Today Cedar Hill (Duncanville, Tex.), Vol. 41, No. 27, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 19, 2006 Page: 4 of 26
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Zula B. Wylie Memorial Library.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
I
Page 4 • Cedar Hill Today • Thursday, October 19, 2006
OPINION
Beat
11
Get a flu shot now
ANGEL
MORRIS
Today Staff
October may be more widely
known as Breast Cancer Aware-
ness Month, but in the Morris
home it is marked as the begin-
ning of influenza season.
Instead of “Happy Autumn,”
my October calendar is embla-
zoned with the words “Beat the
Bug” in bright, red, 4-inch letters
across week one. By week two I
am starting to panic that the
local Methodist church hasn’t
announced vaccine availability
during its fall festival.
To bide time until Doc
Hamlin’s office gives me my
annual fall courtesy call, “Mrs.
Morris, our flu shots have
arrived,” I make my young son
join me in arts and crafts with a
cause.
Instead of maple leaves or
turkeys created from tracing our
hands, we design amoeba-shaped
cardboard cutouts.
Complete with pipe cleaners
and glitter, our fancy germ-art
hangs from fishing wire over
every sink in the house - a .
“fun” reminder to wash our
hands and avoid spreading the
bug.
I’m a little sadistic when it
comes to flu fighting (not to be
confused with Kung Fu fighting,
which I hear they now offer at
the Duncanville Recreation
Center) - I don’t care what tod-
dler 1 have to topple and I’m not
above scuffling with a senior if it
means getting the last vaccine at
Ben Franklin Apothecary.
Irish ire comes in handy for
us flu fighters (again, not to be
confused with Foo Fighters -
whose music I’ve probably heard
but can’t recall thanks to my cur-
rent flu fixation).
MSN.com reports that this flu
season, more vaccine than ever
before will be available across
the United States. “As vaccina-
tions come within everyone’s
reach, we can better protect our-
selves against those dismal flu
days and prevent more of the
serious complications that send
tens of thousands to the hospital
every year,” the site claims. I’m
not buying. I still wake up in
night sweats thinking about the
fall of 2004, when contaminated
lots coupled with oversupply at
one distribution center and no
supply at another left us vaccine
addicts in a lurch.
It was FEMA/Katrina fore-
shadowing, when the govern-
ment found itself in the middle
of a communication breakdown
between private distributors and
health regulations banning the
transfer of vaccines between
See FLU, Page 5
&
m
"/'///Sy/S/S/S/m ft n W ‘ss.
'^y^yky^yyyyyyy
' YS////M'////////////////////,,
"yyy///A<
'Jyyy/yyyyy/i
Letter To
The Editor
Theft isn’t
appreciated
Dear Editor:
I recently returned from
holiday in Gatlinburg, Tenn. 1
was quite taken with the way
each lamp post was decorated
with com stalks and in front
of each business a display of
pumpkins, gourds, scarecrows,
etc.
Returning, I stopped at a
farmer’s market and purchased
I pumpkins, gourds and then on
to the Feed Store in Cedar Hill
for hay. Just before Old
Settler’s Reunion and Country
Day on the Hill I prepared a
display in front of my business
using a Scarecrow I ’ve had for
years and a sign greeting
everyone with “Happy Fall
Y’all.”
All went well Friday
evening, but on Saturday after
Country Day, one or two of
the pumpkins disappeared
along with my sign and my lit-
tle girl scarecrow. Then,
between 10 a.m. and noon on
Sunday, the rest of the pump-
kins disappeared.
I am amazed that someone
in Cedar Hill decided that my
property should be their prop-
erty. I was in Gatlinburg for
four days and it seemed noth-
ing was stolen by the thou-
sands of people there for the
Harvest Fest.
What has our little commu-
nity come to?
Sincerely,
Amanda M. Hall
Cedar Hill
YOUR LETTERS
Send letters to Cedar Hill
Today, c/o News Editor Loyd
Brumfield, 1701 N. Hampton, Suite
C, DeSoto, TX, 75115, or P.O. Box
381029, Duncanville Tfi 75138.
Fax letters to 972-298-6369 or e-
mail them to cedarhill@todaynews
papers.net.
