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conradscrime · 4 years

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Cleveland’s Most Notorious Missing Person’s Case: Where is Beverly Potts?

February 05, 2021

Missing persons cases to me are definitely among the most bone chilling within the true crime genre. It becomes 10x the amount of chilled bones when the missing person is a child. Ten year old Beverly Potts went missing on August 24, 1951. She has never been seen since. If Beverly were still alive today she would be turning 80 years old.

Beverly Rose Potts was born on April 15, 1941. She was a beautiful young girl with blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair. She was 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighed 90 pounds around the time of her disappearance. Beverly is classified as an “endangered” missing person.

Beverly was from Cleveland, Ohio and was described as a shy and quiet girl who had a love for performance arts. Beverly lived with her parents, Robert and Elizabeth Potts and older sister Anita who was 22 years old at the time.

On August 24, 1951 Beverly and her friend Patsy Swing both got permission to see the Showagon, an annual children’s performance that was being held in the evening at Halloran Park. The park was less than a quarter mile away from the girls’ homes. According to Wikipedia it says that this park was typically considered “unsafe” after dark because the trees would block the streetlights, however I couldn’t tell if this was information that is just common knowledge to the people at this park or if it was a rule that Beverly and Patsy were given by their parents.

The girls arrived at the park via bicycle at around 7pm, however after a while they decided it would be easier to just walk around on foot so they could move around the crowd. The girls decided to drop their bikes back off at their homes around 8pm and were back to the park before 8:30 pm.

At 8:45 pm, Patsy told Beverly they should start to head home soon, as she had promised her parents she’d be home before dark. However, Beverly said her parents had given her permission to stay for the duration of the show, which wasn’t supposed to end until after 9pm. Patsy left Beverly and went home by herself, which I definitely don’t blame Patsy for doing this, she had to go home at that time, and I feel sorry for her because I bet that’s a choice that has haunted her for life.

At around 9:30 pm when the show had ended and people started leaving, a boy who recognized Beverly saw her walking toward the corner of Linnet Avenue and West 117th Street. This would’ve been the easiest way for Beverly to get back home, and she would’ve only been a few minutes away from her house at this point.

Other witnesses said they noticed a girl who looked like Beverly standing near a “battered” black 1937 Dodge coupe on West 117th Street. The girl was talking to two young men inside the truck and the witnesses said they saw this happen anytime between 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm which is a huge time gap, however none of these witnesses noticed this girl getting into the truck at any point.

When 10 pm hit and Beverly still had not returned home her family began to look for her. At around 11pm when they had had no luck in locating Beverly, they called the police.

The police began to search for Beverly but could not find a trace of her. They started a door-to-door canvassing of neighbourhoods, following up on suspicious cars, searching vacant lots and used a plane to survey open railway cars.

Thousands of tips came in and a lot of this had to do with the amount of coverage of the disappearance. This case was huge and is actually still one of the most well known missing person’s cases in Cleveland. None of the tips police received led to any solid leads. Beverly’s family was soon cleared as having nothing to do with her disappearance and they had determined that Beverly’s home life was quite good and happy, there was no reason for her to run away from home.

Beverly was known to be very shy especially around boys and she was also very cautious of strangers which means that it is very unlikely that she would’ve went off with someone she didn’t know. Whoever knew where Beverly was most likely knew Beverly well, it probably was not a random stranger. Some theorize that maybe Beverly was murdered by a neighbour and they had buried her in or around one of the houses on her street. However, the police did check the basement of one nearby auto body shop in 1973 but found nothing, and there has never been a local suspect uncovered.

Shortly after Beverly went missing there was a $1500 reward, which would be almost $15,000 (in 2019) and this reward was offered by Robert Potts’ union, AFL-Stagehands if anyone could give any clues to Beverly’s whereabouts.

In 1955 a drifter named Harvey Lee Rush who was from Cleveland told police in California that he was responsible for Beverly’s disappearance. He claimed he had killed the girl after luring her to a bridge with the promise of candy in 1952. But Beverly went missing in 1951 and shortly after being extradited back to Cleveland he recanted his confession.

In 1980 two retired detectives claimed they received a tip from a local attorney that one of their client’s brothers had confessed to kidnapping Beverly. The police found this brother and questioned him. This man said he lived near Halloran Park in 1951 and had a “habit” (barf) of picking up girls and molesting them in the area. This man did not remember Beverly in particular but said he had “flashes” of memory that involved a girl named Beverly. The two retired detectives believed that this man was responsible for Beverly’s disappearance but the prosecutor’s office refused to look further into the case as there was a lack of evidence.

A man from Ohio who used to work at a carnival named William Henry Redmond was indicted in 1988 for the murder of an eight year old girl named Jane Marie Althoff in Pennsylvania in 1951. When he was in prison William confessed to his cellmate that he had murdered three other girls. When he was questioned about Beverly’s case in particular he refused to make a statement about it. He is a potential suspect because he was around the area Beverly went missing and he had a record of child molestation since 1935. However, his victims were often younger than Beverly but to me this makes no sense because his other victim was eight and Beverly was ten… doesn’t seem like that much of an age difference to me.

Then in 1994 a letter was discovered under a carpet in a Cleveland home written by a woman he said she saw her husband disposing of Beverly’s body in their furnace. When questioned by the police the woman said this was false, she had only written the letter as revenge against her husband because he was very abusive towards her.

Other letters were sent to a reporter named Brent Larkin of the Cleveland Plain Dealer beginning in the year 2000, supposedly from an elderly man who wanted to confess to molesting and murdering Beverly before he died. This man remained anonymous in his letters and said that he was planning to turn himself in on August 24, 2001, which would be the 50th anniversary of Beverly’s disappearance. Shortly before this was supposed to happen the man wrote another letter saying he had to go into a nursing home and was unable to turn himself in. An investigation began to try to find the identity of this man but they never found anything and Brent Larkin believes himself that this was all a hoax, which I believe too because if you really wanted to reveal yourself I don’t think entering a nursing home would stop that, the man could simply have given the address of the nursing home and reveal his name at any point during the letters.

If Beverly is still alive today she would be turning 80 years old in April. She will have been considered a missing person for 70 years this August.

Beverly’s mother Elizabeth died in 1956, only 5 years after Beverly’s disappearance. It is said she died from a broken heart over her daughter. Beverly’s father, Robert, died in 1970. Anita, Beverly’s older sister continued to search for her missing sister until she died in 2006. There is a memorial of Beverly next to her parents graves.

Author of Legendary Locals of Cleveland, Thea Gallo Becker says that Beverly’s case “remains one of the most haunting and heartbreaking mysteries in Cleveland history.” So what do you guys think? I personally believe that the witnesses who noticed a girl resembling Beverly talking to two men in a beat up truck is the most likely scenario and somehow she either knew them or they promised her something to lure her in. This is an extremely heart-breaking case and I feel as though it probably will not ever be solved.

#cleveland #ohio #missing #missingperson #child #unsolved true crime #truecrime #beverlypotts

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jacpotts · 5 years

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No More Drama | Juliac

Who: @heyjuliette , @jacpotts

When: Saturday, May 18th

Where: The WHS gymnasium

What: After months of awkwardness over Julie’s ex, Jac and Julie finally address the bad blood that has been between them their whole lives.

Jac was having a lot more fun at this baby prom than she'd anticipated. Of course, at first she only chaperoned to keep an eye on Teegan, but he seemed to be faring well by himself. She'd even broken her tradition of wearing a sensible pantsuit or jumper and opted for her own recreation of the famous 13 Going on 30 party dress, so maybe that was what was making her feel so spry and fresh. She was able to maintain a professional demeanor as a chaperone, of course, but she felt so light. It all reminded her of a way simpler time. When the familiar opening chords of (You Drive Me) Crazy started blaring through the speakers, though, Jac knew that her professional demeanor had to come down for a small dance session. She started pumping her arms upward and out, but didn't get too far before accidentally elbowing someone next to her. "Oh! Pardon," she started, before noticing it was Julie...In dog ears. "Oh! Juliette...Pardon. I -- um," she gestured to her head with a furrowed brow. "...what's so early 2000s about being a dog? Are you the Beverly Hills Chihuahua?"

Julie wasn't really much of a chaperone type person. If anything, she was still the type of girl that needed to be chaperoned. But after Mairi had enjoyed the Valentine's ball so much that she hadn't stopped talking about it for weeks after, Julie couldn't resist signing up to chaperone the Morp so that Mairi could have another fun time at a dance. However, Julie had forgotten how old the youngest castle kid in Walt was and hadn't expected to see anyone from home at the dance. At least until she got elbowed in the middle of keeping her eyes on Mairi learning to spin from the Morp DJ and found out that Jac was also chaperoning. "You're fine, Jacqueline. Whatever." Julie replied, stepping back rather than actually wanting to engage in an interaction with her least favorite person. "No. Mairi wanted me to be the Tinkerbell to her Paris Hilton." Julie replied, politely but reluctantly, gesturing towards her little girl up at the DJ booth in a short blonde wig, tiara and pink dress. "What are you? Vomit?"

Jac followed Julie's gesture to see Mairi up at the DJ booth giggling and learning from the DJ, and her heart sunk. She put on a smile, albeit a sad one, and clasped her hand over her heart. "Of course she knows about Paris Hilton," she chuckled, unable to hide on her face how much she missed babysitting the little girl. "I'm Jenna from 13 Going on 30 during the party scene!" She held her arms out and twirled, feeling the skirt bubble up around her hips. "I don't usually wear dresses out, but this felt like more of a costume party anyway." She held her small purse meekly to her chest and gave a sigh. "As long as I've got you here, Juliette -- I wanted to let you know how much I miss being around Mairi." Of course she could see her while Crannog was there, and in passing whenever she would visit. But it wasn't the same as babysitting. "And not that you'd let me know if she missed me, too, but I can assume she does. This is all kind of getting a little petty and out of hand, don't you think?"

