Tommy Contest Page 5
of the River Region
June 4, 2019 Published by PTK Corp.
The Neatest Little Paper Ever Read® To place an Ad, call: (334) 452-9296 TIDBITS® ADMIRES
TREES by Janet Spencer
Come along with Tidbits as we admire the intelligence of trees! A DISCOVERY • In 1630 a physician named Jean Baptista van Helmont went against the word of Aristotle, who insisted that trees grow by consuming soil. To prove this theory wrong, he planted a 5-lb. willow sapling in a pot containing exactly 200 lbs. of dirt. For the next five years, he added nothing but water. Then he weighed the tree and the soil again. The willow weighed 169 lbs. The dirt weighed only two ounces less than it had originally. He concluded that trees do not consume dirt, and he was correct. However, he wrongly guessed that trees receive all their nourishment from water. It was years before scientists discovered photosynthesis, the process whereby plants turn sunlight into energy. ANOTHER DISCOVERY • Foresters working to thin overcrowded beech forests in Germany noticed that the more they thinned the forest, the worse the remaining trees fared. This was the opposite of what they expected to find. Wouldn’t each tree benefit from the extra sunlight, the additional space, and more room for roots? Researchers set out to discover why beech forests thrive then the trees are crowded together, but falter when they are spread apart. • What they found surprised them: trees share. Twined together, the roots pass nutrients from one tree to another using a network of fungus that interconnect all the neighborhood trees by tapping into the hair-like fibers of the smallest roots. When one tree is short of water, a nearby tree with extra water to spare will pass some over through the fungus highway. When that (Continued next page)
Vol 8 Issue 23 shannon@riverregiontidbits.com
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Tidbits® of the River Region (Front page continued)
1. Is the book of Philemon in the Old or New Testament or neither? 2. In Matthew 8, what prophet’s words did Jesus claim to be fulfilling as He was healing people? Iddo, Esaias, Gad, Medad 3. Who wrote, “Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court”? Ezekiel, Isaiah, Daniel, Hosea 4. In scripture, what did God rain down upon Sodom and Gomorrah in addition to fire? Hail, Lightning, Brimstone, Mud 5. Whose grave was marked by a pillar erected by her husband Jacob? Abigail, Lillith, Puah, Rachel 6. From Judges 16, who slept through a haircut? Manoah, Samson, Adam, Uriah Comments? More Trivia? Visit www. TriviaGuy.com (c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
tree is short of nutrients, it receives a helpful supply in return from the trees surrounding it. Meanwhile, the fungus keeps part of the nutrients for itself, and constantly expands to connect as many tree roots as possible. A single ounce of forest soil may contain two miles of fungus strands. • One researcher injected a radioactive dye into a birch tree and then tracked it as it moved into the network of fungus in the soil and then into a nearby Douglas fir. • One type of fungus is able to release a toxin which kills tiny insects in the vicinity. When these insects decay, they give off nitrogen which the fungus absorbs and shares. TREE DEFENSE SYSTEMS • When giraffes start feeding on the leaves of umbrella thorn acacia trees, the acacia trees start pumping toxic substances into their leaves making them taste bad. The giraffes move off to other trees, but they always move to trees that are either upwind or quite a distance away. This is because the acacia trees also release ethylene gas that warns neighboring trees that the giraffes are in the neighborhood, and those neighboring trees pump their leaves full of the toxins before a giraffe arrives to even take a single nibble. • Some trees can identify the specific type of insect feeding on their leaves through compounds in the bug’s saliva. The trees then release pheromones that attract beneficial predators, which arrive and feast upon the marauding invaders. • In tropical countries, leaf-cutting ants can strip a tree of its leaves in a single night. They take the leaves back to the nest where they chew them into pulp and use them as compost to grow fungus, which they eat. To protect itself from being defoliated, the acacia tree secretes droplets of sweet sap near the base of its leaves. A different type of ant loves to eat the sap, and they set up colonies in the large, hollow thorns of the tree. Any time the leaf-cutting ants come around, they are driven away by the sap-eating ants. • Some trees have leaves that fold up and droop whenever they are touched. Researchers theorize that when an animal takes a bite of the leaves, the tree reacts this way in order to look less appetizing. The leaves become nearly invisible to the eye when they are tightly folded up. • Mimosa trees have brackets of leaves that snap closed whenever they are disturbed. One researcher designed an experiment where drops of water fell on the leaves at regular intervals. The leaves closed immediately at first. But