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BLACK AND WHITE — First Place: Deborah Brownstein LEO Photography Contest 2012 Ansel Adams once said, “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” On the contrary, Henri Cartier-Bresson — the father of modern photojournalism — claims that when it comes to capturing the perfect pic, “It’s all luck.” After pouring over hundreds of photos submitted for the 2012 LEO Photography Contest, it appears both iconic photographers were onto something. We received photos displaying an array of styles and subjects — some planned and executed to achieve just the right shot, others captured by a photographer in the right place at the right time. It appears both principals came into play for Clarksville resident Deborah Brownstein, winner of the grand prize in both categories. A few other entrants won more than one honor, as well, but lest you think something nefarious transpired behind the scenes, never fear — we assure you the submissions remained anonymous till the end. Thanks to all you shutterbugs who took the time to participate, and congrats to those whose work warranted a spot in this issue. —Sarah Kelley, Editor •BLACK AND WHITE First Place: Deborah Brownstein Judge’s comments: This stood out as the clear winner. It was well-seen and well-executed with real care and craft, all the way through to the end with a quality print. Second Place: Adam Creech Judge’s comments: I like this photo for what it is: It’s a nice portrait that tells a story, like a documentary. The photographer went somewhere and had an encounter with a human being, which shows. Third Place: Karen Leist Bassett Judge’s comments: This struck me at first as though it was taken on film. It’s interesting, innovative and has a mystical quality. The photographer got a primitive feel using a digital camera. Honorable Mentions: Gary J. Barragan, Kelsee Bryant, Jinn Fuller Renfro and Christopher Seigfreid •COLOR Judge’s comments: Though simple, this piece is graphic, colorful and concise, yet still a little abstract. It’s simply nice to look at. Second Place: Jinn Fuller Renfro Judge’s comments: This one gets a lot of credit for being a little surreal. It’s interpretive, seems almost poetic — it looks like a magical landscape. Third Place: Casey Emrich Judge’s comments: This type of panoramic takes a lot of skill. It’s a literal landscape that’s just very pretty and nicely done. Honorable Mentions: Gary J. Barragan, Gertrude Hudson, Jinn Fuller Renfro and Jacob Zimmer •The Judge Bob Hower is a Louisville photographer who was born in Boston in 1947. He was a photographer for the Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project during the mid-1970s, which was recently given a retrospective exhibition at the Frazier History Museum, and he is currently a photographer for 21st Century Parks. An exhibit of that work was shown at the Green Building this past spring. His work is in the permanent collections of The Museum of Modern Art, The International Center of Photography, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Kentucky Historical Society, and The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, among others. His photographs have been exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, The International Center of Photography, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, the George Eastman House, The Speed Art Museum, 21c Museum, and the Frazier Museum. A pioneer in color fine art photography, Hower is best known for his large format industrial landscapes and portraits. He’s also a founding partner of Quadrant, a commercial photography studio in Jeffersonville. Previous article

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White smoke, new Pope Previous topic | Next topic White smoke, new Pope Author Quote:White smoke signals cardinals have selected a new popePublished March 13, 2013FoxNews.comWhite smoke billowed from the Vatican's Sistine Chapel Wednesday, indicating the cardinals have selected a new pope after two days worth of voting.Cardinals have elected a successor to Benedict XVI, who stunned the Catholic world last month by becoming the first pope in 600 years to resign. Crowds packing St. Peter's Square were seen cheering the announcement as bells were ringing. The new pope, who has yet to be identified, became the winner after receiving at least 77 votes, which is more than two thirds of the cardinals.The new pope is expected to appear on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica within an hour, after a church official announces "Habemus Papum" -- "We have a pope" -- and gives the name of the new pontiff in Latin.The conclave drama played out against the backdrop of the church's need both for a manager who can clean up a corrupt Vatican bureaucracy and a pastor who can revive Catholicism in a time of growing secularism.The Associated Press contributed to this report.Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/13 ... z2NRhgy4Sw Re: White smoke, new Pope The Catholic Church has elected a new pope: Argentinian Jorge Mario BergoglioDEVELOPING..White smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel chimney and bells rang across Rome on Wednesday evening, indicating a new leader has been chosen for the world's 1.2 billion Catholics. White smoke billows from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, meaning Roman Catholic cardinals have elected a pope in their fifth round of balloting, at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 13, 2013.The new pope has not yet been identified. But he is expected to appear on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica within the hour before throngs of faithful waiting to witness the first new pontiff in eight years, and the 266th pontiff in the 2,000-year history of the church.The pope was elected on the fifth ballot in a remarkably quick conclave -- given that there was no clear frontrunner going in. The winner must receive 77 votes, or two-thirds of the support of the 115 voting cardinals.A sodden but jubilant crowd of tens of thousands were cheering in St. Peter's Square after braving pouring rain while watching the Sistine Chapel chimney intently for signs of white smoke. People were waving flags, chanting "viva la pappa," some in the crowd having sprinted to the square from all over the city after abandoning cars and motorcycles to be there for this historic moment.A church official is expected to announce "Habemus Papum" -- "We have a pope" -- and give the name of the new pope in Latin.While there was no clear frontrunner, names mentioned most often as top candidates for pope include:Cardinal Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan;Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the Canadian head of the Vatican's important bishops' office; andBrazilian Cardinal Odilo Scherer, who is well-regarded among the Vatican bureaucracyVatican expert Gerard O’Connell says it’s expected to take about 40 minutes before we find out who the pope is. "The big question is have they chosen a (European) or have they crossed the Atlantic for the first time in history?"O'Connell said the first person who will appear on the balcony overlooking the square will be French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran -- the cardinal protodeacon, who will confirm a new pope has been chosen. Tauran is expected to first announce the birth name of the new pope, followed by the name he has chosen to identify himself as.Although there could be a twist: in the unlikely event Tauran has been elected pope -- then someone else will make the announcement, said O'Connell.The conclave was called after Pope Benedict XVI resigned last month, throwing the church into turmoil and exposing divisions among cardinals tasked with finding a leader to clean up a Vatican bureaucracy widely seen as corrupt. The cardinals were also in search of a spiritual guide and a booster who could revive Catholicism in a time of growing secularism.“I think (if) you look down here, the church has many problems -- but you see the immense unity and joy this kind of an event brings," said O'Connell."This event unifies, it brings people together; people are happy, you see the joy in the crowd and we will see perhaps a quarter million people before he comes to the balcony because people are coming in from all over the city.”Meanwhile, the Twitter account belonging to @Pontifex no longer reads "sede vacante" -- or "seat vacant" -- although there have been no new tweets yet.Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/new-pope-ch ... z2NRuZ1YQI He's 76...looks like they could be doing this again rather soon......Congrats Pope Francis and all Catholics que bueno! [ 4 posts ] Board index » Off the Field » Off Topic

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News Sports Opinion Polls Features House To Home Sections Extras Ads Classifieds Jobs CU Services Contact Thursday: Boomers & Beyond / Thursday: Boomers & Beyond « Senior events A life well lived Mae Rogers of Negaunee is turning 100 April 28, 2011 By RENEE PRUSI - Journal Staff Writer (rprusi@miningjournal.net.) Save | NEGAUNEE - Turning 100 is a major milestone, obviously. But Mae Rogers, who hits the century mark on May 20, hasn't let age slow her down one bit. With a laugh that emanates from her tippytoes, Mae is still engaged in the world and sharper than any tack. It's quite a life she's had ... so far. Article Photos Mae Rogers of Negaunee is seen in a recent photo. (Journal photo by Renee Prusi) Mae is pictured when she was a young woman. (Mae Rogers photo) Born in Crystal Falls, Mae is one of Adolph and Ida Miller's four children. "My dad was a Kraut and my mom was a Cousin Jenny," she said, eyes sparkling. "That's what made me me!" Her three siblings were Jimmy Miller, Raymond Miller and Jane Miller Hoppens. All are deceased. "Jimmy was the oldest and ran a newsstand on Iron Street in Negaunee for years," Mae said. "Raymond was in accounts at the mine. And Jane mostly lived in Marinette, Wis. "She moved there when the glove factory in Negaunee closed. She worked in the factory in Marinette from then on." Ida Miller moved her children to Negaunee in 1922 after her husband died at the age of 38. "She was a widow woman with four kids. My mom's (childhood) home was at 110 E. Case St. in Negaunee, so that's where we came after my dad died," Mae said. Her father died at a young age, Mae believes, because of the stress he experienced as a young man. "My paternal grandfather was killed in a hunting camp accident when my Dad was 13. My Dad had to go to work in the mines at 13 to support his family," she said. "Can you imagine?" Her maternal grandfather, Joe Williams, had emigrated from England and owned property in Negaunee, including what was The Arnett Store, later Mautino Drugs, on Iron Street. "We lived at 110 E. Case St., up from Boosta Stanaway's house," she said, smiling. "Everybody knows who Boosta was. Matt Vanni was our neighbor, too. And we lived across the street from the McCaullife family. They were teachers." Mae was 11 when her mother moved the family back to Negaunee in 1922. Did she like her new community? "I should say so," she said. "I met my best friend, Dorothy Pascoe. She lived just around the corner. We were two peas in a pod. We dressed alike, we thought alike. We did everything together. "We would grab a stick, just in case we had to chase off bears, and go exploring around Cedar Lake during our vacations from school," she said. "One time we ended up all the way in National Mine and had to walk back. "We were so much alike, we could have been twins." As a teen, Mae started dating. "Girls in Negaunee went to Ishpeming to find boyfriends," she said with a chuckle. "I had one from Cleveland Location. He was part of the leather-jacket group. They were tough." His name was Waino Nyman. "He was tall, dark and handsome," Mae said. "He was my skating partner at the ice rink. I was there constantly, from the time they opened until the time they closed. I think he enjoyed skating with me because he could fling me." Mae enjoyed her days at Negaunee High School. "My favorite subject? Gym," she said with a peal of laughter. "And English. I had the most wonderful senior English teacher. His name was Fred Wolcott. He was the English teacher everyone would want to have. He was a poet." One day in class, Wolcott told the class he and his wife had lost an infant and read them a poem he had written. That inspired Mae to become a poet herself, an interest she pursues to this day. After graduating as part of the Negaunee High School class of 1929, Mae took a job as a nanny for a dentist's family. She started at St. Luke's Hospital's nursing training, but didn't finish. "I felt sorry for my mom," she said. "She was putting my oldest brother through St. Lawrence College in Appleton and my younger brother ended up at Ferris State. So my sister and I got jobs instead of going to college." Mae became a licensed practical nurse and was hired at the Twin City Hospital in Negaunee. It was that job which led to her first marriage. More on that next week. Renee Prusi can be contacted at 906-228-2500, ext. 253. Save | Subscribe to Mining Journal I am looking for:

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Much ado about flooding Justin Crann Do not roast your dogs, or cats Five Hills not 'sweating bullets' New program combines interests with reading New cultures join Motif this year Rebel with a comedic cause Police investigating another bear spray assault Today file – July 7, 2014 The Times-Herald can report this detail because, on Monday, he led an impromptu guided tour of the city's departments, checking with employees about how many calls have come in on the subject. He's had his staff tracking the number of calls for "a little over a week," and for those keeping score, there have been a total of six of them — two fielded by Noble personally. "The purpose of this exercise is to show the scale of it," Noble explained as he descended a city hall staircase to lead the way back to his office. "We've only had six complaints." The scale of the flooding problem — in particular, the number of homes that have flooded and the total financial cost of the damages stemming from it — are important numbers for the city to have. City administration and council are going to need them to apply for consideration for relief under the provincial disaster assistance program (PDAP). "What I was told by the fire chief is that we would need a minimum of 10 people with an aggregate of $50,000 in damages," explained Noble. What he has discovered since is that Moose Jaw is nowhere near those thresholds. As the Times-Herald has previously reported, while other Saskatchewan communities received tremendous amounts of rainfall in recent weeks, Moose Jaw made off relatively well — even with 22 days of rainfall in the month of June alone. Still, some homeowners — six, in the past week or so — have suffered basement flooding, and have been calling in to the city to complain. In investigating their complaints, Noble said he discovered that a large amount of those instances were the result of a higher than normal water table resulting in problems with seepage. "All of a sudden, people are having to install sump pumps and they assume it must be something the city did," said Noble. "But if you have seepage issues, there's not much the city can do for you. These are issues we have to deal with as property owners." The simple truth, suggested Noble, is that the damage that has been reported to the city is not severe enough to declare an emergency. "If we make a declaration (now), every time we get rainfall we will have to make another declaration," he added. "And then what kind of credibility do we have with the province while they are dealing with places like Melville?" Noble said he doesn't fault the few homeowners who have suffered floods for reaching out. "If I was the person with the problem, I'd be begging the city to do something, too," he said. "I have tremendous empathy for those individuals," Noble added. "(But) the province is going to come out and they're going to investigate it." Ultimately, the decision to apply for PDAP doesn't rest with Noble — the authority is with city council. However, his position is clear. In his own words, he "just wouldn't trade the credibility of the city for one person." Find Justin Crann on Twitter. The Times-Herald Geographic location: Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Melville City Manager Matt Noble enlists visual aids during a discussion with the Times-Herald about flooding and seepage in the Friendly City on Monday. Times-Herald photo by Justin Crann © Justin Crann

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SENSEX NIFTY Home » News » Wire News Nov 08, 2012, 12.18 PM IST | Source: PTI Khurshid congratulates Obama on re-election as US President New Delhi, Nov 8 (PTI) Congratulating Barack Obama on his re-election as US President, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid today said India and the United States share excellent relations and will continue to move forward. Khurshid noted that both the countries had achieved "significant" accomplishments in the past one decade and would like to move forward. Talking about the "good news" of re-election of Obama, Khurshid told reporters, "for the US and India, this is a very important signature of reassertion and celebration of their respective democracies." He noted that it was a fiercely contested poll (between Obama and Mitt Romney) and it ended as a reassertion of democratic values. "We have good memories about Obama's visit to India, especially the one in Parliament. India and the United States will continue to move forward. There are areas of cooperation like security where we have common concerns," he said. On the leadership change in China, he said India was "watching closely" the developments in the neighbouring country which has successful "scientific" system of generational change in leadership. "We look forward to a meaningful, sustainable dialogue and relationship with China," he said. Queried about UN sanctions against the Haqqani terror network, he said India's concerns regarding operations of such groups has been "very clear" and this step was "logical". Talking about the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) which he attended, Khurshid said the deliberations were fruitful. On Purilia arms drop case main accused Kim Davy's extradition, the minister said he had raised the issue with Denmark Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt during his meeting with him in Laos during ASEM meeting. Thorning-Schmidt informed him that they would undertake further techno-legal examination of India's request for extradition of Davy and initiate discussions on that basis, he said. PTI SJY DV ADS BY GOOGLE

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99 CENTS Pattersons undaunted by fire PATTERSON FAMILY left to right, Elizabeth Petty, Shannon Mainwaring, Emma Noble, Lana Noble, top, Caitlyn Rodgers, banner, Larry Patterson, Cathy Patterson, Gabi Myrick, Curtis Patterson, Daniel Mainwaring, Joshua Mainwaring, Rob Mainwaring, Michael Noble, Breanna and Jonathan Petty. Democrat photo by Pat Dollins By Dawn Hodson Not much remains of the old Patterson ranch after fire ravaged the property on that Friday afternoon, Aug. 16. Started by students smoking behind Union Mine High School, the fire quickly spread in the parched grasses, burning 85 of 90 acres of the ranch, including the house, while also threatening the nearby Lake Oaks Mobile Home Park. The Patterson home, affectionately known as the “pink house” because of its color, is now just a memory. Built between 1900 and 1905, it was a grand Ranch Victorian styled home that became a landmark in the area. The house and everything in it now gone, the root cellar lays exposed with only a few scorched and melted pieces of metal remaining. Nearby, burnt stumps are all that’s left of two 80-year-old walnut trees. Larry Patterson, the owner of the ranch, said the fire started at 1:45 p.m. He was walking his dog around the lake at the time and the fire was about a quarter of a mile away from his property. Getting home, he first opened the gate for the cows and horses and let them out. Then Patterson, along with his niece Shannon Mainwaring and her husband Rob, got out the hoses and began fighting the fire themselves. In between, he flagged a neighbor to call 911, “But the fire engines never came,” he said. “They had been dispatched to protect the schools, not Deer Creek.” They continued fighting the fire with the help of neighbors but the fast-moving fire, aided by a gust of wind, brought flames into the trees near the house. “The two walnut trees caught fire. At that point, it was evident there was no stopping it,” he said. “At around 2 p.m., the property was engulfed in flames. At that time, I went through the house and checked for the animals,” he said choking up. “I thought maybe I’d take a picture of my wife and I, but I couldn’t find one.” He and the others then left the property, knowing at that point there was nothing they could do. The fire engines never did show up, he said, until after the fire swept through his property and his neighbors were already fully engaged in fighting the fire themselves. By then it was too late for the Patterson Ranch, although a few oases did survive including two grassy areas, an old barn, the swimming pool, and ironically, a shed full of cut wood. Two families linked to the land The fire, as devastating as it was, wasn’t the first on the property. Its history a tale of the changing uses of the land over close to 150 years and of multiple generations who called it home. According to a family history written by Curtis Patterson, the Dunlap-Patterson homestead got its start in the 1860s when Sarah Colista Knight and Elon Dunlap arrived separately in covered wagons from the east coast. Later they met and married on July 15, 1863 in Placerville. They bought the property where the pink house was late built and started a family that grew to five children. The couple started ranching by planting Bartlett pear and other fruit trees on the property. They also ran cattle, had a few milk cows, and raised hogs, chickens and other animals as was typical for ranches at the time. In 1904, their pears won a silver medal at the St. Louis World’s Fair. Later a 40-acre prune-plum orchard was also planted. The old barn that survived the fire was where the pears were packed by Chinese laborers. Named the 49er Brand Bartlett Pear, the dye for printing the shook ends of boxes along with other items used on the ranch are now part of the El Dorado County Museum’s collection. Needing water for their orchards, ranchers in the area formed an irrigation association which they later sold to the El Dorado Irrigation District. One son, Elon, was a skilled blacksmith who by acquiring adjacent land, turned the property into a good-sized ranch. At one point it was 1,600 acres in size. But Elon, a staunch Republican, let the ranch go downhill after vowing not to stick another shovel in the ground after Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected President. However he did continue raising award-winning Shire horses that won ribbons and medals at the California State Fair in Sacramento. Another son, Paul, stayed on the ranch long enough to build the 10-room pink house that was finished in 1905. That house was actually the fourth house built on the property as the others either burned down or were replaced with bigger ones. Paul got the lumber by hitching a four-horse team and starting out early in the morning for Fresh Pond. He picked out his lumber and returned home the next day. It was also around this same time that Paul and his wife adopted Curtis Patterson, who is Larry’s grandfather. With Elon no longer interested in maintaining the ranch, it fell into disrepair. Adding to its woes was the fact that the house lacked certain amenities such as indoor plumbing, electricity and running water. By this time Curtis Patterson was working for the Standard Oil Company in Richmond, although he would almost weekly visit back to the ranch to do repairs which included modernizing the home and putting in a lake. In 1952, Curtis acquired the Dunlap’s share of the ranch. When Paul Dunlap died a few years later, that ended all Dunlap connection to the property. With more land than they really needed or could use, in 1958 the Pattersons sold 500 acres to Forrest Phillips who built Diamond Heights. At the time, the land sold for only $28 an acre. A year later, Forrest and Clayton Phillips bought 87 more acres which is now Deer Park. In 1972, the Pattersons commissioned a market study on how to best utilize the remaining land, deciding a mobile home park was the most suitable business venture. That resulted in the Lake Oaks Mobile Home Park. In 1978 they expanded the size of the park. The property is now part of the family owned company. We will rebuild Still mourning the loss of the home but ready to move forward, Larry and Cathy Patterson are now in the process of doing the initial work of building a fifth house on their property with Cathy Patterson saying that, “This is the end of part of our history, but the next stage is going on.” “The home was our living history,” added Larry. “Our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and many generations lived here and learned to be family and support each other. It was the focal point of our family.” Family members added that every year they would hold a fish feed at the property and the home was the site of many happy memories from family reunions, to swim parties, to dinner night for the football team. “The house is like a loss of a member of the family,” said Larry’s son, Curtis, who said that all their mementos from the past are now gone including the medal from the World’s Fair, medals for the Shire horses and the 1863 marriage certificate of the Dunlaps. But with the sorrow for their loss has also come renewal. Two weeks after the fire, 100 people from the neighborhood and community showed up on a Saturday and assisted with the demotion and removal of dead trees and debris from the house. Those who couldn’t help with the demolition, brought drinks, sandwiches, gloves, shovels and masks. “It was the best display of community you could ever want to be a part of,” said Shannon Mainwaring. “It was a day of tears and complete joy. There are not enough words to convey the gratefulness we have toward these people.” “Through the horror of losing everything and history of this whole place, and artifacts in this home, (we were) so humbled by support from this community,” said Cathy. “We’re capable now of surviving this ordeal because of the community.” “It’s not what you have in life, but who you have in life,” added Larry. Contact Dawn Hodson at 530-344-5071 or [email protected] Follow @DHodsonMtDemo on Twitter. Comments comments Dawn Hodson

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99 CENTS Weber Dam deal extended THE TRIPLE ARCH WEBER DAM was Built in 1922-23 without steel reinforcement. The 90-foot high dam was reinforced in 2001 using $4 million from Serrano developers. Democrat photo by Krysten Kellum By Special to the Democrat From page A1 | March 8, 2011 | The last day of February saw the El Dorado Irrigation District board OK a new agreement to replace the Weber Advanced Funding Agreement (Weber AFA). The extension had been sought by developers who had paid $4 million to upgrade Weber Dam in return for discounted water hookups. Under the original Weber AFA, which was approved in 2000, the district received $4 million in private, non-reimbursible funding to repair Weber Dam. In exchange, the district granted 10-year contractual water service commitments to the funding parties (referred to as the “Interested Parties” in the agreement) and some other landowners from existing district resources. Late last year, the “Interested Parties” requested — in light of the deep recession in the housing market — that the district extend the Weber AFA an additional 10 years to allow them to fully exercise their contractual water service commitments. After negotiations, the board and the “Interested Parties” reached a satisfactory agreement. The new agreement, approved Feb. 28, will replace the Weber AFA. It will extend the Interested Parties’ unexercised water service commitments for 10 years and the associated $3,390-per-unit hookup fee discount for five years. The new agreement will also authorize the Interested Parties to transfer the Weber AFA service commitments among themselves and apply them to any property they own in the El Dorado Hills area. Additionally, the board stipulated that the Interested Parties must use these entitlements first when purchasing new water service. “The way I used to run my business was to be fair and I think we’ve reached a fair and reasonable compromise,” said EID Board President Harry Norris. “I don’t think we will see much improvement in the economy, particularly for commercial projects in the near term, so giving them a little more time to use these benefits is the right thing to do.” Comments comments Special to the Democrat

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LiLo 'wants to record with rapper' added: 8 May 2014 // by: Music-News.com Newsdesk Printable version Lindsay Lohan is reportedly on the lookout for a rapper to appear on new music she's working on.The flame haired actress is currently residing in London, with sources saying she's keen to focus on laying down some tracks and is now on the hunt for a guest vocalist.Lindsay's already had a stab at being a pop star, with her 2005 single Confessions of a Broken Heart. Unfortunately it only charted at number 57 in the US, but Lindsay's undeterred and is said to be pushing forward with new plans."Lindsay is staying in London and wants to record an album while she's here. She's been casting a net for collaborators and top of the list is a rapper to feature on her comeback single," an insider revealed to British newspaper The Sun.'In between partying, she's taking the music seriously."Lindsay attended last night's Gala for Gabrielle's Angels Foundation in the British capital, wearing a short green and blue Julien Macdonald cocktail dress that featured a plunging neckline.Her hair was worn loose and her make-up kept simple. Gold jewellery and a pair of black towering heels completed the look.Lindsay's reportedly been trying her hardest to keep her London antics under wraps form mentor Oprah Winfrey. The chat show queen offered to help 27-year-old Lindsay after her latest stint in rehab last year, and even gave her a reality show on her OWN Network.'Lindsay is desperate to keep up appearances and while she isn't behaving all that badly, she knows Oprah will be furious to see her leaving clubs at 4am. It goes against the image she is trying to portray and Oprah wants her to focus on becoming that happy, healthy person,' a source recently told British newspaper Mirror.'Lindsay did everything in her power to stop Oprah finding out, including wrapping things around her face so she couldn't be recognised and claiming she was in NY."

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Fish farms spark green debate Rising prices changing diet - Oxfam Double threat to Dea Sea 100% rubbish boat sets sail Picton - As a flock of seagulls swoops on a salmon farm in New Zealand's Marlborough Sounds, attracted by the thrashing fish within, tour boat operator Peter Beech sighs and says: "I'm not sure this is a fight we can win."Beech has plied the pristine waters at the top of the South Island all his life but fears plans to increase aquaculture in the Sounds will create an ecological time bomb in the area his family has lived in for six generations.The New Zealand government has announced the end of a 10-year moratorium on aquaculture in the region, a magnet for tourists who come to marvel at dolphins, seals and whales on eco-tours such as those operated by Beech."It has the potential to turn our beautiful Sounds into one great big fish farming area," he said.The New Zealand King Salmon Company has applied to create more fish farms in the area to double its output to 15 000 tons by 2015 as part of a long-term plan to become an NZ$500m ($410m) company.DebateThe debate puts the Marlborough Sounds at the centre of controversy over whether fish farms can be sustainably developed in environmentally sensitive areas to meet booming world demand for seafood.Aquaculture accounts for about 46% of the seafood consumed annually and the proportion is increasing as wild fish stocks decline, according to a UN Food and Agriculture Organisation report released this year.The World Wildlife Fund says that, if properly managed, aquaculture has the potential to reduce pressure on wild fish stocks amid rising demand for seafood, particularly from increasingly affluent Asian consumers.King Salmon said it is acutely aware of its environmental responsibility and there have been no problems at its existing Marlborough Sounds fish farms, which were established before the moratorium.Chief executive Grant Rosewarne said expanding the industry would also bring much-needed jobs to the area and, with premium smoked salmon fetching up to NZ$250 a kilogram, provide export earnings for New Zealand's flagging economy."I don't think there's any other agricultural industry that in such a small amount of space can create such a huge amount of value," he said at the company's processing factory in Nelson.He points out that even if the expansion plan goes ahead, King Salmon's fish farms will cover only 15ha of Marlborough Sounds' waters, about 0.1% of its total area.Environmental problemsIn addition he said that King Salmon's farms do not have pests such as sea lice that infect similar operations overseas and it is in the company's interests to keep it that way.But Beech, who has established an environmental group called Guardians of the Sounds, points to the environmental problems created by salmon farms in countries like Scotland and Chile when the industry rapidly expanded."The only reason it hasn't happened here is because there are so few of them. But as soon as they start to farm intensively, they'll get diseased, you mark my words, just like they have in every other country in the world."Beech said the "visual pollution" of fish farms - which are enclosed by large fences around the fish pools - and the threat of disease could undermine New Zealand's "100% pure" tourism marketing slogan.Local farmer Eric Jorgensen, chair of another green group called SoundFish, said his main concern was that the government, with its eye on lucrative export dollars, had declared aquaculture an industry of national significance.He said this meant responsibility for planning and approvals has been stripped from the regional council and given to the national government in Wellington, stoking fears it was intent on allowing a massive expansion.The danger, Jorgensen, said, was that in its eagerness to increase aquaculture production, the government would allow in overseas players who did not have a commitment to preserving the Sounds' unique environment."There is a place for aquaculture. No problem with that. I don't think anyone today would say that there should be no aquaculture," he said."But [we need to determine] what is the optimum amount of aquaculture that can and should occur, without undermining all those other activities that are very important to the community and local businesses." Read more on: environment | marine life NEXT ON NEWS24X

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Tags: rand | paul | son | arrested Sen. Rand Paul's Teen Son Arrested at Airport for Being Drunk, Disorderly Monday, 07 Jan 2013 09:16 AM A A Rand Paul got quite a gift for 50th birthday on Monday: News spreading all over the place that the Kentucky senator’s 19-year-old son was arrested over the weekend for being drunk and disorderly at an airport. Police told the Charlotte Observer that William Hilton Paul, the grandson of former presidential candidate Ron Paul, was arrested Saturday morning at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport and charged with consuming beer or wine underage, disorderly conduct, and being intoxicated and disruptive. Lt. Blake Hollar of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department told the Observer that the younger Paul was intoxicated when his flight from Lexington, Ky., landed at the airport just before 11 a.m. “He was possibly served alcohol on the flight,” Hollar said. ABC News reported that while in custody the teen identified himself as the Republican senator's son. Rand Paul’s office issued a statement to ABC on Sunday night asking for understanding. “Sen. Paul is a national public figure and subject to scrutiny in the public arena," the statement conceded. "However, as many parents with teenagers would understand, his family should be afforded the privacy and respect they deserve in a situation such as this.” The younger Paul posted a $750 bond on Saturday to be released from Mecklenburg County Jail. His father, recently appointed to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was scheduled to travel to Israel Sunday to meet with Israeli officials.

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Wal-Mart announces plan for Pagosa store “If” or “who,” the question is now “when?” If Wal-Mart is not here yet, Wal-Mart was here Tuesday night at the January meeting of the Pagosa Springs Town Council to announce the company’s intention of locating a 93,000 square-foot store in town — possibly as early as next fall. Following an introduction by Pagosa Springs Mayor Ross Aragon, Josh Phair, Wal-Mart’s director of public affairs and government relations in Colorado, said, “As the mayor mentioned, I’m here to announce, and I suppose at this point to confirm, that Wal-Mart has acquired a parcel of land at (U.S.) 160 and Alpha (Drive), with the intention to develop and build a 93,000 square-foot store offering both full grocery and general merchandise to residents of Pagosa Springs and surrounding communities.” Phair added that the parcel of property had been under contract for about three weeks. However, Phair later told council that the company had yet to determine a firm timeline regarding the opening of the store. Toward the end of the presentation, trustee Don Volger asked Phair, “If things proceed as anticipated from your end, when do you hope to break ground?” “Well, we’re not sure yet,” Phair responded, telling council that the company would be working with the town on the permitting process (as well as other details), including determining if the design of the store would be, “right for the town.” In fact, Phair’s presentation implied that locating a Wal-Mart here was not 100-percent certain, saying that the company is, “Making sure that the store is right for the city,” adding, “We also need to make sure that this end of the schedule is right for our surrounding markets.” Nevertheless, Phair said, “I think we’ll have a more solid determination made later this year ... moving as quickly as possible certainly makes sense for us.” Addressing a crowd that may have been one of the largest in attendance for a Town Council meeting, Phair was not availed with any dissenting remarks or public input. While it appeared that the crowd attended the meeting to either support or denounce the delegation, Aragon made it clear that no public comment would be welcome for that part of the meeting. “We will not entertain public comment,” Aragon told the audience. “We will instead utilize a diplomatic option establishing civil organization and protocol in a public forum setting at the community center. The date will be determined at the mid-month meeting.” Council’s mid-month meeting takes place at noon, Thursday, Jan. 19, in Town Hall. Over a decade of contentious dialogue regarding the propriety and effect of a big box retailer in Pagosa Springs appeared to have been settled at Tuesday’s meeting. However, discussions between Wal-Mart representatives and town officials conducted over the past year seem to mirror the mayor’s decision to squelch comment at Tuesday’s meeting — without public input and with minimal dialogue with elected officials. When the spectre of a big box first arose in the early 2000s, local citizens scrambled to address the possibility, eventually forming the “Big Box Task Force” in 2003. Responding to concerns expressed by that group, the town retained the services of Economic Planning Systems (EPS) in 2004 to conduct a study on the effects a big box would have on the town. Results from the study were made public May 2005, with EPS representatives Dan Guimond and Andy Knudtsen stating that, while a big box retailer would capture the greatest tax revenue and would help curb leakage, it would come at too high a price. In fact, in that same study, EPS said a big box retailer would severely damage the local retail environment and would negatively alter the socioeconomic fabric of the community. Following findings from that study, town staff worked with task force members to draft portions of the town’s Land Use and Development Code (LUDC) that ultimately, in 2006, restricted the ability of big developments exceeding 40,000 square feet to build in town. However, in 2009, Pagosa Springs Town Manager David Mitchem told council that an unnamed big box developer had indicated there would be little to no chance of a big box store locating in Pagosa Springs as long as portions of the town’s LUDC pertaining to those developments were in place (particularly, requirements for environmental and economic impact studies provided prior to permitting). At that time, Mitchem referred to a 2005 Economic Planning Systems (EPS) study commissioned by the town and Archuleta County. In that study, it was claimed that total retail leakage (sales conducted out of county) for the area was 47-percent or $2,940,491 in potential sales tax revenues (sales tax revenues for the county in 2008 amounted to $3,315,873). Assuming that a large-format retailer would capture 75-percent of that leakage, sales tax revenues in 2008 could have been boosted by an additional $2,205,368. “These are not my numbers,” Mitchem said then. “They come from the economic development consultant you hired in 2002.” Council later voted to remove those portions of the LUDC, despite a suggestion by trustee Shari Pierce to refine the codes rather than scrapping them altogether. Citizens responded with a referendum to overturn council’s decision. Ultimately, that referendum went to a vote and, last year, town voters approved supporting council in scrapping LUDC restrictions. Since that time, the issue of a big box store in town seemed to drop off the horizon and Mitchem suggested, on numerous occasions, that it seemed unlikely that large chain stores would locate in town, given the county’s small population, as well as little potential support from surrounding communities. At a Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation (PSCDC) meeting last year, Mitchem said (speaking during a presentation regarding the effect of Wal-Mart on small, rural communities) that market research indicated Pagosa Springs (and Archuleta County) would not have enough residents and tourists to viably sustain a large-format retailer. Those comments followed on the heels of a visit by consultants who, at the time, determined the best potential site for a big box would be on northeast corner of the Vista Boulevard and U.S. 160 intersection. Now, it is apparent that local officials had all along been in discussions with Wal-Mart. Mitchem confirmed this in December. Furthermore, it is apparent those representatives were not pleased with the proposed Vista/160 site. Nevertheless, council was not apprised of plans to locate a Wal-Mart in town — until Tuesday night’s meeting. In fact, it was not until last month that Mitchem hinted to council that a big box had considered the town as a location and that was only after the presentation of a resolution that would have reauthorized fee abatements for new developments. That resolution was part of a larger incentive package, first passed in 2009, which included a 25-percent rebate of sales tax for development and hiring. In early December, local businessman Morgan Murri asked council to waive those abatements for developments over 25,000 square feet. Mitchem responded in mid-December with a resolution that included that size waiver. At that mid-month meeting, council mostly rejected the waiver, but agreed to table the resolution following a plea by Pierce to further investigate Murri’s claims that a big box would be detrimental for many small businesses in town. That resolution was noticeably absent from Tuesday night’s agenda. Had that issue appeared on the agenda, discussion would have included public input (as mandated by the town’s Home Rule charter). It is unknown if that resolution will be on the agenda for the Jan. 19 mid-month meeting. While the public might not have an opportunity to speak to the issue at the mid-month meeting, promises were made Tuesday night by Aragon and Phair that local residents would be engaged in the process. “We do and will commit to public discussions,” Phair told the audience Tuesday night. “We do see this just simply as the beginning of a long dialogue with the town of Pagosa Springs and the public at large, public discussions.” No doubt, Phair will repeat claims he made before council at whatever public forum takes place: that the new store would create between 175-200 jobs; that those jobs would pay $13.08 per hour (based on the Colorado average for full-time Wal-Mart employees, Phair said); that those jobs would include benefits (after six months for full time, 12 months for part time, “The most generous among all big box companies,” Phair said); and that Wal-Mart would be engaged with the community (with Phair stating that Wal-Mart had contributed over $14 million last year, through its stores, to the communities that those stores served). No doubt, local residents will listen to those claims (at whatever public forum is scheduled, at whatever time and place council decides upon) and, no doubt, those citizens will have many more questions for the town and Phair than were answered at Tuesday night’s meeting — the “if” and “who” (but not the “when”).

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Mediatwits #153: The Case for (And Against) VC Funding for Digital News Pro Partnerships and Data Courses at WVU Facebook Serving News Stories: Consider the Load Time Your guide to the digital media revolution With your hostMark Glaser AdvertisingShift Hyper-Local MarketingShift #EdShift Chats Legacy Media BookShift MagazineShift MovieShift MusicShift NewspaperShift Public MediaShift RadioShift TVShift Mediatwits MobileShift Media Usage MediaShift Guides See Also: IdeaLab How Mapping, SMS Platforms Saved Lives in Haiti Earthquake By Anne Nelson This article was co-authored by Mayur Patel Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the devastating earthquake that shook Haiti last January, killing more than 230,000 people and leaving several million inhabitants of the small island nation homeless. Though natural disasters are common, the humanitarian response this time was different: New media and communications technologies were used in unprecedented ways to aid the recovery effort. A report released today by Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities, with support from Internews and funding from the Knight Foundation, takes a critical look at the role of communications in the crisis and recommends ways to improve the effectiveness of utilizing media in future disaster relief efforts. (The Knight Foundation is a major funder for MediaShift and its sister site MediaShift Idea Lab.) In the weeks after the crisis, Haiti quickly became a real world laboratory for several new applications, such as interactive maps and SMS texting platforms. In the aftermath of the quake, these tools were used for the first time on a large scale to create dialogue between citizens and relief workers, to help guide search-and-rescue teams and find people in need of critical supplies. The report, Lessons from Haiti [PDF download] (co-authored by Anne Nelson and Ivan Sigal, with assistance from Dean Zambrano), recounts the stories of media participants, technologists, humanitarian organizations, Haitian journalists and response teams involved in the relief. Many of these players were first brought together to share their experiences at a roundtable convened by the Knight Foundation and Internews last May. Notable Innovations “The most notable innovations to emerge from Haiti were: the translation of crowdsourced data to actionable information; the use of SMS message broadcasting in a crisis; and crowdsourcing of open maps for humanitarian application,” according to the report. A dizzying array of new media and information technology groups, Haitian diaspora networks and media development partners were involved in these initiatives (see the infographic below). Although these innovations had varying levels of impact in Haiti, they showcased the potential for use in future crises. One of the most notable developments was the application of Ushahidi, an online crisis mapping platform that was born only a few years earlier in Kenya. Ushahidi had already been used to map political violence, but it had not yet been used in the context of large-scale natural disasters. When the earthquake struck, an ad hoc coalition quickly took shape, anchored by a group of graduate students at Tufts University in Boston. The Ushahidi teams, supported by translators from the Haitian diaspora community in the U.S., gathered information from news reports and individuals about the most acute needs on the ground: rescue, food and water, and security, among others. The coordinates were placed on a map and made available to rescue and relief teams. Soon they were able to include SMS texts in their bank of information. A few days after the quake, Digicel, one of Haiti’s leading telecom companies, agreed to offer a free short code (4636) for SMS texts in service of the relief efforts, with the help of InSTEDD, a technology focused humanitarian organization. The four-digit code enabled cell phone users to send free messages to central information centers about missing persons and emergency needs. SMS messages and direct reports from Haitian citizens began to flow within four days of the quake. OpenStreetMaps, an open community of volunteer mappers, joined the effort to create online maps of Haiti’s improvised and unnamed neighborhoods. These maps became the standard reference points: Users included not just information technology platforms such as Ushahidi, but also large providers of humanitarian services, such as the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC). Not Necessarily a Success Story However, the CDAC Report cautions against calling the Haitian experience a “new media success story,” as some of the approaches — attempted for the first time — faltered. The crisis threw together volunteer technology communities and professional humanitarian organizations, without a common language and operating procedures. A lack of coordination and understanding of how to use and integrate the new tools into existing disaster relief structures further complicated efforts on the ground. In addition, new media efforts did not preclude the importance of traditional media. As in past crises in the developing world, radio continued to be the most effective tool for serving the information needs of the local population. With Haiti’s newspapers and television broadcasters knocked out of production for the first few weeks after the quake, radio provided a heroic lifeline. One Haitian station, SignalFM, was able to broadcast continuously throughout the crisis, and worked closely with both international relief organizations and the digital innovators in support of the population. Popular radio host Cedre Paul reached his audience via Twitter as well as on the air. “We have always known that one of the best ways to communicate with affected population in crises is through radio broadcasts,” said Mark Frohardt, vice president of humanitarian programs for Internews, a media development organization. “We found in Haiti that innovative technologies not only had an impact on information delivery on their own, but also greatly enhanced the reach and effectiveness of radio.” Still Work to be Done For all the welcome innovation, the report makes it clear that digital humanitarian action has a long ways to go. One of the big obstacles to the Haiti effort was the lack of pre-existing connections between the large government and international institutions and the new tech activists. Large institutions tend to mean weighty protocol, some of it based on long and bitter experience. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), for example, has strict rules of confidentiality, which has allowed it to play a uniquely useful role in conflicted and tense situations, while the open source community’s hallmarks are spontaneity and transparency. Nonetheless, the connections among the various sectors advanced in Haiti, stimulated by a common desire to help, and there are many signs that new synapses are emerging. For example, CDAC has made some progress bridging the gaps between the humanitarian and media communities. The report calls for more of this kind of cross-sector collaboration to improve future recovery efforts. Specifically, it recommends that media, new technology developers and humanitarian agencies (both UN and international NGOs) engage in joint preparation and simulation exercises for future emergency responses. We should not forget that Haiti’s crisis is far from over. Many donors have yet to fulfill their commitments for reconstruction funds, and much of the rubble remains. New digital initiatives are still appearing; one promising new effort from MIT is an online labor exchange for Haitians called Konbit. Disasters will continue to occur. But their damage can be mitigated by relief efforts that are well-planned and executed in concert with the local population. Digital media technologies offer a unique opportunity to advance these goals with the right on-the-ground coordination. As the report notes: Haiti demonstrated “the culmination of a vision and the beginning of the hard work of implementation.” Anne Nelson is an educator, consultant and author in the field of international media strategy. She created and teaches New Media and Development Communications at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and teaches an international teleconference course at Bard College. She is a senior consultant on media, education and philanthropy for Anthony Knerr & Associates. She is on Twitter as @anelsona, was a 2005 Guggenheim Fellow, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. On January 12, 2010 a massive earthquake struck Haiti. What lessons can we learn from the role digital media played in the response? Photo by United Nations Development Programme via Flickr Tagged: #haiti, crisis management, haiti earthquake, mapping, openstreetmaps, radio, red cross, SMS, ushahidi Disasters will continue to occur. But their damage can be mitigated by relief efforts that are well-planned and executed in concert with the local population." Check out MediaShift Sponsorship opportunities! Mediatwits Google Hangout Subscribe in YouTube Subscribe in RSS Mediatwits on SoundCloud Subscribe in SoundCloud Best of Mediashift #JeSuisCharlie: Defending Freedom of Expression Depends on All of Us Special Series: Newsroom to Classroom Special Series: 2014 Year in Review Media and Journalism Fellowships: January 2015 Edition 9 Reasons for Optimism for the Future of Journalism Education Broadcasters Are Missing a Huge Mobile Opportunity: Engagement in Apps Nicholas Carr's 'Glass Cage': Automation Will Hurt Society in Long Run How to Succeed as a Voiceover Artist in the Digital Age The Real Costs of Self-Publishing a Book The Best Journalism School in America Is... 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Special Events Stories & Photos Rolling PHor a Cure Bunco Tournament June 2011 Celebrating Hope with Inspired Events Amy (second from left) with three friends at the Rolling PHor a Cure Bunco Tournament Special event fundraisers serve a wide variety of purposes in providing hope to the PH community: events are active ways to help find a PH cure, and they help family, friends and neighbors gain a better understanding of a misunderstood illness. To our volunteers who dedicate their time and enthusiasm to making them happen, events can act as a form of self-expression, celebration, or even healing. Meet Amy, one of those event planners. Amy infused her creativity into a first-time event, the Rolling PHor a Cure Bunco Tournament, which raised more than $3,000 for PHA and allowed her to mark an important milestone in her PH journey.Amy hosted Rolling PHor a Cure at a local church hall in June and began the planning process for the event in late March. Here she describes the meaning behind her event in more detail.Can you briefly describe what Bunco is?Bunco is a dice game, played in rounds. Players take turns rolling the dice, trying to accumulate as many points as possible to win each round. The game is played at tables of four in competing teams of two. A “bunco” is when you roll three of a kind of the round in which you are playing. It’s a social game that is lots of fun!What or who was your inspiration for planning this event?I wanted to celebrate my one-year anniversary of being diagnosed with PH. PHA has been a tremendous help in getting me through the first year, and I wanted to help give back.How was the tournament formatted? What was the schedule of events for the evening?Bunco players in actionRegistration started at 6:30 p.m. People checked in and then mingled with each other, ate some food and checked out the items available for the silent auction. At 7:30 p.m. the game started. We played one full round. At the end of the round, people were able to make bids on the silent auction items, and we gave out door prizes. We then played another round. When that round was done, we gave everyone five more minutes to bid on the silent auction items, and we gave away the remaining door prizes. We then announced the winners of the game as well as the silent auction.Who attended the event? Where were they from?It was mostly family and friends who attended the event. There were a few ladies from the church who came, as well as friends of friends. Mostly everyone was from the local area. My dad flew in from Maine and totally surprised me!Are there any volunteers you would like to recognize?My mom – she helped me more than anyone. She was there through every step of the process, and it definitely wouldn’t have been so successful without her help.Briefly describe what it was like planning an event for the first time. Was it what you had expected?It was a lot of work! But definitely worth it in the end. It was difficult not knowing how many people would actually attend, so I guessed high for planning. I figured it would be better to have more than not enough! Also the advertising part was difficult. For me, word of mouth was the most successful.What did you learn? Do you have any advice for others doing similar events?I learned to go with the flow. I finally realized in the end that no matter how many people came, we were all going to have fun and how ever much money we raised for PHA was more than they had the day before! I just really wanted it to be a success – and it was! I can’t wait to do it again next year. I am going to do it at a different time of year; I think that will help to get even more people to attend.What did this event mean to you?The event was marking a milestone for me. I made it through my first year with PH with a smile on my face. It hasn’t been the easiest year, but I am doing very well and I am extremely grateful for that. It is important to me to spread the word about PH and to raise money for PHA. No other organization does so much and offers so much hope to the PH community. Learn more about Special Events

