Murder Mystery, Blueberry Blues, Fraud, Safety, And More
Focus on farm machinery road safety
Avoiding the blueberry blues
Financial swindle protection
Time Capsule: 50 years ago
Slip slop sunburn solution
Beef Cooking Demo
When self-help goes crazy
Lexington author Todd Wright claims to have always found self-development books to be helpful, but feels there are also many worthless tomes in the genre. He hopes to assist readers in seeking out the best with his first published mystery novel, The Self-Improvement Book Club Murder (CreateSpace, $12.99). One of the members of the book club is dead, and the detectives investigating the case feel the books under discussion may point to the suspect. During their search for clues, Detectives Bookman and Berg find themselves on a journey toward their own enlightenment.
“I chose the murder mystery format because it is the most rational of novel plots,” Wright says. “The detective collects data that leads logically and inevitably by deduction to an inevitable conclusion. It’s all supposedly very ‘scientific.’ This novel offers an alternative to that assumption, that way of thinking. I’ve used the most rational plot to point readers in the direction of a very nonrational approach to life. The murder mystery is also a well-known type. I meant for it to have a playful edge to it. I meant it to be a little tongue-in-cheek, over the top. It’s supposed to be kind of humorous in that way. I hope that comes across to the reader. The Bookman character was even lifted entirely from a character on a Seinfeld episode (my favorite TV show still).”
A retired naval officer and practicing attorney, Wright says he has written creatively since high school, with eight novels completed. He also enjoys fitness, coaching a boys’ basketball team, and traveling extensively.
Wright is currently forming a book club based on The Self-Improvement Book Club in his novel. Readers interested in discussing the titles he mentions in the story can find more information at http://toddwrightnow.blogspot.com. The site also has information on buying the book, or ask at your local bookstore.
—Penny Woods
Quote: Dame Pauline Green
(Cooperatives) are about human need and not human greed.
—Dame Pauline Green, president of the International Cooperative Alliance
Focus on farm machinery road safety
In an effort to make roads safer for farm machinery and regular traffic on roads, a program sponsored by University of Kentucky Extension offices and state police was held in each of the state’s 120 counties last year. Highlighted topics included rules and regulations for farm machinery on roadways. Many counties have held a second, more in-depth program this year covering exemptions for farmers, such as farm vehicle weight ratings, combination vehicles, oversized loads, and escort requirements. Get more info and the rules and regulations at www.kentuckystatepolice.org
or contact your local Co-op Extension Service office.
Energy efficiency tip
Smart home landscaping can lower your electric bills. Trees on the east and west sides of your home provide shade—and reduce your cooling costs—during hot summer months. Shade for your air conditioner can save 10 percent of your cooling costs. And by adding vegetation to the north side of your home, you can reduce winter winds that trigger higher heating costs.
Avoiding the blueberry blues
When Larry and Jenny Martin moved to Edmonton in Metcalfe County from Michigan in 1995, they brought blueberry bushes with them.
“The acid-type, low pH soil here where broom sage, wild blackberries, and cedar trees grow was just right for blueberries,” Larry Martin says. In 2002, they founded the Kentucky Blueberry Growers Association and encouraged other farmers to plant their own acres.
Another couple from Edmonton, Bill and Chris Lagermann, became so involved they wrote a book, Blueberries–The Basics, to help others in Kentucky learn how to successfully grow blueberries for their own use or to become commercial growers.
“We wanted to help people minimize loss. Getting by the first year is hardest, but once they get going they can last 50-60 years. Many of our area growers are small family businesses and we’ve included their profiles,” Lagermann says.
And if you’re in Edmonton on June 15 and 16, you’ll be at the site of the 10th Annual Kentucky Blueberry Festival.
For more information or to order a book, go to www.blueberrygrowers.com
or call (270) 432-2601.
Financial swindle protection
Financial fraud against the elderly has become a nationwide problem.
Investor Protection Trust President and CEO Don Blandin says, “We have witnessed a growing number of older Americans fall victim to financial swindles. Millions are in danger of being exploited.” The IPT promotes investor protection by conducting and supporting research and education at state and national levels.
Dr. Pamela B. Teaster, director, UK Justice Center for Elders and Vulnerable Adults at the University of Kentucky, notes three dominant scams: “Internet, Contractor, and Insurance, in addition to the major abuse being that of elder financial exploitation by family members. In those situations, it’s different because you’re dealing with trust issues. The Kentucky Justice Center (www.mc.uky.edu/gerontology/ jceva.html) is poised to address this because of its statewide reach,” she explains.
To learn more about how state securities regulators, healthcare professionals, and adult protective services professionals are collaborating to protect seniors from financial abuse, go to www.investorprotection.org. The Web site includes links to short videos from Money Track, a public television series. Complaints are often under-reported due to embarrassment, but a 24-hour hotline, (800) 752-6200, for elder financial abuse is available and calls can remain anonymous.
Time Capsule: 50 years ago
Congressional Breakfast
A new trend in rural living looms on the horizon for thousands of Kentuckians, says one of the state’s most progressive young cooperative managers.
The mass migration to cities will be reversed in a few years and people who are now living in metropolitan areas will be residing in ultra-modern rural communities, says T.C. Long Jr., manager of Shelby Rural Electric Cooperative.
The advent of turnpikes and super highways will mean that the city worker is only minutes from his work in the downtown areas, fostering a mushrooming of these ultra-modern communities around the interchanges of super highways, Long said. He expressed confidence in the state’s rural electric cooperatives to meet the challenge of serving these new residents from the city.
Long made the prediction in a talk before some 200 Kentuckians and their representation in Congress at the sixth annual Congressional breakfast held recently in Washington’s Continental Hotel.
The speaker illustrated his talk with artistic drawings which showed how shopping centers, residential areas, motels, service stations, hospitals, schools, recreational facilities, and light industry will make up the busy, rural community of tomorrow.
Slip slop sunburn solution
As outdoor activities increase, Kristinn Vazquez from the Stratospheric Protection Division of the EPA reminds us to protect our skin from harmful sunrays. “Kentuckians already know one of the ways to be SunWise,” Vazquez says. “They slap on their Derby hats. It’s one of the steps in our SunWise phrase for kids. Slip, Slop, Slap, and Wrap—Slip on a shirt, Slop on sunscreen, Slap on a Hat, and Wrap on sunglasses to stay safe in the sun.” To learn more about how to be SunWise, visit www.epa.gov/sunwise.
Beef Cooking Demo
Something fun you might be interested in attending, makes for a fun ladies night out or date night:
Thursday, May 17, 6 pm. Lean Beef Cooking Demo by Kentucky Living for Beef Month, with the Kentucky Beef Council, at Sullivan University (kitchen auditorium where they film the TV show Secrets of Chefs). We’re filming a podcast there the evening with Chef Shawn Ward of Jack Fry’s restaurant, which will be put online.
ONLY $10 per person, includes chef demo for how to cook with sampling of two lean beef recipes, AND a swag bag! Will be a really fun evening.
Featured recipes:
*Grilled Flank Steak Marinated in Local Worcestershire with Grilled Radicchio and Roasted Shallot Vinaigrette
*Grilled Top Loin Steak with a Jalapeno Shallot Vinaigrette
GET TICKETS AND MORE INFO HERE:
https://maxvps001.maximumasp.com/V001U22WAS/kyliving/beefmonth.asp
