This week's heroes are the firefighters of Misquamicut, located within the town of Westerly, Rhode Island, who waded into icy waters to rescue a dog who fell through thin ice!
(Photo: Crews rescue a dog from Little Masachaug Pond in Westerly, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. Credit: Misquamicut Fire Department)
If you'd like to know about the ghosts and hauntings of Linville Manor in Maryland, my coauthor, Winn Brewer and I joined Bob Heske, host of the Afraid of Nothing Podcast to talk about it for an hour. Today's blog shares the links to the interview- both on Video or Podcast.
Bob Heske, Host of the famous "Afraid of Nothing" Podcast asked Co-authors Rob Gutro and Winn Brewer to discuss their collaboration on the book "The Ghosts of the Linville Manor" -- Maryland's most haunted house!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4GHPVpEWCk
And LISTEN TO A PRIOR "Afraid of Nothing" Episode about the house!
Buy the Book on Amazon! AND Visit the house!
ABOUT THE HOUSE: Linville Manor in Maryland dates back to the 1600s. Over the years, the home has gained notoriety for its paranormal activity, which has piqued the interest of distinguished investigators in the field.
One of my favorite series of mysteries is called the "Haunted Bookshop Mystery" series by Cleo Coyle. I've just finished the seventh book in the series called" The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait." It was wonderful, 5 of 5 stars! Today's blog is about the book.
I love the characters!!! Pen McClure owns a mystery book store in Quindicott, Rhode Island with her aunt Sadie. In the 1940s a private investigator named Jack, was killed in the store, thus he haunts it. Pen can hear him and he has helped her solve mysteries in the town. There are a lot of great supporting characters, too. One is a mailman and another is a college professor who bicker back and forth. In this story, an art collector is selling his paintings, and one is supposed to have a curse on it, that leads to various deaths, family matters, a tie in to a case that the dead detective had in the 1940s, and more. It's a great read!! I look forward to the next book!
ABOUT THE BOOK:
The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait is the seventh book in Cleo Coyle's Haunted Bookshop Mystery series, featuring bookstore owner Penelope Thornton-McClure and her ghost sidekick, Jack Shepard, as they investigate a mysterious, cursed-seeming portrait that causes accidents. The cozy mystery blends contemporary and noir elements, with Penelope enlisting the help of the 1940s-era ghost detective to solve the case, which involves a vintage book cover painting and a woman rumored to have gone mad.
Sarah Orne Jewett is a famous figure in southern Maine. Now she's going to appear on a postage stamp!
An image of renowned South Berwick author Sarah Orne Jewett against a backdrop of her beloved Maine coast will appear on a U.S. commemorative postage stamp, one of 19 new images that will be issued for 2026.
The images portray cultural icons, historic events, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence being celebrated next year.
“The 35th stamp in the Literary Arts series honors Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909), a lifelong resident of Maine and a foundational figure in American literary regionalism,” according to the U.S. Postal Service’s announcement in October.
Jewett published several novels, as well as numerous short stories, poems, essays and a correspondence collection that included hundreds of letters to her partner, Annie Adams Fields.
“I’m very impressed that she has a stamp along with other notables in a year when we celebrate our 250th anniversary,” said Alyssa Lapierre, adult services librarian at the South Berwick Public Library, noting Jewett is taking an esteemed place among such historical figures as Phillis Wheatley, Harriet Powers and Abigail Adams.
The stamp’s image was designed by Postal Service art director Ethel Kessler using a portrait painted by Mark Summers, according to the Postal Service. The coastal background evokes a scene from Jewett’s best-known novel, “The Country of the Pointed Firs.”
“I wanted to really tie her to the age she lived in and to the landscape of Maine,” Summers said in the announcement.
Susan Morse, a member of the local Jewett Writers Group, recalled her connection to Jewett’s novel when she first moved to Maine.
“I can’t think of Sarah Orne Jewett without thinking of her most famous book,” Morse said, referring to “Pointed Firs.” “When I first read it, I was transported to the late 1800s in Maine. I loved her almost poetic writing and descriptions of people and places.”
