Big game & Big Easy

Paula and I took in the West Virginia-LSU football game (the Mountaineers lost to No. 10 Tigers, 20-14) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana before heading down to New Orleans for a few days, where music gushed from every building orifice on Bourbon Street along seven blocks restricted to pedestrians. There was St. Louis Cathedral, sitting within spitting distance of aged Preservation Hall jazz performers, streetcars, the cemetery from Ann Rice's vampire novels. And all that jazz.

Louisiana became the 44th state that I've visited, to go with the 33 countries, since my 1996 retirement from the Beacon Journal.

If you want to see our photos, click on the headline.

What about YOU? Let's hear about your travels, or family events, or career situations. Your former co-workers are interested. Spikes in viewing when we post personal stuff proves that. Email John Olesky at Jo4wvu@sbcglobal.net

Gallup: Media distrust hits record high

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- For the fourth straight year, the majority of Americans say they have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly. The 57% who now say this is a record high by one percentage point.

1997-2010 Trend: In General, How Much Trust and Confidence Do You Have in the Mass Media When It Comes to Reporting the News Fully, Accurately, and Fairly?

The 43% of Americans who, in Gallup's annual Governance poll, conducted Sept. 13-16, 2010, express a great deal or fair amount of trust ties the record low, and is far worse than three prior Gallup readings on this measure from the 1970s.

Click on the headline to read the full report.

Janis Froelich on radio Wednesday

Former BJ staffer Janis Froelich will be on WMJI's "Lanigan and Malone" at 740 a.m. Wednesday (Sep. 29). That's 105.7 FM on your radio dial. She will discuss her book, "My Life Looking Back at a Murder," based on the 1974 slaying of her friend, Linda McClain.

Click on the headline for more details on the book and Linda's death.

Financial chief named publisher of Bellingham paper

McClatchy Company named chief financial officer Mark Owings as president and publisher of The Bellingham Herald, once a Knight-Ridder newspaper. The Brazil native has lived in Bellingham, Washington since he was 13. The 1994 graduate of Bellingham's Western Washington University began at the Herald in 1998 as a staff accountant.

Bellingham is between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. on Puget Sound.

Click on the headline for the story.

Friday is Punctuation Day

National Punctuation Day: a great day to celebrate commas and apostrophes

By Colette Bancroft
St. PetersburgTimes Book Editor


Feeling uneasy about mystery quotation marks?

We have "fresh" sandwiches.

Badgered by errant apostrophes?

Our employee's are at you're service.

Confused by AWOL commas?

Smoking pets and bicycles prohibited.

Stop worrying about whether your dog smokes and start worrying about punctuation. Friday would be a good day to start: It's National Punctuation Day.

Many of us are worried already. As a former English teacher and copy editor, I despair for humanity when I open an e-mail that bristles with so many exclamation points I can hardly make out the words in between them.


Read the story

Donuts to dollars

I saw this item on BJ newsroom retiree Harry Liggett's Facebook page:

"I have hit Aetna's donut hole on prescriptions. I paid $901.27 for drugs just for August. Actos, for diabetes, cost $240.83 for 30 tablets ($8.26 per pill); $195.61 for Levimir insulin, and $106.47 for Novolog insulin."

I emailed Harry and asked what his out-of-pocket costs for 2010 were for prescriptions and he replied:

"I had paid $1,801.76 as of July 31 plus $901.27 for August which totals $2,703.03."

This year's out-of-pocket prescription costs for me (John Olesky) are $1,261.57.

Because we hit the donut hole -- when the total costs of your prescriptions, no matter who pays for it, hits $2,830 in any year -- it automatically triggered a $250 check from Medicare. That pays a little more than one-fourth of Harry's August costs. I also have prescriptions that run more than $250 apiece for a 90-day supply.

Remember, once you hit the donut hole, you pay 100% of brand-name prescriptions for the rest of the year.