Julie Julie might have felt a little shitty about how she'd banned Jac, seeing her now and knowing full well how much people, especially those who were damn near family like Jac was, tended to love her daughter. But in Julie opinion, it would've been too much of a bitch move if she hadn't upheld Crannog's decision that dating would only confuse Mairi, right down to the letter. "What can I say, I like to keep my baby cultured." Julie looked over Jac's outfit once again and shrugged as if she'd never even heard if that movie before (even though she absolutely had). Jac looked nice, of course. But Julie would rather die than let her ever know that. "Bold of you to assume that Mairi even mentions you, but okay." Julie didn't look away from Mairi, to answer Jac. Just in case some of the truth about how Mairi occasionally asked for Jac to babysit would be visible in her eyes somehow. "There's nothing petty or out of hand going on, Jacqueline. Crannog was the one that came up with the idea that dating anyone would only confuse Mairi in the long run. I'm just listening to him. If I wanted to get out of hand with you by now, you know exactly how I'd go about it."

Jac raised her brows at Julie's subtle dig, but kept her shoulders high. She hadn't known that Crannog had said that...But maybe he didn't consider what they were doing to be dating. Which she didn't have time to overthink and agonize over in her woman-brain that wanted to run to him immediately and ask if they were dating or just hooking up or what. "Well, I didn't know he'd said that but...People change their minds, Juliette. Have you two discussed whether or not he's changed his mind? I think I'm kind of different than him or you bringing home some stranger. She's known me her whole life." She didn't even think to mention that maybe it'd be more confusing for a child to have two parents who weren't together but also didn't seem to be romantically interested in anyone just for her sake. "I really don't know what I've done to make you dislike me for so long. I've wanted nothing more than for you to consider me family and maybe if you had, I'd find some reason not to pursue Crannog. But considering how you've never treated me like anything but the daughter of the help, I can't do that."

Julie turned to Jac finally and raised an eyebrow at her question. "We discussed it at the dance and it's barely been more than three months. So doubtful." Julie crossed her arms and momentarily considered just walking away from Jac and not entertaining anymore conversation. But part of her wanted to keep talking just so in the end she could remain the bigger person. "If Crannog won't be with mewho's known Mairi for longer than she's been alive, there's absolutely no say you'd ever be the exception to the rule." Julie narrowed her eyes at Jac's claim that she didn't know what she'd done to make Julie hate her so much and stepped a bit closer to the other girl. Even though they were both the same height, Julie had worn higher heels and knew exactly how to hold herself to seem intimidating anyway. "You don't think I hate you because your mother's my family's housekeeper, do you? I genuinely could not care less who's kid you are. I didn't like you when we were kids because every time I wanted to hang out with my twin brother, you were always in the way. And somehow twenty fucking years later, you managed to get the literal love of my life away from me. As far as I can tell from the De La Betes and the Potts, that's not how either of us was raised to treat family. So why should I have ever treated you like something you're clearly not?"

Jac nodded, bringing her arms down to her hang by her sides so as to appear calm and casual and not at all tense like she was definitely feeling. " 'Won't" be with you? You make it sound like you've been trying to get back together," Jac rolled her eyes knowing that that idea had to have been preposterous. Crannog would have told her...right? And then Julie mentioned the real reason she had been so awful to her their whole lives, which Jac kind of already figured out on her own, but there was something gratifying about hearing the juvenile reasoning straight from the other girl's mouth. "That hardly sounds like my fault at all. And besides, you had the rest of your life to be around him after I left but then you ran off to join the circus or whatever, so it looks like we both still abandoned him." She let out a shaky breath, then, realizing the rest of what Julie had said. "...The love of your life? Julie, I -- " she stammered, her heart sinking as her brain tried to comprehend that idea. She softened, stepping closer to the other girl. "...Julie, I did not know that. I just assumed that if you were living together and not together, that it was over for good. If I had known -- if Crannog had known, we would not be doing this. You should tell him you still have feelings."

Julie glared at Jac's eyeroll but didn't bother to correct her statement. She had an old ass wound to get off her chest and it was a little more important. "It felt like it when I was a kid, especially when you had so many brothers and all I had was my twin and my way more fragile little siblings. And an orchestra is much more interesting than whatever you did for years, so don't even start." Julie crossed her arms over her chest and stepped back when Jac softened and stepped closer in a way that was a lot less confrontational than she had. Julie knew how to do weird tense conversations with Jac, not whatever the other girl was trying to do right then. But then she couldn't help but let out a loud bitter laugh. "Crannog does know. I told him on New Year's and then he was making out with you a month later. So yeah, you are doing this with him knowing full well how I feel."

Jac didn't necessarily see what her having so many siblings had to do with Julie and Rainier's relationship, but she conceded anyway. "Juliette, you know that what you and Rainier have is irreplaceable. I could never take your spot and would never even try. I got a little overzealous with the realization that I'd found my soulmate, but I was also like -- five," she chuckled bitterly to herself as the walls seemed to come down between the two of them, which made the dropping of the bomb that Crannog knew of Julie's feelings fall even harder. "Oh," was all she could say for a second, finally letting her woman-brain do its worst in her head. "I really didn't know. Men, right?" She tried to joke, but knowing that both she and Julie felt so strongly for Crannog, just lumping him in with the shitty majority felt wrong. Even if it was true. "And here I thought you were just being a spoiled little princess who doesn't know how to let go of an old toy. I'm standing down. You two have something to work out, and I'm just complicating it." It stung to admit, but now that she knew Julie's side of the truth, it was necessary.

Julie rolled eyes this time and uncrossed her arms to flip her hair over her shoulder. "I know that now, Jacqueline. But I was like barely older than you and by the time logic had kicked in that it was a little psycho to always be pissed about my brother having a pal, I'd already made up a million other stupid petty reasons to hate you." Julie shrugged, her lips quirking up into a hint of a grin as she realized just how funny it all sounded out loud. And she almost laughed for real when Jac attempted to make a joke about Crannog. But since Julie did have something of a heart behind all the crazy, she did sort of feel bad for Jac in a way she'd probably feel gross about later. "I wouldn't give me that much credit. I'm totally a spoiled little princess who doesn't know how to let go of an old toy. But I think that old toy might just be my soulmate?" Julie had noticed that Jac's mention of Rainier as her soulmate didn't sound like something that wasn't true anymore and she didn't know exactly what she'd do with that information just yet, but she would think about it more if it ever came up again. "Thanks for stepping down, Jac." Julie said, testing out using Jac's nickname for the first time...ever? "I know the dick was probably bomb."

Jac noticed the twitch in Julie's smile and felt her own do the same. This was all so...stupid, now that they were fully adults. "Well I'm sure all one million couldn't have been made up. I do tend to -- I don't know, leave the lid peanut butter jar just oh-so slightly unscrewed?" She could think of a million reasons of her own to hate herself, definitely, but they were more introspective than funny. Her brows cocked up when Julie used the same terminology about Crannog that she had used about Rainier. Hearing it like that...Well, if she hadn't already stood down, she would've right then. Imagining, say -- one of the Lumos girls falling for Rainier...Just the thought nearly had her breaking out into hives. She almost placed a gentle hand on Julie's shoulder, but stopped short when she made the comment that fully sent her over the edge into laughter. Once the gut-busting subsided, Jac wiped the corners of her eyes where tears of hilarity had built up, and sighed. "....It kinda was, not gonna lie. But I'd prefer to have a clean conscience over all the 'bomb dick' in the world. And to finally have a moment with you where I don't feel like I'll leave with a knife somewhere in my body that wasn't there before."

Julie actually started to grin at Jac's response and shrugged. "Well I think your accent is a little cray sometimes but it's still not worth all the energy of hating you." Julie joked, now that they were trying to get along it was really nice to laugh together about silly shit and their now mutual ex's dick like gal pals. Like a little taste of what their lives could've been like for decades now if they'd had learned to share a little better. "I don't think I have anything on me tonight, so you would've been fine either way but yeah. I like not wanting to leave you with a knife somewhere in your body." Briefly Julie wondered if they should hug or something to really complete the moment, but then her gaze flicked up to Mairi again up at the DJ booth before returning to Jac's face. "Uh you wanna come say hi to Mairi? We should be going back home soon and she has soooorta been asking about you."

Jac laughed out loud this time, shrugging. "I will agree that my accent is pretty cray. You got me there," she nodded. This was nice -- she'd never thought about what it could be like with Julie without them hating each other. She almost made another quip about the knives before Julie mentioned Mairi. Her heart nearly burst at the mention of getting to say hi, and even more at the confirmation that she had, indeed, been asking about her. "Really?!" she asked gently with a sigh, gazing up at the little girl at the DJ booth. "I'd love that," she nodded in Julie's direction and, without thinking, threw her arms around her in a hug.

#( interaction: juliette )#( feat: juliette )

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moviemumbojumbo · 10 years

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17 Ridiculous Sequels That We're Totally Gonna Go See

This is unbelievable, but actually pretty believable, because them Hollywooders be like "money! money! money!" Some of these are more ridiculous than others, some you might already know about, and some will blow your mind, or as us bloggers like to say "it will change your life forever."

1. Beetlejuice 2

It's very early in Beetlejuice 2 development, but apparently it's a thing, and apparently it's going to involve Michael Keaton and Tim Burton. Hmmmm. Tim Burton isn't exactly on a hot streak. Michael Keaton OWNS the Beetlejuice character and will no doubt nail it again. But I mean, I saw him nail it already, sooo this is ridiculous, and yes, I will go see it.

2. Ghostbusters 3

Well we've been hearing about this for like, years. No one has been really that excited about it, and unfortunately one of the most important contributors to Ghostbusters, Harold Ramis, has passed away. Bill Murray doesn't want to be in it. Ivan Reitman is producing but not directing. HOWEVER we are now reading that Paul Feig is signed on to direct it and it will star an all-female ghostbusters team. Hey, that's kind of exciting, especially considering the chicks that Paul Feig has worked with. Please put Annie Potts in it! Please please put Annie Potts in it! She can be the secretary again! Please!

3. Dumb and Dumber To:

I was actually kind of really excited about Dumb and Dumber To, once again staring Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey, but after seeing the trailer, EYE ROLL. If the best jokes are in the trailer, then we don't have much to look forward to in this movie. Dumb and Dumber wasn't exactly a high brow comedy, but at least the jokes made sense in some sort of dumb guy universe. Many people are going to see it. I'll rent it. This November, Dumb just got Dumber. (I thought of that line)

4. Bill & Ted 3

Jesus Christ. How does this even work? Are Keanu Reeves and that other dude going to pretend to be idiot teenagers? Maybe the movie will just start in the "future" where these stupid unfunny teenagers are stuck as middle-aged men. It's a good thing the plot involved time travel! Phew! Were the first two Bill & Ted movies any good in the first place? I don't actually remember because it was TWENTY FUCKING YEARS AGO. Anyway, Keanu Reeves says there's a script. Bogus.

