMI cord to his goggles and watch "The Jerry Springer Show" from his couch. He could now see just how crazy some drivers are and could watch the fights on the ice during an Omaha Lancers hockey game.
"I finally got to see more of what other people see," Curtis said. "I finally got to see all the things I was missing."
Curtis is one of nine Outlook Nebraska employees who share the devices, each of which houses a small, high-speed camera that live-streams video on LED screens layered in front of prescription lenses. The user can adjust the color, contrast, brightness and magnification of the video they are seeing in real time. If the magnification makes movement too pronounced, the wearer can pause the video and take a photo.
The Omaha World-Herald (http://bit.ly/2egM6sA ) reports that according to 2013 figures cited by the National Federation of the Blind, an estimated 33,600 Nebraskans reported having a visual disability. It's difficult to estimate how many of those people could benefit from eSight, said Lisa Kelly, director of enrichment programs at Outlook Nebraska, where more than 60 percent of the workers are visually impaired. In her monthly demonstrations of the technology to the public, she recommends it for people with 20/200 (the definition of "legally blind") to 20/800 visual acuity.
The exact role and niche of eSight and similar products is unclear, said Dr. John Shepherd, director of the Weigel Williamson Center for Visual Rehabilitation at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Other products, such as Visionize, which magnifies real-time images from a smartphone rigged up in a kind of virtual reality headset, may offer cheaper and more accessible options, he said.
"We are starting to see these devices — wearable technologies that use someone's existing windows of sight and magnify it," Shepherd said. "It's really exciting and though the technology is relatively new, I believe it's here to stay. However, especially at the current price point, it's not going to be a panacea."
There's no data on what particular eye conditions this technology would address the most, Shepherd said, but as technologies like eSight advance, he expects to see those niches emerge.
Magnified real-time video such as that provided by eSight is best for stationary tasks, Shepherd said, making it a good fit for those working at Outlook Nebraska, which provides 100 percent recycled paper products to the U.S. government and other customers.
Kelly agreed, but she said that as soon as the eSight goggles arrived last year, she knew she couldn't just keep them in the office.
"It wouldn't be fair to give our people eyes at work and then not let them take that experience home," she said. "These allow them to take that independence with them."
Although Outlook Nebraska offers various adaptive technologies both on the production line and in the office, eSight is the most versatile and mobile, Kelly said.
Ben Micek, 30, works in accounting at Outlook Nebraska. Without eSight, his visual acuity is 20/200, meaning that the smallest letters he can identify from 20 feet away are the size of the smallest letters a person with normal vision can see from 200 feet. He was hesitant to even try eSight, fearing that he would get his hopes up just to be disappointed.
With the goggles, his vision improves to 20/10, allowing him to do his own laundry and cook his own meals while wearing them at home. Micek can watch Nebraska football games without having to sit with his nose just inches from the screen. He even wore them to the premiere of the latest "Star Wars" movie, where most people just thought he was just a fan in costume.
"It's really hard to put into words how it feels to be able to see clearly and get to be independent," Micek said.
That newfound independence has allowed Katie Larson, also an accountant with the company, to pick out the appliances for her recently purchased home. Now she can check out a pair of the goggles and can read the descriptions on the tags at Nebraska Furniture Mart. After 14 years of playing piano, she finally can make out the musical symbols.
"It's the little things that people don't think about that we can now see and do," she said. "There were times I cried just at realizing what this meant."
Curtis said he likes the goggles and he's not complaining, but he is looking forward to a sleeker design in the future. Larson agreed — a couple of people have come up to her at stores and asked if she was playing a virtual reality game.
"I'm not going for style, but you know those glasses from 'Star Trek?'?" Curtis said with a smile. "I'm hoping for a pair like that. The grandkids would love those."
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Information from: Omaha World-Herald, http://www.omaha.com
An AP Member Exchange shared by the Omaha World-Herald.
SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (AP) — A foul odor tied to a sewage line in South Sioux City has sickened some residents and forced them to flee their homes as officials look for the cause.
The odor is coming from 15 houses in a five-block area of a neighborhood where about 40 people live, South Sioux City administrator Lance Hedquist told the Sioux City Journal (http://bit.ly/2esC7lr ).
Hedquist said there's also a "horrific" odor coming from the Big Ox Energy plant, which recently started operations in the city's Roth Industrial Park about two miles from the affected houses.
Big Ox, a Wisconsin-based renewable energy firm, converts organic industrial waste into methane gas.
