The Bad Air Sponge

OTTUMWA — The woman charged in connection with the raid of a local pet store last week has admitted responsibility for animal neglect and must pay nearly $750 in fines.

Donna Marie Rhodes, 76, former owner of the Court Hill Pet Palace, 160 S. Iowa Ave., pleaded guilty Monday morning to four charges — two counts of cruelty to animals, one count of confining animals (filthy confinement conditions) and one count of sanitation of premises (odor and conditions of inside).

Rhodes appeared in front of Magistrate Judge Sam Erhardt, who ordered the woman to pay the fines within 45 days.

On Feb. 18, Ottumwa Police Animal Resource Officer Jeff Williams received a report of animal neglect and inhumane living conditions at the Pet Palace.

Upon investigation, Williams reported the discovery of nearly 30 animals living in squalid conditions.

In his report, Williams said as he entered the building he “detected a strong odor of urine and feces. The building had no gas, so the only thing keeping the temperature above freezing was two small electric space heaters. The business had 24 dogs, three cats inside, which all but one were confined in small kennels. Most of the confinements (kennels) had an offensive odor and was not clean and sanitary.”

Williams also discovered “a medium-size dog in a larger kennel. The dog was living in standing water with feces and other debris throughout the kennel floor. The water in the bowl was brown. The dog carrier for his shelter was closed so he did not have a dry spot to sit. His coat was covered in feces, water and urine. He was a white dog, but looked tannish brown from the filthy conditions of the kennel.”

Rhodes said Monday in court that she has not been well and that she never meant for any of the animals to suffer.

Scott Niles can be reached at (641) 683-5360 or via e-mail at sjniles@mchsi.com.

If your interest is piggery and poultry, you have today and tomorrow to attend the 2nd International Animal Health Genetics and Nutrition Congress (INAHGEN 2008) which is being held at the SMX Convention Center at the Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

Although it is just in its second staging, it is proving to be the country’s biggest livestock and poultry show. According to Jimmy Chua, expo chairman, it has become a world class event. The almost one-hectare indoor exhibition area is fully occupied by local as well as foreign exhibitors. Holland, for instance, has a big pavilion featuring the agricultural products and inputs from that country.

There are many probiotic products being exhibited by various companies. One of them is Bio-Kleen Pro, a high concentrate probiotic from Green Era Biotech Corporation. This is a product from three main groups of microorganisms, namely lactic acid bacteria, yeast, and proteolytic bacteria. When added in small amounts to the feed, it helps in the digestion and absorption of nutrients inside the intestines. The good bacteria will proliferate to counter the harmful bacteria.

As a result, the animals, pigs and poultry, have higher immunity. Piglets and fatteners are claimed to have higher resistance against respiratory diseases, achieving better feed efficiency and higher average daily gain in weight.

In poultry, it increases egg production, egg weight and reduces ammonia level inside the farmhouse, thus preventing respiratory diseases as well. Bio-Kleen Pro is also claimed to eliminate flies inside the farm. After a long period of using the product, animal manure becomes drier and is therefore not favorable for larvae to multiply.

Another product of Green Era Biotech is Golden Protein, a feed ingredient consisting of fermented soya. It is claimed to increase the appetite of animals because of its good palatability with a unique smell due to its 11 percent increase in glutamic acid after fermentation.

Feeds with Golden Protein are claimed to be highly digestible because the protein is already broken down to smaller peptides by the bacteria. It helps reduce foul smell in the farm because the product can decompose the ammonia produced by bad bacteria, thus reducing the foul odor in the manure.

While Toto Barcelona is better known for his seeds of hybrid vegetables and other high-value crops, he has joined INAHGEN not only to promote his hybrid crops but also new products for livestock and poultry. One of the items he is promoting is Alaska Bear Fish Meal which is claimed to be particularly beneficial to weaning baby pigs and breeding sows, as well as chicks of broilers and layers.

The raw materials consist of fresh meat of shark and whale, head and tail of salmon and tuna. The product contains 65 to 69 percent protein.

Another probiotic product that Barcelona is promoting is Anilov XO which is a feed additive for the establishment and maintenance of a favorable intestinal microflora in pigs and poultry.

Then he is also promoting greenhouse structures from France which are not necessarily for the growing of plants but for the housing of farm animals like goats, sheep, cattle, poultry and others.

Of course, Barcelona has displayed his leafy greens as well as his Red Lady papaya. They are attractions among products for pigs and chickens. His Red Lady papaya fruits are truly attractive.

Engr. Walther Alvarez of Atovi fame is also participating in INAHGEN. His product is added to animal feeds, boosting digestibility, enhancing the animal’s immune system, and reducing foul odor in the manure.

There are a wide array of products to see at INAHGEN, so don’t fail to attend.

When we last left the Chicago Cubs, Lou Piniella was walking off his team’s field toward the dugout for the last time on Oct. 6, 2007. A fan shouted, “Get ‘em next year!” and the manager nodded and replied with a wave: “Yeah. We’ll do better.”

