Becomes second recreational marijuana store to open

Alicia Jaimes, alicia.jaimes@pioneergroup.com

Opening in Big Rapids just last month, KKind General Manager Joe Keck said business has been steadily growing ever since. (Pioneer photo/Alicia Jaimes)

Opening in Big Rapids just last month, KKind General Manager Joe Keck said business has been steadily growing ever since. (Pioneer photo/Alicia Jaimes)

Opening in Big Rapids just last month, KKind General Manager Joe Keck said business has been steadily growing ever since. (Pioneer photo/Alicia Jaimes)

Opening in Big Rapids just last month, KKind General Manager Joe Keck said business has been steadily growing ever since. (Pioneer photo/Alicia Jaimes)

Cannabis business growing in Big Rapids

BIG RAPIDS Joe Keck, general manager of Big Rapids' newest marijuana dispensary, said business has been steadily growing since opening in the area.

Our budtenders really enjoy engaging with members of the community, and it really feels as if we are building long-lasting relationships with our customers, Keck said of the business, KKind.

All the way from Kalamazoo, KKind a state licensed cannabis provisioning center opened its second recreational store in the city of Big Rapids.

I have suffered for years of pain and anxiety, and cannabis has helped me provide myself a better quality of life most days, Keck said. I have even recently been giving my grandmother CBD Transdermal Rubs to help with her arthritis in her hands and knees, and its really been making a difference.

My dog even has his own unique blend of CBD oil provided by a local vet that has helped with his anxiety.

Enjoying having the opportunity to help people in his line of work, Keck said he considers himself a personal success story when it come to using cannabis as a holistic medicine.

We are helping people daily with pain management, anxiety, stress, depression, loss of appetite and just uplifting their spirits, he said. KKinds patient advocates have extensive training in cannabis science, including the proper dosing levels of all cannabinoids.

As well as hoping to provide relief to area residents, Keck said he hopes to hire people from the area.

We hope to provide living wage jobs for locals that we hire from the Big Rapids community, and to offer another option in town with different and new products to choose from, Keck said.

Current hours for KKind is 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday thru Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Keck said they are hoping to expand their hours soon.

Keck said KKind is also offering a limited contact curbside service.

My goal has always been to help people, whether its through music, art or cannabis, he said. I believe its our duty as cannabis professionals to educate patients on proper dosing levels, appropriate methods of use, and how our products may provide symptom relief.

If I have earned someones trust and have helped them find a way to take control of their quality of life, then Ive done my job.

Excerpt from:
Cannabis business growing in Big Rapids - The Pioneer

When Bob Zimmermann was trying to decide where he should pitch in college, he wanted to go to the school that gave him the best opportunity to go to the College World Series.

He looked at the names on the Bears' roster. He knew Bears first baseman Ryan Howard from high school and had a few conversations with him before making his choice.

"It just seemed like a good fit," Zimmermann said.

Zimmermann went on to be named the Missouri Valley Conference's Freshman of the Year in 2000 and was a first-team All-Conference selection. After his freshman year, he was elected to be a member of the USA National Team in 2001 and 2002.

For the Bears, he could start or come out of the bullpen. The team looked to him as a player whowas able to step up for his team when it needed him the most.

"The personal success is always nice, but there's nothing that can compare to when you're having team success," Zimmermann said. "It just makes things better and makes things more fun and enjoyable to be around everything. I think baseball is a sport where personal success can contribute to team success, so it was nice to have both ends.

"The teams I had my freshman and my sophomore year both teams I think we had a team that could've made a run. I feel like we got snubbed out, but we were able to use the experience to help our team my junior in 2003 that helped make that run in the postseason because of the experience."

For the second year in a row, the Bears were sent to the Lincoln Regional. This time, they would be the No. 3 seed and would open against Coastal Carolina.

The year before, the Bears lost in the opener to Marist before eliminating Milwaukee and Marist the following day. Their season came to an end when they played Nebraska and lost 14-3 instead of forcing a winner-take-all regional championship game.

What happened in the 2002 regional wasn't forgotten. It served as extra motivation for a team that didn't expect to be in the NCAA Tournament in the first place.

"I think going back was a good thing," Bears head coach Keith Guttin said. "Guys were familiar with the stadium and everything. It was an easy trip by bus. I think there was a little comfort there."

"I thought it was the perfect place to go," centerfielder Dant'e Brinkley said. "We needed that revenge. We had all the confidence in the world and we were ready to go. We knew that team because we had played them the year before and we didn't lose too many guys."

Brooks Colvin didn't want things to be the same as the Bears' trip to Lincoln in 2002. The situation was starting to feel too familiar when he was on deck, so he had an idea.

Colvin decided to flip over a circle that served as the batter's box. It had the Nebraska logo on it even though the Bears were playing Coastal Carolina.

"I didn't think it was that big of a deal at first," Colvin said.

That's when the grounds crew decided to get on the field and flip it back over to show the logo. Again, Colvin flipped it over.

"It didn't feel right to sit there and hit off of Nebraska's logo," Colvin said. "I just felt like they had a good team and good program so we had to do something to spice it up a little bit and get everyone hopping and going. It definitely did it."

Colvin became public enemy No. 1. Every time he batted all tournament long, fans booed. Every time a ball was hit his way, fans booed.

"It was awesome," Colvin said. "I just remember loving hearing them. It definitely got blown out of proportion but once it got there, I thought it was awesome."

"Aww, man, he was always doing everything," Brinkley said. "That's who we were. We weren't going to be a second-class citizen to no team. Him flipping over that batting circle was kind of our statement like 'we're here and we're ready to go.'"

Pitcher Chad Mulholland got the nod to start against Coastal Carolina. Back then, the team's top arm, Brad Ziegler, would typically throw the second game of a weekend series. Because of a Saturday doubleheader that featured a seven-inning game before a nine, starting the No. 1 pitcher in the seven-inning game would help ease the stress on bullpens.

But Mullholland was noslouch either. He finished the year 10-4 with a 3.08 ERA in 119.2 innings pitched as the team's Friday starter.

"Chad Mullholland was pretty damn good," SMS pitching coach Paul Evans said. "He was a workhorse."

Against Coastal Carolina, Mullholland got behind early. Heallowed two home runs. His five innings made for his shortest outing since the second game of the regular season.