The law, written mostly by pharmaceutical lobbyists, uses two math formulas. To get to the $2,830 donut hole threshold, all the costs of all the prescriptions count, no matter who pays for them. Aetna gets BJ retirees to the donut hole quicker by listing a higher "cost" for some prescriptions than what you would pay at a local pharmacy. And the Aetna "cost" is up to four times more than what the same prescription costs in Canada.

Once you hit the donut hole, the math changes. Then Aetna (and the law written by the lobbyists) only counts what YOU paid for prescriptions. Instead of starting at $2,830, you usually start at $300 or so. Since you pay 100% for brand-name drugs till you reach $4,550 for the year, few people ever get out of the donut hole.

Aetna plays other games, too. That's why Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) imposed sanctions April 21 on Aetna. That means Aetna can't add new customers until CMS is satisfied that the wrongs have been righted. The Hartford, Conn., company switched its Part D prescription drug coverage from an open formulary to a closed one of payment tiers and failed to properly transition some customers from drugs covered under the old formulary to those covered under the new one. Also, some customers received incorrect denials of medications, which delayed their prescriptions.

Click on the headline for Cheryl Powell's BJ story on 1.8 million Ohioans affected under the new health care law.

Stephanie Warsmith featured in ad

Another BJ promotion ad. This one features Stephanie Warsmith for her first place for election coverage in the Press Club of Cleveland's 2010 contest.

Death of a newspaperman: PD's Don Bean

By Grant Segall
PARMA -- Unfortunately, this obituary isn't just another of Don Bean's pranks.

The long-time Plain Dealer scribe, who phoned in tycoon Cyrus Eaton's death under deadline in 1967, 12 years too soon, died Sunday at MetroHealth Medical Center from pneumonia. He was 82.

As Bean often shouted, "It really happened."

In a free-wheeling field, "Beaner" led the way. He convinced rookie reporters to go interview the mother of the unknown soldier and cover a convention of black governors when there were none. He persuaded editors to run a fictional story about "Johnny Pot," supposedly the Johnny Appleseed of marijuana.

When Bean wasn't funny, he was passionate. Short, stocky and loud, he climbed onto chairs at meetings and exhorted colleagues as president of the Cleveland Newspaper Guild and as a trustee of Church in the V.

During a strike, he stood up to a charge by mounted police. He also pressed charges in vain against a member of a rival union who supposedly struck him in the head from behind.

But Bean didn't just inspire stories. He wrote them. Colleagues say that beneath the commotion was a great reporter and mentor.

"He had sources all over the place and got all the information the rest of us couldn't get," said Tom Gaumer, a retired reporter and editor.

Bean covered the Hough and Glenville riots and Dr. Sam Sheppard's murder trial. He persuaded George Steinbrenner, who ran American Ship Building Co. before the Yankees, to release the names of three workers killed in an explosion. He said he pressed a suburban police chief so hard for information, the chief lunged across the desk and grabbed Bean's throat.

He could be sensitive, too. "This guy felt for the people he wrote about," said long-time colleague Jack Hagan.

Bean was inducted to the Press Club of Cleveland's Journalism Hall of Fame.

He once played Santa Claus on downtown streets. The rest of the year, he felt like Santa's favorite.

"There wasn't a day that I didn't want to go to work," he recently wrote.

A pro to the end, Bean wrote up material for his obit. He said he was one of five boys raised in Northfield. He graduated from what's now Nordonia Hills High School in 1946 and served in the U.S. Air Force off the Bering Strait. He graduated from Kent State University in 1954.

He worked for the Cleveland News, Cleveland Press, wire services and radio stations. He lost a race for Parma city council in 1959.

In 1961, Bean joined the PD. He variously worked as assistant city editor and covered features, courts, cops, City Hall, general assignment, obits and more.

While working at a southwest suburban bureau, the long-time Parma resident swung by the downtown office in a Stroh's T-shirt, Bermuda shorts and white socks.

