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Articles written by Patti Jarschke


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  • Odessa among best small towns

    Patti Jarschke|Updated Apr 19, 2012

    While residents may consider Odessa’s most distinguishing attribute to be its founding by Germans from Russia, it also has a strong ranching presence, which has now been recognized by a national publication. The April/May 2012 issue of American Cowboy magazine features a cover article naming “The 20 Best Rural Towns in the West.” The towns are categorized by region: The Rockies; California/Nevada; Northwest; Southwest; Texas/Oklahoma; and The Great Plains. The Northwest categ...

  • Sound off, Odessa!

    Patti Jarschke|Updated Jan 26, 2012

    If you are tired of squabbling with your growing youngsters about getting buckled into their booster seats, be glad you don’t live in California, where new 2012 laws have extended the height and weight limits to keep children in their booster seats longer. The new California Booster Seat Law, effective January 1, 2012, prohibits parents, guardians or drivers from transporting on a highway in a motor vehicle any child under 8 years old and at least 4'9" in height without securi...

  • Sound off, Odessa!

    Patti Jarschke|Updated Jan 19, 2012

    According to the Seattle Times, "Next time the cashier says 'paper or plastic', think outside the bags. Think about ocean pollution, giant landfills and global warming," Seattle Mayor Greg Nichols says. Then think to the near future when you might have to either pull out a reusable tote or pay 20 cents a bag. Nickels and City Council President Richard Conlin proposed a 20-cent "green fee" on all disposable bags to encourage customers to carry their groceries home in their own...

  • Sound off, Odessa!

    Patti Jarschke|Updated Oct 5, 2011

    Do college athletes deserve to be paid? ESPN reporter Michael Wilbon used to argue against it, thinking that tuition, room, board and books were compensation enough. And even if it wasn’t enough, the idea of pay-for-play would at best be considered a logistical nightmare. “Where would the money come from? How could you pay college football players but not baseball players or members of the women’s field hockey team? And how in the world would you pay men in a way that would...

  • Sound off, Odessa

    Patti Jarschke

    ABC News recently released a video of an armed robbery of a Walgreen's Pharmacy in Benton Township, Michigan which took place in May. The video showed two masked, hooded robbers brandishing weapons entering the nearly deserted store at 4:30 a.m. They grabbed an employee as a hostage and dragged him around the store. Pharmacist Jeremy Hoven tried to call 911, but then one of the two robbers jumped over the pharmacy counter and pointed his pistol at Hoven, who drew his own...

  • Baggy Britches

    Patti Jarschke

    We’ve all seen it – the low slung trousers revealing underwear, a style that has become fashionable for young people to wear. Until now, it has simply been a matter to shake our heads over, but there are politicians and law enforcement officials who are ready to take a stand. Kathy McManus of the Responsibility Project reported that “as a nation that pulls itself up by its bootstraps, we are also a nation that needs to pull up its pants.” McManus reports that “the style of...

  • Sound off, Odessa!

    Patti Jarschke

    We know that driving while you are distracted can be fatal, but apparently texting while walking can lead to serious consequences as well. In Philadelphia, texting pedestrians are on notice that their cell phone habits will have to change. In May, The City of Brotherly Love launched a campaign called “Give Respect, Get Respect.” According to CNET News, the program is “geared toward preventing unsafe behavior on the roads, including pedestrians who talk and text while they cros...

  • Two of a kind

    Patti Jarschke

    Have you ever heard those stories about the person who starts to resemble their pet? It appears that human couples are similar in that they begin to take on one another’s personality traits over time. Alex Crees, writer for AskDrManny.com, reported on the results of a study released earlier this week, funded by The National Institute on Aging, which indicates that couples not only “adopt similar music tastes, or turns of phrase, couples also tend to pick up each other’s unhea...

  • Much ado about nothing?

    Patti Jarschke

    It is always around this time of year when the toy companies begin introducing their latest toys at conventions and trade fairs, gauging reaction and putting together their big marketing push for the holidays. This year, there will be a toy that is already quite successful across Europe, but new to the U.S., and it is creating quite a stir. It is a baby doll. That in itself is nothing new; it is what this doll does that has some parents and child development specialists up in...

  • Are children second class citizens?

    Patti Jarschke

    It is nothing new. For most of our history, it has been common to say and practice that children are to be seen and not heard, to speak only when spoken to. Then we went through a period when it was popular to not stifle our children with so many rules and boundaries, instead, letting them blossom and be creative, expressing themselves in their own way. It appears that the no-boundaries type of parenting may have resulted in a generation of children who have pushed those who...

  • What happened to good sportsmanship?

    Patti Jarschke

    According to the July 5 edition of the Kansas City Star, “parents are chilling out more at kids’ sporting events.” A national survey of youth soccer officials found that the majority of parents are behaving as well or better at their kids’ matches than they were two years ago. In most states, through the Youth Soccer Association program, the referee scores the behavior of parents, coaches and players on a scale of 1 to 5 after each game. At the end of the season, teams d...

  • College tuition on the rise - can we afford it?

    Patti Jarschke

    With nothing but well wishes, we congratulated and celebrated Odessa’s 12 graduating seniors last week, all but one with confirmed college plans in place. There were many scholarships announced for excellence in academics, athletics and community service. However, the full tuition and other college or university-associated costs far exceed the amounts of those hard-earned and well-deserved scholarships. Katie Schmidt, a reporter from The Olympian, tells us of another recent g...

  • How young is too young?

    Patti Jarschke

    In recent weeks, amid the breaking news of tornadoes across the southeast and plains states, there has been another story in the news, that of the so-called "Botox Mom," Kerry Campbell, aka Sheena Upton. This mother of eight-year-old daughter, Britney, hit the news when an article first published in the UK tabloid, The Sun, landed Upton a spot on Good Morning America and Inside Edition here in the United States after she boasted of injecting her daughter with Botox in order...

  • Should you immunize your children?

    Patti Jarschke

    As adults, most of us have childhood memories of those trips to the doctor’s office when we’d hear those words, "You'll hardly feel a thing", or "It won't taste that bad." For most of us it did hurt and yes, it did taste bad, but those vaccines that we were receiving through inoculations or tiny cups of not so tasty liquids, were just a part of life. They were what kept us from succumbing to innumerable diseases, some even contagious. And that lollipop from the doctor or a k...

  • Are you being tracked?

    Patti Jarschke

    In case you haven’t heard, there is a controversy going on about the privacy of Smartphone data. According to an April 21 Los Angeles Times article, “Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPad are keeping very close track of where you’ve been.” Researchers have found that hidden in the operating software of the devices is a file that can hold records of a user’s exact geographical location, each marked with a timestamp. According to the article, those records “create a highly detailed hist...

  • Panhandle Polecats do not disappoint

    Patti Jarschke

    Last Saturday evening, the Harrington Opera House Society held another event to support their on-going efforts to rehabilitate the Harrington Opera House so it can, once again, become a regional venue for the visual and performing arts. But who knew fund raising could be so much fun? The Harrington Opera House Society staged an evening of entertainment, beginning with the Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner, held at the Harrington Memorial Hall. Miss Harrington 2011, Breanna...

  • Chicago school says no to brown bag lunches

    Patti Jarschke

    This week The Record begins running a new series of articles by sometime correspondent Patti Jarschke. She'd like reader feedback, so feel free to comment in an email message sent to therecord@odessaoffice.com, a letter to the editor (P.O. Box 458, Odessa 99159) or by dropping by the office with your letter or note. She plans to focus on whatever controversial issues strike her fancy in any given week. Readers can also suggest topics if they wish. An article by reporters...