Last year’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico spotlighted the need to develop economically and environmentally responsible forms of energy in the face of growing global demand. This year, American high school students will work to solve the “supply and demand” problem as the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS) launches its annual TEAMS competition.

With the 2011 theme, “Smarter Energy, Cleaner Planet,” TEAMS will show students firsthand how engineers in various disciplines, including environmental engineers, civil engineers, and mechanical engineers tackle the energy crisis and the global need for diversification, efficiency, security and ecological sustainability.

Some 10,000 ninth- to 12th-grade TEAMS participants will gather for one-day events over a four-week period from February 14 through March 15 at 130 competition sites in 43 states and the District of Columbia, including 64 colleges and universities (listing at www.JETS.org). The students will then make real-world connections between math and science to engineering by solving actual engineering scenarios.

In solving specific energy-related issues, TEAMS students will be challenged to:
- consider how we become less dependent on a few resources and diversify our energy supply to include not just crude oil and natural gas, but nuclear, wind, solar, biomass, hydroelectric and geothermal.

- identify technologies that make our homes, vehicles, buildings and industries more energy efficient.

- safeguard a country’s energy infrastructure from both an importing and exporting resources standpoint.

- brainstorm ideas to keep the environment clean and safe from emissions and pollution.

“By focusing on the struggle to meet the world’s growing energy needs, TEAMS not only introduces today’s students to one of the most pressing issues of our time, but also introduces them to engineers’ key role in addressing and solving society’s problems,” said Linda Snow-Solum, JETS president. “It’s all part of JETS 60 year mission to inspire the next generation of engineers.”

In March, JETS will announce “Best in State” awards for student teams at both the 11/12 and 9/10 grade levels in the participating 43 states and the District of Columbia.

The two highest ranking level teams in the country will take top honors as the “Best Overall” and will be announced in April 2011. They will receive a $2,500 cash prize, team trophy, student medals and certificates.

Like the other signature JETS programs, the purpose of TEAMS is to encourage more American students to pursue engineering by showing them just how engineering impacts everyday life and how engineers help solve social and community problems – from building roads and bridges, to developing water purification systems for developing countries, to inventing alternative sources of energy to fuel our cars and keep our homes warm and cool.

JETS is a national non-profit education organization dedicated to promoting engineering and helping students discover their potential for the profession.

A solid framework of high school educators, corporations, professional organizations and universities incorporate JETS pre-college engineering programs in local communities throughout the United States. Employing a unique and innovative approach—Explore, Assess, Experience—thousands of diverse students are enticed to pursue engineering majors and careers each year. JETS programs touch more than 40,000 students and 10,000 educators from 6,000 high schools across the country. JETS participants are a diverse group – more than 50 percent are from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in engineering and technology fields, including one-third who are female.

For more information, please visit, www.JETS.org

Popularity: 13% [?]

A local 26 year old woman whose bartender mother was stabbed to death last Thanksgiving  weekend was found dead in her home Saturday, and the autopsy reveals no signs of foul play.

Erica McSween, of Mentor, was still mourning the death of her mother, 49 year old Annie McSween, who was found dead with stab wounds near the bar where she worked as a bartender last November. That case is as of yet unsolved, and authorities have offered a $30,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction in her killing.

A cause of death for Erica has not been released, and the results of her toxicology reports could take a few weeks, according to a statement from the Lake County Coroner to the News-Herald of Willoughby.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Akron Children’s Hospital has received $1.2 million to create an endowed chair for its pediatric palliative care services. As the founder and medical director of the Akron Children’s Hospital’s Haslinger Family Pediatric Palliative Care Center, Sarah Friebert, M.D. will be the first chair holder, and the chair will be named in her honor.

Made possible by donations from the Haslinger Family Foundation and other leadership gifts, the Sarah Elizabeth Friebert, M.D., Leadership Chair in Pediatric Palliative Care is believed to be the first endowed chair of its kind in the United States.

The endowed chair will distribute assets in perpetuity and provide vital funds for the support of palliative care’s clinical, educational and research activities. Named endowed chairs, while more common in academic settings, recognize the transformational work of the initial chair holder, and play an increasingly crucial role in the recruitment of pediatric specialists.

