Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Sorted by date Results 1135 - 1159 of 1862
The average IQ in the US, as well as the world, has risen significantly since the turn of the century. Today, the average U.S. citizen has an IQ of 98. Personally, I believe this is because the importance of education is being embraced more and more in school and at home, as well as the increase in the amount and readiness of information that is now available. Our generation has something that gives us an advantage over our ancestors: the Internet. Nearly anything we need to know is right at our fingertips, at little to no ex...
I need to get a cap on my front tooth redone; it has a significant chip in it. Luckily I live at a time in which dentists are in every city and town, plying their trade in ways that can help us each day. A young woman who scientists are calling Naia was not so lucky. She lived about 12,000 to 13,000 years ago in what’s now the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. A recent article in New Scientist reports that Naia’s teeth have a number of large cavities in them. Her mouth likely hur...
Brunch, a meal served late morning, midway between breakfast and lunch, has become the term for any morning meal consisting of traditional breakfast fare, combined with some luncheon dishes that are easy to serve buffet style. Lois Renkin brought Breakfast Casserole to a recent gathering. She found the recipe in the cookbook, Returning to the Kitchen with Friends of the Pool, attributed to Auntie Elsie and Suzie Deife. Lois reports this dish is easy to prepare the night before to have ready to bake first thing in the...
To the Editor: We are so happy to hear that others are concerned about the invasion of Odessa by feral populations of animals. If you want to enjoy your household pets, don’t let them run around outside at any time. Even in broad daylight, your much-loved kitty can become lunch for a coyote. Offering food to the wild animals makes the danger of attacks on domestic pets even greater. In our yard, we cannot grow many things because we are overrun by deer feeding at a neighbor’s “feeding station.” Isn’t this really a bit cruel...
Today’s snack food aisle in the grocery store contains a lot more products than when I was a kid. Back then, we mainly had potato chips and saltines, but not much more. Now there’s a multitude of choices designed to help you satisfy your cravings for something crunchy. It’s fair to say most of us don’t spend a lot of our time cooking from scratch. “Processed foods” – everything from snacks to boxed dinners – make up a great deal of what most Americans eat. Indeed, the maj...
This past Sunday afternoon, from 1 o'clock to 3, I served as host at the Odessa Historisches museum. Well, I would have served as host if anyone had come to visit. But they did not. I probably should have spent that peaceful couple of hours in industrious pursuits on behalf of the museum, but I must confess I did not. I spent about 10 minutes walking around with the host instructions, trying to find all the various light switches. Then I spent another 10 minutes trying to...
This is the time of year to get outdoors and observe Mother Nature in all her glory. With a simple field guide to trees or birds and a Sunday afternoon trip to a local park, you can play amateur scientist and immerse yourself in forces larger than those we humans create. A friend and I are making plans for an extended road trip to two national parks in southwest Utah. We will spend two or three days in Bryce Canyon National Park and a day touring Zion. We won’t go until the en...
As I close a chapter of my life, I’ve been thinking about the next one. While I’m glad to be done with high school, I’m moving into a new chapter that is even harder; college. I think most of the graduation excitement doesn’t come from being done, but from just beginning. When the rest of my class disperses to their new respective communities, I hope they will remember that they are not quite done either. We all have long journeys ahead of us, and not one leads to the same place. Some of us will stay in the place we grew up...
Salads round out summer menus, or may become the main dish. Lecia Fink brought a yummy Southwest Salad to a recent gathering, though southwest usually brings spicy heat to mind, this salad consisting of some traditional ingredients has a poppy seed dressing. Napa cabbage is the main ingredient, but Lecia reports that she sometimes substitutes bowtie pasta when making ahead for camping or boating trips. Southwest Salad 1 head Napa cabbage, coarsely chopped 2 avocados, peeled,...
Odessa Record subscriber Larry Fisher of Spokane continues his series of articles on the history of the Batum/Lauer area (where his wife, the former Joyce Kiesz, grew up). Hi, here I am again. A few months ago, I told you about two dreams I had while I was in hibernation. Now I will tell you about dream #3. The dream involved my future wife, Joyce Kiesz, the time period was 1905. We were staying at "The Hotel Odessa," managed by C.F. Weisgerber. The hotel had reopened under new management. It was newly furnished throughout...
By DR. E. KIRSTEN PETERS Think about the most complicated machine you've dealt with in the past year. Was it a beeping monitor tethered to a high-tech device in an emergency room? Or was it a superfast computer you used at work? Actually, the most complicated machine you've interacted with was the one you used this morning when you switched on a light or plugged in your coffee machine. The entire power grid has to balance supply (generation) and demand (load) on a second by...
By TIM MAREMA and ROBERTO GALLARDO Lincoln County residents who are nearing retirement age can increase their lifetime income if they can wait a bit to start drawing Social Security benefits. In Lincoln County 1,802 residents, or 17.3 percent of the population, are aged 55 to 64. Those are the years when folks start thinking seriously about retirement. Workers can start taking Social Security at age 62, but for those who can wait, the benefits go up. “If you need Social Security early, take it. You’ve earned it,” said Virgi...
