Austin Wiebe's JOUR3101 News Blog

In the midst of trying economic times, one Michigan family has taken a fresh approach to getting by.
Patrick and Melissa Wojtowicz, along with their 15-year-old daughter Gabrielle, have changed their entire way of life in Alma, Mich. in an attempt to break from the downward economic cycle.
When Patrick Wojtowicz, 36, began to lose ground financially with his job as a trucker, he and his wife, Melissa, 37, decided to reexamine the way they were living.
They decided to cut back on extra expenses and work to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Patrick quit his job and they began to garden and raise their own animals for food.
They also began, like many American families, to can their own food, buy clothes at resale shops, and checking out books and movies from the library.
Living off only the salary of Melissa, who is self employed, has been difficult, but the family has grown closer through working to meet their own needs.
"The earn, spend, earn era has come to an end for us," USA Today quoted from the family's blog. "The idea of living a fuller, more satisfying life seems simple to us now. ... Money, cash, credit, maybe they don't matter. Maybe, just maybe, it is those things that impede our ability to be truly happy."

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The last living survivor of the Titanic, which sank in the icy waters of the Atlantic in April 1912, held an auction Saturday, selling her keepsakes of the ship to cover the cost of her nursing home care.
Millvina Dean, who is now 97, was only 9 weeks old when the ship made its first and last voyage.
The auction was held to help Dean pay her over $50,000 in yearly charges for nursing home care.
One notable item that was set to be sold at the auction was a large bag that was among items Dean's mother and brother brought with them back to England.
"Historical documents say she was lifted from the lifeboat onto Carpathia, the rescue ship, in a mail sack," Alan Aldridge of the auction company Henry Aldridge & Son told CNN. "There is speculation that this would have been the bag. It's a leather and canvas bag. You would easily get a child or infant in it."
Aldrich said they hope to raise around $4,500 for the bag, though that would be multiplied tenfold if they could prove it was the bag she was rescued in.
Many of the other 16 items up for sale were memorabilia from the Titanic signed by Dean, though most were not from the ship itself, CNN reported.
Dean hopes to stay in her current nursing home for as long as possible.
"When she runs out of money, the state will pay fees for her, but while she can pay her fees, she decides where she gets her care," Aldrich told CNN. "When the state pays, they decide."

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A Portland, Ore. woman is helping bring aid to an often-ignored group of individuals suffering from the effects of the recession: our pets.
Joni Taylor, 53, is the head of FIDO, which stands for Friends Involved in Dog Outreach. The group raises support to provide dog food to pet owners in need.
Donations come in from pet shops and animal food makers, among others. On the the third Saturday of each moth, the food bank hands out a month's supply of dog food to anyone who asks.
On a recent Saturday, FIDO handed out over 3,000 pounds of food, the Los Angles Times reported.
The program comes as a welcome relief to many who are forced to choose between meeting their own needs and those of their pets.
Pat Foss, a 47-year-old who shares her home with seven rescued stray dogs, was able to receive 24 pounds of dry food, two cans of wet food and a gallon-sized bag of dog treats.
Eric Gateley lost his job as a construction manager in June, and says his dog, Bella, is someone he doens't have to put on a front for. Gateley has been living with his wife and 9-year-old son in a motel since January.
FIDO also provides dog food for shut-ins and senior citizens through its food delivery program.

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A man in Lowell, Mass. saved the life of a fellow gym-goer Wednesday night who nearly drown in the gym's swimming pool.
Ricky Underwood, 21, was in the sauna at his local gym when he noticed a commotion around the swimming pool and decided to investigate.
When he reached the pool, Underwood saw Vishal Kumar struggling in the water. When he saw Kumar stop moving at the bottom of the pool, he knew it was time to act.
"It just took me but a quick second to think, I am jumping in," Underwood told WCVB of Boston. "When I actually got him out of the water he was completely dead weight. He had no reaction. His arms were dangling by his side, he was not breathing."
Underwood then performed CPR on Kumar, saving his life.
Kumar, the father of a 4-year-old son, said that his family was the only thing on his mind during the rescue.
"I concluded that I had died. I just wished ... who would take care of my son and my family?" he told WCVB.

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A small Nebraska town has asked the state to become the new owners of the state's now-unlawful electric chair.
The chair was used to execute 15 criminals in the state before the the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled it cruel and unusual punishment last year.
The electric chair has been the state's only form of execution since 1913, but will likely be replaced by lethal injection in the legislature.
Now, residents of McCook, Neb. want to use the chair as part of a new museum in the town of 8,000.
"My wife thinks it's a little — what's the word — macabre," Duane Tappe, a resident of McCook, told USA Today. "But I would drive up the road to see it. I mean, I drove all the way to Cawker City, Kan., to see the (world's largest) ball of twine."
The chair would be used in a museum dedicated to Geroge Norris, a U.S. senator from Nebraska who promoted bringing electricity to rural areas in the early-mid 1900s with the Rural Electrification Act.