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Search Los Angeles County Los Angeles HOT Lanes Have an Oversubscription Problem The 110 High Occupancy Toll Lanes, conversions of carpool lanes, appear to be a victim of their own success, writes LA Times transportation reporter Laura J. Nelson. An economist would say the solution is to raise the maximum per-mile toll. Or is it? 2 days ago Los Angeles Times Much of Future Measure R Money to Pay For "L.A. Roadworks" Mayor Villaraigosa plans to borrow against future Measure R money to fund one massive, two-year road improvement project before he leaves office. Nov 11, 2011 Los Angeles Times New West Hollywood Library At The Fore Of L.A. Civic Architecture West Hollywood's new library returns to the California Mid-Century tradition with floor to ceiling glass windows providing plenty of natural light, and a walkable link to Santa Monica boulevard a new park signals a new civic focus. Sep 29, 2011 L.A. Times While Others Struggle, L.A. County Moves On Transportation Projects While cities throughout California and the rest of the nation struggle to afford even their most basic services, L.A. County's moving ahead with more than $4 billion in transportation projects. May 19, 2011 Los Angeles Times Strife in the City of the Future Joel Kotkin describes the plight of a Los Angeles economy that has lost "one-fifth of all its employment since 2004." Once a hopeful generator of new jobs and technology, the area has suffered the most of all the Sunbelt metros. Jun 16, 2010 New Geography Study Shows Shelter Reduces Costs A four-year study by United Way of Greater Los Angeles has shown that stable housing provides benefits to taxpayers as well as the homeless. Oct 14, 2009 Los Angeles Times Failure of Palmdale Airport Frustrates Regional Planning In SoCal Once the object of grand plans, L.A. county's Palmdale Regional Airport has tried in vain to sustain regular service and ease congestion at LAX. United's pullout in December leaves the future of regionalization in doubt. Mar 13, 2009 California Planning & Development Report Ethnic Integration Up in Greater L.A. Suburbs Many residents can still recount when their neighborhoods were far less ethnically diverse than their are now, which is backed by new census data showing that in most cities, the white population is down. Dec 10, 2008 Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Transit Sales Tax Passes...Barely Los Angeles County voters narrowly approved Measure R, a half-cent sales tax measure, by 67.4% (2/3 was necessary) to fund rail and road projects, including the Subway to the Sea. The victory is seen as a huge coup for LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Nov 6, 2008 Los Angeles Times What L.A.'s Transit Tax Proposal Would Mean L.A. Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne and transportation reporter Steve Hymon look at a proposal to raise the sales tax in L.A. to fund public transit. They call it a good opportunity for the city's urbanism, but also a tough sell. Oct 31, 2008 Los Angeles Times East L.A. Bids for Incorporation For the fourth time, the unincorporated area of East Los Angeles is making efforts to become a city. This article examines its colorful history and what East L.A. hopes to accomplish in gaining cityhood. Oct 2, 2008 Newsweek ‹‹

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Helpline will buy Port Orchard Nursery, expand operations by JEFF RHODES, Port Orchard Independent Editor Jun 12, 2009 at 11:00AM updated Jun 13, 2009 at 7:41AM South Kitsap Helpline was notified on Thursday afternoon the agency will be awarded a $300,000 grant, enabling the local food bank to purchase the iconic Port Orchard Nursery property on Mitchell Road and vastly expand the scope of its current operations. “This is just off the charts in terms of the opportunities it offers us,” said Helpline Executive Director Jennifer Hardison. “I can’t begin to describe all the great ideas we have for the property. This is going to make so many of them possible it’s unbelievable.” First and foremost, Helpline and its volunteers can use the nearly three-acre site to grow their own produce rather than being entirely dependent on donations. But that’s just the beginning. Hardison also envisions offering classes on nutrition and agriculture, a children’s camp, enhanced retail sales, vocational training, a farmer’s market and much more. “Our basic mission is to feed people,” Hardison said. “This will enable us to feed more people, and to feed them healthier food. But it will also give us the means to help educate them about how to help themselves. This is going to raise Helpline and the services it provides to a whole new level.” Among its other benefits, the addition of fresh produce — which can be preserved and distributed year-round — will allow the food bank to adopt a point system, whereby clients would be encouraged to make healthier food choices. “Everyone would be allotted a certain number of points,” Hardison explained. “Pop-Tarts and potato chips might be worth five points, while a bag of apples would be worth one point. They get more value by eating nutritious food. “We didn’t have that option when the only thing we had to offer was macaroni and cheese,” she said. “But now we will.” The grant money, from the Birkenfeld Trust’s Seattle Foundation, will be used to make a downpayment on the nursery property. The total purchase price is estimated to be in the neighborhood of $900,000, which includes not only the land, but around 7,000 square feet worth of buildings, including a house, greenhouse and nursery. Hardison says another third of the funding can easily be obtained through grant money now available to the agency because of its planned educational, vocational and agricultural programs. The remainder would be raised by a capital campaign Helpline is launching immediately. Hardison said they have until 2012 to come up with the balance. The property's sellers, E.B. and Kay Greseth, are retiring. The nursery business was started by E.B.’s father Glen Greseth in 1949. The idea of purchasing the site is the brainchild of Gardens for Kitsap, a community group consisting of Port Orchard residents Mary Colborn, Loretta Fritz and Karen Stockton. “They came to me just about three months ago and suggested we try to do this,” Hardison said. “Since then, everything has just gone really quickly.” Hardison said she expected to hear from the Birkenfeld Trust on Friday about transferring the funds, after which the Helpline directors would arrange to make the downpayment to the Greseths. Helpline’s lease on its current 7,500-square-foot space in the Westbay Center runs through May 2010, and Hardison said the process of moving the food bank’s operations up the hill to the nursery facility will begin after the first of the year. “We’ll be in there completely a year from now,” she said. “In the meantime, we have a lot of work to do.” While the new site will be much larger, Hardison believes the agency’s operating costs will actually be lower. Or at least there will be more opportunities to recoup them. For one thing, owning its own home will eliminate the need to write a monthly rent check. Moreover, all the new programs Hardison and Gardens for Kitsap envision will make the agency eligible for a wide variety of grants. “We’re planning all sorts of workshops and gardening classes,” she said. “That would enable us to apply for education- and agricultural-type grants. Then we can do job-training programs onsite that would be eligible for vocational grant money. The list is almost endless.” In addition, she said a range of private donors, from the Paul Allen Foundation to the Suquamish Tribe, have expressed interest in the novel concept. “The key is, this makes us much more self-sufficient,” she said. “The South Kitsap community has always been very generous in its support, but this allows us to do even more for ourselves — and, in turn, more for the people who need our help. “This is just a huge development for the community,” Hardison said, “and we’re completely jazzed about it.” JEFF RHODES, Port Orchard Independent Editor (360) 876-4414 South Kitsap Helpline buys Port Orchard Nursery Helpline nursery marks grand opening South Kitsap Helpline, contributions reign EMAIL NEWSLETTERS

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Government Pushes Propaganda Through Video Games We documented yesterday that American movies, television and news are dominated by the CIA and other government agencies. The government also spreads propaganda through video games. By way of example, former CIA director William Colby went to work for a video game company after he retired, and a former United States marine allegedly confessed to working at a video game company which was really a CIA front to create a game to drum up support for war against Iran. The Guardian reports: “For decades the military has been using video-game technology,” says Nina Huntemann, associate professor of communication and journalism at Suffolk University in Boston and a computer games specialist. “Every branch of the US armed forces and many, many police departments are using retooled video games to train their personnel.” Like much of early computing, nascent digital gaming benefited from military spending. The prototype for the first home video games console, the 1972 Magnavox Odyssey, was developed by Sanders Associates, a US defence contractor. Meanwhile, pre-digital electronic flight simulators, for use in both military and civilian training, date back to at least the second world war. Later, the games industry began to repay its debts. Many insiders note how instruments in British Challenger 2 tanks, introduced in 1994, look uncannily like the PlayStation’s controllers, one of the most popular consoles of that year. Indeed, warfare’s use of digital war games soared towards the end of the 20th century. “By the late 1990s,” says Nick Turse, an American journalist, historian and author of The Complex: How the Military Invades Our Everyday Lives, “the [US] army was pouring tens of millions of dollars into a centre at the University of Southern California – the Institute of Creative Technologies – specifically to build partnerships with the gaming industry and Hollywood.” [The Washington Times reports on the link as well.] It’s a toxic relationship in Turse’s opinion, since gaming leads to a reliance on remote-controlled warfare, and this in turn makes combat more palatable. “Last year,” says Turse, “the US conducted combat missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. There are a great many factors that led to this astonishing number of simultaneous wars, but the increasing use of drones, and thus a lower number of US military casualties that result, no doubt contributed to it.” The Christian Science Monitor noted in 2009: In 1999, the military had its worst recruiting year in 30, and Congress called for “aggressive, innovative” new approaches. Private-sector specialists were brought in, including the top advertising agency Leo Burnett, and the Army Marketing Brand Group was formed. A key aim of the new recruitment strategy was to ensure long-term success by cultivating the allegiance of teenage Americans. Part of the new campaign, helping the post-9/11 recruiting bump, was the free video game America’s Army. Since its release, different versions of the war game have been downloaded more than 40 million times, enough to put it in the Guinness book of world records. According to a 2008 study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “the game had more impact on recruits than all other forms of Army advertising combined.” That these efforts are unfaithful to war’s reality has not gone unnoticed. Protesting the Army Experience Center in Philadelphia, Sgt. Jesse Hamilton, who served two tours inIraq and nine total in the military, expressed disgust that the Army has “resorted to such a deceiving recruitment strategy.” It’s an approach that could have detrimental long-term effects. “The video game generation is worse at distorting the reality” of war, according to one Air Force colonel. Although they may be more talented at operating predator drones, the colonel told theBrookings Institution, “They don’t have that sense of what [is] really going on.” NBC News reported in 2003: Video games are increasingly viewed by top brass as a way to get teenagers interested in enlisting. Games such as “America’s Army,” developed and published by the Army, and “Guard Force,” which the Army National Guard developed with Alexandria, Va.-based Rival Interactive, can be downloaded or picked up at recruitment offices. “America’s Army” has been a hit online since its July 2002 release, attaining 1.5 million registered users who endure a basic training regiment complete with barbed-wire obstacle courses and target practice. “Guard Force” has been less successful. Released last year, it features bland synth-rock music that blares in the background. Between video commercials touting the thrills of enlisting in the Army National Guard, gamers pluck flood victims from rooftops or defend a snowy base. In the training mission, gamers deploy helicopters, even tanks, to rescue skiers trapped in an avalanche. Foreign Policy argued last year: Video games would seem to be ideal propaganda tools. Where comic books and newsreels once enthralled the Greatest Generation, today’s millennials are in love with video games. American consumers, for example, spent $25 billion on games in 2010, while gamers worldwide play 3 billion hours a week. Games also offer advantages over traditional propaganda mediums like television or newspapers: They are interactive and immersive, they and deliver challenge, competition, and the hands-on triumph of personally gunning down enemies. Who could blame a CIA spymaster for pondering whether games could be used to demonize Iran or vilify Venezuela? Michael Bauch writes: Governments are increasingly trying to twist the business into a brainwashing machine to promote their agendas, just as has been done with the movie industry. Why are video games such a perfect tool for governments and why are governments stepping up their usage of them? Because the Internet generation now have easy access to all information and points of view. Governments don’t want kids using the Internet to learn about these things. So governments need to keep kids distracted and under constant brainwashing. A typical American kid might go to school all morning learning about how great America is and how dangerous the rest of the world is, then come home and play some video games like Strategy 2012. This game was free during the Presidential campaign and tells you who you should vote for and how political campaigns are run (or at least how the government would like you to think it’s done). This is the official game description: “Help Mitt Romney win the Nomination by beating his conservative rivals. Then choose Romney or Obama and fight for the presidency in Ohio.” Not only are government-developed games spreading propaganda. Game developers are now accepting the norms set by the government like in Scribblenaughts where the game set’s a puzzle for you to solve by conjuring items. In one puzzle you get a mission called “Peacefully break up the Rioters!” What would a sane person try first? Well, I tried “Diplomat” and “Peacekeeper”. Neither had any effect. So I tried “Tear Gas” and had the crowd crying and disbursing in seconds, immediately earning a gold star just as you would in school when you have done something right! You can watch the video … of me playing the mission. Now that the gaming industry have been infected by government propaganda they are now constantly sending the information they want to your kids. You might assume that only foreigners are depicted as enemy targets in the propaganda video games. But remember that peaceful protest and any criticism of the government is now considered potential terrorism. As such, it should not be entirely surprising that the enemy target in the most popular video game series,Call of Duty – which is more popular than virtually any movie or musical album – is a Julian Assange like character who is the “leader of the 99%”. And see this and this. Related posts: Obama Is Right, There Are More Important Issues Than His Birth Certificate Bombshell: Barack Obama conclusively outed as CIA creation National Guard Arrives In Ferguson, Veterans Ask Them To JOIN Protesters The CIA and Other Government Agencies Have Long Used Propaganda Against the American People 11 Reasons Why The Threat From Al-Qaeda is Not Real

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Big Sean Gets Support from Kanye West, G.O.O.D. Music Family at Album Listening It was a family affair as Big Sean previewed his debut Finally Famous before a crowd of VIPs and industry tastemakers at a listening session at The Standard hotel in New York City on Tuesday (June 7). Kanye West, Kid Cudi, and Pusha T were in the crowd supporting their fellow G.O.O.D. Music signee as he introduced tracks from his album, due June 28. G.O.O.D. Music’s founder took the stage before guests including Swizz Beatz, Estelle, Selita Ebanks, and producer No I.D. “I apologize I was a little bit late, I had a throne to watch,” joked Yeezy, who turns 34 today. Dressed in a blazer, white tee, and snapback hat, a humble Kanye expressed how proud he was of his protégé. “I believe Sean’s story is one of the most amazing ever because he literally got signed off of a freestyle,” he said. “I feel like he could be like what Beyoncé is to R&B, that he could be that to rap music.” Kanye West and Big Sean Big Sean and Kid Cudi Kanye West and Swizz Beatz Big Sean and Pusha T Selita Ebanks, Kevin Liles, and Estelle Kevin Liles, Kanye, Barry Weiss, Big Sean, Kid Cudi, and Swizz Beatz [Video via RapRadar] Kimye Wedding Photo Booth: Big Sean, Tyga, Common, John Legend, & Jaden Smith Kanye West, Chris Brown, & Big Sean Join Teyana Taylor at ‘VII’ Listening Party Kanye West, Big Sean Join Rick Ross to Perform ‘Sanctified’ on ‘Arsenio’ Keri Hilson, Jessie J Go Glam at Women of the Year Awards Keri Hilson showed off her fierce fashion while walking the red carpet at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards … Alicia Keys Empowers Women at United Nations Conference Alicia Keys is committed to making a change for women everywhere. The "Superwoman" was one of the celebrities invited …

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... Jacksons risked all for stuff Why would a couple risk so much - respect and even their freedom - for furs, furniture and a fedora? By Michelle Singletary Why would a couple risk so much - respect and even their freedom - for furs, furniture and a fedora?This was the question that came to my mind when I read the federal charges against Jesse L. Jackson Jr., the former congressman from Illinois. He's charged with conspiracy, making false statements, and mail and wire fraud. In all, he's accused of misusing about $750,000 in private campaign funds. Jackson's wife, Sandra Stevens Jackson, who resigned her seat on the Chicago City Council, reached an agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office to plead guilty to one count of tax fraud.Part of what I do is help people understand the often-complicated issues we have to deal with when it comes to our money. But I also like to explore the mess people get themselves into when they don't have the money to buy the things they want. Most often they get into mind-boggling debt. If Jackson takes a plea deal as has been reported, he has lost so much, and for what? Stuff.Was Jackson, the son of civil rights activist Jesse L. Jackson, trying to appear wealthy by any means necessary? Were the Jacksons eager to impress their more wealthy colleagues or the people who run with them in their circle of power and privilege?For many people, it can be hard to resist the urge to pretend you're rich when you're around so many people who are truly wealthy. Not an excuse, just an observation.But "legislators range from the super-rich to the deep-in-debt, from inherited wealth to married wealth to no wealth at all," according to an examination of congressional finances by The Washington Post. "You would find that, contrary to many popular perceptions, lawmakers don't get rich by merely being in Congress."Ironically, Jackson and his father in 1999 co-authored a book on personal finance, "It's About the Money!: How You Can Get Out of Debt, Build Wealth, and Achieve Your Financial Dreams." "Many of our churches breed material needs, as do many of our public schools, with peer pressure to buy expensive clothing," the Jacksons wrote.At least the Jacksons are showing remorse. Although Jackson took a medical leave last summer for treatment of bipolar disorder, his statement following the federal charges indicated a man blaming not his illness but bad judgment.There's a lesson in the downfall of the Jacksons that none of us should miss. It's important to recognize when you have real net worth that allows you to buy extravagant stuff and when you're living beyond your means.Before you pass judgment on the Jacksons, think about the mess you might have made of your finances or the financial follies of people you know. It might not be a crime to get what you want (not what you need), but acting as if you are rich without being able to afford it can ruin your life.Contact Michelle Singletary, a personal finance columnist at The Washington Post, at singletarym@washpost.com.

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Register Home»Browse by Publisher»Committee to Protect Journalists»Country News»Azerbaijan Azerbaijan: Government to pull frequencies for foreign broadcasters Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists, Azerbaijan: Government to pull frequencies for foreign broadcasters, 3 November 2008, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/4919a9a7c.html [accessed 30 March 2015] DisclaimerThis is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. New York, November 3, 2008 – CPJ is deeply troubled by a top regulator's announcement on Friday that the Azerbaijani government plans next year to discontinue local radio transmissions of three international broadcasters – the BBC, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and the Voice of America (VOA). Nushirevan Meherremli, chairman of the National Television and Radio Council (NSTR), disclosed the plan in an interview Friday with the independent news agency Turan. The Broadcasting Board of Governors, the U.S. agency that oversees VOA and RFE/RL, said in a statement that it had not received advance notice of the NSTR plans. The other broadcasters also said they had received no warning. RFE/RL's Azerbaijani service – which is known as Radio Azadliq and airs 10 hours of Azeri-language programming daily – is one of the very few radio stations in the country that provides live airtime to opposition voices, CPJ research shows. In May, an Azerbaijani press freedom group named Radio Azadliq the "most successful media organization of the year," in recognition of its popular call-in shows, political and social coverage, and programs fostering public debate on corruption, health care and unemployment, the Broadcasting Board of Governors said in a statement Friday. In the Turan interview, Meherremli said Azerbaijan would be following the practices of European countries in reserving national frequencies for local broadcasters. "Only national television and radio stations should broadcast on national frequencies. This is our policy.... In Europe there are no foreign channels that broadcast on local frequencies." Meherremli did not explain the timing of the decision; all three of the international broadcasters have aired programming in Azerbaijan for at least 15 years. The international broadcasters fill an important role in Azerbaijan, where the state either owns or controls domestic radio outlets aired nationally, CPJ research shows. The international broadcasters are seen as an important alternative to news programming that is largely dominated by government-approved viewpoints. The disappearance of these foreign broadcasters from local airwaves robs Azerbaijanis of an important forum for independent news, views and debate," said Nina Ognianova, CPJ's Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. "The government should not withdraw the national frequencies of RFE/RL, VOA, and the BBC. Its argument that the frequencies are needed for Azerbaijani broadcasters would be credible only if it allowed diverse programming and reporting on the air. But the state has shown repeatedly it will not tolerate independent voices." An RFE/RL official told CPJ that it had filed documents to renew its license with the NSTR in September, and that Meherremli had personally assured the broadcaster that its license would be renewed after the October 15 presidential vote. Radio Azadliq broadcasts on FM in the capital, Baku, and nationwide on AM. VOA broadcasts daily from Baku on FM. The BBC, which broadcasts on FM and AM frequencies, said in a statement on Friday that it had recently negotiated the construction of three radio stations in Azerbaijan that would strengthen its transmissions. Meherremli said on Friday that RFE/RL, BBC, and VOA could maintain their presence in Azerbaijan through satellite, cable, and Internet connection, the independent Baku-based Russian-language newspaper Zerkalo (Mirror) reported today. Radio Azadliq Director Kenan Aliyev told CPJ that most listeners do not have access to such transmissions. "The accessibility of national frequencies – which we would be losing – could not in any way compare to the much smaller audiences with satellite and Internet access." Copyright notice: © Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ.

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Is Peter's mint cake the oldest bar none? Posted: 01/05/2012 10:13:20 by Nigel Nixon A MAN who discovered a 48-year-old bar of Kendal Mint Cake in his loft believes it may be the oldest-surviving bar of the famous confectionery. Peter Truelove, 68, of Windermere, bought the bar of Robert Wiper’s Original Mint Cake when he and a friend visited Kendal as 21-year-olds in 1964. The pair were on a ‘boy’s adventure’ which took them from their homes in Kent to John O’Groats, the most northerly point on the Scottish mainland. “We travelled the distance in an Austin 7 and it took us a week,” said Mr Truelove, of Hill Top. “The car only did 35mph at best and it was blizzard weather – the snow was coming into the car. “We called at Kendal on the way back and we’d heard about the mint cake, so when we saw some we thought we’d buy a bar.” Mr Truelove said he was not sure why he had kept the bar in a box in his loft. “It was on a shelf as a memento of the trip but it’s been in the loft since we moved to Windermere 16 years ago,” he said. The bar is still in reasonable condition although some of the sugar is seeping through the wrapping. Although the original Wipers recipe is still used, the company was sold to Romneys in 1987. Managing director John Barron said: “We have been making it all these years and I don’t think we have any that old – it’s impressive. “It wouldn’t do him any harm to eat it now but I don’t expect it would taste very nice.” Mr Truelove said what was also interesting to discover was the journal he wrote while travelling, which documented the stop-off in Kendal. He said: “I had to record everything we spent because my friend and I were splitting the cost of the trip. It’s funny now to look back and see that someone offered to sell us a car engine and gear box for £2.50, and that 15 litres of petrol was 60p. “Unfortunately, the price of the mint cake wasn’t included, although I did write that we’d visited and purchased it.” Tagged with: Kendal, Mint, Oldest, Cake

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60 new jobs as Lake District hotel expands Posted: 26/02/2012 12:47:44 by Nigel Nixon MORE than 60 jobs have been created by hotel owners who are adding the finishing features to their controversial multi-million pound project at the Waterside Hotel, in Grasmere, which is set to open at the end of July after the Victorian venue was part-demolished and doubled in size. The hotel has been a subject of debate since 2008, when it was purchased by hospitality entrepreneurs Tom Harwood, who died a year ago, and wife Eileen. The Blackpool pair, who lived in the Lake District for more than 40 years, developed the Stonecross Manor, in Kendal, and the Craig Manor, in Bowness. However they generated hundreds of letters of protest with plans to redevelop the site. The Lake District National Park Authority refused the first two alteration plans for the 1855 building, originally called the Prince of Wales. The planning application was opposed by many residents and celebrities including artist Rolf Harris and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg. However, plans were passed later in 2008 and around 60 workmen have been involved in the development. “It was Tom’s vision to make a deserving hotel for the area. It was run down and many of the bedrooms faced the road. Now, almost all the bedrooms will face the lake or look out over the fells in Grasmere. We’ve changed the demographic we are aiming at - now we expect less coach groups and more high paying leisure guests.” Lakes parish councillor Paul Truelove said: “This is a massive development. The hotel is twice the size of anything else in Grasmere. They’ve done a good job with the way it looks by using reclaimed slate but it’s too early to say if the hotel will cause light pollution across the lake or if the car parking will be adequate for guests and not cause problems in the village.” Tagged with: Ambleside residents protest over plans to close recycling centre Posted: 26/02/2012 12:46:04 by Nigel Nixon Fly-tipping could increase if recycling centres in South Lakeland and Eden are closed, protestors claim. Around 150 people turned out for a public meeting at Ambleside’s household waste recycling centre to oppose Cumbria County Council plans to close six sites in the county. Under the proposals, Ambleside, Kirkby Stephen and Grange would be shut in a bid to cut costs. But resident Bev Dennison said: “We fought for years to improve facilities at this site. Now we have got them, they want to close it if they get their way. The closure of this centre will mean everybody facing a round trip of 30 to 40 miles to the nearest site at Kendal. At a time when authorities are trying to reduce people’s carbon footprints, it is just absolute madness. Perhaps the site needs a haircut in terms of its opening hours – that would make more sense.” Windermere county councillor Jo Stephenson said: “We know times are hard but this is the wrong place to make cuts. We have done such a lot of work to encourage people to recycle and regenerate as much as possible, so it would be a terrible step back.” Fellow county councillor David Earnshaw added: “This site at Ambleside is so valuable. It is unthinkable that it should close.” Coun Tim Knowles, cabinet member for environment, said no decision had been made, adding: “The consultation has already produced some interesting ideas, such as looking into the viability of community-run centres or getting trade operators to run some sites on our behalf. As long as we deliver the necessary savings, and our HWRCs can operate safely and effectively, then I’m more than happy to consider any alternatives to outright closure. Tagged with: Ambleside fir tree is largest in the North West Posted: 26/02/2012 12:42:56 by Nigel Nixon A Tree which stands in a Lake District wood is the tallest in Cumbria and could be the largest in the North West. The 57.8-metre giant grand fir in Skelghyll Wood, Ambleside, has also been recorded as the tallest of its species in England, breaking the previous Cumbrian record of 55 metres, which was held by a conifer at Thirlmere. National Trust ranger John Pring got the idea to get the tree measured and recorded by the National Tree Register charity when driving through Ambleside. He said: “I’ve driven on that main road (A591) in Ambleside for a long time and I just thought: ‘That really is a very big tree, I wonder how big it is? We were surprised just how tall it was when we measured it. There are some very big trees in the area but we didn’t realise how tall it actually was. This is just one of the thousands of big old trees the National Trust looks after in the area.” Mr Pring, who has covered Windermere and Ambleside for 20 years, is now encouraging nature lovers to go to Skelghyll Wood and see the true scale of how tall the trees are for themselves and the grand fir, which was planted in 1860, looks set to continue growing and could push the 60-metre mark unless there are any accidents such as a storm blowing it over. The tree was measured by tree climbers Mark Sigrift and Mick Lupton of Aspen Tree Management in Witherslack by dropping a long tape measure and using a badminton pole to attach a tape measure. “It just shows that the tree is happy with the climate there,” said Mr Pring. It’s only 160 years old so it is still growing.” Tagged with: Tallest, Tree, Fir

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News | Local & State Rutland makes China’s best list - as nuke target By Bruce EdwardsSTAFF WRITER | November 06,2013 Global Times Image This map, published by the government-controlled Global Times in China, shows nuclear strike targets in the Northeast, including one that seems to be in the region of Rutland, Vt. It’s likely not the kind of list Rutlanders would aspire to. It’s not a list about the best place to take a vacation or the place with the best business environment. Nope, none of those. The Chinese government, or more exactly China’s government-controlled news media, has placed Rutland and several New England locations on its nuclear target list.Rutland and Nashua, N.H., appeared to be cities targeted on a map that accompanied The Washington Times column last week, “Inside China,” by Miles Yu.But before anyone rushes to build a bomb shelter, military analysts, including Bill Arkin of South Pomfret, dismissed The Washington Times column as lacking credibility.The column focused on what Chinese-controlled media claimed was its government’s capability to attack U.S. cities with its land-based and nuclear submarine forces. The strategy, according to the reports, is to serve as a deterrent to U.S. nuclear forces in the Pacific.“If we launch our DF 31A ICBMs over the North Pole, we can easily destroy a whole list of metropolises on the East Coast and the New England region of the U.S., including Annapolis, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Portland, Baltimore and Norfolk, whose population accounts for about one-eighth of America’s total residents,” Yu wrote, quoting China’s Global Times.But Arkin, who has written a number of books on national security and intelligence, calls the column and target map in particular, cockeyed.“You mean to tell me the Chinese are not targeting Strategic Command in Omaha and they’re not targeting Washington, D.C., and they’re not targeting New York City?” said Arkin, whose latest book, “American Coup,” examines the government’s role in subverting the Constitution.He said the map only makes sense if the dots are moved south over targets like Washington. “Why would they want to target Las Vegas or the middle of nowhere in Michigan?” he said incredulously.Hans Kristensen, a nuclear expert with the Federation of American Scientists, came to much the same conclusion.“With all due respect to the citizens up there, I wonder why the Chinese would waste a warhead on that,” said Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Washington, D.C., organization. Rutland’s only defense-related industry of significance is the GE Aviation plant.Kristensen said the strategy of the Chinese, who have limited nuclear capability, is to target large cities and large military bases. “There is nothing in this that indicates it’s authentic,” he said. Despite questions about the validity of his column and target map, Yu said in an email Tuesday that he was accurately reporting what appeared in the Chinese media.“I don’t know why your city was on the official Chinese nuke target but I reported on what the official Chinese government media was saying,” Yu wrote, “which is that the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) had the capability to nuke the U.S. and they had some specific nuke attack scenarios in many revealing graphics in open publications.”Yu continued: “Whether these scenarios or graphics make sense to you or your experts or not should not matter that much because the fact remains that the Chinese official media did indeed publish such nuke casualty projections.” bruce.edwards@rutlandherald.com

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This Just In Man accused of leaving scene after crashing into guardrail MANCHESTER — An Arlington man was arraigned Monday after police said he crashed into a guardrail in Manchester in September and caused significant damage but left the scene without reporting the crash to police.Alexander Richardson, 19, of Arlington, pleaded innocent in Bennington criminal court Monday to a misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of an accident. In an affidavit, Officer Daniel Steere of the Manchester Police Department said he was dispatched Sept. 18 to the scene of a crash on Barnumville Road at a bridge just west of the Route 7 overpass around 5:30 a.m. Steere said police had information that the crash happened about four hours earlier, but it hadn’t been reported.Steere said he found debris from a vehicle in the road and “significant damage” to the guardrail on the bridge. From the vehicle, he found a headlight assembly and the vehicle’s license plate and frame.Steere said the eastern end support pole for the guard rail was bent 80 to 90 degrees. Many of the support poles had been broken off, and Steere said the damage to those poles was significant along all 102 feet of the guardrail.According to Steere, the other headlight assembly was found in the river. Following a trail of antifreeze, Steere tracked the car along Winter Road to a jeep trail. About a mile from the crash site, Steer found two men sleeping around a fire pit.Steere said there were beer cans and small wine bottles around the fire pit as well.According to the affidavit, Steere woke one of the men, later identified as Richardson. Steere said Richardson admitted that he had been driving and had crashed into the guardrail, but said he didn’t think there had been any damage to the guardrail.The car belonged to Richardson’s mother.

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This Just In Police: Man kills girlfriend, self By Susan SmallheerStaff Writer | August 22,2014 TOWNSHEND — A 26-year-old Townshend man shot his off-again, on-again girlfriend late Wednesday afternoon at their home on the Grafton Road, police said, and then turned the gun on himself.Vermont State Police identified Shane J. Brodeur as the man who fired the weapon, and died outside his mobile home. His girlfriend, Katelyn McFadden, 20, was airlifted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., where she died later in the evening.According to a police statement late Thursday afternoon, McFadden was shot first in the head and then the neck by Brodeur. An autopsy by the New Hampshire chief medical examiner's office determined the gunshot wound to the head was the fatal injury.Brodeur then turned the gun on himself, police said, and shot himself in the head.Capt. Raymond Keefe said Thursday that Brodeur and McFadden were both on the phone for several minutes with a state police dispatcher, after Brodeur had initially called police about a disagreement between the pair.Keefe said at one point during the discussion with the dispatcher, the unloaded gun was laid on a counter. But suddenly the dispatcher heard the gun went off and the line went silent, Keefe said. Troopers were “moments away” at the time, he said.He said he had listened to the tape of the call and it was surprising for its calmness. Often domestic violence calls are very volatile, he said.He said that the couple had an off-and-on relationship, and that McFadden had broken up with Brodeur about a month ago, but had moved back in with him last week after living in Bellows Falls with another man.State's Attorney Tracy Shriver said Brodeur had called state police about two months ago to report that McFadden, who was under the legal drinking age, was drunk and walking down the Grafton Road in Townshend.Police responded and said they found McFadden very drunk. Both she and Brodeur were charged — Brodeur for furnishing the alcohol to McFadden and McFadden for being a minor consuming alcohol.Keefe said domestic violence continues to be a tragedy in Vermont society.“We see these things in Vermont and across the country,” he said. “You are most in danger from your spouse, your acquaintance, your boyfriend. It's a sad commentary on relationships.”Keefe said the state police dispatcher, who he wouldn't idenfify, had been referred to a employee assistance program, and also had the support of fellow VSP employees.“She's an experienced dispatcher. I spoke with her last night and again today,” said Keefe, the Troop D captain.“The situation was frankly very calm,” he said. “She did an excellent job. She had them both defused, and then all of a sudden she heard several volleys of shots.”He said the call was initiated over “fairly minor relationship stuff,” but quickly turned fatal.He said the dispatcher immediately called for an ambulance to the Grafton Road home, and state police arrived shortly afterward. They got McFadden into an ambulance, but she died several hours later.Both had attended Leland and Gray Union High School in Townshend, with Brodeur graduating in 2006. McFadden attended from 2007 to 2009. According to his Facebook page, Brodeur worked as a carpenter for a Chester construction firm, and also had his own painting and construction company.McFadden, a native of Brattleboro, had worked as a line cook at Bromley Mountain and had recently applied for work in the kitchen at Valley Cares, an assisted-living facility in Townshend, less than a half mile from Brodeur's home.On her Facebook page, she had written that she was in a “complicated relationship.”McFadden had a criminal record: She was arrested when she was 18 years old for smoking crack cocaine in a Brattleboro motel. She was also charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor.Shriver said McFadden had been put on probation for the cocaine charge. “She went on probation but didn't do well on probation,” the prosecutor said. “She was put on furlough, and she struggled through that.” But she said McFadden had kept out of trouble for the past 12 months until the alcohol charge.“It's a very sad case,” Shriver said.susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com

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Your browser does not support iframes. Read a digital copy of the latest edition of The Sentinel News online. EARLIER: Horizon’s outlet mall plan for Simpsonville nears final approval -A A +A Residents question ordinance, but city passes its 1st reading By Steve Doyle Tuesday, September 4, 2012 at 10:04 pm (Updated: October 19, 11:13 am) more New fire station under construction at Mount Eden SIMPSONVILLE – Only one more vote will be required for Horizon Group Properties to receive the zone change it had requested for a parcel just south of Interstate 64 where it is planning to construct an outlet mall.Photo by Steve DoyleHorizon Properties Group official Tom Rumptz addresses the Simpsonville City Commission on Tuesday night to request approval of a zone change for the company’s outlet mall.Buy this photo View Map Despite continued concerns from area residents, the Simpsonville City Commission on Tuesday night passed on first reading an ordinance that would make the required zoning change from agriculture to commercial for about 24 acres that last month had been OK’d by the Triple S Planning Commission. With a crowd of between 25 and 50 observers on hand, commissioners accepted public comment on the matter following the introduction of the ordinance by City Attorney Hite Hays, and Mayor Steve Eden, City Administrator David Eaton and Commissioners Cary Vowels and Sharon Cummins answered questions for about 15 to 20 minutes from property owners who live in the vicinity of where Horizon wants to build the Outlet Shoppes of Louisville. The ordinance will be considered for second reading and final approval at the commission’s scheduled meeting on Sept. 19. Eden said there would be no more public comment during that meeting. The ordinance follows the transcript and findings of fact submitted by Triple S, and its acceptance would be the final step in allowing the entire corner west of Buck Creek Road and along Veechdale Road to be cleared for the mall project once it receives a final permit. Horizon is still working with the Army Corps of Engineers on the plan to drain and fill a portion of a 6.5-acre lake and some adjacent wetlands. Tom Rumptz, Horizon’s Senior Vice President who is overseeing the project, introduced the company’s plans and request and spoke of an average workforce of 1,200 people and as many as 1,500 more seasonally, projected revenue of $100 million annually and a sales tax base for the state of a projected $7 million annually. He said developers had chosen the location carefully. “There is no other outlet mall in Kentucky,” he said. “We wanted to have access to Louisville, Lexington and Frankfort. There were no residential issues. That’s how we ended up on this site.” He also said that the company would prefer to use local contractors and would be a steward of the community. “When we opened a mall in Oklahoma City, we raised fifty thousand dollars for a children’s hospital,” he said. Rumptz was accompanied by project attorney Deborah Bilitski, with Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs in Louisville, who later reminded commissioners that they had the findings from Triple S, that the plan was within the definition of the county’s comprehensive plan, that the land use plans clearly were approved for an outlet mall and that the commission had every piece of information it needed to approve the zone change. Most of the concerns about the 350,000-plus-square-foot mall dealt with traffic, environmental impact and whether the concept in-fact fit with the county’s comprehensive plan and land use plans. Barb Shadley, who lives in the Veechdale Road area, asked several questions about how the zone change could be compliant with the comprehensive plan. “Triple S Zoning apparently passed by a five-to-one vote that this request met the comprehensive plan,” Eden said. He also said that the land had been zoned for commercial development for 52 years, long before adjacent residential developments had been built along Buck Creek and Veechdale roads. He cited a citizens committee that four years ago had adjusted the comprehensive plan to give the city control of what would be developed on the property. “As far as land use goes, we are fine with that,” Eden said. Ken Hudson, who lives on nearby Taylor Wood Road, which is south of the planned development, said that the commission had a responsibility to vote “in the best interest of the community.” “I don’t have a vote on you,” he said. “I can’t affect what’s going on. You have to look at us on the other side of the interstate and make a decision that is in the best interest of the community.” Resident Ron Pottinger asked about the city’s plans to beef up fire, police and ambulance services and to be able to handle heavy-traffic events such as Black Friday. Eaton reminded everyone that other than police, the city has no control over those services. “We have talked to the Simpsonville Fire Department, and the chief is aware of how things might change and said whatever training might be necessary they would get,” he said. “That’s the same for EMS. Fiscal court oversees that. We have no say in steps EMS takes. “As for police, we have four police officers and already are planning for the future. We look at planning as an entire city, and each department will be required to have a two-year, a three-year and a five-year plan by next spring.” Eden and the commissioners cited the fact that Triple S had done its thorough review and approved the plan and said specifically that it conforms to the comprehensive plan. After the public comment, Cummins moved to accept the first reading, and Vowels seconded that motion. There is no formal vote required on a first reading. The city’s action has no direct effect on a proposal by Paragon/Trio to build a competing outlet mall on the east side of Buck Creek Road. That plan will go before Triple S in October and, if approved, follow the same review process by Simpsonville. With the commission appeared ready to give its approval, the waiver by the Army Corps is the only regulatory hurdle still facing Horizon. Rumptz said he is hopeful of a decision soon by the Army Corps, that his group was working with the engineers on their request. Officials with the Army Corps said the process should be completed in two to three months. If the permit is issued, Rumptz said he expects construction to begin next spring. “We like to open around a holiday or back-to-school time,” he said. “I would hope that we might be ready to open around the time school starts in 2014.”

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Showing Us the Way Forward Turkey - 09 Jul 13 At the Slow Food councilor’s meeting held in Istanbul from June 14-16, Carlo Petrini spoke at length about the crucial role of indigenous peoples, women, youth and the elderly in leading us to a better food system. The following is an extract from his talk. Our meeting here in Istanbul has been a very rich experience, showing us first hand our extraordinary diversity. Slow Food embraces diversity through its networks in 150 countries and events such as AsiO Gusto, happening this October in Korea, and in particular the next Terra Madre Indigenous Peoples, an extraordinary meeting of native populations to be held in 2015. I was lucky enough to participate in the meeting of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and this means that the global assembly of indigenous peoples recognizes that Slow Food speaks for it. On that occasion, I was able to see once again how much the knowledge of the indigenous peoples of the world must be a source of inspiration for all of us. Violence against indigenous peoples deserves not only our attention, but for we as humankind to be able to interact with those who are the expression of a harmonious relationship between humans and nature. What is taking place in Turkey shows the suffering of a relationship between humans and nature that has been completely compromised by violence. This is the same violence that indigenous populations have been subject to, and where there has not been a physical genocide, there has been a kind of cultural genocide. The future of humanity must have a different foundation. It must be very attentive towards the indigenous peoples, women, youth and the elderly who are cast aside by high finance. These are the groups that will show us the planet’s sustainable future. For Slow Food, listening to women, the elderly, young people and the indigenous must be the first and most important activity that we carry out in our convivia and communities. What I’m saying is not poetry, but reality. These people are the future of the planet and anyone who thinks they are at the margins is wrong. There is not one of the Terra Madre food communities in which women are not involved or the wisdom of the elderly is not taken into consideration. Looking at the indigenous communities, often we find how modern their practices actually are. We are defending and supporting the planet’s vanguard, those who have a concept of development that does not prioritize only profit and the arrogance of the economy of the strong. But we are coming from the other side: We are the 99% of humanity that has less power than that 1% that has the big capital, but this cannot go on forever. In this sense Terra Madre has been a life teacher, teaching us that gastronomy is not the right of the few but of everyone, that the planet’s resources are not infinite but have an end, that real democracy is practiced every day. Whoever thinks that all this is part of a poetic vision is cut off from the world: We are not writing poetry, but we do think that poetry can change the world. We didn’t come into the world to make money, but to be happy, and this is the future. If humans really are sapiens – the Latin for ‘wise’ - they will realize that sooner or later this system will destroy the environment. And showing us the way forward will be the indigenous peoples, youth, women and the elderly. | Search the Slow Talk archive Latest Articles on Slow Talk Ballerina turned Field Researcher: A Study on Food Cultures Italy | 21/02/2014 | Since I was a child I was always dancing. With talent, timing, and a tremendous amount of hard work I... Of Oxen and Olives Croatia | 05/12/2013 | “Beco, ooooh Beco. Good Beco!” As our little tractor makes its sputtering way through the tangle of thistles... Is Farming a Real Profession? India | 05/08/2013 | Tanya, a master’s student at the University of Gastronomic Sciences, discusses youth in farming in... Turkey | 09/07/2013 | At the Slow Food councilor’s meeting held in Istanbul from June 14-16, Carlo Petrini spoke at length... Preface to "The Myth of Good Italian Food" Italy | 21/12/2012 | “It is not enough to simply explain to the people who label you nostalgic for the good old days or a ruralist...