Founded by Dr. Friebert in 2002, the physicians, clinicians and volunteers at the Haslinger Family Pediatric Palliative Care Center work with children and their families to enhance quality of life and minimize suffering for patients with chronic or complex illnesses. Palliative care patients receive comprehensive, interdisciplinary support to address the physical, emotional and spiritual issues that may contribute to suffering or interfere with healing. The Haslinger Family Pediatric Palliative Care Center is one of the largest pediatric palliative care programs in the U.S. and is nationally recognized as a model for other such centers.

“Dr. Friebert has made an unparalleled commitment to the patients and families at Akron Children’s. Her advocacy is inspiring, and she’s my hero,” said William Considine, president and CEO of Akron Children’s Hospital. “Her innovative leadership here and nationally has grown this important area of pediatric care, so that families are cared for when they are most in need.”

“We are extremely grateful for the generosity of the Haslinger Family Foundation and our other donors for making this possible,” Considine added. “Their gifts provide a solid foundation for the enrichment of our pediatric palliative care services.”

Popularity: 15% [?]

Dentists throughout Ohio will once again go into their communities to give free dental care to underserved children through the Give Kids a Smile program. Nearly 19,000 Ohio children are expected to receive a range of free dental services from over 1,800 volunteers throughout this year.

Feb. 4 is the official date for the ninth-annual GKAS program at which dentists join with their peers nationally to educate, screen and/or treat children in need of dental care for free. However, GKAS has grown to more than just a day. Some sites will do all that can be done on Feb. 4, while others will examine children on one day and offer free follow-up care after, or hold events on multiple dates. The Ohio dentists and other volunteers will provide free screenings, exams, cleanings, preventive services, restorative care, oral surgery, and more to children with an estimated dollar value of over $1 million in free services.

Give Kids a Smile is about serving children who are uninsured and whose families have no resources to afford dental care. It is also about awareness as many children seen through GKAS are seeing a dentist for the first time in their life.

President of the Ohio Dental Association, Dr. Thomas Matanzo of Wintersville, said the need to educate all Ohioans about the importance of good oral health is strong.

“Ohio’s Give Kids a Smile programs have grown from helping 3,000 children in 2003 to over 16,000 in 2010, and that number is expected to be even higher in 2011. While those are compelling numbers, what is even more compelling is that all children should have a healthy mouth, and no child should be in pain because of dental disease. Our quest is as much to educate the families, communities and policy makers on the importance of maintaining good oral health as it is to keep our children pain-free and in good oral health,” Matanzo said.

GKAS also helps strengthen legislators’ awareness about the access to dental care problem that exists in Ohio and throughout the U.S. Access to dental care continues to be Ohio’s number one unmet healthcare need, as cited recently in the Ohio Department of Health’s report, Oral Health and Access to Dental Care for Ohioans, 2010.

Give Kids a Smile was started in 2003 by the American Dental Association. It is supported in Ohio by the Ohio Dental Association, and nationally by the American Dental Association, Colgate, Henry Schein Dental and Dexis Digital X-ray Systems, Inc.

Large scale and/or multiple events are scheduled in many areas of the state, including Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, East Liverpool, Hillsboro, Lorain, Mentor, Portsmouth, Steubenville, Toledo, and Youngstown; smaller events are also scheduled in many private dental offices and schools in Ohio. To learn of an event in your coverage area, please call Kathy L. Woodard, ODA director of public service, at (614) 486-2700.

Popularity: 23% [?]

KeyBank will add five new branches and roughly 30 new branch jobs in Northeast Ohio during the next 15 months. OhioConsumerBanking.com also reports that Key will relocate three existing Northeast Ohio branches into new buildings in 2011 .When all is said and done, Key Bank will have 122 branches in Northeast Ohio.

Since 2007, Key has created 12 new branches and around 70 jobs in the area. In addition, they relocated six branches into sparkling new buildings.

In a press release, Beth Mooney, president and chief operating officer of KeyCorp, stated “As Cleveland’s biggest hometown bank and the leader in market share here, the investment in our Northeast Ohio branches reflects Key’s commitment to providing clients with convenient access to our award-winning customer service,” said  “Every branch is a tangible and visible expression of Key’s community bank strategy and reflects the continued importance of bank branches to consumers and businesses.”

Lisa Oliver, president of Key’s greater Cleveland district commented “Our employees have made us number one in Cleveland by providing customer service that attracts new clients and delights long-term customers.”

