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Take One! It’s FREE!Jan. 14, 2014 Our 20th Year of Publishing(979) 849-5407 . mybulletinnewspaper.com

LAKE JACKSON • CLUTE • RICHWOOD • FREEPORT • OYSTER CREEK • ANGLETON • DANBURY • ALVIN • WEST COLUMBIA • BRAZORIA • SWEENY

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BulletinThe Weekly

Check out the 2014 MLK celebration events schedule

See Page 5

Bridal Show coming to Lake Jackson Civic Center Jan. 19

See Page 7

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

See who is performing with the B’port Jazz Orchestra

See Page 12

Population rising faster in South and West

Welcome to TexasBy Michael A. MemoliTribune Washington Bureau (MCT)

WASHINGTON — Population growth in Southern and Western states, led by Texas, California and Florida, accounted for more than 80 percent of new residents nationwide over the last three years, surpassing the Northeast and Midwest in the demographic contest that plays a key role in determining states’ political clout, census data released Monday show.

If states continue to grow at the same pace for the rest of the decade, Texas could gain three more congres-sional seats in 2020, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis of the Census Bureau figures. Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and Colorado would stand to gain one seat each, while Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Minnesota, West Virginia and Rhode Island would lose a seat each.

Population estimates are eagerly watched by state officials because the figures determine the flow of money into many federal programs and the number of seats each state receives in the House of Representatives. That number gets readjusted each decade.

John TothEditor and Publisher

While I was writing this, the temperature outside plunged into the 20s. That is just too cold for this area. By the time you read this, though, it should be comfortable again.

That is the magic of the Texas Gulf Coast – a couple of days of this cold stuff, and we’re back to the normal 60s and 70s in the winter.

This is my type of weather. Give me a few days of winter, and let’s have fall and spring for the rest of the time, except for summer, when it gets pretty hot. But I would rather have it hot than cold.

I felt sorry for the fans at the 49ers-Packers game at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wis., where the temperature at the end of the game was a balmy 3 degrees, with a wind chill factor of about -18.

The players were equipped with all their warm gear and running around the field, but the fans had to remain in one place and cheer, except at the end.

And, when the game had a chance to go into overtime, I wonder how many fans were hoping it wouldn’t because they had trouble feeling their toes by then? It was a good game, though, as I watched it in my heated house.

My friends in the Midwest were posting things like it’s -20, and someone on a bicycle was pretend-ing that it wasn’t cold. I’d have trouble going from house to car in that cold.

When I lived in areas like that, I could not wait for warmer tem-peratures to return. One time my car was covered by snow, and when I was able to finally dig it out, there was a parking ticket on the windshield.

Here is one paragraph that caught my attention on the Internet machine:

We’ve had our two days of winter cold

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WE’VE BOTH GOT SOME EXPLAINING TO DO: A 57-year-old man in Muling City, China, went online to find himself a girlfriend. Using the Chinese idiom “good at understanding others” as his name, he soon hooked up with a woman who called herself “lonely plants and flowers.” He said his wife was dead (a lie,) and she said her husband was in prison (also a lie.) They sent each other pictures, not of themselves, but of more attractive people, and agreed to meet at a hotel. He opened the door to find that the woman is his son’s wife.

I DID NOT SEE THIS COMING: A school bus driver, who claims to be psychic, refused to pick up some children waiting at a bus stop in Dundee, Scotland, because he had a “premonition” that something bad would happen. Something did. He got fired.

RACING TO EXTINCTION: A couple of French nationals was arrested at Gantheaume Point, Australia, because the woman was driving at a high rate of speed while the man lay on the hood of the car facing her, dressed in a dinosaur suit and smoking a cigarette.

IS IT ANY WONDER THAT SHE LOVES HIM? A man robbed a gas station in Belleville, Ill., twice to get money to pay his girlfriend’s telephone bill.

THE TRICK HERE IS TO KEEP MOVING: A man, who stole a car in La Vista, Neb., was caught because he was found sleeping in the vehicle at a convenience store in Omaha.

YOU’LL NEVER CATCH ME, COPPER! HOP, HOP, HOP: A family called police to report that they were hiding in a bedroom of their home in Mool-boolaman, Australia, because an intruder had smashed in through a window and was thrashing about in their living room. It turned out to be a very large kangaroo, which fled when the cops showed up.

HE HAS A ZIP LINE OF CREDIT: Police spotted a suspicious man looking into cars of a fitness center parking lot in Boca Raton, Fla. They also noticed that he had a bunch of stolen credit cards sticking out of the zipper of his pants.

I JUST CAN’T RESIST THOSE BURGERS: Police arrested a man at 9:30 a.m. for assaulting a customer at the McDonald’s in Riverhead, N.Y. They released him and ordered him not to go back there. But he showed up there anyway at 3 p.m. This time he was arrested for criminal trespass and was not released.

BC Community Education now registering for free ESL classes

Registration is ongoing for Brazosport College’s English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, and the courses are free through BC Community Education.

Community Education’s ESL courses will also be starting at an earlier date this coming semester than in the past.

ESL night courses begin on the main campus on Monday, Jan. 13 with a class from 6 to 8:30 p.m. ESL classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays will be available beginning Jan. 14 from 6 to 9 p.m. at both the main campus and the Freeport CE Center.

Students can also choose to take a citizenship class at the Freeport CE Center beginning Jan. 14. These classes end in mid-April.

Morning ESL classes will start in early February, with Monday and Wednes-day classes beginning on Feb. 10, and Tuesday and Thursday classes starting Feb. 11. These classes run from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The ESL class on the main campus will be on Tuesday and Thursday from noon to 3 p.m., starting on Feb. 11.

“We’re trying to provide more options for the students by starting classes in early January and continuing in February,” said Community Education ESL/Citizenship Coordinator Juana Thomas. “We also have great instructors who are excited about the new semester. Registration is open now, so this is a great time to sign up for a class.”

ESL classes are open to anyone 18 years of age or older, and many of the instructors speak multiple languages. The ESL courses have six levels of pro-gression, beginning with no experience in the English language.