Hedquist said Friday that the new plant and the homes share the same sewer line.
Beyond that connection, "how they are tied together, I can't totally tell you," Hedquist said.
Resident Rob Baker said Friday that the toxic sewer smell led his family to evacuate the house for the weekend.
"This morning at 5 o'clock it woke us up," he said. "We were coughing and choking — it's toxic. We just are not going to live there until this gets fixed."
At least one other person has left a home because of the smell, and another person reported becoming physically ill from the fumes, Hedquist said.
Hedquist said building inspectors have looked at 10 of the affected houses, and he believes the problem is from faulty traps in plumbing drains that are designed to stop sewage odors.
However, he acknowledged that it's "extremely unusual to have 15 houses in the same area having the same problem. That just doesn't make any sense at all from that standpoint."
Baker said a plumber he called when the odor first arose said something has increased pressure in the city's sewer line, causing it to blow into homes, even through properly-working traps.
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Information from: Sioux City Journal, http://www.siouxcityjournal.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — It took more than six decades, but the first black student to be named "Miss State University of Iowa" in 1955 has received official recognition — and an apology — from the university.
Dora Martin Berry was 17 when her fellow students elected her in the annual contest, the Iowa City Press-Citizen reported (http://icp-c.com/2dxWF64 ). The university at that time was called the State University of Iowa.
But university officials denied Berry representation as Miss SUI at official school events, including that year's Rose Bowl parade. Other events at which Miss SUI would have traditionally appeared were canceled.
At an event Friday, university President Bruce Harreld apologized to the now 78-year-old Berry "for 60 years plus of official neglect of your status."
"We as an institution are very proud of your accomplishments," Harreld said after a standing ovation for Berry. "And we're grateful that you are such an important member of our Hawkeye family.
Friday's event was part of a series this week focused on the publication of a new essay collection, "Invisible Hawkeyes: African Americans at the University of Iowa during the Long Civil Rights Era," by UI professors Lena and Michael Hill.
"In the 1950s, white universities weren't electing black campus queens every day," Berry wrote in her chapter of the new book. "Therefore, UI's inability to accept that it had created an environment where that could happen made me think 'shame on them.'"
On Friday, Berry thanked Harreld for his apology and said it was still meaningful to hear after all these years.
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This story has been corrected to show the university president's last name is spelled Harreld, not Herreld.
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Information from: Iowa City Press-Citizen, http://www.press-citizen.com/
DETROIT (AP) — Officials commissioned the USS Detroit naval vessel on Saturday, after it spent more than a week in its namesake city.
The ceremony included speeches and appearances by military officers as well as Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, Mayor Mike Duggan and U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters. They were alongside the $440 million Freedom-class ship, which was docked on the Detroit River in front of the GM Renaissance Center since Oct. 14 and opened for festivities and tours.
Barbara Levin, wife of former Sen. Carl Levin and the ship's sponsor, gave the ceremonial order to "man" the ship and bring it "to life." The sponsor also performs the ceremonial breaking of the bottle on the bow and remains involved in special events throughout the ship's life.
The USS Detroit was built in Marinette, Wisconsin. Officials say it's designed to work in shallow waters and operate with speed and agility. It can be quickly modified to take on different missions.
The idea for the Navy vessel first came about after the 9/11 attacks, when the U.S. Navy held a design competition for an innovative kind of focused-mission ship.
According to the Defense Department, this is the sixth U.S. ship to be named in honor of Detroit. The first USS Detroit was a British sloop of war captured by the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812, and the most recent was a fast combat support ship serving from 1969 to 2005.
Ben Capuco, chief naval architect with Gibbs & Cox Inc., the firm that designed the ship, said previous Navy ships have carried the Detroit name but that none have moved like the new vessel. Critics believe the vessel might not be what the Navy needs at the moment due to the changing environment; there's concern for its "survivability" in combat.
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Online:
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — An exhibition at the University of Michigan Museum of Art traces an African mask's 100-year, 10,000-mile journey.
The exhibit, "Traces: Reconstructing the History of a Chokwe Mask," chronicles the mask's origins from what is now Angola to Ann Arbor.
Museum officials say the mask was part of an elaborate costume and performance. Such masks were common, but this one is rare for its quality and documentation.
Officials say the mask was taken by a German explorer, acquired by a dealer in Germany and sold to Ann Arbor businessman and philanthropist Helmut Stern. Stern and his wife, Candis, donated it to the museum as part of their Central African art collection.
