Beatle mania – 50 years later

It’s been 50 years – this weekend – since the Beatles played on the Ed Sullivan Show and officially marked the beginning of the first British invasion.

And many are celebrating the anniversary and sharing their memories of the Fab Four.

On the Daily Item’s Facebook page we put out some feelers for Beatles fans and we did get  at least one interesting response.

One fan shared a photo she took at Shea Stadium in 1965, showing John Lennon and George Harrison:

That’s so cool – apparently, Joyce Hendricks said it was taken backstage.

Anyone else have some great Beatles memories/photos? Share them here!

Reactions from community: Girls wrestling

Yesterday I told you about the Line Mountain girl who is now able to wrestle on her school’s team, thanks to a judge’s ruling.

And our readers went wild on Facebook – telling us their opinion and voicing their viewpoint.

Here’s just some of the reaction:

I tend to agree with the majority on this one: Let her wrestle!

What do you think? Should Audrianna be able to wrestle?

Now Trending on Facebook: Sunbury murder suspect arrested

This week, it’s been all about the arrest of Miranda Barbour, who is alleged to have slashed Troy LaFerrara more than 20 times. The police allege it was a Craigslist encounter gone wrong.

They didn’t say “sex,” but it was implied that it was an “adult” meeting.

Barbour’s husband spoke out the day after her arrest, saying she never slept her clients, just talked to them and would never have killed anyone who didn’t threaten to hurt her.

Well, readers had a lot to say about that:

• Granny Charli: Let’s assume for the moment her story is true. Let’s assume she blacked out & didn’t realize she was stabbing the guy 20 times. What kind of a person then drives around town & literally dumps another human being into the dirt & leaves him there to die? I don’t know about you but I couldn’t treat an animal like that let alone a person. Even after all of this, how could you then drive to Harrisburg for a birthday celebration?!!
• Justin Herman: Seriously she stabbed the guy repeatedly. He was grasping for breath, she opened the passanger side to let him fall out, and finally she cleaned the car out so she could enjoy the evening with her husband. Sounds cold blooded to me.
• Jeannie Gully: That husband has been snowballed. If he seriously think that she just met men for “delightful conversations” he’s as crazy as she is. If she charged $850 for “delightful conversations”, and the men paid it for the eye candy, they were all cheated, severely.

Here’s the story of what the husband had to say. Read for yourself and you can decide what you believe – all I can say is this story is only going to get bigger – stay tuned!

Facebook response: Chicken and roads

Yesterday,  photographer Rob Inglis caught this rooster trying to cross a road in the Valley.

Get it – chickens, roads … the possibilities are endless.

So we put it out on Facebook – “How would you caption this?” – and we got some great responses. Here’s some of my favorites:

•  Stacie Mull: Run for it! The Colonel is coming!
• Stephanie Stauffer: You people have nothin better to do than wonder why I am crossing the road?!
• Charmaine Dunlap: I am comin” home Frank !
• Jeff Schulze: Should I stay or should I go. Why?
• Holly Landvater-Faust: Here goes nothing, if a car comes I hope I can fly…
• Lee Ann Brecht: Think I just crossed a line here…
• Greg Freed Crossing the road. Look at me strut. This is a pice of cake.

Got any good ones?

Now Trending on Facebook: Do we need cursive writing?

This week on Facebook, a lot of things are blowing up, but most of all….people are arguing about cursive writing!

The Common Core standards have dropped the requirement to learn cursive writing, and people can’t decide whether they agree with that or not.

Here’s a sampling:

• Maggie Barger: Why don’t we just stop teaching children and just let their phones iPods etc do all the work. Yes, cursive should still be taught! Maybe parents should think twice before caving in on giving their kids so much technology.
• Jennifer Heintzelman My mom died earlier this year. She left behind journals, written in cursive. Had I not learned how to write/read in cursive, I would not have been able to read her journals, her notes left on the margins of her Bibles, and many other things left behind. There are so many things written in cursive from our history, it’s important for students now to learn cursive. Our school (Mifflinburg) teaches a little bit of it and it varies by teacher on just how much, what they haven’t learned from school, I’ve taught myself (or am teaching). It’s not just a matter of what schools are teaching, it’s ultimately the parents job to ensure that their kids have the knowledge they need. There are resources online for parents to use to teach their children if the schools aren’t.
• Eric Adams Teaching cursive is a bit old. I can’t think of anyone who really uses it in any form of communication other then signing your name. And it would be a lot easier to teach kids how to sign their name or to create a unique signature then to spend years teaching them a completely worthless skill.

I agree with the pro-cursive camp. I use it all the time, especially when taking notes on stories.

It is so much quicker, easier and sometimes, it’s just prettier.

What do you think? Should we still teach cursive writing?

 

Now Trending on Facebook: Week of Oct. 13

The shutdown is over! Hurrah!

That means (hopefully) we can move on to some other big news on our Facebook page – like some heroic window washers and high school football, though the government remains a hot topic.

