Napa Dentist Volunteers For Patients In Need

Jefferson Award Winner: Dr. Adrian Fenderson

NAPA (CBS 5) ― Break a tooth? Dr. Adrian Fenderson's patients know who to call. He's been rooted in Napa Valley for nearly 40 years.

But he's just as well known outside of the office for sinking his teeth into volunteer projects here at home and around the world.

"It's my passion. I love it. You do things that make you feel good," Dr. Fenderson explains.

For nearly three decades, Dr. Fenderson has offered free dental care during dozens of humanitarian missions to Mexico and Central America, with the Flying Doctors group.

"You get velcro hugs," he says with a smile. "People hug you and don't let go. It's fun. I come back with a glow and warm feeling."

His dental assistant, Laura Hooker, says his personality shines as he serves poor villagers.

"(He's) like a kid himself," she remembers from her trip with him. "It was the most amazing experience. He loves what he does. He's good at it."

Dr. Fenderson says he began volunteering in Vietnam, as an Army dentist in 1971.

"The commander said, 'Would you go out in the villages and do free dentistry? We're trying to win their hearts and souls.' I said, 'Okay, that sounds good.' So, on weekends we flew in helicopters and landed in the villages and set up and get people out of pain and I found it rewarding."

Since then, he's supplied free dental care from orphanages in India to people in need locally. He's partnered with singer Garth Brooks to raise money for "Smiles for Life."

Dr. Fenderson whitens teeth in exchange for a donation to children's charities. And he fills other community "cavities" by organizing holiday food and toy drives.

And he's launched an essay contest to reward students who do good deeds. The dentist awarded first prize to Napa High School senior Erica Morales, who raised money for a family in need.

Erica, who's headed to college next year, says she's inspired by Dr. Fenderson's work.

"I want to change someone's life, too," she says.

Dr. Fenderson says it's all about the joy.

"It's not because my Christian background, it's not because I'm philanthropic, it's not because I want to save the world. It's because I love the it makes me feel."

For the warm feelings and smiles he brings, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Dr. Adrian Fenderson.

Dr. Fenderson arranged a Free Dental Day in Napa in June 2009 and is considering plans for another event in 2010. Check www.napadentist.com for updates.

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Scientists spot nearby 'super-Earth'

(CNN) -- Astronomers announced this week they found a water-rich and relatively nearby planet that's similar in size to Earth.

While the planet probably has too thick of an atmosphere and is too hot to support life similar to that found on Earth, the discovery is being heralded as a major breakthrough in humanity's search for life on other planets.
"The big excitement is that we have found a watery world orbiting a very nearby and very small star," said David Charbonneau, a Harvard professor of astronomy and lead author of an article on the discovery, which appeared this week in the journal Nature.

The planet, named GJ 1214b, is 2.7 times as large as Earth and orbits a star much smaller and less luminous than our sun. That's significant, Charbonneau said, because for many years, astronomers assumed that planets only would be found orbiting stars that are similar in size to the sun.

Because of that assumption, researchers didn't spend much time looking for planets circling small stars, he said. The discovery of this "watery world" helps debunk the notion that Earth-like planets could form only in conditions similar to those in our solar system.

"Nature is just far more inventive in making planets than we were imagining," he said.

In a way, the newly discovered planet was sitting right in front of astronomers' faces, just waiting for them to look. Instead of using high-powered telescopes attached to satellites, they spotted the planet using an amateur-sized, 16-inch telescope on the ground.

There were no technological reasons the discovery couldn't have happened long ago, Charbonneau said.
The planet is also rather near to our solar system -- only about 40 light-years away.

Planet GJ 1214b is classified as a "super-Earth" because it is between one and 10 times as large as Earth. Scientists have known about the existence of super-Earths for only a couple of years. Most planets discovered by astronomers have been gassy giants that are much more similar to Jupiter than to Earth.

Charbonneau said it's unlikely that any life on the newly discovered planet would be similar to life on Earth, but he didn't discount the idea entirely.

"This planet probably does have liquid water," he said.

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Library Book Returned -- 99 Years Overdue

The book returned to the New Bedford Public Library in Massachusetts this week wasn't overdue by a week, a month or even a year. It was nearly a century overdue, and the fine came to $361.35.

"Facts I Ought to Know about the Government of My Country" was supposed to have been returned by May 10, 1910.

Stanley Dudek told the Standard Times newspaper in New Bedford he came across the book while going through things that had belonged to his mother, who died about 10 years ago. He decided that returning the book to the city was the right thing to do.

The overdue book fine was a penny a day in 1910. But Dudek wasn't asked to pay it.

The library plans to display the book in its special collection.

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British child prodigy compared to Picasso

Seven-year-old Kieron Williamson, a prolific artist whose works have sold for thousands of dollars, talks about what inspires him to paint. NBC’s Simon Dedman reports. (Nightly News)

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Drinking cups of tea and coffee 'can prevent diabetes'

Tea and coffee drinkers have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a large body of evidence shows.