Southwest Missouri State trailed 3-2 after four innings but the Bears kept their composure.

Three walks, including one with the bases loaded, aided the rally. Brinkley and catcher Tony Piazza had RBI singles and Clay Wheeler hit a sacrifice fly to knock Coastal Carolina's starter out of the game.

"There was talk going into that Coastal Carolina game that they had two lefties who were going to shut us down and we took it personally," Brinkley said. "It was like 'Hey, you guys aren't going to take our dream away from us' and our dream was to win that regional. We never looked past where we were. Weren't looking to the College World Series or the Super Regional. We wanted to win the Regional."

The Bears' dream of winning the regional got off to a good start after the team pulled away for an 8-3 win over Coastal Carolina in the regional opener. Brinkley helped SMS in the rally by hitting a pair of home runs.

Not only did the win advance the Bears closer to their first regional championship in program history but it also set up a chance at revenge againstNebraska whichwas then the No. 9 team in the country.

Southwest Missouri State was going to have its ace, Brad Ziegler, on the mound but Nebraska was going to bring its big gun too.

The Cornhuskers were going with Aaron Marsden. He was just named the Big 12's Pitcher of the Year after allowing three runs or fewer in 19 of his 20 appearances.

"I remember having to have that mindset that I wasn't facing him and that I was facing the hitters," Ziegler said. "Our hitters are going to have to face him, but I don't. I'm facing their hitters and it's my job to get guys out and not worry about what he's doing on the mound."

That mindset worked.

Brinkley and Colvin hit back-to-back doubles in the fifth to break a 1-1 tie. Wheeler followed with a two-out single to give SMS a 3-1 lead.

The Huskers came back with a run in the top of the sixth, aided by a balk call on Ziegler that moved a runner over to second. Nebraska later scored on a two-out single to bring the game within one.

Ziegler worked six innings and allowed a lead-off double to start the seventh before handing the ball over to closer Shaun Marcum.

Things didn't start off well for Marcum as he tossed a wild pitch to advance the runner to third before he walked his first batter with no outs.

Marcum forced the next two batters into flyouts while both runners stayed put. Perhaps the biggest play of the game followed when Piazza caught the runner at first napping and picked him off to end the inning.

SMS was able to hold on to give Ziegler the school record for single-season victories.

"We just walked out of there having beaten the home team on their field, and because of the mindset of thinking that we're not going to get in the tournament and then when we got in, we felt like we had nothing to lose," Ziegler said. "We weren't supposed to be there in our minds. Everything we got after that was a bonus. We were able to play free and not care if we got beat. Everyone expected us to get beat so it wouldn't have been that big of a deal."

Later in the day, Nebraska bounced back with an 18-2 win over Eastern Michigan to stay alive and force a rematch with the Bears. The Huskers would have to win two-straight to win the regional, while the Bears just had to win one.

Nebraska scored six runs in the second inning after the Bears failed to record an out on two sacrifice bunt plays. Both times the Bears unsuccessfully attempted to get the lead runner.

SMS was able to cut the lead in half after a Wheeler RBI single and a two-run single by Marcum but it was still too much to overcome.

In the bullpen, Zimmermann found himself warming up until things started to spiral out of control. The Bears knew he was going to be needed for a winner-take-all game, so they sat him down.

"Sometimes in those situations when it's do-or-die, you have to punt and not use your guys as much as you don't want to lose," Evans said. "Sometimes you have to say 'we have another game to win, let's save our bullets' and Bob was certainly a bullet for Nebraska that day."

Southwest Missouri State lost the game 9-5 to force a winner-take-all contest. Either the Bears would leave Lincoln with their first regional title ever or they would go home.

"We just got beat," Guttin said. "Nebraska's at home and they're good. It was really, really hot and they had a place for us between games. We had some food and some cool drinks. We chilled for a little bit and chatted just a little. There was no 'rah, rah' speech. We just said that "this is who we are.'"

Zimmermann was going to get the start for the championship game and he usually starts warming up about 45 minutes before the game but this one was different.

He and Piazza found a spot in the clubhouse where they were able to take a quick 10-minute nap. The next thing Zimmermann remembers was a teammate walking in and saying that the game started in 15 minutes.

Show caption Hide caption Southwest Missouri State pitcher Bob Zimmermann, right, and teammate Dante Brinkley hug after defeating Nebraska 7-0 in an NCAA regional game in Lincoln, Neb., on... Southwest Missouri State pitcher Bob Zimmermann, right, and teammate Dante Brinkley hug after defeating Nebraska 7-0 in an NCAA regional game in Lincoln, Neb., on Sunday, June 1, 2003. With the win Southwest Missouri State advanced to the Super Regionals.Nati Harnik

"We were both like 'aw, crap' and had to get our uniforms on," Zimmermann said. "Starting there and having that rush to not think about the things going on may have made it a little easier to react and be athletic as opposed to overthinking things. Pitchers can get into big trouble when they're overthinking."

Zimmermann admitted that he had nerves, but he knew what he was capable of. He felt he could shut them down.

And he did.

"My fastball command was really good that day," Zimmermann said. "It makes things a lot easier when your fastball is working for you. I feel like it was strike-one to every single hitter. I never started out with a ball and I got ahead and had that feeling that I could throw anywhere."

"He was really on that day," Evans said. "He was a guy who feeds off emotion. He was kind of our wildcard a guy you can use in so many different ways. He and Tony were really clicking. I just remember we were going away, away, away, away and Bob had a good arm with a good fastball. His breaking ball was OK and he was just feeding it, man. He was just going right at him and attacking and they didn't have much success."

Zimmermann threw the game of his life and ultimately put together one of the great performances in program history when he threw a five-hit shutout to help the Bears defeat Nebraska 7-0 and give SMS its first-ever NCAA Division I Regional Championship.

"I would say it's at or near the top certainly with what was on the line," Guttin said of where Zimmermann's performance ranks in Bears baseball history. "He was just phenomenal. Unbelievable amount of first-pitch strikes and putting guys away. It was a great win."

"I was confident but you could've given me a million-to-one odds and I wouldn't have bet a single dollar that he was going to pitch a complete-game shutout," Ziegler said. "That was a big ol' burly man who decided he was going to put the team on his back."

When the final out was recorded and the Regional was won, there was no celebration.

