Let me tell you a story of how June Hughes saved my life. This is a photo I took in my garden a few months ago. When this bush first started growing in April, I thought it was maybe Rhubarb or Celery that we'd planted the year before growing back. We actually were weeding around it and planning on cooking with it. One nice weekend afternoon, it just so happened that June Hughes (Maidstone Rd) and her brother Nick stopped by. Nick and June are both avid gardeners and were taking a look at what was growing. When I showed Nick our 'Rhubarb', he got worried. "That's not Rhubarb", he said. Nick took a photo with his plant ID app and, I sh*t you not, Poison Hemlock. As in, the thing that killed Socrates. Poison Hemlock contains a nuero-toxin that hits your respiratory system and everything on it is poisonous - it isn't even safe to touch. So when I saw this USA Today article noting it being invasive and spreading this time of year, I figured there may be others who would find it helpful that its been seen here in Rectortown proper. It looks like Queen Anne's Lace when it blooms, and has the same effects on animals and humans. There's a distinctive hazy, purple splotching on the stalks that I tried to highlight in my photo, thats a big give away. So, in a very real sense, I owe June Hughes and her brother my life - or at least a rhubarb pie.

Charlie Guathier (Atoka Rd) posted this cleanup/commemoration he did for a local WWII hero who was buried in an old family cemetery behind his property. Here's what he had to say... "I spoke with Earsaline [at Mt Olive Baptist] last Spring about wanting to do something to preserve the small cemetery, but also do something to honor the veteran. Earsaline gave me the OK to do whatever I wanted. So, after getting the consent of the property owner, I went on a search for just “the right thing”. I knew what I wanted, but it had to be something appropriately sized and shaped. One day while cruising through Etsy, I found it. Today was “installation/dedication” day. While I was the only person there, I gave Cornelius a salute." At Charlie's encouragement I reached out to Earsaline for more details on Mr. Ross and after consulting with Sarah Carter Lacy, Howard White and the church records, this is what she emailed me... Photo: Mr. Walter Ross, the man on the right, Cornelius’ grandfather "Cornelius Ross was son of the late Edwin and Corrine Colston Ross. Cornelius was a family member of 7 bothers - Charleton, Douglas Gates, Duran, Franklin, James, Walter and 4 sisters – Bessie, Bernice, Eleanor, and Jacqueline. The family lived in Upperville, VA . Mr. Ross was employed by Mr. Paul Mellon, Rokeby Farm, Upperville, VA and Mrs. Ross was a housewife and mother to a growing family. This cemetery land is adjacent to the Ross property owned by Mr. Walter Ross, Cornelius’s grandfather. This family were resident of the Rectortown Community. They attended the Mount Olive Baptist Church and the Rectortown No. 12 Elementary School. The older siblings attended Manassas Industrial High School, Manassas, VA and the younger siblings attended William C. Taylor High School He was married to Margaret Woodson of Rectortown. Cornelius served in World War II. Their daughter, Sandy, was born several months after Cornelius’ death. Mr. Edwin Ross, died December 23, 1967, waiting in the doctor’s office fulfilling an appointment. He is buried in the Rectortown Flatroad Cemetery and his wife, Corrine, died March 18, 1974. She was buried at the Rectortown Oddfellow’s Cemetery. Referred to as Gates, he was the last Ross sibling and he died in 2017. Douglas Gates Ross, also had a background in the military life. He lived in Steeleton, Pennsylvania. This information was provided by former neighbors, Sarah Lacy Carter and Howard White and church records. Sarah’s father, is the 2nd grave in this spot besides Cornelius. Mr. Lacy died in March 1952 at the age of 42. I remember attending the funeral service of Cornelius. This was a tall handsome man that was loved by his family. His death was devasting to the family and community. I also attended elementary school with Charleton, Duran, Jacqueline, Walter, and Franklin. Upon graduation, the graduates relocated to Steeleton, PA."