Working nights for years, Bean was the rare father in the 1960s at his three children's school events and on their field trips, including a three-day tour of Washington, D.C.

Bean wrote a PD magazine piece in 1983 about giving up liquor. He'd been one of many hard-drinking reporters and driven a company car into wet cement.

In 1980, he checked into Edwin Shaw Hospital for four weeks of treatment for alcoholism. He said he never had another drink. But other habits died hard. After checking out, he bought a carton of pop, called the city desk and bragged about downing a six-pack.

Bean retired in 1994. He golfed, hiked, wrote a history of his church and gave several gallons of blood over the years.One of the most popular Bean stories has him pushing the publisher out of a first-story window.

"Wish I had," Bean said last year. "Great story."

Donald Lee Bean

1928-2010

Survivors: Wife, the former Olga Fedorovich; children, Nadine M. Bean of West Chester, Pa., Matthew M. of Wickenburg, Ariz, and Scott A. of Parma; six granddaughters and a great-granddaughter.

Funeral: 11 a.m. Saturday, Church in the Valley, 2241 Everett Road, Boston Township.

Arrangements: Mallchok Funeral Home

Hundreds of OLD photos of Akron area

Market Street in 1880

Retired printer Dick Latshaw, who lives on Pawleys Island, South Carolina near business department retiree Harold McElroy, sent along long-ago photos of the Akron area. The web site is run by "Mr. Ed" of Tallmadge, who moved from Akron five years ago.

Click on the headline to see the photos.

After that, if you want to see a photo of Mr. Ed and hundreds of more photos from the Akron area's past, go to Old Akron photos

Betty Lin-Fisher featured in promo ad

Here's another Beacon Journal promotion ad. This one is on Betty Lin-Fiher for a first place for a business column in the Press Club of Cleveland's 2010 contest:

49 more exits for Miami Herald

The Miami Herald, through buyouts and layoffs, will trim 49 more from its payroll. That's on top of 175 shown the door last year with 5 to 10 percent pay cuts for those who remained.

The Miami Herald, at one time extinct Knight-Ridder's flagship station, is among 30 newspapers owned by the McClatchy Co.

Click on the headline to read the story.

Catching up with . . . Carol Camp

Carol Camp lives behind No. 2 hole at Akron’s Good Park golf course, but he traveled 3,500 miles in 1994 to play golf in Scotland. And he paid a deposit on a golfing trip to Ireland

Camp with rifle

but not enough of his fellow Davidson College alumni came forward the year after the 9/11/01 attacks on America so he was refunded his $300.

Carol was a fixture on the Beacon Journal copy desk for years till his 1993 retirement.

Davidson, North Carolina is 20 miles north of Charlotte. With only 1,700 students, Davidson had no journalism school so, after his 1952 graduation, Carol climbed up the newspaper ladder to the BJ by starting at the Sanford (NC) Herald and then the Norfolk (VA) Pilot. The next and final stop was the BJ.

It was Mike Cardew’s BJ photo of Carol and two other uniformed Veterans of Foreign Wars buddies at Saturday's Kenmore Alumni reunion honoring Kenmore’s war dead that brought him to the BJ Alums attention. But Carol wasn’t from Kenmore--ever. He grew up and graduated from high school in Norfolk, Virginia, where his family lived during World War II.

What brought Carol to Kenmore on 9/11/10 was to fire his weapon to salute Kenmore’s military heroes. Carol has been local VFW commander “a couple of times,” he said. Carol served in Korea in 1953-54.

While he’s a wedge shot from Good Park, where he’s played only a time or two, Carol mostly frequents Pine Valley golf course in Wadsworth where he plays with a friend.

Although Carol has had a couple of heart attacks and angioplasty and had three stents put in three years ago, he’s “doing OK,” he said. A million people a year have angioplasty in America. A balloon is inserted in the artery, then inflated to crush fatty deposits before it is withdrawn.

If you want to contact Carol, his phone number is (330) 836-9230. He lives on Mull Avenue. Just look for No. 2 hole at Good Park golf course.