Registration is also ongoing for GED classes through BC Community Educa-tion, with course beginning in January.

For more information, call (979) 230-3600 or (979) 230-3597. To register, visit the Community Education Center on the Brazosport College main campus or the Freeport CE Center at 211 E. Park Ave.

email: bulletin94@yahoo.com (979) 849-5407 January 14, 2014 THE BULLETIN Page 3

Strange but True By Bill Sonesand Rich Sones, Ph.D.

Suicide by pesticide Q. “I’m going to do a Folidol,”

desperate people would joke. But there was nothing funny about it. Though little-known in the Western world, what was this global problem?

A. During the Green Revolution of the 1970s, countries like Sri Lanka turned to organic chlorines and organic phosphates as insecticides, says toxicologist Michael Eddleston of the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, as reported by

Mara Hvistendahl in “Science” magazine. Crop production shot up. Unfortunately, so did suicides: An estimated third of the world’s suicides – especially in rural Asia – involve ingesting such biochemi-cals. “In Asia, people don’t have guns, they have pesticides.”

Some countries have responded by banning use of certain pesticides, with rather dramatic results. By one report, hospital admissions fell by 50% between 1995 and 2005. Also, authorities developed a “lockbox” to store the chemicals more safely, with researchers distributing lockboxes in dozens of randomly selected villages in 2011.Yet there is no “magical fix” for the problem, said one advisor. Counseling services and social norms need to be addressed as well. As University of Copenhagen envi-ronmental health biologist Flemming Konradsen summed it up: This more holistic approach “could possibly impact on environmental food con-tamination, occupational and suicide poisonings, plus the development of resistance in disease vectors – all in one fell swoop.” Earth from space at daytime

Q. What signs of human civiliza-tion might be seen by an astronaut orbiting our planet at a height of 500 miles (800 kilometers)?

A. The early Mars flybys were

disappointing to many people because the photos revealed no sign of intelligent life, says Jearl Walker in “The Flying Circus of Physics.” Yet even an orbiting astronaut can distin-guish almost no sign of intelligent life when Earth’s surface is viewed with unaided eyes during the daytime. From this height, the spreading of light by the eye’s pupil (diffraction) is enough “to blur the details of nearly all human structures,” unless they’re larger than about half a mile wide (one kilometer). “However, when an astronaut views Earth during the night, dramatic evidence for life abounds because the lights of large cities can be seen.”Father of Xerox Q. What’s the very human story

behind the development of the “Xerox machine?”

A. Make that a “xerographic copier,” developed by American inventor Chester Carlson (1906-1968) and using a process that is “basically our old friend static electricity doing something useful,” says Louis A. Bloomfield in “How Things Work: The Physics of Every-day Life.” The image printed on a sheet of paper begins as a pattern of tiny black particles or “toner” on a smooth light-sensitive surface. “The copier uses static electricity and light reflected from the original document to arrange this toner on the surface and then transfers the toner carefully to the paper.”

As an impoverished youth, Carl-son supported his family by washing windows and cleaning offices after school; later, working in a print shop, he started thinking about copying and began experiment-ing with electrophotography. After attending Caltech, Carlson worked for Bell Laboratory but was laid off during the Depression. In 1938, while in law school, he invented the xerographic copying process, yet it wasn’t until 1960 that Haloid Xerox Corporation produced its first successful copier, Model 914. Gone finally were the days of carbon paper and mimeograph machines. “What modern office could operate without a xerographic copier?”

End of story: “Carlson became extremely wealthy, but he gave most of his money away anonymously.”

(Send STRANGE questions to brothers Bill and Rich at strangetrue@cs.com)

ACC to Host Big Band ConcertJazz and swing dance enthusiasts will get their chance on the dance floor

during the Alvin Community College Big Band Concert on Feb. 8.The 15th Annual Evening of Big Band Music by the Kurland Street Band

will begin playing the first notes at 7 p.m., and last dance will be 10 p.m. at the Alvin Community College Nolan Ryan Center.

The Kurland Street Band has performed for the event since its inception in 1999. The band has played concerts throughout southeast Texas for 25 years. They are regularly featured in country clubs, hotels and large parities in the Houston area and have performed at many well-known functions, including the USO Show for the rededication of the Battleship Texas.

There will also be a silent auction at the concert. Funds raised at the event will go directly to the Music Department and alumni scholarships.

Tickets are $15 and will include admission to the dance and light refreshments throughout the evening. Tickets are available at the Music Department, the Administrative office and at the ACC Marketplace online at www.alvincollege.edu. They also will be sold at the door.

The dance will be at the Nolan Ryan Center and will run from 7 to 10 p.m. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.

For more information about the event, call (281) 756-3686 or (281) 756-3600.

Page 4 THE BULLETIN January 14, 2014 (979) 849-5407 www.mybulletinnewspaper.com

Times Square ball drop has some oddball counterpartsBy Saba HamedyLos Angeles Times (MCT)

At midnight on New Year’s Eve, cities were dropping an array of creative items to cheering crowds.

Starting in Eastern Standard Time, there was a possum drop in North Carolina and a Peep drop in Penn-sylvania (the marshmallow candy’s home state). Moving west, Wisconsin hosted a cheese drop. Prescott, Ariz., watched a boot drop — and these are just a few examples of oddball revelry.

For the last six years, Mobile, Ala., has been dropping a 12-foot electronic MoonPie logo, made of plastic and LED lights, from the 34-story RSA Trustmark building on New Year’s Eve.

Though some were dismissive of the Mobile event at first, now people flock from out of state to watch the MoonPie descent, said Carol Hunter, president of Events Mobile.

Prior to the event’s inception, hotels and restaurants were not so busy on New Year’s Eve. Now, hotels in the area are almost always sold out, and the event generates an estimated $3 million in Mobile.

Atlanta has dropped an 800-pound, 8-by-8-foot fiberglass and foam peach since 1989, said Michelle Lawrence, director of marketing for Underground Atlanta, which orga-nizes the event. It takes about 58 seconds for the peach to descend from a 138-foot tower of lights.

