This Day in History for February 11, 2009

This Day in History for February 11, 2009

February 11, 2009 by © Kevin Dayhoff

Years ago in the middle of February, the Baltimore Colts, graffiti, a new jail, going hungry and sweet corn were on the minds of Carroll Countians – not necessarily in that order.

The Baltimore Colts are coming to town.

On February 11, 1949 it was announced that the Baltimore Colts were coming to Western Maryland College – now known as McDaniel College - to practice in the summer.

The now out-of-print Democratic Advocate carried the headline: “College Campus To Be Used By Colts- Coach Isbell Expects to Bring 55 Players to Train, Starting in July.”

The article proclaimed: “Baltimore's football Colts are going to train at Western Maryland College this year. Dr. Lowell S. Ensor, president of the Methodist school, and Walter S. Driskill, Colts general manager, have signed a contract providing for the city's All-America Football Conference squad to use the Westminster College's campus as a pre-season base of operations …

“Driskill … cited a number of advantages in choosing Western Maryland. "The school's facilities are ideal," he explained, "and because Westminster is only 30 miles from Baltimore the fans will have a good chance to get acquainted with us.’

Children will be children.

The February 11, 1921 edition of the now defunct Union Bridge Pilot lamented: “The practice of defacing property with chalk and pencils… appears to be a favorite pastime with some children.

“Newly painted buildings and porch columns appear to offer special inducements for the practice. The town authorities as a rule do not care to resort to legal measures with children, yet it appears a few applications of this medicine might prove effective.”

New jail to be built.

On February 13, 1970, another local newspaper that has long since fallen by the wayside, the Community Reporter, reported that the Carroll County Board of Commissioners, Robert M. McKinney, Paul J. Walsh, and Scott S. Bair, Jr., “have officially approved the building of a new county jail in Westminster for Carroll County…

“The issue… has been debated for several years. In 1968 the State Jail Inspector stated the jail was not usable and ordered it closed. Since that time, the county has been transporting prisoners to the Baltimore city jail.”

Eventually somebody is going to go hungry.

The February 13, 1920 edition of the Union Bridge Pilot, helped spread the alarm that according to Prof. T. C. Atkeson, the Washington representative of the National Grange: “The Cities Must Experience Industrial Crash.”

Professor Atkeson warned that an “economic crash that will bring down the cost of living, must originate in the cities, and reach such an extent that those who have left the country sections for "big wages" will come back to the country…

“He says there is no cure for high prices that Congress, or anybody, can provide, but that the situation must work itself out...

“He says the labor situation is rapidly making it impossible for the farmers to feed the country, and that eventually somebody is going to go hungry.”

Carroll County was sweet on sweet corn.

Four years later, on February 1, 1924, the Democratic Advocate reported: “One of the largest crops produced by the farmer in Carroll (is) sweet corn…

“The average yield (was) close to 3 tons (per acre.) … The cost ran from $13.00 to $13.50 per ton. Allowing only .25 per hour for labor and .10 per hour for horse.”

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.
E-mail him at:kevindayhoff at gmail.com
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20090211 SDOSM This Day in History for February 11, 2009

Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/

Junction and Lenny Moore team up to explain what teens are thinking

Junction and Lenny Moore team up to explain what teens are thinking

Wednesday November 5, 2008 Westminster Eagle column by Kevin Dayhoff (565 words)

Tomorrow Junction will be hosting a substance abuse and awareness program sponsored by the Carroll County commissioners at 6 p.m. at The Portico, at St. John Catholic Church at 47 Monroe Avenue in Westminster.

If you are not aware of Junction; it is a local private nonprofit agency for substance abuse prevention and outpatient drug treatment. September 27 was the 37th anniversary of the incorporation of Junction. A month after incorporation, on December 6, 1971, it opened its doors in the historic Carroll County Jail on Court Street in Westminster.

Tomorrow night’s program will feature two special guest speakers, Dr. David McDuff, a nationally known adolescent, addiction, and sports psychiatrist; and Baltimore Colts Hall of Famer Lenny Moore.

Dr. McDuff has worked with adolescents with learning, attention, substance use, and mental disorders for the past twenty years. He retired from the Army Reserves in 2002 after 28 years of service as a Colonel including combat duty during the Persian Gulf War.

You may have heard of him in his capacity as the team psychiatrist and mental skills trainer for the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles for the past 13 years.

Mr. Moore, the former flanker/halfback for the Baltimore Colts in the days of John Unitas, is currently employed by the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services and does presentations for the Community and Family Partnerships Department.

If that weren’t good enough, the real clincher for the evening is the topic of the program: “What are they thinking? - Connecting with your teen.”

Now I grew up in Carroll County in the 60s when the community and our world were changing rapidly. However we were little angels and it was easy to understand us. Ah, ahem, well maybe not so much.

Today’s teenagers are wonderful. You can often hear this repeated throughout the community. Nonetheless; how often have you heard yourself saying, in reference to young adults – “What were they thinking!?”

From observing the young adults of our community we can confidently look forward to handing over the future leadership of our country to a very capable and responsible generation.

However, today’s adolescents are not going to have a chance to take over the world if they have their careers and lives are negatively impacted by drugs or alcohol.

In tomorrow evening’s program, Dr. McDuff’s presentation will include explaining the developing adolescent brain, why teens make the decisions they do, teen addiction, and communicating with your teen.

Mr. Moore is very involved in sending a positive message to teens about their choices. He speaks about the risks of drugs and works to improve the lives of troubled teens.

I’ve been a member of the board of Junction since October 2000. I have come to understand that the challenges of drugs and alcohol are an equal opportunity scourge on our community.

