Blogging Forgottonia

I regret to report that 12/31/2011 will be the final business day for Warren County Pharmacy in County Market.

I wondered before Warren County Pharmacy opened whether Monmouth could support four pharmacies.  I’m sad to see my suspicions born out and another locally owned & operated business close its doors.  The Gracey’s are good people, and I wish them well in the future.

Matt Hutton, the paper’s editor, is leaving.  His farewell article gives no indication regarding who will be replacing him.  The paper’s building at 400 S. Main was for sale, but now the listing has disappeared from the Mel Foster Co website.  What does GateHouse Media Inc have planned for the Review Atlas?

OK, can someone tell me why this article about the recent addition of 80 acres to the Northwestern Illinois Agricultural Research and Demonstration Center in Monmouth was printed in the Aledo Times Record, and why this article about the new Monmouth underage club AfterDark was printed in the Galesburg Register-Mail?  Better question … why was there nothing in the Review Atlas regarding these rather newsworthy local events???

11-year-old Destiny Kimble was killed in a motor vehicle accident on February 19^th, 2011.  The accident left her mother seriously injured and her 15-year-old brother in a coma.

Destiny’s fellow students at Central Intermediate School are asking that each person donate ONE dollar to this family to help with their medical expenses.

It only takes ONE minute, ONE prayer, ONE dollar to make a difference!

A Dollar For Destiny

P.O. Box 231

Monmouth, IL 61462

Thank you to the Review Atlas for their article on A Dollar for Destiny!

UPDATE [3/6/2011]: And thank you to the Peoria Journal Star for reprinting Ryan Neal’s article!

Harry Bulkeley thinks we’re not asking the right question in regards to the debate over the federal budget.  For him, the only important question is “Do we have any money to pay for______?” And the answer, according to Mr. Bulkeley, ‘is a clear and resounding “NO!!”’

First off, the discretionary spending being discussed in his editorial accounts for something like 12% of the federal budget.  So Mr. Bulkeley – along with the President, the Congress, and most media outlets – ignore the other 78% of the budget because they don’t want to touch those political hot potatoes (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and defense spending).  It’s cowardice and our children deserve better.

Secondly, cuts in social programs today often lead to GREATER costs down the line.  For instance, if you cut funding for preventive mental health services, the people benefiting from those services don’t just disappear.  They end up in emergency rooms and jails, which are far more expensive and far less effective means of addressing their needs.  Worse, people who were once able to function, hold jobs, pay taxes & provide income for their families are no longer able to do so.  So yes, absolutely, it’s better to send out the government collectors plate to preserve programs like that rather than ax them for short term improvements in the balance sheet.  You may save a dime today, but you’ll spend a thousand dollars tomorrow.

What we can’t afford is the conservative social engineering started by that Republican deity Ronald Reagan that shoots money like a geyser UP the social ladder, concentrating wealth & power among the super-rich top 0.1% while everyone else gets screwed.  Why is the social security payroll tax capped at incomes a little over $100K?  Why do the rich get to pay only a 15% tax rate because most of their income is from capital gains?  Republicans are even trying to kill the estate tax by playing it off as a small business killing “death tax” in a horrifically disingenuous propaganda campaign.

These policies all serve to create a new American aristocracy with wealth & power concentrated in the hands of a few.  The heroes of the American Revolution fought & bled & died to break away from the tyranny of the British aristocracy.  Aristocracy is the enemy of democracy, not socialism.  I fear most Americans won’t realize that until it’s far too late.

I agree – ask the right questions.  Harry Bulkeley and most of the folks commenting on his editorial are NOT.

Matt Hutton, editor of the Daily Review Atlas, announced recently that the Review Atlas, the Galesburg Register-Mail and the Macomb Journal would all be printed in Galesburg instead of Peoria.  This will result in some minor cosmetic changes to the papers.  Hutton also announced that the Review Atlas will begin charging for obituaries.

I’m glad to hear that the local papers will be printed closer to home, but I’m more interested in hearing the story behind the “For Sale” sign on the Review Atlas building.  Still no official word on that front.