Fans were pouring stoically out of Wrigley Field toward the gates and some held back their despair, while others saw a storybook emerging.

“We hope every year that we’ll come here and it will be different,” Robyn Kane said on her way out after the Cubs were swept by Arizona in the National League Division Series. “We’ll keep doing it, too.”

When we last left the Chicago Cubs, Ryan Theriot was getting dressed one last time in the little home clubhouse and saying the kinds of things that have defined his team’s players and its fans for generations: “You’ve got to take a positive out of it. You just have to regroup and come back strong.”

Next year is here, but this is not just any next year. This is the next year. This is 2008, the 100th anniversary of the Cubs’ last World Series championship. Which leads to the obvious question: Will this be the year that the team with the longest drought of titles in North American professional sports finally win?

Will Piniella be right? Will they do better? Will Kane be right? Will it be different? Will Theriot and his teammates come back strong? Is there really a Curse of the Billy Goat, and if so, can it be reversed the way Boston reversed its so-called Curse of the Bambino in 2004?

Cubs’ pitchers and catchers are due to report on Wednesday to HoHoKam Park in Mesa, Ariz., and their first formal workout of Spring Training will be held on Thursday. It will feel like the same beautiful tradition as snowbirds gather and balls pop into mitts, signaling a new year. The backdrop this time is a big storyline for many observers around the national pastime, as if something so banal as a round number really can get you into a postseason, much less into a World Series victory parade float.

The number “100″ is so — what is the right word? — noticeable. A society is conditioned to see it and accept it as significant. Willard Scott and a jelly-maker have been glorifying people 100 years old for a long time. We are a society that rounds off numbers in just about every part of life. So here comes the big 100.

Just look at that letter on the Cubs cap. It’s a C, which is the Roman numeral for 100.

“My message, first and foremost, to this team — and I’ve been thinking about that — is don’t put the load of 99 other years of not winning on you,” Piniella said before heading to Arizona. “Worry about this year only. We’ve got a good ballclub; don’t put any pressure on yourself. Let this team stand on its own merit, and that’s really going to be the message as far as Spring Training is concerned.

“You can’t redo the past. We’ve got a good chance to go forward. If we start looking at what’s happened and for so long, you put undue pressure on yourself. Let this team stand on its own merit and go from there.”

Cubs fans have been counting the years for a long time. The last time the Cubs were even in a World Series was 1945. In 1908, they beat the Tigers and reigned as the best of 16 Major League Baseball clubs.

Along the way, a goat became a chief part of Cubs lore. Even Piniella alluded to it during the Division Series last fall. Upon hearing criticism for his removal of starter Carlos Zambrano after six innings during a 3-1 opening loss at Arizona — where reliever Carlos Marmol gave up a key homer to Mark Reynolds — Piniella said, “It’s like the billy goat came out of the grave.”

The billy goat. Here we go again, for those who somehow do not know.

Billy Sianis, a Greek immigrant who owned the nearby Billy Goat Tavern, had two $7.20 box seat tickets to Game 4 of the 1945 World Series between the Cubs and the Tigers. He brought along his pet goat, Murphy (Sinovia in some references), which Sianis had restored to health when the goat had fallen off a truck and subsequently limped into his bar. The goat wore a blanket with a sign pinned to it which read: “We got Detroit’s goat.” Sianis and the goat were allowed into Wrigley and even paraded around the field before the game.

Despite a heated argument with ushers, Sianis and the goat were allowed to stay in the box seats for which he had tickets. But before the game was over, Sianis and his goat were ejected from the stadium, at the command of Cubs owner Philip Wrigley, due to the animal’s odor. Sianis was outraged and allegedly placed a curse upon the Cubs that they never would win another pennant or play in a World Series at Wrigley again because the Cubs organization had insulted his goat.

Now it is the mother of all “next years” and, much like the deal that sent Babe Ruth to the Yankees went hand-in-hand with Boston’s championship drought, no one can write about it without mentioning the goat.

The Cubs have done more eliminating than adding since their quick 2007 postseason departure, and their fans are fired up. Gone are one-time savior Mark Prior, Jacque Jones and Cliff Floyd, and new is Kosuke Fukudome in right field, along with the return of pitcher Jon Lieber. Perhaps Felix Pie (center) and Geovany Soto (catcher) are ready for regular roles. Time will tell. The rotation is deep, led by Zambrano and Ted Lilly, and there is a strong offense, though it was one that went mysteriously silent in the NLDS.

If you are the Cubs’ front office, all you can do is build and promote the best team possible for 2008. It is a team and a ballpark and most important a way of life that more people want to experience than the Friendly Confines possibly could hold. There is no scheduled fanfare for a drought. Who would celebrate futility? However, on July 9, the team will give the first 10,000 fans at Wrigley a 1908 hat.

“In the back of your mind, from the players’ standpoint, you want to be one of the guys who is part of a winning team, always, and more importantly here because it’s been so long,” Theriot said. “One hundred years — wouldn’t that be a storyline finish? Then we could tell everybody, ‘All right, see you all in 100 more years and we’ll win another one.’”

