Tamaqua High School Girl Dies in Iraq

A New Ringgold woman was among three soldiers killed in a Sept. 14 suicide car explosion in Baghdad, Iraq.

Jennifer M. Hartman, 21, had been assigned to the 4th Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Hood, Tex.

Hartman ran on the Tamaqua Blue Raiders girls' track team in 2002. Teammate Danielle Butala recalls her as a "really great athlete. She had a great spirit. She was always a good person."

Teacher Phillip Houm said Hartman, who attended his honors American History classes, was "an outstanding student. She had a very very positive work ethic."

From the Morning Call

Our Neighbors Wayne and Shirley Have Written a Book

Today at 2 PM - I attended a research colloquium presented by Shirley and Wayne Wiegand. You may recall that they recently built a house down the street that looks like a 1920's doll house.

Shirley is a law professor and Wayne is one of the world's most famous experts on the history of libraries and library issues. They recently got together to research a book called "Books on Trial" - a story about a 1940 Oklahoma City book store that was shut down because they sold books about communism. Four people that worked there were convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The entire book inventory was put into a jail cell.

About 40 faculty and students attended today's event.

Nancy Receives "Loving Cup" from FSU-CI

Dr. Nancy Everhart received an inscribed loving cup from the Florida State University College of Information as a token of appreciation for her work of attracting research money to the school. Here is Nancy in her office after the ceremony that was attended by about 40 faculty.

Keith Calls It "The Perch"

It reminds one a little bit of the treehouse they always wanted as a kid. Up high with a balcony away from Dad and Mom's prying eyes. Put out a rope ladder and a "no girls allowed" sign and you can start a card game with Spanky and Alfalfa.

Wayne calls is "La Casita" - whatever that means. Nancy calls it the "guest suite" - I call it the "barn."

Today is a beautiful day in Tallahassee - temp around 80 - sunny - breezy - low humidity. Open both doors in "the loft" and a breeze blows right thru it.

Note the new "area rug."

"Oriental Rug" - Gotta Love Craigs List

A family is moving Friday - so they listed lots of things on Craigs List. We saw this rug and made a call - we went out to see it and it was beautiful - dark blue - perfect for the guest house.

After a little negotiating - we settled on a price and brought it home on the truck. When we got home - we looked it up on the net - Dalyn Rug Company - made in Egypt - 8 x 11 - $799.

Here it is on our living room floor - right after I shampooed it. When it dries - it goes into the guest house.

I know - Egypt is not in the Orient.

Nancy's Gas Fireplace

After 2 years of pesting plumbers and gas appliance guys to install gas log in our fireplace - today it finally happened.

Tallahassee has city natural gas and we have a line to our home to power the pool heater and hot tub heater. But you would think we were trying to dump fly ash in the lake for how hard it was to finally get someone to install gas to the fireplace. At least 5 contractors came and told us what they were going to do - gave us a price - and then we never saw them again. Luckily we never gave them any money.

Finally Mark Sumner of Journeyman Plumbing did the job. Good thing we didn't pay him by the hour because it took his crew of 3 men a total of 4 days to run the steel pipe thru the house and hook up the logs. We shopped locally but Nancy went on the internet and found the exact same log set for half the price.

With the turn of a dial you can have an instant bonfire - it even has burning embers on the floor of the hearth. The chimney damper must be open while the logs are burning - but is does not require a glass front or screen because there is no wood burning.

During the installation - the city made an inspection on 3 separate days to make sure everything was to safety code.

The pictures are not the greatest - but you get the idea.

Latest Report From Chuck in Iraq

Hi Everyone.............just wanted to say hello while I was here at the MWR tent..........I also wanted to tell you about what Gabe did on mission today while searching houses and market stores..........First and foremost I had to wake up in the middle of the night and I was tired as heck......I don't do 3 am wakeups very well.......we got to the second house we were searching for explosives when an Iraqi soldier told me he wanted me to seach this small shed outside the main house so I released gabe off his leash to go search and he ran into this shed and all of a sudden I heard and saw birds going everywhere.....one bird came flying out with Gabe in tow......there was no listening to me at this point as he already had a mouthful of feathers and the chase was on.........needless to saw the bird lived minus a mouthful of feathers. I had 14 Infantry guys rolling and me mad as heck because Gabe once again wanted to eat everything in site. ...... Overall though Gabe had a very awesome mission and hung in for the entire 9 hours we were out........he searched a total of 7 houses, 4 cars and 10 small stores.

On a more serious note, today the Military Police corps suffered another great loss as 1 soldier was killed and 2 were wounded. I ask tonight that you keep their family in your prayers along with their unit over here in Iraq. Life can be tough as a soldier, but once again I will stress that we do this not because we have to, but because we want to. Their isn't a soldier over here that wouldn't think twice about risking his or her life in defense of this great nation. Fly your American flags high and proud because many soldiers have made the ultimate sacrifice so we can continue to be the great nation we are! God bless you, God bless America and May God bless us, his American soldiers and Military Working Dogs!

