The following is a press release issued by the people mentioned in the press release:

Salt Lake City, UT - Following the resounding success of last year's pre-Rootstech-conference event, GSI: Sawtooth, the innovative team at Your DNA Guide, The Novel Guys, Diahan Southard, and Nathan Dylan Goodwin are excited to announce their latest collaborative venture, GSI: Superstition Mountains. This unique event combines a delightful dining experience with an intriguing murder-mystery experience, all set to unfold in Salt Lake City on the eve of this year's #Rootstech conference.

GSI: Superstition Mountains is not just an event; it's an immersive evening that invites participants to step into a world of mystery and intrigue. The evening will unfold following a dinner, where guests will find themselves in the midst of a captivating murder mystery. Led by the expertise of Diahan Southard and Nathan Dylan Goodwin, attendees will use traditional and genetic genealogy alongside forensic science techniques to unravel the mystery while learning.

This event is a perfect amalgamation of entertainment, education, and networking, offering a unique opportunity for genealogy enthusiasts and mystery lovers to come together. Participants will not only enjoy a memorable evening but also gain valuable insights into the application of DNA in solving real-world mysteries.

"We are so thrilled to bring GSI Events back to Salt Lake City with Superstition Mountains. We've worked super hard to come back bigger and even better!" said Diahan Southard, one of the event's organizers. Joined by her 'GSI partner in crime', Nathan Dylan Goodwin added, "Absolutely! After the success of GSI: Sawtooth and the demand for the virtual on-demand product, we just knew we had to create something even more exciting. We're combining our passion for genealogy with the thrill of a murder mystery to create an unforgettable experience for Rootstech attendees and others."

Tickets for GSI: Superstition Mountains are limited, cost $179 and are expected to sell out. The event promises to be an enchanting evening, filled with intrigue, investigation, and food and drink, set in an as yet secret location in Salt Lake City.

The GSI: Superstition Mountains event, hosted by Your DNA Guide and The Novel Guys in collaboration with Diahan Southard and Nathan Dylan Goodwin, is scheduled for the evening of February 28, 2024, in Salt Lake City. The event includes hands-on experiences and expert guidance. It's designed for enthusiasts of puzzles, true crime, and immersive experiences, regardless of their expertise in genetic genealogy. For more detailed information and to reserve your spot, you can visit the event's page here.

About Diahan Southard: Diahan Southard is a leading expert in genetic genealogy, with over two decades of experience in the field. She is renowned for her ability to make complex scientific concepts accessible to a broad audience.

About Nathan Dylan Goodwin: Nathan Dylan Goodwin is a celebrated author known for his historical, genealogical crime mystery novels. His work brings together the intrigue of crime fiction with the fascinating world of genealogy.

About Your DNA Guide: Your DNA Guide offers innovative and interactive experiences that explore the world of genetic genealogy. Founded by Diahan Southard, the company has been at the forefront of using DNA in genealogy and solving complex family mysteries.

About The Novel Guys: The Novel Guys helps their author clients to manage and tell the story of their brand. Through international communications, research, representation and complete project management, among other creative work, they help authors connect, develop and grow.

There is an interesting article by Joanne Klimovich Harrop published in the Tribune-Review web site:

You have to be brave to search your genealogy.

Be aware that if you look into your family's past, there is a possibility you may find some information that you don't expect.

"Every family has a skeleton," said Donna Edwards-Jordan, a genealogist from North Huntingdon. "Everybody's gene pool could use a little chlorine from time to time. Some might find something awful and others might find something mildly embarrassing. Nobody is immune. It takes courage to face this stuff."

Lots and lots of people are working up this courage to take a deep dive into their past. Genealogy is often regarded as the second most popular hobby behind gardening.

People have been tracing their family trees for many years, but with technology, there can be a wider reach. Digital information can be retrieved from newspapers, websites geared toward this research, historical societies, genealogy clubs and organizations, and libraries.