There was no dogpile or Gatorade being dumped on Guttins' head. Nothing.

For a team that didn't think it was going to make the NCAA Tournament in the first place, avenging its loss from the year before and winning the first Regional in program history was somehow expected.

"It wasn't anything to celebrate," Brinkley said. "We expected to win. For me, I'm a different kind of example and I'm never satisfied. I never have to outright celebrate something that I should be doing and that was something that we should've been doing. We knew our fight wasn't over and that's just what it was and then it was on to the next."

Show caption Hide caption Southwest Missouri State's Adam Pummill, center, celebrates after scoring against Nebraska in the fourth inning of an NCAA regional game in Lincoln, Neb., Sunday, June... Southwest Missouri State's Adam Pummill, center, celebrates after scoring against Nebraska in the fourth inning of an NCAA regional game in Lincoln, Neb., Sunday, June 1, 2003. Southwest Missouri State defeated Nebraska 7-0 and advanced to the super-regional round of the NCAA baseball tournament for the first time.Nati Harnik, AP

"Our thing was 'let's act like we're supposed to be the winners,'" Zimmermann laughed. "We're supposed to be here and not showing our ass basically hooting and hollering. We have more business. We wanted a really professional win and then take the work on to the Super Regional that we weren't finished and not just content with winning a Regional."

"That was their thing," Guttin said. "They came up to take care of business. They did their celebrating off the field, I can tell you that. It's a lot easier to say that 17 years later."

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email atwwheeler@news-leader.comor join the conversation on Twitter where his handle is@WyattWheeler_NL. You can also sign up for his free "Bears Beat" newsletter by subscribing on News-Leader.com.

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The Bears' first Regional Championship 'wasn't anything to celebrate' - News-Leader

Rigged

America, Russia, and One Hundred Years of Covert Electoral Interference

by David Shimer

In the bleak midwinter of a political year in Washington, a top out-of-power partisan contacts a Russian diplomat at the embassy in Washington.

The topic of discussion: What their governments might do for each other in the coming administration.

This scene may sound familiar, only it wasn't former national security adviser Mike Flynn. The American political figure was former Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson, who went up to the Soviet embassy in January of 1960 to see Ambassador Mikhail Menshikov.

After "caviar, fruits and drinks," his excellency the ambassador produced a message from Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev.

"We are concerned with the future, and that America has the right president," the Soviet leader wrote, per Stevenson's later recollection. Moscow wanted to get behind him against what it considered a distasteful hardliner: Vice President Richard Nixon. "Because we know the ideas of Mr. Stevenson, we in our hearts all favor him," Khrushchev wrote. Continued the letter:

"Could the Soviet press assist Mr. Stevenson's personal success? How? Should the press praise him, and if so, for what? We can always find many things to criticize Mr. Stevenson for because he has said many harsh and critical things about the Soviet Union and communism! Mr. Stevenson will know best what would help him."

This overture which Stevenson rebuffed is one of many gems unearthed by David Shimer in his important new history, Rigged: America, Russia, and One Hundred Years of Covert Electoral Interference.

Stevenson's encounter encapsulates the essence of a very old game.

If Russia's attack on the 2016 election and other elections in Great Britain and Western Europe seemed like bolts from the blue, they shouldn't. Shimer's authoritative book places them in their proper context as only the latest installments in the long-running and sometimes grim practice of statecraft.

To be clear, the experiences of 2016 and since were novel in key ways, of which more below, but the premise of the work the goal of a nation to bring about a desired outcome within the politics of another was not.

Comrade Lenin

The Russians, Shimer argues, had a head start, one that derives from the ambitious and paranoid aspects of early Communism in the Soviet Union and its progenitor, Vladimir Lenin.

They also had a standing, peacetime secret intelligence service, which the United States, in the 19-teens, did not. Lenin and his successors made foundation stones of the agencies that became and then evolved from the KGB and the army's GRU.

Washington tried to catch up.

After World War II, it and the then-new CIA also got into the business of trying to change the course of events within nations around the world.

This work made the CIA infamous in many places, but Shimer focuses his attention in Rigged specifically on the influence of democratic elections, not on coups or armed operations.

The American stories haven't been excavated as often and make for fascinating reading, as when President Harry Truman ordered the CIA to help defeat communists in Italy's 1948 election. It did many things, including infuse a lot of cash.

"We had bags of money that we delivered to selected politicians to defray their political expenses, their campaign expenses, for posters, for pamphlets," as Shimer quotes one CIA officer.

But election influence also wasn't that simple: Much of the American suasion in the Italian election was as plain as day and wielded in the open.

The inside game vs. the outside game

Washington threatened to withhold post-WWII aid if Rome went communist; Italian-Americans wrote letters to relatives in the old country urging them to spurn the communists; Frank Sinatra and Joe DiMaggio contributed radio broadcasts.

History records that Italians elected the Christian democrats who were Washington's preferred interlocutors and kept the communists out of power.

So how much of that was thanks to the public messaging from the United States and how much because of the CIA's hidden hand? This question about causality and efficacy will linger.

Inside the Agency and around Washington, however, the answer was obvious. Shimer's research and reporting shine in sections like this one, in which he characterizes the sentiment about how much the CIA believed its own work: He quotes one official saying it, then a second, and then a third.

Although the efficacy of covert action might never be provable definitively, leaders in Washington and Moscow continued to believe in the value of this kind of work through the Cold War and beyond. Then-deputy CIA Director Robert Gates was reporting to Congress in secret about Soviet election interference in the 1980s.

And President Bill Clinton whom Shimer interviewed for this book described his desire to put Uncle Sam's thumb on the scales in the 2000 election in Serbia that ousted its infamous president Slobodan Miloevi. The State Department helped opponents and civic organizations and trained activists to monitor polling places.

"For Washington, overt democracy promotion, rather than covert electoral interference, had become the rule," Shimer writes.

Comrade Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin was watching. He complained to Clinton about the American military operations in the former Yugoslavia and appears never to have dropped his belief that the United States was worming into elections around the world and especially in his front yard.

Meanwhile, the world moved online. That not only made individual American political targets vulnerable to foreign cyberattackers but also millions of people available, in a new, "neutral" medium, to the very old arts of persuasion or agitation.