The exhibit, which runs through Jan. 22, aims to reflect the mask's history, which includes trade, interaction, colonialism and oppression.
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A southern Indiana man convicted of punching a jail officer so hard it broke his jaw in three places has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Raymond J. Taylor II was convicted last month of felony aggravated battery as a habitual offender for the June attack at the Clark County Jail. Chief Deputy Prosecutor Tim Gray said Friday that the jail officer was left with a permanent facial injury.
According to court records, two officers asked Taylor, 30, to stop sitting on a table in a jail commons area — a violation of jail rules — but the Jeffersonville man refused. As the officers confronted him, he punched one of them in the mouth, investigators said.
Gray said the punch broke three bones in the officer's jaw, which had to be wired shut for at least two weeks. The officer still has a plate and six screws in his jaw, he said.
Taylor's sister, Cassandra Taylor of Fort Wayne, said her brother could receive more prison time on other charges and she worries he might face what amounts to a life sentence. She said that would be a devastating prospect for her brother, who has a 10-year-old son and an infant daughter. She called her brother's 30-year sentence "extreme."
"Breaking somebody's jaw is a horrible thing to do, but 30 years is a very, very long time," she told the News and Tribune (http://bit.ly/2eujA3V ).
Gray said Taylor, who has a lengthy criminal record, could have avoided the sentence if he had only obeyed the officers' commands.
"But now we have a guard with a permanent injury that he'll always remember," the prosecutor said.
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Information from: News and Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind., http://www.newsandtribune.com
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — More than 1,000 non-union Illinois state workers whose bosses say are performing exceptional work are getting one-time merit bonuses from Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration.
About 1,100 workers will each receive a $3,016 bonus under the plan that will award between $3 million and $4 million in bonuses, The State Journal-Register reported (http://bit.ly/2eDnHK6 ).
Michael Hoffman, the acting director of the Department of Central Management Services, said in a memo to agency directors and others that the bonuses are a reward in part for "the hard work and dedication that non-bargaining unit employees demonstrate on a daily basis."
Hoffman said the last across-the-board salary increase for non-bargaining unit employees was in 2005, and the last merit pay program for them was in 2009.
Rauner's office said employees had to receive an "exceptional" rating on individual evaluations to qualify. The bonuses have already been issued to many of the workers who qualified.
Hoffman's memo says the bonuses are available to non-bargaining unit employees whose base salary as of July 1 was less than $100,000. Those earning more were not eligible, as were a number of other merit-comp employees.
Members of Rauner's executive office were not eligible, nor were employees subject to confirmation by the Illinois Senate or workers who left state employment before Sept. 16. Employees who had worked less than three months during the fiscal year that ended June 30 also were ineligible.
Rauner's office said the exceptions left a pool of about 2,000 employees eligible for the bonuses, and about 1,100 employees got "exceptional" ratings.
The bonus payments are being made even though Illinois is delaying payments to many organizations and vendors because of the traditional fall slowdown in tax collections.
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Information from: The State Journal-Register, http://www.sj-r.com
CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago woman faces federal charges for allegedly operating a fraudulent multi-million-dollar concert and sporting event ticket scheme.
Forty-two-year-old Tracy Monty pleaded not guilty Friday to seven counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering. She was released on a recognizance bond pending her next hearing, set for Nov. 7.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports (http://bit.ly/2dJK8A1 ) that prosecutors allege that Monty stole more than $5 million by misleading investors into believing that she could earn them profits by selling concert and sporting event tickets on the secondary market.
Prosecutors say she instead used her victims' money to buy a vehicle and a house in Chicago. She also allegedly used funds to make payments to "Ponzi-type" payments to other investors.
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Information from: Chicago Sun-Times, http://chicago.suntimes.com/
PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — Caterpillar Inc. officials say the company's new CEO will bring experience in the global markets and an understanding and respect for the company's place in central Illinois.
The construction and mining equipment company announced Monday that Jim Umpleby will replace Doug Oberhelman as CEO on Jan. 1, the Peoria Journal Star reported (http://bit.ly/2etsuj4 ). Oberhelman will retire March 31.
Umpleby has worked at Caterpillar for more than three decades. He is currently president of the company's Peoria-based energy and transportation group, which reported $17.9 billion in sales last year.
