I am an H1N1 survivor. This fall I missed a few days of school, curled up at home feeling like a piece of achy bacon slowly and painfully frying, but recovered fully within a week or two.  You all probably know someone like me and think, “Oh, so-and-so had the virus and is just fine; I’m sure I will be too.”

So far, an estimated 30 percent of Wisconsin residents have already been infected by the incredibly contagious H1N1 virus, and current rates of vaccination are between 17 and 20 percent in Eau Claire, Dunn, and Chippewa Counties.  That leaves half of the general population still susceptible to getting sick in the expected next wave of the flu outbreak.

I’m picturing the zombie apocalypse while I write this, and though I’ll admit H1N1 is not quite that bad, it’s certainly not something you want to have.  Common symptoms include cough, sore throat, fever, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue, among other nasty things. 

These sound uncomfortable but manageable, right?

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Have you ever thought to yourself, “You know, I would really like to sit down and have an informal discussion with my state representative?” Because it would be a pretty crazy coincidence if you have. It turns out Rep. Jeff Smith is holding “office hours” events from now until Nov. 1 at two local restaurants to try and ensure his re-election in November give constituents an opportunity to drop in and chat.

Even if this is a bid to get more votes, events like this are a great way to get everyday people (even political amateurs) involved by asking questions and discussing issues important to them. And really, it doesn’t get much easier than this, so save your lame excuses about having to wash the dishes or do a load of whites. It can wait. Really, it can.

The events are going down the first Monday of every month at Altoona Family Restaurant (8-9am) and the second Thursday of every month at Brackett Tavern (4:30-5:30pm) in Fall Creek.

The Mayor and Police Chief of Stevens Point, WI are seeing red over a Valentine's Day swinger's party being promoted by Marvin Thomann, owner of the wildly popular Camp NCN campground, located outside of Black River Falls.  Camp NCN, which stands for "No clothing necessary" is billed as a "sexual freedom campground" where consenting adults can engage in various activities without fear of persecution, and hopefully, social disease.  Mayor Andrew Halverson has stated that Stevens Point does not want to be associated with these sorts of events, while Chief Kevin Ruder has stated that city ordinances prohibit such events.  Chief Swinger Thomann has stated that the law protects the rights of those who wish to attend and has vowed to fight any attempts to shut the event down. I'd personally like to see the size of this hot tub, how about you?

Kevin T. Singer, a Wisconsin prison inmate serving a life sentence for first-degree intentional homicide recently lost his appeal in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that would have allowed him to play Dungeons and Dragons, a game he has played since he was a child. Prison officials previously eliminated all D & D related materials in the prison amid concerns that it provoked chaotic evil gang activity. It is not known if prison inmates had succeeded in using various magic items such as the shiv of banishing or the soap-on-a-rope of compulsion.

Like many others who have seen devastating video footage of the earthquake in Haiti, I wanted to do something to help. It is heartening to learn about local fundraising efforts and even plans to help directly on the ground.

Members of the Harvestime Church in Eau Claire are working hard to assemble a team of doctors and emergency workers to help on the ground as soon as flights to Haiti are possible. The church, which had originally planned to visit an orphanage in Haiti in a few weeks, had to shift their plans because the need for medical care is more urgent than that for the mattresses and chicken they were originally going to provide. If you are a trained doctor or emergency care worker and would like to join, call Kathy Kivlin at 715-858-4490 or visit www.servantsofallministry.org.

DeLong Middle School is sponsoring a couple of events to raise money for Haiti. Students and staff can donate a dollar on January 29, Wear a Hat for Haiti Day, and (you guessed it) wear a hat all day. And an ongoing fundraiser competition between 6th, 7th and 8th graders promises a prize for the grade collecting the most donations – a popcorn and movie party sponsored by the DeLong Student Council.

I only hope that all of the money being raised, supplies being donated and services being offered will make it to those in need as soon as possible.

