Podiatrist charged in prescription painkiller scheme

Well, no wonder we have a drug problem--seven people were charged in connection with a prescription painkiller scheme.

William Todd Ainsley, 39, of Hopwood, allegedly wrote prescriptions for patients for thousands of hydrocodone pills. The patients would have the prescriptions filled and return up to half of the tablets to the doctor, according to a criminal complaint.

Ainsley also admitted to having a problem with prescription-drug abuse.

My parents were on the news

Don't rip off my parents, because they'll just come after you any way they possibly can.

Last year--almost a year ago exactly, in fact--they bought a little sit-in sauna from Sunshine Sauna at the home show in Pittsburgh. It stopped working around June, and although they did get sent a replacement part, that stopped working, too, and the owner stopped responding to calls and e-mails from them. And the sauna is still under warranty.

The owner has also changed the name of the business and relocated it, plus he has multiple complaints against multiple businesses in his name.

My parents normally do their research when they're buying things, but since this was at a home show, they believed the seller to be reputable. And he wasn't.

The best part is a factor in my parents buying the sauna was my dad's chronic hand pain due to shrapnel injuries he received in Iraq (which also made the news when it happened, so yeah, you've seen my mom before--it's just been a few years). So this business owner ripped off a combat-wounded veteran.

Does that mean he hates America? You decide!

 

Only slightly bummed that beloved beagle Duke didn't get an guest appearance, since I'm told the crew loved him. I mean, how could you not?

Creep gets probation

Hey, remember our creepy friend who posed as a veteran to try to gain access to a school? He pled guilty to impersonating a public servant and will serve a year of probation. He's also been ordered to get mental-health treatment, which strikes me as wise.

I get that this is about all they can do given the nature of the only crime actually committed, but I find the whole thing really unsettling.

I liked where he got the uniform, too.

He then acknowledged he was not in the armed forces and had borrowed the uniform from a friend, police said.

Assuming he's telling the truth, who the hell loans out their military uniforms to civilians? I'm pretty sure this is frowned upon at best, and I'd love to have details of that conversation. Like, how does one go about asking to borrow a uniform for what is probably nefarious purposes?

My big break (well, not really)

I'm sure it's pretty clear by now that I'm a writer. Aside from this blog, I write for multiple websites--which I'll have to remember to link one of these days--and my very first personal essay was published this morning over at The Billfold.

And this isn't entirely a post of just shameless self-promotion--Fayette County makes an appearance, and a commenter noted that Ohiopyle helps redeem this place. Go, Fayettenam!

Keeping it in the family

My cousin Jimmy made it in the paper for being an athletic badass, basically.

"In soccer, I wasn't the best soccer player, but I hadn't played soccer since I was about five years old," Yantko said. "I played football for nine years. But my freshman year, I came out for soccer and I was terrible, but I always worked my hardest, sprinted after every ball. I gave my all and got to play varsity and I was captain my senior year. I was really satisfied. Hard work gets you really far in life."

Now, I was gonna make some joke about hard work and determination obviously running in the family--and it certainly does because me, my brother, and my cousins are all making shit happen, I must say--but then I realized he's played shit tons of sports and has a 4.0 GPA, which I never did.

Good job, Jimmy! Grandma and Pap Pap would be proud.

P.S.: Shoutout to my mom for 1) telling me about this article and 2) giving me her login information so I could read it.

P.P.S.:: For an example of my own brand of hard work and determination, AKA "things I did after work today besides unbutton my pants, blog, and eat pasta," see my new work for AXS and my old/ongoing work for Examiner.

Man to release Bigfoot tribute album

Maybe the Finding Bigfoot crew has created a monster--or should I say cryptid? A Uniontown man is releasing an album "that pays tribute to the Bigfoot community."

This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. 

Then, one day, as he was browsing the Internet, he spotted the elusive ape-like creature that many claim to be real, and all the lyrics fell into place. It was as if Bigfoot found him, and Shrum's world would forever be altered once he posted the resulting song online in a video skit and opened himself up to the community of Bigfoot enthusiasts.

I'm not gonna like, this is a legitimately catchy song, and I've certainly heard worse lyrics.

But Shrum is releasing a full, 10-song album of Bigfoot songs, called Tribute to the Stars of Bigfoot, in the spring, and the cover will feature autographs from the Finding Bigfoot team.

I'd like to see a Shrum/Bobo collaboration.

Until then...I think we've peaked, Fayette County.

Frank Lloyd Wright buildings nominated to World Heritage List

Fallingwater, along with Frank Lloyd Wright's other buildings, has been nominated to the World Heritage List, which lists the world's most significant cultural and natural sites.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced the nominations Friday, saying Wright “is widely considered to be the greatest American architect of the 20th century.”

As someone whose life goal is to live in Fallingwater, I have to agree.

Ten other buildings in seven different states are also nominated. It's unclear as to whether or not Kentuck Knob was included.