5. Beverly Hills Cop 4

This is full on happening, Eddie Murphy is involved, and it's being filmed in Detroit. This seems stupid, but for some reason, I don't hate this idea. I have not seen the second and third films, so maybe I'm just being naive. Were the sequels funny? Is Eddie Murphy still awesome?

6. Blade Runner 2

Well, this is based on a book, so fine. But I don't understand why they waited so long. A lot has happened to Harrison Ford since the first movie. Most recently, Expendables 3 happened to Harrison Ford. Nevertheless, Ridley Scott is set to direct and Ford is set to star. The script is apparently written, and there's a website. When Blade Runner came out, there were no websites.

7. Dodgeball 2

It will star Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn. The news I am finding is over a year old, so I guess that means the project is getting dragged out a bit or whatever. I don't know.

8. The Goonies 2

WHAAAAAAAAT? WHAATTT? This one blows my mind the most. I should put it at the bottom or the top of this list but then I would have to renumber everything, so fuck that. Just know it's the most ridiculous. I can't even imagine what in god's name this movie will be like. I can't even start to guess. I do not know. The original director Richard Donner is somehow still alive and he's into it. According to news, it's been "in the works" for quite a long time. Here's Josh Brolin celebrating the Goonies THIRTIETH anniversary and fielding a question about the sequel.

9. Independence Day 2

I mean, OK. Whatever. There's no Will Smith but there is Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum. According to Screenrant, it's coming out on July 4, 2015. Clever.

Screenrant:

The sequel will pick up in real-time, some twenty years after the first movie. However, co-writers Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich (the latter is returning to direct) have revealed that ID4-2 takes place in an alternate present-day reality, where humanity has spent the last two decades harvesting the alien technology featured in the first movie.

There's already a second sequel. They are calling it ID Forever Part 1 & Part 2, which is kind of confusing. And also very ambitious, especially with no Fresh Prince. This isn't the Hunger Games, so good luck with that. Who am I kidding, this will make shit tons of money....Ok, I'm actually very bored writing about this.

10. Jurassic World

News says it's directed by Colin Trevorrow, whose breakout project was Safety Not Gauranteed, so he's an indie guy. Maybe two dinosaurs will fall in love and listen to the shins together! Jurassic World stars Chris Pratt and Judy Greer.

11. Rambo 5

Sylvester says he's started to train for it. According to Screenrant, he's going to battle a Mexican drug cartel threat, which sounds like a totally new and original idea to me.

12. Rounders 2

Something about a card game in Paris. Matt Damon's in, and my guess is that his poker-addicted character will go to Paris for one last job before he retires. Harvey Weinstein is producing it after some boring Hollywood Miramax business split-off merger or whatever who cares.

13. Magic Mike XXL

Of course this movie's release will be a Movie Mumbo Jumbo main event showdown. The E! news says that production just started! Everyone wag yo dicks around at each other in celebration because this is happening! It's being shot as we speak! Soderbergh is pushing it forward, and he didn't wait until Channing Tatum was 72 to do it. Soderbergh is not directing, but is doing all of the other important jobs (DP, editor, cameraman). AND AND AND the best news of all is that it will be a straight up stripper movie unlike the first. It's a sequel so they plan to "swing for the fences" according to Tatum. Tatum also said that the whole movie is a bunch of shiny dudes, wildly swinging their dicks all over the place including on fences, at a stripper convention. Or something like that.

14. Taken 3

Bryan Mills, played by Liam Neesom, has really bad luck. And I don't know why people keep messing with him. He has a special set of skills. Haven't they learned that yet? Here's the proof of this movie.

15. Zoolander 2

This is majorly TBD. I've been waiting for this for years. And thank goodness Ben Stiller is in awesome shape and STILL totally looks like a hot young supermodel. Ben Stiller produced, directed, and co-wrote the first one, and according to news he would be writing the new script with Justin Theroux, who will be directing it. Lady Gaga was said to be offered a role at one point. But in most recent news, it seems as though Stiller is too busy to do it right now. He's a hollywood big shot, and I want to see Zoolander 2!

16. Clerks III

Kevin Smith was clearly stoned when he tweeted this. However, he wrote the script and it was going to get made by the Weinsteins until they saw that it would cost 6 million bones (not very much money for them). But Kevin Smith tweeted this summer that it will still be made. I wouldn't know what to expect from this sequel, but I would hope that it wouldn't be very shiny and blockbuster looking, just like the old ones. The 6 million dollar budget tells me that might be true.

Honorable Mention:

Three more ridiculous sequels that we are definitely NOT going to go see but deserve a mention are Shakespeare in Love 2 Horrible Bosses 2 Men in Black 4

What the!?

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xtruss · 3 years

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A Shifting Climate Gave Humans Many Opportunities to Leave Africa

A new paleoclimate model finds many favorable windows when Homo sapiens might have survived a migration out of Africa.

— August 24, 2021 | Granthshala

— By Sabrina Imbler

Until recently, scientists believed that modern humans left Africa in a massive migration around 60,000 years ago. But a new climate model suggests that modern humans had many windows of opportunity to leave the continent long ago.

The research, published Tuesday in the journal nature communication, reconstructed the climate of Northeast Africa over the past 300,000 years. The scientists identified that there must have been enough rainfall to allow a group of predators to survive on their journey to the Arabian Peninsula.

Archaeological and genetic data still support the idea that all non-African peoples descended from a single migration that left the continent between 50,000 and 80,000 years ago. But the paper corroborates the theory that Homo sapiens had multiple migrations from Africa.

Even though different groups may have managed to leave the continent, each of them may not have played a major role in populating the world. An old constellation of fossils, some of which have resisted dating, uncovers some of the false beginnings of Homo sapiens: part of the middle finger 85,000 years ago, found in Arabia; at least one human jaw bone 177,000 years ago, found in Israel; possibly a skull 210,000 years ago, is found in Greece.

It is inviting to extrapolate the times and routes of these early voyages from these archaeological records. But the fossils provide “limited, rather differential lines of evidence” of possible migration, said Andrea Manica, an evolutionary ecologist at the University of Cambridge and an author on the paper. Dr. Manika believes that an ecological model can tackle the question from a new angle: First predict what will be possible, then see if the fossils line up.

Rick Potts, a paleontologist who directs the Human Origins Program at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, said, “It’s an intriguing question to ask whether there were environmental limits to those earlier dispersals, even if those dispersals were limited or short-lived. ” History.

“The paper captures the important thing,” said Dr. Potts, who was not involved in the research. “Before the main there were many examples of the dispersal of our species beyond Africa.”

Jessica Tierney, a paleontologist at the University of Arizona who was not involved in the research, said she found the approach interesting but inconclusive. “Ultimately this is a model, not geology or archaeology,” said Dr. Tierney. “The mystery remains until you have better and more Palaeolithic records.”

A researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, Dr. Manika and Robert Baer first formulated their ecological approach in 2018. Scientists had already prepared a model of the climate. 125,000 years, but Dr. Manika and Dr. Beyer wanted to date the earliest anatomically modern human fossils, which were found in Morocco and are estimated to be at least 300,000 years old.

“That’s the moment you see that our species really exists,” Dr Manika said. Mario Crapp, a research fellow at Antarctica New Zealand and an author on the paper, developed an emulator for existing climate models to delve deeper in time.

To estimate when Homo sapiens could possibly have moved through northeastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, researchers needed to find the absolute minimum conditions in which humans could survive. “We wanted to build this list of good times and bad times,” said Dr. Manika.

They looked at distribution maps of present-day predators and found that human populations are generally not recorded in areas where rainfall is less than 3.5 inches per year. This little rainfall is not enough to maintain the green patches of rain, grass and shrubs that fed the grazing animals on which early humans may have relied.

Once the researchers set the survival limit at 3.5 inches, they scaled their climate reconstruction to see how sweet the conditions might be for Eurasia to travel through two possible routes: the Sinai Peninsula in the north and Further south, the Strait of the Bab- al-Mandeb, which separates the Horn of Africa from contemporary Yemen.

His model revealed a handful of historical windows during which there was enough rainfall and relatively low sea levels to sustain human migration out of Africa. The Sinai land bridge was traversable several times before 246,000 years ago, and the southern strait had even more favorable windows, including a period 65,000 years ago.

The sheer number of crossing opportunities took Dr. Manika by surprise, providing strong evidence that only a recent mass exodus had united the world with Homo sapiens. “I was hoping, perhaps naively, to be the perfect period where everything was perfect,” Dr. Manika said. “But earlier also everything was fine. At times, for a matter of fact. “

So the question still stands: if some Homo sapiens were able to colonize Eurasia long ago, why weren’t they successful?

Researchers have a few theories. If early humans had migrated out of Africa long ago, they would have faced stiff competition from other early human species; The north was a Neanderthal stronghold, and much of East Asia was probably populated by another extinct human lineage, the Denisovans. Models also suggest that dry periods often followed favorable windows, which could have isolated any populations that had migrated. But the authors also note that even though the times were nice and wet, humans may not have taken advantage of these periods to get outside.

The model had to make several assumptions, including that the Southern Strait could always have been crossed by humans and that those people may have had boat technology to make the crossing. The model breaks the geography of the area into grids with a resolution of half a degree of latitude and longitude, or about 30 miles. This approach essentially ignores the mosaic of vegetation and topography present on the ground.

Paleontologist Dr. Tierney said the paper’s climate models were too simple to predict what climate change was like hundreds of thousands of years ago. It also questioned some of the model’s rules, such that humans can only migrate with minimal levels of rainfall. “I think it makes sense to make this assumption,” Dr. Tierney said. “The Nile, on the other hand, is always there. They could go out like this at almost any time.”

Similarly, Emily Beverly, an Earth scientist at the University of Houston who was not involved in the research, said the authors did not consider its existence. fresh water springs which could have served as a source of potable water for humans migrating during periods of drought.

On the other hand, paleontologist Dr. Potts noted that the minimum level of precipitation in the model would have been “too low” for hunter-gatherers to successfully migrate out of Africa. Dr. Potts pointed to the last Research suggesting that early humans could only spread across the continent when the mean average rainfall was more than 3.9 inches per year, and spread when there was usually at least 10 inches of rain. The more interesting research question, in Dr. Potts’s view, is what dispersal paths would be available in these windows of more abundant rainfall.