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Wednesday, 09 April 2014 13:15 Bryson City shelter gives hurting teens a fresh start Written by Holly Kays Despite the automated security system that speaks up every time a door is opened and the whiteboard grid tracking points for the shelter’s behavior management program, “institutional” is the last word that comes to mind when you enter Hawthorn Heights in Bryson City. Midday sunshine brightens the dining room’s white tile floors and family-style wooden table and chairs, and a few rooms over, couches circle a fireplace and television stand crammed with movies and Wii games. A large porch juts out from the stone building, the perfect place to play cards or read a book on a warm afternoon. “Over and over, we hear that it feels homey,” said Kara Haney, program director at Hawthorn Heights DSS Licensed Home. Which is important, because hominess is arguably the most important attribute Hawthorn Heights could have. Founded in 1973, the shelter was Swain County’s community response after police picked up a 12-year-old runaway who begged to be locked in jail rather than taken home. A photograph of a teddy bear in jail accompanied the newspaper article reporting the incident. Since then, Hawthorn Heights has served as a safe haven for teens ages 12 to 18, giving them a place to live, learn important life skills and plan for their next step after Hawthorn. The organization can only house nine children at a time, and as a temporary shelter, it can’t keep anybody for more than 90 days. But while hominess is important, so is roominess, so the shelter and its supporters are in the midst of a campaign to move to a bigger building, bringing it from 2,300 to 6,300 square feet. While the current building has the family feel going for it, sharp angles between rooms make it hard for staff to supervise the teens, and the small kitchen means that cooking lessons are limited to one pupil at a time. “Largely, it’s served its purpose,” Haney said. “We make it work, but it’s not as functional as it should be.” Clockwork out of chaos Really, though, that’s what Hawthorn Heights is all about: taking the nonfunctional and making it work. In her five years at the shelter, Haney has seen some mind-blowing — and heart-wrenching — stories play out before her. A girl whose mom had prostituted her out to get money for drugs. A teenager who had been through so many foster care families she had given herself up as worthless. The shelter helps kids take the messy parts of their lives and turn them into a foundation for a happy, fulfilling life. “For the most part, a lot of the kids that complete this program, they go back home and they’re able to take the skills they learned here and apply them in the home,” Haney said. The teens arrive through avenues as diverse as the individuals, some through referral from law enforcement or a counselor, some through a parent and others at 2 a.m., when they show up on the doorstep of their own accord. Hawthorn Heights takes them in, gives them a place to stay, a structured life and help preparing for the end of their 90-day stay. “A lot of them have never experienced someone telling them they needed to do their homework,” said Sara Gray, chief development officer for Barium Springs, Hawthorn Heights’ parent organization. “Nobody cared.” Residents have to complete daily chores and follow the rules well enough to earn behavior points for group outings to the bowling alley or movie theater. They work one-on-one with a case coordinator who develops a specific program to meet that child’s needs, whether they’re struggling with decision-making or studying, and they do skill-building exercises in those areas each week. Shelter staff ferries the teens to their individual after-school activities and, if the child remains enrolled in a school outside the Swain County system, they drive them to school. They also make a point to see that the children receive medical care. “A lot of the kids coming in, maybe they’ve never been to the dentist, ever,” Haney said. “We’ve had kids that have needed glasses for 16 years, and their first glasses they get are with us.” But all the while, that 90-day clock is ticking. Staff is always looking toward that deadline, communicating with families to figure out how to make home work better, or, if that’s not a safe option, finding a placement where the child can thrive. Most of the time, Haney said, that’s successful. “I’ve seen kids evolve from being angry, bitter, distrustful, maybe really shy, and I’ve seen them evolve into kids that are kind of at peace with things, know how to make good decisions, be in control, think they’re worth something,” she said. “It’s a constant evolution that we get to see here.” It’s an evolution that keeps going, even after those 90 days are up. Hawthorn Heights has a dedicated staff person in charge of following up on residents after their discharge. That person checks on the teens and their families at least once a month for up to two years after they leave, and every Thursday the shelter hosts an after-care night. Staff picks the children up and bring them to the building for dinner, and after eating they do skill-building work in groups and then go back home. “That’s pretty neat for the staff, because we get to keep in contact with those kids,” Haney said. “I think that’s a real rewarding part, because sometimes in residential settings you don’t hear from kids that this conversation changed my life in this way.” So Haney knows that the shelter’s model works. She’s gotten communication from former residents as long as four years after their discharge, letting the staff know where they are, what they’re doing and what their experience at Hawthorn did for them. When three months is not enough Sometimes, though, it’s not that simple. Sometimes, there’s nowhere to go back to. “We keep our fingers crossed a lot of times that sending them back home will work out,” Haney said. “Seeing that not be successful is hard for me to see.” It’s hard for the children, too. Haney remembers one girl in particular who came through the shelter three separate times. Home was not an option, so she kept being taken in and out of foster care, a placement that can be difficult to find for teenagers in this area. Most foster parents prefer to take in babies and young children. “She definitely had that sense that she was the throwaway kid,” Haney said. But Hawthorn Heights’ track record shows that it’s possible to overcome steep odds. In fact, the very girl who once considered herself worthless will be one of those sharing her story with the audience at Hawthorn Heights’ upcoming building fundraiser in April. Then there are the cases when post-shelter placement isn’t even possible. Though Hawthorn Heights is only licensed to keep teens for three months, one former resident ended up staying there for five and a half. After being adopted to an abusive father and a drug-addicted mother, she went to live with her adoptive grandmother, who eventually kicked her out. Six months shy of her 18th birthday, she had nowhere to go. “Her 90 days were fast approaching, and we were scrambling to figure out where to send her,” Haney said. So, Hawthorn Heights got the OK from the state to keep her till she turned 18, and after that they helped her get lined up with a job in Georgia and find a place to live. She eventually finished high school down there and invited the Hawthorn Heights crew to her graduation. “I remember her saying we’re her family because we took her in and we taught her all these things,” Haney said. Too often, though, children who age out of juvenile programs like Hawthorn Heights still lack the steady footing they need to start their adult adventure out right. That’s why Barium Springs, Hawthorn Heights’ parent organization, hopes to turn the building into a resource for young adults once Hawthorn Heights moves into its new digs. “A lot of kids have nowhere to go at 18,” Gray said. She envisions the new shelter as a place where teens could go after they turn 18 and live while they learn practical skills like money management, cooking and cleaning. “But in addition to that, they either have to be in school or they have to have a job,” Gray said. “If they have a job, they’re required to save 50 percent of what they bring in so when they’re discharged from that program, they have a good nest egg to start their life.” Gray oversees a similar program in Statesville, and, she said it’s invaluable for those who need it. One young man, she recalls, graduated from a group home program there but had no family to return to except for his brother. His brother was a drug dealer. “He said, ‘If I go back there, I know I’m going to get into drugs again,’” she said. It can be hard to get funds for those programs, though, because dollars are limited, and programs serving younger children tend to get precedence. That’s an obstacle Barium Springs will look to tackle after Hawthorn Heights’ move is squared away. Because, ultimately, nothing magical happens when a child turns 18. The magic happens when that child gains the tools to overcome his circumstances. In that moment, he can shed the baggage of his past and trade it for the confidence and self-assurance that will take him toward the future. That can happen at 18, 19, 20, or, as in the case of former resident Alyssa, at 12. “I am going to get all my education and have a great life ahead of me,” the sixth-grader wrote. “I want to have my own house and not have to live with any of my family members. And I don’t want to be homeless and I don’t want my kids living in a negative household. My family is going to be a happy family.” Learn and support Hawthorn Heights will host its second annual fundraising breakfast from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. April 24 at Southwestern Community College in Sylva. The organization has already started work on the house using a $40,000 grant from the Evergreen Foundation, hoping to move its children in to a bigger building by the end of the year. But Hawthorn Heights still needs $200,000 to finish work on the house. Organizers hope to get $80,000 of that from the breakfast. “[Attendees] will help make a brighter future for our teens in the seven western counties who come through this program,” said Kaye McConnell, event chairman. The breakfast will feature yogurt, coffee, fruit, muffins and orange juice, but, more importantly, testimonies from community members, former shelter residents and Barium Springs CEO John Koppelmeyer. The event will use a table captain format, with community members volunteering to invite enough guests to fill an eight-person table. The event is free, but donations will be requested at the end. Evergreen will match donations dollar-for-dollar up to $65,000. To attend or captain a table, RSVP as soon as possible to Katie Queen at 828.231.5413. Read 1674 times Last modified on Tuesday, 15 April 2014 20:48 Tweet bryson city Latest from Holly Kays Jackson County residents gear up for assault against unsightly roadsides Tell it from the mountain Contemplating the evolution of Fry Street YMCA camp coming to Swain County Country crossroads: Boiling down the essence of humanity Tasting local Alternative school gets $1.4 million to offer comprehensive help to struggling youth More on the saga of Kephart’s arrival at Hazel Creek On the way to Trout City: Bryson City trout waters to get some cred

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American held in N. Korea left no family contact info, tour firm says By Choe Sang-Hun LAST UPDATED: 07:53 p.m. HST, Apr 28, 2014 SEOUL » A 24-year-old American who was detained in North Korea this month traveled there alone and left no contact information for his family, according to the New Jersey-based travel company that arranged his trip. The man, Matthew Todd Miller, was detained by North Korean officials for "rash behavior" at customs at the Pyongyang airport April 10, the North's state-run media said Friday. North Korea accused him of tearing up his tourist visa and demanding asylum. Uri Tours, which arranged Miller's trip, was "informed early on that Mr. Miller had deliberately ripped his visa and had declared that he was 'not a tourist,'" the company's director, John Dantzler-Wolfe, wrote in an email Sunday. "Since that time, we have been working with the appropriate diplomatic, governmental and local agencies to resolve the situation." Uri Tours posted similar information on its website. Miller signed up for a private tour, Dantzler-Wolfe said. As most private tour clients do, he chose to travel with local guides from Uri Tours' North Korean partner, he said. "He did not indicate any special intentions in his tour application," Dantzler-Wolfe said. No family member has reached out to Uri Tours about Miller, Dantzler-Wolfe said. The company also has tried in vain to reach the emergency contact Miller provided in his application, he said. The State Department said that it was aware of Miller's detention and that it was working with the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang on the issue. Washington has no diplomatic relations with Pyongyang, and the Swedish Embassy has often represented the interests of U.S. citizens in the country. Another American, Kenneth Bae, has been held in North Korea since late 2012. Bae, a Korean-American missionary, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor on charges of trying to establish a secret proselytizing network inside the isolated country, supposedly in a plot to undermine its political system. sailfish1 wrote: Leave the guy in North Korea. Anybody travelling to North Korea goes at his own risk. on April 28,2014 | 08:06PM

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Nick Madaras kickfornick.org NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The note came from a mother in Minnesota. Her twins, for their sixth-birthday celebration, instead of gifts, asked friends to donate soccer balls to the Kick for Nick Foundation, which sends them to children around the world whereever U.S. troops are stationed. “She wrote this letter and said it was the proudest moment of her life that her kids at that age were thinking like this,” said Bill Madaras, tearing up as he talked about the family foundation set up in memory of their son. Nick Madaras, an outstanding soccer player at his high school in Wilton, saw children in Iraq playing the game with makeshift equipment, often just a tin can. He gathered up some soccer balls when he was home on leave to distribute them to the kids near his base in 2006, but the 19-year-old was killed by a roadside bomb before he could make that happen. Almost 40,000 soccer balls later, with contributions coming in from 46 states and more than 500 cities, the Kick for Nick effort is going strong. “Nick wanted to give the balls to the children he saw, that’s how we got started. But it very quickly became obvious with our communication with the military that it was serving a very definite purpose for the soliders themselves. It helped their morale and actually the balls were improving security in the villages,” Madaras said. For Madaras and his wife, Shalini, the foundation became a platform for getting involved in helping veterans anyway they can. The third annual Kick for Nick night fundraiser will be held Friday at O’Toole’s Pub, 157 Orange St., from 5 to 9 p.m. O’Toole’s has sponsored numerous fundraisers for the community, but especially around veterans given that its building was once an Army recruiting station. Shalini Madaras said the event at O’Toole’s will also benefit Habitat for Heroes, a startup run by Habitat for Humanity in Fairfield County, that will construct the first home specifically for a veteran. Bill Madaras said they want to raise awareness about new programs oriented toward veterans. “It’s part of our mission to help,” said Shalini. Habitat for Heroes is based on Habitat’s traditional model where the recipients offer sweat equity as their contribution and help others as the program expands. Shalini said home ownership is a confidence builder for veterans who may find it difficult to access a mortgage through traditional sources or can’t find housing they can afford. After starting Kick for Nick, Shalini said they thought the effort would die down after a few years, but people won’t let it. “Everybody wants to keep this thing going and they have taken ownership of it almost. It is really wonderful to see how important Nick’s spirit of sharing and giving and spreading hope to so many people has taken hold, not just in Connecticut, but nationally,” she said. She said they have gotten contributions from five-year-olds to a 95-year-old man. A prison inmate sent some money through his attorney. A college student organizes soccer tournaments for sororities at Texas Tech University every year and sends the registration fees to the foundation. Shalini said she took a trip to India this summer with the couple’s youngest child, Christopher, 17, and donated soccer balls and jerseys to an orphanage run by Catholic nuns. She said it was extremely hot, but the boys put on their new outfits and started playing barefooted on the rough dirt. “Chris said there was no way he was going to wear his shoes and the poor guy’s feet were totally ripped up, but I can’t tell you how happy those kids were and he was part of that,” Shalini said. “Just for those moments it brings back the childhood that has been robbed from them,” she said. Bill said when personnel they have gotten to know at the U.S. consulates move to another assignment, they will often ask to continue the soccer program in their new country. The couple are also helping a military base in Germany where a soccer club was established to help boost low morale among the soldiers. Bill Madaras said soccer team members from the University of New Hampshire, after a game in Hartford, bought down duffle bags with uniforms, cleats and balls for a complete team in a donation to Kick for Nick. “It just comes. They happen to come on a timely basis. We need something, suddenly it shows up, but that’s Nick taking care of his program. We have any event to do with Nick, I’ll tell you right now it will be good weather. He takes care of the weather every time,” Madaras said of his son. Separate from the Habitat effort, Shalini is the now chairwoman of the board of Homes for the Brave, which has been in existence for 10 years with transitional housing for homeless male veterans. Shalini, after she came onboard, helped organize fundraising to establish the PFC Nicholas A. Madaras Home in Bridgeport for homeless female veterans as they transition back to civilian life. They can stay there for up to two years as they pursue job training, education and re-establish some financial security. She said 33 women have successfully gone through the programs and moved on. The couple said they are grateful for the continuing contributions made by O’Toole’s Pub and Michael McCann, who despite fighting stage 4 pancreatic cancer, organized the fundraising event. “I think it is such a great thing that they are so socially responsible and conscious of supporting organizations that are so badly needed,” she said. ‘Our program has a kind of energy on its own. People like Mike and O’Toole’s they just keep firing up that energy and it just makes everyone feel so good about doing this.” “We’ve gotten a positive response, especially from veteran and soccer organizations and the Irish community. The Irish are passionate about the sport,” said Colin O’Toole, the pub’s owner/manager, about Kick For Nick. The event is also being supported by O’Toole’s Band of Brothers, a group of veterans including those who had enlisted there when the building served as a recruiting center. The group’s most active members are from the Southern Connecticut State University Vets Club who promote and work at the pubs veteran’s fundraisers. In May they helped the pub raise $17,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project with an on-campus fundraiser of their own. The area’s military recruiters will attend and work the event. The fundraiser will include hors d’oeuvres, drink specials, prize drawings, silent auction and a performance by the Connecticut Firefighters Pipes and Drums. Admission will be a tax deductible contribution of $15, or a new or used soccer ball.

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Front Page » November 24, 2005 » Focus » Preserving the past, building the future of Price Published 3,412 days agoPreserving the past, building the future of Price By KAREN BASSOSun Advocate reporter Price city Main Street Program Coordinator, Melanie Steele looks over plans for restoring downtown buildings. In any city, Main Street is the heart of town. This is a place where goods, services and government agencies typically can be found. Price is no different. That is why local government officials and business leaders have combined forces and formed a Main Street program which will focus on the growth and preservation of the downtown district. In an effort to coordinate the program, Price city has hired Melanie Steele as the Main Street Executive Program Coordinator. Steele's job is to unify the various programs and committees that work separately to improve local small business. By having a coordinator whom leaders and citizens can turn to, the community will benefit from the many different programs that focus on building a strong business district. "My job is to keep everyone on the different committees on track," explained Steele. "I am a secretary of sorts. A contact person who professionals and citizens can reach with ideas and concerns about the downtown area." Steele explained that earlier this fall, Price city was invited by the governor's office to participate in the Main Street program. As one of only 11 Utah cities, Price will receive $10,000 in state funding each year for three years to improve and restore the downtown area. According to the governor's office, the focus of the program is to work with communities throughout Utah to restore the physical and economic vitality of their historic business districts. "Downtown is a gathering place for local citizens," explained Steele. "By getting everybody involved in improving Main Street, we can make it the heart of the city." There are many reasons why downtown businesses are so important to any city. Some of the main reasons include the following: Price Main Street at night in 1940. •Commercial districts are a reflection of the community. •Traditional commercial districts are an ideal location for independent businesses. These businesses keep profits in town, support other local services and support local families who own and operate businesses. •Main Street is the historic core of a community. •Commercial district offers convenience. •Main street represents a huge public and private investment. With so much history captured in the architecture of Main Street buildings, it is important to preserve this part of local history. Part of the Main Street program's focus is to preserve and reconstruct buildings located on Main Street. Although these efforts may be quite a ways down the road, Steele feels that some business owners have already begun the process by sprucing up their property and revealing original building designs. Main Street was a thriving place in the 1920's. Several committees today are looking at restoring buildings and making the downtown area a historic place. Because Main Street houses various businesses and government agencies, the street is the main focus of future restoration projects. "We need to start small and build up when it comes to improving downtown," Steele explained. "With continued support from business owners and the community, large growth will be achieved." Because a cities Main Street serves as a base for the town's uniqueness, it is important to focus on improvements and restoration in this area. That does not mean that businesses located outside of this area are not welcome to join in on these efforts. In fact, Steele explained that many businesses throughout the county have already contributed to several downtown events. "We have had businesses from Helper, Wellington and East Carbon all contribute to downtown activities such as Downtown Alive. It is important that all county businesses know that we welcome and encourage them to participate in making the business district desirable to customers," explained Steele. "If we band together, we can ensure that local residents shop locally and therefore enhance the community's shopping experience." In order for all Carbon County businesses to thrive, Steele indicated that it is important for the community to also get involved. "It's about developing an idea and seeing it through," Steele stated. "We want to make the area a personal community for all residents." Because the Main Street program is in it's early stages of development, it is extremely important for interested business leaders and residents to unite and work through plans and details. Anyone interested in participating in the program may attend a meeting. These are conducted the first Wednesday of each month at Price City Hall in room 207 at noon. "Public organizations need the community. In the long run, this program is about local residents and making downtown their own personal gathering point," concluded Steele. Focus November 24, 2005 Preserving the past, building the future of Price Mrs. Guppys honored as business of the month Ribbon cut for Perfect Touch by chamber Miller receives museum service award Main Street program moves ahead Letter to the Editor: Businesses before trees Surveying our future City, chamber representatives cut ribbon to reopen Main Street in downtown Price Price, businesses consider forming historical district

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DOGM Objects to Drilling Activities near Clear Creek By LES BOWENSun Advocate reporter The Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining filed an objection last week to a petition for an aquifer exemption requested by Marion Energy Inc. in the area near Clear Creek. The objection comes after the homeowners association in the area as well as county officials and nine other parties filed written objections to the permitting process for Marion. The matter is scheduled to come before the division of oil, gas and mining board on Aug. 23. At that time, the board is expected to make a determination regarding the approval or denial of the applications filed which relate to gas extraction activities in the area. The drilling company is in the process of obtaining the necessary permits to convert a gas well in the Clear Creek Area into a class two injection well. Injection wells are used to pump water into the ground as part of the process of extracting natural gas from drilling sites in the surrounding area. In a written objection to the division, Clear Creek Homeowners Association director Ted Helsten asserted a number of challenges against drilling operations. The objections ranged from road damage and utility line problems to failure to meet commitments to property owners in the area. The homeowners association raised questions as to the impact to water and sewer lines by heavy equipment. Further, property areas in the area have made objections to how the road has been maintained in the area, claiming that Marion has created safety hazards and is using private property and government land to store materials without permission. Homeowners also objected to the conversion of the gas well into an injection site, a subject which is at the heart of the objection filed by DOGM. In the written objection, the homeowners association pointed to three of the faults with Marion's proposal to convert the gas well into an injection site. "It can damage or destroy the underground spring water aquifer for Clear Creek home owners," stated the homeowners in the objection. The homeowners added that the proposed well conversion can damage water quality for downstream water users, including the fish habitat. And finally, the homeowners raised the question of noise generated by construction and operation of the converted well. In the DOGM objection filed on Aug. 15, division staff addressed concerns as to whether the aquifer exemption application could be approved with compliance to ground water regulation in the area. "Based on the information submitted, the division believes that this formation is unsuitable for consideration as a candidate for aquifer exemption," stated division staff in the brief. The division's filing stated that the aquifer in question qualifies as an underwater source of drinking water under rules established by the Utah Division of Water Rights and Water Quality. Under the rule, any aquifer containing less than 10,000 milligrams per liter of dissolved solids is considered as a potential source of drinking water. The aquifer in question has been measured at 6,568 milligrams per liter, making it an underground drinking water source under state rules. Marion's application seeks to exempt the aquifer from classification as a drinking water source. In order to do so, the state requires that the applicant meet certain criteria. In the application, Marion requested that the aquifer be exempted because it: •Does not currently serve as a source of drinking water. •Is at a depth or location which makes recovery of water for drinking purposes economically or technically impractical;. •Is contaminated to the extent that it would be economically or technologically impractical. •Has a total dissolved solids level between 3,000 and 10,000 milligrams per liter and is not reasonably expected to be used as a source of fresh or potable water. All of the areas cited by Marion are valid reasons, if the statements can be supported by research and tests. In filing the application, the drilling company submitted two samples from two wells in the Clear Creek area. One sample was submitted as a sample of the water which will be taken from the ground in the process of extracting gas. The other sample was submitted as a sample of the water currently in the ground where the water will be injected. However, the division of oil, gas and mining identified a series of specific problems with the samples submitted. First, DOGM was not contacted prior to collection of the water samples. When contacted, DOGM will advise applicants of the process required for sampling groundwater. In addition, samples lack descriptions of the procedures or methods used in collection, storing and transporting the samples. When notified, the division provides instructions for these processes. Further, neither sample was submitted with a chain of custody title. This documentation is required to demonstrate who had the samples in their possession and when. Chain of custody titles are frequently used to show that materials have not been tampered with or damaged between collection and submittal to the division, pointed out DOGM. Additional concerns raised by the division related to questions raised in reviewing the amount of total dissolved solids in one of the samples. DOGM staff members determined that the measurements do not comply with similar data collected on similar wells in the area, indicated the state agency. While the measurements are not impossible, the discrepancy raises questions as to the validity of the water samples. Other problems with the samples include lack of proper description of the location of the collection site; an expired pH for one of the samples; and failure to isolate the proposed injection interval. DOGM continued to raise objections in its brief, stating that the proposed injection site would pump water into an aquifer that could be accessed by both municipalities and industries in the future. The proposed injection site lacks cement bonds near the injection site, noted the state agency. Without the proper bonding, water injected into the sell could be inserted into any layer along the wellbore and that the sample could have come from anywhere in the wellbore, explained the state agency. DOGM also pointed out that Skyline mine is pumping water from the Star Point Sandstone and Star Point Coals, which are located about 900 feet higher than the proposed injection zone, into Electric Lake. The water pumped from the mine contains approximately 70 milligrams per liter of total dissolved solids, clearly making it a potential drinking water source, according to state officials. The intended injection zone is also highly faulted, with one major fault as close as 400 feet from the wellbore. Because of the geologic faulting in the layers close to the injection site, the division questioned whether the injected water would be contained within the proposed injection zone. If it is not contained, it can contaminate other sources of drinking water. Beyond the objections raised in the brief filed last week, DOGM staff have additional concerns. Much of the data required in the application process was lacking as of last week, according to the division of oil, gas and mining. As a result, DOGM staff recommended to the state board of oil, gas and mining that Marion's petition be denied.

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‘Political famine’ threatens thousands in Sudan: report AFP, WASHINGTON Fri, Oct 19, 2012 - Page 6 Hundreds of thousands of people in Sudan’s conflict-torn state of South Kordofan are on the brink of famine as Khartoum keeps up a blockade on aid agencies, a new survey released yesterday said.The study, carried out by an international aid group and released via the Washington-based Enough Project, warns the situation in the state resembles the conditions of the Horn of Africa famine last year.A team of public health experts from the aid group — which has asked not to be identified for security reasons — visited the Nuban Mountains under the control of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N).Large numbers of people displaced by the conflict, which has raged for over a year, are living in caves in the mountains. During the team’s two-week study in August, they assessed some 2,467 children aged from six months to just under five years old and found 14.9 percent were acutely malnourished.About 81.5 percent of households are surviving on only one meal a day, a huge rise from a year ago when it was only 9.5 percent, and two years ago, when no households reported not being able to eat more than once a day.Approximately 73.2 percent of households reported having no source of income and 65.7 percent of households had only one week’s supply of food.The researchers were unable to reach communities living along the frontlines of the conflict pitting Khartoum against the rebels and fear conditions are even worse there.An estimated 350,000 people are trapped in the area, which has been subjected to a barrage of Sudanese government bombings as they fight the SPLM-N rebels.Another 70,000 are in similarly dire straits in the Blue Nile state, where rebels are also fighting government forces.“This is a political famine. Because of near daily bombings by the government of Sudan, its own people have been unable to plant or harvest crops,” Enough’s communications director Jonathan Hutson said.Enough called on the international community to pre-position some 20,000 tonnes of food, as well as medical supplies, shelters and other goods along the South Kordofan border, and to pressure Khartoum to lift the blockade.There are no reliable figures on how many people have died in aerial bombing, shelling and firefights across South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, where the SPLM-N launched its insurgency last year.However, the UN has reported a steadily increasing number of hungry people fleeing for South Sudan, joining more than 173,000 others.Enough Project also called on the African Union to act with the UN Security Council to help negotiate humanitarian access.The survey was the first on-the-ground assessment of the situation in the region since June last year, and its findings were independently vetted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.Aid groups say tens of thousands of people have died of hunger since the middle of last year when a severe drought hit the Horn of Africa.“While there were early warning indicators for Somalia at that time, interventions were not fully scaled to a level that met the growing need until the situation hit crisis levels and a famine was declared,” the project said.

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Military judge defies Obama By Mike Melia and Andrew O. Selsky, Associated Press MIKE MELIAANDREW O. SELSKYAssociated PressThursday, January 29, 2009 8:41pm A military judge at Guantanamo on Thursday rejected a White House request to suspend a hearing for the alleged mastermind of the USS Cole bombing, creating an unexpected challenge for the administration as it reviews how America puts suspected terrorists on trial. The judge, Army Col. James Pohl, said his decision was necessary to protect "the public interest in a speedy trial." The ruling came in the case against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. The bombing of the Navy destroyer in 2000 in the harbor of Aden, Yemen, killed 17 U.S. sailors. It seemed to take the Pentagon and White House completely by surprise. "We are consulting with the Pentagon and the Department of Justice to explore our options in the case," said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, adding that he doubted the decision would hamper the administration's ability to decide how to move forward from Guantanamo. Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman, said: "The Department of Defense is currently reviewing Judge Pohl's ruling. We will be in compliance with the president's orders regarding Guantanamo." President Obama has ordered the detention center to be closed within a year. The administration asked last week for a 120-day suspension in proceedings against about 20 detainees as it considers whether to continue trying alleged terrorists in the military commissions. Obama signed an executive order directing Defense Secretary Robert Gates to ensure that "all proceedings of such military commissions to which charges have been referred but in which no judgment has been rendered … are halted." But Pohl wrote in his ruling that "on its face, the request to delay the arraignment is not reasonable." Families sue over detainee deathsFamilies of two Saudi detainees who committed suicide in June 2006 while being held at Guantanamo Bay have sued the Pentagon, alleging Thursday that torture and brutal conditions at the offshore prison led the men to their deaths.The New-York based Center for Constitutional Rights said the parents of Yassar Talal al-Zahrani and Salah Ali Abdullah Ahmed al-Salami seek unspecified damages for the "illegal detention, torture, inhumane conditions, and ultimate deaths" of their sons. The final brief in the civil suit was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington."It doesn't really matter if this was an intentional death or an accidental death or suicide. The point is that the U.S. government bears responsibility," said Talal al-Zahrani, father of Zahrani and one of the plaintiffs, in a statement from the legal group. Military judge defies Obama 01/29/09 [Last modified: Thursday, January 29, 2009 8:41pm]

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Article published Nov 18, 2012 When it comes to employees, ICE means business Aaron Nicodemus ON BUSINESS Aaron.Nicodemus@telegram.com It was interesting to see the coupling of two news items regarding immigration and business this week. The first was that a nursing home in Milford, Countryside Health Care, has joined the town of Milford in “teaming up” with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency for a program called IMAGE, or the ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers. Most employers already know about E-Verify, a Web-based program that gives employers a direct link to the Social Security Administration that allows them to enter prospective employee's social security numbers to check if they are valid. IMAGE is E-Verify on steroids. To quote ICE: “ICE provides employers with education and training on proper hiring procedures, including use of employment screening tools such as E-Verify. IMAGE certified employers also undergo an audit of their I-9 forms to ensure current employees are eligible to work in the United States.” (I-9 forms are filled out by employees to show that they are authorized to work). IMAGE has not exactly taken off with employers since it was implemented in 2006. The list of “members and partners” of the program are at ice.gov/image. While the list contains several hundred companies and municipalities, it is unbelievably short considering the total number of employers in this country. The town of Milford, and now Countryside Health Care, are among the only entities in New England to have signed up. And the program has been in existence for six years! Most employers, when they choose to hire an employee, want to believe that that employee is allowed to work in this country. They ask the employee to show some form of identification and a valid social security number, because that is what is required by law. Given that the federal government cannot actively watch all employers as they hire employees, chances are the employee will be able to work whether or not he or she has legal papers. But not with IMAGE. Every employee gets vetted carefully, no exceptions. Randy Feldman, an immigration lawyer in Worcester, said in some industries half of a company's workforce would be knocked out if the company joined a program like IMAGE. “It just hamstrings them,” Mr. Feldman said of employers. “If we had a fair immigration system, it would be a fair requirement. But we don't have a fair immigration system.” The second news item that caught my eye was the ICE announcement of $349,619.54 in fines against Massachusetts companies for various employment operations. Two local companies were on the list. Danco Retail Food Outlet Inc. of Worcester was fined $935; and Fruitlands Restaurant Inc., aka Sorrento's Pizza, of Harvard was fined $2,805. Both companies denied the ICE claims in interviews with the Telegram & Gazette. They got off easy. Other companies were fined tens of thousands of dollars. Bruce Foucart, ICE special agent in the Boston office, said he could not comment specifically on the reasons why the two companies were fined. But typically, companies have filled out their I-9 forms falsely or incorrectly. “The fines are handed down based on level of egregiousness of the violation. You have your low-end violation, and then there is your blatant, obvious alarming violation,” he said. “Filling out these forms incorrectly and having suspect documents will always lead to a fine. We also look into the cooperation of the company, and their willingness to join and comply with the IMAGE Program and E-Verify; it gives us a sense on how these companies are maintaining correct information. … ICE takes these violations seriously and will serve the necessary fines that are required.” In 2009, under the Obama administration, ICE pivoted away from military-style raids of suspected employers of undocumented workers, and began focusing on auditing the records of employers. According to ICE's press release, the agency issued $9,753 in fines to Massachusetts companies for worksite violations in 2009; $67,440 in 2010; $175,420 last year; and now almost $350,000. The trend is clear. The federal government is working to hold employers accountable for the employees they hire, albeit a tiny percentage of them. When the government asks companies to volunteer to have all their employee's I-9 forms audited, they find few takers. Intern Sean Mensah contributed to the reporting of this column.Contact Aaron Nicodemus by email at anicodemus@telegram.com or at (508) 793-9245. Order the Telegram & Gazette, delivered daily to your home or office! www.telegram.com/homedelivery

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By Aaron J. KendeallObserver-Reporterakendeall@observer-reporter.com Share National Cemetery of the Alleghenies builds new plot Published Jul 19, 2013 at 3:38 pm (Updated Jul 19, 2013 at 3:38 pm) Construction crews work to install a new vault installation at of the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies. About 1 acre, section 10 will hold 1,237 pre-placed crypts. Aaron Kendeall/Observer-Reporter The National Cemetery of the Alleghenies in Cecil Township has been the final resting place for more than 7,500 veterans of the U.S. armed forces and their family members since it first opened in 2005. “Any given day, we have up to 10 internments,” said director Ronald Hestdalen. “Most cemeteries do one to two a day, but we do several. We lay someone to rest every 30 minutes starting at 10 a.m. We have to do it that way.” Hestdalen said the influx of veterans utilizing the cemetery has made it necessary to expand – the first expansion since the 91-acre cemetery was built. Construction crews recently broke ground on a large vault beneath Section 10, a 1-acre expansion of the cemetery that would eventually entomb an additional 1,237 bodies. The new section would contain a large, flat, gravel-lined crypt underground that would contain hundreds of cement liners, each of which would hold two bodies separated by a metal divider. “We intern all branches of service,” Hestdalen said. “As long as you served, you’re eligible for internment – regardless if it was peacetime or wartime.” Spouses of service members and children up to a certain age are also entitled to a plot at a national cemetery. Within the next few months, workers will cover the large, leveled hole with gravel and place the five-feet-deep vaults into position before capping them with 60-pound cement lids and covering them with an additional 22 inches of earth. Walking through the perfectly aligned rows of all-marble tombstones, one gets the impression that each plot is perfectly uniform. But that could be an optical illusion, as Hestdalen said there are slight variations in the distances between stones from section to section. There are three options for final resting place at the cemetery. Families can choose between vaults like the ones being installed in the new section, a more traditional plot for which families provide their own liner or a plot specially designed for the burial of cremated remains. Each section is organized by internment option and the size of plots change accordingly. Vault spaces run 3-feet by 8-feet, while a traditional plot is 4-feet by 8-feet and spots for buried urns are 4-feet by 4-feet. There is also a marble and stone mausoleum for those who choose to have their ashes placed above ground. Hestdalen, a veteran himself, said the options were part of an effort to give service members as much choice as possible. Any veteran who had been honorably discharged is eligible for a burial at any national cemetery that has available plots. The cost of the burial is paid for by the Department of Defense, which also provides military honors and a burial flag to each family. Hestdalen said he thought there might be veterans who may not know of their eligibility for internment. He directed those interested to the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies website at www.CEM.VA.gov. “This is a benefit they’ve earned through their honorable and faithful service to our nation,” Hestdalen said. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

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Former Lighthouse Inn owner reports to federal prison Published July 16. 2013 4:00PMUpdated July 16. 2013 4:55PM Former Lighthouse Inn operator Maureen Clark reported to federal prison this morning to begin serving an 87-month sentence for investment fraud, according to Judi Dauria, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.U.S. District Judge Warren W. Eginton had ordered Clark, 58, of Stonington to turn herself in to the Federal Bureau of Prisons by noon today following a July 9 hearing at which her attorney attempted to convince Eginton that Clark should remain free while appealing her conviction.The judge had already extended Clark’s surrender date several times so that she could get her personal and financial affairs in order. Clark is expected to serve her time at the Federal Prison Camp in Danbury, according to court documents.A federal jury in July 2012 found her guilty of 20 felony crimes, including one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 13 counts of wire fraud and six counts of money laundering. Eginton sentenced Clark to 87 months in prison in March and ordered her to repay the victims.According to the government, Clark and her business partner, Christopher Plummer, defrauded investors of $1.7 million in a resort investment scheme in Mississippi and spent the money on the failing Lighthouse Inn and on themselves. Plummer pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and is serving a 51-month prison sentence. As new owner, city to spruce up old inn, offer incentives to lure potential buyers

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CNN Presenter Tasks Nigerians on Nation Building CNN’s Fareed Zakaria By Amaka Eze Presenter of Global Public Square on CNN, Fareed Zakaria, has called on Nigerians to take on the task of achieving economic growth and the development of the country as a national project. Zakaria, who made this remark at ‘Airtel’s Night of influence’ which took place in Lagos on Sunday Night, spoke on the theme: “Africa’s Political Economy: The Challenge of Leadership.” According to him, no country is free from challenges, even as he urged policy makers and government in the country to ensure that they do the right things at all time. Zakaria added: “The government has to provide education, adequate power and basic infrastructure to grow a nation’s future; investing in a future means investing in children and their education and developing the country for tomorrow. “Nigeria needs political institutions that can organise the economy because any country that depends on its people is forced to enrich them; African leaders must strive to represent its people, and the people, its government.” Zakaria further stated that since the advent of technology, a lot of people are now actively involved in governance. According to him, “The world over is now a global stage, set for global advancement; unlike when America and Europe were at the forefront of events. Africa, Asia and Latin American the marginalised are now at the centre and now have the same potentials they hitherto was available to the super powers and therefore have the same potentials to drive development in their domains.” He said: “The monopolies of states have being broken, with the aid of the internet, satellite and cell phone revolution. Things change when people are able to see, touch, feel and read. The cell phone supports communication, thus breaks barriers that couldn’t be broken some 15 years back.” Zakaria further explained that Africa was on the move, stressing that Nigeria as the giant of Africa had great potentials to thrive. “Political stability, economic convergence and technology breakthrough are the three major factors that aid the breakthrough of any nation; as their human capacities continue to increase,” he argued. On his part, former President Olusegun Obasanjo had commended Zakaria for coming to Nigeria, noting that his was a wake-up call to all political leaders and public office holders. “This interaction will further boost growth of the nation, driving its socio-economic development,” he said. Tags: News, Nigeria, Featured, Fareed Zakaria, CNNComments: 0

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Mobile: mobile.towncrieronline.com Virtual Community Calendar News Sports Society Blotters Customer Service Affiliated Sites Letters to the Editor « Canfield needs charter amend... New Canfield superintendent...» Charter amendments bad for Canfield Save | Dear Editor, There are two proposed charter amendments on the ballot for City of Canfield residents to vote on this year. They propose to amend sections 3.01 and 3.05 of the City Charter and would be effective Jan. 1, 2013. If these amendments are approved they will actually make six changes in Canfield government. 1. Change the term of office for all members of City Council from four years to two years. 2. Change the term of office for Mayor from four years to three years. 3. Limit the number of consecutive terms an individual could serve on City Council to three consecutive two-year terms. 4. Limit the number of consecutive terms of office the Mayor could serve to two consecutive three-year terms. 5. Prevent any city resident who has held "any elective office for more than 6.5 years from running for City Council or Mayor in the 2013 or 2015 election. 6. Removes the current mayor and all but two members of City Council from office at the end of 2013 without declaring who the successors might be. Thus having three new elected officials starting in 2014. These proposed charter amendments should be DEFEATED for the following reasons. 1. Changing the term of office for any part time elected official in the City of Canfield makes no sense and only opens the door to inefficiency. It has been my experience in my 40+years of local government that it takes newly elected officials a year or more to become familiar with the intricacies of local government. The four=year term provides time for this learning process, plus allows time to develop, evaluate and implement projects before the next election cycle starts. With a shorter term elected officials are just completing the learning process in their first term when they have to run for election again. If they are defeated then someone new starts the learning process and the continuity of long-range program planning is further delayed. The four-year term was chosen by the original framers of our City Charter in 1968 for good reason. It is more efficient. 2. The concept of term limits is provided for in the charter by having the mayor and each member of council serve a four-year term. If the voters are not satisfied with the work the elected official has done, the elected official can be removed by the election process. At the local government level, it is difficult to find good qualified individuals that will serve in a part-time role. If someone spends the time necessary and is doing a quality job, as determined by the voters, why should their service time be limited? Quality people are hard to find and term limits favor the minority. 3. The idea of preventing any current of former elected official from running for office in 2013 or 2015 is ridiculous. I thought the idea was to have the electorate select the best qualified individuals for these positions. Isn't that in Canfield's best interest? If term limits are approved in the future, it seems that everybody participates on day one as though they have never held office. They aren't penalized for previous service. The proposed charter amendments appear to be drafted to create a vacancy in the mayor's office and two vacancies on City Council in the 2013 election without any consideration for the work being done by the individuals holding those positions currently. It appears someone wants to run for office without competition from those currently serving. 4. The City of Canfield will establish a Charter Review Commission next year as it has every five years since the Charter was adopted in 1969. If there are ideas for amending the Charter, the Charter Review Commission would be a great place to start a discussion about proposed changes. I will vote against the proposed Charter amendments and suggest that every voter do the same. Charles H. Tieche Retired Canfield city manager Save | Subscribe to The Town Crier Youngstown Weather Forecast, OH 240 Franklin St. SE , Warren, OH 44483 | 330-629-6200

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'Case might be still going on' Story Created: Nov 22, 2012 at 12:01 AM ECT Nov 22, 2012 at 7:10 AM ECT Former chairman of the Caribbean Court of Justice and former chief justice Michael de la Bastide said he believes if the 115 Muslimeen insurgents were properly prosecuted going through all the judicial processes, a number of the cases might still have been going on today. Giving testimony at the commission of enquiry into the 1990 attempted coup, de la Bastide stated: "As someone that had responsibility at one time for the judiciary, I think if 115 Muslimeen had to be tried in five batches, throughout the magisterial preliminary enquiry, trial at the Assizes, appeals (at the Court of Appeal and Privy Council), a number of cases might be still going on. "I am not saying that this would have been a reason for not undertaking the challenge, we (would have) had no other option, but it would have been a huge challenge to our judicial system. From a purely pragmatic point of view—and I am not justifying not prosecuting them—but I am saying incidentally the one advantage (of them being freed) was that we were not faced with that huge problem." He added, somewhat jocularly: "By now, I suppose, Section 34 (might have applied)." Asked by commissioner Eastlyn McKenzie whether the granting of the amnesty contributed to the escalation of crime, de la Bastide said while he did not think himself qualified to answer that question, he did not feel it was that significant a contributor to crime. "What I think has an effect that dwarfs anything that the pardon they got might have is the frequency with which persons who commit crimes escape punishment, escape detection and even when they are prosecuted, escape conviction. "At frequent intervals, you read a case in which the witness has changed his evidence, and the prosecution case fails, and you read about persons not putting on masks where shootings are done in broad daylight because they are apparently so confident no one is going to testify against them, and their opportunism appears to be well justified. Those are the things that encourage the escalation of crime," he said. De la Bastide said, however, there was something repugnant in people's eyes for the people carrying out the sort of action that the Muslimeen did and relying on the court of law and the law of the land to escape punishment. "It appears to many people to be wrong that they who were set on overthrowing law and order should be able to invoke that system to escape punishment." He said it was not so much the pardon, but the fact that the Muslimeen avoided prosecution in the end that upset the population. And, he noted, it was not the pardon that freed them but the absence of an appeal against habeas corpus proceedings. "That was a very unfortunate gap in our law, that the decision that was made in the first instance by a single judge should have controlled the outcome of a case, which subsequently was heard by three judges of appeal and five judges at the PC (Privy Council) and led to the reversal of the result to which the first judge had come. But you couldn't give effect to that reversal," he said. The law on habeas corpus has since been changed to allow for appeals. —Ria Taitt Next Article WE WILL SURVIVE Big blow to election campaign WE WILL SURVIVE Vernella’s obsession with Rowley’s past Judge cleared of misconduct claims Couple robs Tobago casino of $.5m This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Big blow to election campaign WE WILL SURVIVE Vernella’s obsession with Rowley’s past Judge cleared of misconduct claims Couple robs Tobago casino of $.5m PTSC mechanic crushed to death between buses Questionable $8m payment Open Letter To the Prime Minister Kamla: Women endure more blows ‘Lynching’ in the House Weather

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Al Qaeda announces India wing, renews loyalty to Taliban chief (Corrects spelling of Gujarat in paragraph 3) * Says wing will rescue Muslims from injustice * Message also appears to be snub to Islamic State * Zawahri calls for unity among militants By William Maclean DUBAI, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahri on Wednesday announced the formation of an Indian branch of his militant group he said would spread Islamic rule and "raise the flag of jihad" across the subcontinent. In a 55-minute video posted online, Zawahri also renewed a longstanding vow of loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, in an apparent snub to the Islamic State armed group challenging al Qaeda for leadership of transnational Islamist militancy. Zawahri described the formation of "Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent" as a glad tidings for Muslims "in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir" and said the new wing would rescue Muslims there from injustice and oppression. Counter-terrorism experts say al Qaeda's ageing leaders are struggling to compete for recruits with Islamic State, which has galvanised young followers around the world by carving out tracts of territory across the Iraq-Syria border. Islamic State leader Abu Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi calls himself a "caliph" or head of state and has demanded the loyalty of all Muslims. The group fell out with Zawahri in 2013 over its expansion into Syria, where Baghdadi's followers have carried out beheadings, crucifixions, and mass executions. As well being an indirect repudiation of Islamic State, the announcement could pose a challenge to India's new prime minister, Narendra Modi. He has already faced criticism for remaining silent about several incidents deemed anti-Muslim, underscoring fears that his Hindu nationalist followers will upset religious relations in the majority Hindi nation. However, while al Qaeda is very much at home in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, due to influential contacts and a long presence there, it is a minnow compared to local militant groups in terms of manpower and regional knowledge. SAFE HAVEN Over the years Zawahri and his predecessor Osama bin Laden, killed by U.S. forces in 2011, repeatedly pledged allegiance to Mullah Omar, in return for the safe haven he granted their followers in Afghanistan. The statement did not mention Islamic State or Baghdadi, but it appear to take a subtle dig at the group's efforts at administering areas it has seized in Iraq and Syria. Islamic State's effort at state-building is something never attempted by al Qaeda's central leaders, who traditionally have preferred to plot complex attacks on targets in the West. Zawahri called for unity among militants and criticised "discord" - echoing a common al Qaeda complaint against Islamic State's record of clashing with rival Islamist groups in Syria. The statement also warned al Qaeda's new wing against oppressing local populations - another complaint levelled against Islamic State by critics in Iraq and Syria. "If you said that you are doing jihad to defend the sanctities of the Muslims, then you must not transgress against them or their money or honour, and not even transgress your mujahideen brothers by word and action," he said. "Discord is a curse and torment, and disgrace for the believers and glory for the disbelievers," he said. "If you say that by your jihad you do not want but the pleasure of Allah, then you must not race for governance and leadership at the first opportunity." Muslims account for 15 percent of Indians but, numbering an estimated 175 million, theirs is the third-largest Muslim population in the world. Centuries of rule by medieval Muslim invaders drove a wedge between Hindus and Muslims. Tensions have grown since Pakistan was carved from Muslim-majority areas of India in 1947, a violent partition in which hundreds of thousands were killed. In the era of Washington's "war on terror", some Indian Muslims have begun to sympathise more with hardline pan-Islamic groups and causes. (Editing by Alison Williams) We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of the Thomson Reuters Foundation. For more information see our Acceptable Use Policy.