Dealing with the onset of incurable cancer is not necessarily the death sentence it sounds like it should be as the tenacious Jean Husby is showing not only her friends and family, but also the local community. Her story is one of perseverance, pride and love in the face of the same disease that had already claimed the life of her mother and affected her sister as well. She has turned to her faith and her friends for support and it is no coincidence that this dedicated teacher and wonderful woman had many people there for her, ready to help in any way they could. When confronting her reality she said, “I can get busy living or I can get busy dying, I choose to get busy living.” With the same positive energy, she would like to experience her 50th birthday as a “Celebration of Life” and the people in her life. It will be a party held in the long-time CVTC educator's honor at the Westgate Sportsman’s Club, from 3-10pm, on January 16th. Through Volume One, Jean would like to invite anyone who considers themselves a friend of hers, including all of her nearly 5,000 former students, for a night of music and fun.

Wisconsin supporters of the humble microbe, Lactococcus Lactis recently presentedAssembly Bill 556 (download) to Wisconsin lawmakers to officially designate it our state microbe. Should it pass, not only will Wisconsin be the first state with an official microbe, it would serve to further promote Wisconsin's 18 billion dollar a year cheese industry.You see, Lactococcus Lactis is what turns our delicious and creamy Wisconsin milk, (produced by our noble and happy WIsconsin cows) into delicious, award-winning WIsconsin cheese. Sun Prairie Democrat Gary Hebl said that anyone who would oppose such a bill is "lactose intolerant". Sometimes it really is the little things that matter.  The little, delicious, cheese-producing things. 

On the longest night of the year we will have a celebration of Light, Warmth, and Peace. We will celebrate Winter Solstice on Sunday December 20 at 1:00pm on Phoenix Gardens along Forest Street in Eau Claire. We invite you to participate in making it happen and ask you to get the word out to others who would enjoy celebrating the shortest day of the year. It will be inclusive celebration appropriate all ages.

We will begin by recognizing the Four Winds based on Native American tradition that includes recognizing the Great Mystery that dwells in all people. That includes all of us. So that means that WE will co create the celebration that will happen that day on that place. It will be spontaneous and intuitive ...

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Every year, in major cities around the nation and world, residents congregate for the ceremonial “tree lighting.” They get massive trees and cover them in thousands of bulbs and ornaments – an effect so beautiful that we immediately forget the fact that we've killed miracles of nature hundreds of years in the making . But not in Milwaukee. Nope. In Milwaukee, hundreds of people excitedly congregate at the public museum for the lighting of a 36-foot humpback whale skeleton. Yeah, it’s as awesome as it sounds. Such a ridiculous celebration deserves homage, or an all-out rip off in the Chippewa Valley. So let’s think, people! What should we light up? Adin Randall? Paul and Babe? Those huge construction cranes?

It’s fall and that means we get to enjoy burning red and orange leaves igniting trees all over Eau Claire. However, while pretty on the trees, these leaves are now ending up all over our lawns and parks in massive piles, causing a lot of trouble. Locals are in a fix when it comes to disposing their leaves as there is no municipal facility in Eau Claire County that accepts yard waste materials such as leaves. Instead, a directory has been put together consisting of businesses and homeowners who accept leaves, grass, pine needles, etc. However, this is hardly convenient. This leaf disposal problem is a big deal. Remember all those stanky lakes we had this summer? Leaves are partially to blame. When leaves sit in our yards, wind and rain carry them into our lakes, or into storm sewers which then end up in our lakes. Leaves ooze phosphorus and other plant nutrients that feed lake weeds and algae which turn our lakes green and stinky in the summer time. We have a whole lot of leaves here in the Chippewa Valley and so it is vital that we put our leaves away. A simple solution with great rewards is composting. Just digging about a foot or so in your garden and burying leaves there with about an inch of dirt to cover them is all it takes. Composting reduces algae in our lakes and the amount of waste filling up landfills. Plus it improves soil structure, texture, aeration and increases the soil’s water-holding capacity. If you don’t already, its time to start composting your leaves and get a nice workout doing it!