“Sandbagging underway at Grand Rapids Public Museum, declared a ‘near priority’ to safeguard” by Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk at www.mlive.com – Good to see that museums are priorities in disasters… as the Grand River rises, volunteers and employees create sandbag barriers to protect the building and artifacts. The museum luckily has a disaster plan (ESSENTIAL for museums and historic sites!!), but it has not been used yet: “The Grand Rapids Public Museum, accredited by the American Association of Museums, has a disaster plan in the event of such calamities, but it hasn’t been put into operation because an actual disaster isn’t imminent.”
“Miami Beach commission won’t intervene in historic-house controversy — yet” by CHRISTINA VEIGA at www.miamiherald.com – Some “star” on The Real Housewives of Miami and her husband hope to tear down their home on Star Island in Florida. As the article states, “The home at the center of the battle is owned by Leonard and Lisa Hochstein. He is a plastic surgeon known as “The Boob God,” and she is a cast member of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Miami. They recently bought the 1925 home at 42 Star Island and asked Miami Beach for permission to tear it down. Preservationists, however, have been fighting to save the home — designed by Florida’s first registered architect, Walter DeGarmo — by declaring it historic.”
“Stonehenge 5,000 Years Older Than Thought” by ROSSELLA LORENZI on news.discovery.com – “Excavation near Stonehenge found evidence of a settlement dating back to 7,500 BC, revealing the site was occupied some 5,000 years earlier than previously thought. Working at Vespasian’s Camp in Amesbury, Wiltshire, less than a mile from the megalithic stones, a team led by archaeologist David Jacques of the Open University unearthed material which contradicted the general belief that no people settled there until as late as 2,500 BC. Indeed, carbon dating of the material revealed the existence of a semi-permanent settlement which was occupied from 7,500 to 4,700 BC. The dating showed that people were present during every millennium in between.”
“The Hangman’s Tale: Archaeologists Dig into History of Execution” By Matthias Schulz at http://www.spiegel.de/ – “Epileptics reportedly collected and drank the blood of Schinderhannes, the famous German outlaw sometimes compared to Robin Hood, in the belief that it would heal them. It’s said that the head of German pirate Klaus Störtebeker was impaled on a spike along the banks of the Elbe River. But is this true? How did our forefathers actually dispense justice? The old “eyesores” were largely ignored for many years, Auler says in reference to execution sites, “and yet they were just as much a part of the scenery as windmills.” This article is fascinating and looks into the gruesome deaths of the guilty (or innocent?) criminals of the Middle Ages.
Katie Stringer Clary, PhD 