after a while, the leaves stopped reacting to the drops and remained open, having apparently “learned” that the water drops represented no harm. Even more surprising was that the mimosa “remembered” this and repeated the behavior weeks later, even though no drops had fallen on the leaves in the meantime. • The blossoms of the bird cherry tree contain both male and female parts inside each bloom. The flowers are pollinated by bees. When bees are traveling from flower to flower in the crown of a single tree, they tend to spread the pollen of that same tree to its own stigma. Yet when the pollen travels down the tube of the stigma, the tree tests the DNA of the pollen grain, and if it’s a genetic match, the stigma is blocked off and the ovary does not get pollinated, thus preventing inbreeding. (Continued next page)
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TREE FACTS • When researchers placed sensitive microphones against the ground in a forest, they recorded sounds coming from the roots that registered at 220 hertz. This in itself was not all that unusual, but they subsequently found that when they played the recorded noises back, all of the root tips from surrounding trees slowly turned in the direction of the sound. • It benefits the entire forest to keep as many trees alive as possible, for if trees die and fall, that leaves gaps that affect the microclimate negatively. The hot sun and drying winds disrupt the humidity level and raise the temperature, drying out the forest floor, and leaving the remaining trees far more vulnerable to drought and insects. A COMMUNITY • In one experiment, a researcher sprayed an insecticide on one of the largest and oldest trees in a forest and collected the insects that fell dead into collection nets. There were 257 different species of insects living among the boughs of the tree. A similar study in New England showed that 167 different kinds of insects and small animals were living in a single rotting log on the forest floor. • Researchers in New York state removed forest soil to a depth of one inch and studied it. They found an average of 1,356 living things present in each square foot of dirt (microscopic creatures not included). Some 95% of insects live in the soil at one point or another during their life stages. BENEFITS • Researchers found when studying a group of women that when they took a walk through a forest, their blood pressure dropped, their lung capacity expanded, and the elasticity of their arteries improved. When taking a walk of identical length through town, none of these benefits were noted.
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Tidbits® of the River Region
REMARKABLE PEOPLE:
ALPHONSE BERTILLON • Alphonse Bertillon was born in France in 1853. His father was a noted physician and statistician who taught him methodology. • As a young adult, he went to work as a records clerk in the police department in Paris. One of his duties was to tediously copy down the physical descriptions of everyone who had been arrested that day. He realized this method was useless for tracking career criminals or identifying those who had been arrested multiple times, sometimes using multiple names. At the time, criminals could only be identified through eyewitness descriptions or by photographs that were kept in disorganized piles. • In an attempt to remedy this situation, Bertillon revolutionized forensic police work over the course of his lifetime. • His first idea was to come up with a list of systematic measurements of the human body. Each perpetrator would be carefully examined and the description and measurements of their body would be recorded: how wide was the mouth? What shape were the lips? What was the distance between the ears? How long were the eyebrows? How long were the arms? How big were the feet? All in all, eleven different measurements were recorded on cards, along with eye color, hair color, height, and skin tone. The process was dubbed “bertillonage.” In 1884 alone, French police used Bertillon’s system to help capture 241 repeat offenders, which helped establish the system’s effectiveness. • Although many police departments adopted this method, the process was bulky and timeconsuming. The criminal’s appearance tended to change over time. If two people measured the same body, they were likely to come up with slightly different measurements. (Continued next page)
Outstanding Warrants:
Ducasse, Brooke DOB: 04/18/1986 White/Female 6’0” 150 lbs Hair: Brown Eyes: Brown
Wanted for: Possession of Forged Instrument 3rd