“People look forward to it every

year,” Lawrence said, noting there is always a large musical lineup with many artists from the area. Turnout is usually about 170,000, but this year the numbers were higher because the peach drop coincided with the New Year’s Eve Chick-fil-A Bowl between Texas A&M University and Duke University.

Another tradition is just catching on in Arizona, where Prescott residents watched an illuminated 6-foot cowboy boot be lowered from a fire engine ladder for the third year.

In a salute to Wisconsin’s dairy industry, the city of Plymouth dropped a decorated metal cheese wedge from a truck ladder raised 100 feet high, according to the Plymouth Arts Center.

Putin says Olympic games safe for athletes, visitorsBy Carol J. WilliamsLos Angeles Times (MCT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed in his New Year’s address to fight terrorists “until their total destruction,” his first public comment on twin suicide bombings in Volgo-grad that killed 34 and stirred fears for the safety of athletes and visitors at the Olympic Winter Games.

No group has claimed responsibil-ity for the bombing of Volgograd’s main train station, in which 18 were killed, or for the 16 fatalities from a

suicide attack on a trolley bus. The city, formerly known as Stalingrad, was celebrated earlier this year for its heroic battle that turned the tide of World War II 70 years ago.

But suspicions have squarely focused on the patchwork of radical Islamic separatist movements in the Caucasus region just south of Volgograd and stretching across the roiling territory between the Caspian and Black Seas.

Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the Russian Investigative Committee

that is the rough equivalent of the FBI, told journalists in Volgograd that examination of the bomb fragments from both blasts this week showed that the shrapnel contents were iden-tical and therefore believed to have been “prepared in the same place.”

Numerous terrorist attacks throughout Russia in the last few years have been traced to Caucasus militants agitating for self-rule in an area of predominantly Muslim people that includes Chechens, Dagestanis, Abkhazians and Ossetians.

email: bulletin94@yahoo.com (979) 849-5407 January 14, 2014 THE BULLETIN Page 5

Internationally acclaimed pianist Gayle Martin will perform Tchaikowsky’s Concerto No. 1 with the Brazosport Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in The Clarion at Brazosport College. Ms. Martin studied with Van Cliburn’s teacher, Rosina Lhévinne, and was the American laureate at the Sixth International Tchaikowsky Piano Competition in Moscow. The program also includes the Tragic Overture by Brahms and the winning entry of the Orchestra Composition Contest. Tickets are available at The Clarion, (979) 230-3156, or online.

Acclaimed pianist featured at BSO concert

2014 MLK Celebration Committee ActivitiesThis year’s theme: Be the Change

-MLKCC Gospel Choir Concert-Saturday January 11 at 6pmGreater Mount Zion Church-BrazoriaRehearsals: January 7, 9, 10 at 7:00 p.m.- at same location listed -MLKCC Community Worship Service-Thursday-January 16 at 7pmFirst Baptist Church-FreeportSpeaker: Pastor Charles Jones-New Hope Baptist Church-Clute-28th MLKCC Banquet-Saturday- January 18-7pmBrazosport College-Dow Academic CenterSpeaker: Dr. George C. Wright-President- Prairie View A & M University Tickets: Pre Sale-$30.00 adults and $20.00 Students -MLKCC Parade & Health Fair Monday- January 20, 11amDowntown Freeport to Freeport Municipal Park Health Fair-11:00 am-3:00 pm-MLKCC Poster & Essay Contest Deadline: January 30, at 4pmOpen to local area youth. Rules can be found at www.mlkcc.org

Shingles can increase risk of heart attack, stroke, study saysBy Melissa HealyLos Angeles Times (MCT)

As if the fiery rash and painful blis-ters of shingles were not punishment enough, the average patient who suffers a resurgence of the dormant chickenpox virus known as herpes zoster — or shingles — has a higher risk of heart attack or mild stroke two decades or more after the blisters and rash recede, says a new study.

For those who suffer a case of shingles between the ages of 18 and 40, the outlook is worse: They’re more than twice as likely to suffer a mild stroke and 50 percent more likely to have a heart attack than those who have not had shingles.

British researchers calculated these increased average risks even after taking account of subjects’ cardiovas-cular risks, such as smoking, obesity, hypertension, diabetes and worrisome cholesterol readings. In other words,

all other things being equal, a case of shingles in your medical history puts you at higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

Writing in the journal Neurology, the British authors of the latest report say the findings strengthen the suspicion that once unleashed as shingles, the herpes zoster virus may plant seeds of destruction in some of the body’s blood vessels which could take years to wreak havoc.

They suggest that the herpes zoster may be an underappreciated contribu-tor to the incidence of cardiovascular disease in a population. For untold numbers, they suggest, the disease process that ends in a heart attack or stroke may have started with a mild or asymptomatic case of herpes zoster infection.

Left behind when an individual is infected with wild-type chickenpox, the herpes zoster virus settles in

and eludes detection by the immune system by lying dormant. Typically decades later, when a person who had chickenpox has some dip in immune resistance, the virus travels along a sensory nerve to the skin, where it can replicate and cause painful, burning rashes and blisters. The nerve inflam-mation it causes can persist for weeks and even months, and for an unlucky few, the resulting nerve damage can bring unrelenting pain.

It’s been known that when the shingles virus travels along the opthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve in the face, and affects the area surrounding an eye, the patient has a nearly five-fold risk of stroke in the year following. But over as many as 23 years, shingles patients followed in the current study had 14 percent more heart attacks and roughly 16 percent more mild strokes than matched sub-jects who had not had shingles.

Page 6 THE BULLETIN January 14, 2014 (979) 849-5407 www.mybulletinnewspaper.com

Sponsors of this column

(Send your queries to “My Answer,” c/o Billy Graham, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, N.C., 28201; call 1-(877) 2-GRAHAM, or visit the Web site for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association: www.billygraham.org.)