The sexiest two answers to any question are “Yes” and “No”. We as humans hate, hate, hate, complicated issues with complicated answers. We like our water clear, our loops closed, and knots to be easily tied and untied. So as I dove into the world of Electromagnetic Frequency (EMF) radiation over the past two weeks I was disappointed to find that the evidence supporting either the Mobile carrier lobbyists or the 5G Truthers is not nearly as settled as either party wants you to believe. So I’ve taken it upon myself to create a summary of dozens of studies I’ve read in the hope to help you form your own conclusion about the upcoming Cell Tower initiative - or anything related to the electromagnetic spectrum (I know, dirty talk, right?). Lets dive right into it. So what exactly is the cancer connection with a Cell Tower? For years the pro-tower folks have pushed the narrative that low frequency EMF (see full spectrum image below) pose no danger at all. Its this definitive, “case-closed” attitude coupled with the obvious financial incentives to keep the matter closed that invites so much attention and scrutiny when contradicting patterns emerge. I only need to point to the tobacco industry for how that plays out. And who doesn’t love a good David v Goliath? I’ll admit, my instinct is to resist these tower initiatives purely to spite Verizon sometimes :) The Cell Phones=Cancer folks have the same issue though, seeming to cling to a dozen or so studies over the past two decades for support while not paying much attention to the dozens and dozens of studies that contradict those results. Every study has its issues of course. The problem I found with many of those studies showing a link is in the way they went about sorting data and assigning values to variables. Most of these studies were based on evaluating historical data. Because they had no way of monitoring actual EMF exposure of the individuals, they relied entirely on their own estimations of exposure. They then compare their estimations to historical information and medical records and looked for patterns to emerge. A major accomplishment of the NTP’s study (below) was that it controlled for this. Note: We humans love patterns, so when we go looking for them, we often find them. My favorite patterns come from Tyler Vigens, Spurious Correlations In a major win for the Cancer Concerned, the 2018 NTP study was the most conclusive study of EMF and cancer and did establish a clear connection in increased exposure to EMF and an increase in gliomas in male rats (specifically male rats, no causal relationship was established with female rats, or male and female mice, all part of the study. See? Its murky). But even there, the rats that got cancer were exposed to FOUR TIMES the highest level of EMF that a human might. Which begs the question, what exactly isn’t a health risk when consumed at 4X the maximum recommended level. Any over/unders out there if I start driving at 4X the speed limit? What this study did accomplish was blow a huge hole in the pro-tower crowds claim that these low energy radio waves pose no danger at all. They obviously do at high levels. This is new information that the FCC should consider when setting the safety standards, not sure how long we should keep fingers crossed there. But even with that impressive study, the NTP still doesn’t include EMF radiation in its Report on Carcinogens, which lists exposures that are known to be or reasonably anticipated to be carcinogenic to humans. Neither does the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organization (WHO). For a much better written overview of this whole thing, check out the piece by American Cancer Society For the data geeks, the FDA’s Review of Published Literature between 2008 and 2018 Cell Phone Towersof Relevance to Radiofrequency Radiation and Cancer For all the reasons to fear EMF, head over to the Environmental Health Trust And I found this Pro-5G article in the NYT interesting too The 5G Health Hazard That Isn’t Final note: I focused mainly on cancer here because its hard to detect early on, but there is also evidence to review on cognitive impairment and sleep impacts of EMF exposure. If electromagnetic radiation is a health concern for you, keep in mind that the wifi broadcasters in each of our homes expose us to EMF even when cell signal doesn’t get through our home walls. And don’t forget your Laptops, Bluetooth headphones, Alexa and Sonos speakers, Smartwatches, Remote Controls, and WiFi-connected smart devices which receive and transmit data using this type of energy. Oh, and also sunlight, lightbulbs and infrared light which are even stronger forms of electromagnetic radiation than the lower frequencies (I couldn’t find anyone studying the health impacts of exposure to infrared radiation, which all human bodies emit). Any other concerns besides health? Sure, cell towers are ugly. Ok...so is there any reason at all sto support getting a tower if I already have fiber internet? At a personal level, convenience mainly. You know how you always lose that call when driving between Frogtown Rd and Atoka? That would go away. BUT, the real consideration has nothing to do with you or me. Any tower brings data connectivity to a much larger area, which is sorely needed for dozens if not hundreds of families in the surrounding area that don’t have the privilege of fiber internet or find the $200 a month cost of satellite or fixed wireless cost prohibitive. So then? It really comes down to which way the scale tilts for you. How do you appropriately weigh out potential health concerns vs improving lives of people we’ll probably never meet? Like I said, murky and complicated. Are you hating me yet?