Surrounding yourself with like-minded people is a positive when searching family history, said Ray Jones of Etna, a University of Pittsburgh professor and facilitator of the DNA special interest group for North Hills Genealogists.

Having others around you can help with resources and put you on a path to finding the information you are seeking. But be prepared for information you might not want to know.

"The risk is that there might be something that people in your family haven't talked about," said Jones, who has taught genealogy classes at Pitt. "Or sometimes what you find doesn't match up with the version you have been told."

For example, Edwards-Jordan said, you might discover your great-grandfather was not a war hero or you are not related to royalty or someone rich and famous.

Or you think you are 100% Italian, but you aren’t.

You can read the full article at: http://tinyurl.com/4pnv27b9.

Disclaimer: I certainly am not an expert in OPMD or any other medical conditions. However, I became very interested in OPMD when I realized it is frequently found amongst my relatives on the French-Canadian side of my family. (My mother's ancestry is 100% French-Canadian.) Several of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and more distant relatives appeared to have symptoms of OPMD although several relatives are now deceased so testing of those individuals is not longer possible. I am simply comparing my knowledge of their symptoms with what I have read in medical journals.

I simply have done a lot of reading about OPMD and can offer references to documents written by medical professionals who do have expertise in OPMD. For details, always refer to these articles or to qualified genetics professionals.

If your ancestry is from France, the French-speaking families of Canada, Jewish, Spanish, or Japanese families, and if you or someone in your family is having symptoms of the upper eyelids and/or the throat or muscle weakening, you might want to get tested for OPMD.

Oculopharyngeal Muscular Dystrophy (OPMD) is a genetic disorder characterized by slowly progressing muscle disease (myopathy) affecting the muscles of the upper eyelids and the throat. Onset is typically during adulthood, most often between 40 and 60 years of age. Symptoms may include: eyelid drooping (ptosis), arm and leg weakness, and difficulty swallowing (dysphagia).

According to information on the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) website, OPMD is most common among a population of Bukharan Jews living in Israel, where an estimated 1 person in 600 is affected. OPMD is additionally estimated to occur in 1 in 1000 individuals of French-Canadian ancestry and 1 in 100,000 individuals in France. In the United States, the number of people with OPMD is not known, however the majority of diagnosed individuals are of French-Canadian, Ashkenazi Jewish, or Spanish American background.

I don't have statistics but amongst my mother's relatives, there certainly are many more than "1 in 1,000 French Canadians" in this family with these symptoms!

In short, there are two types of OPMD, distinguished by their patterns of inheritance. They are known as the autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive types. Both types are caused by mutations in the PABPN1 gene.

If you or any of relatives have droopy eyelids, difficulty swallowing, arm or leg weakness, or related symptoms and if you or your relative have French-Canadian, Bukharan Jewish, Ashkenazi Jewish, or Spanish American ancestry, you might want to start reading about OPMD.

NOTE: OPMD is found in Spain and in the U.S.A. amongst families of Spanish ancestry, but it does not seem to be common among the Latin American countries. Therefore, it is possible the inherited problem was spread amongst the families who moved directly from Spain to present-day New Mexico in the late 1500s and into the 1600s but not amongst the families that spent generations in Latin America along the way. However, be aware this is conjecture, not a proven fact.

A small number of Japanese families also reportedly have inherited OPMD but I am not able to find much information about them published in English.

Diagnosis

According to the NIH website,:

"The diagnosis of OPMD is established in a proband with a suggestive phenotype in whom either of the following genetic findings are identified: a heterozygous GCN trinucleotide repeat expansion of 11 to 18 repeats in the first exon of PABPN1(~90% of affected individuals) or biallelic GCN trinucleotide repeat expansions that are either compound heterozygous (GCN[11] with a second expanded allele) or homozygous (GCN[11]+[11], GCN[12]+[12], GCN[13]+[13], etc.) (~10% of affected individuals)."

Diagnosis for you or your family should be made by genetics professionals, not by directly contacting a laboratory. The genetics professional will first screen the individual's symptoms, along with family heritage, and then will send a DNA sample to a genetics laboratory if he or she believe OPMD to be a possibility.