Include a home address and
daytime phone number for verifica-
tion purposes only Only your name
and hometown will be published
Letters may be edited for brevi-
ty, clarity, style, taste, grammar and
libel. Any change that may materi-
ally affect the content of a letter
will be confirmed with the writer.
Today Newspapers reserves the
right to accept or reject any letter
without cause
The ‘Friday Night Lights’ shine
just a little brighter close to home
Texas fascinates, and
even mystifies, the outside
world. The latest indication
of this is “Friday Night
Lights,” a new NBC televi-
sion drama about high
school football.
The series is set in
“Dillon, Texas,” which does-
n’t exist. But the Dillon
mascot is a panther, the
same mascot as Odessa
Permian High School. It's
obviously based on the
original “Friday Night
Lights,” a controversial book about Permian's
1988 football season.
It's easy to see why Hollywood has again vis-
ited Texas.
JOHN
CORNYN
Sim < iai To Today
Those not fortunate enough to live here know
that Texans, by and large, have a pride in our
state that’s unmatched anywhere else. Outsiders
find that difficult to understand.
The first episode was entertaining. Dillon
won its opening game on a last-minute “hail
Mary” pass, hut the star quarterback is seriously
injured.
The writers tried to capture some uplifting
aspects of Texas football to players, their fans
and the community.
Some fictional and negative aspects of our
Friday night custom showed up as well After
all, this is entertainment.
According to “Dave Campbell’s Football,"
some 1,150 high schools across Texas field 1 1-
man teams, and another 100 play the six-man
version.
See FRIDAY, Page 5
•IS ErawONEHHCHlNfi?- OK.TESTING - HVE-F0UR..TH8EE
Is your sleep
number up?
STEVE
SNYDER
Today Siai i
Some-
times I
wake up at
night in a
cold sweat,
pondering
the future
of the
world,
between
Peak Oil,
global
warming,
American
political
leadership, world instability
and other factors.
I think about things for a
second, then I go back to
sleep
After I wake up in the
morning, I heard premium-
style bed and mattress compa-
ny commercials blare at me on
the radio, trying to put me
back into a cold sweat about
my killer mattress and what-
not,
My mattress and pillow are
supposedly trying to kill me,
according to some of these
commercials, wafting poiso-
nous vapors from the chemical
breakdown of their plasticine
foam fillings.
I'm liberal-minded enough
on health and environmental
issues to have no doubt that
I'm probably inhaling minute
amounts of some chemical
breakdown products that arc
harmful to me.
But, c'mon. The semis tool-
ing up and down 1-35 and 1-20
arc doing far worse to my
lungs than my mattress,
although with the new cleaner
diesel, that threat will be less-
ening m the months ahead.
The only thing being killed
here is the Ben f ranklins in
people’s wallets who actually
panic enough to believe they
must IMMEDIATELY
get rid of their mattresses.
There’s some other things 1
don't get, or laugh at, about
some of these commercials.
First, whoever decided that
an actual, or a fake, quasi-
Australian accent bespoke lux-
ury in selling mattresses and
beds? I can’t remember the
company, but the accent does-
n't sound British Isles, and
certainly not of a type of
accent that might say “luxury.”
Second, I just love the way
technological, or pseudo-tech-
nological, phrases, words and
syllables are strung together to
drive up the appeal, and the
price.
“Viscoelastic?” Sounds
redundant to me, but plain old
Cedar Hill Today Information
Cedar Hill Today Staff
Robin Gooch
Publisher and Managing Editor
Kim Petty
Advertising Director
Ron Midkiff
Circulation Coordinator
Loyd Brumfield
News Editor
Brian Allen
Staff Writer
Chris Hudson and David Goodspeed
Photographers
Wendy Lee
Retail ml sales
Heather Hawkins
Classified ad sales
Troy Peoples
Distribution Coordinator
Betty Bell
Lifestyles Editor
I i
Deadlines
Classifieds:
Display classified ads — 5 p.m
Tuesday. Line ads — 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Retail Advertising:
5 p.m. Monday; 5 p.m. Friday for In
Common. Advertising rates may be
secured, upon request.