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Shop at Home Network goes out of business EW Scripps Co. announced last week that it's shutting down its Shop At Home network because of ongoing operating losses and the absence of a suitable buyer for the business. The company said it would take an after-tax loss in the second quarter of up to $60 million for the shutdown, Reuters reported. Scripps, a broadcaster and newspaper publisher, will stop broadcasting the Shop At Home TV network and close its Web site June 22. The network's 660 full-time employees will receive severance packages and “a range of career transition services,” Scripps said in a statement. The company said it is exploring programming alternatives for the five Shop At Home affiliates it acquired in 2004 while it seeks buyers for the stations. Scripps acquired a controlling interest in Shop At Home in 2002, and bought the remaining interest in 2004 for a about $285 million. The network has incurred $84 million in losses since 2002.

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President 'must act on shootings' Escalating violence in Papua needs his urgent attention, activists say Haris Azhar of the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Photo by Ryan Dagur) by Ryan Dagur, JakartaIndonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono must move quickly to restore order in Papua in the wake of an alarming increase in the number of shootings in the eastern province, activists in Jakarta said yesterday. “The president must not underestimate the situation in Papua. [He] must immediately evaluate what the police and military are doing in the province since they are failing to guarantee the safety or protect civilians there,” the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence said in a statement. He must ensure police conduct fast, effective and transparent investigations into the cases in order to bring the perpetrators to court. He must also make sure security forces do not adopt a heavy-handed approach with civilians as it is imperative they get the local population’s support, they added. The commission says the number of shootings in Papua has increased significantly, up from a total of 13 cases in 2011 to 17 cases in the first six months of this year. The shootings this year have seen seven civilians and a journalist killed, and 10 others, including a German tourist, seriously wounded. Commission coordinator Haris Azhar said the shootings appear to be random. “Those behind the shootings are being indiscriminate. Their victims have been civilians, including a motorcycle taxi driver, a journalist, a teacher and members of the police and military as well as a foreigner,” he added. In a report yesterday, the president admitted that security officers have in the past overreacted in their handling of security in Papua and steps would be taken to address this. “In cases where there are violations by military of police officers while carrying out their duties – which is not easy and is complex – sanctions should be handed down,” he was quoted by the Jakarta Globe as saying. Anger at ‘out-of control’ military Less security key to peace, activist says Jilin, China

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Home / Top News / Special Reports Fingers point in Sinai attack Aug. 7, 2012 at 1:19 PM Comments BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah denounced weekend attacks in Egypt but said Israel is the greatest threat to the region. Unknown gunmen in the Sinai Peninsula killed 16 Egyptian troops before fleeing into Israel in stolen vehicles, The New York Times reports. Parts of Egypt, notably the Sinai Peninsula, have been lawless since the country's revolution in 2011. Nasrallah, in a statement published by Hezbollah's media arm, denounced the attack but said it was the Israelis who would benefit the most from the lawlessness. He noted that "the No. 1 threat for Israel in the world is Hezbollah." The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood said, in a statement, that "evidently" the attack may be the work of Israeli intelligence, "which has sought to abort the revolution ever since its launch." Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak was quoted by the Times as saying Israel can rely "only" on itself for its national security needs. "I hope that this will be a wake-up call for Egypt regarding the necessity to be sharp and efficient on their side," he said. Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, during a swearing-in ceremony in July, said that while he was responsible for the military, the security regime would continue under its conventional duties. Related UPI Stories Hezbollah states support for Assad regime Hezbollah's Nasrallah warms to dialogue in Syria Topics: Hassan Nasrallah, Ehud Barak, Mohamed Morsi Recommended

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Home / Top News / World News 2 gangs targeted in Canadian raids Dec. 13, 2011 at 5:53 PM Comments TORONTO, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Canadian police and various law enforcement agencies made about 60 arrests, including 10 juveniles, in gang raids early Tuesday that spanned four provinces. The raids by 20 police forces armed with 67 warrants happened simultaneously in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia and included the Canada Border Services agency and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the National Post reported. The massive pre-dawn sweep was organized by Toronto police. The project began in May and was dubbed Project Marvel, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said. In a release, police said the sweep included suspects in organized crime, attempted murder, firearms trafficking and importing, robbery, prostitution and various other offenses, the CBC said. Toronto police Chief Bill Blair and Superintendent Chris White of the Organized Crime Unit said at a news conference later in the day that the Young Buck Killaz and the G-Siders gangs were plaguing the Toronto area and were expanding their activities across the country, the Toronto Star reported. Besides the dozens of arrests, police said they seized weapons, cash and drugs, the Star said. The Globe and Mail reported the raids took place in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia. Blair said the investigation that led to the raids and arrests "revealed a level of mobility among street gangs not yet witnessed before in this city." Related UPI Stories Police nab 28 in Canadian biker drug raids Canadian construction firms raided Gazprom on defensive after EU raids Federal agents raid seven IHOP restaurants Comments Topics: Bill Blair, Chris White Recommended

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Goliad Airfield reopens in Berclair (video) By chirst Dec. 17, 2012 at 6:17 a.m.BERCLAIR - He made it from Corpus Christi to Goliad in about 10 minutes Monday.But that's easy to do in a T-6 Texan zooming at nearly 300 mph, said Commander James Norris, call sign "J-No," with the U.S. Navy. Norris flew the new plane to the Navy Outlying Field Goliad on Monday for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, celebrating the opening of the new airfield. "We are very excited. The Goliad airfield is extremely nice. It will be able to help us train naval aviators to go out to the fleet, offering air support to servicemen," Norris said.The Goliad field is used to practice touch-and-go landings for pilots in primary training from the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, said David Edgecomb, commanding officer for the Corpus Christi base and the outlying fields.Now the main outlying site for the T-6 Texan, Goliad County started allowing pilots land on Nov. 26. "We consider Goliad essential to our pilot flight training for the Navy, and we did a lot of work on the field. ... We are to the point where we are flying T-6s here every day, which is exciting," Edgecomb said. Because community members expressed concern about the increased noise in the area, Goliad County Judge David Bowman spent time outside during the ceremony to listen to the low-level approaches. "I wanted to get a gauge on the noise level, but it was minimal. There was a generator on the side of the building that was making more noise than the plane. It appears those concerns were unfounded," Bowman said.Vanessa Larimore, of Goliad, came to the grand opening to see the new facility and the planes that were brought in for community members to observe. "I think it is a good asset to the county. It is a neat experience to have something like this in our county," Larimore said. She is proud the Navy chose Goliad to train future pilots, she said, and added that she doesn't think noise will be a problem.About 40 community members spent the morning touring the new facilities, including a new fire station and improved runways and looking at the planes and fire equipment."It looks complicated to me; I think this is to dial 911," Bowman joked, as he surveyed the cockpit from the wing of the plane. Norris and other pilots also took a tour as the firefighters stationed at the base gave rides and demonstrations from the 1,500-gallon fire truck stationed at the base. The Corpus Christi Naval Air Station has eight planes in operation, with three more expected to come in this week and four more to come in January. In the next two years, Norris said, they hope to have 98 planes flying from Corpus Christi. Goliad County bought the airport, originally built by the Navy in the 1970s and known as the Chase Naval Air Station Auxiliary Landing Field Berclair, from the Navy in 1999 for $1, said Bob Torres, public affairs officer for the Navy.In summer 2011, the Navy bought back the airfield from the county, offering $2.36 million, Torres said. However, Bowman said another appraisal company valued the airport at $9 million. The county has a lawsuit pending in federal court against the Navy to increase the value of the field.SHARECommentsOutlying Field Goliad opensThe U.S. Navy celebrated the opening of the Outlying Field Goliad on Monday and welcomed community members to tour the new facility. • The airfield has two working runways.• At least one runway duty officer and three firefighters will staff the airfield during the week.• The Corpus Christi Naval Air Station should have 98 T-6 Texans in operation by the end of 2014. Eight fly from the base now.• The Navy regained control of the airfield from Goliad County in summer 2011.• They Navy started construction on the airfield in August 2011, including upgrading the runways and building a new fire station.•  The airfield is 1,136 acres.

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» Follow The World Desk On: U.S. Anti-Drug Aid Would Target Mexican Cartels By Manuel Roig-Franzia and Juan Forero MEXICO CITY, Aug. 7 -- The Bush administration is close to sealing a major, multiyear aid deal to combat drug cartels in Mexico that would be the biggest U.S. anti-narcotics effort abroad since a seven-year, $5 billion program in Colombia, according to U.S. lawmakers, congressional aides and Mexican authorities. Negotiators for Mexico and the United States have made significant progress toward agreement on an aid plan that would include telephone tapping equipment, radar to track traffickers' shipments by air, aircraft to transport Mexican anti-drug teams and assorted training, sources said. Delicate questions remain -- primarily regarding Mexican sensitivities about the level of U.S. activity on Mexican soil -- but confidence is running high that a deal will be struck soon. "I'm sure that it's going to be hundreds of millions of dollars," Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.) said in an interview. "If we're going to be successful in cutting out this cancer over there, we're going to have to invest a large amount." Cuellar, who has already proposed legislation to increase aid to Mexico, predicted that an announcement could be made as soon as Aug. 20, when President Bush is scheduled to meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderón and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Quebec. A Mexican government source cautioned against projecting an exact timetable despite "advances" in the talks. The plans are being discussed at a time when Mexico is struggling to contain a war among major drug cartels that has cost more than 3,000 lives in the past year and has horrified Mexicans with images of beheadings and videotaped assassinations. Calderón has impressed U.S. officials by extraditing a record number of drug suspects to the United States and by dispatching more than 20,000 federal police officers and soldiers to fight the trafficking organizations, but that effort has failed to stop the violence. The anti-drug aid package would represent a major shift in relations after years of tension and mutual suspicion among law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border. "It's astonishing and a sea change," said a senior Republican aide who works on drug policy issues. "It's a real recognition that Calderón has a problem. And his success or failure will impact us. The days of the finger-pointing are over." The aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he believes the program will be well received in Washington once it's unveiled. In Mexico, authorities have shied from talking publicly about the plan, concerned that the country's inherent suspicion of American meddling will prompt widespread rejection among Mexicans. The Bush administration has been developing the proposal quietly, so quietly that some people in Congress are beginning to complain about an aura of secrecy. "Who would Congress be providing assistance to, under what terms and conditions, and how would Congress know the support is not going to the very people who are engaged in this type of criminal activity?" asked Tim Rieser, a senior foreign policy aide for Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who chairs the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations. "There is bipartisan concern about the Bush administration's lack of meaningful consultation with Congress. They see Congress as their personal ATM machine, not as an equal branch of government." Persuading fellow legislators that the aid is vital and won't fall into the wrong hands, Cuellar said, is "going to be a marketing endeavor, or let me put it this way, an educational endeavor." Republican and Democratic aides said it is unclear whether the Bush administration will try to push for an emergency supplemental appropriation for next year's foreign aid budget or wait another year. Mexico already appears to be laying the groundwork to frame the plan not so much as an aid package but as the United States facing up to problems that are a consequence of American drug consumption. Calderón, often a cautious public speaker, has sternly called for the United States to pay more to combat the cartels. "The language that they're using is that the U.S. has a large responsibility for this problem," said Ana María Salazar, a former high-ranking Clinton administration drug official who was involved in implementing the U.S.-funded program for Bogota, known as Plan Colombia. CONTINUED 1 More North America Coverage America at War Full coverage U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Connect Online Share and comment on Post world news on Facebook and Twitter. Immigration Debate Immigration reform proposals before Congress have sparked a nationwide political debate. © 2007 The Washington Post Company

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Cruise Ship Illnesses Continue to Spread on Crown Princess Subscribe Free By Jasmine Allen · April 10, 2014 · Comments Off Get the WebProNews Newsletter: Add to Flipboard Magazine. An illness on the Crown Princess cruise ship continues to affect passengers on the vessel. The ship has been on a seven-day voyage visiting ports in California, which includes stops in San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. A norovirus was detected and was said to be very contagious. It generally causes nausea, diarrhea, stomach cramping, and other flu-like symptoms. The cruise ship’s spokeswoman Karen Candy said that the illness is easily spread via person-to-person contact. The virus tends to stick to surfaces and is more dominant in very closed or tight areas-especially bathrooms. After some of the symptoms have depreciated, it takes a few days for a person to completely cure from the illness. The number of sick travelers has recently totaled to 17 crewmembers and 66 passengers. When the ship left the San Francisco port on Monday, only 37 members had come down with some of the symptoms. Those who were sick were placed in isolated cabins on the ship. The ship’s staff has quickly responded to the outbreak. Although sanitizers and meticulous cleaning cannot kill the virus, door handles and other surfaces have been disinfected. The cruise ship is scheduled to end its travels on Saturday at the Los Angeles port where it first started the trip. This is not the first case this year where a cruise ship has been attacked by the norovirus. In January, 600 travelers on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, Explorer of the Seas, caught the bug. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made their way onboard to investigate the illness and determined that the virus was present on the ship. The ship-which was en route to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Isles-had to end the 10-day trip sooner than expected and returned to its New Jersey port. Cruise Ship Illnesses Continue to Spread on Crown Princess April 10, 2014 Comments Off Related Items California Carnival Cruise ships crew members sick Crown Princess cruise ship norovirus sick passengers Virus About Jasmine Allen

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Migration Madness, Part 64,368 As if finding men in black wasn't tough enough already (see below), an apparent technical glitch is forcing the deportation of a popular Irish-born priest who found his way to South Dakota a decade ago and had, he says, initially been approved for permanent residency.Suffice it to say, the parishioners have begun to mobilize:Every Sunday at Saint Thomas Aquinas and two other churches in the community, the pews are full of people wanting to hear Father Cathal Gallagher speak. When the community heard he would be leaving by July, they jumped into action and wanted to help.When Patti Ward and others in Father Gallagher's congregation heard his residency was denied, it hit the community hard."We just don't understand what happened and he's too important to lose," said Patti Ward, one of the congregation members heading up an effort to reopen Father Gallagher's case. It's a feeling Father Gallagher shares, as he has fallen in love with the town."We're there for one another, we look out for one another, it's just quality of life. And I like it," said Father Gallagher, who has been a priest in DeSmet for over 10 years. We spoke with the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls who said priests from all over the world come to the U.S. to work and can get a permit because they are part of a religious order. They added, they have done all they can to get Father Gallagher to stay.In 2001, the diocese applied for Father Gallagher's permanent residency and two years later, it was approved. But somewhere along the way, he's been told, a technical error occurred, which he hopes wont keep him from staying."I have no right to live in this country. It's your county. I depend on your graciousness and goodness of your government to allow me to live in this country," stated Father Gallagher.It's why Patti and others are fighting to reopen the case.Lest anyone be unaware, it's not the first time a religious worker's been made to move.Late last year, parishioners of a Florida monastery sought to nix the deportation of a cloistered strict-observance Augustinian brother back to his native Philippines. -30- Justice in His Time The New Breed On Worship The Pope and "Herr Professor" A Hero's Sendoff "With Distinction" Cardinal, Doctor, Rockstar History's "Deepest Revolution" Affirming the "Feminine Genius"

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Weather Cams Colorado gets a break with wildfires thanks to rain Posted: Thu 5:33 AM, Jul 05, 2012 / Article DENVER (AP) - Firefighters battling a Colorado wildfire that has destroyed nearly 350 homes and scorched 28 square miles are hoping to have it fully contained by Sunday, thanks to rain and cooler temperatures. The light rains have helped calm the Waldo Canyon Fire, and more rain, cooler temperatures and higher humidity are expected through the weekend. That's good news in the fight against the most destructive fire in state history that's also left two people dead. But the forecast is not as kind in eastern Montana, where a huge 380-square-mile wildfire in Custer National Forest is consuming pine, juniper and sage with the help of gusty winds. The fire has burned 16 homes. The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, says there are 45 large fires burning nationwide, including 36 in nine Western states.

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Dear Mr. Obama: My sacrifice was no mistake Posted By Drew Zahn On 09/12/2008 @ 1:49 pm In Front Page | Comments Disabled American soldier and Iraq war veteran Joe Cook has created a YouTube video with a powerful message for politicians who speak against the Iraq war: “When you call the Iraqi war a mistake, you disrespect the service and the sacrifice of everyone who has died promoting freedom.” The video with a simple message and a shocking ending has surpassed 5 million hits and over 700 responses. The video is in itself a response to various comments by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, such as those that appeared in a July 14, 2008, editorial in the New York Times, where Obama wrote, “I opposed the war in Iraq before it began, and would end it as president. I believed it was a grave mistake to allow ourselves to be distracted from the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban by invading a country that posed no imminent threat and had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks.” Cook, of Wauconda, Ill., has served in the military for four years and in Iraq for a tour of 12 months. He believes the work and sacrifice of our soldiers in Iraq should never be called a mistake. “Dear Mr. Obama,” Cook’s video begins, as he speaks into the camera beside an American flag, “Having spent 12 months in the Iraq theater, I can promise you this was not a mistake. I witnessed firsthand the many sacrifices made for the people of Iraq. Those sacrifices were not mistakes.” Cook told WND, “I have paid a price. I have friends who have paid the ultimate price. And it is very powerful that through the history of our country great men had to sacrifice in blood to keep this country free. That in itself is very powerful; it should be very prideful for people to look back on our country’s history and know that there are still people who will pay that sacrifice for everybody’s freedom.” The meaning of the word “sacrifice” to Cook becomes even more apparent after watching the video, which you can see below: As Cook walks away from the camera at the end of the video, revealing his missing leg, the underlying meaning of his assertion, “Freedom is always worth the price,” becomes clear. Joe’s father, Bob Cook, told WND the story of how his son paid that price. Joe’s time in Iraq was winding down, only a few months from coming home, when Bob got a phone call at work. “Dad?” said Joe, the youngest of Bob’s three sons who have served in Iraq. The tone of Joe’s voice instantly told Bob something was wrong. “How bad?” Bob asked. Joe told his father that he had been patrolling in a striker battalion when a roadside bomb tore through the vehicle. They had been hit before, but this was particularly powerful. Joe’s left leg had been crushed so badly, there was no choice but to amputate. “That was a shock and a blow,” Bob told WND. “But I knew he would survive, that’s the most important thing.” After spending last summer in a hospital in San Antonio, Joe came home to Illinois, where his family was contacted by a private party about making a video based on Joe’s experience. His father, an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention for the McCain camp, told Joe about the opportunity. Joe then met with the man for 3 hours to script and shoot the video. Despite the video’s endorsement of the Republican ticket, there’s no indication that the man had any official connection to the McCain campaign. Joe regrettably admitted to WND that he has forgotten the name of the man who helped him film the video, but explained that he edited the man’s script to express his personal touch and thoughts. “The main thing is, support the troops,” Joe told WND when asked what message he hoped people would take away from the video. “They’re over there fighting for freedom and we always need to support them, love what they do, just support the troops 100 percent.” Despite the McCain endorsement in the video, response online has been overwhelmingly favorable. “He says what many of us feel,” wrote a respondent identified as robertlee528. “After coming home from a long deployment, it hurts to hear people say we are wrong for building schools and hospitals. If more people could only see what really happens.” “Ugh … I am so tired of stuff like this,” wrote respondent austinmcconnell in one of the few critical comments. “Obama isn’t saying that the soldiers themselves are horrible people who deserve no respect. Obama is calling it a diplomatic mistake. We had no evidence whatsoever of the existence of weapons of mass destruction whatsoever. None. He isn’t calling your sacrifice a mistake! Just the circumstances of you’re being there.” Some respondents, however, have responded by adding to Cook’s voice their own stories of sacrifice. “My brother was killed by a sniper in Iraq,” wrote toonphreak1, “two weeks before he was supposed to return home to his family, including his three-year-old son. “It makes me furious to hear people call what our troops are doing in Iraq a ‘mistake.’ The young man my brother pushed out of the path of that sniper’s bullet would not call my brother’s heroism a mistake.” Lastly, Joe’s dad has offered an opinion on the video that Joe will likely remember for the rest of his life. “I love it,” Bob told WND. “I think it’s very powerful. I think he did a good job with it. I’m very proud of him.”

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Most ND Students Stand Behind Te'o Regarding Hoax By: WNDU Posted: Thu 10:15 AM, Jan 17, 2013 By: WNDU Home / Georgia / Article Shock quickly spread through Notre Dame's campus Wednesday night, as students learned star football player Manti Te'o's dead girlfriend isn't real. The university released a statement saying Te'o "had been the victim of what appears to be a hoax in which someone using the fictitious name Lennay Kekua apparently ingratiated herself with Manti and then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia." Despite skepticism among some fans, most Notre Dame students say they believe Te'o had nothing to do with the hoax. "A lot of people are giving Manti the benefit of the doubt, saying probably he got hoaxed, that it's something he wasn't part of," said student Meggan Muller. "Hopefully that's true." Few people have shown Te'o more support during the successful season than his classmates. Many of them sported leis at games, following the deaths of his grandmother and girlfriend. In students' eyes, Te'o was not only a stand-up athlete, but a stand-up guy. And, until it's proven otherwise, many students say their view of the player hasn't been tainted. "I think he's too good of a person to know about it this the whole time," said Notre Dame student Lucas Heus. Students are hopeful they'll get to hear more about the complex situation from Te'o himself. Until then, they're just trying to make sense of all the stories surrounding the hoax. "I don't know why someone would do this to such an awesome person," said student Nick Rishard. Blakely Prepares for Peanut Proud Festival WTVY.com Features

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Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012 ISLAND BEAT: Oh, what a busy beach it was for the holidays Share by: Rachel Brown Hackney With temperatures hovering the 80s for much of the holiday period, it was no surprise that the No. 1 beach in the country was a popular spot. Sarasota County lifeguard Robert Martini told me Monday that county staff estimated between 12,000 and 15,000 people on Siesta Public Beach each of the three days leading up to Jan. 1. “We were extremely busy,” he said. Christmas Day was even busier, he added. “They filled up our parking lot,” he said, along with the paid lots at St. Boniface Episcopal Church and St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church on Midnight Pass Road. The county parking lots from Beach Accesses 3 to 13 also were full, he said. Among the visitors, Martini said, were numerous Amish tourists in town from Ohio and Michigan. Their attire may be a bit different from what one would expect to see on a beachgoer, but the Amish were having just as much fun as everyone else, according to Martini’s observations. Families made up the largest portion of the people enjoying the sun and water, Martini said. “There were no problems for us or the Sheriff’s Office,” he added, except for some first-aid cases. One woman, from the Midwest, apparently became overheated one day, Martini said. “It was so warm for her (on Siesta) versus where she’s from,” he added. Another person reported being stung by a stingray, Martini said, though he didn’t have the details on that case. The only other noteworthy point from the holidays, he added, was “everyone’s looking for that No. 1 beach sign.” He fielded a lot of questions about where to find it, he said, but the only signs to which he could direct people were those attached to the Sarasota County Area Transit signs just before Labor Day weekend. I saw some email exchanges among county commissioners and Rob Lewis, executive director of the county’s Planning and Development Services Department, just before Christmas that indicated further tweaks were necessary before the new 4-foot-by-8-foot sign could go up near the Siesta Beach pavilion. The County Commission Dec. 14 unanimously approved the concepts Lewis presented that day for the two-sided sign, but a couple of commissioners suggested slight changes to one side of the sign. I was unable to reach Lewis before our Observer Group holiday break, so I hope to have more details by next week on when exactly the sign will appear at the beach. Helen Clifford, the Siesta Key Condominium Council Board of Directors member who oversaw the organization’s annual Condo Lighting Contest, has provided the names of complexes that won Honorable Mention recognition following the Dec. 16 judging. Those yellow-ribbon winners were Horizon West, Island Reef, Castle Del Mar, Palm Bay Club and Whispering Sands. Clifford wanted to make sure all judges were in agreement about the list before she released it, so it was not available for my Dec. 29 column. I am sure the numerous visitors to the Key appreciated the efforts that the condos put into their seasonal “attire.” Savings for good causes St. Boniface Episcopal Church is holding a half-price sale on clothing at its thrift shop through Jan. 14. The shop is located at 6622 Superior Ave., in Gulf Gate. It is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. Lisa Wolf, the church’s administrative assistant, also welcomes people who are cleaning out their closets and cupboards for the new year to drop off gently used house wares, books (especially paperbacks) and clothing. “Your savings benefit community outreach,” she said. “Last year alone, the thrift shop awarded $6,000 to hard-working local nonprofit groups.” For more information about the thrift shop, call 921-4069. Math woes Once again, a reader caught a mistake I attribute to haste and my general challenges in the subject of math. Jack Conway emailed a note last week to say that if the Key’s late, beloved Capt. Ralph Styles died at age 98 in 2008, he would have been older than 16 when he was serving at Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941. Mr. Conway was correct. I did a little more research and learned that Styles was born Feb. 27, 1910; he graduated in the upper half of his U.S. Naval Academy class in 1933. That made him 31 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Conway and his wife, Karen, have their own fond memories of Styles. Conway said he recalled one time when he took a Vietnam veteran — a fighter pilot — to watch the lowering of the American flag in Styles’ front yard on Beach Road and saw the pilot’s eyes tear up. Another holiday email brought good news from Sheila Lewis, co-owner of Siesta Sports Rentals. After someone called to say the shop’s missing beach wheelchair was at Gilligan’s on Ocean Boulevard, Sheila’s husband, Mike, went over there to check it out. Yes, the wheelchair was there, and it evidently had been there for several weeks, following its mid-November disappearance from Lido Key. It just took a while for someone to spot the Siesta Sports Rentals stickers on it, Sheila wrote. “It’s back where it belongs now,” she added. YEAR IN PICTURES: December, 2011 PHOTO GALLERY: Sounds of the Soul

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News 5 Team - Reporter Share: Facebook Andy Koen Andy started his broadcast career at KOAA News 5 in June of 2003. He has done everything from studio crew, to producer to photojournalism and editing. He is a Pueblo native and graduated from South High School in 1997. Andy earned a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from Sam Houston State University in 2002. Some of his outside interests include playing guitar, going to movies and playing with his dog.

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If we don't get our energy here, where will we get it? A few weeks ago, a Texas oilman cornered me at a brewery in the high-mountain town of Ouray, in western Colorado. Some young women from Moab had just taken the table next to my friend and myself, when the fellow wandered over to buy us a round. Eventually, he revealed that he worked for ConocoPhillips. This didn’t go over well with the Utah ladies, and Mr. ConocoPhillips grew defensive: Did they think the vehicle they had driven here ran on rainbows? When he found out I covered the industry as a reporter, he leaned in tipsily and asked, “Can we have a conversation? A real conversation?” The answer was apparently no, since what ensued felt like an energy-focused version of writer Rebecca Solnit’s essay, “Men explain things to me.” But if he had gotten past his assumption that I was an airy naïf, he would have realized that I mostly agreed with him: As drilling impinges on more communities, those communities need to have “real,” critical conversations about energy development, conversations in which the locals recognize their role as consumers. Paonia, Colo., where I live and work, recently became such a town. Last December, nearly 30,000 acres in the surrounding North Fork Valley were nominated for oil and gas leasing. Though the proposal was deferred this summer for further study, in November, the Bureau of Land Management announced its intent to auction about 20,000 of those acres Feb. 14. Given the habitat fragmentation and pollution that energy development can bring, many here have fought the proposal. Some of the earlier leases sprawled across mountain biking areas or sat next to schools. Others encompassed springs that feed the town water system or surrounded irrigation ditches for ranches, organic farms and vineyards. As Peter Heller reported in an essay for Bloomberg BusinessWeek this July, the North Fork Valley “is home to the largest concentration of organic farms in the Rocky Mountains. … The valley produces 77 percent of the state’s apples, 71 percent of its peaches.” The BLM received nearly 3,000 comments on the proposal, mostly in opposition. “None of (those) issues … are incompatible with oil and gas development,” Steven Hall, BLM’s Colorado communications director, told Heller. Even so, in its latest proposal, the agency removed a couple of the more controversial parcels, including the one closest to Paonia’s water supply and another containing a popular trail network. Most of the parcels remain, though. Worse, the sale would occur under the terms of the outdated Resource Management Plan, a 23-year-old document which governs development on hundred of thousands of acres. If the agency waited, it could re-examine the proposal under the updated version -- due in draft this spring -- which, in theory, would allow it to account for advances in drilling technology and changes to the area’s economy, demographics and environment. That might help the agency strike a clearer balance between energy development and other interests. At an environmental film festival in Paonia soon after the BLM’s decision, the audience booed throughout a Google Earth tour of the parcels still up for lease. When a staffer from the conservation group who hosted the event noted that the mountain biking parcel had been withdrawn, discontent only grew. Many refused to accept any leasing whatsoever. Opponents believe, as do their counterparts in many communities facing oil and gas development, that some places are too special to drill. It’s a valid view; I often share it. But that raises an uncomfortable question: Are there any places so unspecial that they should be drilled? Mr. ConocoPhillips knows well that few of us in Paonia or elsewhere can say we don’t rely on these fuels -- for heat, for transport, for electricity, for the fertilization of food. Every place matters to somebody. And what patch of Earth isn’t habitat for at least a few wonderful somethings? As Bobby Reedy, who runs a local auto shop in Paonia, told Heller: “I wanna flick the light switch and know the lights are gonna come on. If it’s not in my backyard, whose is it gonna be in?” If we continue to insist on living as we do now, maybe we need to see drill rigs from our kitchen windows and hiking trails, even our school playgrounds. How else can we truly understand the costs of something we use unless we’re confronted with them daily? This isn’t just the machinery of corporate greed; it’s the machinery of our vast collective energy appetite. And if we can’t look directly at it, and can’t accept what it does to our water and air, then it’s time to do more than just fight drilling. It’s time to go on an energy diet. Sarah Gilman is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News in Paonia, Colorado, where she is the magazine’s associate editor (hcn.org). Dennis Willis Every acre of the large landscapes, public estate is special. The problem is we have fallen into a false dichotomy of lands are either special and protected or a free fire industrial zone. Areas that are open to leasing or leased should have requirements prescribing the amount of disturbance and fragmentation what would be allowed. Best management practices and the most modern drilling technology should be expected and required. Much of the issue could go away if the oil and gas industry operated the way they say they operate in their advertising campaigns. Michael Tarbell How peculiar that this identical article appeared in HCN's Goat Blog (see hcne.ws/10ZVKjH) with the title "For Sale: The North Fork Valley", which I think summmed up the situation pretty accurately. I hope the author was not persuaded to retroactively edit the title into this rather generic version for reasons of political correctness. The North Fork Valley is STILL for sale, last I heard.As to "If we don't get our energy here...", it's pretty clear that, whoever "we" is, is getting energy HERE, so they can sell it over THERE. This has nothing to do with energy self-sufficiency or independence. See, e.g., "Fracking for Foreigners" (http://www.prwatch.org/news[…]s-backs-natural-gas-exports). Hi Michael--Thanks for your comment. I repurposed the blog post as a Writers on the Range column for broader publication through our syndication service. Because papers from all over the West publish pieces they receive through this service, editor Betsy Marston changed the title to be clearer and more enticing to a wider audience who might have no idea where or what the North Fork Valley is.As to your point about exports, the vast majority of natural gas produced in the U.S. is still burned in the U.S. for the simple reason that the only practical way to move it right now is by pipeline. Yes, there are several liquid natural gas terminals in the works right now, but this is an enormously energy intensive and expensive way to move the fuel, and is even more politically unpopular than fracking. Even if all of them are built, you won't see more than a fraction of U.S. gas going overseas. Meanwhile, the gas produced in the Rockies is headed to West Coast and Midwest markets, not down to the Gulf where the U.S.'s existing LNG terminals are. As a matter of fact, the U.S. is the globe's largest consumer of natural gas, and it does indeed still have to import natural gas to meet domestic demand -- about 8 percent, even with the glut of shale gas produced in the recent boom that dropped the bottom out of the natural gas market. Please see the federal energy information administration for more information: http://www.eia.gov/[…]/index.cfm?page=natural_gas_imports--Sarah GilmanAssociate Editor, High Country News Hi Sarah, thanks for your reply. I've been away from the computer, here is a tardy response:Your points are well taken regarding the current disposition/movement of U.S. natural gas resources. There is no question that, for better or worse, the majority of U.S. natural gas production will be consumed domestically.But oil & gas companies are so furiously ramping up the intensity of extraction that even U.S. demand can't keep up. I am aware of the assessments/projections of the EIA (see, e.g., their Annual Energy Outlook), and indeed, these and other government data indicate that the U.S. will be a net exporter of natural gas within 8 years, and a net exporter of liquified natural gas within 3 years. We are ALREADY a net exporter of refined petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel... in fact that is our TOP export, even more than weapons.One might wonder, naively, why aren't we stockpiling this excess production, in the interest of 'energy independence'? Well, because everybody involved, both government and industry, knows that this would only briefly delay the inevitable... for example, at 2010 consumption rates, the ENTIRE U.S. TRR (Technically Recoverable Resource) of shale gas would meet U.S. natural gas demand for less than 20 yrs; the entire Marcellus shale, which contains vastly more gas than the proposed North Fork Valley lease area, would last less than 6 yrs.So, does it really make sense to let an already heavily subsidized industry become even more obscenely bloated with profit, while they foul our water and air to extract and sell what amounts to a pathetic, short-lived crutch? The fossil fuel industries KNOW this is a dead end resource that's not going to make us energy-independent, not going to rescue us from reliance on foreign 'terrorists', or anything of the sort. Their sole motivation here is simply PROFIT. They mean to sell, to whoever happens to be lined up at the trough, every ounce of fossil fuel they can extract, as fast as they can, WHILE they still can.As such I think your question (If we don't get our energy here, where will we get it?) may be misapplied here... it's reminiscent (even if unintentionally) of the absurd canard often voiced by industry proponents, i.e., that the NIMBYs should buck up and 'take a hit for the team', for the sake of the American way of life, or some such. That is not the situation at all. Rather, this is not acceptable in ANYONE'S backyard... it is demonstrably dangerous, toxic, wasteful, short-sighted, and intended solely to benefit privately-held companies through the exploitation and destruction of public resources.Yes, we CAN get our energy here. But not on these terms. Meanwhile, as you suggest, an energy diet is called for, until rational source(s) and infrastructure can be developed. But speaking of politically unpopular, recall Jimmy Carter barely escaping with his life for even suggesting that we might turn down the thermostat a few degrees.Regards-Mike Thanks for the thoughtful reply, Mike. I think you may be missing my chief argument though, which is that the real problem here, ultimately, is massive human consumption of energy resources, whatever they are. Specifically, I'm referencing utility scale projects. If it's coal, we're strip mining and pit mining and pumping carbon into the atmosphere. If it's hydro, we're destroying fisheries, species, whole habitats. If it's solar, we're paving over endemic plants and endangered species. Et cetera and so on. The demand for energy is the root cause of the problems we fight (and of course, underlying that, uncontrolled human population growth). Would you really argue against reducing energy use? No matter how you slice it, most of the energy produced in the U.S. is used here, for the simple reason that Americans are, per capita, the hungriest energy consumers in the world, especially in terms of natural gas. Isn't that something to correct? Is it wrong to encourage people to take at least partial responsibility for an industry they support through their actions if not their philosophies? Also, it should be noted that even if the U.S. became a net exporter of LNG, that would still represent only a small portion of the U.S. natural gas market, since we receive so little LNG relative to the domestically produced non-liquid natural gas we burn in power plants, furnaces, industrial operations etc. Robb Cadwell Sarah I don't think anyone has ever more succinctly articulated my thoughts on environmental protection and domestic energy production. I hope your piece is republished many times. Oh, and just for the record Mike--the headline is not my question. I didn't write it and I don't intend it to suggest NIMBYism is bad. In fact, I'm driving at something a little more like what you suggest in the end of your last comment, which is that: If we can't accept it, why should we expect anybody else to? Which of course forces the question: Should we use these fuels as we do if we're so uncomfortable with the environmental consequences? And Robb--thanks very much for the positive feedback. It's been interesting reading all the responses. Tim Baker I've long argued that we should put some of our potentially most damaging resource extraction and use right in our backyards precisely because the proximity will help ensure it's done right. If we continually push the problems to remote areas because of NIMBYism then problems are hidden from sight and there will be less push to do things the best, and often expensive, way. This applies to oil and gas, nuclear power, mining, and biofuels. Heck, it even applies to things beyond energy like logging. We Americans have to take responsibility for our resource use and seeing the impacts may well be a driver of reduced consumption. As it is, out of sight is out of mind. Thanks for bringing the issue up Sarah. Dawn Stover Great essay, Sara! And it's wonderful to see the comments section used for engagement that expands thoughtfully on the ideas raised, rather than the nasty vitriol that passes for comment on most websites. Does anybody care that the landscape of the West is being obscured by the massive wind turbines everywhere the wind blows and a landowner can be bought off. I don't care if the energy is free, is it worth permanently marring the vistas and landscapes of the West? Luanne/Michael Tarbell Hi Sarah, another delayed response.Didn't mean to make it sound like I was berating you about the headline question. I understand why it took its present form, and I further gather that we're more in agreement than not on this issue.As to your question, "Would you really argue against reducing energy use?", I would say, of course not, and I don't think I've submitted anything thus far that would suggest that.But I would note that it's not energy use per se that's the problem, i.e., there is no inherent ecological harm in, say, transforming electrical energy into mechanical work. Clearly the problem lies with the destructive and wasteful ways we PRODUCE that energy, and the similarly foolish ways we utilize it.It's also clear, as you note, that the U.S. is a monster per-capita energy hog (although see, e.g., Kuwait). The Earth simply could not support a population of 7 billion people if they were all consuming resources at the U.S. rate... indeed, even the existing situation is unsustainable. As I think you perceive, for any given lifestyle (i.e., rate of resource extraction/consumption, waste generation, etc), there is a corresponding global carrying capacity, and we have clearly exceeded it. That is, in a finite time, this system will collapse, perhaps irreversibly.So then, a rather more subtle question is, can we, or should we (presuming we still have time), try to settle on something like a 'target' lifestyle, calculate the corresponding global carrying capacity, and reduce (as necessary) the global population to a level at which such lifestyle could persist in equilibrium with the environment indefinitely? I think it's beyond us, but it's an intriguing concept.It's often argued that there are historic and existing examples of lifestyles that are of such minimal impact that the Earth could support an additional X billions of people. Well, yes, but that is not particularly compelling, any more than pointing out that the whole world's population could fit into the state of Texas. There's no question that, with sufficient sacrifice of comfort, capabilities, and freedom of movement, substantially larger human populations are possible.But why obsess over how to stuff ten pounds of crap into a five-pound bag? A factor of 10 reduction in global population might well allow us to have (most of) our cake and eat it too. No need for a mass culling, just stop having so many kids... the numbers will take care of themselves.Of course, China tried something like that, to the sheer horror of Western civilization. But we should probably be grateful for whatever time that bought us, as they, and most of the developing world, now queue up for SUVs, air conditioners, and iPads. Given our own history, who are we to admonish them not to?Best-Mike Note- my previous post is shown as submitted by Luanne/Michael Tarbell, whereas I am solely responsible for that particular rant. My profile seems to have spontaneously changed after my earlier posts, hopefully it's correct now, and my wife won't be accosted on the street -Mike Matthew Koehler RE: Gilman's statement, "If we continue to insist on living as we do now, maybe we need to see drill rigs from our kitchen windows and hiking trails, even our school playgrounds."For what it's worth, I, for one, don't "continue to insist on American's continuing to live as we do now" or as we have since the post-WW II era, for that matter. I continue to insist that, for the most part, the American people have, and continue to, dramatically use more than our fair share of the word's finite resources (See the chart below for a good illustration of that)....all while Americans (and our lawmakers, and people like Mr. ConocoPhillips) largely eschew efforts to reduce consumption, increase energy efficiency/recycling, etc.I also believe that over-population, in America and world-wide (as we are north of <a href="http://www.census.gov/popclock/" rel="nofollow">7 billion people, growing rapidly</a>) is a serious problem, which is one of the reasons I got 'fixed' years ago and my wife and I didn't pro-create. <img src="http://ncfp.files.wordpress[…]tprint-by-country.jpg" alt="null" />

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Home > SPJ News > Paparazzi penalties Paparazzi penalties FOI Alert Volume 3, Issue 7 (1997-98) 6/9/1998 Of the newspaper inches dedicated to a recent congressional hearing on the paparazzi, Paul Greenberg's syndicated column makes the most sense."There's really a very simple way to curb the excesses of paparazzi journalism. If the public would quit buying the publications that pay keyhole-peeping photographers for sleazy pictures, there would be no need for any legislation."Greenberg is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial page editor of the Little Rock Democrat-Gazette.Too bad he wasn't solicited to testify before the House Judiciary Committee.The committee's more loquacious members, clearly bent on bashing the media and commiserating with celebrity victims such as Michael J. Fox and Paul Reiser, cut short any argument from the few journalists there. "With video cameras, everyone is a freelancer. Now, our personal lives and private lives become sport," said Reiser. "Simply and obviously, there's a market for this." Reiser said he's never attempted to sue for what he believes is an invasion of his privacy.Fox said he has sued--but didn't indicate if he was successful--and stressed that the proposed bills are about "the hunting, not the cooking."The legislation also is supported by the Screen Actors Guild, which has taken a strong stand under the leadership of actor Richard Masur.It is difficult not to sympathize with Fox talking about helicopters hovering above his wedding ceremony or Reiser's account of people sneaking into the hospital to get photos when his child was born.Yet, we fail to counter these tales. We, the media, failed miserably before the committee to make a case for the First Amendment, the public's right to know the truth, or why a new federal penalty is unnecessary.These are the key questions that need to be answered before Congress creates a federal law based on celebrity anecdotes.Are current state laws adequate for trespass, stalking or harassment? If not, why not?Are there better remedies to consider for celebrities who both court the paparazzi and despise them?Will the bills impede daily news-gathering activities?Can they pass constitutional muster?If those questions can't be answered--by us or anyone else--Congress should proceed cautiously.Though not mentioned at the House hearing, there are cases that have gone to court. The one most recently resolved involved actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and wife Maria Shriver.Two photographers working for Splash news and photo agency chased the couple by car last May, surrounding the car when it stopped. Andrew O'Brien and Giles Harrison were given jail terms of 60 and 90 days respectively, ordered to pay $500 fines, and placed on probation for two years.Rep. Barney Frank, a Democrat from Massachusetts, was asked by David Lutman, president of the National Press Photographers Association: "Can you foresee a situation where it might be in the public interest to shoot with a telephoto lens?"Frank didn't hesitate."Just because it might be in the public interest doesn't mean we destroy everyone's rights. It's the mindset you manifest that makes me think some restraints are necessary," Frank said.These bills seem hell-bent for passage. And calmer heads may not likely prevail. There are three bills pending. Another is promised from Rep. John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan. State lawmakers in California also are leading the charge.Collectively, the bills have provisions to:Make it illegal to persistently chase someone in an attempt to photograph or record him or her for commercial purposes if that person has a reasonable expectation of privacy. Create a criminal penalty of not less than 20 years if the person being pursued dies as a result of the chase (five years if the person is seriously injured and no more than one year if nobody is hurt). Allow for suits against violators if "a personal or familial activity" is captured through the use of "a visual or auditory enhancement device," though neither of those phrases is well-defined. That latter provision would make it tough on local television stations investing in high-powered, helicopter-mounted cameras.In my hometown of Indianapolis, two of the four local stations have such gadgetry. But according to these bills, both might be subject to criminal prosecution for using them.Editorial writer Greenberg notes quickly why we have a problem."The natural tendency of the press to stampede, for we are herd animals, might land us all in jail under this vaguely worded proposal aimed at paparazzi. For that matter, almost any enthusiastic demonstration at a national convention, or even some Shriners' parades I've seen, might qualify for prosecution... ."Media coverage of the hearing also was dismal.The Associated Press, Daily Variety, The Press-Enterprise (California), The Gazette (Montreal), The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Los Angeles Times, and Electronic Media, all fashioned their stories around the testimony of Fox and Reiser.Opponents to the legislation barely made it into the stories. Next time, we'll be better-prepared.A Senate hearing is rumored in July for one of the bills introduced by California Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and Republican Orrin Hatch of Utah.Boxer also was one of the senators who led the charge on the Driver's Privacy Protection Act, which served to shut down millions of drivers' records across the country, records that historically had been public.Additional resources on this topic:Law and the Media, Public Relief by Michael Higgins, December 1997 Libel Defense Resource Center, February, April, May 1998 newsletters The News Media & The Law, Paparazzi trial ends in jail time; legislation considered, Spring 1998 CRS Report for Congress, Stalking: Recent Developments, Oct. 17, 1996 (being cited by Sen. Feinstein) The New Yorker, Is Nothing Private? by Jeffrey Rosen, June 1, 1998 Copyright © 1996-2015 Society of Professional Journalists. All Rights Reserved. Legal Society of Professional Journalists