Click on the headline to see Rick Armon’s BJ article on the Kenmore Alumni reunion that honored Kenmore’s veterans and the photo of Carol with his VFW gun-toters.

BJ Circulation retiree Raife Woodall dies

Raife ``Woody' Woodall, 69, passed away September 12, 2010.

He was born in Akron, Ohio and graduated from South High School. He served in the U.S. Army and was a member of Wesley Temple AME Zion Church. Raife was a Golden Glove boxer and a member of the Summit County Hall of Fame Boxing Association and was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in September, 2009. He was a Golden Heritage Member of the NAACP and a member of the Cleveland Chapter of the Westfield Alumni Association. He worked for Firestone Tire & Rubber Company and the Akron Beacon Journal from which he retired. He was an avid runner and he enjoyed doing things to help others.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Raife and Bertha Woodall; brother, Andrew Woodall; foster father, Samuel Culver; and foster brother, Aaron Culver.

Raife leaves to cherish the legacy of his life, his wife, Ethel; his son and daughter-in-law, Robert and Lora Woodall of St. Petersburg, Fla.; grandchildren, Odessa Woodall Biandudi and her husband, Jeremy of Landover Hills, Md., Mallory Woodall Williams and her husband, Tyrone of St. Petersburg, Fla., Megan Woodall Hires and her husband, Justin of Burbank, Calif., Robert DR Woodall of Baldwin City, Kan.; great-granddaughter, Alyssa Williams of St. Petersburg, Fla.: foster mother, Mary Culver; foster brothers, Alvin Culver and his wife, Gwen and Bobby Culver, all of Akron, Ohio; and a host of relatives and friends.

Services will be held Saturday, September 18, 2010 at 12 Noon at Wesley Temple AME Zion Church, 104 N. Prospect Street, Akron, OH 44304, Rev. Vince L. Munden officiating. Interment at Mount Peace Cemetery. Family will receive friends at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of service. Procession will form and condolences may be sent to 418 Barwell St., Akron, OH 44303. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Hospice & Palliative Care of Visiting Nurse Service, 3358 Ridgewood Road, Akron Ohio 44333.
(330) 535-1543

www.stewartcalhoun.com

Woody retired from the BJ Circulation Department as a truck driver. The Woodalls live in Akron.

Woody's cousin, Elmer Johnson, passed away several weeks ago. Another cousin, Alabama native Lucy Felton Lee, died in Akron Dec. 29, 1998.

Click on the headline to post condolences to the Woodall family.

NBC veteran Edwin Newman dies

Edwin Newman, 91, who was an NBC anchor, news reporter, commentator, moderator and a host during his long career, died. He also was an expert on the English language.

Click on the headline to read his obituary.

Retired BJ printer Cecil Kolb dies

Cecil C. Kolb, 93, of Tallmadge, passed away September 12, 2010.

Cecil was born October 2, 1916 to the late Arley and Madge Kolb in Lebanon, Indiana. He retired from the Akron Beacon Journal. He was a member of the National Fraternal Society of the Deaf for over 70 years. He was also a member of the Akron Club of the Deaf, the Ohio School for the Deaf Alumni Association, and the Columbus Senior Citizen of the Deaf.

Cecil was preceded in death by his brother, Carl Kolb; sister, FaryBelle Conrad; and son-in-law, James Kirt. He will be deeply missed by his loving wife of 69 years, Martha. He was a wonderful father to his son, Timothy Kolb; and daughter, Cheryl Kirt (Sammy Brewer). He was a patient and kind grandfather to his grandchildren, Daniel White, Angie Radick, Grace (Steve) King, Daniel Kirt, and Mark (Stacy) Kirt. Cecil truly enjoyed watching and holding his great-grandchildren, Tyler, Alyssa, Trenton, Mark, Anna, Isaac, Jacob, Elizabeth, Wyatt, and Waylon.