Seek friends who won’t lead you into temptationMy Answer

By Billy GrahamTribune Media Services

Contact Don Lindich at www.soundadviceblog.com

Repairing vintage ‘70s-era speakers

Sound Advice

Q: I guess I just don’t have any backbone. I promise God I’m not going to do something I know is wrong, but then I get with my friends, and before I know it, I’m doing it. I hate being such a weak person. Will I always be this way? - M.H.

A: No, you won’t necessarily always be this way if you face your problems and sincerely seek God’s help to overcome them. The Bible says, “The Lord is my strength... my heart trusts in him, and he helps me” (Psalm 28:7).

Your real problem (at least in part) is that you desperately want other people to like you, and you’re afraid your friends won’t like you and will turn against you if you don’t do what they do. To refuse to go along with them would be the same thing as telling them they’re wrong and you’re right, and you fear they’d reject you as a result.

And you may be right; they might reject you. But if so, then they aren’t really your friends. True friends would care what happens to you, but they don’t. In other words, they’re tearing you down by pressuring you into doing what they do, and that isn’t true friendship. The Bible warns, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character’” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

Begin by asking Jesus to come into your life, to forgive your sins and help you live the way you should. Then realize that you now belong to Him, and He is with you and will be your friend forever. Then ask Him to help you find new friends, friends who love God, and will encourage you and help you confront your temptations and grow strong in your faith.

Q. I have a pair of ESS AMT 1C speakers with Heil Air Motion Transformer drivers. I have owned them since the 1970s and totally enjoy them.

How do you rate this speaker system? Is it worth keeping, and is there a company that can still fix the crossovers?

—R.P., San Jose, Calif.A. I have not heard the ESS

AMT 1C speakers, but I do know of them, though they were a bit before my time and working exam-ples have become pretty rare. They were introduced around the same time as the Ohm F, the first mass-produced Walsh speaker. I remember reading reviews of both models in back issues of Stereo Review magazine. At the time, the ESS AMT and Ohm Walsh designs were considered breakthrough, exotic speakers, and they even looked somewhat similar with their truncated pyramid designs. The ESS AMT models did not achieve the worldwide critical acclaim of the Ohm F, but they were very well regarded high-end speakers and were noticeably less fussy to own and use than the Ohm Walsh speakers of the time.

The Heil Air Motion Transformer (AMT) is what gave the ESS AMT 1C its pizzazz. The AMT is a tweeter that looks like a square of folded fabric pleats, somewhat like an accordion. The original patents have expired, and the technol-ogy lives on in new and improved applications.

You said you thoroughly enjoy your speakers, and that is reason enough to keep them going. Repairing a 1970s-vintage cross-over should not prove much of a challenge for any competent audio repair shop. In fact, you could remove the crossovers from the speaker cabinets and send them to a specialist to be repaired, rather than lugging the entire speaker. You can try Speaker Exchange (speakerex.com) or Galaxie Elec-tronics (galaxieelectronics.com) for an estimate. Both are good repair facilities for obscure speakers, and I have good experience with both.

ACC hosts forum for president candidatesAlvin Community College will host community forums starting Jan. 15 to give

residents a chance to question the three college presidential candidates.The finalists, Lydia Tena Ed. D., Cathy Kemper Ed. D. and Christal Albrecht Ed. D.

will have their individual forums on Jan. 15, 16 and 21 respectively. Each forum will be from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Nolan Ryan Center.

The candidates will provide some information about themselves and then will be open to questions. The public is invited to attend.

The finalists were selected by the Presidential Search Committee. A lone finalist will be chosen by the Board of Regents after the interview process is complete.

The candidates were announced in November by the Board of Regents.Tena is serving as the Chief Operations Officer and the Northwest campus Dean

of Instructional Programs for El Paso Community College. She has worked in many leadership positions in El Paso, including Achieving the Dream Leader college liaison and interim Dean for Nursing.

Kemper is currently the Vice President of Learning at Lee College. Prior to that, Dr. Kemper worked at Blinn College, where she served as Dean of Institutional Effectiveness and Accreditation and Dean of Academic Affairs.

Albrecht is the campus President at Florida State College at the Jacksonville Downtown Campus and Kent Campus. She has been in that position since 2011. Dr. Albrecht served as the campus president at Pima Community College-Desert Vista in Arizona and as Vice President of Student Learning at Lone Star College-Cy Fair.

The new president will follow Dr. Rodney Allbright, who will exit after serving 38 years as president.

For more information about the forum, call (281) 756-3594.

email: bulletin94@yahoo.com (979) 849-5407 January 14, 2014 THE BULLETIN Page 7

With oil imports falling, US trade deficit sinks to 4-year lowBy Don LeeTribune Washington Bureau (MCT)

WASHINGTON — U.S. exports rose to a record high in November, helping to shrink the nation’s trade deficit to the lowest in four years.

The surprisingly positive trade report adds to the upbeat outlook for the economy.

With net exports stronger than expected, analysts revised higher their economic growth forecast for the fourth quarter, saying it will likely come in at a solid annual rate of about 3 percent.

The Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit in goods and services with the rest of the world totaled $34.3 billion in November. That was the lowest since fall 2009

and a steep drop from a trade gap of $39.3 billion in October, seasonally adjusted.

U.S. exports of goods and services reached $194.9 billion in November, up 1 percent from $193.1 billion in October.

American imports saw a sharper change but in the other direction, falling to $229.1 billion in November from $232.5 billion in the prior month. The 1.5 percent decline was mostly because of a big drop in the quantity and value of purchased crude oil.

In all, imports of petroleum goods fell 11 percent in November from the prior month, to $28.5 billion, sea-sonally adjusted. Meanwhile, U.S. exports of energy continued to edge higher, with petroleum shipments

rising 5.5 percent in November to $13.3 billion.

On an inflation-adjusted basis, the U.S. trade deficit in petroleum goods in November was the lowest since late 1996, Commerce data show.

Exports in November also were lifted by a modest gain in automo-tive products and capital goods such as aircraft and industrial machines. American shipments of foods and consumer goods were down slightly over the month.