by Samantha Weaver * “It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” -- Carl Sagan * You might be surprised to learn that some fish can hibernate. During the long, dark winters, the Antarctic cod will burrow under the seabed and stay there for days at a time, cutting its metabolism by two-thirds. * Despite the fact that famed magician Harry Houdini exposed a number of mediums and psychics as frauds, Sherlock Holmes novelist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle persisted in believing that Houdini himself was a medium. * Wearing skinny jeans can cause varicose veins. * In Germany, Rice Krispies don’t say “Snap, Crackle, Pop”; they say “Knisper, Knasper, Knusper.” * Squid are well known for their uncanny ability to camouflage themselves by changing their color to match their background. What’s really odd, though, is the fact that the creatures are colorblind. * The word “conspire” means, literally, “to breathe together,” meaning to be in harmony. * Even though he was arrested and put on trial numerous times, famed 19th-century outlaw Frank James was never convicted of anything and never went to prison. He died in 1915, at the age of 72, of natural causes. * Those who study such things say that not all your fingernails grow at the same rate. It seems the nail on your middle finger is a bit of an overachiever -- it grows faster than the nails on your other fingers. *** Thought for the Day: “Give all power to the many, and they will oppress the few. Give all power to the few, and they will oppress the many. Both therefore ought to have power, that each may defend itself against the other.” -- Alexander Hamilton (c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
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• Next, Bertillon added a standardized set of photographs of each criminal: a front view, and a side view. These were the first mug shots, named for the common slang term meaning “face.” • This successful development encouraged Bertillon to consider other ways photography could be used in solving crimes. He asked police officers to photograph crime scenes before they were disturbed, and invented a tall tripod so that pictures could be taken from a high viewpoint to encompass the entire room. He created a “metric grid” that could be laid over the space to give a better idea of the space between objects and their dimensions. • Bertillon also pioneered methods of preserving footprints and championed handwriting analysis. He pushed to develop ballistics. He developed a contraption called a “dynamometer” that measured how much force was required when breaking and entering. • In 1888 the Department of Judicial Identity was created for the Paris Prefecture of Police, and Bertillon became its head. By the mid1890s, he had become an international celebrity, known far and wide for his publications, his exhibitions, and his speeches. Police departments worldwide adopted his methods. • When fingerprinting was first developed in India in the 1890s, Bertillon initially fought hard against it. Eventually he saw the usefulness of it, and advocated adding fingerprints to the police repertoire of methods. • Bertillon died on Feb. 13, 1914, having lived long enough to see the methods he developed revolutionize police work around the globe. The royal commissioner of police in Dresden, Germany wrote “Paris [was] the Mecca of Police, and Bertillon their prophet.”
By Chris Richcreek
1. Houston’s George Springer set a record in 2017 for most extra-base hits in the World Series. How many was it? 2. When was the last time a league leader in ERA for a season had a number higher than 3.00? 3. Jimmy Garoppolo, in 2017, became the second 49ers quarterback to win his first three NFL starts. Who was the first to do it? 4. In 2018, Villanova’s Jalen Brunson became the seventh male Naismith Award winner (top college basketball player) to win the NCAA Tournament the same year. Who was the last to do it before him? 5. When was the last time the Buffalo Sabres reached the NHL playoffs? 6. In 2018, Atlanta’s Josef Martinez set a Major League Soccer regular-season record for goals scored (31). Name two of the three others who shared the mark of 27. 7. Which of the following heavyweight boxers did Ken Norton not fight during his pro career: Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier or Larry Holmes? (c) 2019 King Features Syndicate, Inc.
James Patrick Anderson Please call 334-452-9296 within 7 days of this issue to claim your prize!
Tommy Count ______ This week’s winner receives a
$25 Dollar Gift Certificate from
Farmers Market Cafe Register to win by sending an email to entertommycontest@gmail.com or USPS to PTK Corp., PO Box 264, Wetumpka, AL 36092 with the following information: 1) Your name (first and last), and, 2) the number of times you find Tommy in the ads in the paper. From the correct entries a winner will be selected. You must be 18 years of age to qualify. The gift certificates will range in value from $25 to $100 each week. Entries must be received by midnight each Friday evening. Last Week’s Ads where 1. Vasie T’s, p.6
Tommy was hiding:
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TidbitsÂŽ of the River Region
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JET, THE WONDER DOG
BIBLE TRIVIA ANSWERS:
1) New; 2) Esaias; 3) Ezekiel; 4) Brimstone (Gen 19:24); 5) Rachel; 6) Samson
1. Eight hits (three doubles, five home runs). 2. John Lackey, with a 3.01 ERA for the Angels in 2007. 3. Y.A. Tittle (1951-52). 4. Anthony Davis of Kentucky, in 2012. 5. It was 2011. 6. Roy Lassiter (1996), Chris Wondolowski (2012) and Bradley Wright-Phillips (2014). 7. Joe Frazier.
