- OCTOBER 2: Dr. John Freudenstein, a professor from Ohio State University will present the talk...Beauty and the Beast: Lessons from the study of orchids on Wednesday, October 2 at 7 PM at St. Vincent College's Fred Rogers Center. The presentation is free and no registration is required.
- OCTOBER 4: Holy Trinity School will be having a Fish Fry on Friday, October 4th from 4-7 PM in the school cafeteria. Eat in or call for take out orders at 724-238-6430. All proceeds benefit Holy Trinity School.
- OCTOBER 5: The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ligonier Valley will hold their seventh annual Used and Unique Backyard Sale on Saturday, October 5th from 9 AM- 4 PM.The sale includes many good books, antiques, housewares, small appliances, tools, decorative items and much more. All proceeds benefit the Westmoreland Food Bank and Ligonier Valley Food Pantry.
- OCTOBER 5: Westmoreland Walks...Taking Steps Against Breast Cancer will have their 12th annual walk at Twin Lakes Park on Saturday, October 5th beginning at 11 AM. For more information, visit their website ...www.westmorelandwalks.org.
- OCTOBER 5: It's the Miracles from Maggie 5K Run and Miracle Mile Fun Run on Saturday, October 5th at Antiochian Village. Registration begins at 7:30 AM, a balloon release will be at 8:45 AM and the 5 K start will begin at 9 AM, the Miracle Mile start at 9:30 AM. The run was created in the honor of Maggie Elder, a fifth grader who valiantly battled Ewing's Sarcoma in 2012. All proceeds go to support those battling childhood cancer and for childhood cancer research. Registration can been done on-line at Miracles FromMaggie.org.
- OCTOBER 11-13 FORT LIGONIER DAYS: It's the largest event in Ligonier all year! A celebration of our town's history with Fort Ligonier. Events, arts and crafts booths, musical entertainment and the Saturday morning parade. Ligonier's radio statio, The Valley, will be providing music and community news as well as event schedules from the West Side Stage on Main Street.
- OCTOBER 13: It's the Fort Ligonier Days 5K Run/Walk on Sunday, October 13th. Race time start is 8:30 AM for runners and 8:32 AM for walkers. The race will begin and end at the Ligonier Valley High School. All proceeds will benefit Fort Ligonier Days. For more information contact the Chamber of Commerce office at 724-238-4200.
- OCTOBER 19: Ligonier's Halloween Event to kick-off Halloween Season! A Monster Bash Movie Marathon at The Ligonier Theater. A 13 hour marathon of classic horror movies. Including Thomas Edison's rare "Frankenstein" filmed in 1910 and the 1922 first version of Dracula. Classic monster movie merchandise on the 2nd floor of the theater. Vincent Price, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi movies. Details, call (724) 516-9147. $10 admission for a whole day and night of spooky fun for the whole family! Website:http://www.monsterbashnews.com/moviemarathon.html
- OCTOBER 19-30: The Ligonier Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring their annual Scarecrow Contest from October 19th through the 30th. The entry fee is $20.00 and applications are available at the Chamber office.
- THROUGH JANUARY 11: Artists in Our Midst: Art in Common Annual Juried Exhibition will be featured at the Southern Allegheny Museum of the Arts September 13th through January 11th. The exhibit displays the work of local and regional artists.
Please join our conversations. Contributors welcome.
claysh@gmail.com

Monday, September 30, 2013
events by Ligonier Radio

Historic Johnston House Program

Register for the 2013 MS Trail Walk at Oak Lodge located in Stahlstown, Pennsylvania!

unintended consequences of Obamacare
Watch for the next wave of unintended consequences as individuals get their heads around how the system will work.
Will people ask employers to reduce their salaries or hours so they can qualify for subsidies?
Will couples divorce to qualify?
Undoubtedly, yes and yes are the answers to those questions.
Try to control humanity and humans will figure out a way to game the system to their advantage starting with the politically elite or well connected getting a free pass out of Obamacare.