In the old days, a group with a name such as "the World Peace Council" might have circulated pamphlets. Or an explicitly communist group might have made a straight-ahead case for world revolution, as Shimer writes.

By 2016, an influence specialist in Saint Petersburg, posing as a fellow citizen, could metaphorically tap an individual American on the shoulder. They formed groups. They shared memes. They organized rallies that took place in the real world.

And in key cases, as, for example, with black voters, they hammered a message: "We" Russians pretending to be black American citizens can't win with either of these candidates, so "we" real black voters must stay home.

And so on.

Disinformation is consequential. Based on nothing more than the apparently comforting or affirming nonsense they've been told by a stranger, people will take action. Some even will take actions that endanger their own children, and others, by keeping them from being vaccinated.

Many people, even most people, may not respond to these kinds of suggestions in this way. But in an American election that can be decided by small margins fewer people than fit into Michigan Stadium on a typical autumn Saturday to see the Wolverines reaching and changing individual minds isn't nothing.

If you could get a message to 100 million people and affect the behavior of 1 percent of them, that could do the trick.

What difference does it make

Does that mean that Russia elected Trump in 2016?

Shimer recounts the story in ample detail and includes the views of both those who think it was determinative and those who believe it wasn't. His section about the torturous deliberations within President Obama's administration about how to respond to Russia's active measures is comprehensive to the point of encyclopedic.

Shimer's purpose is less to answer the question after all, the spies and diplomats still don't all agree about the U.S. efforts in Italy in 1948 than to establish that after roughly a century of dirty tricks and active measures, the reach afforded by Facebook and Twitter changed the old game for malefactors such as Russia's "Internet Research Agency."

"The CIA focused on manipulating the psyches of Italian voters," Shimer writes. "Today, billions of people have uploaded their psyches to the Internet, exposing them to targeted manipulation. The platform is new, but the goal of shaping people's views is not."

Later, in assessing 2016, he writes: "What must be beyond debate is that the IRA influenced the minds of unsuspecting voters. Its divisive content spread far and wide, reaching more than 100 million Americans," he writes.

That also has brought a new default kind of practice in statecraft and politics.

Political campaigns must be on guard for attacks, as must elections officials across America's thousands of individual voting jurisdictions, as must spies and security officials and Washington. Political cyberattacks continue apace.

The United States has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to buy new machines, upgrade IT systems and change its practices to try to protect ballots from interception, sabotage or other mischief.

But as Shimer writes in his painstaking book, this game has seldom been about changing ballots as much as it has been about changing minds.

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In 'Rigged,' A Comprehensive Account Of Decades Of Election Interference - NPR

5 min read1,507 views and 142 shares Posted June 9, 2020

This column was submitted to LebTown. Read our submission policy here.

There is seldom room for stories of love within the brutal world of politics. We seem to have a compulsion to focus only on the scandals as we feed the cynical side of our nature. But if we examine our history delicately the stories of love and devotion do exist.

Right here, in our town, there exists a love story of historic proportions. It is the tragic love story of President James Buchanan and his betrothed, Ann Caroline Coleman. This was a deeply heartbreaking story of regret and lost love that would be carried by James Buchanan until the day he dies.

Long before James Buchanan took the oath of office as our 15th President, he began his career as a young lawyer in Lancaster, the state capital at that time. James had graduated from Dickinson Law School, with honors in 1809. At the time, some who knew him were surprised that he graduated at all given the fact that he was expelled once and had a reputation as a rowdy young man that frequented taverns.

After being admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1812, James struggled financially in the first year of his law practice. He considered it fortunate when he was appointed prosecutor for the newly created Lebanon County. As time passed, he proved himself to be a successful lawyer and also served two terms in the State Assembly. This handsome, blond, six footer was becoming one of the most desirable and eligible young bachelors in Lancaster.

Read More: This Presidents Day, remembering Lebanons links to our countrys highest elected office

Every day as Buchanan walked from his law office to the court house, he passed the lavish residence of ironmaster Robert Coleman, reputed to be the richest man in Pennsylvania. It was 1819 that Buchanan became smitten by Robert Colemans daughter, 23 year old Ann Caroline Coleman. Ann was recognized as the outstanding catch. At first sight, this slim, dark haired beauty with dazzling eyes became the sole object of Buchanan affection. Her father, Robert Coleman, seemed to have more mansions than kings had castles and frequently Buchanan would visit Ann at their Cornwall Mansion in Lebanon County.

By 1819, Buchanan had built a solid reputation having success in both politics and law. His precise legal arguments had brought him esteem and increased his fees for services. Given Buchanans common and unremarkable family background, his personal success allowed him to court the daughter of Pennsylvanias most powerful industrialist.

By the summer of 1819, James and Ann became engaged. There is every indication that Anns father, as a trustee of Dickinson College, was keenly aware of Buchanans past reputation. Adding to the fact that Buchanan came from an ordinary family, Robert Coleman had hoped for a better match for Ann within the Philadelphia aristocracy.

In the autumn of 1819, a financial panic had reached its peak and came to dominate business transactions. As a respected lawyer, James began to spend a considerable amount of time in Philadelphia. He had taken on one of the most important contemporary lawsuits that involved the continued existence of the Columbia Bridge Company in which many Lancastrians had financial interest.

Buchanan, being driven and conscientious, did not spend sufficient time on his courtship during the months of October and November. Consumed by his work, James did not pause to recognize the impact on Ann. She became distressed by the gossip that began to spread as the couple had become the main topic of local conversation within Anns social circle. There was a growing belief that James was not interested in winning Anns affection at all, it was her fathers fortune that drew him.

The tension Ann was feeling was heightened by her parents warning that James was somewhat of a philanderer. Anns suspicion began to take shape when James did not write her during a stay in Philadelphia on business.

Upon Buchanans return from Philadelphia, James stopped first at the home of his client, William Jenkins, president of the Farmers Bank. During the Panic of 1819, the solvency of his bank depended on Buchanans legal dealings. As it turned out, Mrs. Jenkins two nieces, the Hubley sisters, were visiting. One of the sisters, Grace Hubley, had accompanied James in the past to parties and events. Without Buchanans knowledge, she underhandedly rushed off a message to Ann that James had visited her first.