Treatment

Treatment depends on the signs and symptoms present in each individual. Ptosis and dysphagia can be managed with surgery; however, recurrence of symptoms commonly occurs 5-15 years after intervention.

Summation

Again, I am not a OPMD expert. I offer this article simply as an introduction about why you might want to learn more about OPMD.  Always learn from the true experts.

There is a LOT more information available on the NIH website at https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/7245/oculopharyngeal-muscular-dystrophy and in the GeneReviews website at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1126/.

French-Canadian families also will be interested in Genealogy and "The French Canadian Disease": OPMD by Mary Holmes at http://www.cantley1889.ca/english/echo/echocantley_2015-09.html. That article even lists the probable ancestors of thousands of present-day French Canadian families who brought OPMD to New France.

The following is a press release written by the University of Maine at Fort Kent:

Newspapers, documents, pictures, scrapbooks, and other records are now available online for people in Maine and across the U.S.

Even though northern Maine is still the most Francophone region of the state, there's been an effort in the past few years to help preserve and teach our state's Acadian history throughout Maine.

To do that, different federal agencies, state officials including Gov. Janet Mills, and the Maine State Library are all working together to digitize historical records focused on French heritage in Maine. 

The Maine State Library provided the Acadian Archives with a book scanner and software to make these collections easily available online. 

Patrick Lacroix, the director of the Acadian Archives at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, said they're currently digitizing some of the maps, drawings, scrapbooks, photos, films, and other French records. That also includes 100,000 pages of historical French-language newspapers.

"They'll be able to digitize newspapers that are currently out in physical format, or on microfilm, and put those on the Library of Congress website, where they'll be machine-searchable, keyword-searchable, and so it'll open up horizons, giant horizons, for people who are doing research or trying to connect with their own roots," Lacroix explained.

Lacroix said these collections tell the hardships and stories that Franco-Americans experienced all over New England. 

The goal is to highlight and expand access to show some of the great contributions these communities have made throughout our state's history and the present day.

"Donc, c'est surtout au niveau de la numérisation. Donc, c'est très important pour nous d'être représentés ailleurs au-delà de notre petit patelin ici, donc de mettre plus de ressources en ligne, qui seraient accessibles par Internet aux gens nonseulement de la communauté du Haut Saint-Jean, mais ailleurs dans l'état et ailleurs aux États-Unis, au Canada, de manière international, aussi," Lacroix said in French. 

Translation: "So, it is especially at the level of digitization. So, it's very important for us to be represented elsewhere beyond our little village here, so to put more resources online, which would be accessible by internet to people not only from the Upper Saint-John community, but elsewhere in the state and elsewhere in the United States, Canada, internationally as well."

“People of Franco-American, including Acadian, ancestry are at the heart of Maine. I am proud to join the Maine State Library in announcing these projects, which will preserve their history for future generations,” Mills said. “Going forward, anyone will be able to easily access these historical records online, protecting the original documents and supporting public education at the same time.”

Click here to access the documents that have been digitally uploaded so far.

Click here to learn more about the Acadian Archives at UMaine Fort Kent.

“Digitization is an important tool in terms of both access and preservation,” Adam Fisher, director of collections development and digital initiatives at the Maine State Library, explained. “When historical materials are scanned and made available online, they can easily be viewed by anyone with access to the internet and searched by keyword. By making the information available in digital form, it also spares the print originals from some of the wear that comes from repeated use.”

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. 

Still another company has left the microfilm business: Kodak filed for bankruptcy protection some time ago. As part of the plan to save the company, Kodak management has announced the company will no longer manufacture cameras. Actually, Kodak previously had stopped the manufacture of film and cameras that use film. In recent years, Kodak has only manufactured digital cameras, and those, too, are now being dropped. The company is dropping all film products, including microfilm. The changes will have a major impact on genealogists.