For the first 11 months of last year, the U.S. trade deficit for all goods and services totaled $435.1 billion. That was down 12 percent from the same period a year earlier. Total U.S. exports were up 3 percent to $2.08 trillion, while imports were essentially flat at $2.51 trillion.

With the U.S. becoming more energy-independent, the American trade balance with oil-producing countries has improved sharply over the last year.

The U.S. merchandise trade deficit with Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations totaled $64.1 billion in the first 11 months of last year — a decline from $95.7 billion in the same period a year earlier.

At the same time, the American trade gap in goods with other major trading partners widened slightly. The U.S. trade deficit with Europe in the January-November period of last year rose 4 percent to $121.4 billion, and the gap with China was $293.9 bil-lion, up 1 percent from a year earlier.

Page 8 THE BULLETIN January 14, 2014 (979) 849-5407 www.mybulletinnewspaper.com

“The forecast is extreme: 32 below zero in Fargo, N.D.; minus 21 in Madison, Wis.; and 15 below zero in Minneapolis, Indianapolis and Chi-cago. Wind chills — what it feels like outside when high winds are factored into the temperature — could drop into the minus 50s and 60s.”

Like John Boehner said, “Are you kidding me?”

This type of news is frequently exaggerated, but even if it is half-way correct, that is still unimaginably cold.

Weather news is often pushed to the limit in the MSM, or main-stream media. When a hurricane hits an area, there is a tendency to report that other hurricanes will also hit, or that the area is going to get a lot more rain.

The people affected love to hear that, I’m sure. It’s kind of like twisting the knife.

Going to the Internet weather sites give a clearer picture. Weather televi-sion tends to go a little overboard. They finally have the limelight and are making the most of it.

I’m not saying that all TV weather is like this, but a lot of them love to scare us to death - like the weather people in Los Angeles, who made temperatures dropping into the 50s there look like an Arctic blast. They even showed a soccer practice where players had to wear long pants. Good thing we have Jimmy Kimmel putting it all in context.

“It was so cold, I had to wear two tank tops to work today,” he said during a recent monologue. “So, please, if you would, say a little prayer for us. We’re suffering here.”

Of course, it’s better to be safe than sorry, as long as the information is correct.

All this nasty weather also has been bad for retailers. After all, who wants to shop January sales in -20?

Hey, all you people who went to the Green Bay game, you’re frozen anyway, so stop by the mall and boost those sales while the rest of us stay home.

And, for all those people who like to ride bicycles and run in cold weather, I found a helpful tip on the Internet machine that may help.

“Although it may be hard to believe now, your body will get used to the cold weather. In order for your body to adjust, however, you’ll have to continue braving the outdoors for your workouts.”

I have a better way: Drive to the warm gym and have a nice workout. Then jump back in your warm car and drive to your warm house.

I have seen videos where the crazy people go swimming in the icy lake or ocean and claim that it’s not an unpleasant experience. They are lying. Don’t try it. Substitute the plunge in an icy lake with a hot shower.

But if you are interested, the 18th Annual Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plunge will be on Jan. 25 at Sandy Point State Park. It benefits Maryland’s children Special Olym-pics.

If you are going to freeze volun-tarily, do it for a good cause.

We don’t have one of these events in this area, perhaps because we are sane. There have to be other ways to raise money for a good cause, like a barbecue,or a tug-of-war, or a dance, none of which require freezing.

Enjoy our wonderful weather, dear readers, and stay warm when the temperature drops a bit. We’ll weather through these few cold nights somehow. Or, we probably already have, as you read this on your back porch because it’s back in the 70s again.

It was a tough two days, I admit. But we made it.

We’ve had our two days of winter cold(Continued from Page 1)

Stock market notches its best year since 1995 as Dow finishes 2013 with a 27% gainBy Andrew TangelLos Angeles Times (MCT)

NEW YORK — Wall Street closed out an epic year with the stock mar-ket’s best performance since 1995, fattening the retirement accounts for a generation of Americans crushed by the financial crisis just five years ago.

The 27 percent gain in the Dow Jones industrial average enabled

investors to recoup the last of the losses suffered during the Great Recession, when the value of Amer-ica’s blue-chip stocks was slashed in half. And analysts are predicting that stocks will continue their upward march in 2014, though perhaps not at such a breakneck pace.

Record after record was smashed for equities last year, generating a sense of jubilation on the floor of

the New York Stock Exchange. The world’s most closely watched index shot past 14,000 in February, 15,000 in May, 16,000 in November, and on Tuesday closed above 16,500 for its 52nd all-time high of the year.

The milestones caused Americans, still wary of the market since the 2008 crisis, to increasingly tune in to see how their 401(k) and other invest-ment accounts were doing. Vanguard

Group, the world’s biggest mutual fund manager, saw eager clients log into their online accounts roughly 300 million times in 2013, up nearly 30 percent from the previous year.

“It feels really good,” said Mark Kearney, 46, a police officer in rural Virginia who invested an addi-tional $8,000 in stocks as the rally advanced. “I was pleasantly surprised in a way, but I knew the way the

market is, it was bound to have a year like this.”

Besides the Dow’s finish at 16,576.66, broader market indexes were also red hot. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index, seen as the best barometer for the market, soared 30 percent to 1,848.36. Big gains made by technology companies powered the Nasdaq composite up 38 percent to 4,176.59.

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Long-planted idea for a public garden sprouting at Texas A&MCOLLEGE STATION -- With more

than 5,200 acres on its campus, some might think Texas A&M University’s roots in agriculture would have produced a showy, public garden by now.

Almost. The Texas A&M Gardens and Greenway Project is just begin-ning, but officials say the effort will be worth the decades it took to evolve.

Claiming 45 acres on the western part of the campus in College Station, the gardens will have more than 20 different features extending from the Horticulture and Forest Sciences Building to John Kimbrough Boule-vard near the Bush Library, accord-ing to project coordinator Dr. Doug Welsh.

