It was announced early last week, that all inmates and staff at the Stanley Correctional Institution had been tested for COVID-19 and that all had come back negative. Angela Weideman, Chippewa County Health Director, praised the staff for keeping everyone safe. *** Did you know? According to Mercator Advisory Group, the “Nilson Report,” Center for Retirement Research, Investment Company Institute, and AARP calculations, the average number of accounts and funds Americans have are: 2.8 bank and credit union accounts, 4.5 credit cards, 1.8 IRA’s and 401(k)s, and 7 mutual funds. How do you measure up? Many Americans have even more of these accounts – remember these are averages. +++ According to Madan Kataria, M. D., “Children can laugh up to 400 times in a day, but for adults this frequency drops to barely 15 times a day. Where is our laughter?” +++ Wisconsin has over 460 streams, classified by the Wisconsin DNR as trout streams. +++ Wild parsnip is flourishing in some areas this summer. If the juice from broken stalks, leaves or flowers comes in contact with skin that is then exposed to sunlight, a skin rash will result 24 to 48 hours later. Symptoms range from a slightly reddened area to large blisters. *** Many news commentators, and political officials of both major parties, are telling us that the presidential election this year is one the most important in history. It is generally projected that voter turnout will be a big factor in who wins. Databank USA indicates that only five states had a turnout of over 60 percent in the 2018 midterm. They were Minnesota 64.2 %, Wisconsin 61.4%, Colorado 61.4%, Montana 61.3% and Oregon 61.2%. Twenty states were identified as having voter turnout rates under 50%. Get ready to vote, “It’s your duty and responsibility!” If you don’t vote you have no right to complain. In Stanley, you can vote by using the drive through at city hall – you don’t even have to get out of your car. *** Tuesday, August 11, is the Wisconsin Partisan Primary. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Division of Motor Vehicles, wants everyone to be informed of what you need, if you want to vote, and how anyone can obtain a free acceptable identification card. According to the Wisconsin Elections Commission website, these are the forms of identification that are acceptable to show at the polls in order to vote: 1.) A Wisconsin DOT issued driver license 2.) A Wisconsin DOT issued identification card 3.) A Military ID card issued by a U. S. uniformed service 4.) An ID card issued by a federally recognized Indian tribe in Wisconsin. 5.) A U. S. passport. To obtain a free identification card from the DOT, visit website bringit.wi.gov for information you need to bring to a DMV Customer Service Center. Or call (844) 588-1069, the DMV’s toll free Voter ID Hotline to have questions answered. There is no excuse for not being able to vote, and it is your responsibility to be prepared for the Partisan Primary, and more importantly for the Presidential Election in November. Check with City Hall as to when the DMV is at the Stanley Fire Hall, if you can’t get to the Eau Claire DMV Customer Service Center.

*** When the Corner Booth folks get to talking, it is evident that most have had doctors who recommend a reduction in use of table salt. A number are taking diuretics, to reduce water retention, which is a treatment for high blood pressure. Here are a few salt facts that I ran across recently. Salt was so valuable in ancient times that soldiers were sometimes paid with it. The word salary comes from the Latin word sal, for salt. When a solider wasn’t meeting expectations, his paycheck might be cut and thus comes the expression “Not worth his salt.” +++ Sea salt may sound healthier than regular salt, but most sea salts have roughly the same proportion of sodium – about 40 percent – as table salt. Spices and herbs are the only salt free flavorings e. g. garlic, pepper, oregano. +++ We all need some salt as it facilitates the transport of nutrients and oxygen, allows nerves to transmit messages and helps muscles work. Would you believe the average adult body contains 250 grams of sodium, or three or four shakers of salt. +++ And lastly, the biggest use of salt in the U. S. is not related to food, but rather about 44 percent of salt goes towards de-icing our roads. Only 3 percent is used in agricultural and food processing.

*** One of my most memorable experiences in traveling has been visiting a multi-leveled salt mine near Krakow, Poland. It was incredible to see that workers in this mine, years ago, made a church on one level with the altars and statues carved from salt. The workers and their families attend Christmas Eve Mass there to this day. There are no pews so they stand during the entire service. The day we were there, hundreds of school children were on tour and were having their class picture taken in the church. *** Blackmail Scams To Be Aware Of: Here is how it can happen – You get an E-mail from a stranger saying they have been reading your E-mails, monitoring your Internet usage, or even videotaping you via your computer and they are going to expose your embarrassing, damaging secrets unless you pay for the stranger’s silence. Or that pornography, or other compromising material has been placed on your computer via a hack, and will be used to smear your reputation unless you pay up. According to the AARP Fraud Watch, these steps can be taken to deal with such scammers: 1.) Don’t respond. 2.) Change passwords regularly. 3.) Keep you anti-virus software updated. 4.) Delete E-mails from unknown senders. 5.) Don’t keep any material you wouldn’t want to be widely shared stored in a computer file. While such E-mails are usually a bluff, it is emotionally difficult to think someone may have violated what you thought was secure space. *** Smile time. Mike: When I go to Heaven I am going to ask Shakespeare if he really wrote all those plays. Pat: Maybe he won’t be there. Mike: Then you ask him! +++ Due to COVID -19 …. we are asking RIOTERS to work from home and destroy their own property. +++ Quotable Quotes: Hard work should be rewarded by good food. Ken Follett, writer. +++ There is light at the end of the tunnel, which hopefully is not a freight train. Mariah Carey, singer. +++ A woman was a believer in eating health foods. She was always adding wheat germ and other supplements to her husband’s food. “You’re going to live to be a 100, if you keep eating like this,” she told him. “No, I won’t,” he muttered as he readied another spoonful of fortified oatmeal. “But it’s sure going to seem like it.” +++ Why does a Rooster crow so early in the morning? To get a word in before the Hens wake up!