Obamacare side effect - look for increasing divorce rates and individuals working the game to keep earnings under the line
Under the Act, if workers have affordable single-family coverage from an employer — coverage that by law workers are obligated to accept — their family members will not be eligible for premium subsidies on the exchanges. This can make the cost of insurance for some low- or middle-income families unaffordable. But if they divorce, they get the subsidy.
Without subsidies, low-income families will not be able to afford to buy insurance on the state exchanges. The Internal Revenue Service estimates that family plans will cost $20,000 (in after-tax dollars) a year by 2016. Anyone under 400% of the poverty line, currently $94,000 for a family of four, qualifies for a subsidy — unless a family member has employer-provided insurance.
In a 2011 National Bureau of Economic Research working paper , Cornell Universityprofessor Richard Burkhauser, Indiana University professor Kosali Simon, and Cornell PhD candidate Sean Lyons showed that in 2014, when the law will take full effect, 13 million low-income Americans may be unable to get subsidized health insurance through new state health care exchanges because one family member has employer-provided coverage for that person only.
Perversely, the only way for other family members to get subsidized coverage would be for the spouses to get divorced. Then the spouse without coverage and the children could get coverage on the exchange.

Sunday, September 29, 2013
House GOP: One More Thing...No Contraceptives for Women
Shutdown assured as Republicans rally in united front to force regressive agenda on nation
"Amid the ongoing budget battle and before the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted once again to block funding for Obamacare overnight, the House Rules Committee slipped in a new provision to their stopgap proposal that would give U.S. employers permission to "opt out" of providing preventive care to their female employees, including contraceptives.

According to the Huffington Post, Planned Parenthood's executive vice president Dawn Laguens called the move "desperate, misguided, and extreme." " The country wants Congress to focus on jobs and the economy, not on pushing an extreme agenda against birth control."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/09/29-1
Hierarchy must be preserved...control must be maintained. Frightening people, truly frightening.

Fracking and Your Health
Speakers Series
Wednesday, October 9th 2013
7:00 pm
Lawrenceville Moose
120 51st. St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15201
724-485-9835
Presentation and Q&A with workers
from the shalefields
Speakers will address the jobs in the
Marcellus Shale
Free to the public!
----and----
Mark your calendar:
Thursday, November 21, 2013
in Butler!
Dr. Anthony Ingraffea,
Dwight C. Baum Professor of Engineering
at Cornell University, on the science, safety and
debate over hydraulic fracturing -- or
"fracking" -- for natural gas.
Note: Dr. Ingraffea's research for over 30 years has involved fracture mechanics - the very thing that allows for fracking - and he maintains this is a highly faulty process that needs more work before waterways and the air are subjected to the failures documented by the gas industry's own experience....failures that unwitting landowners are then the victims of.

Crazier than liberals

With all the "action" in Washington, a look into the Conservative Mind...
"Since the modern era began, men and women in subordinate positions have marched against their superiors. They have gathered under different banners—the labor movement, feminism, abolition, socialism—and shouted different slogans: freedom, equality, democracy, revolution. In virtually every instance, their superiors have resisted them. That march and démarche of democracy is one of the main stories of modern politics. And it is the second half of that story, the démarche, that drives the development of ideas we call conservative. For that is what conservatism is: a meditation on, and theoretical rendition of, the felt experience of having power, seeing it threatened, and trying to win it back. [..]
Historically, the conservative has sought to forestall the march of democracy in both the public and the private spheres, on the assumption that advances in the one necessarily spur advances in the other. Still, the more profound and prophetic stance on the right has been to cede the field of the public, if he must, but stand fast in the private. Allow men and women to become democratic citizens of the state; make sure they remain feudal subjects in the family, the factory, and the field."
http://chronicle.com/article/The-Conservative-Mind/130199/

Saturday, September 28, 2013
the 'Pathetic' American Media...according to Seymour Hersh
Seymour Hersh has got some extreme ideas on how to fix journalism – close down the news bureaus of NBC and ABC, sack 90% of editors in publishing and get back to the fundamental job of journalists which, he says, is to be an outsider. It doesn't take much to fire up Hersh, the investigative journalist who has been the nemesis of US presidents since the 1960s and who was once described by the Republican party as "the closest thing American journalism has to a terrorist". He is angry about the timidity of journalists in America, their failure to challenge the White House and be an unpopular messenger of truth.
Don't even get him started on the New York Times which, he says, spends "so much more time carrying water for Obama than I ever thought they would" – or the death of Osama bin Laden. "Nothing's been done about that story, it's one big lie, not one word of it is true," he says of the dramatic US Navy Seals raid in 2011. Hersh is writing a book about national security and has devoted a chapter to the bin Laden killing. He says a recent report put out by an "independent" Pakistani commission about life in the Abottabad compound in which Bin Laden was holed up would not stand up to scrutiny. "The Pakistanis put out a report, don't get me going on it. Let's put it this way, it was done with considerable American input. It's a bulls*#t report," he says hinting of revelations to come in his book."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/09/27-3

UU First Friday Series resumes with Molly Rush. Also, their annual fundraiser for the food bank is on Saturday. Lots of good stuff!

