Maxi--mum Support....7/29

I received an email quite off the theme, but worthy of publishing, just the same, from a Red Cross volunteer. It got to me a bit late, but since it indicates that it is the 'first', I have no doubt that there will be others.

Hello friends,

I make it a policy not to forward e-mails, but I ask you to please pass this on to all your Paris-area friends and family.

Tomorrow - Friday, July 18 - is the first donation collection event for our troops in training at Camp Maxey.

Please have a look at the list of needed supplies on this website: http://www.lamarcounty.redcross.org/ - click on "Camp Maxey" in the menu.

Drop items off between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. at Ramseur Baptist Church gymnasium, 3400 Lamar Ave, Paris.

Anything you can give will be much appreciated and well deserved.

In case you haven't heard, several hundred troops are in the last stages of training at Camp Maxey before heading to Iraq. They will be there the rest of the summer and a community effort is underway (through our local Red Cross chapter) to make them feel welcome, encourage their spirits and show the true colors of Lamar County. More events are planned in the near future and will be publicized on East Texas Radio stations and in The Paris News. (And in the-paris-site....)

- Allan Hubbard
Communications Coordinator (volunteer)
Lamar County Chapter American Red Cross
Community + Camp Maxey
http://www.lamarcounty.redcross.org/ - click on "Camp Maxey" in the menu

I don't care what your politics are, where your leanings take you, if you had a son or a daughter being deployed over there, how you would wish that they were treated while in a different town/state/country. Time to check the list, and see what you can give. Undoubtedly you can donate at any time....frank

Cheap To Keep?....7/26

Back to the drawing board, I guess. I wonder what I cost to recruit the last guys and what the hospital will pay for the next bozos.

Well here's some interesting news....seems the Full Time Radiologist, of whom they were soooooooo pleased to have, has turned in his notice. Seems he doesn't like being the ONLY full time rad and, shucks, the money is too dern low to boot. Awwwww. Back to Ye Olde Locum Tenums.

Rio Rojas boys don't look so bad now, do they???

(Photo of Jim Mabe, also known as "Droopy Drawers".)

As an update, since we are talking about money: Paris remains the same, Sharon increased it's profit to $1.8M, Nashoba Valley stayed the same, Southwest dropped to $-2.4M and Merrimack Valley is certainly in the valley...$-4,323,137. What it comes down to is a loss of $-4.5M per year.

So, Essent needs to sell, but who would buy? Investment capital is getting tighter, and you could see that Vestar, GE, and T-C might want to lighten their load.

And, obviously, I must not have had an effect on the bottom line of PRMC...why it's been sitting at a half-million dollar loss for a while now.

Staying Out Of Politics?....7/19

Is this the same company that Hud Connery founded? Hud, who gave so much to political candidates? In checking the Essent PAC record, it would seem that this is the election that they're staying out of...a far cry from previous elections in which Hud personally gave thousands ($70K+, minus the $7,250 returned for over contributing) in campaign contributions. Likewise did top Essent executives. They even tried to have a fundraiser for a political 'friend of Sharon Hospital'...but, we're not trying to buy Sharon Hospital any more, are we? And, besides, the fundraiser was cancelled as being in violation of federal rules governing campaign finance. I still wonder why Hud donated $500 under Arcon Healthcare/COO, in 2004. Wasn't it defunct in '98? Ahhh, it must have been for old times sake....

But the current crew doesn't seem to be givers. Take that as it may....

Hey, speaking of the current crew, have you noticed that Dick Salerno is back with FTI? At least his name is on the website. He wasn't a big giver, either. $250 when he was with Healthtrust.