Jewett, born in 1849 in her grandfather’s Georgian-style home at the corner of Portland and Main streets in South Berwick, got her inspiration from the people she knew in her hometown.
She lived in her grandfather’s home until she was five years old, then moved with her family next door to 37 Portland St., home of the South Berwick Public Library from 1971 to 2012 and now known as the Jewett-Eastman House.
At 38, Jewett moved back to 5 Portland St. with her sister Mary and lived and wrote there until her death in 1909, having spent part of the years between 1882 and 1909 in Boston with Annie Fields. Both Jewett homes are now owned and operated by Historic New England.
David Ramsay of South Berwick, a tour guide with Historic New England, described how a rapidly changing nation and town influenced Jewett’s writing.
“She witnessed the transition from a rural, agrarian and shipbuilding economy to an industrial order, as her town of South Berwick saw the building of factories, like the shoe factory and the cotton mills down on the Salmon Falls River,” Ramsay said.
He noted Jewett’s novels and stories also showed her love of her historic home and her strong focus on everyday Maine people, especially women, as she illustrated the quiet dignity and strength of the women of her time.
In an excerpt from “A Country Doctor,” written in 1884, Jewett described South Berwick, which she called Old Fields.
“There was one long street which had plenty of room on either side for most of the houses, and where it divided, each side of the First Parish Church, it became the East road and the West road, and the rest of the dwellings strayed off somewhat undecidedly toward the world beyond,” she wrote.
Jewett’s portraits of New Englanders have “left an indelible mark on American literature,” the U.S. Postal Service noted in issuing the stamp.
The words “three ounce” on Jewett’s stamp indicates it will always be valid for first class envelopes up to three ounces in weight. A Forever® stamp is good for envelopes up to one ounce. The first date of issue and issue location have not been announced.
The sickening dismantling of science in the U.S. continues with the dismantling of NCAR, the National Center for Atmospheric Research. From high-wind forecasts and wildfire behavior to floods, aviation hazards, air quality and space weather, science developed at NCAR informs decisions that aim to reduce risk to all Americans. This dumbass- Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget says it causes "climate alarmism." Apparently he didn't graduate from the second grade, because even children understand climate change effects. It's going to take decades to put things back together that are being destroyed by idiots who don't understand science.
(Photo of NCAR: By :Daderot/ Collage by R.G)
Forced closure of premier US weather-modeling institute could endanger millions of Americans
Live Science, Jane Palmer January 16, 2026
On Dec. 16 2025, the Trump administration announced plans to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) — one of the world's leading weather and climate research centers. In a statement to USA Today, Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said NCAR is "one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country."
But dismantling NCAR could seriously impact the nation's capacity to ensure public safety and its ability to protect economic stability, Holly Gilbert, the institute's interim deputy director, told Live Science. "The research we do here directly applies to protecting the public," she said.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) established NCAR in 1960 to shield human life and property from atmospheric and solar hazards. At its core, the center's research translates vast atmospheric data from satellites, aircraft and ground sensors into forecasts that can potentially save lives.
'Nobody knew why this was happening': Scientists race to understand baffling behavior of 'clumping clouds'
NCAR Increased Awareness Flight Hazards- Making Flying Safer
For example, taking a flight used to be a riskier endeavor. Pilots encounter an abundance of challenges — from turbulence and tornadoes to ice on wings and rapidly varying pockets of wind known as microbursts. But thanks in no small part to the research conducted at the NCAR, flying has become safer, helping pilots avoid these hazards: There hasn't been a single crash on a commercial airline caused by sudden, sharp changes in wind speed in more than 25 years.
NCAR models Assist in Earlier Severe Weather Warnings
But the center's impacts stretch well beyond aviation safety. NCAR models help forecast tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, extreme heat, drought and the potential for wildfires. "Whenever there has been an early warning, NCAR science and models have been part of bringing that warning to the people who need to hear it," Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, told Live Science.
Swain, a research partner of NCAR, also stressed that without these early warnings, people could lose their properties or die unnecessarily in weather-related disasters.