When Buchanan finally arrived at Anns home, the servant informed him that Ann did not desire to see him. Later she sent an angry letter to James terminating their engagement. The next day, at the urging of her parents, Ann set out to visit her sister, Margaret, in Philadelphia to quell her anxiety over the breakup. The new scenery did nothing to sooth her feelings of loss, on the contrary, her sorrow was overwhelming.

At that time, a woman exhibiting signs of anxiety or stress was often diagnosed by her doctor with what was known as female hysteria. The accepted treatment for female hysteria was Laudanum, a medication that contained approximately 10% opium by weight. Ann took such a dose on the night of December 9, 1819, the night she died.

There is no way to determine if the lethal dose of Laudanum was an act of suicide or simply a mistake in dosage. But there were those that settled on the theory that Ann died of a deliberate overdose. We will never know for sure. But we do know who was blamed and that was her fiance James Buchanan.

When James received the news of Anns death he was overcome with grief. He immediately wrote an emotional note to Mr. Coleman pleading to see Anns body and walk with her one more time in the funeral procession. In his note he also expressed the fact that she, as well as himself, had been the victims of much abuse. With great conviction, James also stated to Anns father, happiness has fled from me forever. Despite this emotional plea, Anns father refused his request and Ann was buried at St James Episcopal Church on North Duke Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Quote whenever James Buchanan was asked why he did not marry: Marry I will not, for my affections were buried in the grave.

James Buchanan lingered in the horrible tragedy of Anns death as rumors spread around him that he was not only responsible for Anns death, but her murderer. James friends, realizing the unbearable accusations James was facing decided that it was best to get him out of town. They then nominated him for Congress and, beginning in 1821, his political career blossomed. Buchanans career would keep him in Washington for the next 40 years, ending with his term as President.

While in Washington, Buchanan had many suitors, but he never married. He was content to be the Bachelor Father to his nieces and nephews that were orphaned by the death of their parents. He raised them, paid for their education, and ensured their financial security.

After serving his tumultuous term as President, he retired to his Wheatland home in Lancaster where he spent the remainder of his life. In May of 1868, he became gravely ill and at the age of 77 died of respiratory failure.

There is much mystery and uncertainty regarding many aspects of the life of James Buchanan and we will probably never know what was in his heart. But there was one final act that sheds light on his tragic life. Upon his death he directed that his nieces and nephews retrieve a packet of letters that he had lovingly tied with a pink ribbon. These were the love letters from Ann, his one and only love, and he kept her letters all his life as his only precious memory. On the ribbon, in his own handwriting, was a message that upon his death the letters should be burned without anyone reading them. His last request was honored and the letters were burned.

Sometimes, the last thing we choose to do in life tells the real truth of our existence, what was truly important to us, and what we want to be remembered for. In the case of James Buchanan, in the end, the only message he left behind for all eternity was I love you Ann and I stayed faithful to the end.

Robert Griffiths is a former educator and a current educational consultant and Cornwall-Lebanon School District board member. He lives in South Lebanon.

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[Column] Our town: A love story lost in time - LebTown

By DK Agarwal Stock traders are a tribe different from regular investors in the marketplace. They engage with the market actively, employing strategies to profit from quick price changes in stocks. A thorough understanding of the markets and behavioural finance along with personal discipline and focus is what is necessary for success in trading.

In other words, discipline, dedication, education and experience are the key ingredients to succeed in stock trading.

So, what does it take to be a trader? And what are some of the essential rules which one needs to ingrain in him/her to be able to be a good trader.

First and foremost, one needs to be very clear that trading is a business; not gambling. A trader looks at his practices as serious business. There is a thin line between betting on the market and trading. Trading requires technical analysis and application of mathematical calculations to predict market trends. Knowledge is a hidden secret to success in this domain. Like anything in life, the more knowledge and information you gain, the higher the chances of your success in trading. Rationality and reason are a prerequisite for stock trading.

There is an old saying in business: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. It may sound glib, but traders should follow these words. A trading plan is essentially a framework that guides a trader through the entire process in the market. The plan sets the conditions under which one would enter a trade, identify market, exit trades and manage risks along the way. Thus, knowing when to exit a trade is just as important as knowing when to enter a position.

Trading can be an emotional roller-coaster. So its important to remain stress-free. Many novice traders ride that emotional roller-coaster, feeling on top of the world after a win, and down in the dumps after a loss. So, the lower the overall stress level, the less likely you will feel the unwanted peak emotions when trading.

At the same time, trading can be a very boring activity at times. You need to be patient, as you wait for the right opportunities. Another golden rule to always keep in mind is: never trade with the money that you can't afford to lose. Trading with emergency money will increase the likelihood that you will be emotionally attached. This may put you in a risky position, and may push you to make irrational decisions.

As defeating as a loss may feel, the important thing is how we react to loss. That is more important than the loss itself. When you accept your loss and learn from it, you will find that you are able to cut your losses. Use your loss as motivation to learn and develop your skills for better trading. Admittedly, losses are part of trading; accept them, learn from them and move on.

Someone has rightly said trading is not everyone's cup of tea. A successful trader always handles trading losses smartly. Successful traders treat losses as an opportunity to learn and improve their trading. To become a successful trader, you should try to focus on harmonising trading strategy with your risk profile.

The market is neither for you, nor against you. The market is merely what it is!

DK Aggarwal is Chairman and MD, SMC Investments and Advisors.

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Why do they say stock trading is not everyone's cup of tea - Economic Times

Emily Plavcan, Jennifer Cronin and Ashley Pannese, all physical therapists at the Milford Campus of Bridgeport Hospital, take a break to enjoy an ice cream supplied by Mr. Softee on the one-year anniversary of the hospitals coming together.

Emily Plavcan, Jennifer Cronin and Ashley Pannese, all physical therapists at the Milford Campus of Bridgeport Hospital, take a break to enjoy an ice cream supplied by Mr. Softee on the one-year anniversary of

Photo: Bill Bloxsom / Hearst Connecticut Media

Emily Plavcan, Jennifer Cronin and Ashley Pannese, all physical therapists at the Milford Campus of Bridgeport Hospital, take a break to enjoy an ice cream supplied by Mr. Softee on the one-year anniversary of the hospitals coming together.