For years, genealogists, historians, and many others have relied on records recorded on microfilm. Some years ago, as the volume of paper created by government and industry became too great to store economically, government and industry welcomed microfilm, microfiche, and other micro-imaging techniques. Indeed, these tiny images have served us well. Millions of cubic feet of paper records have been compressed by microfilming and have been stored in much smaller (but expensive) filing cabinets. 

If microfilm had never been invented, the Social Security Administration alone would have needed to build dozens of warehouses for records storage and also would have needed to hire an army of clerks to sort, file, and retrieve those pieces of paper. The cost of all that would have been in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The conversion to microfilm and microfiche literally made record storage possible.

Now we are seeing another conversion: from micro-imaging to even smaller digital imaging. Indeed, storing millions of documents on computer disks requires even less space than does microfilm. Fewer records storage warehouses need to be built and fewer clerks need to be hired. Digital records, even with multiple off-site backups, require significantly less space than do microfilmed records and a LOT less space than the same records stored on paper.

Of course, digital imaging has other benefits as well. If properly scanned and stored, high resolution digital images can be sharper and easier to read than those stored on microfilm. Digital images can have less "fuzziness." In addition, distribution and display is much easier with digital images than images on microfilm. Microfilm readers are rare in homes and in many offices while low-cost computers are available most everywhere, even in a purse or briefcase. When was the last time you carried a microfilm reader in your purse or briefcase?

For years, one of the big arguments against digital imaging was that of the storage media. The argument has been phrased, "Who will be able to read floppies in 8-inch, 5 1/4-inch or 3 1/2-inch formats twenty or fifty years from now?"

Now we are seeing the same argument being used against the use of microfilm: who is going to be able to read microfilm or microfiche twenty or fifty years from now? That will be long after the last microfilm viewer has been relegated to a museum.

The remainder of this article is reserved for Plus Edition subscribers only. If you have a Plus Edition subscription, you may read the full article at: https://eogn.com/(*)-Plus-Edition-News-Articles/13303486

If you are not yet a Plus Edition subscriber, you can learn more about such subscriptions and even upgrade to a Plus Edition subscription immediately at https://eogn.com/page-18077. 

Hanging from a clothing line stretched across two sets of ladders, dozens, if not hundreds, of film negatives from The Newport Daily News archives dry out in the lobby of the Newport Historical Society’s headquarters on Touro Street, just a portion of the photo archive that was impacted when the organization’s basement unexpectedly flooded on Tuesday.

“It’s really Newport’s stories,” Executive Director Rebecca Bertrand said. “It’s the stories of locals – and it's the stories of your newspaper that’s being preserved and the wonderful thing is that though it’s damaged, it's not lost.”

The rest of the 150,000 photo negatives that had to be rescued from the flooded basement are being stored in a freezer to stave off mold growth, Bertrand said. This collection of photos, dating from around the 1950s to the 2000s, was donated to the Historical Society by the Sherman family, the publication's previous owners, and relocated prior to the paper moving from the former Newport Daily News building on Malbone Road in 2019.

You can read more at: http://tinyurl.com/yjsxf9n5.

Comment by Dick Eastman: Have you ever read any of my articles about the need to store MULTIPLE copies of your important data and store them in MULTIPLE locations? If not, maybe it is time for me to blow the dust off some of those articles and republish them.

The following announcement was written by the folks at Findmypast:

There are over 30,000 new records to explore this Findmypast Friday.

If you've got roots in Yorkshire, this week's 32,437 brand new Sheffield records may just help you to build the branches of your family tree. We've added 29,000 workhouse admission records to our collection, spanning over 200 years, in addition to 2,175 crime and courts records. 

We've also added social and institutional records from Sheffield, and over 70,000 new newspaper pages.

Yorkshire, Sheffield Workhouse Admissions 1700-1915

This exciting brand-new set consists of 29,003 workhouse records from Sheffield in Yorkshire. These transcriptions span an impressive 215 years.

Yorkshire, Sheffield Crime Courts and Convicts 1737-1938

Next up we're staying in Yorkshire with an existing collection of court records, to which 2,185 transcriptions have been added, spanning from 1769 to 1938.