Friday, September 27, 2013
Tough Teachers' students finish first - how to teach for grit, success, neat stuff.

Only 586 years to go until the dawning of the Age of Aquarius... But you can see it from here...

on the township referendum
Read more: http://triblive.com/opinion/letters/4757254-74/township-ligonier-seats#ixzz2g7QeS5fY
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

5 to 8:30 p.m.
BYOB
Menu
Appetizers: Cheese Empanadas, Pork Pozole soup
Tacos: Grilled Steak, Chicharron
Specials: Steak Fajitas, Pork Ranchero in Salsa Tomatillo, Chicken Poblano in creamy cheese sauce, Enchiladas w/bean & cheese
Dessert: Apple pastries w/cinnamon sugar.
Connections Cafe and Fair Trade Boutique is located on 109 S Market St. Ligonier PA Carry out, reservations, catering service available by calling 724 238 9611.
Mountain Palace - Chicken Walnut Chaofan and Visual Acuity

Thursday, September 26, 2013
starts at 5 tonight!
BYOB
Lunch Menu
Frittata: Mushroom Spinach
Sandwich: Grilled cheddar cheese w/apples and cranberry honey mustard
Soup: Curried lentil and Corn chowder
Salads: Curry chicken, French lentil, Cauliflower and pea, Tuna and red bean, Summer corn, Beets, carrots w/ginger.
Pizza Menu
Grilled veggies, Mushroom spinach, Hot sausage, Prosciutto arugula
Today's Outrageous Gourmet Desserts
Lemon Tart, Almond Fudge Tart and White Chocolate Raspberry
Rachel's Homecoming Bouquet Special

Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Democratizing Accuracy
http://www.commondreams.org/further/2013/09/25

Add It Up: The Average American Family Pays $6,000 a Year in Subsidies to Big Business
(See the article - the link is below* - for the explanation of each of the following; space restrictions here mean no detail can be included without going over word limits.)
1. $870 for Direct Subsidies and Grants to Companies
2. $696 for Business Incentives at the State, County, and City Levels
3. $722 for Interest Rate Subsidies for Banks
4. $350 for Retirement Fund Bank Fees
5. $1,268 for Overpriced Medications
6. $870 for Corporate Tax Subsidies
7. $1,231 for Revenue Losses from Corporate Tax Havens
Overall, American families are paying an annual $6,000 subsidy to corporations that have doubled their profits and cut their taxes in half in ten years while cutting 2.9 million jobs in the U.S. and adding almost as many jobs overseas. This is more than an insult. It's a devastating attack on the livelihoods of tens of millions of American families. And Congress just lets it happen."
*http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/09/23

Watershed news
Read more: http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourligonier/4762980-74/property-watershed-association#ixzz2fxZUnbpN
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

Anti-GMO Campaigners Claim Victory as 'Monsanto Protection Act' Stripped From Senate Bill
"An amendment dubbed the "Monsanto Protection Act," which currently allows large agriculture and biotech corporations to ignore court orders involving the safety of genetically modified seeds, has been stripped from Senate's spending bill that could be voted on as early as Wednesday afternoon. Following an organized campaign against the provision in recent months, its removal was being cheered by food safety and environmental activists as a victory.
The Monsanto Protection Act, otherwise known as the Farmer Assurance Provision rider, was wedged into a stop-gap budget bill that passed earlier this year and signed into law by President Obama in March. The rider was the source of outrage by many and quickly dubbed a form of "corporate welfare" that benefited large biotechnology corporations firms such as Monsanto and Syngenta as it barred US federal courts from being able to prevent the sale or planting of GMO crops even if they failed to meet federal safety standards or were discovered to be harmful to humans or the environment. In opposition to the law's passage, several online campaigns as well as street protests followed."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/09/25-2 l