Family and friends may call on Wednesday from 5 to 9 p.m. at NEWCOMER FUNERAL HOME, 131 N. Canton Rd., where funeral services will be held Thursday at 10 a.m. Interment at Hillside Memorial Park. To leave a special message for the family online, visit www.NewcomerAkron.com.
NEWCOMER FUNERAL HOME (330) 784-3334

[Beacon Journal, Akron, OH, Tuesday, September 14, 2010, page B4, col. 6]
 

Retired printer Calvin Deshong, who has BJ employee directories going back to the beginning of time, found that Cecil retired 3-1-81 at the age of 64 with 28 years of service.

Click on the headline if you want to post condolences.

Catching up with . . . Jane Snow

Jane Snow and her husband with his family

When I saw the story in the Beacon Journal about former Akron Beacon Journal food writer Jane Snow crafting the menu for the Sept. 11 Sapphire Ball benefit for Summa Health System's Women's Health Services, I emailed Jane for more details.

Here's her reply:

Hi, John.

Great to hear from you. I haven't been to New Orleans in so long I can't advise you, but I did find an interesting site that lists locals' favorites:

New Orleans

I hope you and Paula have a great time.

As for the rest of your questions, I'd be delighted to respond:

I helped design the menu and provided some recipes for the Sapphire Ball. Officially I was chairman of the food committee, although the committee consisted of just me and ball chairwoman Mary Ann Jackson. She asked, and I couldn't think fast enough to say no.

I'm keeping busy with book signings and my weekly Internet newsletter, See Jane Cook. The latter is the successor to Second Helpings, which the Beacon Journal dropped abruptly (i.e., no advance notice) a year after I left the newspaper in 2006.

Former BJ advertising VP Mitch Allen picked up the newsletter and has been publishing it ever since. He sells the ads and his staff does the technical stuff. Mitch owns the cool little shopper, Mimi Vanderhaven's Fabulous Buys. I freelance for him occasionally. The signup for my newsletter is free. (Click on headline to go to Jane's newsletter web site.)

My cookbook, Jane Snow Cooks, is in its fifth printing. Published last October by the University of Akron Press, it is a compilation of the best recipes from my 24 years as the Beacon Journal's food editor (I was there 28 years altogether).

It's available in local bookstores, from Amazon and directly from the University of Akron press 

I have endured and mostly enjoyed the hectic speaking and book-signing schedule the AU Press lined up for me. And it continues, with seven more this month and next (Sept. and Oct. 2010). I figure at some point everyone will have a copy of the book and I can just stay home.

I'm trying to make time to start a second book, with little success so far. As you know, I married a sushi chef/restaurateur just after leaving the newspaper, and last year we got permanent custody of Tony's 16-year-old son.

I became a first-time mom at age 60, for crying out loud. We have teen-aged boys in and out of the house constantly, and I feel like I'm cooking for a battalion. It's kind of fun...most of the time.

Occasionally I help out at Tony's restaurant, Sushi Katsu in the Merriman Valley. He likes to keep me in the back, doing dishes.

Tony is a sushi master from Japan. His parents, whom I adore, visited us for three months this summer. I haven't visited Japan yet.

That will have to wait until Tony retires, because he's the only chef at his restaurant and works six days a week with no real vacations.

We're having a ball, though, on our two acres in Copley.

Here's a photo we took of the whole family on Tony's cherished 1955 Allis-Chalmers tractor.

This is long, so edit at will. That's the first time you've ever heard me say that, eh?

-- Jane Snow

Click on the headline to go to Jane's cooking web site.

Black Keys win MTV video award

Black Keys, the two-piece Akron band with Patrick Carney as drummer, won an MTV Music Award in the video category on Sunday. Carney is the son of BJ reporter Jim Carney and stepson

Top: "Tighten Up" video participants, the
"children"  in foreground and Carney (left) 
and bearded Auerbach in background.
Bottom left: Auerbach, the 
singer/guitarist/songwriter.
Bottom right: Carney, the drummer.

of Jim's wife, Katie Byard, also a BJ reporter.

