The bizarre saga of the empty District B seat on the New Orleans City Council apparently entered its final chapter Friday when the deadline for the council to act passed, shifting the right to fill the vacancy to Mayor Mitch Landrieu. The city's legislative branch has been hamstrung by two members' decision to boycott recent meetings, depriving the council of the five-member quorum needed to vote on the matter.

Stacy Head, the District B representative since 2006, was elected to one of the council's two at-large seats in April. She resigned her district seat May 2, triggering a 30-day countdown for the council to pick her interim replacement. That window closed Friday.

Head recommended urban planner Errol George as her interim successor. In line with tradition, the other members were expected to quickly ratify her choice, but the walkout by Cynthia Hedge-Morrell and Jon Johnson has prevented the council from voting, and all attempts at reaching a council consensus behind either George or some other candidate apparently failed.

Landrieu, who will become just the second mayor in modern history to fill a council seat, pledged Friday to act quickly. The mayor will have plenty of possibilities to choose from, as names of a dozen or so hopefuls had surfaced by week's end.

"Throughout this process, I've encouraged the City Council to come together to appoint an interim council member to represent District B," Landrieu said in a written statement.

"Now, according to the City Charter, that responsibility falls to me. I will fulfill my obligation in short order, so that the people of District B are represented on the City Council this month."

The council's next scheduled meeting is Thursday. Hedge-Morrell and Johnson have promised to attend.

Landrieu, who pledged to pick "an experienced and qualified person," urged residents, council members and other elected officials to recommend names to him to fill the post until a Nov. 6 election is held to choose a permanent successor for Head. The winner will serve until May 2014.

The unprecedented City Hall standoff started when Hedge-Morrell and Johnson, without warning, walked out of the council's May 3 meeting, moments after the council failed to approve a City Charter amendment they favored and moments before it was to vote on the George appointment.

Hedge-Morrell said her walkout was related both to what she called the "politicizing" of the proposed charter amendment, which would have changed the procedures for electing the two at-large members, and to some of her colleagues' "ongoing and implicit disregard for debate and discussion" that she said left her feeling "marginalized."

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Mayor Mitch Landrieu will choose District B representative to New Orleans City Council 'in short order'

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Walking to the front window he looks out every morning, Edward Mathewson wanted to see his flag.

The silk, hand-sewn stars and stripes had travelled a long way to reach the pole planted in the 80-year-old Navy veteran's front yard in Scranton.

From the arid skies over Camp Victory in Iraq and the military bases of Afghanistan, the flag found its way to Dunmore in the hands of Mathewson's son-in-law, Lt. Col. Patrick Cusick of the National Guard, who returned from his third tour of duty last year.

But there was no quiet rustling rising from his front yard on Memorial Day. His flag had disappeared.

"The first thought in my mind was 'Whoever took this flag out of my yard - I hope they rot in hell,' " Mathewson said Thursday.

Monday would have been trying enough without the loss of his home's proud adornment - this year's Memorial Day had fallen on the sixth anniversary of the death of his wife, Mary.

So, Mathewson celebrated the annual holiday as best he could and settled on a sad truth.

"I figured well, that's it. I'll probably never see it again," he said.

Mathewson soon learned that his story was not unique, and that the Dunmore Police Department may have found his flag - Officer Bob Ruddy had found a pile of about 30 flags stacked near Dunmore High School.

Mathewson headed over to the Dunmore Borough Building later that day with the hope of claiming his flag from the stack of stolen banners. He saw two attached to poles like his own.

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Dunmore police make veteran's morning with replacement of stolen flag

The use of hormone replacement therapy to treat symptoms of menopause has been hugely controversial. Once touted as a godsend for women with menopause-related hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness, use of the therapy has dramatically declined since July 2002.

That was when research through the Women's Health Initiative was abruptly halted because an elevated number of cases of breast cancer was detected in the study participants. With that, women began to worry whether the therapy had put them at increased risk, a concern that appeared to be justified when a subsequent decline in breast cancer incidence was linked to widespread cessation of the therapy.