• James Baldwin was a soldier during World War I and saw how effectively the German army used dogs. Dogs had been used to carry first aid to wounded soldiers, to run messages, and to help lay landlines. When World War II started, Baldwin petitioned Parliament to set up a program to use dogs for various functions just as the Germans did. • Baldwin set up a demonstration and invited over 80 Army officers. The demonstration was very effective. As a result, he was named Dog Advisor and Chief Training Officer in 1942, serving under the Royal Air Force. • What Baldwin needed now was dogs, and he placed an advertisement in newspapers throughout England asking for donations of puppies. A litter of five German Shepard pups was donated. One of the pups, a pure black dog named Jet, was particularly intelligent. • After initial training as a guard dog, Jet was posted to the American Army Air Force in Northern Ireland, to work with a handler on anti-sabotage duty around airfields. • Meanwhile, Colonel James Baldwin was watching a film called “The Seige of Stalingrad.” It was during this film that he decided that dogs could be trained to point snipers in the same way bird dogs point birds. He collected several dogs in training, including Jet, and then took them to a bombed-out neighborhood in Birmingham. Twelve “snipers” had hidden in the wreckage, and the dogs were given the command to find them. After all but one of the snipers had been found, Jet remained behind, digging at a small hole no larger than a man’s hand. • Jet’s handler found the last man hiding twelve feet down. He had gone below ground and wormed his way to the cellar of another building, sealing off the entrance hole. There he lay in wait with just the small opening that Jet had found for a breathing hole. • This gave Colonel Baldwin the idea that if a dog could detect the presence of someone so far below ground, then dogs could be used to find people buried during the bombardment of London. In 1944, Jet received training as one of the Britain’s first search and rescue dogs. • Jet attended his first air raid rescue in 1944. Together with his handler, Jet went on to recover 125 people, 50 of whom were alive. • In one remarkable instance, Jet was searching the rubble of a bombed-out hotel when he indicated a survivor high overhead. The rubble had already been checked over and rescuers were sure no one remained in the wreckage, yet Jet refused to leave the tall brick chimney shaft. He stood his ground for 11 agonizing hours, until tall ladders could be found that would reach the top of the leaning chimney stack. There rescuers found a 63-year-old woman, covered in plaster dust, and stuck on a narrow ledge which was all that remained of the top floor of the hotel. For this remarkable rescue, Jet was awarded a medal. • When the war ended, Jet was called out on a search and rescue mission when a coal mine erupted in explosion. Jet was called to the scene to help locate bodies of the dead miners. While searching deep underground, Jet suddenly whined and backed up, forcing his handler to step backwards as well. The handler called for everyone to retreat, seconds before the ceiling collapsed in rubble in the exact spot where they had been standing moments earlier. • Jet went on to learn sheep herding and was entered in many obedience trials. He also served to help train other search and rescue dogs. Jet died of heart and kidney problems in 1949 at the age of 7. Today a memorial to Jet’s faithful service stands in a park in Liverpool.