Umpleby has worked in a variety of positions in the U.S. and Asia, including assignments in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
Caterpillar spokeswoman Rachel Potts says Umpleby is committed to making Caterpillar stronger and has deep roots in the Peoria area. Potts said the CEO switch was not due to the company's global restructuring plan, which is expected to save Caterpillar $1.5 billion by 2018 due to 10,000 job layoffs, facility closures and discontinuation of some equipment.
"As for the headquarters plans, we are experiencing an unprecedented business downturn," Potts said. "As everyone knows, in response to these conditions, we have reduced our workforce, closed facilities and made other difficult but necessary decisions to keep the company strong."
In a departure from the structure of the company's current administration, Umpleby will not take up the chairmanship of Caterpillar's board of directors. Instead, current board member Dave Calhoun will assume the role of non-executive chairman.
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Information from: Journal Star, http://pjstar.com
ATHENS, Ohio (AP) — A husband and wife team who co-own a horse farm in Athens has made it their mission to rescue unwanted equines from the perils of Ohio's meat auctions.
While federal legislation outlawing the slaughter of horses for meat took effect in 2007, Rachel Bendler told The Athens Messenger (http://bit.ly/2edz2C9) there's a "loophole" that's been allowing the practice to continue.
The loophole gives "kill buyers" an opportunity to purchase horses at auctions for whatever purpose they choose. The horses are mostly slaughtered in Canada and Mexico, with Canada the closer option for Ohio horses.
Along with her husband Zack, Rachel Bendler operates Bella Run Equine as a safe haven for horses the couple rescues from the slaughterhouse.
"We go to the slaughter auction and we buy what horses we can in order to outbid the meat men, the kill buyers," Rachel said. "Then we take them home and rehab them. They are in the auction ring literally 10 seconds before they're sold."
Most horses that end up at auction are there because their owners can no longer take care of them.
Some suffer from neglect and maltreatment. Once the purchased horses fully recover from any ailments, the Bendlers sell them off to good homes.
"We try to get for each horse what we have put in," Rachel said.
The couple has received professional training from Rachel's parents, who own and operate a veterinary clinic in Sunbury.
Currently the Bendlers have 28 horses on their 22-acre ranch. Rachel said that number needs to get back down to around 23 or so before the couple can go to another auction.
The inaugural Bella Equine Fun Show, held Oct. 8 at the Athens County Fairgrounds, raised $2,500 that will be put toward the couple's rescue efforts.
"We believe that every horse we save is making a difference," Zack Bendler said.
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Information from: The Athens Messenger, http://www.athensmessenger.com/
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Not every tattoo client at Iron Age Studios on the Delmar Loop wants trendy art, a Bible verse or a Japanese symbol. A growing number of clients are breast cancer survivors dealing with mastectomies.
Tattoo artist Kerry Soraci typically works with three or four breast cancer survivors every month, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/2eZgkkB ) reported.
The American Cancer Society says more than one-third of women with early-stage breast cancer opt for a mastectomy, and the number of women who choose to have a healthy breast removed as a preventive measure has tripled in the past decade.
Theresa Schwartz, a breast surgeon at Saint Louis University, said that after a patient heals, the patient can remain flat-chested or undergo breast reconstruction. If the nipple and areola have been removed, the woman can decide whether she wants to get a tattoo to mimic the look, or she may seek something artistic to create a new appearance.
"It's the one thing they have control over after 18 months of treatment," Schwartz said, noting that the post-op tattoo can help relieve a patient's anxiety.
Soraci, 49, can blend an infinite combination of pinks and browns to complement skin tone, and use shading and highlights for a three-dimensional illusion.
"Plastic surgeons are not graphic artists," Schwartz said. "And they can't do anything different," like a cascade of ivy or a blooming sunflower. "The tattoos are a means of self-expression. It's realizing you have a new beginning once you're done with treatment."
Schwartz found out about Soraci a couple of years ago and sends her clients there. Soraci, who has a degree in fine arts from Washington University, finds fulfillment helping women figure out how they want to look and feel in their new bodies.
"Post-mastectomy tattoos encompass the true nature of tattooing," Soraci said. "They mark a real rite of passage, a celebration to an end of a very traumatic journey."
The nipple tattoos for Melissa McHale, 34, of St. Peters, mark her sixth and seventh tattoos. After a stage 4 cancer diagnosis she endured two years of chemo, surgery and radiation.
"After every step that I've been through, this is the end of my journey," McHale said. "Everything has worked up to this: It's the light at the end of the tunnel.
"I think I'm just going to feel complete."