• The hottest topic this week? The possibility of upping the speed limit on some Pennsylvania highways to 70 mph. Here’s just a sampling of the comments from that, which totaled 79: Kathleen M Matukaitis-Kelley, “Why would changing make any difference, they drive that already. if not faster.” But Others disagreed: Misty Clark, “No. ….I think 65 is fast enough! People drive 75 already with the speed 65 if it’s raised to 75 people will go 85 or faster and theres no need to go that fast!!”
• The shutdown ended late Wednesday, but frustration remains for many people: Alicia M. Beachy, “Both sides deserve to not be paid, or get any of their inflated pensions!! This isn’t over, they just delayed the inevitable!! They aren’t doing their jobs, and have disgraced the American people who voted them into office!!! This time in our history will be known as a failure from both congressional and executive leadership!!!”
• Finally, in a battle between salsa and ketchup, the winner was, undoubtedly, mustard.

Check out our Facebook page to join the conversation!

Now Trending on Facebook: Week of September 29

This week has been full of big news, mostly coming from our nation’s capitol, but big news all the same.

The govt shutdown has been the talk of our Facebook page this week.

Here’s that and some other crowd favorites:

• The question of whether politicians should get paid during the shutdown sparked a lot of response, mostly from those saying absolutely not: Tina Auman “Absolutely NOT!! They all need a reality check so they can see how their ‘decisions or in-decisions’ affect their own lives and they should not be exempt.”
• Other people expressed frustration at the technical glitches surrounding the launch of the Health Insurance Marketplace on healthcare.gov, saying they were not able to access the site: Ken Dieffenbach Jr. “This is what I got around 5am today. I went back and it was running, but they failed to identify my identity by me answering the security questions. Then I was given a code to call Experian to answer them via the phone. I can’t imagine the plans are any cheaper than what I have now and will cross the bridge once my premium is raised (which is inevitable at this point I’m certain!)”
• On a lighter note, the preview video from the Elysburg Haunted House has been popular, with people gearing up for this annual Halloween treat:

Happy weekend everyone!

Digital Dialogue: Government shutdown

Today the topic on everyone’s mind is the government shutdown – which reared its ugly head at midnight.

Yesterday, the topic blew up on our Facebook page, with the most common sentiment being: just freaking get along already. (That’s my thought too, if you can’t tell).

Here’s a sampling:

• Coni Marie Sheridan: “I’m more concerned that our elected officials cannot work together or compromise on important issues. Regardless of your political views or party alliances, in order for our country to run successfully, we need to work together.”
• Robert Haddock: “let it shut down…then maybe the people will wise-up and vote these people out of office….we need to start over..we cant keep going the way we are…shut it DOWN…..and you see again…we the little people wont get our money…but they will make sure they get there….so again…shut it DOWN…”
• Eric Adams: “I’m far more concerned that the idea of working together has been co-opted by a group of law makers intent on appealing to the extremists known as the tea party and are willing to sacrifice our economic health in a vain and transparent attempt to position themselves for the 2016 elections. What’s pitiful is that the RINOs, like Ted Cruz, are forcing the entire Republican Party to come across as a group of people dedicated to denying.”
• Deleen Wetzel: “We all need to remember this next time we go vote! We need our voices heard….and they need to listen.”

Here’s the two opposing sides voicing their opinions. It’s up to you to decide where all of this leads come 2014, people:

Now Trending on Facebook: Week of Sept. 15

Another week, another week of readers weighing on the Daily Item’s Facebook page with their thoughts on everything from Northumberland County salaries to lawn mower DUIs.

Here’s a peek at what was hot on the web this week:

• This touching photo, which shows Cherakee Yonkin releasing balloons in memory of boyfriend Robert Hill while holding their daughter, Naveah Hill, 1. Robert Hill, 20, was killed in an automobile accident near Kratzerville on Sept. 17, 2012. The photo was a favorite of readers this week, garnering more than 100 likes.
• Another hot topic: that lawn mower DUI from Western PA. It got a lot of attention, with people debating the merits of the charges: Brynne Clawser: “Why is he getting charged with driving with a suspended license….last time I checked you don’t need your license to drive a lawn mower.”
• Also, in honor of National Cheeseburger Day, people shared their favorite placed to grab a burger in the Valley, and it reads like a list of to-eat-at places. If you love a good burger, check out the list and make plans to eat out!

Now Trending on Facebook: The most viral picture on the Daily Item ever?

A picture that was on this blog earlier this week went absolutely viral on the Daily Item Facebook page – making it possibly the most popular image yet on the page.

This is the photo:

Posted on 9/11, it got 430 likes and 74 shares. That’s pretty amazing for a small newspaper.

Other topics heating up on the page:

• People in the Valley are talking about the coming 10-digit dialing. This was a surprise hit, garnering 60 comments.  Here’s a sample: Christina Ayala “I don’t think it is that big of a deal, i have it stored in my phone book that way anyways, and when i taught my kids their phone number i always gave them the area code when teaching them, bc honestly if they got lost or kidnapped and used the phone who knows where they would be and if they would need it!”
• And the Bean Soup Festival is hot – and we’re not just talking about the food. The festival has a lot of support from fans on the Facebook page, professing their love for the old-time recipe.