The Michael Crichton book "Jurassic Park" and the movie based on the best-seller presented what might happen if scientists were able to clone extinct dinosaurs, bringing them back to life. While nothing like that is possible at this time, a good thing when you recall the mayhem the dinos caused in the world Crichton conjured up ; sometimes scientists surprise themselves in breathing new life into old organisms. One example of some success in what's sometimes called "resurrecti...
I found the opening statements to a recent interview with Seattle Seahawk's Doug Baldwin quite refreshing. Doug Baldwin was an undrafted free agent coming out of Stanford University in 2011. Twenty-eight other receivers went ahead of him in the draft, and he went undrafted. But he believed he had the gifts , talents, and mental make-up to not just make a roster, but excel. After winning a Super-Bowl this past year, the Seahawks re-signed him to a three year contract seeing...
Graduation, wedding, Father’s Day and alumni celebrations abound during the month of June, calling for buffet dishes from salads and sides to desserts. Though it is always reassuring for finicky eaters to find their favorite potato or macaroni salad among the buffet offerings, many folks are looking to try something new. “Ain’t your Mama’s Slaw” is a new twist that is sure to please broccoli lovers, and maybe convert a few who cringe at the mention of broccoli. The zesty dre...
My elderly aunt in Canada recently came into some money. She decided – very generously –to send part of it to each of her nieces and nephews. This gave me the rather wonderful task of deciding how I wanted to spend $1,000 that I had not anticipated receiving. After a bit I decided on a new range for my kitchen. I wouldn’t otherwise buy a new appliance, and by spending the money on a range I will be able to remember my aunt and bless her name each night as I cook supper. My old...
To the Editor: I ask your readers if they have used or benefitted from any of the following and would like to have them available for their children and grandchildren: Weekends, work breaks, FMLA, sick leave, Social Security, minimum wage, Civil Rights Act/Title VII (prohibits employer discrimination), overtime pay, child labor laws, 40-hour work week, worker’s compensation, unemployment insurance, pension, workplace safety standards and regulations, raises, military leave, public education, women and men being paid e...
To the Editor: First it was pelicans. Now, a Whooping Crane has been sighted in the meadows just east of Sylvan Lake. Yesterday, May 29, at about 7:30 p.m., we were driving west on Laney Brothers Road when we saw the crane on the road that crosses from Laney Brothers Rd. over to Crab Creek about one-fourth of a mile east of the lake. This is the same spot where we have seen about 40 American White Pelicans in years past. There is a drying pond there and I imagine the fish are plentiful and easy to catch at this time of year,...
The wheat markets have been in a hard correction ever since the May USDA Crop Production Report came out a month ago. Before that the market experienced a strong rally supported by the deteriorating crop conditions of the Hard Red Winter Wheat crop in the Southern Plains and the unrest in the Black Sea between the Ukraine and Russia. As is so often the case, it was not the crop report itself that caused the market to reverse but more the idea of "buy the rumor, sell the fact". The report made traders take a step back and...
When you fill your tank, you likely see a little sticker on the pump saying part of the fuel is ethanol. Ethanol is a biofuel, which means it comes from plants like corn, rather than from fossil fuel -- ancient carbon that’s been buried within the Earth for millions of years. Producing more biofuels is on the agendas of governments and private industry alike. Biofuels can potentially help nations become more energy independent. If a country can grow plants and produce b...
I am a retired hospital pharmacist who for 37 years had his own small-town pharmacy. After I sold my pharmacy, I was the hospital pharmacist for a small rural hospital. I just read your article on hypertension and the senior population needing high-touch hypertension care. What you say is correct. What is wrong is another story. I have gone to several medical seminars in foreign countries, including one to the USSR shortly before it disbanded. Their medical system was straight out of the Middle Ages: 34 infants in the...
Watermelon, rhubarb pie and cupcakes were a hit at a recent potluck lunch. The rhubarb pie might be a secret recipe, but I will attempt to coax it from the maker. The Lime Cupcakes were made by me, so that recipe is easy to come by. I mentioned in my last column that there was a request for a cake recipe that had flavored gelatin added to the mix before baking and I passed the request on to you, the readers. Meanwhile the email newsletter I subscribe to from Southern Plate...
I'm quite a dinosaur. I get some of my news the old fashioned way from hardcopy newspapers, and I still pay my bills with paper checks sent through the mail. But even I own a smart phone. The ability to keep up with work-related email, as well as messages from friends and family, is one fantastic benefit of the modern cell phone. I do, indeed, value the technological revolution through which we all are living. Arron Carter and Mike Pumphrey are two research scientists at...
"What does it feel like growing up?" my six-year-old brother asks. "It feels like a crushing sense of obligation paired with the absence of monetary gain." I answered sarcastically. I highly doubt he understood what I had said, but he had a retort regardless. "And bank robbing?" There has been no bank robbing involved in my coming-of-age, but I think that this barely knee-high child was on to something; what exactly does the concept of "growing up" entail? At eighteen years old, I don't believe I've quite begun to...
Years ago I was a light smoker. Back in the day I thought nicotine did good things for my ability to think and learn. I was a serious student at the time, studying intensively seven days a week, so a powerful complement to black coffee was welcome in my life. I both sympathize and empathize with smokers around me today. But I'm awfully glad I quit long ago, and I know many other former smokers who feel the same way. Quitting is worth all the short-term distress it can entail....