NCAR also partners with insurance and reinsurance industries to assess the risks these hazards pose to lives and property. "NCAR provides leading weather research that helps keep people safe and protect homes, businesses, and jobs," Nicole Austin, senior vice president and director of federal affairs at the Reinsurance Association of America, told Live Science in an email. "Its long-term studies of hail and wildfires, along with real-time weather data, help reduce damage and help communities recover faster after disasters." One center, multiple impacts NCAR's models currently save the national aviation system an estimated $27 million annually. For terrestrial disaster resilience, NCAR's WRF-Hydro system powers the National Water Model (NWM), which monitors flood risk for more than 2.7 million stream locations.
NCAR has also developed GPS dropsondes—packages of instruments, tethered to little parachutes, that measure atmospheric conditions. These dropsondes reduced hurricane track forecast errors by up to 30%. Modern economic analyses estimate that such improvements in forecast accuracy save the nation up to $2 billion per major storm by optimizing protective decisions and reducing unnecessary evacuations.
NCAR also engages with private entities such as The Weather Company, which operates key digital consumer brands like The Weather Channel and Weather Underground. "Our proprietary forecasting capabilities — which are vital to national safety and security, economic resiliency, and aviation efficiency — greatly benefit from the basic and applied science and technology produced at NCAR and widely used across the entire weather enterprise, including directly at The Weather Company," Peter Neilley, senior vice president of science and forecasting operations at The Weather Company, told Live Science in an email.
NCAR's models also forecast phenomena beyond the weather.
Its Wildland Fire model simulates how wildfires create their own weather, giving first responders critical on-the-ground intelligence, while its Fire INventory from NCAR (FINN) model tracks toxic smoke transport, alerting health officials to air quality hazards thousands of miles downwind.
NCAR Warns of Geomagnetic Storms that would affect satellites, cell service and more
NCAR's High Altitude Observatory (HAO) also anticipates threats to U.S. infrastructure from events originating in space, such as geomagnetic storms. Predicting space weather is essential for safeguarding the nation's power grid, GPS satellites and communication networks from solar flares that can trigger widespread blackouts and equipment failure.
Greater than the sum of its parts
A statement from the NSF said it "is reviewing the structure of the research and observational capabilities" of NCAR and will "explore options to transfer stewardship" of several of its strategic projects "to concentrate on needs such as seasonal weather prediction, severe storms, and space weather."
But the unique value of NCAR lies in its capacity to treat Earth as a single system, where all the different components — the atmosphere, the oceans, the land and water — are connected to one another, Gilbert said. "Risks to public health and safety are inherently complex and multidisciplinary," she said, "which makes it important to have the expertise and capabilities in one organization to look at where the Earth systems come together."
Modeling the path of a catastrophic wildfire, for example, takes more than data around the fuel available and local wind patterns; it requires simultaneously tracking how heat from the fire creates its own violent, localized winds and determining how multi-year drought has desiccated the fuels. Understanding the public health impact also requires modeling how the resulting toxic smoke will travel. NCAR's expertise is unique because it ensures that the intertwined components of fire, air temperature, dry land, water availability and air quality are modeled simultaneously using shared tools and computational resources, Gilbert said.
Some of the victims at Pompeii were wearing woolen cloaks when they died, even though it was August, new research finds. That's today's blog.
(Photo: University of Valencia archeologist Llorenç Alapont among some of the plaster casts of the victims at Pompeii. (Image credit: University of Valencia )
Pompeii victims were wearing woolen cloaks in August when they died — but experts are split on what that meansPompeii may have been unseasonably cold when the eruption of Mount Vesuvius destroyed the Roman city in A.D. 79, new research proposes.
A new analysis of 14 of the iconic plaster casts made of the victims at Pompeii has revealed that at least four were wearing woolen clothing when they were buried, even though late August — when the eruption is thought to have happened — is typically hot in this region. It's also possible that people were wearing woolen clothes for protection against the eruption, the researchers noted.
The research, which has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal, was presented in late November at an archaeological conference near Pompeii in Italy.
