Sometimes They Still Do It Right

Every once in a while, you read about even politicos doing things the right way.

In Greenfield Township, Pennsylvania, the race for a 6 year term on the Township Supervisor Board ended in a tie of 221 votes each for Republican Edward Helsel and Democrat Joseph Claar.

So Blair County Commissioner Donna D. Gority, a member of the county election board, suggested they break the tie the old fashioned way, which they agreed was right.

Sarah Seymour, an employee of the county election office, put several pieces of paper with numbers on them in an envelope, and each man chose one.

Low number won the election, and Helsel drew 12, Claar an 8.

They shook hands, and Helsel let it go at that.

Each had nothing but good to say about the other, and how the Township is doing.

This is how it should be.


Today is:

Advocate's Day -- India

Alka-Seltzer Day -- marking its introduction in 1931

Day of Remembrance for Bogatir (Great hero) Svatogor -- Pagan Slavic Calendar

Fairy and Goblin Taunt-and-Tease Saturnalia -- Fairy Calendar

Festival for Bona Dea -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of chastity, fecundity, the earth, and fertility; a women's festival)

International Day of Persons with Disabilities

International Day of the Basque Language

Make a Gift Day -- internet generated, and go ahead, 'tis the season

National Apple Pie Day

National Day -- United Arab Emirates (obs,)

National Ice Cream Box Day -- internet generated, for those who love ice cream that comes in the rectangular box, and being the first to dig in

National Roof-Over-Your-Head Day -- be grateful you have one

Reinvigorate Your Brain by Reading Something Day -- internet generated, and good to do every day, don't you think?

Shaker Christmas Fair -- Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, New Gloucester, ME, US

Skywarn Recognition Day

St. Francis Xavier's Day (Patron of Australia, Borneo, China, Goa, India, missionaries, Outer Mongolia, tourism)

Takata no Inoko -- Sakurai, Japan (offerings for peace and good harvests)

Telescope Day -- marking its invention by Galileo in 1621


Anniversaries Today:

Illinois becomes the 21st US State, 1818


Birthdays Today:

Brendan Fraser, 1968
Daryl Hannah, 1960
Julianne Moore, 1960
Ozzy Osbourne, 1948
Jean-Luc Godard, 1930
Andy Williams, 1927
John Backus, 1924
Joseph Conrad, 1857
Charles Alfred Pillsbury, 1842


Today in History:

Sir Thomas Herriot introduces potatoes to England, 1586
In an uprising over mining licenses, which came to be called the rebellion at the Eureka Stockade, more than 20 gold miners at Ballarat, Victoria, Australia are killed by state troopers in what many claim to be the birth of Australian democracy, 1854
The trial of Jefferson Davis starts with the first blacks on a US trial jury, 1868
Settlers arrive at Petach Tikvah, Israel, 1878
The Jovian moon Himalia is discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine, 1904
Neon lights make their public debut at the Paris Auto Show, 1910
The Quebec Bridge, after almost 20 years of planning and construction, opens, 1917
The first successful Technicolor movie, "Tall of the Sea," premiers in NYC, 1922
Chinese refugee ship "Kiangya" explodes in E China Sea, killing 1,100, 1948
Paul Harvey begins his national radio broadcast, 1950
At Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, a transplant team headed by Christiaan Barnard carries out the first heart transplant on a human, 1967
Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter, 1973
In one of the worst industrial disasters ever, a methyl isocyanate leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, kills thousands and injures hundreds of thousands, 1984
In Ottawa, Canada, representatives from 121 countries, not including the US, Russia, or China, sign The Ottawa treaty prohibiting manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel landmines, 1997
XCOR Aerospace makes first manned rocket aircraft delivery of US Mail in Mojave, California, 2005