“At a time when many banks are closing branches, we’re taking a different approach. We’re expanding our branch network, creating jobs and making banking easier for our clients by building branches closer to where they live and work.”

Oliver also credited market conditions and disruption for Key’s growth in Northeast Ohio. Current market conditions are making expansion less expensive, she said, as real estate is more available and construction costs are lower. Market disruption — the loss and consolidation of other banks — presents additional opportunity to attract new customers.

Key’s five new branches planned for Northeast Ohio and their estimated openings are:

• Concord, February 2011
• Lyndhurst, July 2011
• Eastlake, August 2011
• Cleveland (Steelyard Commons), October 2011
• Middleburg Heights, first quarter 2012

Key will relocate its Akron Main branch and Akron-area headquarters into a new building in downtown Akron on January 31, 2011. Key’s Independence branch will relocate into a new building in June 2011, and Key’s West 117th Street branch will relocate into a new building in November 2011.

In addition to the new Northeast Ohio branches, Key will add 27 other new branches across its 14 state footprint in 2011, adding a total of nearly 200 new branch jobs. Additionally, Key will move eight existing branches into new buildings and will remodel 50 branches.

Popularity: 20% [?]

A  type of protein promises new food bars and protein drinks that could help prevent cancer and aging by inhibiting a particular form of genetic damage. These new foods are unique in that they will be less radioactive than comparable ordinary foods, but otherwise are similar nutritionally.

Most people are unaware that every type of food we currently eat is measurably contaminated with a particular radioactive material from the air known as carbon-14, or radiocarbon. These radioactive atoms get permanently incorporated into the DNA of every child’s body and brain cells as they grow up, and will cause tens of billions of genetic damage events in every person over their lifetime. Of special concern are the hundreds of millions of brain cells that are genetically damaged in the average person from radiocarbon. This genetic damage may be an important factor in cancer and the aging process.

These new low-radiocarbon food items contain protein and DNA building blocks made using innovative processes that can reduce the amount of radioactive carbon by up to 99%. No current food products can claim this advantage.

It should be noted that these low-radiocarbon foods will primarily benefit growing children who are building new cells and DNA. Brain cells in particular are permanently formed in early childhood, so that is the only stage of life in which low-radiocarbon nutrition can help prevent the permanent buildup of radiocarbon. Low-radiocarbon nutritional products would also be recommended for pregnant and nursing mothers, not for the mothers themselves, but for their children who receive their nutrition indirectly through the mother.

Depending on factors such as the child’s age and what other foods are consumed, eating a single food bar or drinking a single protein shake could block genetic damage from radiocarbon to as many as 50,000 brain cells over the child’s life. A pregnant or nursing mother could likewise protect up to 15,000 of her child’s brain cells from this radioactive damage with a single low-radiocarbon food bar or protein drink.

High-protein drinks, food bars and baby foods are expected to be the first major low-radiocarbon nutritional products. Low-radiocarbon protein and DNA can also be used to make tofu-like meat substitutes. These products are expected to have special appeal to health-conscious mothers of young children, and to consumers who value antioxidants for preventing cell damage.

Dr. Chris Williams, a biochemist with Radiocarb Genetics, Inc., has published a paper in the international journal Environmental Chemistry Letters which further explains the interaction between radiocarbon, food, cancer and aging. The complete article is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10311-007-0100-7, or at the company’s website at http://www.radiocarb.com.

Popularity: 100% [?]

There’s nothing like true love – a Norton couple is in Summit County Jail after cops found half a pound of marijuana in their car. Lonnie Morris and Serena Starcher, 28 and 31 respectively, are being charged with felony trafficking marijuana in the vicinity of a juvenile.

Norton Police pulled over a weaving car on Saturday and immediately smelled weed emanating from the vehicle. When asked if there was pot in the car, Morris denied it and told him to check the car. Not a very bright move, because cops found half a pound of the green stuff separated into smaller bags, a scale, and a rather odd photo of Morris posing with 50 and 100 dollar bills stuffed in his waistband.

Unfortunately for Morris, he would need that cash for bail. Bond for the photogenic Morris was set at $25,000, and Starcher had hers set at $15,000. They will return to court on Wednesday.

Popularity: 40% [?]