Perhaps the biggest question still remains unanswered. “More and more evidence suggests that we did it multiple times,” Dr. Beverly said. “The question I always have is why?”

Abdullah Alsharekh, an archaeologist at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia who was not involved in the research, said he appreciated the paper’s examination of the prehistoric Arabian climate. “The past few decades have shown that many of our questions about the out-of-Africa model can be substantially extended by on-the-ground research in Arabia,” Dr. Alsharekh wrote in an email. “What’s under those sandy deserts?”

Dr. Manika similarly hopes that future archaeological excavations and genetic investigations will shed more light on the staggering attempt by Homo sapiens out of Africa: both the first, seemingly unsuccessful waves and the main migration that led to Homo sapiens. sapiens to irrevocably change the rest. World.

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halfwayinlight · 4 years

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Title: Fauxrents, Ch 3 Rating: PG, possibly up to PG13 in future chapters Fandom: Star Trek TNG Pairing: Will Riker/Deanna Troi

It wasn’t surprising that the corridors of the Enterprise were empty at zero twenty, but Will didn’t realize exactly how tired he was until he passed Deanna’s door and nearly gained his and realized he was supposed to be three more decks away. To where she was staying with the Potts boys several decks below. Running his hand over his beard in frustration, he went ahead and entered his own quarters. He might as well take a quick sonic shower, change into his bedclothes, and grab a fresh uniform for in the morning.

Thus far, he was nearly a week into life as a parent-by-proxy, and things were settling a little. The boys were getting better at doing their homework and having it mostly completed by the time that either he or Deanna met them in the evenings. Deanna had found a few activities to better cover the gap between the end of the school day and shift changes.

They’d discovered that the boys liked playing various games and enjoyed swimming, which they had previously only done on shore leave. So at least twice now, including in the earlier evening, they all went for a long swim after dinner. It wore out the boys, and it was a good stress release. And besides, he knew Deanna enjoyed the water, even if she still thought it was weird that humans insisted on swimsuits. He would never stop teasing her about that.

He tried not to think about how nice his bed would feel right about now. The Potts quarters did have the main bedroom, but it still felt too strange to sleep in a couple’s bed that wasn’t his. The couch wasn’t nearly long enough. More than once he found Deanna asleep on it before he was ready for bed. And he envied how she always seemed to curl so neatly on it. It was about time to check with Data or Geordi about other options because he’d spent half the day with an aching back from trying to fit himself onto the sofa.

Perception, Will reflected, really was a strange thing. It felt like it took twice as long to walk to the turbolift, go three more decks down, and walk two corridors than it had taken for him to leave the bridge and get to his own quarters. The distance was only a little further, but the family corridors were silent this late.

This particular call out so late at night was a two-part issue. The first was a yellow alert from a dicey situation with the region of space and a borderline-hostile and certainly not friendly ships patrolling the region. He had managed to smooth things over without an actual incident and without needing to rouse the captain, who had been working far too much in the last weeks and needed sleep worse than Will. He’d asked Data to call him first tonight. And although it was the most pressing to the overall wellbeing of the ship, it had turned out to be the easier of the two issues needing his attention.

Once the alert was over, a call had come up from sickbay requesting senior staff. Will had turned over command to Data and dutifully made his way down. When he had walked into the ICU area, Will found the doctor on duty with four surly looking patients.

Ensign Sa’Naar was glaring at the floor, his left eye swollen shut. Starling and Ulani were two other ensigns, both fresh out of the academy and on their first assignments. Just new enough and resembling one another enough that Will still struggled to distinguish them from the other. One was being tended to by a nurse who was mending something in his hand. The other screened for internal injuries. And the ever-eager-to-prove-herself Von Treaes was sitting in the farthest bio bed protesting that she was fine in an uncanny mimic of the way Deanna usually handled her stays in sickbay. With no more success than the counselor, either. As she was clearly unable to get up from the table without assistance.

No one had wanted to talk for long minutes. In the end, it took the report of the security officer on watch tonight and a few previous odd reports to piece it together. And Starling had broken first, pulled into a private room. Twelve questions in, and the whole story behind the overly competitive ensigns had unraveled.

All four were confined to separate private cubicles in sickbay while they rested. Tomorrow he’d have to investigate everything. He had no issue with blowing off steam. Or friendly competition. There were plenty of tournaments during the course of any given year for all sorts of games and sports. But a fight ring on Deck 28 in some empty storage bays made Will’s blood boil. There was nothing sporting or okay about knocking each other senseless.

For now, though, his initial anger had burned off. It was far past time to be sleeping. He could only imagine what Deanna and the captain were going to have to say about this. That was a problem for tomorrow. Or at least six hours from now.

He’d fully prepared to have to move Deanna before he fell asleep on the couch in the Potts quarters. In fact, he was really looking forward to her familiar weight and warmth resting against him. He swore he slept better with her beside him. In all honesty, he was tired of the couch, though. It was too short and forced him to scrunch into awkward positions. Sending him twice to sickbay for a head ache caused by pinched nerves in his neck one day and muscle spasms in his back on another. Easily remedied by Beverly… but even she had questioned why he was putting himself through it. The simplest answer was that he had been too busy during the day to deal with a better bed solution.

The lounge was silent. Lights still on as they had been when he was called away a few hours ago. He trudged on toward the low light still on in the boys’ room, and he was fully prepared to lay down the law about how they had to go to sleep. Deanna would be wiped out in the morning, and she was never a morning person as it was.

But he found everyone deeply asleep. Both boys and Deanna, still in her maroon suit, were on Willie’s bed in a big cuddly pile. His breath left him in a rush. It wasn’t something he had known he’d ever wanted until he saw this. This small slice of domestic normalcy.

For long moments he wondered what it would’ve been like. If he’d said yes six years ago. If he’d met her at Risa. If he’d tried to make it work. If he’d turned down the Potemkin. If he had done anything to pursue what she had so clearly wanted. What he had feared. And now he was feeling foolish and wondering what, exactly, he had feared. If they would’ve had a kid already. Probably not right away. But in six years, they might have had one.

And he might have screwed that up, too. Or messed up a kid along the way. Probably not the same way his father had… but the specter of that lurked.

He was so, so tired. But he couldn’t drag himself away just yet. He was trying to absorb this moment and the way that Willie was sprawled across his bed, his hand curled around Deanna’s arm, reaching for assurance even in sleep. The boy’s pillow was damp with drool. And Jake was curled up, his back to Deanna’s. But still close enough to seek the warmth and comfort she offered.

A family to come home to, even if it’s only temporary. Why the hell did he run from this?

He wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to seek out his own comfort tonight. Rubbing his face and beard, he made his way to the far side. Jake was lean for his age, not that Will was complaining. His arms slid under knees and shoulders, and he lifted quickly and moved the older boy to his own bed a few feet away. In retrospect, he should’ve pulled down the covers first. But Jake wasn’t complaining.

It was going to be a tight fit with both him and Deanna on the twin bed, but he was determined to make it work. One down, one to go. He carefully eased Willie’s hand from Deanna’s arm and tried to shift her without waking her.

A hand caught his arm and a groggy protest. “ ‘was warm,” she mumbled, eyes still closed.

“Sssh, I’m moving him over so I can sleep—”

“Not fair to kick him out of his own bed,” Deanna countered groggily. She pushed herself up, blinking owlishly and clearly attempting to muster the energy to get to her feet and trudge to the other room.

He sighed but nodded, his brain too tired to figure out how this was going to work now. But he slid an arm around her and let her lean on him as he tugged the blanket back over the youngest boy and led her back to the lounge, calling for the lights to dim. Will planned to tuck her into the sofa, but she caught his arm and pulled him down to the cushions.

The last days since they had suddenly taken on parenthood, each night seemed to end with both of them too exhausted to make many decisions. Maybe it was better this way. So he went with it and stretched out, trying to find a cushion to support his head and neck.

In moments, she was curling into the spaces left. Her head tucked under his chin, weight shifted somewhere atop him and supported by the back cushions. Reaching awkwardly and trying not to move her too much, Will snagged the blanket from the previous night and managed to get it more or less over Deanna. “’s that ok?”

Silence was his answer. She had fallen back to sleep as quickly as she had awakened. Almost alarmingly quickly. And it occurred him that this wasn’t keeping any kind of boundaries between them. But his thoughts were hard to hold onto right now. Because she was warm. And here. And it felt like something he imagined marriage to be. But before he could turn over that thought to examine it, the day closed in over him. And he slept.

#imzadi #otp: imzadi #star trek tng #counselor troi #deanna troi #will riker #commander riker #my fic #verse: fauxrents #my messed up space cinnamon nugget rolls

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the-record-obituaries · 5 years

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Oct. 9, 2019: Obituaries

Brenda Johnson, 76

Mrs. Brenda Lowe Johnson, age 76, wife of L.E. Johnson of North Wilkesboro, died Saturday, October 5, 2019 at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem.

A memorial service will be held 2:00 PM Saturday, October 12, 2019 at Reins-Sturdivant Chapel with Rev. Darrell Poole officiating. The family will receive friends from 12:30 until 1:30 PM prior to the service at Reins-Sturdivant Funeral Home.

Mrs. Johnson was born January 8, 1943 in Wilkes County to Roy and Bertha Robinson Lowe.

In addition to her parents, Mrs. Johnson was preceded in death by one sister, Hazel.

She is survived by her husband, L.E. Johnson, of the home; one daughter, Renae J. Ward and husband, Darrell, of Boone; one son, Brent Johnson and wife, Annette, of North Wilkesboro; four grandchildren, Nathan Ward and wife, Kayla, Rachel Brown and husband, Thomas, Tiffany Leonard and husband, Matt, and Megan Johnson and Seth Bell; six great-grandchildren, Sydney Ward, Cole Ward, Haddie Brown, Bailey Leonard, Tripp Leonard, and Leah Bell; six sisters, Betty Jo, Dottie, Margaret, Barbara, Tilly and Tootie; and many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Vascular Cures, 274 Redwood Shores Parkway #717, Redwood City CA 94065 or at [email protected].

