ahh! good news from the GLobE!

Alex Day helped catch a baby that fell out of a window in Lawrence Sunday. (Jonathan Wiggs / Globe Staff)


By Brian R. Ballou and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff
Two men were praised as heroes today after they caught an 18-month-old baby girl who plummeted at least 30 feet from the window of a triple-decker apartment building in Lawrence.

Alex Day, 23, of Lawrence joined Robert Lemire, 45, of Methuen in catching the baby as she hurtled towards the earth Sunday night.

"She looked at me and had a weird look on her face as if to say, 'Wow, all of a sudden I'm down here,' " Day recalled in an interview today. He said he rushed the baby back upstairs to her home. On the stairs, he said, the baby actually started chuckling.

Lemire said he was walking down Haverhill Street at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday, talking to a friend on his cellphone about softball practice, when he saw some toys falling out of the window of a three-decker.

"Next thing you know, I hear a baby cry, so I automatically looked there and there was a baby hanging out the window," he said. "So I pretty much bolted across the street."

Lemire opened the door of the house on Haverhill Street, yelled for help, then returned underneath the window and tried to call 911. Day, who had been in a Bible study session on the first floor, joined him and Lemire soon warned him, "Here she comes."

The baby fell through the air and when she landed, "he pretty much got the top and I got the diaper end, or the bottom half, or whatever you call it," Lemire said.

Lemire, a home remodeling contractor who is married with two children, 13 and 16, said, "I was nervous as heck, thinking of my own kids."

Day, a trucking manager, said it was fortunate that he had started going back to the gym so he could help catch the baby, who weighed about 30 pounds.

He saw divine intervention at work in the baby's rescue. "Yeah, I think God had a lot to do with this," said Day. "Definitely, by God."

Caliah Clark was taken to a hospital. but is expected to be OK. The two rescuers were "real heroes," Police Chief John Romero said. The Department of Social Services was notified and was expected to investigate.

The child's father, Randall Clark, said he was watching a 2-month-old baby in another room when the incident occurred, Romero said.

Romero said there was no child guard on the window.

"There are a number of things we are doing to investigate on our end," he said. "At this point, we are investigating to determine what led up to this incident."

Officials said the baby had fallen 40 feet, but Lemire said that was incorrect.

The fall was 28 feet, perhaps 30, he said. "Like I said, I'm a remodeling contractor so I'm pretty good at the heights."

"I didn't know if it was a boy or a girl. I was just happy we were lucky enough to catch her," he said.

Globe correspondent Michele Richinick contributed to this report.

We have quite a few rights as citizens of the United States of America. Freedom of conscience is a basic American principle. Currently, the freedom of conscience versus unfettered access to healthcare, especially reproductive services is under the microscope. The Obama administration will soon face the decision of defining this right to us. For example, should a a doctor be able to deny birth control services to a patient because they believe that it is morally wrong? Does this violate the patients access to "unfettered" healthcare?
Last December, the Bush administration issued a "conscience rule" to protect healthcare providers who declined to participate in services they found to be morally objectionable, such as abortion. The Obama administration announced its intent to rescind the rule, but it is seeking public comment by April 9 before making a final decision.

The Cost of getting hurt...

For the past few days I have been focusing my attention on another blogspot of mine, called Rethinking Africa.(rethinkingafrica.blogspot.com) Its a place where I consider all the options and opinions that we, as Westerners, say will help Africa. Sometimes we think that we have all the answers but it is the questions that we have wrong. I'm not an expert, just a concerned individual who will make a difference. (notice I said will make a difference, not want) Please check it out if you get a chance.
Something happend to me the other day that really made me "rethink" my own life.
I was running late for my first class, so I decided to run across the campus. As I was running, I fell and landed on the edge of some concrete steps. Yep, its as painful as it sounds. Long story short, my knee swoll to the size of an orange. I have bruises,scrapes and cuts as souvenirs of my fall.
As a result of my injury, I had to miss the rest of the week from school and work. I began to become frustrated because time is money and money is time. Most of you who have been following my blog can pretty much tell by now that I am a low-maintenance type of lady. I don't need manicures, pedicures, visits to the mall or stuff like that. In fact, I'm pretty simple. And a bit frugal. But, my ability to work ensures that I can keep the simple things that I have obtained in my life: my home, car, education, daily bread, medical & dental insurance, and all the needs that my kids require.
But, this time off has made me realize a few things. Many Americans, are one step away from being in the "poorhouse". For many in the working class, an injury or becoming very ill is just not an option. Yes, America is facing a financial crisis but this has nothing to do with that. The reality of the working class is this-many of us live from paycheck to paycheck. Any interuptions in that cycle could bring on devastation. We simply can't afford to take time off. We can't afford to stay home and recover from an injury.
As a student, I pretty much have my expenses on a tight budget. I work. Get paid. Pay bills. Do it all over again for the next pay period. Although, this is a hard way to survive it also motivates me to continue working on my degree.
So, here I am at home with an elevated leg. Sipping on some green tea and trying muster up the strength to make it to my shift tonight.

Where did all the good "toons" go?