He was just joking about waiting another 100 years.

“Last year, it was 99, and we wanted to do it then,” Theriot said. “But I can’t remember one time, honestly, in that clubhouse, when somebody said we haven’t won in 99 years. It wasn’t talked about. We want to win for the city of Chicago and ourselves and this organization, and not because of the length of time since we had a championship.”

The Cubs are ready to start another Spring Training. “We’ll do better” are three words that many people will hold on to as it all begins again.

Published: Monday, February 25, 2025
Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived.

- Helen Keller

Nearly any real estate agent will tell you that one of the surest ways to appeal to a would-be buyer is to have an enticing smell — freshly baked cookies, brewing coffee, simmering soup — wafting through your home when it is being toured.

The olfactory system, which senses and processes odours, is one of the oldest parts of the brain. Among our senses, smell alone has a unique relationship with the limbic system, a key emotional centre associated with our moods, behaviour, and long-term memory.

In the book Aroma: The Cultural History of Smell, the use of fragrance in the home is described as having been a matter of “practical housekeeping” for our ancient relatives. Clothes stored in cedar chests were not only kept fragrant, but also protected from moths. Incense burned in storerooms both perfumed the wares within and helped ward off rodents.

More recently, the therapeutic use of scents — like many other traditional practices, including naturopathy, massage, and Ayurvedic medicine — is starting to receive growing attention, both from the general public and the scientific community.

Aromatic research, while still in its infancy, is already beginning to show that the smells in our homes, workplaces, and institutions such as hospitals can have a measurable effect on how comfortable we feel, and on our ability to handle stressful situations.

Today, aromatherapy is considered one of the fastest growing fields in holistic medicine. In some countries, including France, it has already been incorporated into mainstream medicine.

“People are realizing the therapeutic value of essential oils,” says Pat Antoniak, a registered nurse and registered aromatherapist who owns the Natural Comfort Wellness Centre in Tsawwassen. “People are starting to see the limitations of pharmacology, and looking to get away from petrochemicals.”

While scientific research on the cause and effect of aromatherapy is still limited, in vitro testing and a few double-blind studies have demonstrated the antibacterial and antiviral effects of some essential oils, and the abilities of others to reduce stress and anxiety.

It is important to note that not all seemingly pleasant scents are created equal. You may love the “morning dew” smell of your bathroom air freshener or the vanilla essence that wafts from your favourite candle. However, the aroma emanating from these products may be far from natural, let alone therapeutic.

Professionals recommend that people allow themselves to be guided by their natural preference. If you like an essential oil, you will enjoy using it. However, if you feel obligated to try one just because it is supposed to be good for a particular ailment, but you hate the aroma, it is likely your body’s way of telling you to choose something else.

Sharpen up your sound and your decor with these iPod speakers from Scandyna that look like so many colourful robots lined up ready to blast out your favourite tunes. According to the maker Scandyna, every aspect of the design has a precise acoustical justification so there’s more to this look than pure whimsy. The Minipod has three spheres and comes in a rainbow of colours from the standard, black, white and silver to midnight blue, racing green, yellow and others. Look for them at www.podspeakers.com.

Font:****Billed as the sub-£100 laptop, this stripped down but functional laptop is slated to launch at the Education Show in Birmingham, England at the end of this month. Elonex’s ONE is geared to school kids and runs on the Linux operating system with software giving students access to word processing, spreadsheet software, e-mail, a scientific calculator, an imaging and graphics package and Internet browsing. It has Wi-Fi built in, and the company is offering ONEunion, an online site allowing users to download content, music and artwork and personalize their ONE. Weighing in at less than one kilogram, it has a full QWERTY keyboard, a seven-inch (17.9 cm) screen, a flash-based hard drive and a battery that runs for three hours. Elonex plans to donate to underprivileged children one out of every 100 of these laptops that are sold. No word on availability in North America, but in announcing the new laptop, Elonex’s marketing manager Sam Goult said the company expects to bring low-cost computing to Europe and beyond.

BLACKBERRY PEARL 8130 SMARTPHONE IN PINK, $100 WITH A THREE-YEAR CONTRACT FROM TELUS, $500 WITH NO CONTRACT

Pick the BlackBerry Pearl 8130 in pink and Telus will donate $25 from the sale to Rethink Breast Cancer, a charity focusing on young people who are affected by and concerned about breast cancer. This version includes pink chameleon wallpaper, a two megapixel camera with flash and video and the regular phone, e-mail, web browsing, text messaging and other social and business functions of the BlackBerry.

ENELOOP AIR FRESHENER, SANYO

If you’ve ever shared a car with a dog who has taken a dip in the ocean, you’ll appreciate this compact air freshener from Sanyo that uses the company’s electrolyzed water technology to clean the air with a “virus washer” function. It has a rechargeable battery and also can be plugged into a cigarette lighter or a regular outlet to rid the air around you of pesky odours from your pet or a smelly smoker, viruses, airborne bacteria or allergens such as pollens. It’s launching in Japan.

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