Carol West, 76

Carol Burchette West, 76, of Spring Hill, Florida, passed away Sunday, September 29, 2019. Carol was born December 18, 1942 in Elkin, North Carolina. Carol was the daughter of the late Robert & Mauvrean (Pardue) Burchette. She came to Spring Hill three years ago from Wilkesboro, North Carolina and was employed as a cashier for Walmart for 20 years. She was Baptist by faith. Mrs. West was preceded in death by her husband, William Lloyd West.

She is survived by her sons and daughter-in-law, Robert & Jan West of Dallas, Georgia and William Thomas West of Randleman, her daughter and son-in-law, Alma "Lynne" & Mike McHugh; brother and sister-in-law, Robert "Frank" & Patsy Burchette of Winston Salem; and grandchildren, William Thomas West Jr., Michael Timothy McHugh II, Melanie Lynne McHugh, Robert Franklin McHugh and Max West.

Funeral service was October 8, at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Wilkesboro with Rev. Kevin Brown and Rev. Ken Pardue officiating. Interment was at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church Cemetery where she will join her beloved husband. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Carol's honor to Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, 239 Champion-Mount Pleasant Road, Wilkesboro, NC 28697.

Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements.

Brenda Hodges, 60

Brenda Lou Hodges, age 60, of Wilkesboro, passed away Thursday, October 3, 2019. She was born February 16, 1959 in Wilkes County to Gilford and Doris Hendren Johnson. Mrs. Hodges was a member of Cherry Grove Baptist Church. She was preceded in death by her father; and her brother, Clay Johnson.

Surviving are her husband James Hodges; her sons, Josh Richardson and spouse Karen, Adam Richardson all of Wilkesboro, Ryan Hodges and spouse Bethany of Taylorsville, Adam Hodges of Millers Creek; her mother, Doris Hendren Johnson of Wilkesboro; sister, Linda Prevette and spouse Junior of Wilkesboro; grandchildren, Sera Richardson, Jared Richardson, Caleb Richardson, Avan Richardson, Anna Hodges and Nathan Hodges.

Funeral service was October 6, at Cherry Grove Baptist Church on Brushy Mtn. Road with Rev. Ryan Hodges, Rev. Tim McCann, Rev. Philip Moore, and Rev. Ethan Moore officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends at Cherry Grove Baptist Church from 2:00 until 3:00 on Sunday, prior to the service. The family has requested no flowers. Memorials may be made to Gastroparesis Patient Association for Cures and Treatment. To donate go to g-pact.org Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements.

Jerry Price, 81

Mr. Jerry Milton Price, age 81 of Millers Creek, passed away Thursday, October 3, 2019 at his home.

Memorial services was October 6, at Welcome Home Baptist Church with Rev. Lyn Lambert and Rev. Jeff Collins officiating.

Mr. Price was born November 29, 1937 in Iredell County to Raymond Milton and Jeanette Lewis Price. He was retired from Carolina Business Machines after thirty six years of service. Mr. Price was a member of Welcome Home Baptist Church.

He was preceded in death by his parents and three siblings; Diane, Joe and Grady.

Mr. Price is survived by his wife of sixty two years; Roberta Mitchell Price of the home, two daughters; Beverly Price Walsh and husband Kirk of Wilkesboro and Kathryn Price Junge and husband Chad of Cornelius, a grandson; Nathan Walsh, two sisters; Brenda Goodin of Mooresville and Jean Kennedy of Statesville, two brothers; Tony Price and wife Donna of Olin and Perry Price and wife Ida of Statesville, two step brothers and two step sisters.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Welcome Home Baptist Church 132 Welcome Home Church Road North Wilkesboro, NC 28659 or Wake Forest Baptist Care at Home Hospice 126 Executive Drive Suite 110 Wilkesboro, NC 28697.

Bob Osborne, 87

Bob Osborne, age 87, of North Wilkesboro, passed away Tuesday, October 1, 2019 at Forsyth Medical Center. Bob was born February 15, 1932 in Ashe County to Bryan and Vera Osborne. Bob spent most of his life living in Boomer, NC. He played guitar and sang for both his high school 4-H band and for the Gospel singing Travelairs. He was a US Airforce Veteran. Bob sold insurance for 38 years and was a beloved member of the community and of Cornerstone Church. Mr. Osborne was preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Ruby Furr, Dorothy Hayes, Thelma Parker and Mildred Sexton; and brothers, Howard Osborne, Max Osborne and Ralph Osborne.

Surviving are his wife of 56 years, Grace Osborne; his son, Lee Osborne and Sandra Twomey of Hickory; granddaughters, Jacqualine Mahaffey and spouse John of Cornelius, Alisha Osborne of Asheville; his great grandchildren, Trajyn, Hayden, Gavin and Mika Mahaffey; and brother, Ronald Osborne and spouse Dorothy of West Jefferson.

A Celebration of Life with military honors by Veterans of Foreign Wars Honor Guard Post 1142 was October 6, at Cornerstone Church in Wilkesboro with Rev. Workman officiating. The family has requested no flowers. Donations can be made to Cornerstone Church, 418 Wilkesboro Blvd., Wilkesboro, NC 28697 in honor of Bob.

Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements.

James Kennedy, 54

James Kenneth Kennedy, age 54, of Indian Trail, passed away Tuesday, October 1, 2019 at the home of his parents. Kenneth was born September 5, 1965 in Wilkes County to James Curtis and Brenda Stanley Kennedy. He graduated from Appalachian State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Business. He attended Double Creek and Piney Grove Baptist Church. Mr. Kennedy was preceded in death by his brother, Tommy Ray Kennedy.

Surviving in addition to his parents, James Curtis and Brenda Stanley Kennedy of Hays; are his son, Josh Kennedy and spouse Tori of Traphill; daughters, Ashley Bare and spouse James of Crumpler, Kristina Tobar and spouse Christian of Lake Norman; grandchildren, Dalton Bare, Gannon Bare, McKinley Bare, Steven Tobar, Christian Junior Tobar, Fredy Tobar, Aiden Kennedy, Easton Kennedy and sister, April Ballard of Wilkesboro.

Funeral service was October 4, at Miller Funeral Chapel with Rev. Walter Hutchinson officiating. Burial followed in Piney Grove Baptist Church Cemetery. Memorials may be made to American Cancer Society for Pancreatic Cancer, PO Box 9, North Wilkesboro, NC 28659.

Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements.

Barbara Howell, 80

Barbara Jean Howell, age 80, of Ferguson, daughter of the late Lida R. Testerman and the late Clyde S. Testerman, went home to be with our Lord and Savior on October 1, 2019. She was born October 17, 1938 in Ashe County. Barbara was a member of Duncan Acres United Methodist Church in Union, South Carolina. She was preceded in death by her parents; and two brothers, Franklin Testerman and Hunter Testerman.

Surviving are her husband of 62 years, Donald Howell; her children, Donna Parsons (Ron), Danny Howell (Jenny), Dianne Miller (Joel) and Dottie Lage (Randy); brother, Jerry Testerman (Marlene); five sisters, Janet Potts (Johnny), Jewel Mullis, Margie Stanley, Mary Ferguson (Danny) and Teresa Fraley (Mike); twelve grandchildren and six great grandchildren who she was known to as "Biggy"; and several beloved nieces and nephews.

Funeral service was October 3, 2019 at Mountlawn Mausoleum Chapel with Rev. Mitchell Phillips officiating. Burial followed in Mountlawn Memorial Park. Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to Wake Forest Stay at Home Hospice, 126 Executive Drive, Suite 110, Wilkesboro, NC 28697.

Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements.

Mary Walker, 71

Mrs. Mary "Ruth" Phillips Walker, 71, of Boomer, went to her Heavenly Home to be with her Lord and loved one's that have gone on before, on Tuesday, October 01, 2019.

Ruth was born on October 28, 1947 in Wilkes County to Delbert John"Tom" Phillips and Della Dare Pennell.

Ruth is preceded in death by her parents; husband, Stuart Monroe Walker; daughter, Barbara Lynn Walker and sister, Gloria Edminston.

Ruth is survived by her daughters, Sharon Key (Michael) Bobbie Walker (Mike) , Kathy Key (Mark) , Robin Souther ; sister Debbie Spears (Doug); brothers, Ansel Phillips, Wayne Phillips, Joe Phillips; 8 grandchildren, Adam, Brittney(Michael), Kody Key, Daniel, Jessica (Dustin) Brown, Lauren (Rodney) Sparks, Josh (Jenna) Walker, Jordan Souther; 5 great grandchildren, Callie, Trentyn, Killian, Mason, Stormy.

Memorial service was October 5, at Boomer Advent Christian Church. Pastor David Jones will be officiating.

In addition to flowers memorials may be made to Caldwell Hopice, 902 Kirkwood St NW, Lenoir, NC 28645

Adams Funeral Home of Wilkes has the honor of serving the Walker Family.

Dianne Eller, 72

Miss Dianne Madeline Eller, age 72 of Ferguson passed away Tuesday, October 1, 2019 at Wilkes Senior Village.

Private Graveside Services will be held at Hartley Ferguson Cemetery with Rev. Gordon Noble officiating

Miss Eller was born July 7, 1947 in Caldwell County to Vaden Greenmore and Julia Hartley Eller. She was a member of Beaver Creek Advent Christian Church.

In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by a brother; Gary Douglas Eller.

She is survived by several cousins.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Hartley Ferguson Cemetery Fund c/o Beaver Creek Advent Christian Church, 11665 W. NC Highway 268, Ferguson, NC 28624.

Randall Combs, 47

Randall Scott "Freebird" Combs, age 47, of West Jefferson, passed away September 30, 2019 at Ashe Memorial Hospital. Mr. Combs was born November 27, 1971 in Ashe County to Dale Emmett Combs, Sr. and Carolyn Price Combs. He was preceded in death by his brother, Dale Emmett Combs, Jr.

Surviving are daughter, Brianna Storm Nethery and spouse Mexwell Owen Feigel of Idaho; son, Dakota Scott Combs and girlfriend Kayla Bennett of Lansing; his parents, Dale Emmett Combs, Sr. and Carolyn Price Combs of West Jefferson; sisters, Karen Sue Barker of Glendale Springs, Tina Combs of Hays, Sharon Taylor and spouse Allen of Todd; and three grandchildren, Dalton Matthew Nethery, Wesley Owen Feigel, and Linsie Kalin Combs; several nieces and nephews.