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A New York funeral director recently made an unusual offer on the online classifieds site Craigslist.com.
Peter Dohanich, a 51-year-old resident of Manhattan, offered free funeral services in exchange for a construction worker or contractor to remodel his patio.
"It may sound like a laughable barter transaction, but consider the average cost of paying for a funeral," Reuters quoted the listing as saying. "Ask someone that recently had a funeral what they paid!!!"
In the current economy, many people are looking to barter and exchange products and services rather than spending money.
Dohanich said the construction should cost about the same as funeral services, which can easily reach more than $7500.
According to the National Funeral Directors Association, there is no precedent in place for bartering funeral services, Reuters reported.
Though Dohanich has received several responses to the ad, he has not yet filled the job.

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Seven Chicago police officers are facing disciplinary action regarding a 14-year-old boy who spent several hours impersonating a policeman before being discovered.
The teen entered the police station on Jan. 24 through an unlocked back entrance. He was given a police radio without having any form of badge or identification.
The police said he then went on five assignments, spending at least two hours behind the wheel of a squad car.
He even participated in an arrest, pinning a suspect's arms so another officer could cuff him, BBC reported.
The scheme was discovered several hours later, when officers noticed that the teen's store-bought uniform did not have regulation markings and he did not have a weapon.
The teen pleaded not guilty impersonating an officer, and was released from juvenile detention last week, though he remains under electronic monitoring.
Supt Jody Weis of the Chicago Police Department told BBC that seven police officers could face disciplinary action for not recognizing the fraud.
"They weren't paying attention. They were lax, I'm very upset," Weis said. "This whole incident is very disturbing."

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The chief executive of Europe's largest budget airline said in an interview that the company might consider charging passengers to use the restrooms on their planes.
Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair, said the airline is considering adding a coin slot that would charge passengers 1 pound ($1.43) to enter the lavatory.
A spokesman for the company, however, told Reuters there was no reason to believe the company was going to take such measures.
"Michael makes a lot of this stuff up as he goes along, and while this has been discussed internally, there are no immediate plans to introduce it," Reuters reported Stephen McNamara as saying.
Ryanair is focused on providing low-cost air travel to passengers, and recently announced it would close all check-in counters and replace them with online check-in.
O'Leary insisted that adding toilet charges would not cause an inconvenience for passengers without cash.
"I don't think there is anybody in history that has got on board a Ryanair aircraft with less than a pound," O'Leary told Reuters.

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A young Indian boy was married Wednesday to his neighbor's dog to protect him from attacks from wild animals.
The ritual ceremony was held in the Jajpur district of Orissa by a priest of the Munda tribe. Over 250 tribespeople participated in the wedding service.
The marriage was prescribed after the boy, Sagula, grew a tooth on his upper gum, a bad omen which, in Munda culture, represents a vulnerability to attacks by tigers and other wild animals.
By performing the ceremony, tribespeople asked their god to bless the child and ward off evil spirits.
The boy's father told reporters that they also hoped to deflect any curse that might fall upon their family.
According to Reuters, there was no dowry exchanged for the marriage, and the boy will not have to divorce before marrying a human bride.

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A bizarre crime sweep in Colorado this month left several horses without their tails, leaving owners to question theives' motives.
Intruders entered local farms and ranches, cutting off several horses' tails with knives or scissors.
The incident left local residents stunned and confused, as the tails hold little monetary value. Though horsehair is used in various consumer products, manufacturers generally purchase the hair in bulk from overseas distributors.
According to Los Angeles Times, some residents have even suggested cult usage to explain the strange crimes.
Motives aside, horse owners affected by the crime are indignant.
In addition to their aesthetic value, horses' tails help the animals insect-free in warmer months. Owners now must consider other insect repellents or tail extensions.
Elbert County residents Tom Johnson and Jim Hoff, owners of Happy Trails Horse Drawn Rides, have reported several horses and ponies missing tails. Around five other neighborhood horses have also lost their tails.
"I was sick to my stomach," Johnson told Los Angeles Times. "I love shampooing them and getting them dressed up for the shows."

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In an effort to make itself more attractive and accessible to tourists, the city of Venice has implemented a system that allows visitors to purchase restroom access cards on the Internet.
The cards allow for a discounted rate at public toilets throughout the city, which generally cost one Euro coin to use for tourists.
The rate for Venice citizens is only 25 Euro cents per visit.
In high tourist seasons, a five-day, ten-use restroom pass can be purchased online for 7 Euros. The cost in low season drops to 5 Euros.
The cards also eliminate the need to carry change to use the restroom.
A spokesperson for the city told Reuters, "For people who want some security, who don't want to go into a bar to buy a coffee or a roll, so they can go to the bathroom, this is a solution."
The restroom access cards went into effect Sunday, and must be purchased at least 15 days in advance.
The new system was implemented in an attempt to reduce instances of tourists urinating in streets.
Venice hosts about 20 million tourists a year.

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