Cafe menu for today.
Frittata: Mushroom, spinach and asiago
Sandwich: Grilled cheddar cheese with apples and cranberry honey mustard spread.
Soup: Curried Lentil and corn chowder
Salad: Chickpea w/feta and olives, Red bean and tuna, French potato, Beet and carrots w/ginger, Curry chicken, Cauliflower, French lentil, Summer corn.
Desserts: Apricot Scones, Apple pumpkin muffins, Chocolate fudge almond tart and White chocolate fresh raspberry tart.
Connections Cafe and Fair Trade Gift Boutique is located on 109 S Market Street Ligonier, PA Reservations and carry out available by calling 724 238 9611.
Back By Popular Demand: Wigle Sister Indian Feast
WARM INDIAN SALAD. W/ FIVE SPICE POTATOES 8
HOMEMADE NAAN. W/ GARLIC, CILANTRO, YOGURT + POMEGRANATE RELISH. 7
CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA. ROASTED CHICKEN IN A SPICED TOMATO CREAM SAUCE W/BASMATI RICE. 13
BOMBAY CHICKEN+ WAFFLES ORGANIC FRIED CHICKEN + GARAM MASALA SWEET POTATO WAFFLE W/ GRAPE SLAW. 13
NUTELLA BAKLAVA. HONEY PASTRY LAYERED WITH CHOCOALTE HAZELNUT SPREAD + ROASTED PISTACHIOS 8
MATCHA GREEN TEA CHEESECAKE. W/ GINGERSNAP CRUST + RASPBERY SAUCE 8

Tuesday, September 24, 2013
filibuster....stop Obamacare!
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/24/cruz-vows-filibuster-until-i-am-no-longer-able-sta/#ixzz2fqAO2P1V
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

BREAKING NEWS..... YMCA gets a no go from planning
Read more: http://triblive.com/news/westmoreland/4755511-74/traffic-ymca-commission#ixzz2fq29RXgV
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

ALERT ALERT ALERT male dog found - possible pit lab mix
the dog is a med sized neutered male, brindle med length hair, pup around 8 months old. Friendly. Maybe pitt lab mix very pretty.Connies # is 724-689-5117 or 724-238-4308
UPDATE:
found at corner of McDowell and Darlington roads last evening
UPDATE:
This boy has been reunited with his owners!

Rachel's Homecoming Bouquet Special

another lovely September brought to you by the "religion of peace"

gunmen selected victims by religious test, then offered one woman the choice to convert or die.....classic Muslim jihad behavior

Sunday, September 22, 2013
fatality on Route 30
Read more: http://triblive.com/news/westmoreland/4750882-74/according-fazli-police#ixzz2ffNiQqkQ
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

Candice Wakumoto Trunk Show at Allegory Gallery - ONE WEEK ONLY!
The PMC process starts with a product that was originally created in Japan by Mitsubishi. It's pure silver powder that has been mixed with an organic binder. Working with it is kind of like working with porcelain or a ceramic clay body. Once the piece is completely dry, it is fired in a kiln at 1650 F for over two hours. During this time, the organic binder burns off and leaves only the metal. At the high temperatures, the metal sinters (which basically means the metal particles fuse together) creating a solid piece of metal. Candice has won several industry awards for her PMC creations, including the Saul Bell Design Award for her Asian-influenced hollow forms.
Even if you're not in the market for high-end artisan jewelry, you should definitely stop by to see the pieces. They're really a visual treat AND this is one of the only places in the mainland USA that you can see such a large assembly of her work!
The trunk show is one week only! Her pieces will be on display and available for purchase from September 24th to October 1st. (Also, if you have your eye on one of the pieces that is currently featured in the shop, several of them will be returning to Hawaii at the end of the show! So get it before it goes away!)