Black Keys won for "Tighten Up," with their fictional children fighting and Carney and guitarist Dan Auerbach intervening and having a bloody battle with each other. Their music has been described as "sweaty Delta blues riffs, heavy pounding and textured grooves."

Firestone High graduates Carney, 30, and Auerbach, 31, grew up near each other in Akron. Auerbach and wife Stephanie have a daughter, Sadie, and they are thinking about moving to Nashville. Carney, though he still owns a house in Akron, has moved to New York. He married Cleveland Scene and former BJ reporter Denise Grollmus on 7-7-07 -- all lucky 7's -- in the Glendale Cemetery chapel. Later, they divorced.

The Black Keys' 2002 debut, “The Big Come Up,” was recorded on an 8-track in Carney’s basement. They have made eight albums. Their sixth, “Brothers,” debuted No. 3 on the Billboard Top 200 chart with more than 73,000 copies sold in the first week. Auerbach does the songwriting and singing.

The Black Keys have toured Europe, Australia and North America and played to a sellout crowd at Akron's Civic Theatre. Their "Desperate Man" was the background music for a Heidi Klum Victoria's Secret bra commercial in 2006.

Click on the headline for the story about their MTV award.

Ken Sprague obituary

The obituary in today's Beacon Journal for Ken Sprague, brother of retired BJ printer Sid Sprague, who moved from Cuyahoga Falls to Pawleys Island, South Carolina to Loveland, Colorado:

Kenneth E. Sprague, 77, passed away September 9, 2010 in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

Born in Akron, Ohio, Kenneth was retired from Bridgestone Firestone.

Kenneth is survived by his brother, Sidney, of Loveland, Colo.; nephew, Jeffrey Sprague and his wife, Valerie, their daughters, Shannon and Lindsay of Greenwich, Conn., Suzanne Rutherford, her husband Kevin, their sons, Kevin and Brian of Hilliard, Ohio, Ellen Sprague and children, Kyra and Aidan. Kenneth was preceded in death by his sister-in-law, Sandra and his nephew, Steven Sprague.

Kenneth truly enjoyed his many cousins and appreciated their cares and concerns for him, especially Don and Gloria Draper.

A memorial service will take place Wednesday, Sept. 15 at 2 p.m. at Adams Mason Funeral Home, 791 E. Market St., Akron, OH. 330-535-9186 Donations to the Paridise Club, 1710 Front St., Cuy. Falls, OH 44221

Published in Akron Beacon Journal on September 12, 2010

Click on the headline for an earlier story on Ken Sprague's death.

Sue Reynolds retires after decades at BJ

Sue Reynolds, newsroom administrative assistant for decades, has retired from the Beacon Journal.

BJ Photo Editor Bob DeMay said that Sue "most recently held down the message center, keeping the plane in the air for the newsroom. She had also done some time with Ohio.com in her years here."

Retired BJ staffer Charlene Nevada, who with her husband retired chief artist Art Krummel has

vacationed with Sue and her husband, said "Sue was the glue that held the newsroom together for the better part of three decades.

"She and her husband, Roger – a retired history teacher and coach from Green – have two grown kids. Their daughter, Mandy, teaches science at Green. Son Alex lives in Florida.

"Sue heard about the job from another secretary who was working there at the time. Sue was working at a title bureau. The other secretary told Sue there was a Metro Desk clerk job open, and that all she would have to do was read the paper and answer the phone. That was before phone mail.

"I think it was Tim Smith who quickly saw Sue’s organizational abilities, and kept giving her more and more responsibility."

BJ Managing Editor Doug Oplinger, who was barely tall enough to climb onto a John Deere tractor when Sue first began at the Beacon, is effusive in his praise of Sue:

"I'll give you a little, and I'll give you a lot.

"Susan was many things to the newsroom.

