I HAD A SMOKING BUS, TOO!
    O’Leary’s stole our smoking lounge idea. Pictured is the SmoLo (SMOking LOunge). When Minneapolis went smoke free, we took our St. Paul Music Club bus across the river to provide comfortable smoking accommodations for our nicotine-addicted friends and comrades. We didn’t get in trouble, but after three different “tours,” we gave up because we wanted to be inside listening to the band, not bus-sitting. The picture was made into magnets as gifts for our patrons.
– Leah Rule, Menomonie

BACK OFF, HOLLYWOOD
    Watching television today, President Elect Obama is all over the news. As well as the survivors of a plane crash landing in the Hudson River just several days ago, and on both counts, they’re already talking about the movie.

Obama hasn’t even been inaugurated and they’re already talking about Will Smith being the starring role. And as far as the trauma victims from the plane crash, they probably haven’t even recovered from the cold, and they’re already tabloid fodder, and being asked for signatures in reference to celebrities playing them, and books being written, and they’re lives being turned into puddy in the hands of She/He-gods like Brad Pitt, and George Clooney, and other various household Hollywood names.

Because no one truly wants to hear what these individuals have to say, unless of course there along side such great conductors as Oprah Winfrey, or Dr. Phil, or maybe if there a closet homosexual or have been struggling with prescription drug addiction since the crash, their stories just aren’t quite the same as they will be sung out of Celine Dion’s lungs, or written in the supple prose of Hollywood script writers.

These people are not celebrities, they didn’t ask to crash into the Hudson River, and they deserve better than to be to be thrown in the tabloids along side the likes of Paris Hilton and Britney Federline/Spears/Godpleasejustshootme!

In reference to Obama’s election I couldn’t feel more happy, but turning lives into Hollywood stories creates a certain unrealistic standard for that individual if they’re just starting to embark on the path that the movie dictates, and I think it takes away from the person as an individual in areas such as there ability to sway and make decisions and even surprise us by being humble and realistic.
– Grant Maierhofer, Eau Claire

BIRTHDAY
    February 7th was my brother’s birthday; he turned 23. He has type I diabetes and is not fortunate enough to have health care insurance. This means that he cannot get the health check ups he needs and has to use his supplies such as needles more than is recommended to save money.

It is an outrage to me that our country, one of the richest in the world, cannot provide health care for its people. I have three children and qualify for Badger Care Plus. However, I am healthy and do not need health care like my brother does. I wonder why our state puts my life above his. His life is just as important as mine is, and he is likely to have a shortened lifespan because he is not getting the care he needs.

Unfortunately, he is not the only one having his life taken away by the lack of health care for all; there are millions more. Please join me on Feb. 18 at the Unitarian Universalist Church (421 Farwell St.) at 4:30pm to address these concerns with Congressman Ron Kind. Citizen Action of Wisconsin, JONAH, HCAN and many other organizations are coming together to make this event possible — because my brother deserves health care coverage that can allow him to live his life to the fullest.   
– Amber Boyce-Fisk, Eau Claire