Funeral service was October 4, at Miller Funeral Chapel with Rev. Joey McClure and Rev. Tommy Dollar officiating. Burial followed in Goodman Cemetery Mulatto Mountain Road. Flowers will be accepted. The family has requested no food.

Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements.

Keith McNeil, 51

Mr. Keith Daniel McNeil, age 51 of Ferguson, passed away Monday, September 30, 2019 at his home.

Funeral services were October 7, at Reins Sturdivant Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Kenneth Bumgarner officiating. Burial wasin Mountlawn Memorial Park.

Mr. McNeil was born May 23, 1968 in Wilkes County to Ike Daniel and Annie Ruth Church McNeil. He was a member of Dunkirk United Methodist Church.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by five uncles; Lawrence Church, Kenneth McNeil, Ray Church, Vilas Church and Fred Junior Church and two aunts; Eula Dean Hyatt and Shirley Johnson.

He is survived by nine aunts; Judy Church of Ferguson, Stella Greene and husband James of Ferguson, Beulah Greene and husband Benny of Ferguson, Joyce Minton of Wilkesboro, Stena Payne and husband Vilas of Wilkesboro, Catherine Eller of Ferguson, Jeanette Edmiston of Ferguson, Rebecca Hamby and husband Steve of Ferguson and Elizabeth Marley of North Wilkesboro, four uncles; Tom McNeil and wife Edith of Ferguson, Henry McNeil and wife Shirley of Lenoir, Andrew McNeil and wife Gaye of Georgia and Charlie McNeil of Granite Falls and lifelong friends; Ida McNiel- Isaacs of Boone, Jeff Gentry of Kingsport, TN and dedicated friend; Carl Wolfe of Ferguson.

Flowers will be accepted.

Charles Hale, Sr. 70

Mr. Charles Allen Hale, Sr. age 70 of North Wilkesboro, passed away Monday, September 30, 2019.

Funeral services were October 4, at Reins Sturdivant Chapel with Rev. Steve Snipes, Rev. Jimmy McGlamery and Rev. R.C. Griffin officiating. Burial with Masonic rites by Wilkesboro Liberty Lodge #45 and Marine Corps League Brushy Mountain Detachment 1187 was in Scenic Memorial Gardens.

Mr. Hale was born October 16, 1948 in Columbus, OH to Raymond Lee Roy and Dorothy Flo Six Hale. He never met a stranger. He loved the simpler times which included trains, antiques and cowboy westerns. He took pride in helping his children and adored his grandchildren. He was member of North Wilkesboro Presbyterian Church. Charles was a Vietnam War Veteran where he served in the United States Marine Corps. During his service, he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnamese Service Medal w/1*, Vietnamese Campaign Medal 1/1960, Meritorious Mast, Ltr of appreciation, Air Medal w/1* and the Good Conduct Medal. Charles was a member of the Oasis Shriner Temple, Oldies Shriner Club, Past Master of Liberty Lodge #45 AF&AM, Wilkes Chapter 42 Order of the Eastern Star and was a member of the Wilkes Rescue Squad. Charles was a devoted public servant in the community having given years of service to the NC Forest Service and working for Wilkes County EMS where he was a retired EMT Intermediate.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a sister; Betty Leslein.

He is survived by his wife; JoAnne Combs Hale of the home, two sons; Charles "Chas" Allen Hale, Jr. and wife Jana Leigh Hale of Mooresville and Justin Andrew Hale and wife Kaylin Lambert Hale of Purlear, three grandchildren; Molly Leigh Hale, Caroline Elizabeth Hale and Allie Grace Hale, a sister; Edna Butts and husband Jerry of OH and a brother; Raymond Lee Roy Hale, Jr. and wife Arlene of FL.

Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to Oasis Shriners Temple 604 Doug Mayes Pl Charlotte, NC 28262.

Claudia Eller, 90

Mrs. Claudia Mae Eller, age 90 of Purlear passed away Sunday, September 29, 2019 at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

Mrs. Eller was born May 25, 2019 in Ashe County to Carl and Edna Dancy Pruitt. She was an avid reader, loved flowers and animals and was a member of Millers Creek Baptist Church.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband; Bill Eller, two sisters; Ruby Harless and Mary Wilson and two brothers; Claude Pruitt and James Pruitt.

She is survived by three daughters; Susie Tilley and husband Daniel of North Wilkesboro, Kathryn Eller of Purlear and Barbara Foster and husband Roger of Concord, one son; Rickie Joe Waters of Virginia Beach, VA, five grandchildren; Michael Queen and wife Deanna, Timothy Burton Foster, Nicole Jacobs and husband Craig, Joey Eller and wife Wendy and Kristina Goulds, ten great grandchildren; Caleb and Noah Queen, Raegan and Garrett Foster, Madison Jacobs, Leah Meeks and husband Andrew, Chase, Brayden and Paxton Eller and Peyton Ann Goulds and one great great grandson; Dawson Meeks and fur baby; Kaley.

Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, PO Box 9, North Wilkesboro, NC 28659

Mattie Blackburn, 78

Mrs. Mattie Church Blackburn, age 78 of Purlear, wife of Harold Blackburn, passed away Sunday, September 29, 2019 at Wilkes Senior village.

Private Graveside services were October 1, at Lewis Fork Baptist Church Cemetery with Rev. Dwayne Andrews officiating.

Mrs. Blackburn was born June 14, 1941 in Wilkes county to Troy Alton and Lora Mae Faw Church. She was a member of Lewis Fork Baptist Church.

In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by an infant brother and sister.

She is survived by her husband; Harold Clay Blackburn of the home, four daughters; Debbie Blackburn of Purlear, Patricia Wyatt and husband Jeffrey of North Wilkesboro, Beth Johnson and husband Roy of Purlear and Christian Cardwell and husband Kevin of Millers Creek, eight grandchildren; Jennifer Wyatt, Matthew Wyatt, Emilee Hartley, Courtney Pierce, Madison Huffman, Seth Hartley, Haley Cardwell and Hannah Ortiz, two sisters; Janie English of Drexel and Sue Shumate of Biloxi, MS. and one brother; Troy Leon Church of North Wilkesboro.

Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, PO Box 9, North Wilkesboro, NC 28659

The family requests no food.

J.C. Felts, 87

J.C. Felts, age 87, of McGrady, passed away Saturday, September 28, 2019 at SECU Hospice Home in Yadkinville. He was born December 17, 1931 in Wilkes County to Everett and Cordelia Absher Felts. Mr. Felts was a member of Mountain Valley Baptist Church of McGrady and a US Army Veteran. Mr. Felts was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Christine Davis Felts; brothers, Don Felts, Edward Felts; and sisters, Hazel Felts Greene and Ruby Felts McGrady Royal.

The patriarch of the gospel singing group "Felts Family" and husband to Christine Felts as well as daddy to Cathy and Vicki went home to be with the Lord and join his wife of 66 years on September 28, 2019. His life began with very humble beginnings to a family during the depression. He lost his dad at age 5 and was then raised with two brothers and two sisters by a very determined Mommy. Despite all of his childhood struggles he overcame them all. At age 21 while working in Lenoir, he met a 16 year old young lady, Christine Davis. 30 days later they ran away and got married. Shortly after getting married he joined the Army and proudly served for two years. Leaving the military with a life long disability and with the help of his wife Christine, he successfully built three businesses from the ground up; at the same time raising his two daughters along with traveling as "The Felts Family". While building the business, "Felts Grocery and Snack Bar" he took his family and traveled for fifteen years singing the gospel.

He was a charter member of the McGrady Fire Dept. as well as the Halls Mills Ruritan Club. As he reached his retirement years he once again began a new venture, J & J Mobile Home Park. Throughout the rest of his life he continued being faithful to God's calling as a deacon, working in his local church as well as spreading the gospel in song at every opportunity.

When tragedy struck his wife of 66 years he faithfully took care of her until her death, June 1, 2019. For him he then felt like his work on earth was finished. The things that brought him joy in his later years was making music with old friends and playing his guitar. But the thing that brought him the most joy was knowing the family tradition of gospel singing was going to be carried on by his granddaughter, DeAnna Bumgarner Lovette and her family. J.C. Felts was not a perfect man but he was a perfect daddy, grandpa, great grandpaw. It brings us real peace to know he and our mother are now singing God's praises together and they will never grow old or sick again.

Surviving are his daughters, Cathy Bumgarner and spouse Garey, and Vicki Carty and spouse Tim all of North Wilkesboro; grandchildren, Deanna Bumgarner Lovette and spouse Bobby of Wilkesboro, Rev. James Jason Bumgarner and spouse Michelle of Millers Creek, Tabitha Lovette of Ronda, Rebecca Shepherd Minton and spouse Anthony of Wilkesboro, Brandi Carty Linville and spouse Kenneth of McGrady, Samantha Carty of North Wilkesboro; and twelve great grandchildren.

Funeral service was October 1, at Mountain Valley Baptist Church in McGrady with Rev. Jason Bumgarner, Rev. Donnie Shumate, Rev. Eddie Tharpe and Rev. Ronnie McManus officiating. Burial with military honors by Veterans of Foreign Wars Honor Guard Post 1142 followed in Cane Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.

Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to Cane Creek Baptist Church Cemetery Fund, PO Box 134, McGrady, NC 28649.

Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements.

Mary Sheppard, 71

Mary Lou Lunsford Sheppard, age 71, of Wilkesboro, passed away Friday, September 27, 2019 at Wake Forest Baptist Health-Wilkes Regional. She was born June 21, 1948 in Wilkes County to Grover and Maie Hendren Lunsford. Mrs. Sheppard was a member of Cub Creek Baptist Church. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, William Bower Sheppard; granddaughter, Kayla Dubuque; grandson, Anthony Sheppard; brother, Coy Lunsford; and sister, Pauline Jarvis.

Surviving are her children, Beth Wood and spouse Jeff of North Wilkesboro, Mary Sales and spouse Donald of Ronda, Billy Sheppard and Kim Young both of Wilkesboro, Shane Sheppard and spouse Shelia of Purlear; grandchildren, Alicia Wood, Curtis Wood, Nicole Gwyn, Bill Hairston, Donavan Sheppard, Catlin Foster, Mason Foster; sisters, Irene Johnson and spouse Commie of Moravian Falls, Juanita Greene of Mulberry; brothers, Clyde Lunsford and spouse Debra of Moravian Falls, Billy Lunsford and spouse Vicie of North Wilkesboro; seven great grandchildren; several nieces and nephews.