A new method of child and maternal nutrition could prevent a specific type of genetic damage that would otherwise occur in up to 160 million brain cells in each person over their lifetime. Preventing this genetic damage could have significant implications related to aging and cancer.

Most people are unaware that every type of food currently eaten is measurably contaminated with a radioactive material from the air known as carbon-14, or radiocarbon. It has recently been shown that these radioactive carbon atoms get permanently incorporated into the DNA of children’s neurons, or brain cells, as they grow up. This radiocarbon will remain part of the brain cell DNA for life, where it will cause mutations or genetic damage to the DNA in approximately 160 million brain cells in every person over their lifetime.

There is no known way to remove this harmful radioactive carbon from brain cell DNA. The only solution is to prevent it from getting into brain cells in the first place.

The key to this new method is to produce food that contains little or no radiocarbon. If growing children, or their pregnant or nursing mothers, consume the right types and amounts of low-radiocarbon food, then those children will have measurably lower levels of radiocarbon in their brain cell DNA for life.

An interesting aspect of this “Low Radiocarb Diet” is that it will only benefit growing children. In particular, to protect brain cells, this low-radiocarbon nutrition is beneficial only from the prenatal period to about age ten. After that, nearly all brain cells have been permanently formed, and the level of radiocarbon in the brain cell DNA remains fixed for life. This means children raised on low-radiocarbon nutrition will permanently reduce genetic damage to their brain cells for the rest of their life, even if as teens or adults they switch over to ordinary foods which contain radiocarbon. Unfortunately, adults raised on ordinary food containing radiocarbon, including every adult alive today, cannot reduce the radiocarbon levels in their brain cell DNA even with low-radiocarbon food.

Dr. Chris Williams, a biochemist with Radiocarb Genetics, Inc., has published a paper in the international journal Environmental Chemistry Letters which further explains the interaction between radiocarbon, food, cancer and aging. The complete article is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10311-007-0100-7, or at the company’s website at http://www.radiocarb.com.

Popularity: 18% [?]

2011 got off on a sour note in Munroe Falls, as a man admitted to police that he killed his sister in an argument.

Lawrence Hanly, 37,  turned himself in on New Year’s Day at about 11 a.m. and told police he strangled 32 year old Shannon Sayre  during an argument.

Police found the woman’s body early Saturday in Hanly’s home, and police were unable to pinpoint an exact time of death immediately.

The unemployed Hanly was charged with murder and thrown into the Summitt County Jail where he has yet to be arraigned. An autopsy for the woman will be performed Monday.

Popularity: 17% [?]

The Voyages Season continues on Friday, December 31, 2010 at 8 p.m. in the Schuster Center, as the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and Kettering Health Network present the Annual New Year’s Eve Celebration Concert.

Maestro Neal Gittleman has chosen a festive Italian theme for this year’s concert: “Viva Italia!” A wide variety of Italian music will be highlighted, including light selections from the classics and some of the great moments from Italian opera and Neapolitan song. Joining Neal and the DPO will be four outstanding soloists: soprano Karin Wolverton, tenor Scott Piper, and the DPO’s own Jessica Hung, violinist, and Ashley Hall, trumpeter. The program will include the following works:

The concert includes complimentary sparkling Moscato (sparkling non-alcoholic wine available as well) at intermission and a festive balloon drop at its conclusion. The concert will end around 10:30 p.m. with plenty of time for your party at home or out and about town. In addition to the concert festivities, the DPO will unveil its new 2011-2012 season at this performance.

Citilites, the restaurant at the Schuster Center, invites patrons to join us early in the Wintergarden for Dinner-by-the-Bites, featuring the following items:

Antipasto Skewer ($2)

Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Bruschetta ($2)

Cannoli ($2)

Italian Meringue Cookies ($2)

Flutes of Cava Champagne ($5)

For patrons choosing a full pre-concert dinner at Citilites, the feature will be Gnocchi Ragu w/ Italian Sausage ($19) as well as a Surf n’ Turf special,  plus a full menu. Call for reservations at (937) 222-0623.

Tickets for the New Year’s Eve performance range from $5 – $65 and are available by calling (888) 228-3630 or by ordering on the web at www.daytonphilharmonic.com. The concert is presented by Kettering Health Network.

Popularity: 20% [?]