Where did all the good cartoons go? I truly believe that some things should remain the same. For example, as a child I will always remember watching the Saturday morning cartoons that came on starting at 6am. Although, my brother and I complained about getting up early for school during the weekdays, we gladly reported to the television no later than 6am on Saturday mornings. Fully loaded with a bowl of Apple Jacks cereal, pillows under our arms, and still in our pajamas we would stretch out in front of the tv. We weren’t coming up for air until the last episode of our favorite show went off.
If we didn’t have a baseball game, birthday party, or any other type of adventure to attend, my Mother would allow us to relax and enjoy our shows, most of the time. She’d even let us do our household chores after our shows IF we were really lucky. Some of my favorites were: Popeye, Tom & Jerry, Speed Racer, Groovy Ghoulies, Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Hour, Merry Melodies and who could forget my girls, Wonder Woman, Strawberry Shortcake and Rainbow Brite. Well times have changed, mention any of these cartoons to some born before 1979 and you’ll get a silent pause of confusion.
But, some of the toons out today are not so bad. I said some. Well, maybe I should be more specific. I enjoy the preschool age toons like: Blues Clues, Dora the Explorer, The BackYardigans and so on. Every toon has his day.
The time as come for little Miss Dora the Explorer. Dora, For those who don't know the fabulous Dora the Explorer, she's the character of a top-rated Nickelodeon television show about a little girl who goes, well, exploring while also teaching children Spanish. It's a great show. Dora is not being faded out like the cartoons of my day.
Dora is getting a makeover. I haven’t decided if I like this or not.
According to her network, Dora is growing up. In the months to come, she will be a “tween”. (American slang-means a young person that is twelve, not yet thirteen. Not a teenager but a tweenager) As a tween, Dora has moved to the big city, attends middle school and has a whole new fashionable look. She will also have a rich online world, a la Webkinz, in which girls can explore, play games, customize, and solve mysteries with Dora and her new friends. Her short hair has grown out and from what I can tell she loves to shop. Will she have acne too?

911 emergency call for McNuggets!

The number "911" is the universal emergency number for everyone in the United States. In 2000, approximately 150 million calls were made to 911, according to the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). If you were born in the 1960s or later, 911 was ingrained in you during childhood, and those born prior to 1968 have been exposed enough to 911 that it has become second nature. Prior to 1968, there was no standard emergency number. So whats your definition of an emergency? Difficulty breathing, fainting, drowning, unexplained seizures or convulsions? Bleeding that won’t stop, perhaps even a fire, motor vehicle accident injury, or an industrial accident is an emergency. A robbery in progress? Shooting? Just a few of situations that I would classify as an emergency. I definitely would call “911” in any of these scenarios.
Latreasa Goodman, 27, ordered a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets meal on Saturday night in Fort Pierce, Florida., but then she was told that the restaurant was out of McNuggets. The restaurant offered another item from the menu, but would not refund her money due to store policy. Goodman called 911 to report the incident. "I called 911 because I couldn't get a refund, and I wanted my McNuggets," she is quoted as saying in the police report.
When police explained to Goodman that this was not an emergency situation, she replied: "This is an emergency. If I would have known they didn't have McNuggets, I wouldn't have given my money, and now she wants to give me a McDouble, but I don't want one."
People amaze me. What about you?

What problem?

The other day I was talking with my father about my plans for the summer. This summer I plan on taking a semester off from school and doing some missionary work . I have the option of either going to S. Africa, Ghana, or Nigeria. I haven’t made a decision on which country I will go to, yet. But, as I was discussing the details and options of each assignment with my father- he made a very good point. He listened to me go on and on about the various ways that I feel that I could help with the needs of each country. I was trying my best to tell him how badly I was needed. I even tried to be clever by quoting, Ghandi. “Be the change you want to see in the world,” I urged. I told him about some of the places that I felt I could be most useful. I even showed him booklets with different projects and itineraries. He listened with compassion and I could tell by the nods of his head that he agreed. From time to time he would moan in disbelief when I shared statistics and stories with him. He was familiar with some of the information, he said. In fact, he shared some of his future plans with me. He definitely agreed with my decision. He even told me that he had somethings that he was working on to help the underdeveloped countries. But, after I finished sharing my plans with him he just stared in silence. There was an odd moment of silence between us. I became so uncomfortable that I felt the need to say something. So, I blurted it out. “Daddy, what’s wrong?” “Well,” he slowly answered. And in the most loving and concerned voice, he uttered… “Who’s going to help fix the problems that we have here in America?” “What problem?” I asked. I wasn’t being sarcastic either. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am aware of the problems in the US but, I asked this question with all honesty. In my opinion, there are so many problems here I just wanted to know exactly what specific problem was he talking about. Then, in the same manner that I had just pleaded all my reasons for leaving this country for two weeks, my sensible father began to name all the problems that we have here.
Ok, I will summarize the list of problems that he stated for your sake because our discussion lasted for f few hours . The order that I have listed them in does not reflect priority. I just listed them randomly.
These are just a few of the problems that we are facing: The United States of America is facing tremendous financial crisis. Financial institutions are breaking down. The Great Depression forced many in America into poverty back in the 1930's. Could it happen again? Food banks around the country are turning people away because demand has surpassed supply. As gas prices continue to rise, so does the cost of food. Wages continue to decline against inflation which helped create a severe and urgent need for food. War in Iraq, high unemployment rates, education, budget, housing, energy policies, oil dependency, health care, health insurance, politicians, inflation, corruption within the system.
I felt like crying because we hadn’t even discussed the moral issues that this country is facing. It seems one can hardly watch the television anymore without being bombarded by profanity, sexually explicit content, or barely clothed women prancing around – and that’s just the commercials! How about schools? When I grew up, my school day started with the pledge of allegiance to our flag. Prayer was still allowed in schools back then, and my high school graduation opened and closed with prayers led by the local clergy. Saying the pledge of allegiance is disapproved of in many areas. We hadn’t discussed the issues facing American children: like sexting (another new wave that has struck- texting sexual messages amongst teens)
My father had made a good point. We have a lot of problems going on in America right now. To be honest, many Americans are tense. Many are worried. Some say that we have been here before and prevailed. While others say that this could possibly be the beginning of something grimmer.