Editorial:
School news — 5 p.m. Friday
General news — noon Monday
Deadlines are subject to change due to holi-
days and will be published in advance
Subscriptions
Subscription rules - $25 per vmr m
city, $34 per year elsewhere in Texas. All
subscriptions payable in advance and non-
rcfundaHe The publisher reserves the right
to change advertising and subscription
rates at any time
General Information
Today Cedar Hill is an independent
newspaper published weekly in the interest
of Cedar Hill. Any erroneous reflection
upon the integrity or reputation of any indi-
vidual will be corrected if brought to the
attention of the news editor
Digests run on a space available basis
Letter Policy
The Opinion Page of Today News-
papers is an open forum for all viewpoints
I etters to the editor and guest columns are
ci in Hiragcd
Deadline is noon Monday in person at
1701 N. Hampton in DeSoto, or by mail to
PO Box 38(029. Duncanville. IX 74U8,
I .etters must have an original signa-
ture, with a home address and daytime
telephone number for verification purpos-
es only.
The content of all letters will be pre-
served within guidelines of clarity, style,
taste, etc. I etters should be of interest to
local readers and should be limited to 300
words. A complete list of editorial policies,
including the submission of guest
columas, is available at the above location.
Call 972-298-4211 for further information.
Publication in one newspaper does not
guarantee a letter will be published in any
other town.
How to Contact Us
Ixicatton: .
DeSoto Office 1701 N. Hampton Road,
Suite C, DeSoto, 75115
Phone: 972-298-4211
Fax:972-298-6369
-m*
Postage Information
Today Cedar Hill (USPS 095640,
ISSN 0704-0428) is published every
“elastic” doesn’t have the
same cachet. Besides, viscosi-
ty, as motor oil commercials
make clear in various ways, in
fluids, is “the property ... that
resists the force causing the
fluid to flow,” according to my
dictionary. Sounds pretty
INelastic to me. And that's not
to mention the fact that viscos-
ity is a property of fluids, not
solid materials, anyway.
“Made of NASA space age
material?" Given the way
NASA bites its collective* fin-
gers during each space shuttle
mission, is this a claim you
actually want to make?
And, of course, with the
suffix “-pedic,” you are
encouraged to infer that these
beds have special medical or
therapeutic properties. Which
they do.
Your wallet will be so much
lighter, your back will he less
stressed and you'll sleep like a
baby, at least until you wake
up in a cold sweat wondering
why you blew all that money.
I mean. Homo sapiens and
predecessors slept millions of
years on nothing but the
ground, before the first lion-
skin or bearskin rug was made
to double as a bed. and we're
still around today.
f rankly, I wonder if some
of this isn't an upper middle
class “keeping up with the
Joneses” deal
I mean, with today’s luxury
and near-luxury cars, you can
buy cars that cost as much as a
house. Soon, in the same name
of status snootiness, people
will probably be buying beds
that cost as much as cars.
I know some of these sys-
tems today can set you hack a
couple of thousand smackers.
Already, for those Select
Comfort Sleep Number beds,
prices start at nearly $4,000
for their top-of-the-lme mod-
els. (No word on whether you
can buy gold-thread sheets for
one of those babies.)
Of course, this may not
stop here. If you can by a
Cadillac Escalade tricked out
with 64 DVD screens, why
can’t you have a Sleep
Number bed in the back? Or
will Cadillac partner up to
have a Drive Number driver's
seat installed?
Your mileage — and your
sleep number.— and your Ben
Franklin diminution number
may vary.
E-mail Steve Snyder at
lancaster@todaynewspapcrs net.
hut try not to wake him up.
fbursday by Today Newspapers, 1126
Explorer, Suite A, Duncanville, Texas
75137. Second class postage paid at
Duncanville, Texas 75138-1029. Post-
master: Send address changes to Today
Cedar Hill, RO. Box 381029, Duncanville
Texas 75138-1029.
\
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View 10 places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Gooch, Robin. Today Cedar Hill (Duncanville, Tex.), Vol. 41, No. 27, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 19, 2006, newspaper, October 19, 2006; Duncanville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth623946/m1/4/?q=Lamar+University: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Zula B. Wylie Memorial Library.