Emily Plavcan, Jennifer Cronin and Ashley Pannese, all physical therapists at the Milford Campus of Bridgeport Hospital, take a break to enjoy an ice cream supplied by Mr. Softee on the one-year anniversary of

A year in, Bridgeport Hospitals Milford campus success called absolutely inspiring

MILFORD There was a year of successes to celebrate.

So, at the Milford Campus of Bridgeport Hospital, they brought out the ice cream.

No one could have predicted what was in store for the two institutions, which are part of Yale New Haven Health, when they merged on June 9, 2019.

If we hadnt been together already at the time COVID hit, Bridgeport would have been trying to figure out how to care for the non-COVID patients without the beds to do it and how do you pay for it, said Gina Calder, administrator at the Milford campus and vice president for Bridgeport Hospital.

Calder said, for instance, that in April alone, Bridgeport Hospital spent almost $5 million just on COVID equipment and PPE (personal protective equipment).

There is no way an independent small community hospital can afford that, she said. We spent that money in the context of the Yale New Haven Health system.

That meant that we were getting all the discounts that the supplier pipeline offers, discounts that a single institution doesnt have access to, Calder said. As we look at it, neither Milford nor Bridgeport would have survived this without each other.

Sometimes during an emergency, a new relationship is forged.

In the year prior to the integration, we heard a lot of promises, said Karen Kipfer, executive program manager at the Milford Campus. Yale New Haven and Bridgeport said they were going to do A-B-C, and they delivered on their promises. Change can be difficult, but the Milford community kept their hospital, so it was a win-win for everybody.

Victor Morris, the associate chief medical officer at Bridgeport Hospital, Milford campus, came to Milford six months prior to the transition.

It has been going where we wanted to go, prior to COVID, he said. A lot of improvements were put into the facility. Patient numbers are way up. Weve improved our clinical care capabilities, our emergency department, surgeons, and expanded cardiology.

The Milford Campus didnt shrink, as had been feared by some the remaining staff and the community: it grew.

We recognized that Milford was actually understaffed so we invested in bringing in more staff onto the campus, posting 100 new FTEs (full time equivalents), Calder said. It (manpower needs) were across all areas and disciplines. We got close to being able to fill those just before COVID hit. It was perfect timing.

Milford then had the staff in place to handle the overflow from Bridgeport Hospital.

There were so many patients at the Bridgeport campus that we needed to move the non-COVID patients here, Calder said. We (Milford) were opening areas that typically you dont open for surgery care. We opened our PACU (post-anesthesia care unit) for other needs. If we hadnt filled those positions, there would have been no one to fill those shifts.

Morris said he wasnt surprised with the Milford Campus success.

You can see it by how quickly the positions filled that this was going to work going forward, Morris said. I was at Yale New Haven from 1990 to 2018 before I came down here to help. Now I see staff from New Haven from the Milford area who chose to live here.

It is Bridgeport Hospital, Milford campus. Everything they do at Bridgeport Hospital we do here (not COVID), all the stuff they do at Yale New Haven, Morris said. Right now, a lot of Yale New Haven surgeons are operating down here, doing a lot of orthopedic cases. Oncology cases, that would have been done at the Bridgeport campus, are now done here.

Kipfer, on staff at Milford Hospital for 15 years, sees a promising future.

There has been a lot to celebrate this year, Kipfer said. Both institutions served each other, and through that, served our patients. I dont believe that Milford Hospital would have been able to survive the COVID pandemic, if we had remained an independent community hospital.

An important message to the Milford community going forward is that we have maintained this as a COVID-free campus, Kipfer said.

The work being done at each hospital is beneficial to the other.

Milford was packed the whole time with people that didnt have COVID, Morris said. Bridgeport handled the COVID. But people were still getting pneumonia, skin infections, asthma, appendicitis, so this campus remained full.

Calder agreed.

Because we were COVID-free, our focus here was on the adult older population. It was important that we could take care of that vulnerable population, she said. And as we were able to open things like elective surgeries, the staff from Bridgeport campus came here to Milford to help kick-start all the work in the operating room and getting all the surgeons ramped back up.

I couldnt have envisioned it going better, Calder said.

Im most impressed by the teamwork in our organization. They have never shied away from the work that had to be done, and they did it in a positive and enthusiastic way, Calder said. They all saw what was possible on the other side of this, and they used that to feed their motivation. It has been absolutely inspiring.

william.bloxsom@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @blox354

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A year in, Bridgeport Hospitals Milford campus success called absolutely inspiring - New Haven Register

President Donald Trump is in the midst of a polling swoon largely of his own making.

Its true that events have taken a hand a pandemic with a death toll of more than 100,000, a sharp recession, double-digit unemployment and civil unrest would be the horsemen of the apocalypse for any incumbent president.

Experiencing all of these in one term would make for treacherous political weather; experiencing them in the space of about three months is a perfect storm.

And yet the president has worsened his position with his profligate tweeting, unpresidential conduct and refusal or inability to step up to the magisterial aspect of his office.

None of this is new, but it acquires a different significance playing out against a backdrop of crisis, when the stakes and emotions are elevated.

The presidents poor ratings on coronavirus have much to do with his overexposure, squabbling with reporters and meandering performances at his news briefings all of which was avoidable, and indeed was eventually avoided by stopping the briefings.

Quite often, Trump has blown the easy stuff while his team has performed admirably dealing with the more nettlesome issues of governance.

Sounding sober from the presidential podium at a time of crisis should be easy any halfway accomplished conventional politician could do a pretty good job at it.

Allocating ventilators, acquiring personal protective equipment and ramping up testing on a rapid basis in the middle of a pandemic when the traditional apparatus of government isnt up to it is hard and the Trump team has managed it over the past couple of months.

The press doesnt tell that story, and regardless, it gets overwhelmed by the constant drama emanating from the Oval Office.

In the case of George Floyd, theres nothing Trump could have done to stop his killing. Hes not the Minnesota governor or the Minneapolis mayor. But hes been hurt by his reflexively combative posture. His philosophy is never to give ground, so he has little appreciation for the occasional need for defensive politics to play against type, to preempt arguments against him, to couple a hard line with a soft sentiment.

As one of the most compelling showmen of our time, his metric for success is different than that of standard politicians or political operatives. He wants coverage, good, bad, or indifferent.

The St. Johns Church visit might have been poorly thought out and politically counterproductive, but who can doubt that it was a jaw-dropping spectacle?