So, who’s going to fix the problem that America is facing. Sadly, many people feel that our new President must bare the weight of our sorrows. But, I totally disagree with that notion. While I do believe that President Obama has the power within his reach to make our problems better or worse; its unfair to put that weight on any one human. I guess I have to listen to my own words. “Be the change that you want to see in the world.” Thank you, Daddy. Thank you, Ghandi.

Notable names. . .just a few

Benjamin Banneker
(1731-1806) Born into a family of free blacks in Maryland, Banneker learned the rudiments of reading, writing, and arithmetic from his grandmother and a Quaker schoolmaster. Later he taught himself advanced mathematics and astronomy. He is best known for publishing an almanac based on his astronomical calculations.

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams
(1856-1931) Williams was born in Pennsylvania and attended medical school in Chicago, where he received his M.D. in 1883. He founded the Provident Hospital in Chicago in 1891, and he performed the first successful open heart surgery in 1893.

George Washington Carver
(1865?-1943) Born into slavery in Missouri, Carver later earned degrees from Iowa Agricultural College. The director of agricultural research at the Tuskegee Institute from 1896 until his death, Carver developed hundreds of applications for farm products important to the economy of the South, including the peanut, sweet potato, soybean, and pecan.

Percy L. Julian
(1899-1975) Alabama-born Julian held a bachelor's degree from DePauw University, a master's degree from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Vienna. His most famous achievement is his synthesis of cortisone, which is used to treat arthritis and other inflammatory diseases.


Dr. Charles Richard Drew
(1904-1950) Born in Washington, D.C., Drew earned advanced degrees in medicine and surgery from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, in 1933 and from Columbia University in 1940. He is particularly noted for his research in blood plasma and for setting up the first blood bank.

Thomas L. Jennings
(1791-1859) A tailor in New York City, Jennings is credited with being the first African American to hold a U.S. patent. The patent, which was issued in 1821, was for a dry-cleaning process.

Elijah McCoy
(1844-1929) The son of escaped slaves from Kentucky, McCoy was born in Canada and educated in Scotland. Settling in Detroit, Michigan, he invented a lubricator for steam engines (patented 1872) and established his own manufacturing company. During his lifetime he acquired 57 patents

Lewis Howard Latimer
(1848-1929) Born in Chelsea, Mass., Latimer learned mechanical drawing while working for a Boston patent attorney. He later invented an electric lamp and a carbon filament for light bulbs (patented 1881, 1882). Latimer was the only African-American member of Thomas Edison's engineering laboratory.

Granville T. Woods
(1856-1910) Woods was born in Columbus, Ohio, and later settled in Cincinnati. Largely self-educated, he was awarded more than 60 patents. One of his most important inventions was a telegraph that allowed moving trains to communicate with other trains and train stations, thus improving railway efficiency and safety.

Garrett Augustus Morgan
(1877-1963) Born in Kentucky, Morgan invented a gas mask (patented 1914) that was used to protect soldiers from chlorine fumes during World War I. Morgan also received a patent (1923) for a traffic signal that featured automated STOP and GO signs. Morgan's invention was later replaced by traffic lights

Frederick McKinley Jones
(1892-1961) Jones was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. An experienced mechanic, he invented a self-starting gas engine and a series of devices for movie projectors. More importantly, he invented the first automatic refrigeration system for long-haul trucks (1935). Jones was awarded more than 40 patents in the field of refrigeration.

David Crosthwait, Jr.
(1898-1976) Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Crosthwait earned a B.S. (1913) and M.S. (1920) from Purdue University. An expert on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, he designed the heating system for Radio City Music Hall in New York. During his lifetime he received some 40 U.S. patents relating to HVAC systems.

Patricia Bath
(1942-) Born in Harlem, New York, Bath holds a bachelor's degree from Hunter College and an M.D. from Howard University. She is a co-founder of the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness. Bath is best known for her invention of the Laserphaco Probe for the treatment of cataracts.