'Different from being a pastor'

MC Manitoba executive director reflects on the role of leadership

Ken Warkentin has been sitting in the executive director's chair of Mennonite Church Manitoba for eight months now. He swivels that chair comfortably from the desk to a table where he invites people into conversation, or to his guitar that is always within arm's reach.

"It's very different from being a pastor," says Warkentin, who has served in pastoral roles almost continuously since 1981. "Here, there is more distance from the people. In church, you are much closer to the itchy spots. Here, you are often guessing where the itchy spots are."

The New Directions document, which was prepared by the MC …

Ariz. crash raises questions about medical flights

A fiery collision that killed six people aboard two medical helicopters has underscored the dangers of emergency flights and renewed questions about whether they are worth the risks.

Experts agree air ambulances can save lives when the victim is in grave condition and the hospital is a long way off or hard to reach by road. But they say there are other cases in which an ordinary ground ambulance is just as good, and perhaps safer.

The collision involved two helicopters that were arriving with patients Sunday at Flagstaff Medical Center. It was the ninth accident this year involving emergency medical aircraft, bringing the number of deaths to 16, National …

Court says worker's picnic injury not work related: Employee says he was paid to play that day

When William Gooden's bosses made the offer, the decision was asimple one.

Work a full day as a machine operator, he was told, or work only ahalf-day, while spending the other half playing volleyball, footballand the egg toss at the annual company picnic.

Gooden, like so many other employees at the Allstate printingplant in Wheeling, opted for the company picnic.

But it was after the egg toss and during a volleyball game thatGooden said he felt tightness in his lower back.

He sat out the rest of the picnic and worked his half-day, but bythe weekend, he said, the pain was too much to bear.

A few months later, he was undergoing back surgery. …

A case study on easing an institutional bottleneck in aged care

Abstract

This is a case study about a cross-sector Interim Health Care Strategy (IHCS) developed by a Victorian metropolitan health service in partnership with a private residential facility and a community agency to provide a range of transitional or interim care initiatives for public hospital patients awaiting permanent residential care after completing acute or subacute treatment. The aims were to improve access to emergency and acute inpatient services, while meeting the needs of residential care clients in the metropolitan suburbs. The components included care within a residential care facility, community-based interim care and a subsequent Extended Rehabilitation Program. …

Rescued kidnapping victim Elizabeth Smart engaged

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A woman kidnapped at knifepoint at age 14 and held captive for nine months is getting married.

A spokesman for 24-year-old Elizabeth Smart says she got engaged last weekend and will likely marry in the summer.

No details about the groom-to-be were disclosed. The spokesman says Smart plans to keep her personal life …

Rates mixed at weekly Treasury auction

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were mixed in Monday's auction: Three-month bills rose to the highest level in two weeks while six-month bills were unchanged from last week.

The Treasury Department auctioned $26 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.160 percent, up from 0.155 percent last week. Treasury also auctioned $26 billion in six-month bills at a discount rate of 0.230 percent, unchanged from last week.

The three-month rate was the highest since three-month bills averaged 0.165 percent two weeks ago on May 3. The six-month rate for the past two weeks has …

Principal gets her just desserts

DAILY MAIL STAFF

Glenwood Elementary School Principal Deborah Shelton got creamed,but she didn't care.

There was a good reason for having her students launch cold,sticky pies at her face.

For the second year, the students have scored above the 50thpercentile on their SAT-9 test. The chance to hit the principal witha pie was the reward.

While waiting on Shelton to emerge from the school, the 220students cheered and waved signs with the principal's face taped onPopsicle sticks.

Shelton presented the students with the initiative last fall.Counselor Sue Lovejoy said the students have counted the days untilthey could collect on their …