Construction of the AgriLife Complex on the more open western campus in 2012 created a “back-yard,” including White Creek running from north to south on the property, said Welsh, a retired Texas A&M AgriLife Extension horticulturist who was rehired “to think about the garden 24/7 and move it forward.”

Welsh said a team of faculty, staff and students dreamed up what to do with the green space that was officially allocated in the university’s master plan.

“It could have ranged anywhere from a true botanic garden, which is a zoo for plants, all the way to an

open place or straight park just for recreation,” he said. “We’ve boiled it down to our core functions, and No. 1 is teaching. It has to be an outdoor laboratory.”

Welsh said the garden will include a variety of spaces -- green space, native tall- and short-grass prairies, White Creek’s riparian area, post oak savannah, wetlands and wildflow-ers -- and it will be useful for many different academic disciplines beyond horticulture and range management.

“I can see students in education who are learning to be primary and secondary school teachers bringing children to this garden setting to learn about science and the environment,” he said.

The area will have an outdoor amphitheater that can seat 500 and accommodate another 500 on the lawn, plus pavilions to help protect people from weather.

“With 45 acres it sounds like a lot, but it’s really not with the number of things that we want to do in the gar-dens,” Welsh noted. “So everything has to be multi-use.

“And as much as 50 percent of the property will be in more of a natural landscape, which is good for the wildlife, specifically about 50 species of birds that traverse this area.”

The idea of having a public garden has been around at Texas A&M

University for at least 20 years, Welsh said, but many kinks put such a space out of reach -- most notably the long-term maintenance needs.

“Building a garden is relatively easy,” he said. “It’s the long-term maintenance that will kill you over time -- and that’s true of both residen-tial and public gardens.”

Key to the establishment and per-petual care of the project, therefore, will be funds for both construction and maintenance, he said.

“It’s pricey, but the $60 million total includes $30 million in construction and a $30 million endowment,” Welsh noted. “Now those are big dollars, and this may happen over a period of three to five years or it may be a 20-year process. We are just entering the fundraising phase.”

The master plan was devised by Texas A&M landscape architecture and urban planning students under the guidance of Dr. Jon Rodiek. It is designed so that if a donor contrib-utes to one part of the space -- such as the rose garden -- construction will begin on that part, Welsh explained.

“We’ll have an opportunity to showcase the great work of Texas A&M AgriLife and all the profession-als across the state, because we’ll grow Texas Superstars, Earth-Kind roses, a vegetable garden and a fruit orchard,” he said.

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The new data reinforce a trend that has seen Southern states’ growth outpace that of the North-east and Midwest. Texas, which gained four seats in the last round of congressional reapportionment, lagged behind only North Dakota and the District of Columbia in the rate of population growth since the 2010 census.

California, with 38,332,521 resi-dents, and Texas, with 26,448,193, remain the nation’s most populous states.

New York narrowly maintained its third-place spot with 19,651,127

residents, compared with Florida’s 19,552,860 as of July 1. But the Sunshine State will soon surpass New York because its population is growing about three times faster, according to the census estimates, which are based on data measur-ing births, deaths and migration.

As a percent of population, California’s growth again outpaced the national average over the last year, rising 0.9 percent, or 332,643 new residents, compared with 0.7 percent nationwide.

But in raw numbers, Texas added the most residents, 387,397.

An improving state economy

in the second half of 2013 may augur faster growth in California, but Texas still has an advantage because of its energy-based economy and a population that is trending younger.

Texas is “going to keep growing a cumulative advantage in redis-tricting, until the oil economy turns (down) again,” said Dowell Myers, a demography expert and profes-sor at the University of Southern California’s Price School of Public Policy. “But California’s adding jobs more rapidly now than Texas. So probably next year I would bet that California’s share of the growth is up a little bit more.”

North Dakota is the nation’s fastest-growing state, driven by a thriving oil and gas industry. North Dakota’s population stood at 723,393 on July 1, according to the census data, a 3.1 percent increase from 2012. Since the 2010 census, North Dakota’s population has grown 7.6 percent, far outpacing the national rate of 2.4 percent.

Kevin Iverson, manager of the North Dakota Census Office, says the biggest population growth has been among 19- to 34-year-olds, primarily through migration.

“The economic winds have clearly favored North Dakota,” Iverson said, attributing it mainly to the energy boom but also growth in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors. “The real question begins to become, to what extent can you continue to grow?”

Population in the District of Columbia also grew at a sustained clip, rising 2.1 percent from 2012 to 2013 to 646,449. Utah grew the next fastest, at a rate of 1.6 percent, followed by Colorado and Texas at 1.5 percent and Nevada at 1.3 percent.

West Virginia and Maine saw slight population declines in the last year. Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Vermont and Illinois posted the slowest population growth, all at or near a tenth of 1 percentage point.

The national population stood at 316,128,839 on July 1, an increase of 2.3 million. But the annual growth rate nationally continues to lag behind where it was in the mid-2000s before the economic downturn.

Population rising faster in South and West, census data show(Continued from Page 1)

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ACC Lady Dolphins host softball campThe Alvin Community College Lady Dolphin Softball team will teach the

important fundamentals of the game during two softball camps at Ruth Ryan Field on Jan. 19-20.

The first camp on Jan. 19 will teach youngsters from 6 years old to 8th grade how to improve their hitting, fielding, throwing and running. ACC Head Coach Rudi Cantu will run the camp along with assistant coach Don Childs, former ACC head coach and University of Texas player Loryn Johnson as well as cur-rent Lady Dolphin team members.

The camp on Jan. 20 will be open to players currently in high school.

Entry fees for the camp are $75 and will include a T-shirt and pizza for the campers.

The camp will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the ACC Campus, 3110 Mustang Road. For more information call (281) 756-3696 or e-mailrcantu@alvincollege.edu.

Film icon Molly Ringwald to perform with Brazosport Jazz Orchestra

Long before she became known as a Golden Globe-nominated actress, Molly Ringwald was singing. She started performing with her pianist father’s jazz band when she was 3 years old, and she has never stopped.