"They were wearing wool because that's what people wore at that time," said Pedar Foss, a historian and archaeologist at DePauw University in Indiana who was not involved with the research. Sheep's wool was tough, warm even when wet, and relatively cheap; linen from flax was available but delicate; and only the elites wore silk and cotton in ancient times. "About 90% of all clothing anywhere was wool," Foss told Live Science.
The research was led by Llorenç Alapont, an archaeologist at the University of Valencia. According to a translated statement from the university, the researchers studied the weaves of fabric imprinted on the plaster casts of the Vesuvius victims at Pompeii. "From our study … we can know how people dressed on this specific day in history," Alapont said in the statement.
Disputed date
A total of 104 casts have been made at Pompeii since the 19th century by using plaster to fill the voids where victims had been buried by ash and debris from the erupting volcano. Casts are no longer made, because it's now thought they could destroy any remains.
The imprints of the weaves of garments from the victims at Pompeii show most were wearing a two-piece outfit of a woolen tunic and cloak, Alapont said. But "we do not know if this particular clothing was to protect themselves from the gases or the ambient heat caused by the volcanic eruption," he said. In other words, he wondered whether the people killed at Pompeii were wearing woolen clothes for protection, perhaps from gases, heat or falling ash, during the roughly 18-hour-long eruption.
Foss explained that the Roman author Pliny the Younger was a teenager when he witnessed the eruption and described it about 30 years later in letters to the Roman historian Tacitus. Pliny firmly dated the eruption to "Nonum Kalendas Septembres" — the ninth day before the Kalends (first) of September, which is Aug. 24 of A.D. 79 in the modern Gregorian calendar.
But Pliny the Younger's written account was badly copied during the Middle Ages, and the month of the eruption was disputed until recent scholarship confirmed that Pliny — who was by that time an accomplished Roman magistrate — had recorded the August date, Foss said.
Proponents of a later month cite the evidence of autumnal fruits at Pompeii, an inscription scrawled in charcoal on a wall there, and what may be a slightly later coin found in the ruins. However, none of it is conclusive.
Tulane University historian and archaeologist Allison Emmerson explained the dispute to Live Science in an email. "The manuscript tradition is quite secure — the only date provided by the text is August 24," she said. "Whether that reflects the date of the actual event, however, is still subject to controversy."
The latest study does not make a pronouncement about the date of the Vesuvius eruption. It says only that the clothing worn by the Pompeii victims might be a sign that the day of the eruption was unseasonably cold for August — but, then again, it might not have been, or the wool might have been for protection.
The researchers also determined that people who died both inside and outside the houses at Pompeii were wearing the same types of clothes, according to the statement.
Foss said the research by Alapont and his team was important because it established what people at Pompeii were wearing when they were killed, but it did not add to any issue about the weather. "I just don't think it makes an argument either way," he concluded.
Everything is an adventure. And I often find that what works for other people doesn't always work for me. Websites, phone apps, and buying things are all things that give me issues. On January 23, two days before one of the biggest snow events in this region in many years, we finally bought a Toro snowblower. Well, it was defective! Here's the story.
(Photo: Cody says, "You still have to shovel out a run for me on the grass.")
Tom spent a good half hour online looking at YouTube videos to find out how to fix it and there was no solution. So, I quickly called Lowe’s told them what happened. Customer Service said,
"Well, you have 48 hours to bring it back for an exchange." They also told me that there were no more snow blowers currently in the store, but they expected a shipment coming in the next day on Saturday. So, on Saturday, I called the store, confirmed the time of the shipment (4pm) and we loaded the snowblower onto our pickup truck.
We drove to Lowes with the dead snow blower. It took two employees to confirm that it was indeed, ded.
Fortunately, the new snowblowers arrived earlier and an employee had put a couple together, so we got our new snowblower in exchange.
We received 20" inches of snow. Fortunately, it was bitter cold (Only a high of 17 degrees Fahrenheit) so the snow was light and fluffy and there was no ice, sleet or freezing rain (like the U.S. Southeast experienced). Snowblowers don't work so well in heavy, wet snow. I look at it this way. In the Spring, Summer and Fall, you mow the lawn with equipment. In the winter, you just swap it for a snowblower for "mowing/clearing" the driveway of snow.
