Ends and odds, 3/5/07

The Ohio Department of Transportation says it will place a traffic signal on the new bypass around Proctorville at the spot where drivers have been saying for months that one is needed. Now, after a few accidents, ODOT agrees. If someone in power had just driven that road a few months ago before it opened, they could have seen a signal would be needed.

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We're not the only place where people wonder about the differential -- or lack of same -- in gasoline prices.

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I never could stand hot peppers. Now some research says they could help you avoid fat.

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And if you ever wanted a more-or-less animated version of the Periodic Table...

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Overweight girls tend to enter puberty earlier and tend to have more of the problems associated with that than other girls, according to new research. Check it out here.

A quote from the article: “Earlier onset of puberty in girls has been associated with a number of adverse outcomes, including psychiatric disorders and deficits in psychosocial functioning, earlier initiation of alcohol use, sexual intercourse and teenage pregnancy and increased rates of adult obesity and reproductive cancers,” the study said.

I'll admit I've wondered about this for a long time. This is one more thing to consider in the ongoing discussion of childhood obesity.