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Irish reject e-voting, go back to paper The Irish government has given up on e-voting and is moving back to paper. The … by Jon Stokes File this in the "exporting democracy" category, or not: a recent report from Europe serves as a reminder that serious problems with e-voting aren't just an American malady, although it's much easier to move back to paper ballots if your country is fairly small. Just ask the Irish, who have announced their decision to scrap their e-voting system and return to paper. Ireland has already put about $67 million into building out its e-voting infrastructure, but the country has apparently decided that it would be even more expensive to keep going with the system than it would be to just scrap it altogether. In a statement, Ireland's Environment Minister John Gormely blamed the decision partly on the economic crisis, which has had an impact of nearly Icelandic proportions on the country's real estate market and banking system. "It is clear from consideration of the Report of the Commission on Electronic Voting that significant additional costs would arise to advance electronic voting in Ireland. This decision has been taken to avoid such costs, especially at a time of more challenging economic conditions. The financial and other resources that would be involved in modifying the machines in advance of implementation could not be justified in present circumstances", Minister Gormley said. Ireland's decision that it can't bear the continued costs of e-voting is merely the latest in an ongoing string of such decisions, in which states like Ohio and Florida have said that it's just too expensive to limp along with what is, in essence, a failed, poorly planned, large-scale IT infrastructure deployment. Few governments that scrap their existing e-voting systems go all the way back to paper like Ireland, though. In the case of Florida, for instance, the state moved totally to optical scan machines (and then it still managed to screw up an election). Expand full story

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print Belfer Center Home > Publications > Articles and Op-Eds > Op-Eds > China's Century is Not Yet upon Us Email Print Farmers shop for the upcoming Spring Festival in a market in Sichuan province, Jan. 28, 2010. China is trying to step up efforts to stimulate rural consumption as a way to drive domestic demand.AP Photo "China's Century is Not Yet upon Us" Op-Ed, Financial Times China's current reputation for power benefits from projections about the future. Some young Chinese use these projections to demand a greater share of power now, and some Americans urge preparation for a coming conflict similar to that between Germany and Britain a century ago. One should be sceptical about such projections. By 1900, Germany had surpassed Britain in industrial power, and the Kaiser was pursuing an adventurous foreign policy that was bound to bring about a clash with the other great powers. By contrast, China still lags far behind the US economically and militarily, and has focused its policies primarily on its region and on its economic development. While its "market Leninist" economic model (the so-called "Beijing Consensus") provides soft power in authoritarian countries, it has the opposite effect in many democracies. Even if Chinese gross domestic product passes that of the US in about 2030 (as Goldman Sachs projects), the two economies would be equivalent in size, but not equal in composition. China would still have a vast underdeveloped countryside and it will begin to face demographic problems from the delayed effects of its one-child policy. Moreover, as countries develop, there is a tendency for growth rates to slow. Assuming Chinese growth of 6 per cent and American growth of only 2 per cent after 2030, China would not equal the US in per capita income until sometime in the second half of the century. Per capita income provides a measure of the sophistication of an economy. While China's impressive growth rate combined with the size of its population will surely lead it to pass the US economy in total size, that is not the same as equality. And since the US is unlikely to be standing still during that period, China is a long way from posing the kind of challenge to America that the Kaiser's Germany posed when it passed Britain at the start of the last century. Nonetheless, the rise of China recalls Thucydides' warning that belief in the inevitability of conflict can become one of its main causes. During the past decade, China moved from being the ninth-largest exporter to the largest in the world, but China's export-led development model will probably need to be adjusted as global trade and financial balances become more contentious in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Although China holds huge foreign currency reserves, it will have difficulty raising its financial leverage by lending overseas in its own currency until it has deep and open financial markets in which interest rates are set by the market, not the government. Unlike India, which was born with a democratic constitution, China has not yet found a way to solve the problem of demands for political participation (if not democracy) that tend to accompany rising per capita income. The ideology of communism is long gone, and the legitimacy of the ruling party depends upon economic growth and ethnic Han nationalism. Some experts argue that the Chinese political system lacks legitimacy, suffers from a high level of corruption and is vulnerable to political unrest should the economy falter. Whether China can develop a formula that can manage an expanding urban middle class, regional inequality and resentment among ethnic minorities remains to be seen. The basic point is that no one, including Chinese leaders, knows how the country's political future will evolve and how that will affect its economic growth. In 1974, Deng Xiaoping told the United Nations General Assembly: "China is not a superpower, nor will it ever seek to be one." The current generation of Chinese leaders, realising that rapid growth is the key to domestic political stability, has focused on economic development and what they call a "harmonious" international environment that will not disrupt their growth. But generations change, power often creates hubris and appetites sometimes grow with eating. Some analysts warn that rising powers invariably use their newfound economic strength for wider political, cultural and military ends. Even if this were an accurate assessment of Chinese intentions, it is doubtful that China will have the military capability to make this scenario possible. Asia has its own internal balance of powers and, in that context, many states welcome a US presence in the region. Chinese leaders will have to contend with the reactions of other countries as well as the constraints created by their own goal of growth and the need for external markets and resources. Too aggressive a military posture could produce a countervailing coalition among its neighbours that would weaken both its hard and soft power. A recent Pew poll of 16 countries found a positive attitude towards China's economic rise, but not its military rise. The fact that China is not likely to become a peer competitor to the US on a global basis does not mean that it could not challenge the US in Asia, and the dangers of conflict can never be ruled out. But Bill Clinton was basically right when he told Jiang Zemin in 1995 that the US has more to fear from a weak China than a strong China. Given the global challenges that China and the US face, they have much to gain from working together. But hubris and nationalism among some Chinese, and unnecessary fear of decline among some Americans make it difficult to assure this future. Joseph Nye is Sultan of Oman Professor of International Relations and former Dean of the Harvard Kennedy School. The views expressed in this article are his own. For Academic Citation:Nye, Joseph S. "China's Century is Not Yet upon Us." Financial Times, May 19, 2010. "Improving U.S.-China Relations: The Next Steps"By Richard N. Rosecrance "Prestige Matters: Chinese and Russian Status Concerns and U.S. Foreign Policy"By Deborah Welch Larson and Alexei Shevchenko "The Future of U.S.-China Relations: Is Conflict Inevitable?"By Aaron Friedberg "US and China Need Not Bare Teeth"By Xiaohui (Anne) Wu "China's Bad Bet Against America"By Joseph S. Nye

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Submitted by witness on Friday, March 20, 2009. Possible tracks found crossing field of snow 50 years ago in the City of Thunder Bay (Show Printer-friendly Version) SEASON: FallMONTH: DecemberDATE: Dec 1958 or 59PROVINCE: OntarioCOUNTRY: CanadaNEAREST TOWN: Thunder Bay, Ontario, CanadaNEAREST ROAD: Queen StreetOBSERVED: My sighting of suspicious tracks happened when I was about 11 years old, around 1958. I remember it was a Sunday morning near noon. I was the first one out of the house and was on my way to the airport restaurant which used to be our hangout when we were young. I was heading west on Queen St. and had just past Sifton Ave. and crossed a large drainage ditch when I noticed these extrordinarly large footprints in the snow on my left. There was a vacant field there where we would play ball in the summer. Now it was covered with about 6 inches of snow. These footprints were about 18 inches long and 7 inches wide with strides near 4 feet long. The 5 toeprints on each foot were very clearly visible. They were heading in a southwesterly direction towards Rosslyn Road, bordered by the C.N.R. railway tracks on the left and the airport on the right. Unfortunately, no one else was with me at the time. I thought of notifying the police or some other authority of this sighting but, since I was only 11 years old, I didn't think anyone would take my story seriously. About a year or two later, I heard of a similar sighting near a small community about 150 miles north of Thunder Bay called Armstrong, of something they called "Big Foot" on a news bulletin. This was the first time I had heard of such a thing called "Big Foot" and brought back memories of what I had seen. Since that time, I have told many of my friends and relatives of this siting but never new who to get ahold of to make an official documentation of the incident. I'm glad I now have that opportunity. I know what I saw and I believe. Thanks for your time and consideration. HAPPY HUNTING!OTHER WITNESSES: I was the only one present.OTHER STORIES: I had heard of a similar incident in a community 150 miles north of Thunder Bay called Armstrong.TIME AND CONDITIONS: The incident happened near noon. It was a cool clear day.ENVIRONMENT: These footprints were spotted in a field. Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Todd Prescott: I spoke with the witness on March 25, 2009. Witness is now 62 years old, and was 11 or 12 yrs of age at the time he found the tracks (He wasn't certain if the tracks were found in 1958 or 1959). However, the size and step length (right to left, or left to right) left an indelible impact that is permanently etched in his memory. He was perplexed when he noticed toe impressions in the tracks on a cold early December day with six inches of snow covering the ground. He was able to gauge the length and width of the tracks by using his own shoe covered foot as a comparison. He was able to use the same strategy in gauging the step length. The tracks spanned across the entire length of the field in a southwesterly direction (as described in his report), toward a tract of forest. In the late 1950s, what is now named Princess Street used to be named Queen Street. Today, Queen Street is further to the north-east. As well, Hwy 61 was not present in that area at the time. But, according to the witness, not much else has changed in that area since the late 1950s.The witness hopes that divulging what he saw that day back in the late 1950s may perhaps prompt someone else to come forward who also noticed those strange tracks in the field. About BFRO Investigator Todd Prescott: Todd Prescott, B.Ed, B.Mus, has been researching the subject of bigfoot for well over 20 years Todd attended the 2006 and 2008 B.C. Coastal Expeditions, 2008 and 2011 Pennsylvania Expedition, 2010 Pennsylvania Mini Expeditions, the 2007 Ontario Expedition and he hosted the Ontario 2009 Expedition. His research has taken him as far as Alaska to PA, Northern Ontario to BC, including a 2-week solo expedition throughout the Bella Coola (B.C.) region. Most recently, in August of 2012, Todd had the honor and privilege of spending 4 days/nights with Mr. John Green in BC where he was granted permission to peruse Mr. Green's extensive files dating back to 1957. Todd also had the unique experience of researching with Mr. Green near Harrison Hot Springs one evening. Explanation of the report classification system Submit a report for the sightings database Please send any comments or inquiries to Contact@BFRO.net

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Search Main menuHomeStoriesRegionsSocials Secondary menuSubscribeAboutState.gov New Zealand 1 - 12 of 71 Stories December 23, 2014 Robust Responses From the Asia-Pacific Region to the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa “In West Africa, this remains the worst Ebola epidemic in history by a long shot. Every hot-spot is an ember… more 2 Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform Roundtable Highlights a Global Problem On April 11 in connection with the spring World Bank/International Monetary Fund meetings taking place in Washington, D.C., representatives of… more 0 Lest We Forget: A Weekend in the Life of a Diplomat in Solomon Islands President Obama has reiterated that the United States is a Pacific power. This is a geographic reality, and -- as… more 0 Remembering Our Fallen Heroes on Memorial Day On Memorial Day, we remember the men and women who gave their lives in service to our country. "They are… more 0 Securing Human Rights Online: Internet Freedom Fellows Program At the frontlines of the fight for freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are human rights defenders, who often depend… more 5 Preserving One of the Last and Greatest Ocean Wilderness Areas The United States is firmly committed to the protection of Antarctica's Ross Sea, one of the last and greatest ocean… more 1 Empowering Future Leaders in the Pacific I had the pleasure of hosting the inaugural Future Leaders of the Pacific conference. Young leaders ranging in age from… more 1 Demonstrating U.S. Commitment to the Asia-Pacific Region This was an historic and consequential year for U.S. diplomatic relations with the Asia-Pacific region. Following Secretary Clinton's announcement of… more 2 Travel Diary: Secretary Clinton Underscores U.S. Commitment to the Pacific In the Cook Islands, Secretary Clinton attended the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Post Forum Dialogue on August 31 as part… more 0 Travel Diary: Secretary Clinton Travels to East Asia, the Pacific, and Russia Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton travels to the Cook Islands, Indonesia, China, Timor-Leste, Brunei, and Russia, August 30-September 9. more 0 Fifty Years of Independence in Samoa Tomorrow will be a great day. I am in Apia, and will be participating in celebrations of the 50th anniversary… more 0 Remembering the Fallen on Memorial Day This Memorial Day the people of Kapiti Coast on the North Island of New Zealand unveiled a memorial to the… more 0 Pages123456next ›last » . U.S.-Colombia Defense Cooperation Agreement Writing for the U.S. Department of State DipNote blog, DipNote Bloggers highlight U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's meeting… more 7 U.S., Egypt: Working Together Through Great Challenges Writing for the U.S. Department of State DipNote blog, DipNote Bloggers highlight President Barack Obama's meeting with Egyptian President Hosni… more 3 Secretary Clinton Meets With Egyptian President Mubarak

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Shul donates renowned chazzan’s music collection Frances Kraft, Staff Reporter, Friday, February 1, 2013 Tags: Arts Comments Louis Danto Toronto’s Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue has donated the bulk of Cantor Louis Danto’s music collection to Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, which is home to one of the largest Jewish music collections in the United States. The world-renowned cantor, who died in 2010, served the congregation for 25 years. He was known for his bel canto style of singing, a demanding 17th-century technique that he studied in Rome after World War II. A native of Suwalki, Poland, Danto survived the war because he was sent to Minsk in 1939 at age 10 to study music on a scholarship. He and his fellow students were relocated when Germany invaded Russia. Over a five-decade career, Danto amassed a vast amount of sheet music, records, tapes, CDs and books. The cantor and his wife, Rouhama, donated the collection to the synagogue in 2005. But according to Beth Emeth’s executive director, Pearl Grundland, the Jewish music archive at the 50-year-old university can provide “proper exposure and accessibility to people around the world” that the synagogue can’t match. “The cantor was really beloved by Beth Emeth and all the members,” Grundland said. “There’s a lot of emotional attachment to the collection, but I would say anyone involved in this decision made the decision believing that this would be the best long-term home for the collection.” Aaron Kula, the FAU libraries’ director of music performance and education, said he has known the Danto family since he was a child, because his father was also a prominent cantor. “We always kept in touch to see if there was any possibility they might interested in gifting the collection to Florida Atlantic University,” he said, adding that the school’s music archive grew in large part because of the number of donations from Jews who had moved to South Florida after retiring. The Danto collection includes books of sheet music dating back to the 1800s and cantorial, Yiddish and opera recordings that are “almost considered priceless,” Grundland said. Danto travelled the world to perform in concerts, and wherever he went, he looked for special music, Rouhama Danto said. “What he really wanted was for it to be used.” Kula told The CJN that Danto built “an amazing world-class library… [with] sheet music in virtually every European language that exists, and there’s a wealth of one-of-a-kind cantorial music [in manuscript form] that he used. Those pieces are not published. They were handwritten… and they must date back to at least the early 19th century.” Kula called the collection “a major acquisition” for the library. As of last week, the 97 boxes of music were still waiting to be shipped from Toronto, pending resolution of customs details, Kula said. There are at least 10,000 pieces of sheet music, according to Kula. Each of them will be put into a searchable database, although the time frames for completing the work depend on how many people will be involved. As well, recorded music will go to the university’s recorded sound archives. “I think the goal of the Danto collection will be not only to preserve it, but to use it in performances,” said Kula, whose responsibilities include creating performance events using the university’s print music collections. “Cantor Danto was not only a cantor but a concert artist, so his library represents a performance library,” Kula said. “I’m very excited about getting it. I can’t wait for the boxes to arrive.” The university’s print music collection is online at http://www.library.fau.edu/depts/spc/spc/printmusic.htm, and its Judaica sound archives can be found at http://faujsa.fau.edu/jsa/home.php.

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Twitter Weibo Content » News and analysis Chinese media muzzled after day of glory By David Bandurski | Yesterday morning, July 30, CMP Director Qian Gang (钱钢) delivered a “letter from home” on RTHK Radio. Addressed to the journalists of China and Hong Kong, the letter looked back on a tumultuous week of coverage of the July 23 train collision in Wenzhou, full of victories and setbacks. The message of the “letter” was largely positive, remarking how July 29 had marked a rare high point for mainland Chinese media in particular, with bold and broad coverage of the Wenzhou crash and its implications. But just as Qian Gang’s message was hitting the airwaves, he was watching the weather change online. Strict controls on China’s media had been rolled into force just the night before, with authorities saying that “public opinion inside and outside China has begun to become complex.” A notice demanded that Chinese media immediately cool down their reporting and commentary on the July 23 Wenzhou train crash, and scores of Chinese media had to move frantically to fill the gaps as planned reports on the crash were suddenly off limits. [ABOVE: This image, posted to Sina Microblog on July 30, was a silent protest against new and concerted controls on media coverage of the July 23 train crash in Wenzhou.] The official Xinhua News Agency, which less than a week earlier had distinguished itself with a rare professional report asking hard questions about the train crash, now ran an interview with a top official from the embattled Ministry of Railways that was plainly a fluff piece. Question: Are there serious safety problems with China’s high-speed rail and train system? Answer: Through many years of development, we’ve made major technological progress in high-speed rail project construction, equipment manufacturing, operation and management and many other areas. But we still face many difficulties and challenges in the midst of this development. We are still full of confidence about the future of China’s high-speed rail system.” One enlightening bit of coverage that did not see the light of day yesterday was an interview by The Beijing News with Wang Mengnu (王梦怒), a railway engineer and member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences who has long been on record as a major supporter of high-speed rail and was recently included — to the surprise of many — on the list of members of a special investigative team tasked with looking into the causes of the railway tragedy. Wang was plainly clueless about the nuts and bolts of the supposed investigation, raising further questions about credibility. The Beijing News: Academician Wang, are you at the site [of the accident] now? Can you tell us, what is the preliminary situation with the investigation? Wang Mengru (王梦ru): I’m not at the scene. The Beijing News: Where are you? What are you doing? Wang Mengru: I’m in the suburbs of Beijing. I’m on the road to Zhangjiakou right now. I’m busy dealing with some railway matters. The Beijing News: Are you not an expert on the special investigative team? Don’t you have to go to the scene to investigate? Wang Mengru: I’m busy. I don’t think I’ll be going. We’ll see how it goes. The Beijing News: Well then, how is it you’re a member of the investigative team then? Wang Mengru: About two or three days ago, I was in a meeting in Chengdu. I received a telephone notice from the State Administration of Work Safety asking me to go and participate as part of the investigative team. The Beijing News: Do you not want to take part? Or is it something you can’t avoid? Wang Mengru: I can’t be sure. If I can take part, I will. If I get a [formal] notice or not, either is OK. If I didn’t get a [formal] notice and didn’t go that would be better. The Beijing News: Why would it be better not to get a notice? Wang Mengru: Really soon I have to go to Japan for a meeting. The Beijing News: When is that? Is it railway business too? Wang Mengru: I have to go on August 3. It’s not this [railway business]. The Beijing News: So what happens if you get a [formal] notice to take part in the investigative team? If you can’t go to the scene you can’t possibly understand the situation, right? Wang Mengru: Even if I don’t go to the scene I can analyze [the situation]. The Beijing News: Are other experts going to the scene? Wang Mengru: I’m not really sure. I’m not really in touch with them. The following are examples of three pages that were to be included in yesterday’s edition of Chinese Business View (华商报) but could not be because propaganda leaders were aggressively applying pressure. The spaces you see empty on these pages are not “sky windows,” or tian chuang (天窗), spaces left blank as a purposefull form of protest — something that happens on occasion in Chinese newspapers. The spaces were waiting for other content, in one case a cartoon, before they had to be pulled altogether. [ABOVE: This page of

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Historic home faced many challenges Randy C. Murray rmurray@coastalcourier.com February 3, 2012 9:36 a.m. Randy C. Murray/ Pastor Tim Parrish (left) of Trinity Baptist Church talks with one of his church members, Eugene Futch, about his plans for restoring the Mills House, which recently was moved to Parrish’s land in Long County. The Mills House has been moved successfully to Long County, but the process of saving the historic home was not without trials for new owners, Pastor Tim and Cathy Parrish of Trinity Baptist Church.“It’s been a long process, and there were trials along the way, but God is good, and he made it all work out,” said Parrish, squinting at the morning sun that rose above the historic house now settling in its new home. “When I look back on the last few months, I see where the Lord has been in it all the way. If it wasn’t for God’s grace, we couldn’t have done it.”Parrish said money was a regular challenge. Still, he said God blessed him by providing the money precisely when it was needed, such as providing buyers for the personal property, timber and real estate he sold to raise the $40,000 costs for the move and additional money needed to restore the home.“Whenever the cup started getting empty, God started filling it back up,” Parrish said, laughing.Finding a reliable mover for the home was another trial. Parrish said he had contracted with a man to move another building for him after first checking out his credentials and reputation.When that building couldn’t be obtained, the man offered to apply the money Parrish had put down toward moving the Mills House. However, when that contractor was arrested for probation violations in South Carolina, Parrish learned the contractor had “sold” the same property — which he didn’t own in the first place — to several people. Although he and other members of the community lost several thousand dollars, Parrish said he’s already forgiven the contractor.No money was exchanged between Parrish and the second contractor. However, the Monday before that contractor was to start work, Parrish received a call that they had had serious accident while moving another building and one of their employees was badly injured. They couldn’t move the Mills House.“I asked him if he could recommend somebody who could do the job, and he told me about T & T (House Moving and Heavy Rigging),” Parrish explained. “I checked them out, and after talking with them, I felt like they had the experience and equipment to do the job.”Tim LaRue and son, owners of T & T in Cove Springs, Fla., were able to move the Mills House early on Jan. 22, but not without more trials.During New Year’s weekend, someone kicked in the back door, stripped the home of all of its copper and knocked a huge hole in the kitchen wall in order to get to the copper tubing for the water heater.Then there were delays. Permits were given to move on Friday, Jan. 13, but two days before the move, the regional office of the Georgia Department of Transportation pulled the permit. Parrish said they were told they could move the house the following Monday, but by Friday, the Jesup office of the DOT changed its mind again.“I had cranes scheduled to take the second floor off the house, and I didn’t want to do that then have the bottom floor exposed for a week,” he said. “I had to coordinate with (Georgia Power, Canoochee EMC, Comcast and local law enforcement) to schedule the move, and those folks couldn’t change their schedules on short notice. So, I paid the movers and told them to go home, and then I called the Atlanta office of the DOT.”The state DOT was more than understanding and “bent over backward” to work with Parrish. They called him back and told him to tell them the day and time he wanted to move the house, and they’d make it happen.“Liberty County and Long County officials were great to work with,” he said. “And the help I got from the state DOT folks more than made up for any delays. We just give God the glory for making it all come out so good.”The second floor has been placed back on the Mills House. Parrish hopes to have the new foundation ready in about a week, and then reconnect the other sections separated from the house. He said he expects to be living in the house in another month — Lord willing, of course.

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News » Music project aims to keep Civil War stories fresh Music project aims to keep Civil War stories fresh Posted on December 26, 2012 by Chris Elkins in News By Jeff Martin/The Associated Press ATLANTA — Blood once soaked the soil of battlefields that have since been covered up by skyscrapers and commuter train stations in Atlanta, strip malls in Nashville and farm fields and forests across the South. Now, 150 years after the American Civil War, two musicians are trying to keep that history from being lost in the new landscape. The women, who write about Civil War clashes and those who fought them, are recording videos on the battlefields that inspired their songs. “The whole point is to make sure these stories are kept alive, that they’re not forgotten,” said one of the artists, Vanessa Olivarez. She and Elizabeth Elkins, whose band is Granville Automatic, have worked with the nonprofit Civil War Trust, the National Park Service and others on the project. A key goal, they say, is to raise awareness of what happened during the war and to help preserve the battlefields, which some consider sacred ground. The women shot one of the videos earlier this year at Glorieta Pass, N.M., the 1862 battle that became known as the Civil War’s “Gettysburg of the West.” Other battlefields that set scenes for their songs of soldiers, horses and ghosts include Franklin in Tennessee; Gettysburg in Pennsylvania; and Antietam in Maryland. Some of Granville Automatic’s songs paint haunting scenes of sorrow, such as the time when mothers and daughters of soldiers used lanterns to search a battlefield at night for their loved ones, who had just fought at Horseshoe Ridge near Chattanooga, Tenn. The band drew inspiration from the hundreds of lanterns that lit the mountainside to write “Lanterns at Horseshoe Ridge” about that page of history from 1863. Other songs tell tales of perseverance. “Carolina Amen” recounts the story of a Southern bride who prays, “wedding band and her hand on her heart,” for her husband who is away fighting fierce battles in Virginia. “We want to keep those real personal stories alive,” Elkins said. Elkins and Olivarez perform across the country and divide their time between Nashville and Atlanta. The Georgia city inspired their song “Copenhill,” about the Battle of Atlanta when the city was burned by Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s Union army. The song recalls how Sherman watched from Copenhill, the site of the present-day Jimmy Carter Library and Museum, as flames lit the sky over Atlanta. Thousands died on ground now covered by a commuter train station in Atlanta’s Inman Park neighborhood. The project gained momentum in January 2012, when Elkins and Olivarez spent time at the Escape To Create artist residency program in Seaside, Fla. They’ve also developed a multi-media presentation for schools. The band is named after a rare, vintage typewriter designed by Bernard Granville that dates to the 1890s, when it was produced by the Mossberg & Granville Manufacturing Co. in Providence, R.I. The company’s typewriter production came to a halt in 1900 due to a machinist union strike, and it declared bankruptcy shortly after that. Musicians have played an important role in raising awareness of Civil War history, said Mary Koik, a spokeswoman at the Civil War Trust. Country music star Trace Adkins ended up joining the nonprofit’s board of trustees after calling the organization and speaking to a receptionist a few years ago, Koik said. “He just called and said ‘Hi, my name is Trace Adkins and I’m a country and western singer,” Koik said. “He said ‘I think what you guys do is great, how can I get involved?'” Adkins has ancestors who fought in the war, Koik said. Elkins also has relatives who fought, and their stories have been passed down through generations of her family, she said. Those personal accounts, and a desire to save battlefields from being forgotten or lost to development, fuel Granville Automatic’s songs, Elkins said. “To me, it’s so important that these stories get carried on,” she said. ← LOCAL FOLKS: Kansas turkey hunting trip inspires kidney donation MEMA: More than 25 injured in storms in Mississippi →

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Directory Kids Montauk Inlet Study Expected in 2016 Homeowners have been calling for action for more than 15 years By Joanne Pilgrim | May 28, 2014 - 6:18pm Federal funding for projects to protect against the effects of future storms like Hurricane Sandy will cover the costs of expediting an Army Corps of Engineers study on dredging the Montauk inlet and rebuilding beaches. David E. Rattray The Army Corps of Engineers expects to issue a report in early 2016 on a Lake Montauk dredging project that could include rebuilding beaches to the west of the harbor inlet, Ronald Pinzon, the project manager at the Army Corps’ New York District office, said last week. Mr. Pinzon said his work on the project is moving forward, with several alternatives under evaluation, despite pending litigation by Montauk homeowners against the Army Corps and East Hampton Town over the impact of the inlet jetties on nearby beaches, which have been severely eroded, putting houses in jeopardy. Homeowners have been calling for action for more than 15 years, Frank DeVito, a Montauk resident who is among them, wrote in a recent email to The Star after a May 15 article that linked a lack of progress on the project to the homeowners’ lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed in 2011, he said, well after the Army Corps study of potential projects at Lake Montauk was authorized by Congress in 1996. The Corps had sought information from town officials on a preferred alternative — whether the project should address channel dredging only, or include coastal storm mitigation, through beach rebuilding, as well. The various options come with different price tags, a portion of which would be paid by the town. Mr. DeVito said members of the previous town administration had advised the property owners, who came to them looking for help after a devastating storm, to sue the town in order to prompt action. The town board voted last September to endorse a plan to include beach rebuilding along the West Lake Drive beach west of the inlet, but declined to endorse an option that would include sand placed along the Soundview Drive beaches and the installation of stone groins to protect them, as that would require cooperation from all of the private landowners. Although his own work is continuing, Mr. Pinzon said that he could not comment on whether the ongoing litigation will affect the new project’s progress. The Army Corps attorney assigned to the matter did not return a call for comment. Mr. Pinzon said that regardless of the vote by the town board, his agency’s report will examine “the range of alternatives.” The report will include a recommended plan, on which public comment will be sought, he said. Once selected, a project plan will be subjected to environmental review and a financial analysis. As reported on May 15, the cost of the initial analysis will be partially borne by the town according to the terms of a 2002 agreement signed by former Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman. The agreement estimates that the town’s share could reach $330,000, which has not been budgeted for. Mr. Pinzon stressed that the study costs, which will be divided among the feds, the state, and the town, have not yet been determined. However, due to Congressional approval of funding for storm-protection projects after Hurricane Sandy, the agreement was modified last month to state that future costs to expedite and complete the study — provided it results in a beach-replenishment plan — will be borne solely by the federal government.

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Front page on January 1, 2015 Lakson Group Bilal Ali Lakhani Kamal Siddiqi Managing editors M. Ziauddin Political alignment Centre-left Egalitarianism Plot 5 Expressway Off Korangi Road Sister newspapers www.tribune.com.pk The Express Tribune is a major daily English-language newspaper in Pakistan. Part of the Lakson Group of companies, it is the flagship publication of the Daily Express media group. It is Pakistan's only internationally affiliated newspaper, in partnership with International New York Times, the global edition of The New York Times.[1] Headquartered in Karachi, it also prints copy from offices in Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar. It was launched on April 12, 2010, in broadsheet format, with news design distinctive from traditional Pakistani newspapers. Its editorial stance identifies with social liberalism, and its readership is generally on the mainstream left of Pakistani political and social opinion. Topics the newspaper covers include politics, international affairs, economics, investment, sports and culture. It runs a glossy called Express Tribune Magazine on Sunday, which includes social commentary, interviews and a four-page supplement with recipes, reviews, travel advice, blogs and technology news. As of 2012, it has the widest online readership in the country locally and internationally.[2] 1 Part of Express media group 2 Staff

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Georgia Family Donates Cancelled Wedding's Reception to Homeless Sept. 23, 2013 By CHRISTINA NG Christina Ng More from Christina » Follow @ChristinaNg27 When Willie and Carol Fowler’s daughter cancelled her wedding, they decided to turn the reception into an event for 200 homeless individuals in Atlanta, Ga., on Sept. 15, 2013. Alvin Evans When Willie and Carol Fowler's only daughter cancelled her wedding 40 days before she was set to walk down the aisle, the parents were faced with a venue, food and entertainment that had all been paid for. But instead of cancelling everything and losing their deposits, they decided to change the guest list -- to 200 homeless people. "We went home that evening and my husband woke up the next morning and I was in the process of cancelling out the venue and he said, 'No, what we'll do is donate it to Hosea Feed the Hungry,'" Carol Fowler told ABCNews.com today. "It was a vision," Fowler said of her husband's idea. "He said he had prayed on it during the night and God had directed him and that's what we were going to do." The Fowlers called Hosea Feed the Hungry, an organization that their daughter had volunteered for when she was younger. It is a nonprofit organization in Atlanta, Ga., that provides homeless individuals with services and resources. "When they first called, the administration thought it was a prank call because it was too good to be true," Quisa Foster of Hosea Feed the Hungry said. "It's a very creme de la creme wedding venue, so to say that you're going to host 200 homeless individuals at Villa Christina -- it sounds like a prank call." The Fowlers persisted and eventually had a meeting with the organization to prove their good intentions and plan the event. On Sept. 15, buses transported 200 homeless women, children and families to Villa Christina for the event. It began at 2 p.m. with outdoor appetizers and space for the children to run and play. The event then moved inside, where the approximately 50 children had a room to themselves with face-painting, juggling and crowns. "The children had chicken fingers, French fries, fresh fruit and chocolate chip cookies," Carol Fowler said. "The adults had salmon and chicken." "All the plates were empty and there wasn't any leftover food at all. It was an eye-opening experience," Foster said. "You go to weddings sometimes and you see a lot of people really waste food. We take so many things for granted. These clients or guests, as we call them, they don't." The day's "inspiration program" included a motivational speaker for the adults. "When you look at the faces of the women and children and actually participated in the event, they look like you and me," Foster said. "These are working families that for whatever reason -- the recession, economic turn -- have found themselves in a place where they're without a place to live and starting over." "It was a wonderful event. It brought tears to my eyes," she said. The Fowlers were very involved in the whole event and enjoyed greeting all of their guests. Their daughter was also on hand for a day that was "bittersweet but rewarding" for her, Willie Fowler said. The family declined to comment on why the wedding had been cancelled. "There is no way to explain how it makes you feel, but it's wonderful," Willie Fowler said of seeing the joy at the event. "It's just that wonderful, rewarding feeling," Carol Fowler said. "If we could just inspire one youth in that crowd to rise above the situation today and be a very responsible member of society tomorrow, that would be extremely rewarding." The Fowlers are hoping to make the affair a yearly event that will be two days and incorporate educational elements for the participants. They pointed out that events are cancelled all the time and encouraged others to think about donating "If you have cancelled an event, do not walk away. Pick up the phone and call your favorite charity and offer it to them," Carol Fowler said. "We're regular, working people and anybody can do this. This is not star stuff." Related Topics: Recession

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Speed believed to be factor in 1-car fatal Everett crash Survivor's story 'I did not let that baby go for one second' Published: Tuesday, March 19, 2013, 2:15 p.m. EMAIL ARTICLE | PRINT | JUMP TO COMMENTS $10 million wrongful death claim filed in inmate's death Lyndsey Elizabeth Lason By Eric Stevick, Herald Writer EVERETT -- Lyndsey Elizabeth Lason was just 27 years old when she died in cell 13 at the Snohomish County Jail. For more than a week in November 2011, her labored breathing troubled her fellow inmates. Some poked fun at the "eke, eke, eke" sounds she made when she inhaled. Lason often complained to staff and fellow inmates that she was in pain. Her chest cavities were infected, and filling with fluid that eventually collapsed her lungs. In other words, she slowly was suffocating. The Everett woman died from a pulmonary infection, according to her death certificate. Now, a medical professional is saying her death while in county custody could have been prevented. "The complacency of the medical staff and the corrections officers resulted in Lason’s death," forensic pathologist Carl Wigren wrote in a 28-page report. Wigren’s conclusion is part of a $10 million wrongful death claim filed against Snohomish County and the cities of Everett and Des Moines. The former county forensic pathologist was hired by Lason’s estate to review medical and jail records as well as a death investigation done by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. "Despite her repeated requests, sometimes specifically for an X-Ray of her chest, the medical staff did not adequately assess her medical condition," Wigren wrote. Lason was arrested Oct. 29, 2011, on misdemeanor warrants alleging theft and prostitution in Everett and Des Moines. During a medical assessment five days before she died, she had a high temperature, rapid breathing, an elevated heart rate and "abnormally low oxygen saturation," according to the claim. The nurse took note that Lason was hyperventilating during the interview. Instead of getting a diagnostic exam, she was given stool softeners and muscle relaxants, according to jail records. "Simple diagnostic tests could have saved her life," Wigren wrote. City and county officials are reviewing the wrongful death claims. "The sheriff’s office cannot comment on the case since it is an active claim against the county," sheriff’s office spokeswoman Shari Irteon said. Jennifer Taylor of Snohomish is Lason’s cousin. She said she considered Lason the closest thing she had to a sister when they were growing up. It baffles her to think about how her cousin died. "She had 10 days of suffering," Taylor said. "What she went through could have been prevented." Lason had a difficult childhood and ran legal trouble as an adult, Taylor said. "She was very compassionate," she said. "She forgave more than she should and she loved more than she was ever loved." Everett attorney Royce Ferguson is representing Lason’s estate in the claim for damages that could lead to a lawsuit. "You can always say this is all about money," Ferguson said. "It isn’t what is motivating Jen. Jen felt this wasn’t right and it could happen to anybody." Shortly after she was booked into jail, Lason fell out of her bunk and began complaining about back pain. Jail records indicate she had asked to go to the medical clinic Nov. 2, but then changed her mind after staying up late the night before. She then told a corrections officer she had been tired and didn’t get to sleep until late. She renewed her request to go to the clinic that morning, saying she was in pain. She was told it was too late. "She said she was hurting so much she could not breathe," a corrections officer wrote in a disciplinary report. "She demanded that I call a medical emergency and transport her to the hospital." The corrections officer called a nurse who directed Lason to get some rest. Lason "kept knocking on her cell door" and asked to be moved to a medical health unit, according to the corrections officer’s report. Her request was denied. "I kept having to tell her to lie down since she was on bed rest, but she kept ignoring my order," the corrections officer wrote. "She said she could not lie down due to the pain." Eventually, Lason reportedly told the officer she needed medical housing because she was "dope sick." A nurse was sent to see her. Lason talked to her about the pain she was in, but didn’t say anything about going through drug withdrawals. Lason later told the corrections officer she had lied to him about being drug sick, and did so to get medical attention for the problem she was actually experiencing. "She said she had to do something," he wrote. At that point, Lason was written up for lying, manipulation and abuse of services under the jail’s disciplinary rules. The death investigation also included an interview with a retired Des Moines police officer who works transporting prisoners to court appearances. The officer picked up Lason at the Snohomish County Jail the day before she died. The officer told investigators that he originally was reluctant to transport her because of her obvious problems breathing. He said "he had some conversation with jail deputies about her condition but no one seemed overly concerned," according to the sheriff’s office reports. That same afternoon, a jail counselor reportedly visited Lason in her cell, according to the investigation report. The counselor noted her breathing difficulties. Several inmates told sheriff’s detectives that Lason had repeatedly complained about her worsening medical condition. One inmate claimed Lason "was constantly banging on her cell door screaming for help and keeping everybody up." Another said: "Inmates were upset with her because she was being so disruptive at night and keeping them up asking for help." Her cellmate told investigators: "Everybody was really annoyed. Everybody was just like, 'Dude, you know, like your breathing is either fake or you need to get some serious help.'" At autopsy, her chest was found to contain more than three liters of pus that had partially collapsed her lungs, according to documents Ferguson filed along with the damage claim. Lason’s death at the jail is not the only case facing scrutiny. There have been seven deaths there since 2010. In July, Michael Saffioti, of Mukilteo, died from bronchial asthma triggered by severe allergies, according to the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office. Saffioti, 22, had turned himself in on a misdemeanor marijuana warrant. He brought along a bag of medications he needed to control life-threatening food allergies and respiratory problems he had lived with since his early childhood. Arrangements had been made beforehand with Lynnwood police to transfer him to the Snohomish County Jail, which has a medical unit. No claim has been filed, but his family is convinced his death could have been prevented and has hired a Seattle attorney to press for answers. There is evidence that at least some were aware of Michael Saffioti’s medical problems from previous jail stays, where accommodations were made for his health problems. Among inmates, he even had a nickname: "Bubble Boy."Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com. Story tags » • Everett • Crime, Law & Justice • Sheriff Seahawks re-sign DL Demarcus Dobbs Fitness trend Surfset takes surfers inside to 'Embrace the shake' Why home builders flock to one Puget Sound-area hot spot

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Published: Wednesday, May 22, 2013, 12:01 a.m. EMAIL ARTICLE | PRINT | JUMP TO COMMENTS Panel OK's contract to design Paine Field passenger terminal By Bill Sheets, Herald Writer EVERETT -- An airline terminal at Paine Field could materialize soon, at least on paper.A Snohomish County Council panel has given its go-ahead to a $650,000 contract with an engineering firm to design a terminal big enough to handle passengers for 23 commercial flights per day proposed for the county's airport.The full council is expected to vote on the contract Wednesday. with URS, a San Francisco-based firm with a branch in Seattle.The terminal would accommodate flights operated by the two airlines that have expressed interest in flying from Paine Field -- Allegiant Air of Las Vegas and Alaska Airlines of Seattle.Design work will not start until one or both airlines agree to reimburse the county for any unpaid terminal costs should they withdraw their interest or discontinue service once it begins, said Peter Camp, a county executive director in charge of the airport.Negotiations continue with both airlines, he said."My worst-nightmare scenario is we spend three-quarters of a million dollars and the airlines say 'Oh, that's nice, we changed our minds,'" Camp said.Allegiant seeks to offer four flights per week from Paine Field to Las Vegas, increasing over five years to as many as 20 flights per week. Alaska would run 70 flights per week to start, with 42 commuter flights offered between Everett and Portland, and the rest to Honolulu, Maui and Las Vegas.Alaska originally wanted to run about twice that many flights, but then as a federal environmental review dragged on for three years, the airline changed its position on whether to run flights out of the airport.Alaska officials say that because of recent additions and improvements at Sea-Tac Airport and Bellingham International Airport, the airline would fly from Paine Field if and only if another airline was to serve the airport first.That airline could be Allegiant, which has remained steadfast, at least publicly, in its interest in Paine Field.Allegiant, however, has yet to get on board with the idea of reimbursing the county for potential unpaid terminal costs, a spokeswoman said."We tend to not make commitments of service like that," airline spokeswoman Jessica Wheeler said. "It's not something we would normally agree to."She confirmed that the airline and the county are negotiating."I think it's a fair statement they haven't agreed yet," Camp said. "It's not necessarily clear they are going to agree. We are talking."Alaska spokesman Paul McElroy reaffirmed the airline's position that Alaska would not fly into the Snohomish County airport unless another airline does so first.Still, he said Alaska officials are talking with the county."If airlines do fly into Paine, Alaska would pay our fair share for a terminal," McElroy said.The federal government requires any airport large enough for commercial flights to provide space for any airline that wants to fly. To refuse would jeopardize federal money for maintenance and other projects.The law does not require an airport operator, however, to foot the bill for a terminal or other improvements.A majority of Snohomish County elected officials have said they oppose commercial flights at the airport and would not build a terminal to attract an airline."It's non-negotiable, the FAA does not require us to (pay for a terminal) because that becomes an effective subsidy, and so we are not required to do that and we are not going to do that," Camp told the county council in 2009.State law requires grading and building permits for the terminal to be cleared by an environmental study. Those permits won't be prepared until the design is done. The county has agreed to pay Parametrix of Auburn about $90,000 for the environmental review when the time comes, Camp said.The federal environmental study concluded in December that the flights originally proposed by the airlines would not significantly increase noise, pollution or traffic in neighborhoods around the airport.The city of Mukilteo has appealed that decision in federal court. The city of Edmonds also is named as a plaintiff in the appeal.Barbara Lichman, the Irvine, Calif., attorney handling the case for Mukilteo, said she's scheduled to file her argument with the Ninth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals on July 22. It's hard to tell when a decision on the suit would come, she said.Opponents say more aircraft noise would degrade nearby communities and reduce property values. Supporters of flights tout convenience and potential economic benefit.The mere presence of the court action won't stop the work on the county side, Camp said.In 2009 the county released rough plans for an 18,000-square foot modular building near the current Paine Field office building, which now has only a small passenger waiting area.A covered breezeway would connect the old and new building, which at the time was estimated to cost about $3.5 million.Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com. Story tags » • Air travel • Paine Field

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What Boston Means To America Share Tweet E-mail Print By Linton Weeks Originally published on Wed April 17, 2013 1:20 pm Faneuil Hall, in downtown Boston, was built in the 1740s. Elise Amendola As a city, Boston is at the crux of this country's past, present and future. This was brought home on April 15 — Tax Day, Patriots Day, Marathon Day — when two deadly bombs exploded on historic Boylston Street near the finish line of the 117th running of the Boston Marathon. The tragic blasts occurred so close to the Boston Public Library that the building — home to the personal book collection of Founding Father John Adams — is included in the crime scene. The bombs struck at the very heart of the heart of America. Perhaps as much as any place in the country, Boston is an anchor thread in the unwieldy web that is the United States. It was critical to the earliest American revolts — against unfair British taxes and practices. For centuries, it has been a harbor for American intelligence and independence. Like a modern-day Atlantis, it has sent out into the world some of its greatest thinkers and doers. Today Boston is a complex metropolis of high intellect and hard work. It is home to excellent hospitals, innovative high-tech companies, challenging universities. It is a repository of rowdy rah-rahness, resourcefulness and racial realities. It is a city of renewal, washed over each year by a fresh flood of young and future-shaping students. From all accounts, it is also a city of resilience. In the immediate aftermath of the bombings, people not only mourned the dead and tended to the wounded, they opened their homes — via social media — to displaced wayfarers. In proper Bostonian fashion, new-school tools were used to extend old-school generosities. 'Capital Of The World' To long-distance runners, Boston is Oz, with its 26.2-mile road promising stronger hearts, clearer heads, greater courage and home. "For a runner to go to Boston is like the touch football player getting to play in the Super Bowl," Runner's World editor Joe Henderson told the Los Angeles Times in 1971, when some 1,500 people were registered to run in the marathon. This year, nearly 27,000 people signed up to participate. To a musician, Boston can be a warm audience. "What has always brought me home," says crooner and native Bostonian Brian Evans, "is the sense that when people I knew in showbiz left me hanging ... people in Boston never did. They always had my back, and that's what Boston has that others just don't 'get.' " To a poet, Boston can be a citadel of farsightedness. "I do not speak with any fondness but the language of coolest history, when I say that Boston commands attention as the town which was appointed in the destiny of nations to lead the civilization of North America," poet and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson observed in 1893. More than 100 years later, actor John Krasinski of TV's The Office made a similar observation: "Boston is actually the capital of the world," he told The Improper Bostonian in 2005. "You didn't know that? We breed smart-ass, quippy, funny people. Not that I'm one of them. I just sorta sneaked in under the radar." Dark Meadow For a big city, Boston can sometimes feel like a small town. To the late novelist Elizabeth Hardwick, Boston was parochial compared with New York: "In Boston the night comes down with an incredibly heavy, small-town finality," wrote Hardwick, who took up residence in New York. "The cows come home; the chickens go to roost; the meadow is dark. Nearly every Bostonian is in his house or in someone else's house, dining at the home board, enjoying domestic and social privacy." To contemporary writer Amy Hempel, who teaches at Harvard University and lives in New York, Boston now reminds her of New York. "I'm still in shock, as is everyone, I'm sure," says Hempel. "For me, there was both the immediate horror of what was happening in Boston, and the evocation of what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, in New York City." She says, "It feels as though everything is stripped back to being a person in an emergency, and how they behave. Which, based on what I saw on the news, was heroic." Bostonians appreciate heroes. "The people in Boston, they give you a lot of support," Red Sox baseball star David "Big Papi" Ortiz told IGN in 2006. "When you have people looking forward to seeing you perform for them, that puts you in the mood, and that's natural in Boston. That's why it's such a special place to play." Speaking the day after the bombings, Olympic soccer standout Kristine Lilly echoes Ortiz's sentiments about Boston. "The support I have gotten from this city and surrounding communities," she says, "has been so great, and I think you see that with the people of Boston — especially in times like yesterday's events." To America, Boston has long been a living, moving national monument. Now, because of these horrifying events, Boston will mean something new, something more for a while. Perhaps for a long, long while. So, what does Boston mean to you?Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. KCCU