Man arrested for assaulting Woman and US Rep. Maxwell Frost at the Sundance Film Festival
By LINDSEY BAHR, Asspocated Press, January 25, 2026
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — A man was arrested Friday night at a party during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, for allegedly assaulting a Florida congressman.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost wrote on X on Saturday that he was punched in the face by a man who told Frost that President Donald Trump was going to deport him. The altercation occurred at a private party hosted by talent agency CAA at the High West Distillery, a popular venue for festival-adjacent events.
“He was heard screaming racist remarks as he drunkenly ran off,” Frost wrote. “The individual was arrested and I am okay.”
Frost, the first Gen Z member of Congress, thanked the venue security and the Park City Police Department for their help. A Park City Police Department representative said officers arrived on the scene just after midnight.
Christian Joel Young, 28, was arrested on charges of aggravated burglary, assaulting an elected official and assault and transported to Summit County Jail, according to court records.
(This part from the Hindustan Times)
Young Assaulted a Woman
After reportedly hitting Frost, Young allegedly approached two female visitors and started "making strange conversation" that was "racially charged," according to the police.
One of the women told police that Young allegedly said, "You are the kind we are going to deport," as he grabbed her and slammed her against the bar when they attempted to break off the conversation. He said to them, “You are being deported.”
Young was detained
As security came to capture Young, an unidentified man held him. Young apparently denied knowing where he obtained the pass, but security informed police that he had a Sundance Film Festival pass that did not belong to him.
(Photo: Cat rescued from tree in Lincoln by Firefighter Colter Mirtes. SOURCE: Lincoln Fire Department)
Cat frozen to a tree in Maine Saved by Firefighters
WMTW-TV Dec 18, 2025, Adam Bartow
LINCOLN, Maine — A cat in the town of Lincoln is safe after spending about two days stuck high in a tree.
Firefighters say Lucy, an indoor cat, escaped last weekend and got stuck about 95 feet up in a tree. Firefighter Colter Mirtes, who is just off his probationary period, was able to get up the tree and found Lucy's tail was actually frozen to a branch.
(Photo: Colter Mirtes, Credit: Lincoln Maine, Fire Department)
Mirtes freed Lucy from the branch and brought her back to the ground. He says she was excited to return home.
On September 30, 2025, Colter Mirtes was one of four Probatinary Firefighters that became Pro-Boad certified firefighters. The others include: Carson Munson, Geroge Church and Jeremy Freier.
"We can’t promise that we’ll be able to help in these situations, but we’re always willing to take a look and help out, provided we can do so without damaging our equipment or your property. Lucy may be down to 8 lives - but if cats had thumbs, I’m sure Colter would have 1 more Christmas card on the way this year," the fire department wrote.
The story was good and kept you reading. The main character, Will, the lead Ranger was struggling with being in his 40s and feeling almost too old for the job, while leading 3 other rangers that included a good tracker, a crack rifleman, and another who was clearly an alcoholic with a gun. They were tasked with bringing a band of 10 or so isolated, renegade Comanches who brutally murdered anyone, including other native americans, because they could. They were led by a fierce, and obviously psychotic (I read between the lines) Comanche named Iron Horse. The book opens with a lot of violence by the renegades, and sets up the reason why they need to be stopped.
Will and his Rangers set out to do what the U.S. Army couldn't do - track the renegades and try to bring them to justice. It was a well-written story that kept me reading. 5 of 5 stars. .
Divers have unearthed the largest cog shipwreck ever discovered in a strait off Denmark. Hidden for more than six centuries, the large vessel has been identified as the largest known medieval cargo ship, a revelation that could offer new insights into shipbuilding of the era. That's today's blog.
Medieval 'super ship' found wrecked off Denmark is largest vessel of its kind
By Patrick Pester, Live Science, January 20, 2026
Archaeologists have discovered a massive medieval shipwreck sitting at the bottom of a strait off Denmark.