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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Community college graduates in Ohio can now transfer to Western Governors University and receive a tuition discount toward earning a bachelor's degree under a new partnership.
Cleveland.com reports (http://bit.ly/2ea57um ) the Ohio Association of Community Colleges announced the agreement Oct. 11.
The deal offers competency-based learning opportunities at the online school to all graduates of Ohio's 23 community colleges.
It also extends a 5 percent tuition discount and establishes a transfer program in nursing.
WGU is a nonprofit institution established in 1997 by 19 governors seeking to expand access to affordable higher education. The university has 1,456 students in Ohio and offers programs in teaching, information technology, business and health.
The school's competency-based programs allow students to demonstrate that they've attained the required level of knowledge or skill through various assessments.
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Information from: cleveland.com, http://www.cleveland.com
CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man took home the top prize in the 110th annual Circleville Pumpkin Show with a gourd that weighed in at a whopping 1,553.5 pounds.
The Columbus Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/2enNaMI ) Washington Township's Cecil Weston was on a mission to beat Bob and Jo Liggett after their 2014 pumpkin broke the festival record he set a year earlier.
While the Liggetts' record-setting pumpkin still stands as the benchmark at 1,964 pounds, Weston says he's unsure what to do after beating Bob Liggett — a 12-time champion — "at his best" in 2016.
The Liggetts took second place at this year's contest with a 1,543.5-pound pumpkin. There's no hard feelings for Bob Liggett, who says he's happy to see a new generation of giant-pumpkin growers.
Weston says there's no greater pastime.
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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com
- By KATHRYN HARRIS Norfolk Daily News
NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) — Shayla Wheeler learned to juggle her schedule when she returned to work after maternity leave.
That became a necessary skill to keep up with the realities of life with an infant.
"We really struggled to find daycare when Kinley was first born," Wheeler said. "My family had to step up and come watch her while we worked because we couldn't find anything."
For the first five months of her daughter's life, Wheeler relied on four different people to care for her baby each week.
The couple eventually found a daycare provider in Battle Creek. Although it required the Wheelers to drive out of town twice each day, the couple — who have since moved to Battle Creek — were happy to find someone.
"It was hard on us," Wheeler said. "It was very, very stressful in the beginning."
The Wheelers' struggle is not unique. It's a challenge faced by many parents of small children in the Norfolk area, where a shortage of daycare providers has many beginning the search for child care as soon as they decide to have a baby.
"There are not enough spaces for infants up to 18 months and 2-year-olds," said Leonor Fuhrer, coordinator for the Norfolk Family Coalition, which is seeking to help address the issue.
The Norfolk Daily News (http://bit.ly/2ek0Lln ) reports that according to data gathered by Schmeeckle Research in the August 2013 Norfolk/Madison County Early Childhood Community Assessment, the population of children under 5 years old grew by 14.6 percent from 2000 to 2011, while the total population grew by only 1.8 percent over the same time period.
Those figures equate to about 1,963 children under the age of 5 years old in Norfolk. The numbers are expected to grow to 2,100 by 2025.
Currently, there are 13 licensed child care centers and 53 licensed in-home daycares in Norfolk, creating 1,538 licensed slots for children ages six weeks to 12 years old.
"That's what they're licensed for, not what they'll take," said the Rev. Dustin Petz, pastor at First United Methodist Church, which operates the Wesley Center Childcare Center in Norfolk. "They're often licensed for a larger number than they want to serve."
Those figures don't take into account the unlicensed daycare alternatives available, but there is no reliable way of assessing the number.
Courtney Kaiser, a mother of three who moved to Norfolk from Clearwater in hopes of finding daycare, left her job when her youngest son was born because she couldn't find adequate care. Her son is now 8 months old, and she's still searching for someone who can accommodate her needs.
"It is a very tiring process, calling everyone and getting turned down," said Kaiser, whose search is complicated because she requires a provider who will agreed to be paid by the state since Kaiser is receiving government assistance.
"In Norfolk, the places that have (an) opening don't accept state pay, and the ones that accept state pay have no opening," she said.
Chad Bryant, director of Helping Hands Childcare, a mission of Christ Lutheran Church in Norfolk, said he fields calls from parents looking for daycare — especially for infants — many times per week.
"It's very emotional," Bryant said. "Most families need a dual income just to pay their bills. They're not doing anything fancy. I have people stopping to talk to me constantly, saying they would have a full-time job if they could only find daycare."