Since those young days playing with her father, Molly has become a household name in the acting field, with familiar roles in iconic 1980’s movies, “The Break-fast Club,” “Sixteen Candles” and “Pretty in Pink,” among others.

Although many know of Molly through these hit movies, there’s much more to her than being successful on movie screens.

She’s also been a successful Broadway stage actress, as well as an author of two books.

On Saturday, Jan. 25, however, Molly will present what might be her biggest passion when she takes the stage at The Clarion at Brazosport College for a 7:30 p.m. show.

Performing with the Brazosport Jazz Orchestra, Molly will put on dis-play her love of jazz music, perform-ing songs off her critically acclaimed CD, “Except Sometimes.”

Molly has a clear grasp of jazz and its history from a lifelong study of the form and the great singers who inspired her, including Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald, Blossom Dearie and

Susannah McCorkle.She recorded

“Except Sometimes” with Peter Smith, who also produced, on piano, Clayton Cameron on drums, Allen Mezquida on alto saxophone and Trevor Ware on bass. Together, they put a new spin on such jazz and musi-cal standards as “The Very Thought of You,” “I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Some-times),” “I’ll Take Romance,” “Sooner

or Later” and “Where Is Love.”Molly Ringwald’s Jan. 25 show at

The Clarion is sponsored by The Dow Chemical Company. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 for adults, $30 for seniors and Brazo-sport College employees and $10 for students and children.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call The Clarion box office at 979.230.3156 or visit clarion.brazosport.edu. To learn more about Molly Ringwald, visit www.iammollyringwald.com.

Fox’s new military comedy ‘Enlisted’ is a family affairThe Fresno Bee (MCT)

LOS ANGELES — If you think the new Fox series “Enlisted” fol-lows the grand tradition of “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.” by taking a comical look at life in the military, then you should take a second look.

Sure, everyone’s dressed in fatigues. There are tanks, a military base and lots of saluting. But

despite all the military trappings, series creator Kevin Biegel says “Enlisted” is all about family.

“I’ve got two younger brothers, and after ‘Cougar Town,’ I really wanted to do something that was really intensely personal. My relationship with my two younger brothers is the longest, best relationship I have in my life, and they’ve been there with

me through really difficult times and really great times, and we’re still kind of locked into that 16-year-old mentality sometimes,” Biegel says. “I thought it would be fun to write to something that was very much like that, and then, also, write to some-thing that kind of indulged in a world that I grew up in a little bit with a lot of family and friends in the military.”

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History of the WorldBy Mark AndrewsTribune Content Agency

Come by the SPCA-BC Shelter at 141 Canna Ln., Lake Jackson, or we are at Brazos Mall, Petco and Petsmart every Saturday, to visit with these pets and many of their friends. Kennel sponsorships are now available for large or small kennels. Why not have your company or family recognized with a plaque to show you care? Call (979) 285-2340, ext. 100, or visit www.spcabc.org for details. Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered. Come by the SPCA-BC, and fill out an application today.

See who is waiting for you at SPCA-BC

Jan. 13: ON THIS DATE in 1915, an earthquake in Avezzano, Italy, killed 30,000 people. In 1964, Karol Wojtyla became archbishop of Krakow, Poland. He later was elected Pope John Paul II. In 1968, the Tet offensive began during the Vietnam War.

Jan. 14: ON THIS DATE in 1697, the Massachusetts Bay Colony held a day of fasting and repentance for having executed people convicted of witchcraft, beginning with the Salem trials of 1692. In 1952, NBC’s “Today” show premiered, featuring Dave Garroway as host.

Jan. 15: ON THIS DATE in 1942, President Roosevelt asked the com-missioner of Major League Baseball to continue play during World War II. In 1971, the Aswan Dam officially opened on the Nile River in Egypt.

Jan. 16: ON THIS DATE in 1920, Prohibition began in the United States under the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. It later was repealed by the 21st Amendment. In 1991, Operation Desert Storm began to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.

Jan. 17: ON THIS DATE in 1917, the United States paid Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands. In 1956, Ford Motor Co. began selling stock to the public, ending total family control of the company.

Jan. 18: ON THIS DATE in 1778, Capt. James Cook discovered the Sandwich Islands, now known as Hawaii. In 1943, by government order, American bakeries stopped selling sliced bread to save steel for cutting machinery for the war effort.

Jan. 19: ON THIS DATE in 1966, Indira Gandhi became prime minis-ter of India, following in the footsteps of her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, the nation’s first prime minister. In 1976, the Beatles turned down a $30 mil-lion offer to hold a reunion concert.

Answer to last week’s question: This week in 1967, quarterback Bart Starr of the victorious Green Bay Packers was voted the Most Valu-able Player in Super Bowl I.

This week’s question: In 1977, what future president of the United States ended his tenure as director of Central Intelligence?

Talking dogs: Things to resolve for the sake of your dog and yourselfBy Lisa MooreThe Modesto Bee (MCT)

As we start 2014, many of us take pleasure in making a few resolutions as a way to begin the year with high hopes and a fresh start. Below are a few resolutions I hope every dog owner will consider.

Most important, I believe, is to resolve to truly want any and all dogs you bring into your home. Like any domesticated animal, dogs rely on us to care for them, and that is a respon-sibility that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Plan for and be prepared for all of the wonderful things adding a dog to your household can bring, but keep in mind that your dog is counting on you for proper care, training and nutrition.

Never expect your dog to learn or

behave like a human. Although they are quite compatible with our way of life, dogs are very different from us. Take the time to discover a bit about the fascinating species you’ve brought into your world, and vow to better understand and appreciate them for what they are. A good start is to learn a bit about their body lan-guage, so you can better ‘read’ what your dog is saying.

As hard as it is for me to compre-hend, I know there are people out there who do not share my passion for dogs. I think it’s important for those of us who do include dogs in our lives to, as a whole, present dog ownership in a responsible and positive light. This includes teaching your dog some basic manners so he

integrates easily into public, and pick-ing up after your dog. I believe that anti-dog people would become much more tolerant of canines if our parks, lawns and public places weren’t littered with pooh, as they are now. Resolve to put a plastic bag in your pocket every time you take your dog out for a walk, and use it!

