A Healthy Living Blog For People Who Are Gluten Free

GF FLAMINGO

Living a gluten free life and enjoying it!

I met the GF Flamingo blogger at iCreate Cafe in Pottstown over the weekend.  She and her boyfriend were enjoying a fabulous meal and soaking in the awesome vibe that is iCreate Cafe.  As one does at iCreate, we all had a great conversation and got to know each other better.

I know gluten is a great mystery to some folks, others think it’s “all in someone’s head” and other have gluten allergies and need to restrict their diet.  I have a good friend who has been gluten free for over 20 years so I have learned a few things about being gluten free, although I am certainly no expert. However, the owner of this blog, NICOLE FIAMINGO, is someone who can help those living a gluten free lifestyle.

What I do know is that eating out is difficult, finding gluten free food that tastes good is hard (and usually expensive) and finding someone who understands you is even harder.

GF Flamingo does restaurant reviews (with great food pictures), talks about living gluten free and offers readers helpful information like meals you can make in under 30 minutes at home. So check out this blog if you are gluten free by choice or out of necessity.  Happy reading!

Website:  http://gf-flamingo.blogspot.com/

Brian O’Neill: Blight-Ridding Bill In Pittsburgh Shows Plenty Of Potential

A map of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with its neighborhoods labeled. For use primarily in the list of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Drive down Hamilton Avenue or its side streets in Homewood and you’ll see a whole lot of not there anymore.

City Council is trying to hash out a plan to “land bank” the acres of vacant and boarded-up properties the city controls so they can be cleared for sale. That would take in about half of Homewood and almost half the Hill District.

When I asked Councilman Ricky Burgess, who represents Homewood, if he could give me a quick tour of the problem sites, he said, “You don’t need me. I’m dead serious. Drive down Hamilton Avenue and drive around at your leisure. It’s so bad … it’s breathtaking.”

He was right. It came as advertised.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/brian-oneill/2014/01/26/Brian-O-Neill-Blight-ridding-bill-in-Pittsburgh-shows-plenty-of-potential/stories/201401260059#ixzz2reCwstxI

DRUGS: The Epidemic Some Choose To Ignore

For some inexplicable reason, the “powers that be” in Pottstown seem to think that ignoring rampant drug use in the borough will make it go away.  As a blogger who posts news from around the state on a regular basis, I see how this problem has invaded the Commonwealth.  Drugs have crept into our smallest and remotest towns.

Drug use and drug dependence seem bring with them crime and violence.  Shootings, stabbings, burglaries etc…  I have made a point of posting articles along these lines so that anyone who reads this blog will see the alarming rise of drug use and drug related violence in our state.   Our Attorney General, Kathleen Kane has been particularly supportive in trying to ferret out drug dealers through various “sting operations” which have taken down a large numbers of dealers around the state.

One drug in particular is making an alarming comeback.  Heroin.  Pottstown is not immune to this trend.

Our story for today comes from a friend of mine who lives in Pottstown.  This person has “walked the talk” by being a public servant for a several years and is also a Mom.

Walking to school this morning, my son tells me he has seen two “thermometers” outside.  I stop, dead in my tracks, red flag warning.   I turn and retrace my steps.  Sure enough, two hypodermic needles are there on the sidewalk adjacent to the cemetery between 6th & 7th streets!  I picked them up and turned them in to the school office.  I did not want a young child walking to school to pick them up thinking they were “thermometers” also and possibly stick themselves.

So our lesson for today is that no matter how hard we wish something wasn’t a problem, it will not make it go away.

Thank goodness this Mom had the sense to retrace her steps and remove the threat, thereby protecting many other children.  Because of the neighborhood our courageous Mom lives in she unfortunately knows about such things.  Honestly, I would not have put two and two together and thought syringe.

So to the “powers that be” I say, “WAKE UP!”

To our courageous Mom I say, “Thank you!”

Potent Heroin, Painkiller Mix ‘All Over Pittsburgh’

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Allegheny County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The deadliest batch of heroin to hit Western Pennsylvania in more than 25 years killed as many as 13 people during the past week as authorities scrambled to warn users.

The unknown distributors of the drug apparently mixed in the powerful painkiller fentanyl and sold it in stamp bags marked with the brand name Theraflu — the same as the over-the-counter cold medication. The potent combination is causing overdoses and deaths in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties.