By this standard, the period between mid-March and mid-April was an astonishing success as the online news outlet Axios has pointed out, Trump dominated former Vice President Joe Biden on cable news mentions, social media interactions, web traffic and Google searches.

But it hasnt helped his political standing. Trump is never going to change, but in the 2016 campaign, he was able to adjust and modulate at moments of peril just enough to see it through.

This is one of those moments of peril.

Losing to Biden would mean all the changes he pursued through administrative action would be subject to reversal.

It would mean, assuming Democrats take the Senate, too, that his judicial appointments would immediately begin to be counteracted.

It would mean that immigration enforcement would be drastically curtailed.

And it would mean that Trump would suffer the highest profile and most consequential defeat that it is possible to experience in American national life.

Of course, nothing is inevitable. Its only June, and hes still relatively strong on the economy. But he has created his own headwind.

If Trump loses in November, it wont be because he pursued a big legislative reform that was a bridge too far politically. It wont be because he adopted an unorthodox policy mix that alienated his own side. It wont even be because he was overwhelmed by events, challenging though theyve been.

It will mostly be because he took his presidency and drove it into the ground, 280 characters at a time.

(Rich Lowry is on Twitter @RichLowry) (c) 2020 by King Features Syndicate

Originally posted here:
A presidency is a terrible thing to waste - Lowell Sun

At one online auction last month, a 2003 Ferrari Enzo sold for $2.6 million. It was the highest price ever paid for a car in an Internet-only auction, according to RM Sotheby's. At that same auction, another Ferrari, a 1985 288 GTO, sold for $2.3 million. And, at another another recent RM Sotheby's online event, a limited edition track-only 2020 Porsche with Martini racing team stripes sold for $1.3 miliion.

"I have seen a marked growth in the number of people who will actually buy a car, will spend tens of thousands, or maybe even up to a hundred thousand dollars or more, in some cases, for a car they've not seen," said Donald Osborne, a collector car appraiser and CEO of the Audrain Automobile Museum in Newport, Rhode Island.

Online car auctions are nothing new, of course. EBay Motors has been a venue for bidding on cars since 2000. BringaTrailer.com, which started as a blog posting stories about cars for sale on eBay and other sites, began its own auction listing service in 2014. Now, BringaTrailer's site is frequently cited by those in the industry for its growing influence in the world of collector cars.

And BringaTrailer.com recently added a "Premium Listings" service, specifically for high value offerings. Last year, a 1956 Mercedes SL Gullwing sold for $1.2 million on the platform, which typically see sales closer to six-figures.

"A year ago, or a year-and-a-half ago, people would have said, 'Oh, those cars don't belong online at all," said BringaTrailer founder Randy Nonnenberg. "Or those certainly don't belong on BringaTrailer."

But for established auction houses -- like RM Sotheby's, Gooding & Co. and Barrett-Jackson -- that are just ramping up their online auctions, the virtual experience is very different from their usual live events.

Barrett-Jackson is famous for the carnival-like feel of its live auctions, events that attract huge crowds of spectators and are often broadcast live on cable television. RM Sotheby's and Gooding & Co., on the other hand, hold auctions that feel almost like cocktail parties where the cars serve as the centerpiece of conversation. Before the auction begins, attendees buy high-end finger food and drinks and nibble in between perusing automobiles often worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

Online, all of that fanfare and personal interaction is stripped away. And when bidders can't see and touch the car themselves, information becomes the crucial element.

BringaTrailer has set the standard in the industry with sellers posting dozens of photographs of their cars so potential buyers can see every paint bubble and worn bit of leather up close.

"The traditional auction houses cannot put up six pictures of a car and sell it online because if somebody goes to BringaTrailer there are 123 pictures, plus two videos," said Osborne.

With online auctions, traditional auction companies are providing much more photography and documentation than usual, he said. Still, there's a lot about a car that no amount of photography will reveal. Appraising a car involves touching, listening, driving and even smelling, not just looking.

"I myself have sold and bought many cars online over the decades," said Osborne. "And in every one of those cases, either I have looked at the car, I sent someone to look at the car, or I've had an extensive conversation with the seller of the car. And people have just become more accustomed to not doing that. I think, ultimately, it's slightly insane."

That's one reason that Gooding said his company will actually take possession of the cars that it is auctioning and store them in a warehouse in Los Angeles so people who want to can come inspect them. RM Auctions and Barrett-Jackson also said they take physical possession of many of the cars they auction, allowing their experts to conduct in-person appraisals. If not, their experts travel to see the cars.

So far, the results for these high-end online auctions have been generally good, according to Hagerty, a company that tracks collector car auctions. At both RM Sotheby's and Barrett-Jackson's first auctions, a higher than usual number of cars did not sell because bidding did not reach the "reserve price," an undisclosed sum below which the owner will not sell.

But after RM Sotheby's most recent online auction, the company boasted that 91% of the cars offered were sold.

Barrett-Jackson is typically known for offering its cars with no reserve, but it had one on most cars this time to give sellers "a bit of a comfort level," said CEO Craig Jackson.

The prices have been good for the cars that have sold in the recent online auctions, according to Hagerty. At RM Sotheby's Driving into Summer sale at which two Ferraris topped $2 million, the cars seemed to sell, overall, for a little more than would be expected based on their condition, according to Hagerty. RM Sotheby's also said it's seeing about as many bidders register for its online auctions as it does for it's similar live events.

Gooding will be conducting its first online auction in early August.

Each of the auction houses said they had been planning to start online auctions, but acknowledged that the lockdowns accelerated the move.

"We were writing a whole new website, but it wasn't ready," said Jackson. of Barrett-Jackson. "The timing wasn't quite right for what happened but you never plan out at pandemic ahead of time."

These companies have long offered remote bidding options, including Internet bidding, at their live auctions. People could bid by phone or over the Internet and the auctioneer would accept those bids from on-site representatives, along with bids from people there in room. As usual, the auction would end when bidding topped and the the auctioneer banged the gavel.

An online-only auction works very differently. While the bidding at a live auction usually lasts for a few minutes, bidding in an online auction can go on for days. There is a set date and time at which bidding closes but online auctions usually have what is called an "anti-sniping feature." "Sniping" is the practice of placing a bid in the last seconds before an auction ends, leaving others no time to place a higher bid. In these auctions, if someone does that then the the auction clock automatically resets, allowing others a couple more minutes to bid. The clock resets again each time there's a new bid.