And the protection may not be down to caffeine since decaf coffee has the greatest effect, say researchers in Archives of Internal Medicine.

They looked at 18 separate studies involving nearly 500,000 people.

This analysis revealed that people who drink three or four cups of coffee or tea a day cut their risk by a fifth or more, say researchers.

The same amount of decaffeinated coffee had an even bigger effect, lowering risk by a third.

Type 2 diabetes usually starts after the age of 40 and develops when the body can still make some insulin, but not enough, or when the insulin that is produced does not work properly. Type 2 diabetes is treated with a healthy diet and increased physical activity. In addition to this, medication and/or insulin is often required.

If the findings prove true, doctors may well start advising people to put the kettle on as well as take more exercise and watch their weight, say the researchers.

When the authors combined and analysed the data, they found that each additional cup of coffee consumed in a day cut diabetes risk by 7%.

Lead researcher Dr Rachel Huxley, from the University of Sydney in Australia, said because of the finding with decaffeinated coffee, the link is unlikely to be solely related to caffeine.

Instead, other compounds in coffee and tea - including magnesium and antioxidants known as lignans or chlorogenic acids - may be involved.

Special brew

"The identification of the active components of these beverages would open up new therapeutic pathways for the primary prevention of diabetes mellitus.

"If such beneficial effects were observed in interventional trials to be real, the implications for the millions of individuals who have diabetes mellitus, or who are at future risk of developing it, would be substantial."

Dr Victoria King, of Diabetes UK, said: "Without full information about what other factors may be influencing the type 2 diabetes risk of the studies' participants - such as their physical activity levels and diet - as well as what the active ingredient in tea or coffee appears to be, we cannot be sure what, if anything, this observed effect is down to.

"What we can be sure of is that the development of type 2 diabetes is strongly linked to lifestyle, which means that many cases could be prevented by keeping active and eating a healthy balanced diet that is low in fat, salt and sugar with plenty of fruit and vegetables."

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2010 New Orleans Jazz Fest lineup announced

STACEY PLAISANCE, Associated Press Writer

(12-15) 06:09 PST New Orleans (AP) --

Van the Man and The Queen of Soul are headlining next year's New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Joining Van Morrison and Aretha Franklin will be Pearl Jam, making its inaugural appearance at the fest, as well as Lionel Richie and actor Steve Martin, who plays banjo in his bluegrass outfit the Steep Canyon Rangers. Darius Rucker, former Hootie and the Blowfish front man-turned-country award-winning singer, is also slated to appear.

"It's just a way cool thing that Jazz Fest is so broad that it can embrace all these different things, all these different artists," the festival's producer, Quint Davis, said Monday.

Marking its 41st year, the festival is scheduled for the weekends of April 23-25 and April 29-May 2 and features hundreds of acts in genres ranging from pop, rock and gospel to R&B, jazz and zydeco.

Though dotted with major national acts, the festival is made up of more than 80 percent Louisiana artists such as The Neville Brothers, Irma Thomas, Pete Fountain, Dr. John, rapper Juvenile, Trombone Shorty and Buckwheat Zydeco.

Other first-time artists include My Morning Jacket, Anita Baker, Gipsy Kings, The Dead Weather, The Levon Helm Band, Drake and Johnny Lang.

Returning acts include the Allman Brothers Band, Widespread Panic, The Black Crowes and B.B. King.

"We have jazz in the name, but it's not just jazz music," Davis said.

Next year's festival will include a tribute to one of the genre's founders, jazz singer, songwriter and trumpeter Louis Prima, who was born in 1910 and "brought jazz and New Orleans flavor to the world," Davis said.

Prima reigns along with Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino and Mahalia Jackson, Davis said.

"He's so New Orleans," Davis said. "He was one of the first major voices in getting jazz and New Orleans to be dominant world powers in music. We have some very special things in the works to honor him."

There will be tributes to Prima every day with jazz singers Keely Smith and Louis Prima Jr. performing in his honor.

Davis said the festival was grateful to land Franklin — who was supposed to perform last year but dropped out when asked to participate in an event for President Barack Obama.

Rucker this year became only the second black performer to win a major individual country music award — he was named best new artist for 2009 — joining Charley Pride, who took entertainer of the year in 1971 and male vocalist in 1971-72.

"If there's nothing here that you like, then you just don't like nothing," Davis said.

Tickets for the festival, which is held at the Fair Grounds Race Course, go on sale Tuesday.

Besides music, the festival offers a host of food and craft booths, some that include the history and making of New Orleans pottery, jewelry, clothes and Mardi Gras.

Shell Oil Co. is this year's presenting sponsor. Other sponsors include Acura, Miller Lite, Pepsi and Sheraton New Orleans Hotel.

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