Chuck and Gabe

Maiden Voyage of Paddle Boat and Boathouse

Wayne and Shirley moved down from Milwaukee. They brought along their paddle boat that needed a home. We keep it on our lake. Today - Drew and I made the maiden voyage on the lake in it. We were quite surprised how manuverable it is.

Here is a picture of our home from the lake. You can see that I still have a lot of work on the property - trimming the trees and landscaping. You can see the pool's screened room and the guest house balcony if you enlarge the picture.

The second is a picture of our first guest - Keith - with Nancy.

Family Together for Clemson at FSU Game

Robin and Drew flew in and we are all together for tonight's big game.

We will take the truck and tailgate canopy over to the stadium this morning to get our favorite spot. We will set up the satellite dish to be able to watch other games during our tailgate party.

Later - we will all drive over in the Jetta - have some food and drinks before the game - and try our luck getting tickets.

Hopefully - Clemson will cooperate and allow Bobby to win "Bowden Bowl VIII." Clemson has won 2 out of the last 3 games with FSU.

Sunday Keith flies back DC to start his new job at FERC.

Pottsville Man Wants Shootout with Police

John Conrad Philips referred to himself as “The Lone Tonto” and hoped to organize a “Pot Protest in Pottsville,” according to court records.

However, after being apprehended Tuesday by Pottsville police who say Philips tried to lure them into a gun battle in the Greenwood Hill section of the city, Philips faces several drug charges. City police said more will be filed.

Philips, 58, is in Schuylkill County Prison after police apprehended him outside his 441-443 Greenwood Ave. row home.

City officers conducted a search of Philips’ residence midday Tuesday after the Reading explosives unit was called to secure the property.

An undercover officer, who asked not to be identified, said police seized about 60 marijuana plants growing in the backyard, along with military-grade ammunitions, 20 pounds of marijuana and survivalist equipment and literature.

“This amount of marijuana... I don’t think any of us have seen,” said the officer.

The Republican

Tamaqua Italian Bakery - Click Here

FSU Seating Chart

We sat in section 10 row 46 for the Troy State game. Nancy got tickets for free outside the stadium. This Saturday tickets should be more difficult for "Bowden Bowl VIII" - the game between head coaches Bobby Bowden and Terry Bowden. Last year Clemson pasted a big loss on FSU up there. Let's hope it is payback time.

The Everhart family will be getting together for this game - all three kids - Robin - Drew - and Keith will be here. Watch for tailgate party pictures.

FSU Loses to Gators

Gotta loves women's volleyball at FSU.........heck it's free.

FSU Podcast About Football - Click Here

Seminoles Back in Black

Bobby Bowden confirmed the worst-kept secret in Tallahassee this fall. Florida State will wear an all-black uniform Oct. 21 in a home game against Boston College. The uniform, which was the idea of Nike, will also commemorate FSU's relationship with the Seminole Tribe through wording an patchwork.

Chuck Reports from Iraq and 9/11

Dear friends,

I hope this email finds you all in great health and spirits.......Today is a special day is so many ways because of the tragidies in New York, The Pentagon and Shanksville, PA......so much has happened since that terrible day in 2001, I just wanted to take this time to thank you all for being such great friends....sometimes in the mist of life, we forget to say I love you and thank you because we take for granted that there will be a tomorrow and in this day and age, tomorrow is not so certain.........So tell those people how special they are to you just because and for no reason at all, one smile or one word can change a life forever....

As for Iraq......I bet I got asked 30 times why this deployment is the best one? For starters I have Gabe, he is the one thing that will keep me in the Army....I was going to get out of the Army in 2010, but that is still uncertain, I want to be a state police officer........ Well the place I am living with Gabe has AC and we have a bed to sleep in.....the dining hall we eat at is one of the best in Iraq and I kid you not, I eat better here than I do in Texas and I am not having mortar rounds being dropped all around me everyday........There is two sides to Iraq and I can clearly see that and it truly hurts to see the woman and children suffer because of this.....Last night I went on a raid to a suspected insurgents house and there was about 8 kids in the house and I hate to see that.....I cannot comment any further on that, but know everybody isn't bad in Iraq..........Anyways, I am sorry if I don't respond back quick enough to individuals emails....if you ha ve questions in the emails, I do save them and will get back to you I promise........thanks again for all your support and Gabe says hello.

Regards,

Chuck

FSU Recruiters on Scouting Trip to Tampa and Lakeland

Dressed in their garnet and gold outfits - Florida State Professors Dr. Eliza Dresang and Dr. Nancy Everhart are seen leaving the Tallahassee Airport on a three day recruiting trip of the Tampa Bay Area. Just like Bobby Bowden travels the country looking for the best students for his football team - Eliza and Nancy are scouring the world looking for the best library and information science students to take the challenge of Project LEAD.

Project LEAD is a project funded by IMLS branch of the federal government. The project is designed to recruit potential leaders in the school library media specialist field and prepare them to complete the National Board Certification Program.

Project LEAD was created when the Institute of Museum and Library Services selected the grant written by Nancy and Eliza and provided $1.3 million in matching funds to make it happen. 30 students will be selected and provided full scholarships to complete the program.