"She was of course the person who had all the answers to every administrative

question, among them: How much vacation do I have? What's the mileage rate?

And where are the batteries?

"She was the public's entry point into the newsroom, and she was able to

provide them with the answers they needed.

"She knew everyone in the building. Gotta question about obituaries or the

parking deck? She knew the name and number to call.

"She could see trouble coming a mile away, and let you know it was headed

your way.

"She also was like your mother: She was pretty much your fan, but if you

screwed up, she didn't mind letting you know.

"One of the most enjoyable things about her was that she was a faithful

reader of the Beacon Journal. She carefully reviewed every page every day,

and offered running commentary that was a reality check for those of us who

sometimes lost sight of our constituency. Her thoughts often came in the

form of "OHHH MYYYY GAAAAWD DID YOU READ THIS" outbursts that would stop the newsroom as we awaited her analysis.

"Perhaps what is amazing is that all of these attributes were a constant. You

could always depend on Susan to do all of the above, all of the time. In a

room full of chaos, her corner of the newsroom felt like a safe place -- as

long as you don't screw up the photo copier.

"As a tribute, there was a little roast in the newsroom, for which resident

humorist Jim Carney put together some great lines, all of which had a little

truth and a lot of exaggeration

"You might hear Susan saying the following:

"Oh my gosh, they're having a skunk festival in North Ridgeville. It says:

"Skunks must be on a leash. Not responsible for accidents." The contact

person is Richard Phew. I don't believe it. Do you believe it?

"This letter to the editor I just typed says we're doing a good job covering

the city, but it's signed "Don Plusquellic." That's gotta be a hoax. Do ya

think?

"Don't we read this stuff before we put it in the paper?

"Anybody know anything about stuffed cabbages on the highway in Barberton?

"Into the phone: Oh my God! How many were shot? Right across the street from

the Beacon? Well that's gotta be news to us.

"Howie Chizek just called Bob Dyer a demented buffoon. Does anybody here

care?

"Did someone order 45 tuna sandwiches from Subway? I swear to God a guy is

bringing them up here right now.

"Where is Pat Englehart when we need him?

"Oh my God. Someone just found a moldy old pizza under Carney's desk. It's no

wonder, the guy can't smell anything.

"Is there anybody working here today?"

In keeping with Sue's reference to the late Pat Englehart, a newsroom legend with his DeNobili cigar and passion for getting the news and getting it right, particularly during his State Desk reign, Doug also sent along a photo of Pat and Sue in the Golden Era of the BJ (well, that's what we oldtimers call it now that we're retired and on the outside looking in).

Enjoy the hell out of your retirement, Sue. You earned it. But who's going to keep the BJ running?

Sid Sprague's brother dies

This email was sent Friday by Nancy, who moved to Loveland, Colorado with retired BJ printer Sid Sprague a year or so ago after both their spouses died, to retired BJ printer Dick Latshaw and BJ business department retiree Harold McElroy:

Hi all of you,

I'm really sorry to give you more bad news - Kenny passed away very unexpectedly yesterday. He was in good spirits the day before when speaking with Sid and Sue & Kevin had just seen him last week end and felt he was doing well. We are leaving tomorrow to take care of details and his apartment.

The memorial service will be on Wed. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Paradise Club, 1710 Front St., Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221. This was his AA Group.

Sid has had too much bad news this year.........please keep him in your prayers. He is being strong and holding up really well.

Love, Nancy

Sid's son, Steve, 38, of Middleburg, Virginia, died May 4. Sid's wife, Sandra, 64, died in 2003. Dick and wife Pat live on Pawleys Island, South Carolina, two blocks from Harold McElroy and wife Linda. Sid and Nancy also lived near them on Pawleys Island, until their spouses died. Then they moved to Colorado to be near Nancy's family. Sid lived in Cuyahoga Falls for decades before moving to the BJ enclave on Pawleys Island.

Click on the headline for Ken Sprague's obituary in the Beacon Journal.