Local news

Since the demise of our local newspaper, local news is hard to come by. We do receive the WSJ for national, financial, and world news (not my first choice but you learn to pick your battles). Every Tuesday, the WSJ features science news, which I appreciate. Today's subject, a drug for advanced BC derived from a black sponge. Although the headline made the drug sound new, reading further showed that  the drug has been around for years and increases life spans around 3 months on average (which many things do) but the company feels that it might be effective in early stage BC. The article then went on to remind readers that many of today's drugs are from natural products but large companies no longer mine them for potential drugs, just small companies. Taxol, derived from the Pacific yew, is most familiar to us in Cancerland.

As for local news, there is an on-line paper that publishes hard copies twice a week. Every day though, it can be accessed on-line. A story will be published and then many readers comment. Some of their comments are so ill thought out and reactionary, I find them depressing.
Big stories today:
Who will be the head coach at Michigan next year?
Speed limits in Ann Arbor violate some state guideline and thus will be raised. (Yay)
3 boys have killed themselves at a local high school..speculation?
In the past few weeks:
Ann Arbor water chock full of Chromium 6, which they call a dangerous isotope. No, not an isotope but a wrongly designated oxidation state (should use Roman numerals). What is a safe limit? No one knows and it is not clear how many samples were tested. Chromium 6 was the villain in the movie Erin Brockavich.


Ann Arbor teacher suspended and soon to be fired for having a relationship with a 23 year old woman who once was his student. A mom, with an obvious ax to grind, uncovered some old communications in which the then student was suicidal and the teacher wrote her saying that both he and Jesus loves her so please stay alive. This teacher is very popular and the present students and parents want him to keep his job.

Numerous crime reports concerning Naomi's old apartment complex and the complexes surrounding it. I am so glad we got her out of there.

Today at freezing will be the warmest of the week. I did find a small window in which the roads were relatively dry before snow flurries started up again. Steve and I went shopping, a rare event, and I actually bought some sale items.

I finally agreed to donate more clothes this week to Purple Heart. I have to learn to part with things that I will probably never use.