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Home News Local Juvenile Detention Center and Shelter Could Close Juvenile Detention Center and Shelter Could Close , Written by Christine Pitawanich, Posted: Tue, February 21 2012 at 6:27 PM, Updated: Tue, February 21 2012 at 7:02 PM The Josephine County Juvenile Detention Center and Shelter has helped countless kids get through hard times. Some of them, coming from horrifying family situations"Got raped and molested," said 22-year-old Tarsha who was adopted when she was a teen. She lived at the shelter for about two months when she was 16 and when she was between foster homes. "It gave me a place to eat, a bed,it's just a home for people when they need it," said Tarsha. But now, unless there's a last-minute miracle, the detention center and shelter could close by July 1st. "I think it's going to take opportunities away from kids willing to do something with their life," said Tarsha. For Department of Human Services caseworkers like Michael Clark, the possibility of the shelter closing is a tragedy for kids who need help."It's there for all teens from the most extreme of abuse, to extreme safety concerns, all the way to just homeless youth," said Clark. He says the shelter is used for emergency placement if a person's safety is at risk. It's also where kids go while they wait to be placed in foster homes. "It's not like homes are everywhere, it's hard to come by them, especially good ones," said Tarsha. "The nature of the business is crisis and now we've added another element to crisis," said Clark. If the shelter does close, it means kids will have to be moved to one of the other handful of shelters around the state - putting more stress on already stressed out kids. Janine Wilson at the Josephine County Juvenile Justice Center said she'll know by March 6th if there will be a tax levy on the ballot. If no one votes for it though, doors will close. Christine Pitawanich Christine Pitawanich was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. In 2010, she received a master's degree in Broadcast Journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in New York. Christine also has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of Washington. Before joining the NBC5 News team, she had the opportunity to file reports from Washington D.C. for WFFT FOX Ft. Wayne News in Indiana. Christine has also interned at KOMO-TV in Seattle. Christine loves to ski, try new food and have fun in the outdoors. Catch Christine anchoring weekdays on NBC 5 News at 5pm. Connect with Christine

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What The Early State Of The Union Broadcasts Looked Like Share Tweet E-mail Print By Jessica Glazer Today, the State of the Union address is broadcast in HD to your television, tablet and smartphone. Earlier Americans weren't so fortunate. President Harry Truman's 1947 speech was the first State of the Union to be broadcast on television — a development that hardly caused a stir at the time. In a preview published a few days prior to the speech, The New York Times didn't get around to mentioning that fact until five paragraphs in. Instead, the account paid closer attention to calculating the length of the address: "The message is tentatively to be about 6,000 words long and to require about 50 minutes reading time at Mr. Truman's regular speaking pace of 120 words a minute." It's no wonder newspapers lacked enthusiasm for the broadcasts of old. Grainy and shot in what seemed to be a room full of smoke, they weren't much to look at. "The camera peered about the House chamber for awhile," read a TIME magazine article that dryly described the scene surrounding Truman's 1948 speech, "[before] CBS switched to a Jackson Heights supermarket for a customer-participation show called Missus Goes A-Shopping ... A bubbling master of ceremonies asked some small children to imitate animals."Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. KTEP

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Rare On-The-Job Death For Avalanche Forecaster In Utah By Howard Berkes Apr 12, 2013 ShareTwitter Facebook Google+ Email Craig Patterson, 34, a seven-year veteran of avalanche forecasting for the Utah Department of Transportation. Dale Atkins has been tracking hundreds of avalanche deaths for years but the fatality report that arrived from Utah Friday morning was especially shocking. "It's way too close to home," says Atkins, the Colorado-based president of the American Avalanche Association. "It's mind numbing...it's a slashing chill." That's because the sixteenth avalanche victim in the United States this winter is Craig Patterson, 34, a seven-year veteran of avalanche forecasting for the Utah Department of Transportation. Investigators were still assessing the incident Friday but it appears Patterson was gauging snow conditions alone Thursday on a mountain slope known as Kessler Slabs above the Big Cottonwood Canyon highway outside Salt Lake City. Colleagues concerned about his failure to return to his office called authorities and his body was spotted from a helicopter late Thursday. "A search found his body on the surface of the [avalanche] debris," reports Evelyn Lees of the Utah Avalanche Center. The highway carries thousands of skiers, ski industry workers and mountain homeowners and the steep slopes above it are prone to avalanches. Some reach the highway, which is sometimes closed after major snowstorms while highway workers literally bomb the slopes to release newly-fallen snow. Patterson was part of a UDOT team of forecasters who track snow conditions and avalanche risk. The Utah Avalanche Center rated the avalanche risk as moderate Friday morning, two levels on the danger scale below extreme, with the risk rising with higher temperatures during the day. The Wasatch Range that includes Big Cottonwood Canyon has had more than 40 inches of new snow in the last two weeks. Ski areas in the canyon are still open. Atkins says Patterson possessed and deployed an avalanche air bag, a relatively new device designed to keep victims near the surface during snow slides. Air bags don't guarantee survival because snow slides can drag victims through rocks and trees, which can cause serious traumatic injuries. Patterson also had an AvaLung, which can provide oxygen when buried in snow. "This is the first time a solo avalanche forecaster working alone has been killed," says Atkins. "Many (maybe even most) work this way. In 20 years of avalanche forecasting I almost always worked solo in the field." On-the-job deaths are also rare. An American Avalanche Association database counts only two other American forecasters killed while at work on snow. In 1992, U.S. Forest Service forecaster Mark Yates died in the La Sal Mountains near Moab, Utah. Four friends tagging along also died. Alaskan forecaster Mike O'Leary and a companion were caught in a slide near Cordova, Alaska, in 2008. O'Leary was killed. Two Canadian forecasters died in the same slide in 1999 in British Columbia. They worked for the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Highways and, with Patterson, are the only highway department forecasters who died on the job in North America. In an odd and tragic incident in Portage, Alaska, in 2004, U.S. Forest Service forecaster Jeff Nissman fell victim to an avalanche of snow and ice that slid from the roof of the building that housed his office. In all, 749 people died in avalanches in the U.S. in the last 33 years. More than 90 percent were skiers, snowmobilers, and other recreationists. Snowplow drivers and other highway workers have also been victims. So far, the 2012-2013 season is the lowest for avalanche deaths in the last 20 years, according to Atkins' data. Atkins says about 100 forecasters work in 18 avalanche control programs across the country. "Certainly the best way to know about snow conditions on avalanche slopes is to visit avalanche-prone slopes," Atkins says. "There's always uncertainty and we try to mitigate the risks and uncertainty." Avalanche forecasting is a science based on snow mechanics, weather conditions, snowfall history and degree of slope. But the experts know that snow slides can occur in unexpected circumstances. "The danger line is never clearly marked on the snow," Atkins explains. "Sometimes we cross over and, most of the time, nothing serious happens. We have a close call." Lees remembers Patterson as "a friend, avalanche educator, and integral part of Utah avalanche professionals trying to unravel the mysteries of snow and avalanches, and trying to keep people safe." The Center is investigating the slide and promises an accident report. In a statement, Utah governor Gary Herbert calls Patterson "a dedicated state employee who was admired and respected for his professionalism and expertise in making our canyons safer for countless Utahns." Patterson leaves behind a wife and daughter.Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. View the discussion thread. © 2015 KWIT

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Your Community Local News Sports Calendar Real Estate Lifestyles Ads and Extras CU photos Contact Us Editorials / Perspective « Your Olympic source for Soch... It’s time to honor the top l...» Cleanup, and go jump in a lake Save | It's spring cleaning time, and the annual village cleanup is also on the schedule. But the village cleanup is more than just a cleanup. It's a village tradition that's been around for more than half a century. It's also a great way to get out and be part of a worthwhile community effort. And to top it all off, there's also a benefit "Plunge for a Cause" being sponsored by local high school students on the same day. Everyone is invited to take a cool dip in Mirror Lake to benefit local food pantries and the Tri-Lakes Humane Society. Both the village cleanup and plunge are scheduled for Saturday, April 20. Every year residents can be seen carrying plastic bags and helping to keep their community clean. More importantly, it's a great opportunity for parents to demonstrate by example how easy it is to take part in a community project. Kids will learn to appreciate playing a role in such a vital endeavor while gaining a greater sense of community. It'll also provide some exercise and an excellent way to socialize. And there's also a free lunch for cleanup participants. Registration for the cleanup is from 9 to 10 a.m. April 20 at the Olympic Center box office, and during this time participants will register to join or lead a group, be assigned an area, pick up bags and lunch tickets and get recycling information. The lunch for all volunteers will follow the cleanup at the village beach house at Mirror Lake. Thanks to all the local businesses that donated food and beverages for this community event. Registration for the plunge will be at 11:30 a.m. and there will even be a contest for Best Costume. Even if you aren't up to jumping in the cold water, take time to pass by the beach to watch and root for the participants, and while you're there, make a donation to help these students have a successful event. Community support is a key. All proceeds will benefit the Lake Placid Middle School Builders Club's campaign for funding the Tri-Lakes Humane Society and the Ecumenical Food pantries of Lake Placid and Wilmington. It's these types of events that helps bind a community, and it's far more than just picking up trash or taking a dip. So if you can, volunteer to help keep Lake Placid a beautiful place or go jump in the lake. They are both worthwhile causes. Save | Subscribe to Lake Placid News Lake Placid Weather Forecast, NY

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Special operations Marine from Camp Pendleton killed in Afghanistan A Marine from Camp Pendleton has died during combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan, the Department of Defense announced Saturday. Sgt. Michael Guillory, 28, of Slidell, La., died Friday from injuries incurred in a vehicle accident while on a resupply operation. He was assigned to the 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion from Camp Pendleton. "This incident is under investigation," the Marine Corps said. Guillory was on his second deployment to Afghanistan. He had also deployed to Iraq, where he was meritoriously promoted for actions during combat. California's war dead Woman killed in apartment fire in Ladera Heights Gun control, school security debated after Connecticut shooting --Tony Perry in San Diego Photo: Sgt. Michael Guillory. Credit: Marine Corps

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Local News Opinion Blogs Sports Scene Vac Rental Ads Jobs Classifieds Contacts Extras TV CU Community News History of the Maui News SUBMIT COMMUNITY NEWS: Virtual Newsroom « Local Briefs Rotary club seeks Mike Lyons...» Craft fair helps fund student financial aid Save | Seabury Hall will present its 41st annual craft fair from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Seabury Hall campus. The craft fair has been raising money for financial aid since 1973, giving hundreds of students the opportunity to pursue their dreams and hope for a brighter future, according to an announcement. The craft fair will include more than 100 artists and crafters, in addition to entertainment, specialty foods, flower arrangements, children's games, a silent auction and a rummage sale. All proceeds support Seabury Hall's financial aid program. Article Photos More than 100 Hawaii artists and crafters can be found at the Seabury Hall Craft Fair. Over 35 percent of Seabury Hall students receive financial assistance from this fund, providing an opportunity for a high-quality college preparatory education, which might otherwise be unobtainable. The craft fair is on the Seabury Hall campus, at 480 Olinda Road, Makawao. Admission is $5 for adults. Children 12 and younger are admitted for free. General parking is available at no charge, with premium parking for $10. © Copyright 2015 The Maui News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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News Opinions Sports Special Sections Features Ads Jobs Classifieds Extras Customer Service Routes Available Prairie Profile / Prairie Profile « Drawing attention: Outdoors... Ramstad principal retiring a...» Bertsch is most deployed attorney in N.D. Guard Hillsboro native has been deployed 15 times to Iraq and Afghanistan April 30, 2012 By ELOISE OGDEN - Regional Editor (eogden@minotdailynews.com) Save | Post a comment | Lt. Col. Daniel Bertsch has the notoriety of being the most operationally deployed attorney in the North Dakota National Guard. That simply means he's the most deployed. Since 2001, Bertsch has been on 15 deployments, ranging from about 90 days to the longest one lasting 14 months. That comes to about 2,700 to 3,000 days of being deployed. Originally from Hillsboro and the father of four daughters, Bertsch returned from Afghanistan, his most recent deployment, in September. Article Photos Submitted PhotoLt. Col. Daniel Bertsch, right, is shown in spring 2010 with Fawzia Koofie, a member of the Afghan Parliament, in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Parliament building in Kabul. Submitted PhotoLt. Col. Daniel Bertsch, right, and 1st Lt. (now Capt.) Cris Irizarry, with the Georgia National Guard, are shown before a flight on a Mi-17 helicopter in 2010 from Kabul to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Submitted PhotoLt. Col. Daniel Bertsh, left, helps active-duty military members prepare Thanksgiving dinner for coalition troops in 2009 while in Kabul, Afghanistan. Submitted PhotoLt. Col. Daniel Bertsch, left, and one of his translators, Faisal, are shown in 2009 during a mentoring session at the National Military Hospital, in Kabul, Afghanistan. A member of the N.D. Air National Guard's 119th Wing in Fargo, currently Bertsch is serving in Fargo as staff judge advocate for the N.D. National Guard's Joint Force Headquarters. Bertsch was in Minot earlier this month to meet with members of the 219th Security Forces Squadron, a N.D. Air Guard unit assigned to Minot Air Force Base. Bertsch's deployments have included leadership, developing the Rule of Law and mentoring Iraqi and Afghan civilian and military legal personnel. He said there is no book to follow for mentoring, and to mentor the Afghan military is to try to figure out what their needs are. The first time he was in Afghanistan he mentored Afghan air force. Most recently, he mentored the Afghan army, focusing on the judges and particularly with the prosecutors in examing the evidence. "They would overcharge or they wouldn't charge officers. They'd overcharge enlisted soldiers which is unfair or they'd overcharge the evidence and then they wouldn't come up with any proof," he said. "Their investigations were horrible so you'd try to improve investigations by getting support so they could get to a site in time. They were heavy on car accidents because their law requires restitution. But, he said, they would go out months later when they could finally get there and by that time there's no scene anymore. The vehicles had been removed and the evidence was washed away there's no blood on the road or skid marks anymore and the vehicles were hauled away. "We'd just have a picture of the place where the accident was. It did not show the actual scene but they said that's what the law requires and they said judges will find a way to convict. And they will find a way to convict," he said. "It's not that they didn't have the skills, it's just that they didn't have logistics. They didn't have the support and sometimes they didn't have the will," he said. "My biggest challenge was their processes having them examine evidence and just build their character so they had the wherewithall to stand up to corruption," he added. The average Afghan family pays $168 a year in bribes, but they only have $400 a year in income, he said. He said there's much hoarding going on in the country. A 32-year member of the National Guard, Bertsch joined the N.D. Air National Guard when he was 17. After graduating from North Dakota State University, Fargo, he went to law school at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. His military career has included several stateside military assignments and also to Italy as a legal adviser for NATO Air Forces in southern Europe. He has also held legal positions with the Cass County and Traill County state's attorney offices. In Afghanistan, Bertsch observed the fears of the Afghans. "They don't want to be out at night, they don't want to confront the Taliban," he said. During a previous deployment, he said a bomb went off at his forward operating base. "Some of the people I was training with had a friend that was injured. Two Marines were killed," he said. He said the bomb was in the bazaar on the base. An Afghan soldier wore a suicide vest into the bazaar, aided by an Afghan sergeant major in getting the suicide vest on the base. In April, he said, nine U.S. mentors were killed across the hall from where he mentored the air corps for a year. He noted the two military officers who were killed earlier this year after the Koran was burned, were shot from inside a locked facility in the ministry of interior. He went through training with one of the officers. Bertsch was at Gardez and also Kabul, the capital and largest city in Afghanistan. Both are in eastern Afghanistan. "In Gardez, the judges were all law trained," he said. "I didn't have access to judges in Kabul because the hearings were at a different site. By the time they told me (of) the hearings I couldn't arrange a convoy." "At the end of my tour my commander said, 'I ride with the Afghans. If you want to ride with the Afghans it's up to you. You assume the risk.' And I did and I got to see a lot more then," he said. He described the country, as a whole, as being "very brown and mountainous." "When you're flying over the country, it depends on the time of the year, up north it's very beautiful the green definitely sticks out. They raise great gardens. Up north they have more agriculture, down in the valleys south they have more agriculture but my impression of where I was is very dreary," he said. He said Gardez is 8,200 feet so the air was clear, but Kabul is very polluted. "It's surrounded by mountains, it's a very polluted city and then you have the dust come in and it just hovers," he said. If it rains or snows, he said all of a sudden they'd see two or three mountain ranges beyond what they'd normally see, and it was beautiful. Bertsch was deployed to Iraq in October 2008 as deputy director of the Law and Order Task Force with Multi-National Forces. His organization worked with the Civilian Criminal Court of Iraq. They worked with civilian and investigative judges, and investigators in trying to improve their processes. The last time Bertsch was in Iraq was in April 2009, returning to the states for only a short time, then going to Afghanistan. Bertsch isn't sure if he'll be going back to Afghanistan. He was hired in January to return to advise the Rule of Law Advisers in Afghanistan, but the contract is in protest and those currently providing the services have been given an extension through May. "I would have liked to return to do as much as possible, especially if they're looking at corruption or Rule of Law," he said. (Prairie Profile is a weekly feature profiling interesting people in our region. We welcome suggestions from our readers. Call Regional Editor Eloise Ogden at 857-1944 or Managing Editor Kent Olson at 857-1939. Either can be reached at 1-800-735-3229. You also can send e-mail suggestions to mdnews@minotdailynews.com.) Save | Post a comment | Subscribe to Minot Daily News I am looking for:

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Egyptians Vote Monday And Tuesday For Next President By Leila Fadel Originally published on May 26, 2014 5:23 am Transcript DAVID GREENE, HOST: And so as Leila just told us, Egyptians appear ready to elect a military man - which in a way seems amazing considering the images we remember from three years ago. At that point, a military dictator, Hosni Mubarak, was removed from power. At that time, it was NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro in Cairo. She was witnessing all of the celebration. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST) LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO, BYLINE: There are tooting horns and people running and screaming in the streets - just an absolutely mad air of celebration. Everyone's trying to get on their cell phone, taking pictures - they want to commemorate the moment. Even the translator, we called him to try and get help and he was like, uh-uh, I am with my friends tonight celebrating. This is a moment I am never going to forget. GREENE: But it's worth remembering Egyptians were angry at Mubarak, not at the military itself, and that's important to understand. According to Ashraf Khalil, he's the author of "Liberation Square: Inside The Egyptian Revolution And The Rebirth Of A Nation." And he says, seeing Egyptians turn now to Sissi, who is Mubarak's head of military intelligence, doesn't surprise him. ASHRAF KHALIL: Egyptians do kind of love a man in uniform. I mean, the Army has special status. Under Mubarak - and this was something that revealed itself during the revolution - the police were hated. The police were the bad guys. The Army was trusted. GREENE: But Khalil worries about what this moment in Egypt means. After Mubarak came a democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, from the Muslim Brotherhood. The military ousted him in a coup that was backed by the people, and now the former military chief, Sissi, is poised to win a new election. KHALIL: In many ways, what's happening now - the ousting of Morsi, the ascension of Sissi, is almost an acknowledgment on the part of many Egyptians that the country wasn't ready for democracy - and that's really depressing. GREENE: What depresses you about that? KHALIL: Because personally as a journalist and as a dual citizen - Egyptian - I was there on and off since 1997. I witnessed the late-stage Mubarak years where really this rot and self-loathing crept into the Egyptian psyche. Like everyone knew the place had gone rotten, and seeing them break off these shackles during the revolution was absolutely amazing. I didn't think they had it in them, and I say that as a dual citizen. And seeing it all kind of go down this path, I was disappointed with the way the Brotherhood acted after the revolution. I was disappointed in the way Morsi acted in power, and I was disappointed at how fast everyone rushed back into the arms of the military after one admittedly bad year under Morsi. Like, it really has been kind of this series of worst-case scenarios. GREENE: Now after Mubarak was removed, Egypt appeared on a path towards democracy, but today there's a looming question - can democracy exist in a place where the political opposition has been the victim of a brutal crackdown? The military has targeted the Muslim Brotherhood, including on a bloody day last August when the group held a series of protests. At the time, we reached Monal al-Qazzaz, a spokesperson for the Brotherhood. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST) MONAL AL-QAZZAZ: We want to save our ballots from their bullets. They want to kill our democratic process. They want to kill our democratic dreams. And the only way out for us is to empower a democratic institution. But the power of the tanks and the power of the bullets is killing us. GREENE: That crackdown on the Brotherhood has continued leading up to today's election. How much outrages is there with that in Egypt? KHALIL: Very little. It's a really spooky time in Egypt right now in a sense that there's things happening that I haven't seen before under Mubarak. And that - I'm used to there being no real sympathy, but there's real hostility towards anyone engaged in anything that might be regarded as troublemaking. And that includes opposition politicians, that includes anyone trying to hold a protest, that includes journalists, certainly, all NGOs. There's this feeling that now's not the time to rock the boat. Now, we need stability. Now, we need security. GREENE: That desperate desire for security is something we asked Lena Atella (ph) about. She's editor of an independent online newspaper in Cairo called Mara Matzer (ph). She's been covering the run-up to the election and she says recent terrorist attacks have people frightened. LENA ATELLA: It's the kind of violence that hits near schools or churches or places that just regular people frequent. Now, it's important not to exaggerate these things. There has been violence, there has been sporadic acts of terrorism pretty much everywhere in Egypt, but also, it's not Baghdad. It's not the kind of situation where you have a lot of fatalities. However, the pro-military media institutions managed to create a huge scare out of these sporadic events and it translated into people feeling that they are quite unsafe with the current political void that Egypt is witnessing. GREENE: It is not necessarily that people tie the Brotherhood to those incidents, many just watched Morsi in power and felt they could never trust the Brotherhood to keep the country safe. Lena Atella says many Egyptians only trust the military to do that, but she says things could change. ATELLA: I think the political process in Egypt past the 2011 revolution is constantly dynamic. And even though there is a temporary return to the state by a lot of the people as shown in the support that Sissi is receiving in these elections, this has to be understood as a very strong reaction to what has been popularly perceived as a very bad ruling experience by the Muslim Brotherhood and a lack of any other alternatives. By no means this should be described as Egyptians liking dictators or military rulers. GREENE: But Ashraf Khalil seems to have a dimmer view. I asked him what he's learned from the Brotherhood's time in power and from the crackdown on them that followed. KHALIL: The lesson is don't alienate your potential allies. You know, I think the Brotherhood practiced bad politics. I think Arabs might be facing a steep learning curve when it comes to building political consensus. It's not something that the last 50 years have trained them for - and I say that as an Arab before anybody gets mad at me. GREENE: Ashraf, you are Egyptian-American. You grew up here, you have dual citizenship. You've been living in Egypt through these times, but you've decided at this moment that you want to leave and come back to the United States. I wonder if you can tell me about that decision. Why now? KHALIL: Part of it feels like we've come to the end of a chapter. Watching the revolution, the revolution was an amazing thing. And I don't say this as an indictment of Sissi or the current government - I mean, it looks like he's got the votes and if you've got the votes, you've got the votes. I believe in that, but this does feel like the revolution has failed. Beyond that, the last year or so I've experienced being afraid in Egypt. So I'm not eager to leave Egypt, but I'm willing, yeah, for the first time in a long time. GREENE: The voting in Egypt will continue into tomorrow. And we'll have more from NPR's Cairo correspondent, Leila Fadel on tomorrow's program. GREENE: You are listening to MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.Related Program: Morning EditionView the discussion thread. © 2015 MTPR

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Hear David Boze every weekday at 6am on 770 KTTHDavid Boze < David Boze Our best chance to keep Kenya mall-type attack from happening here September 23, 2013 @ 11:08 am A line of soldiers from the Kenya Defense Forces run in front of the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013. Multiple barrages of gunfire erupted Sunday morning from the upscale Kenyan mall where there is a hostage standoff with Islamic extremists nearly 24 hours after they attacked using grenades and assault rifles. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) Taken from Monday's edition of The David Boze Show. It's been a terrifying weekend around the world. Most of the time let's face it Americans pay about as much attention to foreign problems that do not involved the United States directly as we do to the Emmy's - a bit of a joke that nobody cares about the Emmy's. We're not like other places where we really keep a whole lot of track of what's going on in other parts of the world. In part, because we ourselves are plenty big and it's tough enough to keep track of what is going on in the United States. I've been pleased to see the level of coverage that the attack on the mall in Kenya has been getting. If only because I think it should be a bit of a wake-up call. You've got 175 people hurt at the mall in Kenya. You've allegedly got Americans involved in the terrorist attack, and all I could think of when I was reading about these Americans that had been recruited for this terrorist attack on the mall was - and this is a horrible thing to say, but I'm going to say it anyway because I bet it was going on in your head as well - thank God they didn't do it here. It is a horrible thing because I don't want Kenyans hurt. I don't want anyone attacked in the mall. But I thought, I don't know what led these jihadists to go elsewhere to commit their jihad, but I was glad that they didn't do it here. That doesn't mean that I'm glad that they did it anywhere, but I was glad that they didn't do it here. I felt a little guilty and sick just for thinking that way, but I'm betting you can relate. I watched the video of the initial attack and the sound of it is jarring. You can hear the gunfire just echoing throughout the mall. The pictures, the video, you see people hiding behind these very meager grocery displays. It is almost like they don't know what to do. They're just looking around trying to figure out what do I do other than crouch down and hide. Right now, people are saying, could what happened in Kenya happen here. You bet it could. I've been amazed it hasn't happened up to this point, and it scares me. The lesson here for us is what did they go for, they went for a soft target where they didn't think people would be secure, where they didn't think people would be armed. Does this have lessons for us? You bet it does. Will we take those lessons? That is unknown and probably unlikely. What we need to do is take a look at what happened in Kenya and start asking ourselves - since we know we can't put layer after layer of security around every public building, and we know we have tens of millions of guns in this country, the only choice you have is to make sure that good people are able to carry their firearms. That at least might delay bad people with guns from being able to do the evil that they want to do. Kenya forces claim to control most of mall JS The David Boze Show on AM 770 KTTH Listen to David Boze every weekday at 6am on Seattle's AM 770 KTTH.

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Press gloom on theatre siege One year after the Dubrovka theatre siege in Moscow, the Russian press is pondering the aftermath of the tragedy. A memorial service will be held on Sunday Some papers question the official secrecy still surrounding the attack, in which more than 100 people died after the authorities used poison gas to flush out Chechen hostage-takers. Others ask whether another terrorist outrage is just a matter of time. And many are angry that one year on, it is still unclear how the tragedy was allowed to happen in the first place. On Sunday, relatives and friends of the dead hostages will gather at the theatre in Dubrovka. They will honour the memory of their loved ones with a minute's silence, lay flowers at the commemorative wall and disperse in silence. For many of them, the difficult times go on - lawsuits with the authorities which allowed the tragedy to happen and which are stubbornly refusing to take responsibility for this tragedy. Novyye Izvestiya The year that has passed... still hasn't provided answers to many questions which this act of terrorism raised for Russian society and the Russian state... It can't be normal that, after a tragedy on this sort of scale, we still haven't found out: 1) how were such a large number of rebels able to gather in Moscow and seize the building, and whose fault was it? 2) why did so many people die as the hostages were being freed, and whose fault was it? 3) what was the specific location of the centre which decided to carry out the act of terrorism, and who belonged to this centre? And, does this centre, incidentally, continue to exist, and are the people who gave the order for this act of terrorism still operating? Rossiyskaya Gazeta Even now, no-one can give any precise figures. None. The number of hostages, for example, or the number of terrorists, how many people survived, how many died and how many were identified. Do you know how many hostages there were? Over 900. Not 901 or 967, but exactly that - "over 900". It's the same with survivors - "over 750", with 129 dead... But the most savage thing is that, according to various estimates, around 70 people are listed as missing without trace. How could it be that, in a structurally intact theatre complex in the centre of Moscow, over the course of 12 months, the exact number of people who had been inside couldn't be counted? Moskovskaya Pravda Passions seem to have subsided over the past year. Busy with their daily lives, people have forgotten that we still don't know the names of the people responsible for the death of the dozens of victims who did not receive medical treatment in time. Moscow's prosecutors have dropped the investigation because the 41 terrorists are dead. Law-enforcement agencies were searching for accomplices, they have questioned over 1,000 people, but they haven't actually found anyone. And the only time we remember about the victims of the tragedy is when we hear news of the suit for damages against the Moscow authorities. Argumenty i Fakty To my great regret, [another attack] is not just possible - it is already happening. Chechnya is also a part of Russia. And the scale of the events there is the same, take the explosion at the Mozdok hospital, for example. These are terrorist acts which kill dozens and hundreds of people, and threaten thousands. Nezavisimaya Gazeta, comment by Duma deputy Boris Nadezhdin The tragedy at the Dubrovka could have become the very issue to unite the whole of society. It hasn't. The people who were killed, those who survived and those who rescued them could have become heroes. They haven't. Some of them were honoured. We don't know who. We're not supposed to know. It's secret information. That's the response of the Kremlin. Izvestiya BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. Moscow remembers theatre siege Money for theatre siege widow Chechen jailed over theatre siege 20 Jun 03 Foreign hostages sue Russia 11 Jun 03 Curtain drops on Moscow terror show Theatre honours hostage victims In pictures: Moscow theatre siege Nezavisimaya Gazeta Argumenty i Fakty Novye Izvestiya

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Week In News: Cuts Up In The Air And Stirrings In Syria ShareTwitter Facebook Google+ Email Listen Listening... Originally published on April 27, 2013 4:39 pm Transcript JACKI LYDEN, HOST: It's WEEKENDS on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Jacki Lyden. Coming up this hour, classic soap operas relaunch online and how beer begat baseball. But first... (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) LYDEN: This week, Americans felt the effects of massive federal spending cuts. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: This week, the sequester hurt travelers who were stuck for hours in airports and on planes and are rightly frustrated by it. LYDEN: President Obama addressing the nation in his weekly radio address. And James Fallows of The Atlantic joins us, as he does most Saturdays. Hello there, Jim. You're out in California today. JAMES FALLOWS: Yes, I am, in Redlands, California. And hello to you from here, Jacki. LYDEN: Well, we're glad to have you. So we, of course, have been following this, and the president has blamed flight delays on Republicans in Congress. Congress did pass a sort of Band-Aid bill, even the White House called it that, a stopgap to end air traffic controller furloughs, a sequester, I guess, with exceptions if you have the right - I don't want to make a pun here, Jim - connections. FALLOWS: I think a month or two ago, most people would've thought that the effects of the sequester were about as stark a demonstration of dysfunctionality in government as we could come up with. But I think we have now taken this one step further. The whole idea behind the sequester, of course, is that its cuts would be so clumsy and so intolerable that both political parties would agree on ways to pass a real budget. Now, we've seen sort of the sequester with exceptions for people who are powerful. That if the airlines can make a big enough deal about the FAA furloughs causing the delays and if passengers can be angry enough about that and blame not the airlines but the Congress, then you can get a loophole for the airlines. And so either, I think, we're going to have just a sort of cascading series of these with the national parks, the National Institutes of Health, Head Start or whatever, or else there will be some argument to say that this entire approach is not making sense. Unfortunately, I fear the former. I think we're going to see more and more exceptions in this approach. LYDEN: It'll be interesting to see what members of Congress hear when they go to their home districts. FALLOWS: Yes. And I guess the hopeful outlook here would be that airline passengers are a relatively privileged level of society. A lot of the effects of these budget cuts are falling on people who don't have the same kind of access - for example, families who rely on Head Start. So I would hope the Congress - congressional representatives would hear from some of those people when they're back home too. LYDEN: Jim, speaking of planes, here's a story you've been following for some months now. I'm talking, of course, about the Dreamliner, back in the news, the big Boeing plane that had that problem with its lithium batteries overheating. It's fixed apparently. What is it? FALLOWS: I think when this problem first arose a couple months ago, you and I discussed, Jacki, that almost all new airliners have this kind of start-up problem, so to speak, when they get going. And most of them overcome it, and it becomes more or less forgotten. And I expected that something like that would turn out with the Dreamliner's battery problems, and that seems to be the case. Boeing has not entirely re-engineered the battery, but they found all sorts of safety measures. There's a new box that's going to be enclosed in. There's new sort of charging systems that will reduce the danger of overcharging, ways to vent out dangerous gases, et cetera. So the FAA seems to say OK. And I imagine a year or two from now, five years from now, this will be seen as a start-up glitch as opposed to a fundamental challenge for the plane. LYDEN: Lastly, Jim, Syria is in the news again this week. And it appears a very grim threshold has been crossed with the government using what appears to be chemical weapons against its own people, something, of course, Saddam Hussein did. The president says that a line has been crossed, and I guess the question is, what does the U.S. do now? FALLOWS: Yes. Of course, that is the question. And these lines are arbitrary in a couple of senses. One is, as you well know, many tens of thousands of people have been killed in Syria long before there was evidence or suspicion of chemical weapons. That was by plain old artillery. Also, I think no American president ever wants to lay down an absolute line saying, if you do X, I will do Y, because then all leverage and judgment about American policy has been passed out of his own hands or out of the country's hands. But I think, clearly, the president is now under pressure to say since he laid down this condition, he needs to do something more. And that something is what he will be deciding and discussing with the Congress and the public in the next few days. LYDEN: James Fallows is national correspondent with The Atlantic. You can read his blog at jamesfallows.theatlantic.com. Jim, thanks for taking time to be with us today. FALLOWS: My pleasure, Jacki. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.Related Program: All Things ConsideredView the discussion thread. St. Louis Public Radio is a service of

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108th CE Deploys To SWA Twenty-two journalists from 17 countries visited the 108th Air Refueling Wing Aug. 30. The visit preceded a trip by the journalists to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where they toured the National Museum of the United States Air Force and learned more about the operations of the U.S. Air Force. Journalists are briefed during their visit to the 108th Air Refueling Wing. Photo courtesy 108ARW/PA. Inside the wing conference room, representatives from the 305th Air Mobility Wing, 514th Air Mobility Wing, 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force/621st Contingency Response Wing, and the Secretary of the Air Force/Public Affair’s office, accompanied Lt. Col. Robert Doolittle, 108th ARW Vice Commander, as each briefed the journalists on their respective missions. The floor was opened up to a question-and-answer session after each briefing, in which reporters asked questions on topics such as the KC-135E Stratotanker’s ability to operate in harsh environments, and perceived public sentiments on the recent Lebanese repatriation efforts. After a break, the journalists jumped on a bus and headed out for a tour of the 305th AMW’s KC-10 Extender. There, they got to examine the plane inside and out and also conduct a couple of interviews with 305th AMW personnel. Immediately following the static display, the journalists were taken to a KC-135E for the flight to Wright-Patterson AFB. A briefing from the Air Force Materiel Command was first up upon arrival at Wright-Patterson, followed by a tour of the Air Force Security Assistance Center. A tour of the Air Force Museum rounded out their busy day. The next day, after a breakfast, the reporters visited the Aeronautical Systems Center and attended a lunch where they got to sit down and talk to Airmen at Wright-Patterson AFB. The Air Force Research Laboratory was their last stop at Wright-Patterson before they returned that evening. “(The) journalists had favorable comments about the trip,” said Maj. John Thomas, Foreign Press Center, in the after action report on the visit, adding, “Cooperation of all Air Force agencies and the access they were willing to provide made this trip a real success.” The 108th Air Refueling Wing’s Men’s Open Softball team placed second in the 41st Annual Softball Tournament held at McGee-Tyson Air Force Base, Tenn., August 16-20. The co-ed team placed twelfth in the tournament, and the women’s team, which was half 108th players and the rest from the 177th Fighter Wing, placed seventh. Photo courtesy 108ARW/PA. Senior Airman Robert Finley (left) and Tuskegee Airman Maj. (Ret) Bertram Levy (right) pose for photo during McGuire Air Force Bases' celebration of the Air Force's 59th birthday on Sept. 23. Photo by 2nd Lt. April Kelly, 108ARW/PAO. TAG's Message - Future Goals A Word from the Chief - Dealing with Change Guarding the Forces in Iraq Stand Down 2006 Soldier and NCO of the Year announced Annual Training Heads South 108th Deploys to SWA Govenor Attends Military Review NJNG Fields State of the Art Commo Gear Foreign Press Visits 108th Kiowas Hitch Ride to Operation Jump Start Exercise Prepares NJNG for Crisis News Guard Families can use RU Ready for some Flyovers Short Rounds Army and Air Enlisted Promotions Last Round: Touchdown Volume 32 Number 5 Staff / Information Download PDF Version (c) 2006 NJ Department of Military and Veterans Affairshttp://www.nj.gov/military

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Gingrich Ups Romney At Iowa Chocolate Factory By Greg Allen Originally published on December 29, 2011 7:03 am Transcript GREG ALLEN, BYLINE: I'm Greg Allen in Sioux City. At every stop in Iowa, former House speaker Newt Gingrich touts his experience. He calls himself a supply-side conservative who worked with Ronald Reagan in the '80s, and again as House speaker in the '90s, to revive the economy. But he's not averse to a good photo op. (SOUNDBITE OF A CROWD) ERIKA JENSEN: OK. Oh, you got a little drips. NEWT GINGRICH: I'm still dripping. JENSEN: Yup. ALLEN: At The Chocolate Season in Algona yesterday, owner Erika Jensen showed Gingrich and his wife Callista how to make hand-dipped chocolates. It gave him an opportunity to pick up a feud he's been having with Mitt Romney. Earlier in the week, after Gingrich failed to qualify for the Virginia primary ballot, Romney compared his campaign to a well-known "I Love Lucy" episode. (SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER) GINGRICH: Governor Romney had a cute line yesterday, about my team resembling Lucy in the chocolate factory. And I just want to say, here I am in the chocolate factory. (SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER) ALLEN: Once again, Gingrich challenged Romney to a series of one-on-one debates, a challenge he acknowledged Romney was not likely to accept. After leading for a time in Iowa, Gingrich has been dropping in the polls, in large part because of attack ads run by opponents. His campaign says they're not out of money. They announced a $500,000 ad buy for the closing week in Iowa. But the fact remains, that Gingrich has been outspent and is trying to regain his momentum one campaign event at a time. But at campaign stops, sometimes unexpected things happen. Such as when a big question like the economy, becomes personal. MICHELLE WILLIAMS: This is difficult, so bear with me. February 21st, the kids and I will be homeless. ALLEN: Michelle Williams, a single mom with four kids asked Gingrich what he would do as president to help people like her. He said he'd start by repealing Dodd-Frank, a financial reform law that he says encourages banks to foreclose on delinquent mortgages. Williams said later, that wouldn't solve her problems, but she appreciated his answer and may even vote for him in next week's caucus. Greg Allen, NPR news, Sioux City. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.View the discussion thread. © 2015 WNIJ and WNIU

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Pamela Fisher Zazzaro Obituary Pamela Fisher Zazzaro passed away on Friday, May 11, 2012 in Manassas, Virginia in the comfort of her family. Born: Pam was born on January 27, 1952 in Trenton, NJ, the daughter of Jackson E. Fisher and Helen Krewson Fisher of Baptistown. Personal: She grew up in Hunterdon County NJ, and attended Delaware Valley Regional High School, graduating in 1970. While working at Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, NJ, she met her future husband Patrick, then a medical student. They married on April 9, 1977. A few years later, they moved to Manassas, VA where she spent the remainder of her life as a loving and devoted wife and mother. Those close to Pam will miss her warm smile, generous heart, open and honest attitude, and direct sense of humor. She loved to laugh, loved to be with people, and was most happy when she was doing for others. Pam's energetic and outgoing personality made it easy for others to feel comfortable sharing time with her. Her hugs and laughter will be missed by all. Memberships: Pam was dedicated to the activities and education of her children and the community. She spent many years as a volunteer in the Manassas City schools and a member of the Prince William County Medical Society Auxiliary. Perhaps most memorable were Pam's contributions as the social chairperson and board member at Sudley Club which left a lasting impact. Survivors:, her husband, Dr. Patrick F. Zazzaro; children, Lori and husband Chris Moore, Michael and wife Hrissy, Mark and Alex; mother, Helen Fisher; brothers, Jackson and Jeff Fisher; and sister; Sheryl Cooper. Pam was preceded in death by her father, Jackson Fisher Services: Memorial service will be at Frenchtown Presbyterian Church in Frenchtown, NJ on Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 2 p.m. with luncheon to follow at the fellowship room of the church. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to the Cancer Center at Lake Manassas http://www.cancercenterlm.org www.cancercenterlm.org Published in The Express Times on May 15, 2012 Return to today's Obituaries for The Express Times

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Property tax freeze to benefit homeowners in municipalities that cut costs MORRISTOWN Ogdensburg woman charged with petit larceny County grant available to replace home septic systems in Morristown, Macomb Brier Hill Fire Department readies for move to new building PUBLISHED: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013 AT 4:30 AM BRIER HILL - Within a month the Brier Hill Volunteer Fire Department will begin operating out of a brand new station at the intersection of School Street and Route 37. The result of more than six years of preparation the $1 million facility will be roughly twice the size of the current, aging station and capable of housing the department’s five fire trucks and one rescue boat. “We currently put five trucks in a two-door station,” Fire Chief Shawn R. Macaulay said. “Everything is packed in there pretty tight.” The new building, which is being constructed by D.C. Building Systems, Watertown, will have five doors capable of letting trucks in and out. “Everything will be inside, under one roof,” Mr. Macaulay said. The final project will see a large community center added onto the back of the fire station as well, Mr. Macaulay said. But before the community center can be added on the department needs to raise an additional $200,000.Donations can be sent to the station at P.O. Box 57, Brier Hill. Once it’s complete the new community center will have a full kitchen in addition to more room to provide a better space for events.Mr. Macaulay said he expects the community center to be completed in the spring. In the meantime the old fire station at 2704 Route 37 will continue to serve as a multi-function community center. Mr. Macaulay said the department will also be responsible for paving the new fire station on their own, hopefully with the help of community members who volunteer their time.