* On June 9, 1772, colonists, angered by the British Parliament’s passing of the Townshend Acts restricting colonial trade, board and set ablaze the HMS Gaspee, an armed British customs schooner that had run aground. British officials found no one willing to identify those involved, and the inquiry closed without result. * On June 4, 1919, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, is passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification. On Aug. 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, giving it the two-thirds majority necessary to make it the law of the land. * On June 3, 1937, the duke of Windsor -formerly King Edward VIII -- marries Wallis Warfield Simpson, the American divorcee for whom he abdicated the British throne in 1936. * On June 5, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues a stern statement warning Japan to stop using poison gas in its war on China. Japan continued its use of these weapons until the end of the war, managing to keep its activities secret. * On June 8, 1966, the rival National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) announce that they will merge. The first Super Bowl between the two leagues took place at the end of the 1966 season. * On June 6, 1971, “The Ed Sullivan Show” airs for the last time, 23 years after its 1948 premiere. Gladys Knight and the Pips were the musical guests. * On June 7, 2002, Michael Skakel is convicted in the 1975 murder of his former neighbor, 15-year-old Martha Moxley, with a golf club. Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, the wife of the late U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy, was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. In 2018, the Connecticut Supreme Court vacated the conviction and ordered a new trial. (c) 2019 Hearst Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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Cozy Corner for Kids After too many rainy seasons of water in her basement, my friend Mary Dykstra, a professional organizer and design consultant, mom of four and grandmother of two girls ages 6 and 10, said the time had come to fix the problem and transform her “catch-all” basement into a welcoming “family space.” “Once the drain tile system with sump pump was installed, I was inspired,” she said. With carpet laid, it was a blank slate to master the new domain. Her remodel strategy for a lifefriendly space with a sense of style that could stand up to extended activities started by designating separate zones. A TV area with a sectional to curl up on at one end, a game table at another, and a charming nook for the grandkids in an alcove. That cozy corner for kids caught my interest. Formerly Mary’s office, it invites her granddaughters inside through pretend play “stage” curtains (colorful, cotton shower curtains, draped from a tension curtain rod). Books, toys, musical instruments, puzzles and craft supplies are stored on the built-in bookcase shelves. Doll furniture and decorative containers are a catch-all in a comfy corner that includes bright soft pillows for reading together. “With all the Organizing 101 tips these days, allocating specific destinations to corral things when not in use may sound obvious,” she says, “but when you involve kids and actually put the ‘a place for everything’ concept into practice, it makes a difference. Instead of stuff being mumbo jumbo, items are easy to find and put back, which in turn, provides optimum opportunities for creativity.” That said, she readily admits that being on the go is how family life rolls. If the kids can’t put things away because they’re off to an activity at the last minute, she simply closes the “stage” curtains for a play day another day. While most of us can’t close the curtains to a day’s drama of activity, here are helpful organizing tips to keep kid spaces in order: -- Choose clear storage containers and wire baskets to hold stuff. They can be moved from room to room easily, and kids can see what’s inside. Label with drawings or pictures of the contents for easy identification. -- Affix toy train tracks and other such toys to plywood that can slide under a table or bed when not in use. -- Attach pegs to the wall within easy reach to store prized baseball caps, backpacks, etc. *** Donna Erickson’s award-winning series “Donna’s Day” is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activities, visit www.donnasday.com and link to the NEW Donna’s Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is “Donna Erickson’s Fabulous Funstuff for Families.” (c) 2019 Donna Erickson Distributed by King Features Synd.
Tidbits® of the River Region
1. Who co-wrote and released “Amoreena”? 2. Name the rock band that released “Lowdown.” 3. Who had a hit with “I Will Always Think About You”? 4. Who wrote and released “1-2-3” in 1965? 5. Name the song that contains this lyric: “Dear darlin’, surprised to hear from me? Bet you’re sittin’ drinkin’ coffee, yawnin’ sleepily, Just to let you know I’m gonna be home soon.” Answers 1. Elton John, in 1970. The song, off his “Tumbleweed Connection” album, can be heard in the opening of the film “Dog Day Afternoon.” 2. Chicago, off their third album in 1971. It was written by band members Peter Cetera and Danny Seraphine. 3. New Colony Six, in 1968. Although it peaked at No. 22 on the U.S. Billboard charts, it was a No. 1 hit in the Chicago market. 4. Len Barry. He was sued by Motown writers for allegedly rewriting The Supremes’ single “Ask Any Girl” and agreed to give them 15% of the song’s royalties. 5. “How You Gonna See Me Now,” by Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier) in 1978. Legend says Cooper wrote the song after he had himself committed to a sanitarium for treatment of alcoholism. After his release, the band’s road show was modeled on an asylum. (c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.