Yorkshire, Sheffield Social and Institutional Records 1558-1939

We also added 1,259 records to our Sheffield social and institutional collection this week, consisting of exam records from the Norton Free School.

Over 70,000 new pages to discover

We added a brand new Scottish title to our newspaper collection this week and updated six existing publications. Explore new pages from Sussex to Selby...

Here's a full rundown of all that's been added:

New titles:

Updated titles:

Have you made a surprising family history discovery? Whatever you've uncovered about your past, we'd love to hear about it. You can now get in touch and tell us using this handy form.

Last week, we added Derbyshire baptisms, Boer War records and much more. Explore the full release for yourself here.

Could the latest U.S. Census records be inaccurate? No! Really?

Illinois is adding tens of thousands of people to its population total, and California is getting misplaced sailors on an aircraft carrier put in the right location, after successfully asking for a review of their 2020 census figures.

New York City also appears to have gotten an additional 1,090 people added to its population total recently, after asking the Census Bureau to double-check the city's numbers from the head count of every U.S. resident, city officials said.

The once-a-decade census produces population figures that help determine political power and the annual distribution of $2.8 trillion in federal funding. The Census Bureau has two programs giving state governments opportunities to have their population totals reviewed and adjusted if need be. Nearly 200 requests for reviews were filed by tribal, local and state governments for the 2020 census.

Changes from the reviews will be applied only to future annual population estimates used for the rest of the decade in determining federal funding. They cannot be used to change how many congressional seats each state was allotted during the apportionment process, nor for the data used for redrawing political districts.

You can read more about this issue in an Associated Press article published in the Fox News web site at: http://tinyurl.com/cpvmn88j.

Here is an article that is not about any of the "normal" topics of this newsletter: genealogy, history, current affairs, DNA, and related topics. However, I suspect mzny computer users will be interested in this information:

There are some major differences between JPEGs, GIFs, PNGs, and other image file types. Nolen Jonker has written an easy-to-read article that explains all the common file types and published the information in the makeuseof web site at: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/jpeg-gif-png-image-filetypes-explained-tested/. 

Among many developments, FamilySearch plans to digitize millions of more genealogical records, improve computer-assisted indexing and provide more volunteer experiences.

Advances in computer-assisted indexing and other digital innovations, new volunteer experiences, the largest family history conference in the world and, of course, more genealogy records — are all part of what FamilySearch is planning for patrons in 2024. 

FamilySearch, an international family history website sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, offered a preview of its plans for the coming year in a news release on Jan. 17.

Here is what Latter-day Saints can expect to see at FamilySearch:

Access to more family history records

FamilySearch will continue to work with record custodians and other organizations worldwide to digitize millions of more historical records, to preserve them and make them more widely available.

FamilySearch will continue to digitize records in more than 75 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Oceania, with significant new additions coming for collections in Peru and Portugal.

Last year, FamilySearch collaborated with Ancestry and the Library and Archives Canada to make the 1931 Canada census available for free research. FamilySearch will add the full 1921 Canada census this year.

FamilySearch will also continue to gather oral genealogies from Africa, as well as other unique record sets, and make them digitally searchable. This search feature will allow patrons to explore the oral genealogies from more than 15 African countries by tribe, village and surname with access to photos, audio recordings and lineages preserved through interviews.

Computer-assisted indexing

In 2024, FamilySearch plans to improve its computer-assisted indexing algorithms to recognize and index historical genealogical records in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and English. This handwriting recognition technology, combined with the contributions of online volunteers, will make millions of document images text-searchable faster and enable more people to discover their family heritage.

Full-text search

On a related note, FamilySearch has been leveraging its AI-powered handwriting recognition technology to also improve its record search experience. 

In 2024, FamilySearch hopes to make the search experience more powerful by adding full-text search capability to select record sets.

You can read a lot more about future plans in an article by Trent Toone published in the thechurchnews.com web site at: http://tinyurl.com/mr4622r3.