Saturday, September 21, 2013
Don't Forget: Benefit for local Rescue group this Sunday - AdoptablePets on Site

Beauty and the Beast Jr. at the Ligonier Theater

Carol & Dave's Roadhouse wins BurgerMania Contest

New Writers' Collective Seeks Members
Friday, September 20, 2013
Fine Print of Obama's EPA Rules Reveal Huge Giveaways to Big Coal and Gas
Obama can't fight 'war on coal' by giving industry $8 billion in government subsidies, say critics
"The Environmental Protection Agency announced new regulations for the energy industry on Friday which will limit, for the first time, the amount of carbon that gas- and coal-fired plants can emit into the atmosphere. And though many of the larger environmental groups in the country welcomed the new restrictions, more critical observers of the EPA announcement argue the rules don't go far enough in terms of limiting emissions. Meanwhile the Obama administration, in fact, is preparing to use huge amounts of public money to prop up the U.S. coal industry. Such a scheme, according to one critic, "will make only modest cuts to power plant emissions" at a moment in history when much more dramatic actions are needed.Pushing back against the idea the Obama has somehow initiated a "war against coal"—an argument used by Republicans and Conservatives to blast the new rules and conversely used by groups like NRDC and Sierra to champion them—the Campaign for America's Future Bob Scher asked his readers to take a closer look at the proposal. Citing New York Times reporting which shows the Obama administration plans to support the fossil fuel industry with "as much as $8 billion" in order to help it build the "cleaner" plants the rules will require, Scher concludes that "Obama is not launching a war on coal. He’s bending over backwards to keep coal viable." And the Center for Biological Diversity, striking a much more adversarial tone than its larger environmental colleagues, declared the EPA rules and Obama's effort are far too imperfect to adequately address the climate crisis facing the country and the planet. “If we’re really serious about tackling the climate crisis – and morality dictates that we must be – we just have to do more than this,” said Bill Snape, the Center’s senior counsel. “That means a stronger rule for power plants and other serious measures that lead to deep cuts in greenhouse emissions.”"
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/09/20-7

5 p.m.
BYOB
Menu
Vegetable Tostados, Grilled Steak Burritos, Chicken Fajitas, Steamed Tilapia, Tacos de lengue.
Mexican donuts.
See you this evening on the porch or in air-conditioned dining rooms.
Connections Cafe and Fair Trade Gift Boutique is located on 109 S Market Street Ligonier PA Carry out and reservations by calling 724 238 9611.
Looking for Kittens
There has been a group effort to rescue a Momma cat and her 2 kittens from the area around Dollar General.
We were able to finally gain the Momma Cat's trust enough to handle her and get her off the streets. She has her forever home... yeah for her!
Even though every effort to capture the cat family together was made - it did not happen that way . The kittens are still being offered food and shelter in the origianl feeding spot but they disappeared after that last Mom feeding and have not been seen since.
The Kittens I guestimate to be about 10- 12 weeks at this point. They were eating canned and dry food-
One kitten is the color of a deer in fall with lovely black circles around the eyes and white toes
The other kitten is a the most amazing grey striped tiger cat I have seen with the most miniscuel tiny stripes.
IF the Kittens have been rescued by someone else.....GREAT.. just let us know so we can quit worrying
If ANYONE thinks they have seen the kittens just let us know..
If you can catch the kittens and put them someplace safe for the eve we have foster homes for them.. just let us know.
I work at Rachel's Ligonier Floral..724 238 6626... leave a message
or call my mobile 814 341 9846....
Winter is coming and we want them safe and warm....
Thanks for any leads.....
Beverly J Struble

Thursday, September 19, 2013
PA natural gas news

Colorado Flooding Sparks 18,000-Gallon Oil Leak
"Over 18,000 gallons of oil have leaked into Colorado's South Platte and St. Vrain Rivers as historic flooding continues to wreak havoc upon the state. One 5,250-gallon spill happened near Milliken, while a second, 13,500-gallon release happened near Platteville. The leaking tanks are owned by Anadarko, which stated on Thursday that "there were no impacts to the environment due to our drilling or hydraulic fracturing activities." In addition to the oil leaks, Noble Energy reported "natural gas releases" from three of its wells, with one of those releases still not contained.
The Denver Post reports on Thursday that there are a total of 10 oil and gas releases being monitored in the state, with 8 of the releases classified as "minor." Officials are also warning about sewage and household and industrial chemicals that may be in the floodwaters, posing public health risks. The flooding, which many have linked to climate change, has left 200 people still unaccounted for, six dead, pet and livestock victims, and communities and businesses struggling in the aftermath of the multi-billion dollar disaster."
http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_24132296/oil-spill-along-st-vrain-river-near-platteville
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/09/19-7