The 600-year-old ship was a cog: a round, single square-sailed vessel that was one of the most advanced ship types in the Middle Ages. At around 92 feet (28 meters) long and 30 feet (9 m) wide, the newly-found ship is the largest cog ever discovered, according to researchers at Denmark's Viking Ship Museum.
The researchers discovered the vessel off Copenhagen in Øresund, or "the Sound" in English — the strait between Denmark and Sweden. They described it as a "super ship" that could transport hundreds of tons of cargo at low cost during a period of burgeoning trade in the 14th and 15th centuries.
"The find is a milestone for maritime archaeology," excavation leader Otto Uldum said in a statement. "It is the largest cog we know of, and it gives us a unique opportunity to understand both the construction and life on board the biggest trading ships of the Middle Ages."
(Image: The massive hull of the Svælget 2 exposed after centuries of being buried. In Portugese: O casco maciço do Svælget 2 exposto após séculos de soterramento. Image Credit: https://razaovirtual.com.br/)
The discovery was made accidentally as part of seabed investigations for a new artificial island that Denmark plans to create off Copenhagen. Researchers removed what they described as "centuries of sand and silt" to reveal the outline of the ship, which they named Svælget 2 after the channel in which it was found.
Svælget 2 was well preserved on the seabed, located 43 feet (13 m) below the surface. Sand protected its starboard side, which retained traces of delicate rigging — unheard of in previous cog wrecks. The researchers also identified a brick galley, the first in a medieval ship in Danish waters, which allowed the crew to cook hot meals on an open fire. Artifacts on the ship included cooking materials, such as pots and bowls, and the crew's personal objects, such as hair combs and rosary beads for prayer, according to the statement.
The researchers have yet to find Svælget 2's cargo. Uldum noted that the hold wasn't covered, so cargo barrels would have floated away from the ship as it sank. However, with no signs of military use, Svælget 2 is likely to have been a merchant ship, the researchers said.
Maine’s George Mitchell and his Coppertoe Shoes
New England Historical Society, May 25, 2025
As any parent knows, keeping kids in shoes is a constant chore. If they aren’t outgrowing them, they’re destroying them. It was this second problem that attracted the attention of George Mitchell of Turner, Maine in the mid-1850s and led to the invention of the coppertoe shoes.
Mitchell was a farmer and businessman, and his many children were hard on their shoes. From being knocked around and kicked into things, their footwear always seemed to wear out before it should.
Turner was an inventive sort, however, and he concluded that he didn’t need to spend as much of his available funds on shoes as he had been. Instead, he simply needed better shoes. And if no one was going to make them, he would do it himself. With that in mind, he created a shoe craze that would last more than 50 years: the coppertoe.
Coppertoe shoes patent
Some versions of the story say he started with tin cans, others say it was a worn out copper washboiler. Either way, what he did was cut out pieces of metal and form them over a mold until he had a toe cap to cover the ends of his children’s shoes to thwart their more destructive efforts.
Coppertoe Shoes
As one story has it, his kids were embarrassed at first by the new contraptions their father had put on their feet. As soon as their friends caught sight of the new invention, however, they were instantly jealous of the shiny-tipped shoes. And so a fashion trend was born.
1859 advertisement for coppertoe shoes
Mitchell (no relation to the senator) soon found his services and his new product in high demand, and he patented the improved shoe tips. But he was not one to market his “shoe-upper tip.” Instead, he sold his patents (for as much as $100,000, according to some reports) and by 1859, Chase, McKinney and Company of Boston was marketing “Mitchell’s Celebrated Coppertoe.”
The shoe became a multi-million-seller in the United States. It enjoyed even greater popularity in the UK. For years, parents and kids alike loved the reliable coppertoe shoe. It tripled the life of a shoe, and kids loved the flashy look. Generations of youngsters up into the 1900s prized their coppertoe shoes. They ranked with baseball mitts and first bikes in their treasured childhood memories.
Mitchell’s shoes outlived him by many years, sadly. In 1866, Mitchell’s six-year-old son drowned near Turner and Mitchell died trying to save him.