Another local media change is the revamp of the Galesburg.com blog page.  I’m not sure when this happened, and it may have been a while ago.  The old page was so antiquated & unappealing that I rarely visited it.  The new version is certainly a big step up.

In 2000, the fourteen West-Central Illinois counties that Neil Gamm once grouped under the aegis of Forgottonia had a total population of 334,800.  Based on recently released data from the U.S. Census bureau, that population has now fallen to 324,389, a 3.1% decrease.  Only two of the 14 counties had a population increase – Calhoun (a whopping +5, so essentially no change) & Schuyler (+ 355, a 4.9% increase).

We could cheer for Schuyler County, but I wouldn’t.  The population increase there can be accounted for entirely by the number of inmates housed at the Rushville Treatment and Detention Facility for Sexually Violent Persons (average inmate population 352 in 2009).

The local papers have published several articles on the local census figures: Monmouth & Warren County census figures, Galesburg & Knox County census figures, official reaction in Knox County, population numbers for local school districts, Burlington’s population loss, and overall rural population decline in Iowa.  The hardest hit counties of Forgottonia are right here at its heart – Knox, Warren, Henderson & Hancock.  Henderson County saw the biggest percentage drop, down 10.7% to 7331.  The 2008 flooding that devastated Gulfport & other communities played a big roll in that precipitous drop.

All of the Illinois counties that saw population increases (except Schuyler) included &/or collared metropolitan areas – Peoria, Springfield, Champaign-Urbana, Bloomington-Normal, Carbondale, Rockford, Vincennes (IN), Dubuque (IA), Paducah (KY), St. Louis & Chicago.  It’s suburbanization at work.  The jobs are in the larger communities, and that’s where the people go.

The home of the Review Atlas at 400 S. Main Street is for sale.  I searched the paper’s website, but I found no mention of the sale or their plans for the future.

Ryan Neal at the Review Atlas has produced an excellent series of articles (#1, #2, #3, #4) on autism and how local families and school districts are struggling to deal with the consequences of this challenging neurodevelopmental disorder.  I encourage everyone to check out the articles, and I salute Mr. Neal for some excellent reporting.

The second article in the series has drawn the ire of the houngans of anti-vaccine voodoo at Age of Autism.  Anne Dachel, the media editor for Age of Autism, saw fit to personally respond to the article.  Her commentary is filled with ad hominem venom directed at Mr. Neal, the CDC, and medical researchers who had the temerity to provide evidence against their doctrine of faith that vaccines are the root of all autism.

I’m not going to fight the willful ignorance of the anti-vaccine movement here.  Others have done so quite well before me.  As a primary care pediatrician who has vaccinated thousands of children, I have very carefully reviewed the evidence in this matter.  The truth is that the preponderance of medical and scientific evidence discounts any link between vaccines and autism.  I have fully immunized my own five children according to the ACIP / CDC / AAP recommendations, and I strongly endorse that vaccine schedule.  I have never received funds from any vaccine developer, and I, like most pediatricians in practice, do not receive any additional compensation based on my vaccination rate.  Many pediatricians LOSE money by providing vaccines, but continue to do so because they know it’s the right thing to do.  Bottom line: vaccines save lives – not hundreds, not thousands, but MILLIONS of lives.

If you want to help children with autism, support organizations like the Autism Science Foundation.  They will not needlessly throw money at a question that has already been answered over and over again.  They seek to find REAL answers for the parents of children with autism and adults living with autism, and they deserve your support.

Addendum (1/4/2011): The Review Atlas has now posted a 5th article in the series.  Again, excellent!  It points out that we already have a tool – Applied Behavioral Analysis – that when applied early and intensely can make all the difference in the world for those with autism.

It’s actually today, September 16.  Cinco de Mayo celebrates the victory of the Mexican army over invading French forces at the Battle of Puebla.  May 5 has achieved more notoriety in the U.S. … because we like to drink in May?  It’s become the Mexican St. Patrick’s Day.

There will be a local celebration of Mexican Independence Day on the 200 block of South Main Street (in front of La Tapatia) on Saturday, September 18, from 4 PM to 11 PM.  Gus Munoz, owner of La Tapatia, is organizing the event.  Come down and support a local business!