Memorial service was October 1, at Cub Creek Baptist Church with Rev. Brian Sampson officiating.

Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements.

Vena Prevette, 90\

Mrs. Vena Mae Roope Prevette, age 90 of Hays, passed away Thursday, September 26, 2019 at Wilkes Senior Village.

Funeral services were September 29, at Round Mountain Baptist Church with Rev. Roger Jennings and Rev. Jason Wiles officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery.

Mrs. Prevette was born February 26, 1929 in Wilkes County to James Sherman and Mattie Billings Roope. She retired from Modern Globe and was the oldest living member of Round Mountain Baptist Church.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband; Albert Prevette, a daughter; Debra Prevette, a son; James Albert Prevette, a granddaughter; Andrea P. Owings, two brothers; Wayne Roope and Fred Roope and a son in law; Clinton Miller.

She is survived by a daughter; Mary Miller of North Wilkesboro, a son; David Prevette of North Wilkesboro, five grandchildren; Brandon Prevette, Amanda McMillan, Barry Prevette, Michael Prevette and Dana Prevette, seventeen great grandchildren; Andrew Owings, Elizabeth Owings, Sarah Owings, Brendan Prevette, Laney Prevette, Brayden Prevette, Alexis Prevette, Christian Prevette, Joshua Miller, Cameron McMillan, Caleb McMillan, Cadence Prevette, Alexis Peacock, Hailey Peacock, Nathan Brown, Hailey Brown and Emma Brown, six great great grandchildren; Camilla, Calvin, Jaxon, Maddix, River and Delilah, a sister; Virginia Dare Neenan and husband Charles of Wake Forest, a brother; Clyde Roope and wife Charlene of King and a daughter in law; Margaret Prevette of North Wilkesboro.

Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to Samaritans Purse PO Box 300 Boone, NC 28607.

Jerry Lowe, 74

Jerry Ray Lowe, age 74, of Lakeland, FL, passed away Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019 at Lakeland Regional Health. He was born Dec. 1, 1944 in Wilkes County to Roy and Vera Hall Lowe. Jerry attended Bethel Baptist Church in Lakeland, FL and was a US Marine Veteran. Jerry loved God and his family more than anything. Jerry was preceded in death by his parents, Roy Clifton Lowe, Vera Hall Lowe and his brother, Everett Lowe.

Surviving are his children, Pamela Bracey and spouse Brian, Cynthia Shower and spouse Kevin of Lakeland, FL, Shoun Lowe and spouse Pennie of Euless, TX; and grandchildren, Easton Bracey, Layton Bracey, Brila Bracey, Chanse Shower, Bryse Shower, Courtney Martin, Dayna Lowe and Keyda Lowe; brother, Bill Lowe of North Wilkesboro, NC and several nieces and nephews.

Funeral service was October 5, at Miller Funeral Chapel with Pastor Eddie Foster and Pastor Wayne Roberts officiating. Burial with Military Honors by Veterans of Foreign Wars Honor Guard Post 1142 followed at Mountlawn Memorial Park.

Flowers will be accepted or donations to Bethel Baptist Church Building Fund, 3125 West Socrum Loop Rd, Lakeland, FL, 33810.

Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements.

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sciencespies · 5 years

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A 3.8-Million-Year-Old Skull Puts a New Face on a Little-Known Human Ancestor

https://sciencespies.com/nature/a-3-8-million-year-old-skull-puts-a-new-face-on-a-little-known-human-ancestor/

A 3.8-Million-Year-Old Skull Puts a New Face on a Little-Known Human Ancestor

Spotting the intact Australopithecus skull in the Ethiopian dirt caused paleoanthropologist Yohannes Haile-Selassie to literally jump for joy. “It was something that I’ve never seen before, and I’ve seen a lot of cranial fossils,” he says.

The chance discovery by Haile-Selassie and an Ethiopian shepherd has created a captivating portrait of 3.8-million-year-old face, providing an unprecedented look at a hominin species from a key stage of human evolution. Experts say the extraordinary fossil can help redefine the branches of humans’ evolutionary tree during a time when our ancestors had just evolved efficient ways to walk upright.

“This cranium looks set to become another celebrated icon of human evolution,” Fred Spoor, a human evolution researcher at the Natural History Museum in London, writes in a News & Views article that accompanied Haile-Selassie and colleagues’ new study in the journal Nature.

The amazingly complete skull surfaced at Woranso-Mille, in Ethiopia’s Afar region, back in 2016. But it has taken 3 and a half years of hard work to answer the first question that arose—just what kind of skull is it?

Composite image of human hands holding “MRD” by Jennifer Taylor.

(Photography by Dale Omori and Liz Russell / Cleveland Museum of Natural History)

Haile-Selassie and colleagues compared the skull (dubbed MRD after part of its collection ID number) with a wide variety of hominin fossils from across Africa. They sized up different morphological features to see what species the cranium represents and where it fits in the interconnected lineages of our family tree. The results identify the skull as belonging to a male Australopithecus anamensis. The hominin species is theorized to have vanished a bit earlier than 3.8 million years ago after giving rise to a later lineage, Australopithecus afarensis, to which the famed fossil Lucy belongs. A. anamensis has traits of both apes (climbing arms and wrists) and humans (changes in the ankles and knee joints to facilitate walking on two feet).

Most previous fossil specimens of A. anamensis are limited to small bits of bone, such as a tooth, partial jaw, or fragment of arm or shin. The opportunity to study a nearly complete braincase and face confirms the “southern ape” as a unique species and shines light on the differences between two of our most ancient hominin ancestors, A. anamensis and A. afarensis.

“Most of A. anamensis’ own traits are quite primitive,” Haile-Selassie says, noting the individual’s small brain, protruding face and large canine teeth. “There are a few features exclusively shared with A. afarensis, like the orbital region in the frontal area. But everything else is really primitive. If you look at it from the back, it looks like an ape. This is something that I never expected to see in a species that is hypothesized to be the ancestor of A. afarensis. So it changed the whole gamut of ideas in terms of the relationship between those two.”

The skull also casts doubt on prevailing ideas that the older lineage directly gave rise to the younger, instead suggesting that the two lived together, coexisting for at least 100,000 years. But the study authors stress that it’s still quite possible that early populations of A. anamensis gave rise to A. afarensis perhaps 4 million years ago—they just didn’t die out immediately afterwards.

“Probably a small population of A. anamensis isolated itself from the main population, underwent major changes, and over time distinguished itself from the parent species of A. anamensis. That’s probably how A. afarensis appeared,” Haile-Selassie says.

A reconstruction of the facial morphology of the 3.8 million-year-old ‘MRD’ specimen of Australopithecus anamensis.

(Photograph by Matt Crow / Facial reconstruction by John Gurche made possible through generous contribution by Susan and George Klein / Cleveland Museum of Natural History)

The research team argues that the relationship between the two ancient hominin species, believed to be ancestors to our own genus Homo, may be a prime example of a nonlinear evolutionary scenario common in other non-human species. Anagenesis, when one species evolves so completely into another species that the progenitor disappears, is not the primary way the branches on our family tree diverged.

“Just because one species gave rise to another, it doesn’t mean that the source species (ancestor) disappeared,” Rick Potts, head of the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program who was not involved in the new study, says via email from a dig in Kenya. “We’ve known for some time that the human family tree is branching and diverse, like the evolutionary trees of almost all other species. The new cranium is significant because it illustrates this pattern of biodiversity in a poorly known period of hominin evolution, just as our ancestors evolved a stronger and stronger commitment to walking on two legs.”

Paleoanthropologist Meave Leakey and colleagues reported in 1995 that A. anamensis was the first known species to evolve an expanded knee joint that allowed each of its legs to briefly bear all of its body weight during bipedal walking. Bipedalism set our ancestors apart from the apes, enabling ancient hominins to take advantage of a wider range of habitats than those available to tree climbers.

A second, related study helped to more precisely date the cranium fossil by investigating minerals and volcanic layers where it was found. The work also helped describe the long-vanished world in which A. anamensis and his kin lived.

The 3.8 million-year-old cranium of the ‘MRD’ specimen of Australopithecus anamensis.

(Dale Omori / Cleveland Museum of Natural History)

The skull was buried in sand that was deposited in a river delta on the shores of an ancient lake. The sediment deposits also held botanical remains, revealing that the environment around the ancient lake was predominantly dry shrubland, but there was a mixture of other local ecosystems as well.

“There were forests around the shores of the lake and along the river that flowed into it, but the surrounding area was dry with few trees,” Beverly Saylor, a geologist at Case Western Reserve University and lead author of the second study, said at a press conference. The evidence suggests that, like contemporaries from other sites, the male hominin likely dined on a tough, ape-like diet of seeds, grasses and similar fare.

Haile-Selassie and colleagues have been working in the area of Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia, for 15 years. When a local shepherd showed up in camp to announce the find of some intriguing fossils, Haile-Selassie was skeptical, especially because locals had often dragged him to visit supposed fossil sites simply because they needed a ride somewhere. He asked Habib Wogris, the local chief who organizes fieldwork in the region each year, to take an hour-long walk with the shepherd to visit the site of his find.

“The chief has seen a lot of teeth of hominins from the site and he realized that this tooth looked like a hominin tooth,” Haile-Selassie says. “As soon as he returned and opened his hand and I saw the tooth, I said, ‘Where did you find it?’ They said, ‘let’s go and we’ll show you.’”

The fossil site was in the region’s high ground, where the shepherd had moved his flock to escape seasonal flooding in lower areas. “He’s been living there like three months with his goats, and he saw the fossil when he was digging a hole for his newborn goats to make a protection for them from jackals and hyenas,” Haile-Selassie says.

Yohannes Haile-Selassiewith “MRD” cranium.

(Cleveland Museum of Natural History)

On site, the shepherd showed him where the tooth had been lying, and Haile-Selassie surveyed the surroundings looking for other fragments.

“Three meters from where I was standing there was this round thing, just like a rock, and I said oh my goodness,” Haile-Selassie’s recalls. His reaction, literally jumping up and down with excitement, made the shepherd remark that the doctor had gone crazy. “I speak their language, and I said no the doctor is not going crazy. He’s just excited,” Haile-Selassie laughs.