Adolescents having problems with substance abuse happens to good and bad families - wealthy and poor, black and white. There is no magic to making our children bulletproof to substance abuse. It takes constant work and diligence.

We are fortunate in Carroll County to have two talented presenters with the stature of Dr. McDuff and Lenny Moore share with us their insights.

There will be about 20 information booths at the program with handouts and plenty of professionals to answer questions.

And, of course, since there will be food and refreshments, you can count on seeing me there.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.
E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org
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20081105 Junction and Lenny Moore team up to explain what teens are thinking

Junction qv Non-profits, Medicine Health Drug Substance Abuse, Non-profits-Junction, People Moore-Lenny, Sports Football NFL, Sports Football

20031007 In Defense of Rush by Mary Katharine Ham/Richmond County Daily Journal

Editorials: IN DEFENSE OF RUSH: The media need to call it both ways

By Mary Katharine Ham/Richmond County Daily Journal

Tuesday, October 7, 2003

All right, hold on to your hats, folks, because this white girl's about to write about race and Rush Limbaugh.

If you haven't heard already, Limbaugh resigned from his position as a commentator for ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown" after being lambasted by the media for remarks he made Sept. 28 about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb.

His comments went a little something like this: "I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team."

Now comes the part where the media get to shake their collective head and tremble with manufactured outrage over Limbaugh's "incendiary" remarks, as they like to call them.

Limbaugh's "insensitive" remarks have been plastered on every sports page, sports show and newscast in the country for the past week. Newspaper coverage of his comments has been paired with "it serves that bigot right" columns from sportswriters giddy with the chance to jump on the Rush-bashing bandwagon.

So, why the rush to hang Rush? Does the punishment fit the crime?

First, it is certainly true that McNabb has not shined recently, even according to McNabb.

Whether the media give him too much credit for his team's performance is debatable, but it's certainly a valid sports opinion open to discussion on any sports show. So Rush is safe so far.

Now, here's where Limbaugh did the unthinkable. He mentioned McNabb's race.

Limbaugh claims McNabb is overrated because the sports media are concerned about the status of black quarterbacks in the NFL. Are they?

Of course they are. If there wasn't social concern for the status of black athletes and coaches in the NFL, there would not have been such a stink over the Detroit Lions hiring Steve Mariuchi (a white coach) before interviewing any black candidates.

Any guess who that stink was raised by?

That's right, the nation's sports media - the same media which now claim to be socially un-concerned with the performance of black QBs and coaches in the NFL.

Whether you agree with Limbaugh's comments, they're neither totally off the wall nor racist. Limbaugh mentioned McNabb's race, but didn't disparage it. I can't count the number of times I've heard mainstream sports journalists refer to McNabb's race, so what's the difference?

Make no mistake about it, the problem is not what was said, but who said it.

Limbaugh is a conservative, white man who, in the eyes of the overwhelmingly liberal media, has no right to talk about race. As soon as the word "black" comes out of his mouth, he's a racist.

On the other hand, if you're a minority or a liberal, you can say pretty much whatever you want and the press, ever the rooter-out of racism, has nothing to say about it.

Take Dusty Baker, who is black. The Chicago Cubs manager made some gross ethnic generalizations in July when he said:

"Personally, I like to play in the heat," he said. "It's easier for me. It's easier for most Latin guys and easier for most minority people.

"Your skin color is more conducive to the heat than it is to the light-skinned people, right? You don't see brothers running around burnt and stuff, running around with white stuff on their ears and nose and stuff."

And what did the press do? It didn't demand an apology; it didn't call Dusty a bigot.

In fact, very little was written about the incident. Conservative critics roared that white men would have lost their jobs for comments like that.

In fact, two white men already had.

In the late 80s, sports commentator Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder and Dodger executive Al Campanis were both fired for making racial statements very similar to Baker's.

And it's not just sports where racist remarks from minorities are treated with kid gloves.

New York City Councilman Charles Barron attended a reparations rally in Washington, D.C., in August 2002. The black councilman addressed a crowd of several thousand, including many reporters, saying: "I want to go up to the closest white person and say 'You can't understand this, it's a black thing' and then slap him, just for my mental health."

You probably never even heard this before I wrote it, did you?

That's because only Reuters news service wrote a story on it. Evidently, the other reporters didn't think it was a story, even though it was an elected official, speaking in a public forum, making violent threats based solely on race.

Barron's response to criticism from conservative radio broadcaster Steve Malzberg was that he was using a form of humor called "black hyperbole" that "y'all wouldn't understand because you're uptight and you're gonna take it where it was not intended." (WABC Radio, Aug. 18, 2001.)

Maybe Rush should try that.

But the double standard doesn't stop there. As long as you're liberal, you're safe it seems.

Take Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), a white man and former member of the Ku Klux Klan who used the "n-word" twice in one interview on Fox News in March 2001.

Did you hear about that one? Probably not.

The New York Times ignored the story. CNN did one report, according to Newsmax.com, a conservative news Web site.

California's Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante addressed the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists in 2001 using the "n-word." The press has yet to publicize the incident during the California recall race, in which Bustamante is the Democrats' best hope to defeat Republican front-runner Arnold Schwarzenegger.

If the press is going to cast itself as racism's biggest enemy, it should fight it on all fronts instead of creating it where it doesn't exist.

But the liberal press is on a witch-hunt.

Not for racists, but for white conservatives it can portray as racists. Limbaugh has made that point many times and now the media are clamoring for all they're worth to prove him right.

If you want a witch worth hunting, start looking for corrupt journalists. You won't have to look very hard.

Contact reporter Mary Katharine Ham at 997-3111, ext. 19; e-mail mkham@yourdailyjournal.com

http://www.yourdailyjournal.com/articles/2003/10/07/news/editorials/oped02.txt