“I’m only at the very beginning of investigating the number of deaths,” said Dr. Karl Williams, Allegheny County‘s medical examiner. His office identified 13 people ranging in age from 25 to 51 whose deaths were believed to be connected to the batch. In four cases, authorities found bags with the Theraflu stamp with the victims.

“It’s all over Pittsburgh. It’s all over Allegheny County. It’s all over the surrounding counties. It’s a major regional issue,” said Williams, who with officials in Westmoreland County raised alarms about the drug on Friday.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/5484258-74/heroin-county-deaths#ixzz2rcfvDBra
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Pittsburgh #2: Top 10 Cities To Achieve The American Dream

A map of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with its neighborhoods labeled. For use primarily in the list of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of the most important lessons from today’s blockbuster social mobility report is that place matters. (And, because your parents choose the place where you’re born and live, parents matter.)

Tucked into the appendix are two colorful maps of America that tell you where social mobility—the chance to move up the income ladder, a.k.a. The American Dream—is living and where it’s not. First, the graphs. Then, five facts. [Glossary: Absolute upward mobility measures how children stack up to their parents. Relative mobility measures their chances of moving up or down the income ladder relative to their peers. Different measures; similar stories. Lighter colors suggest higher mobility.]

To check out the rankings and maps, click here: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/the-geography-of-the-american-dream/283308/

York City Businesses Partner On Downtown ‘Makerspace’

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting York County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Creative Yorkers will soon have access to some big tools that could bring their big ideas to life.

The owners of Rudy Art Glass, in collaboration with Salvaging Creativity, are planning to open a “makerspace” inside the company’s 15 E. Philadelphia St. studio.

Rudy Art Glass, which dates to 1892, makes decorative glass and sells it all over the world, mostly for use in commercial properties, co-owner Erin Casey said.

Despite its prominent downtown York location, the company does little business locally, she said.

Read more: http://www.yorkdispatch.com/breaking/ci_24955772/york-city-businesses-partner-downtown-makerspace

VIDEOS: Everything You Need To Know About The 2014 Grammys

Hope you’ve been stockpiling batteries and canned goods in your bomb shelter or basement because the Rise of the Machines is one step closer to reality after a couple-a robots won all the Grammys on Sunday night. French pop duo Daft Punk took home awards for Album of the Year, Record of the Year, AND Pop Duo/Group Performance for their summer release Random Access Memories and the smash single “Get Lucky.”

You were probably busy watching The Bachelor Wedding or gawking at the screen as Nick Foles won MVP of the Pro Bowl, so you might have missed music’s biggest night and the festivities that came with it. Just in case, here’s everything you need to know about the 2014 Grammys.

Beyoncé and Jay Z got things started with a performance that you’re probably going to want to watch. Queen Bey comes out to a stage full of smoke and strobes, slithering on a chair that spins. Then, when you’re properly hypnotized, she brings out Jay Z to offer up a crappy verse of rap. But, damn if they’re not well-dressed.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/trending/Everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-2014-Grammys.html#sshoMEt0YQoVwjY4.99

Pennsylvania Ranks 4th In Black Homicide Victims, Latest Stats Show

Map of Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PENNSYLVANIA ranked fourth nationwide in black homicide victimization in 2011, according to an organization that ranked the state second in the previous year.

The Washington, D.C.-based Violence Policy Center, which released the new study Thursday, said the latest figures show that Pennsylvania had 29.02 homicides per 100,000 black civilians in 2011.

A study released by the same nonprofit group last year ranked Pennsylvania second in 2010. The state was ranked third in 2009.

In 2011 — the latest year for which FBI statistics are available — blacks accounted for half of all homicide victims nationwide, yet represented 13 percent of the U.S. population.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Pa_ranks_4th_in_black_homicide_victims_latest_stats_show.html#SIwjH48fKP1kXpBA.99

Fire Guts Friendship Farm Market In Amity

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

AMITY TOWNSHIP, PA — More than a dozen fire companies responded to a fire that destroyed much of Friendship Farm Market on Route 662 Sunday night.

Firefighters responded quickly after those living near the restaurant heard a loud “boom,” saw a wall of flames and called 911 around 7:45 p.m.

“We heard a big boom. It sounded like a car backfiring,” said Jared Martz, who lives diagonally across the street from the restaurant. “It sounded like glass breaking.”

Going to the windows with his family, Martz said he saw an entire wall of the restaurant on the 700 block of Route 662 engulfed by flames which went about “20 feet in the air.”

They then called 911.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140126/fire-guts-friendship-farm-market-in-amity