"It's a slower paced drama, but it gives every bidder the opportunity to continue to bid on something until they simply have just decided 'no more,'" said Ian Kelleher, chief marketing officer for RM Sotheby's.

Online sales will now become a permanent part of what these companies do, they all said. Still, there are certain types of cars, particularly older cars with stratospheric values, that buyers will only want to buy at a live event, said David Gooding, president of Gooding & Co.

"I think the online platform is excellent for cars up to a certain level of value," he said. "I would say up to $3 million."

Digital auctions like these will never offer the excitement of the live event, said Osborne. He compared it to watching a digital broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera.

"It still doesn't replace the experience of being in the room with the performers," he said.

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People are bidding online for million-dollar cars -- without seeing them in person - CNN

Chi City's squad made waves last season - and are out do well again with the same management team and squad / Picture: Jordan Colborne

Manager Miles Rutherford, assistant Graeme Gee and coaches Danny Potter and Darin Killpartrick are all committing to the club for 2020-21.

And Oaklands park bosses are hopeful most if not all of last seasons squad will stay.

It will inspire hope of another successful season for City following their debut year at step four of the non-league pyramid.

Not only did they surpass the expectations of most by flying high in the Isthmian south east division, they went on a club record-breaking run to the second round of the FA Cup.

In fact, when football froze in mid-March they were well-placed for a late run into the play-offs.

A teams second season at a higher level can be tougher than their first, but City will be confident of making a big impression again with last seasons squad still together.

City chairman Andy Bell said the club, like all non-league outfits, had found the past three months tough with no chance to get together, no income and still no news of when pre-season and the 2020-21 campaign was likely to begin.

Weve been trying to keep things ticking over but its hard, he said.

The lads will be coming in soon for some fitness and it looks like pretty much the whole squad will be staying, which is great news.

They showed last season what they could so and what a tight-knit bunch they were.

Were equally delighted the management team are all staying with us. As a group of four, they worked so well together last season and well be pleased to see that continuing.

Bell said the loss of the end of last season and the closure of the clubhouse had cost City up to 8,000 in revenue.

They have also had to pay out significant sums connected with their lease of the ground from Chichester District Council.

Bell said theyd had a business interruption grant but, like all organisations, were desperate to get their facilities open when it was ruled safe.

Ground improvement plans are being worked up and the club have launched a womens team plus under-16 and under-14 girls teams.

The mens side of the club will have an A team (reserves) in the West Sussex League plus under-23 and under-18 sides.

Longer-term they are working towards laying a 3G pitch which will allow a greater volume of teams to play at Oaklands. That could even go down next summer.

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As you were: Chichester City management and players back for more success - Chichester Observer

Heather Wood, Lifestyle Editor

Published Jun 9, 2020 at 8:00 am (Updated Jun 9, 2020 at 7:34 am)

Giving back: businessman Thomas Olunloyo believes giving back is a necessity not just something that we could do (Photograph supplied)

At 13, Thomas Olunloyo was homeless. Now, he is the chief executive of a multibillion-dollar company, ever thankful for the education he got and the hospitality jobs that helped pay for it.

So when Covid-19 shuttered restaurants and left some students trying to do schoolwork without the necessary tools, he stepped up.

Its a really big part of who I am and just how I view the world, said Mr Olunyolo, whose company Legal&General Reinsurance partnered with the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce to give grocery vouchers to restaurant workers and laptops to students in need.

For me, giving back is a necessity. Its not just something that we could do, its something that we should do and Ive been very passionate about doing so all my life.

The businessman first put that passion to work in London, where he ran a programme that taught finance to students at schools in lower-income neighbourhoods.

Part of the drive came from his early experience. Homeless and alone as a teenager, a shelter for young people got him off the streets and ultimately set him on a different path.

I came from a broken home. There were mental-illness issues in my family, which led to homelessness and abandonment when I was in my early teens, he said.

My journey since then has been one of creating for myself the reality in life that I want, effectively realising my dream irrespective of that background. And the thing that really enabled that is education.

The single thing that has opened up all possibilities, that I could be sitting here as CEO of a multibillion-dollar company, is the education that I received.

With no money of his own, he was initially enrolled in what became one of the 50 worst schools in the UK; hard work helped turn that circumstance around.

It doesnt matter where you are, if youre able to apply yourself, you can make the most out of an opportunity. I went from that school to one of the best grammar schools in the UK and then to Oxford and the rest is history, if you will.

I worked hard. I applied myself. I was very focused on what I wanted in life. Its a very simple formula, actually, that anyone can replicate to a large extent.

Work as a bartender and a waiter helped him along the way. That personal connection led him to reach out when Covid-19 left more than 2,000 servers unemployed.

According to Mr Olunloyo, 1,035 people registered for his Serving the Servers initiative which distributed 300 grocery vouchers last week.

Many people at this time need some help, some support. I think that as a community we need to come together.

One of the jobs that I did when I was a kid to make money, was working in restaurants, working in bars. Its something that got me through a lot of hard times.

Theres a lot of pain going on in that industry right now, as there is in a lot of other industries. Because of that personal connection, its something that I felt I had to do.

Mr Olunloyo has also set a goal of providing 1,302 students with computers. Working with Mirrors, he was able to identify those in urgent need; 75 students will have been given new laptops before the end of the school year.

We have to do our best, he said of the $500,000 initiative.

We cant necessarily help everyone all at the same time but we can certainly help as many people as we can right now.

We want to try to do that. We want to push as hard as we can, raise as much money as possible and make sure that it gets in the hands of those who really need it.

Describing education as the ultimate equaliser he believes the laptops are one way of creating opportunity for students as long as they are also willing to put in the work.

I actually have a personal statement I wrote when I was 14, that I was going to go to Oxford, study maths, become an actuary and run my own business after seven or eight years in the industry I did all of those things.

With the right access to education, with the right schools, any child in Bermuda absolutely can achieve the wildest extent of their dreams if they apply themselves enough. It really is a combination of opportunity and application. To have those two things, thats the magic formula, nothing else.

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No doubting Thomas: CEO reveals secret to success - Royal Gazette