Bryant said he wants parents to feel secure in their choice for daycare providers, but the current shortage situation has many making choices that aren't comfortable.
"Some people have to be really creative," he said. "Sometimes they're putting themselves in a situation where they're not totally secure in the care they're getting. ... I want them to feel as secure as possible when they leave this building."
Sierra Doescher of Norfolk started looking for daycare when she was about six months into her pregnancy. She found someone to care for her son when he was 2 months old.
"I was really scared and wondering what I was going to do," she said.
Doescher said she called numerous places and received a lot of suggestions, but she received the same answers from nearly every call she made: "We're full, but we can put your name on a waiting list."
"I was getting really nervous, wondering if I was going to find daycare in this town," she said.
Doescher said she was prepared to have her mother — who lives in Beemer and also works — watch her son, which would've required daily trips to Pilger to meet her.
"Luckily, I ended up finding a daycare lady who had an opening when I was on maternity leave, but it was a struggle," Doescher said.
Ashley McManaman, a working mother who commutes between Norfolk and Battle Creek each day, said she would like to see more daycare centers open in the Norfolk area or, perhaps, employers becoming open to the idea of having daycare available on site.
"I lived in Minnesota before I came here," she said. "A lot of the big (companies) had daycares on site. That seemed to work out pretty well."
McManaman started looking for a provider as soon as she found out she was pregnant; she didn't find someone to care for her baby until about a month before her daughter's birth.
McManaman said she realizes the solution to the daycare shortage won't be easily found, but it's a challenge that needs to be addressed sooner than later.
"They tell you when you start trying (to get pregnant) to get your name on a waiting list. It's sad that you have to plan around having a child based on whether or not you're going to have daycare," McManaman said. "Having a child is a happy thing. If you have to work, you shouldn't have to stress about who's going to care for your child."
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Information from: Norfolk Daily News, http://www.norfolkdailynews.com
An AP Member Exchange shared by the Norfolk Daily News.
- By Kaija Swisher Black Hills Pioneer
SPEARFISH, S.D. (AP) — He's collected so many aluminum can pull tabs he could literally bury himself in a kiddie pool full of them — and that's just what Grayson Chapeau, 6, of Spearfish, did when he recently collected 160 pounds, exceeding his goal to collect 150 pounds. The amount that he and his dad, Jeremiah, delivered to the Upper Minneapolis Ronal McDonald House in Minneapolis this week, though, was nearly triple that original goal: More than 420 pounds were collected for their most recent donation.
"It is awesome," Jeremiah said.
Grayson, diagnosed in 2014 with an inoperable, cancerous brain tumor called astrocytoma, underwent intense treatment including radiation and chemotherapy and is currently taking an experimental targeting drug, which he takes daily, the Black Hills Pioneer (http://bit.ly/2drlsIN ) reported. Jeremiah said that Grayson is continuing to do very well, and when the family must travel to the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital in Minneapolis for checkups, Grayson delivers aluminum can pull tabs to the nearby Upper Minneapolis Ronald McDonald House.
These aluminum can pull tabs raise funds for the nonprofit, which provides a nearby "home-away-from-home" at little or no cost for families with a hospitalized child. The vision of the Ronald McDonald House is to "create a world where children have access to quality health care and their families are able to better comfort and support them while actively participating in their care."
Jeremiah said that Grayson will keep collecting and delivering the tabs during the periodic trips to Minneapolis, and the family encouraged everyone to get involved. There are collection containers at Spearfish Regional Hospital, Spearfish McDonald's Spearfish Hospital, Spearfish McDonald, Spearfish Eye Care, All About Potential Chiropractic, Spearfish Middle School — the Chapeaus even had a "trunkful" of tabs delivered to their house.
"Everybody's kind of spreading the word, so it's kind of been a community effort," Jeremiah said. "It's been very cool."
People can find updates and more information at the "Prayers for Grayson Chapeau" Facebook page, which describes Grayson as "an incredible superhero during this 21 month journey . He has endured all appointments, treatments and medication with an attitude of joy. He has taught us how to be brave, courageous and how to be joyful in all circumstances. He is our real-life Superhero!"
And the family acknowledged their gratitude to friends, family, and everyone who has supported Grayson and their family during the journey.
"We just want to say thanks to the community," Jeremiah said. "We live in an awesome community, and we appreciate all the support that we've gotten. . It means a lot to us."
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Information from: Black Hills Pioneer, http://www.bhpioneer.com
An AP Exchange shared by the Black Hills Pioneer.
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