The July issue of a Climacteric, the journal of the International Menopause Society, revisits the topic 10 years later to sort out the therapy's actual effect on women's health. In more than a dozen articles focusing on hormone replacement therapy's relationship to breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, dementia and other conditions, the authors (some of them involved in the original Women's Health Initiative work) conclude that for younger women using the therapy close to the time of menopause, benefits generally outweigh the risks.

A common theme in the articles is that the initial finding that the therapy increases breast cancer risk didn't hold up; the increased risk was actually quite small among younger women, rising among the oldest. The data also revealed a "window of opportunity" during which the therapy's benefits outweigh its risks, one of the articles notes. That window occurs before a woman turns 60 and/or within 10 years of entering menopause.

Here's a summary of some of the journal's findings:

- Women whose breast cancer risk is otherwise low and who suffer from lots of menopausal symptoms may benefit from the therapy.

- It appears that women using hormone replacement therapy have a large reduction 40 percent in colorectal cancer risk.

- The therapy appears to offer substantial bone-health benefits, including a reduction in fracture risk.

- The therapy appears to increase risk of dementia, though it's not clear how that relates to the age at which a woman starts such therapy.

- A small increased risk of stroke is associated with hormone replacement therapy initiated near menopause.

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Hormone Replacement Therapy, 10 Years Later

26-05-2012 15:59 Window Replacement

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Dear Angie: Can low-E/argon gas be put in a window when the seal is broken, instead of replacing the entire window? P.T., Philadelphia

Dear P.T.: Let's start by clarifying the purpose of low-E and argon gas.

Low-E, or low-emissivity, coating is applied to window glass to help reflect heat. Adding argon gas between the panes of glass adds increased insulation to the window. Combined, they offer excellent energy efficiency for your home. A seal failure, though, will "oxidize" the low-E coating and argon gas, making the glass appear streaky or foggy.

Technically, yes, gas could be added to the window. However, it might not be the best solution. The process to add the low-E coating and argon gas is an involved process typically done at the factory.

However, some window repair companies have begun offering service at a customer's home to correct a seal failure. These companies typically remove the insulated glass from the sash the section of the window that holds the glass and then reseal the spacer perimeter to prevent it from additional fogging. This is still relatively new technology, so be sure you're going to get a guarantee.

Typically, older double-pane windows consist of two panes of glass held together with caulk. With the glass expanding and contracting due to the weather, the seal would often fail, creating moisture in the windows.

High-quality replacement windows now typically use a glazing bead spacer that helps hold the glass in place, but moves with the glass, which helps eliminate that issue. If a window is equipped with a glazing bead, it is possible to remove the glazing bead, remove the glass, and have it replaced or remade into a new sealed unit that is a low-E/argon combination.

If the window is not equipped with a glazing bead, it's likely the sash was constructed or assembled around the glass. If this is the case, it can be very difficult or altogether impossible to replace the glass.

While it might be possible to replace the glass with a low-E/argon-filled glass, you should consider if the repair is worth the investment. A better option might be replacing the entire window with a newer window that is airtight and already equipped with the low-E/argon glass combination.

If you're set against changing out the entire window, adding a new insulated pane of glass might be the most economical and practical way to go.

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Ask Angie: A broken window seal may be tricky to fix

23-05-2012 14:59 The Z-bar installation on Milgard replacement windows make replacing your windows on your stucco home easy. This video shows you how it works and how your Milgard Certified Dealer can do more than just installation.

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23-05-2012 14:47 Here's what to expect when you choose Milgard windows to replace your old windows. Learn about the different types of installations and how your Milgard Certified Dealer can help you choose the perfect window for your home.

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Milgard-What to Expect When Replacing Windows - Video

23-05-2012 15:08 When you want to change the placement or size of a window, a full frame installation is needed. A Milgard Certified Dealer will help you through all the steps, from choosing your window to installation and clean-up.

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