Unlike cats, dogs aren’t great at self-grooming. Resolve to give your dog’s coat what it needs to be healthy -- that may simply require a thorough brushing once a week, or regular visits to a professional groomer. If you have a dog that has any length of coat, it will require some attention to prevent matting, which can be very

painful if not addressed.Dogs generally don’t do well in iso-

lation, but flourish when considered a true member of the family. This includes inside privileges and taking the time to teach your dog how you expect him to behave when in the house. Additionally, all but the heavi-est of coated breeds will benefit from living in a temperature-controlled environment.

Finally, and perhaps most impor-tantly, resolve to behave toward your dog in a way that builds trust, and does no harm. Be kind, gentle and understanding, and know that your dog wants to be compliant, to be included, and to be your best friend.

‘Boss-napping’ standoff ends with releasePARIS — Two managers at a Goodyear tire factory in northern France were

released Tuesday after being held hostage by workers for nearly 30 hours in a row over job cuts, media reports said.

The men had been held in a conference room by workers demanding that the U.S. company, which last year announced plans to close the plant, offer improved severance payouts.

Goodyear had refused all negotiations with the workers until the executives were freed. They were released after police intervened at the plant in Amiens. According to broadcaster BFMTV, the workers had agreed to let them go.

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Solutions on the right side of this page

Bulletin Crossword Puzzle of the Week Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit www.sudoku.org.uk.

Solutions

Crossword Clues Across1 Asia’s __ Sea5 “One more thing,” for short8 Reaffirming words14 Michael of “Year One”15 “Feels won-n-nderful!”16 Knows about17 Charity18 Dairy aisle selection20 Relaxation of a kind, briefly

22 Abbr. seen in repeat citations23 Sonic Dash publisher24 End of a wedding planner’s

promise27 Publishing houses and such28 Old-time sidewalk show29 NFL miscue30 Old Bikini Bare competitor31 Univ. peer leaders32 They’re beside the point: Abbr.33 Pop-up costs

35 Raised-eyebrow words38 Letters at sea39 Southwestern ridge40 “Krazy” critter41 One taking a cut44 In cut time, musically46 NFL practice team member48 Give the heave-ho49 Goya’s “Duchess of __”50 Finish with51 Toy based on a sports legend, e.g.54 Overindulge, in a way55 Used a Bic, maybe56 Illegal freeway maneuver57 Scratches (out)58 Patricia McCormick was the first

American professional one in Mexico

59 S.E. Hinton novel set on a ranch60 Trade-in factor

Down1 Purely theoretical2 Like things that matter3 Some are ergonomic4 Light-show lights5 Market option6 Sewing kit device7 Michael Caine memoir8 Give9 Tampico “that”10 Naps11 Engaged12 Window occupant of song13 Not as steep as it used to be19 Target of some mining21 Athletes on horses25 City near Manchester26 Like whiteboards31 Draw new borders for34 Wasn’t straight35 “No problemo!”36 Need to fill, as a job37 Least lenient38 Promoting accord41 Glass raiser’s cry42 Pampas rider43 Old-Timers’ Day celeb44 Second word of a January song45 Threw a fit47 Post-presentation period52 “The Last Time I Came __ the

Moor”: Burns53 Livy’s law(c)2014 TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, INC.

Boggle AnswersCOUGAR GOPHER BOBCAT GERBIL RABBIT

In memory of Greg Wilkinson

email: bulletin94@yahoo.com (979) 849-5407 January 14, 2014 THE BULLETIN Page 15Jumble AnswersJumbles: RODEO CLOTH HECKLE ADAGIOAnswer: Often heard in the employment line -- “IDLE” TALK

MR. MORRIS By Rick Brooks

Bulletin HoroscopeTribune Content Agency

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Find a constructive outlet for nervous energy in the week ahead. Conversations, advice and brainstorms might offer useful information or inspiration for future security, but you need a quiet place to think ideas through.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Others will take your words to heart in the week ahead. You’ll have instant cha-risma and people in general will trust you at first sight. Avoid uttering words of love or making promises unless you mean them.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): It’s a

long way to spring, and you might not be a young man, but your fancies could turn to thoughts of love. You might even have a yen to fatten your piggy bank in the week ahead. Take it one step at a time.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Roman-tic moments mean a lot. In the first half

of the week, your charm disarms so use every opportunity to get closer to someone. Or use your fabulously good judgment to ask for a raise based on your backlog of experience.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You’re running at full throttle and can get a lot accomplished. In the first half of the week, while you’re mentally incisive and others are tolerant and forgiving, make important phone calls, offer apologies and put ideas into motion.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Partners and loved ones require some extra tender loving care in the week ahead, but you have the special touch needed to make them smile. Profitable secrets may be revealed, but wait for the best timing to use them.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Outside pressures may interfere with your plans for relaxation at home in the week ahead. Friends and boon companions may be busy getting things accom-plished when you’d rather be playing. Don’t take luck for granted.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Clear the decks. Slowly but surely you’re heading toward making a big improve-ment in your life, although you may not

be able to see it clearly right now. In the week ahead welcome the ending of long-term concerns.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You can figure out how to make your financial resolutions for the future come true in the week ahead. Talk over money making ideas with friends. A love interest will be in the mood for snuggling by the fireplace.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You could be challenged by an urge to go to extremes this week. You may be too focused on getting ahead and forget to say “please” and “thank you.” Be grate-ful when problems fall by the wayside.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Get to the bottom of anything that’s been puzzling you. You’ll be able to sense ways to make your money grow during the week to come. Your good taste is at the forefront so use it to make a key purchase.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The week ahead may offer you a chance to play the romantic lead. During the first half of the week, you may be feeling very loving, affectionate and ready for fun. Don’t be surprised if unexpected gifts come your way.

THE MIDDLETONS By Ralph Dunagin and Dana Summers

ANIMAL CRACKERS By Fred Wagner

BROOM HILDA By Russel Myers

Tribune Content Agency

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