The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 31

Chuck Blystone, Features editor, (309) 829-9000, ext. 248, e-mail: featurespantagraph.com FRIDAY, August 7, 2009 YOUR Bill Flick 1. I Normal man makes break for freedom a i i -( -v-t I 1 1 1 Li cue. c- When ya gotta go, ya gotta go. You've probably heard that.

What you might not have thought about is how that also includes when you've already gone and then want to leave the bathroom, too. Or, as Lanny Lobdell so aptly puts it these days: "Thank goodness porcelain is as hard as rock." Thought you had an interesting day at work? Listen to Lobdell's: A 67 -year -old accountant from Mnrmal 4 11 i worKsior i i i Associated PressNATI HARNIK This Dec. 11, 2002, photo shows electronic signs flashing with an Amber Alert over Interstate 80 in Omaha, Neb. The nationwide alert system was created in the wake of the murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman. i- 1 I Sf and )GflGfi(0.

the University of Mi- nois Tax School and uses the accounting offices of Guthoff Mehall Allen Co. in east to do some of his tax work. He was there the other night, Armed with a toilet part, Lanny Lobdell shows just how he avoided spending a weekend there. Abductions spur new laws, hope of keeping kids safer On the Web Missing kids Web sites with information about missing children and tips for avoiding danger: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: www.missingkids.com Center's parenting site: www.take25.org Center's online safety site: www.nets-martz.org Department of Justice National Sex Offender registry: www.nsopw.gov Associated Press file The body of Polly Klaas, 12, of Petaluma, was found in December 1993 in Cloverdale, Calif. Richard Allen Davis, has been accused of kidnapping and killing Klaas.

By Anthony McCartney ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ANGELES Their names are eerily known to many: Adam Walsh, Polly Klaas, Amber Hagerman, some of the children who have come to symbolize families shattered through abductions and murders. But they also represent hope in the form of new laws and other public policies aimed at keeping kids safe. Safety experts emphasize that most child abduction cases result in family reunions. Since 1990, the recovery rate of missing children has jumped from 62 percent to 97 per -cent, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Nancy McBride, safety director for the center, and Robin Sax, a former Los Angeles County prosecutor who specialized in crimes against children, urged parents not to shy away from the subject in gently teaching children as young as tod -dlers how to stay safe.

They also said it's a process that should continue through the teen years. It's a grim topic, but the two said parents should talk repeatedly with children about who they can trust and how they can avoid predators both online and in their neighborhoods. The key is to avoid scare tactics, McBride said. "Fear is a paralyzing element," she said. "It doesn't help anybody learn anything." Instead, use "teachable moments," everyday incidents children experience that emphasize safety, said Sax, who recently published the book "Predators and Child Molesters: What Every Parent Needs to Know to Keep Kids Safe." Both women warn parents against falling into overly traditional notions of who's out to harm their children.

So-called "Stranger Danger" can hinder youngsters from getting help if they're lost, McBride said. Besides, strangers often aren't the ones to worry about. "The very real issue is that the real danger to kids is from somebody they know rather than somebody they don't know," McBride said. More tips on educating younger children: I Start talking early, but keep the tone informal. "When you go out to a mall, make it a teachable moment," McBride said.

"Then go get some pizza." I Listen carefully to what children say. It can indicate what areas parents need to work on and help them spot abuse, Sax said. SEE LOST PAGE D2 in fact. Alone. It was a Friday.

Everyone else had gone home. That's when Lanny wandered into a bathroom and, because a cleaning lady occasionally comes in after-hours, locked the'door. Nature commenced. That's when Lanny got to the time to go after the going part. The door knob didn't work.

"This bathroom," as he describes it, "is Lilliputian-sized, about as big as a coffin of your average Mississippi resident." Because he hadn't planned to spend the weekend in a bathroom or call anyone while living there, he'd left his cell phone back on his desk. He began pounding on the door, now praying that the reason he'd locked the door the presence of the cleaning lady might also be his escape. But no such luck. In time he began to pace himself, to save his knuckles, whacking three times a minute. Still no response.

He started trying to kick down the door. That didn't work. Leveraging his body on a sink and using his legs, he attempted to kick a hole in it but it didn't yield. "Finally," says Lanny, "it happened my Clint Eastwood Jr. instincts took charge." Yes, Lanny began taking apart the toilet.

Using the top portion made of especially hard porcelain, he began swinging it into the door, like a clean-up hitter in the ninth. Except, of course, he was using a toilet to bat clean-up. Whack! Clunk! Since it was a hollow-core door, it began to give. Crunch! Kabong! He began to see light. Able to punch a hole, he pierced through with a left hand and was able to reach up and grab the knob.

Unfortunately it was still locked there, too. So he swung some more. Wham! Crash! Finally, KA-BOOM! He opened a hole large enough that his 5-foot-7 frame was able to squeeze through. "Finally I escaped," he says, "with my sanity protected and a fatal case of claustrophobia prevented." Still, somehow calm, he even left a note on the door. It read: "I got locked in the bathroom and tried everything to get it unlocked.

But after spending over an hour in a tiny, locked bathroom with no phone on my person, I resorted to ingenious but destructive self-preservation instincts. I will pay for a new door. But I am free. In the famous words of M.L. King, "Freeatlast.freeatlast...!" And so it goes, as they say.

And finally Lanny went, as they don't. Talk about taxing. Contact Bill Flick at flickpantagraph.com. Courtesy of the Walsh family Six-year-old Adam Walsh disappeared from a Florida shopping mall in 1981 and was later found murdered. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was founded by his parents, John and Reve.

Baldness almost chic as a man do style statement. Being bald says, 'I'm confident, strong, this is The popularity of the style is underscored by a variety of products from razors designed specifically for the scalp to grooming products to soothe bumps and reduce shine. So how did the evolution from hair-worshiping society to chrome -dome nation occur? Todd Green, who introduced a razor called Headblade back in 1999, says one push came around the year 2000 "when the military officially approved head The government realized it was not a trend," Green says. But pre -military and post Mr. Clean and Yul Brynner, we mustn't forget the "Michael Jordan effect," Green says.

The basketball star took it off in the late '80s, and inspired pro athletes everywhere to do the same. SEE BALDNESS PAGE D2 By Anne Bratskeir NEWSDAY Ciao to comb-overs. Buh-bye rugs and plugs. The shaved head has become an ac -cepted solution to male hair loss and a symbol of modern style. According to statistics from Conair, some 22 million men ages 22 to 65 shave their heads regularly.

And men's fashion pundits approve mainly. "At the moment; it's perfectly fine to shave your head. You don't need hair," says Adam Rapoport, style editor of GQmaga-zine. "It's common for guys on Wall Street, to captains of industry, to lawyers, to celebrities, to guys at the gym." Brian Boye, Men's Health fashion and grooming director, agrees. "It's become mainstream.

Men can have long hair, short hair, and now they can have no hair. It's a Y. I I nUlMiWuriiBi if iMiWfiiinlTllllwiiri-iiiMiM mi' liiii Associated Press Rocker Chris Daughtry is among men who keep their heads clipped..