With the rare fossil’s formal unveiling today, the excitement of the initial find three years ago has spread throughout the community of scientists looking to put a human, or hominin, face on our distant ancestors.

Join us on Facebook or Twitter for a regular update.

#Nature

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sweaterkittensahoy · 7 years

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Hello! Do you have list of your all time favorite or current favourite books? Would you mind sharing it? I need some recommendations, because lately every book I pick up turns out to be awful.

MarHere’s a dangerous question. :) I read A LOT. So giving you a list of what I like right now would be a LOT of books. So, let’s start with authors I generally enjoy.

Barbara Kingsolver--I especially love “The Bean Trees,” “Poisonwood Bible” and “Flight Behavior.” Kingsolver writes multi-layered, interesting characters who learn about environmental and cultural issues in very real ways. “Poisonwood Bible” is always very high on my list of favorite books because it does a stunning job of investigating the sudden freedom of the Congo from the Belgium from a group of white missionary daughters. Each of them takes turns telling the story, and each of them are very affected by events. It is not in any way a white savior story. It is the absolute opposite. These women are in this situation because their father thinks he has to save the tribes of Africa from themselves. They take away many different lessons from living under his roof.

Ed McBain--Fucking awesome, old school police pulp. He wrote the 87th Precient for 52 years, and his characters are vivid. The cases are also interesting. Be warned: He started writing them in the 50s, so there’s some problematic stuff (and Fat Ollie is a lazy, fat cop stereotype in a lot of ways), but if you like a solid mystery, he’s a good guy.

Erik Larsen--Non-fiction guy. I’ve only read two of his books, but they were both fantastic. He likes to take two things happening in the same time and place and weaving them together into a larger cultural examination. “Devil in the White City” is about creating the Chicago World’s Fair while also investigating how that creation assisted H.H. Holmes, America’s first defined serial killer, in getting victims. “In the Garden of the Beast” is about an American ambassador in Berlin in 1933, and how he saw first-hand and early exactly how bad Hitler was going to get. It’s juxtaposed with his daughter falling in love with the city and culture of Germany and becoming slowly disenchanted. Larsen writes in a very friendly style that makes his books super easy to read.

K.J. Charles--Historical m/m romances that sometimes include magic. A+ porn and lots of feelings.

Heidi Cullinan--Modern m/m romances that include characters with disabilities or mental issues. A+ porn and lots of feelings.

Matt Fraction--He wrote my very favorite version of Tony Stark in “Invincible Iron Man.” “Sex Criminals” is fucking hysterical. “Hawkeye” landed at exactly the time I needed to watch a depressed superhero attempt to unfuck himself. “Satellite Sam” was drawn by Chaykin (fuck Chaykin), but the story is worth your time. 1950s live tv sleeze.

Kelly Sue DeConnick--”Bitch Planet” is a fantastic prison explotation feminist critique on life, love, and patriarchy. Her “Rescue” one-shot where Pepper Potts gets her own suit is everything I ever wanted. Her “Captain Marvel” makes me want to punch the sky.

Jen Van Meter--”Hopeless Savages” is a goddamn gift, and we should all give thanks.

Greg Rucka--Greg can write anything. He can also always write women well. This man is a gift.

Carla Speed McNeil--”Finder” is the science fiction you want in the world. Don’t let the brick-thick volumes 1 and 2 intimidate you. Pick up “Tailsman” or “Voice” to see if it’s your bag.

Beverly Cleary--Re-read them. Trust me. Even as an adult they fucking rock.

Gonna stop there for authors, or I’ll be here all day. Some other stuff I’ve enjoyed:

The Giver Quartet by Lois Lowery--I’m not a huge fan of “The Messenger,” but I think it’s worth reading to have the background to read “Son.” Overall, I think it’s a strong series.

Shadow Children Series by Margaret Peterson Haddix -- What I found lacking in world build in “Hunger Games,” Haddix absolutely gave to me in this series. I haven’t finished it yet, but I fucking love it so far. The premise: There was a food shortage. People were only allowed to have two children. There are to be no third children. There are totally third children. They are ready to fight to exist. Haddix pulls no punches, so be ready for people to get hurt and die.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness -- I have PTSD related to cancer. This amazing book helped me out a lot. I still have PTSD, but this book gave me a catharsis I cannot put into words. It is deeply important to me.

Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu -- a young woman in a fundamentalist patriarchal Christian family starts questioning her place in her religion and her family. This one’s gonna punch you in the gut, but it is so worth it.

Fiction

Flowers in the Attic by VC Andrews -- Southern gothic cranked to 15 with all the incest you never needed. The writing is particularly over-dramatic, and I fucking love this book.

The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Bejamin -- A historical fiction account of the life of Anne Morrow Lindbergh told from her perspective. Includes direct confrontation with Charles Lindbergh’s Nazi beliefs and a very good take on the kidnap of their baby.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg -- lesbians in the 1930s and the very best of second wave feminism (and I hate second wave feminism) combine in a book that I could read forever.

Flannery O’Connor the Complete Stories--Oh, to be able to write like this.

I am going to stop there for now, since the list could go on for a long time, and there’s a lot of stuff here. I have tried to keep it fairly light in comics (but I do love comic writers, so they’re there) but also light on non-fiction, since I don’t know what you read. If you want a longer list of both, just drop me a line.

#anon #ask #answer #books #recommendations #Anonymous

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publisher1977 · 7 years

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Barbara Lawlor, Nederland. A highway runs through Nederland. That and a river running perpendicular to the highway divide the town into sections that create shopping segments. Visitors intending to spend some time in Nederland’s shops usually park in the public spaces and once they find a place, they stick close to it.

The shops along the highway sometimes get bypassed because people who don’t know the town don’t realize that there are other great places to shop on the other side of the highway, with pedestrian walkways to help them get there.

On Saturday, the weekend before Thanksgiving many of the businesses in town were trying to attend to Thanksgiving needs as well as prepare for the big shopping day, Black Friday. This is the last chance to fund their shops before the coming winter. With the exception of snowsports traffic, the long, slow economic slump that is typical of a tourist town is approaching.

It is also the time to put their best Nederland gifts out front, to nudge holiday shoppers into sudden “special gift” inspiration.

In the hub of the downtown area, the Nederland Visitor’s Center has many of the Ned-ish items that tourists love to take home with them and locals love to send to those who can’t visit. Where else in the world can you get a Frozen Dead Guy Days anything? There are shot glasses that say, “I am so dead.” Also, Awaken Blueberry Hot Sauce to impress guests with your other worldliness. Books about the area written by local authors and trail maps of everywhere you might want to go in the Indian Peaks, Nederland and Gilpin County region. Center manager John Scarffe says free maps are in abundance. An extra added attraction this year is safety lights that can be attached to bike handles. The best part is that they are free, a gift from Boulder County Open Space.

Tucked off the highway, behind the bank, Ace Hardware store has so many cool gifts it is hard to make any decisions in one day unless you know exactly what you want to purchase. Even then, there are many stocking stuffers that can change your mind in a second. It is the art of spontaneous consumption. Ace Hardware has laser lights to shower your home with dancing angels and snowflakes. One can purchase Santa hats, blinking scarves, giant stockings, wrapping paper and clip-on red and green ribbons. There are toys and bird feeders, tools and chain saws, dog gifts, camping equipment and even Christmas trees. When one has paid for all the items on their list, there are specialty root beers and free popcorn to go with them.

Every Ned shopping experience is a party.

Things are popping at the Blue Owl Bookstore. Often people feel like they want to give a more meaningful gift than the hoards of toy promotions found in advertising inserts. A book is forever, no batteries needed. John Haworth says they just received the local author’s anthology published by Janette and Julian Taylor, which will be a hot item for locals. On a shelf where they will be easily seen, mercury glass candle holders are filled with dancing light and candles to accompany them. While contemplating their purchases, visitors are compelled to sip hot chocolate topped with generous amounts of whipped cream.

Above the book store, the Grow in Peace Hydroponic shop is filled with myriad types of compost, soil and all the pots and grow lights that will be needed to create your indoor crop of plants. Kyle Busey says his trellis netting is popular for canopy management.

“We have a new 1,000 watt grow system that uses more efficient technology.” This year Kyle is experimenting with various kinds of peppers, mostly the really hot kind that he plans to grow and then clone for the holiday season next year. His favorite hot pepper right now is the chapilita which is way up there on the list of burn.

Just off the highway, next to the Alpaca Hop Inn, the Alpaca Store and More is filled with soft, warm fleece classic coats and shawls and jacket/sweater jackets, socks and gloves. Anything made with alpaca is a treasured gift. The fleece is harvested from the big-eyed, humorous and curious animals that you can’t help but hug.

At the Carousel of Happiness, riding a one of a kind lovable critter, and listening to the music is always a gift. One can purchase punch cards for up to 10 rides for a great present, insurance for the recipient that he or she will ride again.

Melissa and Doug series of toys and gifts fill a wall and have been popular this season. There are tons of Carousel label items: water bottles, baby onesies, t-shirts, hats and awesome Christmas tree ornaments.

The Carousel puppet room is available for parties all season long.

Next to the Carousel, the Train Cars offer a comfortable place to have a snack and a drink and enjoy the quaint, warm atmosphere while you take a break from walking around town. The booths in the antique car are perfect for enjoying a game of dominos or backgammon or cards. Dennis and Beverly Potts of Boulder come to the Train Cars every weekend to relax and play a game together.

Across the highway, in the A-frame, is the Harvest House, where Stacy Johnson’s marijuana is locally grown. During the holiday season, the shop is holding a Dab Rig Raffle with the proceeds going to the Wild Bear Nature Center. The Dab Rig is a new bong used for concentrates, a new hash.

The Harvest House also sells t-shirts, hats and a whole bunch of delicious cookies. They have partnered with a local ski area for a punch card which gives a free 10th ticket for purchasing nine.

Not only is shopping locally convenient and therefore cheaper, it is a fun way to find the holiday gifts that will please everyone. Meeting the local business owners and employees is a good way to become a part of the community. These people aren’t part of large chains, they are our neighbors and friends, and like us, they are working hard to keep Nederland’s economy sustainable.

Shop Local in Ned Barbara Lawlor, Nederland. A highway runs through Nederland. That and a river running perpendicular to the highway divide the town into sections that create shopping segments.

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