| Obituaries for Jan. 24
Later, he accepted a job with the Department of the Army, National Guard Bureau, where he worked until retiring in 1971 as the chief of the Construction Branch of the Installation Division. He had over 34 years of government service. Mr. Pennock was a Free Mason of Columbia Lodge No. 285 for over 60 years. He was a long-standing member of the Clarendon United Methodist Church in Arlington, where he was called on to repair the stained glass windows at his church. He was skilled at making leaded glass ornaments for Christmas and other special occasions. He was an enthusiastic golfer and avid reader. He and his wife traveled around the country, Canada and Europe during his retirement. He traced his ancestry back to the late 17th century, to Christopher Pennock who received a land grant through William Penn.
October 2006
On, say, the night of January 23rd or the night of August 12th, witches, ghosts, and goblins are imaginary beings which only lurk, if at all, in the minds of men and women. But on the night of October 31, All Hallow's Eve, or Halloween as it is now called, these creatures come to life. They are, for at least this one night, very much real. On this night, anything is possible. Over the years the meaning of Halloween, the power of Halloween, has become lost inside of bags of candy and behind plastic masks. The real Halloween lies dormant, hidden beneath the fallen leaves, waiting to surface. In the past this night received more respect. To our predecessors this eve held more significance. On this night the Druids believed that Saman, the lord of the dead, called his servants to rise from their graves and haunt the earth.
Texas high school steroid tests might not find many offenders
Texas is launching the nation's most ambitious high school testing program for steroids in the coming months, but few expect the effort to catch many offenders. The $6 million, two-year experiment will reach less than 3 percent of the state's 750,000 high school athletes each year – all in a search for the estimated 2 percent of Texas students believed to use steroids. The short history of steroid testing in public schools has yielded little, if anything. In the handful of local school districts that already test for steroids, no positive test has been reported. The same is true for limited state programs in Florida and New Jersey. "It's like looking for a needle in a haystack," said Lloyd Johnston, a noted researcher at the University of Michigan. "My guess is that the payoff relative to the cost won't be high." Some critics also question the state's policy decision to go after steroids when the illegal use of other drugs, including marijuana, heroin and prescription drugs, is far more common among teenagers.
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