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Blanding Council closes year Dec 18, 2013 | 1744 views | 0 | 23 | | Service awards were presented to Mayor Toni Turk and Councilman Charlie Taylor at the December 10 meeting of the Blanding City Council. They are leaving office on January 1.Turk has served as Mayor for the past ten years, while Taylor has served on the city council for approximately five years.They will be replaced by Calvin Balch as Mayor, and Taylor Harrison on the city council. Councilman Robert Ogle was also elected to a four-year term on the council beginning January 1, 2014.Turk told the Council that after leaving office, he and his wife will be working on a project to create a “virtual cemetery” for three cemeteries that have been destroyed in Poland.A formal statement for Turk, made as he leaves office, will be published in the January 1 issue of the San Juan Record.The Council had extensive discussion about a proposed change in the zoning ordinance. At the current time, there is a perception that owners of small homes do not have the same flexibility for the construction of outbuildings on their properties.The proposed zoning change would give some flexibility to these owners of small homes.After significant discussion, it was determined that the proposed change may need some more work before it is ready for public hearing.Recommendations do not go straight from the zoning commission to a public hearing, but first must go through the city council. Suicide prevention seminar set in Blanding Schools announce snow makeup days after storms English wins District Spelling Bee

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Guiding Light options GL FrontPage GL news archive ABOUT GL About Guiding Light Guiding Light Recaps Last Week on GL Guiding Light Previews GL Two Scoops commentary TWO SCOOPS Guiding Light Commentary The End: How do you sum up 72 years of memories into one Two Scoops column? Sadly, this week our Kimberly finds out. Read the column now... Visit GL's Board Guiding Light has added another new writer to its lineup. Christopher Dunn had been named co-head writer and will serve as second-in-command to recently appointed head writer Lloyd "Lucky" Gold. "Lucky and Chris make a formidable team," said executive producer Paul Rauch. "Together they will provide an energetic style of storytelling that both the actors and the viewers can really sink their teeth into." "Chris has been a core member of the Guiding Light team for the past year and a half and has demonstrated a real talent for character development and plot structure," noted Mary Alice Dwyer-Dobbin, Executive in Charge of Production for Procter & Gamble Productions. Dunn has been working as a breakdown writer at GL since November 1999. Preveiously, he has written in the same capacity for the daytime dramas General Hospital, Santa Barbara and Sunset Beach. At Santa Barbara, he and his colleagues were honored with a Writers Guild Award in 1991; in 1998, he and the Sunset Beach team also received a Writers Guild nomination. In addition, as a member of their respective writing teams, he is the recipient of two Soap Opera Digest awards for General Hospital in 1990 and Santa Barbara in 1989. Born in St. Louis, MO and raised in Greenwich, CT, Dunn received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Washington University in St. Louis. He is married to assistant director Cathy Sedwick, with whom he has a four-year-old daughter, Emma. SOAPULARITY: WHAT'S TRENDING

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SPAWN.COM >> NEWS >> clive from new york CLIVE FROM NEW YORK "People want to see the monsters. We supply the monsters." So said horror novelist and artist extraordinaire Clive Barker during a press conference with Todd McFarlane at the McFarlane Toys showroom in Manhattan to announce the new Clive Barker's Tortured Souls action figures. For many media folks and other attendees, this was the highlight of Toy Fair, the chance to corner two of the fantasy and horror world's most twisted creators and pick their brains. Most of the McFarlane Toys sculptors and painters who worked on the project made the trek up from New Jersey to meet the man. The beginning of the partnership between Todd and Clive is blurry, but both are fans of the other's work. CLIVE BARKER AND TODD McFARLANE "It's great dealing with Todd because you dispense with the middleman and talk directly to the creator," Clive said. "Todd is about making wonderful things, making things no one has ever seen before. He came along and said 'lets do something so scary, so extreme, it'll become a benchmark in horror toys.' " It seems as though they've been successful. The Tortured Souls line - The Scythe Meister, Agonistes, Lucidique, Mongroid, Venal Anatomica and The Fix - has drawn an incredible amount of attention in the showroom, often eliciting gasps or shrieks of horror upon initial viewing. "We're getting a reaction to these toys. I don't care what the reaction is, we're getting a reaction," Todd said. "If Clive -- who can be a little odd at times -- and myself, the two odd boys, if we got together and couldn't get a reaction, we failed at our task." "In the genre of horror, if you don't disturb people, you're not doing your job," Todd continued. "There will be a number of people who will look at these and say 'yeah.' There will also be a group of folks who look at these and wonder why they have to exist. And that's fine. We'll deal with that." For his part, Clive is thrilled with Tortured Souls, though he hesitates to call them "toys," preferring figures or art or, most famously, "objects of veneration." "These are the first toys I've had on the market," he said. "I've had model kits and whatnot, but this is a very different order of creation. These are technically amazing and the sheer level of detail is extraordinary." "These figures represent the creature that both obsesses you and repulses you simultaneously," he continued. "These are figures you put in a dark place in your house, probably with some votive candles, to haunt a corner in your home. We've really had fun pushing the envelope." TODD, CLIVE AND THE McFARLANE DESIGN GROUP As an artist, Clive is fixated on details and very much appreciates the fine points of the figures. "Detail is the deal with monster making," Clive said. "The idea is that somehow or other the artist knows what all these details are. The Fix, the character hanging with the bloodbag, you will look at that thing for three hours and still find things that disgust you." The creative process, not always the smoothest of conditions, went amazingly well between Clive and Todd. "Ultimately one and one becomes three," Todd said. "The strength of Clive and his studio and the strength of me and my studio, it's an amalgamation, a hybrid of a bunch of good creative people working together." "Agreed," Clive said firmly. "On my own I could not have done this. On his own, Todd could not have done this. Together we can. People are grasping for imaginative extremes and they are appreciative of that." Whatever else you can say about Tortured Souls, the figures are certainly graphic, arguably the most disturbing toys ever sculpted. Todd, as is his penchant, remained unrepentant in the face of potential controversy. "I am absolutely unconcerned about releasing figures this extreme," Todd said. "I've never apologized for a figure I've released. We will market these toys to appropriate venues for appropriate ages. Beyond that, it's up to parents to be the other half of the equation and control what comes into their home." "Some people choose to see toys like this as a sign that society is falling," he continued with a smile. "It's not, these are just an easy way to scare people." As for the future, look for more collaboration between Todd and Clive in the form of more action figures and possibly a movie. "We're really looking forward to pursuing a film featuring these characters," Clive said. "Ideally that will work out." As you can well imagine, Clive Barker's Tortured Souls will likely not be available in mass market retailers Look for these twisted action figures in specialty stores and comic book shops the world over in July.

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The Broken Elbow A View of the World from New York and Belfast HomeAbout This SiteAbout Ed MoloneyBooksVoices from the Grave: Two Men’s War in Ireland (2010)A Secret History of the IRA (2003, 2008)FilmArticles Category Archives: New York Times Libya and Gaza: Double Standards in Conflict Reporting at The New York Times Hats off to The New York Times for being one of the first, if not the first, to report last Friday that Col. Gaddafi’s forces in Libya have been firing cluster bombs into residential neighborhoods of Misurata, the sole city in western Libya still in rebel hands, thereby escalating the possibility of major civilian carnage. Deployment of the weapon, along with ground-to-ground rockets, represents a significant intensification in the two-month old crisis in Libya sparked by the so-called Arab Spring of democratic rebellions that have surged through the Middle East. The Libyan uprising, however, is the only one of these insurrections that has seen direct Western military involvement and it was the apparent threat to civilian life of the sort reported this weekend by the NYTimes and other media outlets that brought that about. Following an allegedly bloodcurdling threat from Gaddafi in early March to exact revenge against the citizens of Benghazi, the eastern city that has been the epicenter of the revolt, the United Nations Security Council authorised the use of force to protect civilians. Justifying US involvement in the NATO-led bombing campaign against Gaddafi’s forces that followed, President Barack Obama said: “If we waited one more day, Benghazi . . . could suffer a massacre that would have reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world.’’ Cluster bombs: a devastating weapon when used against civiians Gaddafi’s use of cluster bombs clearly increases the danger to Libya’s civilian population. The munitions, which contain many smaller, shrapnel-packed bomblets are designed to shower wide areas with deadly explosives. On the battlefield they can cut down scores of soldiers at a time but in heavily populated urban neighborhoods the weapon can kill and maim on a massive scale. As The NYTimes put it, describing the deployment of the weapon along with rockets: Both of these so-called indiscriminate weapons, which strike areas with a dense succession of high-explosive munitions, by their nature cannot be fired precisely. When fired into populated areas, they place civilians at grave risk. The dangers were evident beside one of the impact craters on Friday (in Misurata), where eight people had been killed while standing in a bread-line. Where a crowd had assembled for food, bits of human flesh had been blasted against a cinder-block wall. The NYTimes’ report came just as other media outlets, such as The Boston Globe, were beginning to offer a platform to more skeptical analyses of the rationale for war in Libya. These pointed out that not only did Gaddafi not threaten a civilian massacre in Benghazi – this claim was made instead by rebels – he had offered an amnesty to those who threw their weapons away and even offered rebels an escape route to Egypt. The use of cluster bombs, however, tilts the balance the other way, strengthening the view that Gaddafi is prepared to kill his own people in order to survive. Nonetheless cynics will be suspicious about this report and its timing. After all, it comes as the Western-led effort in the oil-rich North African state is badly running out of steam and disagreements over tactics and strategy are rife amongst the NATO allies. Gaddafi has also taken advantage of confusion in his enemy’s camp and has forced the rebels to flee from eastern cities they had captured. With the rebels’ rag tag army once more on the run, NATO and its political leadership are facing a humiliating setback at the hands of one of the Arab world’s most eccentric leaders. Gaddafi and Obama in happier days By coincidence or not, the three Western leaders spearheading the NATO campaign, Barack Obama, Britain’s David Cameron and France’s Nicolas Sarkozy, put their names to an Op-Ed which appeared this weekend in major US and European newspapers that appeared to admit for the first time that the aim of the operation was now not just to protect civilian lives but to effect the ousting of the Libyan dictator. Prior to this Obama, for one, was keen to rule out any charge that he and his allies planned to overthrow Gaddafi. “Broadening our military mission to include regime change would be a mistake”, he told the American public last month. It was a stance dictated by the knowledge that doing otherwise would not go down well in the Arab world. It was one thing to drop bombs on Arab cities in the name of humanitarian exigency, but, in the context of Bush’s war in Iraq, an entirely different matter when the goal was to get rid of a government. In the wake of a growing stalemate in Libya, however, that had changed. Now, the trio of war leaders said in their Op-Ed: “Colonel Gaddafi must go, and go for good”. The cynic will say that the curtain has now been pulled aside to reveal the real motives behind the NATO campaign, for which the expression of humanitarian concern was a convenient cover. The real goal was to extract payback from an Arab leader who was a real thorn in the West’s flesh not that long ago, whether by cocking a snook at the Reagan White House, funding and arming groups like the IRA which came close to assassinating a British prime minister or stirring up trouble in a host of Arab and African countries whose leaders were allies of the West. Muammar and Tony: the former British PM is on the payroll, says Gaddafis son, Saif According to this scenario this was too good an opportunity to settle some old scores, notwithstanding Gaddafi’s humbling, not to say embarrassing efforts to ingratiate himself with the West in recent years (his new pals included Tony Blair, who was on the family payroll according to Gaddafi’s son Saif, and Silvio Berlusconi who is said to have got the idea of hosting his now infamous “bunga-bunga parties” from Gaddafi). That Libya also produces the highest grade oil of any Arab state and that the people who are slated to take over from Gaddafi will likely be grateful to the West in all the most suitable and appropriate ways is a bonus, and a big one at that. Muammar and Silvio: Gaddafi "introduced Italian leader to bunga-bunga parties" All of this may well be true but to suggest, as some might, that The New York Times story is therefore a very timely and convenient excuse for NATO to escalate the war against Gaddafi would be a good deal more credible if the story itself was dodgy and on the level of say Judith Miller’s notorious aluminum tubes report, a piece of fiction which helped the Bush White House raise the spectre of a nuclear-armed Saddam Hussein to justify the Iraq war while staining The NYTimes’ reputation, some say indelibly. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. The NYTimes reporter, CJ Chivers was able to examine and photograph remnants of three mortars fired last week at Misurata, each filled with twenty-one “submunitions”, i.e. smaller bombs designed to kill people and penetrate armor. He was also able to trace the bombs to their Spanish manufacturer, Instalaza and quoted Human Rights Watch, the New York-based advocacy group which verified that cluster bombs were being used by the Libyan government forces. A young Iraqi victim of American cluster bombs For good measure, Chivers noted that the United States is not amongst the countries who have signed a Convention barring their use, implying therefore that any attempt by America to make a human rights issue out of all this would sound hypocritical to say the least. (US forces also used the weapon in Iraq, causing sometimes terrible civilian casualties) He also spoke to eye witnesses who had been nearby when the cluster mortars landed and exploded. So all in all a solid, well-reported piece of journalism and an article of which The New York Times can be justifiably proud. I mention all of this by way of contrast and the contrast is to the same paper’s coverage of the Israeli invasion of Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009, a military operation that was code named Operation Cast Lead and whose principal victims were also civilians. According to Palestinians sources quoted in the Goldstone Report between 1390 and 1440 people were killed by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) during that two or three week-long incursion and the vast majority, perhaps as many as 75 per cent, were ordinary, non-involved Gaza citizens. Over 100 women were killed and possibly as many as 350 of the fatalities were children. The Israelis have starkly different numbers which claim that the bulk of the dead were militants or combatants but have failed to produce evidence to back up their figures. The civilian death toll was perhaps not on the same scale that Barack Obama seemed to suggest would have happened in Benghazi but for the intervention of the US and her allies but nonetheless it was large enough to suggest that the aim of the operation was less to punish the Hamas activists who were firing rockets into Israel and more to teach the population of Gaza a brutal lesson for voting Hamas into power and/or continuing to give them support. The disparity between civilian and military casualties was large enough by itself to warrant the suspicion that this or something like it was the real mission goal and so was the choice of weaponry employed by the Israelis in Gaza’s packed, built up areas where the average population density is some 4,500 people per square kilometer. The scale of civilian killings in Gaza was sufficiently large to inflame international public opinion and to oblige the United Nations to launch an investigation into Operation Cast Lead. The results of that investigation, the Goldstone Report, have damaged, possibly beyond repair, Israel’s already tarnished reputation for disrespecting the rights of Palestinian Arabs. There is little doubt that the most controversial and disturbing weapon deployed in Gaza by Israel was white phosphorous (WP), a substance that is used conventionally to generate smoke and provide cover for troop movements. For that reason it is not a banned weapon. But using it in densely populated urban areas is an entirely different matter. Israel claimed it used WP legally, to give her soldiers a smokescreen but on the ground, in the tightly packed streets of Gaza it killed, maimed and terrified civilians. An unforgettable image of Israels incursion into Gaza: a white phosphorous shell explodes above a Palestinian neighborhood WP is used in two ways. Encased into artillery shells, it can be fired at ground targets like normal ordnance or it can be fused to explode in mid-air, showering down multiple streams of deep-yellow colored phosphorous embers. The chemical ignites when exposed to oxygen and can only be doused, but not extinguished by a covering of dirt of sand. The effect of white phosphorous raining down on Gaza’s civilian population was devastating. Doctors interviewed by the Goldstone team spoke of horrifying burn injuries to its victims. WP sticks to the flesh and will burn until all the phosphorous is exhausted. In some cases victims were treated only to return the next day with wounds that were smoking with remnants of WP still burning deep into tissue and sometimes into the bone. Medical staff learned that the only effective way to treat WP victims was to cut away large portions of flesh around the affected area. Some had limbs amputated, others were burned to death. Although there is little doubt that many more Gazans were killed by conventional weapons the gruesome, indiscriminate cruelty of white phosphorous marked it out as a truly horrifying and repellant weapon. This is what is like to be on the receiving end of a white phosphorous shell The Goldstone team indicted Israel for its use of the weapon, saying it had breached Articles 18 and 19 of the Fourth Geneva Convention which declare hospitals off-limits during wartime and parts of Protocol One of the Convention, effectively saying that Israel had undertaken military operations while disregarding the consequences for civilians. The Convention bars the use of WP against civilians and while Goldstone didn’t charge Israel with deliberately flouting the law, the report did say that the IDF was “systematically reckless” in its use of the weapon in built-up areas. One member of the Goldstone mission, former Irish Army officer, Colonel Desmond Travers has estimated that some 3,500 white phosphorous shells, containing around 400,000 individual wedges of the chemical were fired by the IDF during the incursion of Gaza. Specifically, Goldstone’s people found that WP shells had been fired at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency at a time when the UN complex was being used to shelter some 700 civilians – one shell landed near a large oil tank and disaster was averted only by brave and speedy action on the part of staff members – and that the same weapon had been used against two hospitals, the Al Quds in Gaza city and the Al Wafa in the east of the city. The Goldstone report also chronicled the case of the Abu Halima family, about whose harrowing fate it had this to say: On 4 January 2009, the bombardment reportedly increased as Israeli troops moved into and took control of al-Atatra neighbourhood. The Abu Halima family was sheltering in the home of Muhammad Sa’ad Abu Halima and Sabah Abu Halima in Sifaya village. The house has two floors; the ground floor is used for storage and the living quarters are on the upper floor. According to Sabah Abu Halima, 16 members of her immediate family were sheltering on the upper floor. In the afternoon, after hearing that a shell had hit the adjacent house of Sabah Abu Halima’s brother-in-law, most of the family moved from the bedroom into a hallway in the middle of the upper floor, where they thought they would be better protected. At around 4.30 p.m., a white phosphorous shell came through the ceiling into the room where they were sheltering. According to family members who survived, there was intense fire and white smoke in the room, the walls of which were glowing red. Five members of the family died immediately or within a short period: Muhammad Sa’ad Abu Halima (aged 45) and four of his children, sons Abd al-Rahim Sa’ad (aged 14), Zaid (aged 12) and Hamza (aged 8), and daughter Shahid (aged 18 months). Muhammad Sa’ad and Abd al-Rahim Sa’ad were decapitated, the others burnt to death. Five members of the family escaped and suffered various degrees of burns: Sabah Abu Halima, her sons Youssef (aged 16) and Ali (aged 4), daughter-in-law Ghada (aged 21), and Ghada’s daughter Farah (aged 2). One horrifying consequence of a white phosphorous attack So how did The New York Times cover the deployment of white phosphorous by the IDF in Gaza? Again by way of contrast, the best way to start answering that question is perhaps to look at how one its European rivals covered the same story. The paper in question is The Times of London. Now this is a paper that is part of Rupert Murdoch’s stable and the people at The New York Times tend to look down their collective noses at anything published by News International. After all, many of Murdoch’s publications do have a reputation for tabloid-like trashiness, a scant respect for the facts and little in the way of ethical standards: take a look, for instance, at the phone hacking scandal currently embroiling The News of the World in London. Not all of Murdoch’s children are brats, however, and The Times can sometimes rise majestically to the occasion. Its coverage of Israel’s deployment of white phosphorous was one such instance. The paper’s first story appeared on January 5th under the headline ‘Israel rains fire on Gaza with phosphorous shells’ and two days later, on January 8th, followed that up with a story about the horrifying injuries caused by WP, while noting that the IDF’s official denials that the weapon was in use and identifying the shells as being of US origin: “There is also evidence that the rounds have injured Palestinian civilians, causing severe burns. The use of white phosphorous against civilians is prohibited under international law”. Another story on January 12th provided more detailed evidence of widespread civilian casualties caused by the weapon. On January 15th, The Times reported that the UNWRA complex in Gaza had been hit by white phosphorous shells and that the UN General Secretary, Ban Ki-Moon had protested to the Israeli government (a counter claim by Israeli PM, Ehud Olmert that his forces had been forced to reply to Hamas attacks was not supported by Goldstone). It continued in terms that left little doubt the paper believed the Israelis to be liars: “The Israeli military has denied using white phosphorous shells in the Gaza offensive, although an investigation by The Times has revealed that dozens of Palestinians in Gaza have sustained serious injuries from the substance, which burns at extremely high temperatures.” So how did The New York Times compare to its British equivalent? I did a search of the paper’s website and archive and trawled Lexis-Nexis for references in the paper to white phosphorous during Operation Cast Lead. In total there were just five reports and with the exception of the last article, filed after the Israelis had withdrawn from Gaza, the NYT’s references to WP were perfunctory, repeated IDF and Israeli government explanations for its use and made little if any mention of the death and injury caused to Gazan civilians. The first was a story on January 11th by Ethan Bronner, the Jerusalem bureau chief for the NYT since March 2008. Although the subject had been well reported by The Times of London and other European newspapers up to a week beforehand, Bronner devoted just one sentence to WP in a report that led with Israel’s warnings to Gaza residents about a planned escalation of its incursion. Although Bronner also reported signs of growing international criticism of Israeli tactics and the dangers posed to Gazan civilians, the reference to WP was a meager one that carried echoes of the IDF’s line on its use. He wrote: “Human rights groups are also concerned about the Israeli use of white phosphorous, which creates smoke on a battlefield, at low altitudes or crowded areas, because it can burn like a kind of napalm.” The second report came on January 16th, five days later and dealt with the shelling of the UNWRA complex. The article dwelt on Israeli doubts about the UN’s neutrality and complaints about its “institutional bias”, carried the IDF claim that its shelling was in response to Hamas fire and devoted just two paragraphs in a 1600 word article to the use of White Phosphorus. Bylined Isabel Kershner, the story had this to say about the weapon: Citing agency representatives who were present during the attack, Mr Gunness (a UNWRA spokesman) said three white phosphorous shells had hit the compound, causing fires that raged for hours, an allegation to which the Israeli military did not respond. White phosphorous is a standard, legal weapon in armies, long used as a way to light up an area or to create a thick white smoke to obscure troop movements. While using it against civilians, or in an area where many civilians are likely to be affected, can be a violation of international law, Israel has denied using the substance improperly. On Wednesday, Hamas fired a phosphorous mortar shell into Israel, but no-one was hurt. On January 22nd, the day after Israel withdrew from Gaza, The New York Times carried two pieces on WP, one by Ethan Bronner and Alan Cowell which reported that Israel had established a military investigation “to look into the issue” of alleged misuse of WP following allegations reported in what an IDF spokesman called “the foreign press”. It was the first admission by the paper that Israel’s use of white phosphorous had angered and incensed international opinion. A second piece, solely by Ethan Bronner, finally put a human face to the consequences of white phosphorous use and reported on the ordeal of the Abu Halima family. Five members of the family, four children and their father, had perished in a WP attack over two weeks earlier and the incident had been widely reported, both in The Times of London and other European outlets, but it was only now that The New York Times was giving the story any coverage. Ethan Bronner Bronner quoted Sabah Abu Halima, the surviving widow, at length and also doctors who had treated survivors and had seen the horrific injuries up close. One doctor said that in a few cases the damage done by WP was so acute that “seemingly limited burns led to the patients’ deaths.” Sabah Abu Halima’s grief was so profound, she said she wanted to see Israel’s foreign minister and president “burn like my children burned”. It was a good piece of reporting that well reflected the horrors visited upon Palestinian civilians by Israeli white phosphorous. But it came far too late, like the horse that bolted the stable. It also smacked of catch up by the Gray Lady, as if someone in the New York HQ had realized that the paper really ought to say something about the matter given the level of international concern over Israel’s behavior in Gaza. But by this stage the horse had galloped several fields away. It could be said in the paper’s defense that The New York Times was hampered, as was all the media, by Israeli government restrictions on media access to the Gaza war zone. Reporters like Ethan Bronner and Isabel Kershner couldn’t actually report from the ground, could not see the evidence or lack thereof for themselves and couldn’t get to speak to victims like Sabah Abu Halima, much less look into her eyes as she voiced her allegations. All their reports, bar the second Bronner piece on January 22nd, carried the Jerusalem dateline. Only when the IDF had evacuated could Ethan Bronner get into Gaza to speak to Palestinians. That all sounds reasonable except for one thing. Like the NYT, The Times of London’s reports were all datelined Jersualem and for its detailed coverage of events on the ground in Gaza the paper seemingly relied on local stringers. And it managed to report in considerable detail both the use of WP and the devastating injuries being caused. So what about The New York Times? Did the paper have someone on the ground in Gaza and if so, why didn’t its coverage match its English counterpart? Well yes, the paper did have someone on the ground in Gaza. Her name was Taghreed El-Khodary, a Palestinian journalist and she was the paper’s local correspondent, able to go places and speak to people inaccessible to Bronner and Kershner. On January 19th, 2009, she featured in a lengthy readers’ Q&A session reported in the Lede blog on the NYT website where she was asked about evidence that she had seen about the use of WP. She replied, inter alia: “I could find evidence of the use of white phosphorus bombs……As a result, we wrote about the use of the phosphorus. Israel used white phosphorus in densely populated areas.” Taghreed El-Khodary Ms El-Khodary may well have written about white phosphorous but if so, her reports about its use, the evidence she had found and her assertion that the weapon was used in “densely populated areas” never appeared in her paper, at least no edition available in any archive that I could search. In all of this, it may entirely be a coincidence that the NYT’s Jerusalem bureau chief Ethan Bronner has what many would see as a major conflict of interest. He is married to an Israeli citizen and his son is a soldier in the Israeli army. Philip Weiss in his Mondoweiss blog reported on The New York Times response when Bronner’s background became known: “When it broke the news last year, Electronic Intifada said that it was a conflict of interest; and the newspaper’s public editor concurred; he said that Bronner should be reassigned to some other beat. The Times’ executive editor, Bill Keller, has kept Bronner in Jerusalem, presumably hoping that the issue dies down and no one says anything about it.” (Taghreed El-Khodary resigned when the NYT refused to reassign Bronner and spoke of her “disappointment” at the paper’s decision). The NYT’s other Jerusalem-based correspondent Isabel Kershner is an Israeli citizen. Perhaps it is unfair to suggest that such considerations would or could affect how a journalist covers a particular story or how a newspaper should regard his or her stories. But put it this way. If CJ Chivers was a Libyan citizen, or was married to one, and had a son who was fighting for the rebels in Benghazi and all this was known to the world, would The New York Times have been just as quick to publish his story about Gaddafi’s use of cluster bombs, just as confident that it could weather the inevitable controversy? Posted in Al Jazeera, Benghazi, Berlusconi, Cameron, Cluster bombs, Geneva Convention, Goldstone report, Israel, Misurata, Muammar Gaddafi, New York Times, Obama, Palestinians, Sarkozy, The Times of London, Tony Blair, Tripoli, White phosphorous Peter King Posted on March 9, 2011 | 4 comments As he prepares to open Congressional hearings into the alleged ‘radicalization’ of American Muslims this week, Rep. Peter King has not been having it all his own way – in fact he’s been having a terrible time of it. His problem is that the US media has finally caught up with his past as a cheerleader for the Provisional IRA back in the 1980’s and 1990’s when he and Noraid were inseparable and when he was on first name terms with and a house guest of many in the IRA’s national and Belfast leaderships. And they are drawing a-pretty-hard-to-avoid conclusion – which is that with his background and history, the Republican Congressman for Long Island is pushing the definition of the word hypocrisy to new limits by pursuing others for their purported ambivalence towards terrorism. Two of America’s premier newspapers, the Washington Post and the New York Times featured substantial pieces that led with and dwelt extensively on King’s past as an uncritical supporter of the IRA and advocate of armed struggle. As effective, and possibly more so, was a biting piece by Jon Stewart on Comedy Channel’s Daily Show. Here’s a link to the segment. Irish viewers will not be able to watch it unless they use a US proxy IP address. There is also this piece on MSNBC, a cable network popular amongst American liberals and progressives. Also interesting to note is that some in the Irish-American community have protested at King’s plan. Particularly effective was this piece on the Irish Central website by Irish-American writer Brian Dooley who highlights the potential effect of Peter King’s Congressional hearings on the Muslim community in America, noting that the precedent was set amongst the Irish community in Britain during the 1970’s at the height of the IRA’s bombing campaign – which is that they were all wrongly tarred with the IRA brush and suffered terribly for it. What Peter King would have roundly, and rightly in the view of many, condemned in Britain he now threatens to bring to America. Islamophobia is at a new and scary peak in America, as the video below of a recent Tea Party protest at an Islamic function in California demonstrates, even though the 9/11 attacks happened a decade ago. The reasons are not hard to fathom. First of all there’s an audience for it. This is a deeply and at time frighteningly racist country and in Muslims, White racists are able to indulge both their hatred for non-Whites and for non-Christians – the same engines that fueled and drove the Klu Klux Klan. The Tea Party is emerging as the leader in that field. Second, a number of skilled and articulate rabble rousers have discovered that a lucrative living can be made whipping up these fears. Take a look at this recent piece in the New York Times and you’ll see what I mean. There’s now a small industry of hate-mongers who thrive off fear and distrust of Islam. To them Peter King’s hearings mean money in the bank. Third, there’s a political dividend. Politics in America have, historically, often been characterised by the exploitation of ignorance, bigotry and fear, especially in White middle America – and particularly in that big bit in the middle between the East and West coasts. Blacks, Irish, immigrants, Jews, anarchists, socialists, communists, Russians, Chinese and Mexicans have all been at one time or another the focus of an invariably ill-founded, irrational but powerful phobia. Since 9/11 the Muslims have gone to the top of the list and replaced the Red Tide and the Yellow Peril as the biggest imagined threat facing America. Invariably it has been the Right, that is the Republican Party, that has cranked this engine and the electoral payoff can be substantial. It is why GOP leaders have refused to condemn those who say that Barack Obama is a Muslim or that he was really born in Kenya and therefore not entitled to be in the White House. It’s ugly stuff but since one in five Americans believe this nonsense, the GOP does nothing to discourage it. And it is why Peter King is holding his hearings. Liberals will denounce him, the media will mock him but he knows that out there in the boondocks they are cheering him on. Nonetheless, the re-emergence of these old links to the IRA are embarrassing to Peter King and his response has been both utterly predictable and supremely dishonest – he has wrapped the peace process around himself as protection and justification for what he did. This is what he told the Washington Post: ‘ “I [wanted] a peace agreement, a working agreement, where the nationalist community would feel their rights would be respected,” King said in an interview at his Capitol Hill office. “I felt that the IRA, in the context of Irish history, and Sinn Fein were a legitimate force that had to be recognized and you wouldn’t have peace without them. Listen, I think I’m one of the people who brought about peace in Ireland.” ’ The facts, sadly for him, do not support any of this. He first came to Belfast in 1980 just when the first hunger strike, the one led by Brendan Hughes, was reaching a climax and was radicalised by what he saw and experienced. He came back for the second hunger strike and it was then he met the family of Bobby Sands family, in particular his sister Bernadette and her then partner, now husband Micky McKevitt. He would visit them on every trip he made and often stayed in their home in Louth. When he was elected to Congress virtually the first thing he did was to jump on a plane to Ireland to host a celebratory dinner with Bernadette and Micky – and this was all at a time when McKevitt was masterminding the smuggling of Col Gaddafi’s Semtex and AK-47’s from Tripoli. In Belfast, King’s best friends were Anto’ Murray and his wife, the formidable Lucy. McKevitt was the IRA’s QMG and Anto Murray was Belfast Operations Officer. The point of this story is that King’s closest contacts in the IRA in these years were the military men, people who had never been nor would ever want be in Sinn Fein, activists who would have little truck either with the peace process. King told me himself that he didn’t meet Gerry Adams, the architect of the peace process, until 1984, four years after his love affair with the Provos began. By the time the process got seriously underway in secret, circa 1987/1988, King had been supporting the IRA for seven or eight years and if his real ambition during these years was to contrive a peace agreement he did a remarkably successful job disguising it. By the time the process became public in 1992, his liaison was a dozen years old. When the US got officially involved, King’s role was fairly minor, ferrying the odd message from Adams to Clinton. In fact he probably gained more than he contributed, as it enabled him to refresh a rather soiled image. As he told me back in 2005: “Gerry Adams made me respectable.” I’m afraid Peter King’s re-writing of his own history just doesn’t wash. Nonetheless, his hearings will go ahead amid fears that they could whip up a McCarthyite-style hysteria against American Muslims. There is one group of people whose silence during all of this build up has been pronounced. Peter King owes the Provos a lot; in fact it is no exaggeration to say that his political career would have been stillborn and he wouldn’t now be a Congressman, much less the Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security without their support back in 1985 when he was chosen to lead the St Patrick’s Day parade in New York city, an event that gave him sufficient profile for higher office. Peter King with friends in Belfast. So far Gerry Adams has stayed silent on his planned Congressional hearings on Muslim extremism If they were to speak out their words would have an effect. But so far they have stayed silent. Until they break that silence we can only believe that Peter King’s plans cause them no problems even if their former ally helps to foment a campaign of hate against American Muslims every bit as toxic and harmful as that which engulfed the Irish in Britain some thirty years ago. Posted in Gerry Adams, IRA, Micky McKevitt, Muammar Gaddafi, New York Times, Obama, Peace Process, Sinn Fein, Tea Party Tagged Anto' Murray, Brendan Hughes, Brian Dooley, GOP, Irish Central, Islamaphobia, Jon Stewart, Lucy Murray, MSNBC, Peter King, Washington Post Al Jazeera again Posted on February 1, 2011 | Leave a comment Well, the lack of access to Al Jazeera in the US is now a mainstream story. Must be because the New York Times has finally caught up with it! Sarcasm aside, one has to concede that it takes the Grey Lady to force the cable companies out in the open. Posted in Al Jazeera, Egypt, New York Times, US media Search for: Does The IRA Still Exist? Follow The Money For The Answer…..But Don’t Listen To Eoghan Harris! wp.me/p1iwpM-16V 4 hours ago ‘…Sinn Fein Is Not Going To Transform The Lives Of The Majority Of Ordinary People….’ wp.me/p1iwpM-16Q 3 days ago Watch This Video And Be Frightened. Be Very Frightened…… wp.me/p1iwpM-16F 3 days ago Britain Continues The War Against The IRA And Sinn Fein Stays Silent wp.me/p1iwpM-16A 1 week ago “Gerry Adams Increasingly Politically Toxic”: Washington Post Blog wp.me/p1iwpM-16v 1 week ago Recent Posts Does The IRA Still Exist? Follow The Money For The Answer…..But Don’t Listen To Eoghan Harris! ‘…Sinn Fein Is Not Going To Transform The Lives Of The Majority Of Ordinary People….’ Watch This Video And Be Frightened. 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Letters to the editor May 17 May 18, 2012 | 2423 views | 0 | 128 | | Center debunks rumorsThere are rumors circulating about the future of the Holocaust Center, especially as we have recently announced our intention to move back to our previous location in Oakland. We want to take a moment to clear up the biggest one — we are not closing our doors.Our move from the Squirrel Hill Jewish Community Center to Oakland is a temporary one. Over the course of the next year, we will be planning our future facility needs. In the meantime, this move will allow us to put more resources (time, energy and money) into more — and more compelling — programming that will benefit the Jewish community and bring the lessons of the Holocaust to a larger and more diverse audience.We will still maintain a presence in Squirrel Hill, where we will continue to run programs, both for the survivors and the community. Some of this programming is part of our annual calendar, and some will be brand new.We are expanding our staff, and focusing on how best to develop 21st-century educational programming that can use the events of the Jewish Holocaust experience as a means to teach tolerance to students across our region. Additionally, we will continue to engage the community around programming and conversations regarding contemporary relevance of the Holocaust and its lessons, as we work to memorialize and commemorate the legacy of those whose lives were impacted by the events of the Holocaust.Over the next several months you will start to see major program announcements. Until then, if you have questions or concerns, please direct them to the staff and leadership of the Holocaust Center.David Sufrin andJoy BraunsteinPittsburgh(The authors are the chair and director, respectively, of the Holocaust Center of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.) Letter to the editor March 5 Letter to the editor March 12 Israel backers not interested in dissent Retro review: Famous playwright chronicled tenement life of Lower East Side By Hilary Daninhirsch Chronicle Correspondent

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Mark-Viverito calls on NYC to house undocumented children Other cities have offered up shelter to children without relatives who can take them in July 24, 2014 04:50PM Melissa Mark-Viverito City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito is calling on New York City to offer up shelter to some of the undocumented immigrant children coming into the country to flee violence in Central America. Other cities such as Syracuse have offered up space to shelter children who cannot be placed in the care of relatives or sponsors in the U.S. as they await appearances in immigration court. Mark-Viverito said Thursday that she thinks New York City should follow suit. She added that she would be “more than open” to a discussion examining how New York City might be able to support the children with some type of temporary housing. “These children are facing a horrific situation at home, which has led them and their families to make some really difficult decisions,” Mark-Viverito told the New York Observer. “It’s good to hear that mayors like the mayor of Syracuse have said that Syracuse would have an open door and be helpful in the name of housing some of these children, and I think that we should do the same thing.” The statements follow questions put to Mayor Bill de Blasio as to whether the city would look to house children, to which he replied that many of the young undocumented immigrants are already here with family. “What we know right now is so many of the children who are reaching New York are reaching family members,” de Blasio said. New York City officials formed a task force to respond to the surging population of unaccompanied migrant children earlier this month, after federal officials asked the city if it could help find additional shelter to house children who are presently detained at the border. [NYO] — Julie Strickland Tags: melissa mark-viverito Short URL

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Print books holding own in stiff e-book competition By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER (STAFF WRITER) Executives at Offset Paperback Manufacturers in Dallas were honored in 2003 when the company was recognized by a business group for introducing a new and novel product: a line of e-books that would allow readers to view books on a digital device. The Manufacturers Association of Mid-Eastern Pennsylvania lauded the firm for its innovation, awarding the company, , a manufacturer of mass market paperbacks, the "manufacturing excellence" award. A decade later, that "new" technology has proven to be a major nemesis for the company as consumers, lured by ease of use, convenience and lower cost, increasingly turn to digital editions of books over their print counterparts. E-books experienced explosive growth in the past few years as the number of people with tablet computers skyrocketed. In 2010, just 3 percent of Americans owned a tablet. That jumped to 42 percent as of January 2014, according to a recent survey released by the Pew Research Group, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that studies political and public policy issues. The popularity of e-books continues to grow. The percentage of adults who read an e-book in the past year rose to 28 percent in 2014, up from 17 percent in 2011 and 23 percent in 2012, the study found. The digital revolution has taken a toll on the book publishing, printing and sales industries as they continue to struggle to find alternate sources of revenue to replace the lost print book sales. Offset Paperback, which once produced more than 300 million paperbacks a year, printed just more than 100 million last year, said Jack O'Donnell, the company's chief executive officer and executive vice president. The loss forced the company in January 2012 to lay off 69 workers, or roughly 12 percent of its workforce. The ripple effect hit the publishing industry. In August 2013, HarperCollins closed its distribution warehouse in Dunmore. Another publisher, Penguin-Random House, announced in February it would shutter two of its four distribution warehouses, including one in Pittston, in 2015. Bricks-and-mortar bookstores also have felt the pinch. In 2011, the giant bookstore chain Borders Group closed all its stores nationwide, including one in Dickson City. Another book retailer, Books-A-Million, later moved into the space. Small, independent shops also struggled. A few years ago, Scranton had five independent book stores. Today there is one - Library Express located in the Steamtown mall, which is run by the Scranton Pubic Library system. While acknowledging they face challenges, officials within the traditional print book industries say the doom and gloom predictions that print books would go the way of the dinosaur are premature. They're buoyed by recent data that show the growth of e-books appears to have leveled. Net sale revenue of e-books rose 13 percent in the first quarter of 2013, according to the Association of American Publishers, a trade group for the publishing industry. That's still strong growth, but pales in comparison to a 33 percent increase between the same time frame in 2011 and 2012. The Pew Group research showed that while e-readership has increased, the number of people who read a print book also rose, from 65 percent in 2012 to 69 percent in 2014. And, few people read e-books exclusively. The study showed 87 percent of e-book readers also read a print book in the past 12 months. Overall 52 percent of readers read only print books, while just 4 percent read only e-books. "The dire predictions of two or three years ago that e-books were going to kill off print books (are) not true," said Andi Sporkin, vice president of communications for the Association of American Publishers. "They have found their place in publishing ... but there is a resurgence of hardcover and paperbacks as well." Representatives in each of the industries say the key to survival is to adapt to the changing environment. That's a concept the publishing industry has embraced as it works to find a happy medium between its print and digital products, said Stuart Applebaum, spokesman for Penguin-Random House. "E-reading devices and tablets have increased the variety of ways book content is available to readers. Some enjoy them. Others are more traditional and want to stay with print. They are not mutually exclusive," Mr. Applebaum said. "Our goal is to deliver our authors books to readers in a forum and reading platform they prefer." That business plan is working, Ms. Sporkin and Mr. Applebaum said. Data from the American Publishers Association show that from 2011 to 2013, publishers' overall net revenue from adult fiction/nonfiction books in all formats grew by 3 percent. Of that total, e-books grew by 17.7 percent, while hardcover book revenues increased by 1.5 percent. The Children's/Young Adults segment (fiction and non-fiction), also grew, with overall net revenues in all formats up by 2.6 percent. Of that, e-book revenue grew by 27.2 percent. "The book industry is not only alive, it's thriving. It's thriving in two formats. One is traditional physical book print edition, the other is digital editions," Mr. Applebaum said. "We are pursuing both digital and print publishing on behalf of our authors, book sellers and readers vigorously now and well into the future." That's not to say challenges don't remain, Mr. Applebaum said. Publishers have had to make some painful cuts as they work to become more efficient and cost-effective. That was the reason behind the recent decision to close two warehouse distribution centers, he said. "This was a case of what would be the most efficient and rewarding distribution potential for our books. We made the decision to go with two facilities," Mr. Applebaum said. Independent bookstores adapted by focusing on personal service and offering special events that bring the community together, said Dan Cullen, spokesman for the American Booksellers Association, a trade group for independent book stores. "Independent bookstores are at the crossroad of the community. People see them as a place to touch base not only with their next great read, but with other people in the community," Mr. Cullen said. "Whether a store sets up a summer camp for kids or brings in an author ... they're finding all kinds of partnerships and ways to help customers get in touch with great writing and their own community." That's helped fuel a resurgence in independent stores. While the number of stores remains down compared to a decade ago, membership in the booksellers association has grown each of the past several years, from 1,401 companies in 2009, to 1,632 in 2013. "We've seen a slight uptick each year in new member stores. That's a good sign. In addition to new stores joining (the booksellers association), we are also seeing stores expanding," Mr. Cullen said. Diane Demko, manager of Library Express, said the store has been "holding its own" since it opened about two years ago. The store, owned and operated by the Scranton Public Library, is unique in that it serves a dual purpose as a library, where you can check out books for free, and retail store that sells new and used books. Contrary to what one might think, the library portion of the store doesn't hurt sales, Ms. Demko said. "They come in to borrow a book and they get intrigued looking at other things," Ms. Demko said. The store hosts a wide variety of programs that seek to attract differing age groups. In the past few months, it has hosted events ranging from reading to therapy dogs, to karaoke and movie nights for teens and book signings by local authors. "We're constantly bringing in different things," Ms. Demko said. The future for book printers is more challenging, said Donald Mazzella, an expert in the printing industry and owner of Information Strategies Inc. Ridgefield, N.J., a consulting firm. "It's not gotten any better; if anything it's gotten worse," Mr. Mazzella said. "The number of printers nationwide has shrunk. Union representation in the industry is down." At Offset Paperback, Mr. O'Donnell said the firm has made some significant changes in the past few years, including establishing a digital printing center in Laflin. The digital printing center allows it meet customer demand for smaller print runs with a faster turn around. In years past, a popular novel might have an initial run of 1.5 million copies, only to have 40 to 50 percent of the product returned as unsold, he said. "Today they may run a half million for the initial run and then as reorders come in do multiple, smaller runs. That way they won't have extra product they may not sell," Mr. O'Donnell said. Offset has also branched out into other types of printing, including the 8½-by-11 provider directories insurance companies send out to subscribers, he said. Still, Mr. O'Donnell acknowledged the company faces an uphill battle. "It's a challenge every day for us," Mr. O'Donnell said. "Our customers are under stress because of what's going on in the marketplace. They're pushing us to come up with ways to bring down costs. We are working with union leaders to see what we can do to adjust to the new normal." Industry officials say they remain confident the printed book will survive as there will always be people who prefer the feel of a book in their hands. Ms. Demko of Library Express won't have it any other way. "I will always be an advocate for print books," she said, explaining that holding a digital version "just isn't the same for me." "I like the heft, the smell, the whole experience of a book," she said. Contact the writer: tbesecker@timesshamrock.com

