| Local church hopes to offer new daycare
First Presbyterian Church of Sapulpa is one step closer to making its dream of opening an intergenerational daycare in downtown Sapulpa a reality.But to take more steps, they'll need the support of the community, officials say.A generous gift from the family of longtime church members Aubrey and Florene Fleming will be used to begin the necessary renovations to the church's Mission Center at 410 E. Lee St.The donation, said the church's pastor, the Rev. Dr. John Nelsen, "will get us just about running" the facility, which when completed will serve up to 30 children and 30 adults.But there's still a way to go, mostly in making the building accessible to persons with disabilities."The building's not to ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) standards, so there's a lot of cosmetics — widening doors, building handicapped-accessible restrooms, that sort of thing, to do," said Rachel Langley, director of Christian education.In addition, the roof needs replacing and the floor in the sanctuary needs leveling, Nelsen said.The idea for a daycare for children as well as adults isn't new to the First Presbyterian staff."We've been talking with OASIS (Older Adult Services & Interfaith Sharing) Adult Day Services for six or seven years and originally thought we could do it over at the other church building," said Nelsen.A center like the one foreseen would help meet needs for adult daycare — which doesn't exist outside of Tulsa — and care for infants whose mothers are still in high school."We've actually had people who had to drive in (to Tulsa) so far that they ended up placing a person in a nursing home because they couldn't drive any more," said Martha Rains, executive director of OASIS."It was just too much for them.
Renovation plans include revamping field house
One of the potential stadium projects in most need of renovations would mostly likely be the field house.The field house was built in 1952, according to John Coleman, Somerset school board president. “It's not so much the building is old," he said. “It's just inadequate in every respect. It's past time something was done about it."Gene Castrovillo, athletic director and facilities coordinator, said in the 1960s the building was used by about seven sports teams.“Now, we currently have 37 teams, including 15 different sports, with 75 coaches," he said.Needless to say, the facility was not built for the way the district uses it, Castrovillo said.The training facility is cramped, Coleman said, and athletes are standing wall-to-wall during games.Another problem with the facility is the varsity locker room.“The varsity locker room holds 45 football players," Castrovillo said.
Mutant Gene Shatters Nerves
If you bend a knee or an elbow, the nerves in your limbs stretch but do not break. A University of Utah study suggests why: A gene produces a springy protein that keeps nerve cells flexible. When the gene was disabled in tiny nematode worms, their nerve cells literally broke. The discovery may provide a new explanation for spinocerebellar ataxia type 5 (SCA5) a disease previously tied to a human version of the gene and identified in 11 generations of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's family, starting with his paternal grandparents. SCA5 may have afflicted Lincoln himself. The new study suggests how. "Were Lincoln's nerves shattered? We don't know. But our study raises the possibility that they were," says biology Professor Michael Bastiani, the study's senior author and a member of the Brain Institute at the University of Utah.
Myles Strasser column: Short life had held promise
He's been gone now for as long as he was here, and his last day was a November one in 1989, a day when you weren't sure if it was the clouds or the returning night that darkened things at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Dan had come to see me after school so we could look through a shoe catalog in anticipation of the next track season. I was the coach and he was the conference 400-meter champion. When we found a pair, he got up, put on his jacket, beamed that Huck Finn smile at me and said, "See you tomorrow, Mr. Strasser." That was the last time I saw him. At about 8 p.m. the phone rang and the somber voice of a classmate whispered, "Mr. Strasser, I've got some bad news for you. Dan was killed in a car accident tonight." The next few moments remain a confused surreal memory, but I do recall hearing my wife go into the bathroom to throw up.
Arkansas students collect backpacks for wounded soldiers
Some Nettleton School District students are teaming up with the parents of a wounded soldier to make life a little easier for troops injured in the line of duty. The parents of Reddi Parker, a member of the 875th Engineer Battalion of the Arkansas Army National Guard, visited with students at Fox Meadow Intermediate Center who have siblings or parents serving in the military, many of them in Iraq, Afghanistan or Kuwait. Mona and Dan Parker engaged about 12 students at the school, including their son Chase, in gathering backpacks to send to Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington. Mona Parker said many of the soldiers at the military hospital have multiple injuries and are in wheelchairs. A backpack would make it easier for them to carry items around. "They have to exercise every day to get those muscles going," Mona Parker added.
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