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Home > Where We Work > Africa > West Africa > Nigeria Nigeria 2015 UNHCR subregional operations profile - West Africa | Overview | Parts of West Africa remain affected by insecurity, including food insecurity in the Sahel and political crises. Elections are scheduled for 2015 in Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo. UNHCR has developed several contingency plans with countries likely to see an influx of people if there are any instances of post-election upheaval. At regional level, and within the framework of emergency preparedness and emergency response, UNHCR has also developed a task force to monitor and report threat levels. In Mali in 2014, presidential elections and some improvements in the security situation in the north, led more Malian refugees to request assistance to return home. However, as the security situation in some areas of origin remains unpredictable, most refugees have not yet returned. UNHCR will, in consultation with host countries and Malian authorities, provide refugees with information both on the situation in areas of origin and on ongoing activities aimed at improving conditions. It will also work with partners to ensure that those who have returned are integrated into support structures. While more than 12,900 refugees have been assisted to return in 2014, it is expected that another 42,000 will return home in 2015, along with an estimated 74,000 internally displaced people (IDPs). Violent clashes between government forces and armed groups in the north of Nigeria have triggered large waves of displacement. More than half a million civilians have been internally displaced, while others have sought safety in neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger. The humanitarian crisis resulting from this internal conflict shows no sign of abating in 2015. UNHCR and partner agencies have stepped up responses to the Nigeria refugee crises in the neighbouring countries already in 2014, which need to be sustained into 2015. UNHCR has also taken measures to strengthen its collaboration in the protection of IDPs inside Nigeria, under the leadership of the recently appointed Humanitarian Coordinator. Beyond political and security challenges, food insecurity continues in the Sahel. UNHCR will support refugees and IDPs by providing more agricultural tools while working to find alternative solutions for refugees in protracted situations. Meanwhile, the spread of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone, has already killed 3,000 people. The outbreak is having dramatic consequences on social and economic activities in West Africa, and some borders have been closed. Many farmers no longer tend their fields in affected areas, where prices have soared. Furthermore, Ebola is affecting UNHCR's refugee operations, including the suspension since July 2014 of Ivorian refugee returns from Liberia. The organization has maintained its presence in the three most affected countries but has suspended non-essential missions within and to affected countries. Quarantine measures, particularly in Liberia and Guinea, prevent refugees from leaving the camps in search of livelihood activities to complement the limited food basket, making them more dependent on assistance. In this situation, adequate food supplies will be critical for preventing and combating malnutrition. UNHCR continues to implement its regional solutions strategies for protracted refugee populations, in close collaboration with host governments. It will, as a sub-regional priority, advocate an alternative residence status for long-staying refugees. | Response and implementation | UNHCR's operations in Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Mali and Niger are covered in separate chapters. Regionally, UNHCR will continue to oversee and to provide protection guidance and programme support to nine West African operations that host more than 150,000 refugees through its Regional Office for West Africa. It will ensure the coordination, policy, oversight and technical support for operations in Benin, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. In addition, UNHCR's Regional Representation for West Africa will coordinate the regional response to emergencies in Mali and Nigeria. The Regional Representation will also continue to assume a wider coordination function for Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Mali and Niger. In Benin, 219 refugees, mainly from the Central African Republic and Côte d'Ivoire, will require UNHCR's protection in 2015. The Government's commitment to finding a definitive solution to long-staying refugees means the number of refugees in Benin has drastically decreased. Since January 2013, a strategy focusing on local integration was developed and implemented with UNHCR support. Refugees wishing to stay in the country were granted 10 years legal residence and issued with documentation that allowed them to integrate locally. In Burkina Faso, UNHCR will continue to provide protection and multi-sectoral assistance to, and promote the self-reliance of, refugees. Conditions permitting, the organization will support Malian refugees in Burkina Faso willing to return home and use resettlement as both a protection tool and durable solution for the most vulnerable. UNHCR will ensure delivery of health services in refugee camps, strengthening reproductive health, HIV and AIDS services, and health referrals. The organization aims to ensure that at least 5,000 refugee children are enrolled in quality primary education in 2015. The construction of durable transitional shelters and the distribution of shelter materials and tool kits will also be a UNHCR priority in Burkina Faso. In the Gambia, most refugees are Senegalese. More than 8,000 of them live in the rural areas in more than 50 host villages in Foni, along the Gambia's border with Senegal. Some 1,200 refugees from Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Senegal and Sierra Leone live in the Greater Banjul area. In 2015, as part of its comprehensive solutions strategy for Senegalese refugees, UNHCR will look to naturalization and alternative status for the refugees, while continuing to explore practical ways of empowering the refugees through the promotion of self-reliance activities. In 2015, UNHCR will protect and assist more than 14,000 refugees, mainly Ivorians and Togolese, in Ghana. UNHCR will promote self-reliance through skills training and income-generation activities to help transition families from assistance to self-sustenance. The joint UN strategy - coordinated between UNHCR and WFP - envisages a phase-out of food assistance for the in-camp population by March 2015. An estimated 2,000 asylum-seekers are expected in Ghana in 2015, mainly from Côte d'Ivoire. Around 2,000 Togolese refugees opted to locally integrate in Ghana and negotiations are ongoing to provide them with legal residence. In Guinea, an estimated 6,600 refugees will continue to need international protection and UNHCR will support the repatriation of Ivorians wishing to do so. Guinea-Bissau will continue hosting more than 8,400 Senegalese refugees living in rural areas. Negotiations with the Government are ongoing to facilitate local integration through an alternative legal status or naturalization. UNHCR, with government support, has developed a road map to facilitate the implementation of a comprehensive solutions strategy for Senegalese refugees in the country. In 2015, the Office in Nigeria will be responding to the protection needs of some 1,700 recognized refugees. UNHCR will in addition pursue the repatriation of the Cameroonian refugees. It will strengthen its presence and capacity in the country and will monitor protection needs, in collaboration with the National Human Rights Commission, national NGOs and civil society. UNHCR will also build the capacity of state agencies by promoting training on basic principles of protection and camp coordination and camp management. The organization, together with partners, will support the authorities in the implementation of the Kampala Convention, strengthening their capacity in protection monitoring and response. At least 15,800 refugees live in Senegal, more than 13,500 of whom are Mauritanian. Refugee identity cards issued by the Government of Senegal allow them to enjoy social and economic rights. In the absence of repatriation opportunities, UNHCR will continue to strengthen the local integration process in 2015. Sierra Leone hosts approximately 690 Liberian refugees. A group of around 270 Liberians, whose nationality was not confirmed during the cessation process, will remain of concern to UNHCR in 2015 and alternative solutions for them will be explored. Togo hosts more than 2,800 refugees and 420 asylum-seekers, who live in urban areas. Among the urban refugee population, 85 per cent are Ivorians and most live in Avépozo refugee camp. Many Ivorian refugees are expected to repatriate in 2015. Ghanaians who arrived after 2010 will continue receiving protection and assistance and UNHCR will pursue a durable solutions strategy for long-stay Ghanaian refugees in northern Togo. | Financial information | While the revised 2014 financial requirements for West Africa amounted to USD 265.1 million, the subregional budget for 2015 is set at USD 233.5 million. Since 2011, UNHCR has observed an increase in population movements in this subregion that has been affected by several emergencies. UNHCR 2015 budgets for West Africa (USD) Revised budget (as of 30 June 2014) PILLAR 1 Stateless Reintegration 1. Includes activities in Benin, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo. Senegal Regional Office[1] Source: UNHCR Global Appeal 2015 Update Statistical Snapshot* Notes* As at July 2014 Country or territory of asylum or residence. Persons recognized as refugees under the 1951 UN Convention/1967 Protocol, the 1969 OAU Convention, in accordance with the UNHCR Statute, persons granted a complementary form of protection and those granted temporary protection. It also includes persons in a refugee-like situation for whom refugee status has, for practical or other reasons, not been ascertained. In the absence of Government figures, UNHCR has estimated the refugee population in many industrialized countries based on 10 years of individual asylum-seeker recognition. Persons whose application for asylum or refugee status is pending at any stage in the asylum procedure. Refugees who have returned to their place of origin during the first six months of 2014. Source: country of origin and asylum. Persons who are displaced within their country and to whom UNHCR extends protection and assistance. It also includes people in IDP-like situations. This category is descriptive in nature and includes groups of persons who are inside their country of nationality or habitual residence and who face protection risks similar to those of IDPs but who, for practical or other reasons, could not be reported as such. IDPs protected/assisted by UNHCR who have returned to their place of origin during the first six months of 2014. Refers to persons who are not considered as nationals by any State under the operation of its law. This category refers to persons who fall under the agency's statelessness mandate because they are stateless according to this international definition, but data from some countries may also include persons with undetermined nationality. Refers to individuals who do not necessarily fall directly into any of the other groups but to whom UNHCR may extend its protection and/or assistance services. These activities might be based on humanitarian or other special grounds. The data are generally provided by Governments, based on their own definitions and methods of data collection. A dash (-) indicates that the value is zero, not available or not applicable. Source: UNHCR/Governments. Compiled by: UNHCR, FICSS. Residing in Nigeria [1]Refugees [2] 1,530Asylum Seekers [3] 996Returned Refugees [4] 0Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) [5] 0Returned IDPs [6] 0Stateless Persons [7] 0Various [8] 0Total Population of Concern 2,526Originating from Nigeria [1]Refugees [2] 41,838Asylum Seekers [3] 23,818Returned Refugees [4] 0Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) [5] 0Returned IDPs [6] 0Various [8] 0Total Population of Concern 65,656 Government Contributions to UNHCR Contributions since 2000 YearUSD 2014 63,735As at 15 January 20152013 63,7352012 63,7352011 02010 02009 02008 02007 02006 02005 75,9502004 02003 02002 37,9752001 139,744USD 139,744 of which 40,851 (29%) unrestricted and 98,893 (71%) earmarked.2000 93,897 UNHCR Chief appeals for more aid to Cameroon26 Mar 2015 | News Stories New influx of Nigeria refugees into Cameroon, relocation operation being launched3 Mar 2015 | Briefing Notes Some 16,000 refugees seek shelter in Cameroon following clashes in north-east Nigeria3 Mar 2015 | News Stories Love at First Flight: A Nigerian refugee finds shelter and a wife in Chad3 Mar 2015 | News Stories Background, Analysis and Policy Humanitarian issues in the Biafra conflict, Nathaniel H. Goetz1 Apr 2001 | PDES Working Papers Refugees Magazine Issue 107 (Refugee voices from exile) - An Ogoni in America1 Mar 1997 | Refugees Magazine 2005 UNHCR Statistical Yearbook Country Data Sheet - Nigeria30 Apr 2007 | Country Data Sheets 2004 UNHCR Statistical Yearbook Country Data Sheet - Nigeria21 Aug 2006 | Country Data Sheets 2003 UNHCR Statistical Yearbook Country Data Sheet - Nigeria1 Jan 2005 | Country Data Sheets 2002 UNHCR Statistical Yearbook Country Data Sheet - Nigeria1 Sep 2004 | Country Data Sheets UNHCR Maps Nigeria Atlas Map11 Jul 2005 | Maps from UNHCR Mapping unit Nigeria Atlas Map - June 200514 Jun 2005 | Maps from UNHCR Mapping unit UNHCR Partner Directory Economic Community of West African States27 Oct 2011 | NGO Directory Justice, Development and Peace Commission, Catholic Diocese of Ijebu-Ode27 Oct 2011 | NGO Directory Nigeria Fact Sheet Thousands Start Afresh in Niger After Fleeing NigeriaIn May 2013, the Nigerian government, responding to a surge in violence in the north-east of the country, declared a state of emergency in the volatile states of Borno, Adawama and Yobe. Many people fled to neighbouring Niger's Diffa region and to the Far North Region of Cameroon. Fresh violence in January this year has forced thousands more to flee to both countries. UNHCR photographer Hélène Caux visited the towns of Bosso and Diffa in Niger's Diffa region shortly before the latest influx. She met some of the Nigerian refugees who had fled earlier waves of violence across the border. They told her of the violence they had seen, the losses they had suffered and their attempts to lead as normal a life as possible in Diffa, including sending their children to attend school. They are grateful to the communities that have welcomed and helped them in Niger. Thousands Start Afresh in Niger After Fleeing NigeriaNigeria: The Casualties of ConflictOne year after the Nigerian government declared a state of emergency in the northern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, violence continues to displace people within Nigeria and to neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger, including some 22,000 Nigerian refugees. Civilians trapped at home face recurrent attacks by insurgents, with a series of kidnappings and killings culminating in mid-April this year in the abduction of more than 200 girls from a school in Chibok, Borno. UNHCR's Hélène Caux recently travelled to the region to meet with some of the 250,000 internally displaced, including students caught up in the violence. Those she spoke to told her about their fears, and the atrocities and suffering they had endured or witnessed. People spoke about their homes and fields being destroyed, grenade attacks on markets, the killing of friends and relatives, and arbitrary arrests. Uniting them is an overwhelming sense of terror. Caux found it a challenge to photograph people who live in constant fear of being attacked. "It was this delicate balance to try to achieve between featuring them, communicating their stories and protecting them," she said.Nigeria: The Casualties of ConflictVictims of Conflict in Nigeria Find Safety in Cameroon CampUN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres visited Cameroon in late March to put a spotlight on the situation there of tens of thousands of refugees from Nigeria. These people have escaped mounting violence by insurgents in the north-east of their country. Among the places that Guterres visited during his March 24-25 visit is the Minawao Refugee Camp, where many of the uprooted have been relocated. Situated some 120 kilometres from the dangerous border area with Nigeria in Cameroon's Far North region, Minawao camp is currently home to 33,000 Nigerian refugees, mainly from Borno state. Many of the arrivals are traumatized and in need of material and psycho-social help. They told the High Commissioner of losing their homes and belongings as well as members of their families. Some were injured. In total, an estimated 74,000 Nigerians have found refuge in Cameroon while cross-border incursions from Nigeria have displaced 96,000 Cameroonians. UNHCR photographer Hélène Caux also visited Minawao to hear the individual stories. Victims of Conflict in Nigeria Find Safety in Cameroon CampCameroon: High Commissioner Meets Nigerian RefugeesIn Minawao camp, Cameroon, Nigerian refugees get a chance to tell their stories to High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres during his visit. Chad: A Nigerian Child AloneThousands of refugees have fled militant attacks in Nigeria and sought safety in Chad. They include at least 100 children who have been provided shelter by other families. Chad: Refugees from NigeriaIn recent weeks, thousands have been forced to flee northern Nigeria after militants attacked their villages, crossing Lake Chad in packed boats and seeking safety at the Dar-es-Salam refugee site in Chad. Niger: Flight from Nigeria People escaping the fighting between the Nigerian army and Boko Haram rebels get a friendly welcome in Niger. Tunisia: Dashed HopesVictor left Nigeria 10 years ago in search of a better life and ended up in Libya. In escaping the violence there, he has lost everything he worked for.

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LISTENER FEEDBACK: Questions and Comments California's Drought: A Shocking Photo And Other Updates By Bill Chappell Feb 25, 2014 ShareTwitter Facebook Google+ Email Images of Folsom Lake, a reservoir in Northern California, show the severity of the state's drought. The photo at left, taken on July 20, 2011, show the lake at 97 percent of total capacity and 130 percent of its historical average for that date. The photo at right shows the lake on Jan. 16, 2014, when it was at 17 percent of capacity and 35 percent of its historical average. California Department of Water Resources Originally published on February 26, 2014 9:58 am Farmers in California, where Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency last month, are facing hard choices as a drought threatens to ruin their crops. They must weigh the costs of paying for irrigation against the chance that their fields will never get enough water this season. A striking picture illustrates the severity of the situation, as Northern California's Folsom Lake, a reservoir northeast of Sacramento, is seen in January at only 17 percent of its capacity. In July 2011, "the lake was at 97 percent of total capacity and 130 percent of its historical average for that date," according to NASA. The federal agency says it is working with the California Department of Water Resources to help the state manage its water resources. Last month, NASA released other images showing the drought's severity. As NPR member station KQED reported, the state's snowpack is shown in January 2013 and last month. Much of it did not return. Here are other updates on the situation: NASA said today that it's working to share satellite and weather data with California farmers and water officials to help them avoid wasting water, and to use it in the most efficient way possible. The space agency says a trial run of its Satellite Irrigation Management Support system in 2012 and 2013 "demonstrated sustained yields while reducing the amount of water used by up to 33 percent relative to standard practice." Growers of almonds — a state crop valued at $5 billion in 2012 — have been pulling trees out of the ground while they're still in their prime, in desperate actions driven by high water costs. The AP spoke to a grower who watched crews rip 20 percent of his orchard out of the ground. A man who does that work for a living says business is up 75 percent because of the drought, and his crews are working from sunup to sundown. Forecasts of rain and snow were welcomed by many Californians, as parts of the state could see more rain this week than they've had in the previous eight months together. But Time's Bryan Walsh warns that even with that rainfall, "much of California will still be below average for precipitation this month. Since February tends to be the wettest month for California, that means that the state still has a larger and larger rainfall deficit to make up if this drought is to ever end."Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. View the discussion thread. UPR Partners

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Search View Archive At Norton Point beach shorebirds share space with over-sand vehicles, creating a need for careful management. Lanny McDowell GovernmentNature & Science Some Fee Hikes Approved for OSVs at Norton Point Beach Olivia Hull Saturday, April 26, 2014 - 7:01am Fees are going up for over-sand vehicle permits at Norton Point beach, as the Trustees of Reservations work to enhance stewardship and generate more revenue for managing the constantly-changing barrier beach. After discussion with Trustees superintendent Christopher Kennedy this week, the county commission approved hike to annual permits this week, but held off on approval for daily pass increases. The county owns the beach at the eastern end of Katama in Edgartown and contracts with the Trustees to manage it. In spring, summer and fall plovers, terns and other nesting shorebirds share the beach with fishermen, birdwatchers and picnickers, most of them driving and over-sand vehicles. Mr. Kennedy’s original proposal, which includes hikes to both daily and annual permits, would generate $31,000 in additional revenues for the Trustees, he said. Trustees superintendent Chris Kennedy said more shorebirds are expected this year on the beach, which has increased in size. — Lanny McDowell With the vote, the annual resident pass for Norton Point will go up from $70 to $90. The nonresident pass will go from $120 to $140. A permit for both Norton Point and Chappaquiddick will go from $235 to $250, while the nonresident version goes from $285 to $300. The permit fees have been the same for four years, Mr. Kennedy said, while costs have increased. The beach, which has been disconnected from Chappaquiddick since the breach occurred in a storm six years ago, has grown by three-quarters of a mile, and more shorebirds are expected to occupy the beach. Mr. Kennedy said he plans to hire additional personnel this summer. His initial proposal would also double the fees for daily passes for residents and nonresidents, closing the gap between the daily and yearly passes. A resident day pass would go from $24 to $50, and the nonresident pass would increase from $35 to $60 per day. “The goal here in having a sizable increase in the pass is to try and urge people to become annual pass holders,” Mr. Kennedy explained. He said the pass was never intended to be a bargain day at the beach. “The hope has always been trying to get people to become true stewards of the property, so this is really an attempt to try and get that to happen,” he said. He said daily pass holders are typically people who cause the most issues for the Trustees. “We are finding that increasingly the complaints we get, involving lewd and lascivious behavior, potential drug use, parties involving alcohol, inevitably involve the day pass people,” he said. But county commissioner and board chairman Leonard Jason Jr. voted against the increases. “I think the local residents are taking it on the chin,” he said. “I think we are making a terrible mistake.” The commission will discuss the day pass hikes at a meeting on May 14. In other business at their meeting Wednesday, the commission voted to recognize the county manager’s ex-officio membership on the airport commission, which is spelled out in the county’s administrative code. Mr. Jason said he had learned last week that county manager Martina Thornton had been denied access to at least one executive session at the airport. The vote was an attempt to underscore her place at the table as a nonvoting commission member. “She shouldn’t be banned from attending a meeting,” Mr. Jason said. “She should be sitting at a meeting like it always was.” Commissioner Tristan Israel agreed but said he wasn’t sure a vote was necessary since Ms. Thornton’s position on the commission was already official. He said he had no interest in micro-managing the airport. “Obviously we have had some issues in the past couple of weeks and I have expressed my opinions about past events on the airport commission but I have no interest in us being involved in how that commission conducts their airport business,” Mr. Israel said. He said Ms. Thornton already attends the meetings. “I think it stirs up things that are not necessary at this point. I don’t think we should inject ourselves into the running of the airport. I am comfortable with the arrangement as it is.” Two weeks ago the county commission ousted two members of the airport commission and replaced them with new appointees. Commissioner Thomas Hallahan said Ms. Thornton had been admonished at an airport commission meeting for attempting to speak quietly to another person. “It was not necessary and I think it rather embarrassed her position so the position isn’t always respected,” he said. Ms. Thornton was not present at the meeting. Later, county treasurer Noreen Mavro-Flanders said by phone that Ms. Thornton had been denied entry to more than one executive session and had not been granted copies of airport meeting materials in advance of the meetings. Tags: Norton Pointover-sand vehiclesTrustees of Reservations Comments (14) concerned, tisbury I think that the tourists should pay most of the rate hike. I watched this meeting and don't see what the big deal is with 'Ms. Thornton sitting as an ex officio on their board. She cannot vote. As Norm Perry stated in the County Commissioners meeting, "it was always that way when Winn Davis was county manager". It only changed when Russ Smith decided he didn't want to go. What is the airport hiding? How would the airport commission feel if Sean Flynn went to a county commission meeting and was embarrassed and treated like a child for no reason? Time for that group with all their secrets to come out. Good for the County Commissioners to try to protect county assets cuz if the airport ever did start losing money like they did years ago, the County, I.e. tax payers would have to pay their HUGE salaries. Also like another reader said,where does the FFA and the MDOR get their money, TAX PAYERS! So for Sean Flynn to say they don't need tax payers money to survive is another stretch of the truth. April 28, 2014 - 6:18am Mel Shatcher, West Palm Beach Tourists? Without our money, your Island would be a ghost town. The fish are gone. The beaches are disapearing. Big money for gas. Don't lose the "tourists" April 28, 2014 - 2:00pm BG, Edg You are wrong. Sean is correct. MA aeronautics gets fees from aircraft owners via registration of their aircraft. The FAA funding is from USERS of the airports in the USA. The funds come from taxes on jet fuel, avgas,and Federal excise tax on airline tickets or air-taxi charters in aircraft above 6000 lbs. All of the money and profit generated at the airport MUST remain at the airport. Its part of the FAA 'grant assurances' that must be adhered to when accepting FAA funds and when the title to the land was transferred. Even if you do not fly your own plane or get on an airline, you benefit from this via the airport business park. No money generated at the airport can be used for any other county business other than the airport itself. April 28, 2014 - 3:09pm concerned, tisbury If all is true about the FAA why do they have problems when the federal government shuts down. If they are totally self sufficient, why would a shut down affect them Sean? Just wondering. April 28, 2014 - 7:53pm Mike H , Mass “Tourists” should pay the bulk? We typically are there for a week or two yet still pay close to $300 for the same stickers that the Island folks use for months of use ( and they pay less which is fine). If you raise the rates for off islanders even further you eventually will see fewer and fewer people buying as the economics simply don’t work for people visiting for a short time. ( sure you can argue that's not a bad thing either ). How about a pay as you go - a sticker cost of $100 with a fee daily for beach entry? That puts the costs where they should belong – people using the permits the most. Call it pay as you go. Many towns in Mass do this for their transfer station use with great success. I'll gladly pay the increase as we greatly enjoy the beauty of Chappy but don't hit me harder for the short time I am there. April 29, 2014 - 6:57am Fred Davis, Edgartown The fees should have an annual increase tied to the cost of living. April 28, 2014 - 10:28am Reviewer About time for the next County review commission I believe. Commissioners are once again pulling shady moves again now that some good commissioners have left and are leaving the new and newer ones left over are inexperienced, looking to pad their narcissistic resumes especially Christine Todd who at the last County commissioners meeting excitedly and laughed while raising her hand when the chairman asked who wants to go after the airport commissioners? Also no mention of dogs being brought on Norton Point and I agree stop killing the islanders. When I was a kid it was all free and the beach was available 24/7 365 days a year! I am totally sickened what has happened to our island, oops this island - not our island any more! April 28, 2014 - 11:10am concerned, tisbury Correction, typo on FFA should be FAA. April 28, 2014 - 12:00pm Priced out of a vacation, CT I liked it better before the Trustees got thier hands on it. Why do I have to pay more to prove my "stewardship"? So they can get new trucks to sit in? First they overpriced Wasque now they are doing it to South Beach. Think I'll start looking at RI or the Cape. Between the ferry and the beach pass I'll have an extra 300 in my pocket to sink into the local economy. April 28, 2014 - 12:41pm Kate, West Tisbury Then that'll be one less of the entitled who doesn't give a crap about the Vineyard. Bad-mouthing a non-profit that struggles to pay a staff on one of the most threatened and rapidly eroding parts of the New England coast because you don't think they're doing enough to make it more Rhode Island-like? Sounds like the Jersey shore might be more your cup of tea. April 28, 2014 - 8:17pm James P, Edg/New Haven They really do not do anything for all the money they collect. April 29, 2014 - 12:13pm James P, Edg/New Haven Eliminate day passes altogether. Where in the world does all the money they collect go?? April 29, 2014 - 10:13am Stacey V. Think about how much it must cost to have staff on the beach with winch trucks available to pull out all the people who get stuck. If it weren't for the trustees you would be paying upwards of $250 to have a tow truck drive out to get you. Not to mention the other trustees properties on the vineyard, like Mytoi and Menemsha Hills, that are 100% free to go to and probably have huge maintenance costs that are supported by beach sticker sales. They also work with all the island schools doing free educational programs, so we should all appreciate at least some of the work they're doing on the island. April 30, 2014 - 7:26pm Priced out of a vacation, CT, CT Sorry about bad mouthing the Trustees, I know they do some very good work. My-Toi is one of the most beautiful places on the island. Its just frustrating that everything keeps going up except my paycheck. If I didn't care about the Vineyard I wouldn't even take the time to comment. I have to scrape and save all year just to get a week or less on island. $60 a day!!?? Come on! How about $100 a week(7 Days-in line with most vacations) for off islanders and no daily passes. That way you limit traffic and the pricing becomes more in line with any of the major New England beaches daily weekend price. Also those that are willing to fork it over are more likely to be either avid sportsmen or conservationists that appreciate the access to such a wonderful resource and won't trash it for fear of losing it. April 30, 2014 - 6:52am Trustees of Reservations, Farm Institute Announce Merger The Farm Institute and The Trustees of Reservations have announced plans to merge by the end of the... March 25, 2015 Norton Point Breach Nears End Point The blizzard of 2015 spared Norton Point, the long barrier beach that is about to reconnect... January 26, 2015 Winter Walks In Rare Habitats Landowners open their properties to the Trustees once a year and now is your chance to see... © 2015 Vineyard Gazette Advertise with the Gazette

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The Two-WayObama Says U.S., Israel Face 'Clear, Substantive Challenge' The Two-WayU.S. Will Slow Down Withdrawal Of Troops From Afghanistan New England NewsMGM Breaks Ground For $800 Million Springfield Casino WAMC Mixed Reviews For Cuomo's "Hunger Games" Competitive Streak The Two-Way Paul Walker, Star Of 'Fast and Furious,' Dies In Car Crash Share Tweet E-mail Comments Print By editor Originally published on Sun December 1, 2013 5:43 pm Actor Paul Walker attends the World Premiere of 'Fast & Furious 6' in London, England. Tim P. Whitby Paul Walker, the star of the stunningly successful The Fast and the Furious film franchise, was killed in a car accident on Saturday, the actor's representative told the AP. On Walker's Facebook page, his team explained that he was a passenger in a friend's car and that he was in Valencia, Calif. attending a charity event for his organization Reach Out Worldwide. The AP quotes the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department as saying that when deputies responded to a report of a collision, they found a Porsche Carrera GT in flames. Both Walker and his friend were found dead. Speed, police said, was a factor in the crash. Walker was 40 years old. As Variety points out, Walker was the star of all but one of the six Fast and Furious films released. Fast & Furious 6, which was released in May, has grossed more than $788 million worldwide. Variety adds: "Walker was a highly sought-after leading man in action and indie dramas. Among his upcoming features awaiting release are Relativity Media's Brick Mansions and Vehicle 19. Hours, a drama set in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, is due out Dec. 13 from Lionsgate's Pantelion Films. "A native of Glendale, Calif., Walker got his start as a youth in commercials and TV series ranging from Charles in Charge to Who's the Boss to The Young and the Restless. He was a protege of famed talent agent Ed Limato, and began to make his mark in features in the late 1990s with roles in 1998′s Pleasantville and 1999′s Varsity Blues before breaking out with the first Fast and the Furious pic in 2001. "Among Walker's other notable pics were 2006′s Running Scared and Flags of Our Fathers." Walker was already working on the seventh installment of the Fast and Furious series. In a statement, Universal Pictures said everyone at the studio was "heartbroken." "Paul was truly one of the most beloved and respected members of our studio family for 14 years, and this loss is devastating to us, to everyone involved with Fast and Furious films, and to countless fans," the studio said. Ludracris, the rapper who starred with Walker in street-racing series, said on Twitter: "Your humble spirit was felt from the start, wherever you blessed your presence you always left a mark..." Walker is survived by his 15-year-old daughter. Correction at 2:33 p.m. ET. An earlier version of this post said Walker was killed in an accident on Sunday. In fact, Walker was killed on Saturday afternoon.Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. View the discussion thread.

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You are herecontent / A Temple and a Mosque; Worship in America A Temple and a Mosque; Worship in America By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich On August 5, a Sikh temple in Southern Wisconsin was attacked. Six worshippers lost their lives before the gunman was killed. There was an outbreak of condemnation – rightly so. President Obama ordered flags at public buildings to be flown at half-staff and Mrs. Clinton called her Indian counterpart. Mitt Romney offered his prayers to the families of the victims. Left ignored, was the burning down of a mosque in Missouri - predictably so. Worship in America is a political prerogative in sink with U.S. policies. But India and Indian Sikhs have privileges; so why were Sikh worshippers targeted? It may well be that the perpetrator, Wade Michael Page who allegedly had links to the white supremacist movement ignored the political relations in favor of his ideology -- white supremacy, articulated by President T. Roosevelt who said of America: “Democracy has justified itself by keeping for the white race the best portion's of the earth's surface." Or perhaps, as CNN opined, “Sikh's "unfairly" mistaken for Muslims and targeted.” This would not be the first time, and as Public Radio International (PRI) has reported, since the events of 9/11, Sikh men have been targeted as Moslems. Even the cordial relations with India could not prevent the perception that an Indian Sikh resembles a Moslem and fair target. Scapegoating Moslems had been planned as early as 1991 (see full article here). The end of the Cold War had left neoconservatives fearful that with the demise of the Soviet Union, and the splintering of the America’s right wing faction, there would no longer be an unconditional support for a U.S.-Israel alliance. The threat of communism was replaced with the threat of Islam. The promotion and branding of Islam as an enemy came to fruition with the events of 9/11. In line with this neoconservative strategy, the mainstream media in the US framed September 11 within the context of Islam, ignoring all other inquiry, including the fact that a new U.N. Human Rights Council assigned to monitor Israel was calling for an official commission to study the role neoconservatives may have played in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks (New York Sun[i]). As neocon Bernard Lewis was busy teaching the concept of ‘jihad’ versus‘crusade’[ii]Moslem bashing, Moslem killing, and Mosque burning became fair game. The strategy of demonizing Islam was so successful that in 2008 the presidential candidates centered their qualification for Office on Moslem-bashing. Former New York mayor and the hero of 9/11, Rudy Giuliani, made the threat of 'Islamic terrorism' the centerpiece of his campaign. Podhoretz also joined Giuliani (later he joined McCain), as did John Deady who resigned after it came out that he said the following of Giuliani: "He's got, I believe, the knowledge and the judgment to attack one of the most difficult problems in current history and that is the rise of the Muslims. Make no mistake about it, this hasn't happened for a thousand years, these people are very dedicated and they're also very, very smart in their own way. We need to keep the feet to the fire and keep pressing these people until we defeat or chase them back to their caves or, in other words, get rid of them." Renowned Evangelical Pat Robertson gave Giuliani his endorsement[iii]. Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, allegedly dissuaded contender Mike Huckabee from “reaching out” to the 'Muslim world'. Mitt Romney, a contender in 2008 and the 2012 GOP presidential hopeful, raised eyebrows when he suggested that mosques be wire-tapped[iv]. For almost a decade, U.S. military officers were being taught to wage a ‘total war’ on Islam and target civilians. The Sikh Temple shooter, Wade Michael Page, a former U.S. Army veteran, is condemned for the violent and meaningless murder of innocent worshippers, but is he alone responsible for this act of insanity? If these killing were truly a case of mistaking Sikhs as Moslems, should those who implement seeds of hatred not be held accountable aslo? Who will persecute those who taught army officers to kill Moslems - the Commander-in-Chief hopefuls and their advisors who promoted hatred and persecution of Moslems, and the neoconservatives who planted the seeds of hatred among us? Will their deeds be buried with Page? What of all the other hate crimes against Moslems, the burnt mosques? As Jonathan Swift said: “I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.”Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich is a Public Diplomacy Scholar, independent researcher and blogger with a focus on U.S. foreign policy and the role of lobby groups. [i] Eli Lake, “U.N. Official Calls for Study of Neocons’ Role in 9/11”, The New York Sun, 10 April 2008 [ii] Bernard Lewis, ‘Learning the Lingo. Jihad vs. Crusade. A Historian’s Guide to the New War’, Wall Street Journal (27 Sept. 2001). [iii] “The Religion Card; GOP Candidates Play on anti-Muslim Sentiments”The Progressive, Biography Resource Center, USC Feb 2008 [iv] The Religion Card, Ibid.

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Tue September 10, 2013 Used-Car Impresario Cal Worthington Dies At Age 92 Share Tweet E-mail Print By Bill Chappell Originally published on Tue September 10, 2013 5:21 pm Cal Worthington, who was a bomber pilot during World War II, flew his own private plane later in life. Carrie Kahn Cal Worthington, a man whose used-car ads rose to the level of a cultural phenomenon, died Sunday at age 92. He was a fixture on televisions in California for decades, with zany sales pitches that drew both customers and fame. "I will stand upon my head to beat all deals," was Worthington's slogan, "until my ears are turning red." Wearing a trademark white cowboy hat and a Western suit, Worthington used the commercials to tout the latest bargains at his "big, friendly, giant supermarket of cars." He also used a song that featured an infectious chorus: "If you need a better car, go see Cal. For the best deal by far, go see Cal. If you want your payments low, if you want to save some dough, Go see Cal, go see Cal, go see Cal." In Worthington's ads, he often appeared with his "dog" Spot — a role that was never played by a dog but instead by a menagerie of animals that included a pig, a snake, a tiger and others. "I'd say the craziest one was the hippo," Worthington told NPR's Carrie Kahn back in 2009, when he was 88. Carrie spoke to Worthington at his sprawling ranch, where he had an audio and TV studio built to let him keep recording commercials — as many as four a day. Here's how Carrie described the scene: "Worthington sits in the TV room in his California ranch home, about a hundred miles north of Sacramento. It's been restored since Wife No. 3 burned the house down sauteing mushrooms." The decades of success were a big turnaround for Calvin Coolidge Worthington, who was born in Oklahoma in 1920 and spent his childhood mired in poverty. He served as a bomber pilot during World War II, and he sold his first car in Texas at age 24. Worthington eventually moved to Los Angeles, opening a car dealership in the late 1940s. He went on to buy and sell dealerships in California and other states, all the while drumming up business with his aggressive and off-the-wall TV sales pitches. For proof of how ubiquitous the ads became, witness the Facebook fan page titled, "When I was a kid I thought Cal Worthington said 'Pussycow' not 'Go see Cal.' " The page has been liked by tens of thousands of people. And the salesman's death has reignited a discussion over whether the jingle's lyrics were actually misheard. After all, a man whose dog might actually be a seal or a cougar might be expected to also own a rare variant of the familiar pussycat. On Twitter, some fans are using the tag #pussycow to pay their respects. For her 2009 story, Carrie visited Worthington's main Ford dealership in Long Beach. At one point, his grandson asks a man looking at cars what brought him in. "Um, the commercial — that's been playing for the last 20, 30, 40 years," the customer replies. The New York Times reports: "The exuberant cheesiness of Mr. Worthington's ads made him a folk hero, as much a part of California popular culture as Woodies with surfboards on the roof or Orange Julius stands. He was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show, where Johnny Carson performed ad parodies. He appeared as himself in the 1973 Jack Lemmon film Save the Tiger and was the model for the car salesman played by Ted Danson in the 1993 film Made in America. He even infiltrated Thomas Pynchon's novel Inherent Vice." Worthington never left the car business. "Been so successful at it, you can't give it up," he told Carrie in 2009. "You know, you find something you can do that works well, you just can't give it up — as much as you might like to." Complete versions of Worthington's TV spots are archived online, at the My Dog Spot website. And we must mention Marshall Lucky, the twangy character played by Gerrit Graham in Used Cars, the 1980 Kurt Russell comedy. In it, Graham plays a character that many see as a hyperbolized version of Worthington, if such a thing is possible. You can watch a clip of a particularly famous scene from the film on YouTube, if you're not put off by profanity.Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Northeast Indiana Public Radio

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E-mail Print Comments Share Tweet Google+ Opinion Foreign Policy: A Solution For What 'Ales' Us? By Charles Kenny Successful Protestant economies that began thriving early in their history also had successful breweries. Charles Kenny is a Schwartz fellow at the New America Foundation, The myth of the smug teetotaler is no joke. Many of the most popular theories of economic growth in wealthy countries, dating back to the Protestant work ethic of Max Weber, emphasize the abstemious and sober virtues of the well-to-do. And from the 18th-century Gin Acts in Britain to Prohibition in 1920s America to a certain class of modern-day economists, there's a long tradition of blaming intemperance for the persistence of poverty. But in fact, mounting evidence suggests that beer in particular, and the beer industry that surrounds it, may be as good for growth as excess sobriety. In some of the world's toughest investment climates, beer companies today are building factories, creating jobs, and providing vital public services, all in the pursuit of new customers for a pint. It's the brewery as economic stimulus: a formula even a frat boy could love. In a time of unprecedented global prosperity, there are an ever-growing number of beer guzzlers worldwide. Liesbeth Colen and Johan Swinnen of the University of Leuven report that beer consumption in China in 1980 was minimal. By 2005, however, the country consumed more than 40 billion liters per year. In 1961, Brazilians drank 630 million liters of beer; in 2007 that number was 7.5 billion liters. And it isn't just those in booming economies: Even the poorest of the poor will spend money on alcohol. Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo of MIT have shown that people living on a dollar a day or less can spend 6 cents or more of that on alcohol and tobacco. Add those pennies up and you get a potential market worth billions of dollars a year. Robust demand in even the poorest places is one reason that breweries invest where other industries fear to tread. In just the last few months, Heineken won a bid for two state-owned breweries in Ethiopia for $163 million; Rwanda's stock exchange recorded its first-ever initial public offering that involved a local brewery; and SABMiller dropped an additional $15 million on top of an initial $37 million investment in its brewery operation in Juba, the main city in the aspiring breakaway country of Southern Sudan. These investments aren't just good for Big Beer. In Juba, SABMiller's brewery will provide tax revenue, lease payments, more than 200 local jobs, and increased demand for local agricultural produce. In more stable markets, breweries can be a considerable economic force. In 2005, East African Breweries was the first company in Kenya to reach $1 billion in market capitalization, and the company paid about $44 million in corporate income tax last year. Of course, when it comes to booze, you can have too much of a good thing. The World Health Organization has estimated that as many as 76 million people suffer from alcohol disorders and that alcohol is a causal factor in 20 to 50 percent of all cases of liver cancer, homicide, epileptic seizures, and motor-vehicle accidents worldwide. And one has to wonder about the choices of those living on a dollar a day in rural Mexico who are spending more on alcohol and tobacco than on education, or South Africans, who spend more than three times as much on those private vices as on education and health care combined. But the dangers of excess are much lower in poor countries like Zambia (average beer consumption: 5 liters a year) than in rich countries like the United States (more than 80 liters per year). And those risks need to be balanced by beer's potential to bring about improvements in the quality of life, if only by providing taxes and employment income. Indeed, beer may have been a force for growth for a long time. Colen and Swinnen note that beer consumption is higher in Protestant countries. What if the early success of Protestant-dominated economies wasn't about Weber's famed work ethic at all, but about the impact of breweries? Of course, it may be just as outlandish to argue that progress is driven by hops and barley as by the fear of eternal damnation — but at least it's more fun to discuss over a pint.Copyright 2011 Foreign Policy. To see more, visit http://www.foreignpolicy.com/. View the discussion thread.

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Police: Indie Musicians Killed By Former Bandmate In NYC Share Tweet E-mail Comments Print By Scott Neuman Police say three musicians, two from an Iranian-American indie rock group, were shot and killed early Monday and a fourth person was wounded in the East Williamsburg area of Brooklyn, New York. The alleged assailant, who took his own life, was also a musician, they said. According to The Associated Press: "Two of the dead were brothers and members of the group the Yellow Dogs, who came to the U.S. from Iran three years ago after appearing in a film about the underground music scene there, according to band manager Ali Salehezadeh. Another person killed was also a musician but wasn't in the band, and the wounded person was an artist, he said. The shootings reportedly took place at an apartment shared by some of the band members." The New York Daily News quotes sources as saying the shooter "was found dead on the roof [of the apartment] from a single blast from a .308-caliber rifle, apparently fired from the bottom of his chin." It said the gunman, who has not been identified, "was kicked out of the band recently." The Daily News said: "On the second floor, Soroush Farazmand, 27, was found lying face up, dead from a gunshot wound to the chest. Two others, Arash Farazmand and Ali Eskandarian were found dead on the third floor, both from gunblasts to the head." And The New York Times says: "Yellow Dogs ... got its start in Tehran, rehearsing in a makeshift soundproof studio and organizing clandestine concerts to avoid punishment by Iranian authorities. ... The assailant, who was not immediately identified, was believed to be another Iranian-American musician, possibly playing with the Yellow Dogs or another group called the Free Keys, said Raymond W. Kelly, the police commissioner. Mr. Kelly added that the motive had something to do with 'a dispute over money involving an indie rock band.'" The Times says the band had performed at prominent venues such as Webster Hall and the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Tex.Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. View the discussion thread.

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2015-14/1679/en_head.json.gz/5905

Last transmission from missing plane was routine This photo taken in April, 2013, shows a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER at Narita Airport in Narita, near Tokyo. A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 carrying 239 people lost contact with air traffic control early Saturday morning, March 8, 2014 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and international aviation authorities still hadn't located the jetliner several hours later. (AP Photo/Kyodo News KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The last message from the cockpit of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight was routine. “All right, good night,” was the signoff transmitted to air traffic controllers five days ago. Then the Boeing 777 vanished as it cruised over the South China Sea toward Vietnam, and nothing has been seen or heard of the jetliner since. Those final words were picked up by controllers and relayed Wednesday in Beijing to anguished relatives of some of the 239 people aboard Flight MH370. The search for the missing plane, which left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing early Saturday, now encompasses 35,800 square miles (92,600 square kilometers) of Southeast Asia and is expanding toward India. After several days of sometimes confusing and conflicting statements, the Malaysian military officially disclosed why it was searching on both sides of country: A review of military radar records showed what might have been the plane turning back and crossing westward into the Strait of Malacca. Air force chief Gen. Rodzali Daud said the radar showed an unidentified object at 2:15 a.m. about 200 miles (320 kilometers) northwest of Penang. “I am not saying it’s Flight MH370. We are still corroborating this. It was an unidentifiable plot,” he said. Foreign experts and the manufacturers of the radar were studying the images to try to determine whether the blips were in fact the missing plane. For now, authorities said the international search effort would stay focused on the South China Sea and the strait leading toward the Andaman Sea. Some of the confusion over the statements by Malaysian officials has led to allegations of incompetence, lack of coordination or even a cover-up. “There’s too much information and confusion right now. It is very hard for us to decide whether a given piece of information is accurate,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in Beijing. “We will not give it up as long as there’s still a shred of hope.” Two-thirds of the passengers on the flight were Chinese. “We have nothing to hide,” said Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein. “There is only confusion if you want to see confusion.” Flight MH370 disappeared from civilian radar screens at 1:30 a.m. Saturday at an altitude of about 35,000 feet above the Gulf of Thailand between Malaysia and southern Vietnam. It sent no distress signals or any indication it was experiencing problems. The government said it had asked India to join in the search near the Andaman Sea, suggesting the jetliner might have reached those waters after crossing into the Strait of Malacca, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the flight’s last-known coordinates. Malaysian officials met in Beijing with several hundred Chinese relatives of passengers to explain the search and investigation, and to relay the last transmission that Malaysian air traffic controllers received before the plane entered Vietnamese airspace, according to a participant in the meeting. Aviation officials in Vietnam said they never heard from the plane. Its sudden disappearance led to initial speculation of a catastrophic incident that caused it to disintegrate. Another possibility is that it continued to fly despite a failure of its electrical systems, which could have knocked out communications, including transponders that enable the plane to be identified by commercial radar. Authorities have not ruled out any possible cause, including mechanical failure, pilot error, sabotage and terrorism, and they are waiting to find any wreckage or debris to determine what went wrong. In June 2013, Boeing issued a safety alert to Boeing 777 operators, telling them to inspect for corrosion and cracks in the crown fuselage around a satellite antenna. The alert says one airline found a 16-inch crack in one plane, then checked other 777s and found more cracking. “Cracks in the fuselage skin that are not found and repaired can propagate to the point where the fuselage skin structure cannot sustain limit load,” Boeing said. “When the fuselage skin cannot sustain limit load, this can result in possible rapid decompression and loss of structural integrity.” The FAA issued a safety order Wednesday that is effective April 9, directing operators to make repairs outlined in Boeing’s safety alert. Asked about the safety alert as it relates to the Malaysia Airlines disappearance, former U.S. National Transportation Safety Board member and aircraft maintenance expert John Goglia said he thought it was “pretty far down on the probability list.” “It could lead to depressurization of the airplane,” Goglia said, “but it wouldn’t turn off the transponder and it wouldn’t prevent the pilots from calling” by radio. Aeronautical engineer Chuck Eastlake, a former professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., added that it’s unlikely a rapid depressurization of the plane would cause it to disintegrate in the air. Two U.S. Federal Aviation Administration technical experts and a regional representative are in Kuala Lumpur as part of an NTSB team supporting the investigation. Experts in air traffic control and radar are providing technical help, the board said. Hishammuddin described the multinational search as unprecedented. Some 43 ships and 39 aircraft from at least eight nations were scouring an area to the east and west of Peninsular Malaysia. “It’s not something that is easy. We are looking at so many vessels and aircraft, so many countries to coordinate, and a vast area for us to search,” he told a news conference. “But we will never give up. This we owe to the families of those on board.” Confusion over whether the plane had been seen flying west prompted speculation that different arms of the government might have different opinions about its location, or even that authorities were holding back information. Earlier in the week, Malaysia’s head of civil aviation, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, was asked why the Strait of Malacca was being searched and replied, “There are things I can tell you, and things I can’t,” suggesting that the government wasn’t being completely transparent. If all those on board are confirmed dead, it would be the deadliest commercial air accident in 10 years. Choi Tat Sang, a 74-year-old Malaysian, said his family is still holding out hope that the plane and all on board are safe. His 45-year-old daughter-in-law, Goh Sock Lay, was the chief flight attendant. Her 14-year-old daughter, an only child, has been crying every day since the plane’s disappearance. “We are heartbroken. We are continuing to pray for her safety and for everyone on the flight,” he said. Associated Press writers Jim Gomez in Kuala Lumpur, Isolda Morillo in Beijing, Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, Joan Lowy in Washington, and Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, contributed to this report. St. Patrick’s Day events in Birmingham Crews still searching for missing man in Black Warrior River

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