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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10335 | Jamaica Plain Gazette News
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Full Print Edition Advocate proposes new bus yard location
November 22, 2013By Rebeca OliveiraA member of the Community Planning Committee for the Arborway Yard (CPCAY) has proposed moving the entire bus yard facility a mile away from the Forest Hills area to the American Legion Highway. The state is now studying the feasibility of the move.
Allan Ihrer, a long-time member of the CPCAY, has proposed building the permanent bus yard along American Legion Highway between Walk Hill and Morton streets. The bus yard is slated to replace the temporary facility currently located on the north side of the Arborway at Forest Hills as soon as the MBTA funds the project.
“We have a completely different situation” in the Forest Hills area compared to 15 years ago, when a new bus facility was proposed, Ihrer said. Then, the area was mostly used for industrial purposes. Now, it is being developed mostly for residential and commercial uses. More of that kind of development should go on the Arborway Yard site, he said.
Ihrer told the Gazette that he has shown his idea to the state Department of Transportation (MassDOT), the City’s Department of Transportation (BTD), the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) and other City agencies. He has not received official feedback from any of them.
“This proposal is being examined through a feasibility study and the results have not yet been released,” said MassDOT spokesperson Kelly Smith.
According to Ihrer, the American Legion site was suggested when the project was first proposed in the late 1990s. The MBTA, then an independent agency from MassDOT, rejected it. The property is currently owned by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation and used as a composting site.
According to CPCAY head Merlin Southwick, Ihrer’s proposal is not part of CPCAY’s official agenda.
“That’s not something the CPCAY has come up with,” Southwick said. “Allan’s always looking for ways to improve the neighborhood.”
Originally budgeted at $94 million, the Arborway Yard facility is currently expected to cost upwards of $220 million. The facility is not expected to be built in the next five years.
The CPCAY has been fighting for a community-friendly facility on the site for almost 15 years, when the MBTA decided to close Bartlett Yard in Roxbury.
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10353 | Aqueduct honors Preuss, MunozThe Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority takes pride in recognizing long term employees. Such was the case at the June 26 FKAA board meeting, when officials recognized Denise Preuss for 25 years and Nancy Munoz for 15 years of employment with the FKAA. Preuss started her career with FKAA on Jan. 4, 1988, as an account specialist. She was promoted through the administration department and is currently the assistant manager of administration.Munoz started on July 29, 1998, as a mail clerk/cashier in customer service. She is currently the executive assistant for the administration department.Keys Energy honors GonzalezKeys Energy Services recently named Zahny as Outstanding Employee of the Third Quarter for 2013.Gonzalez has worked for the utility for more than four years and currently serves as a customer services representative, helping customers connect, disconnect and transfer services, and assisting with billing complaints and payment processing.Gonzalez was born in Havana, Cuba, and moved to Key West when she was 5 years old. She is a graduate of Key West High School and lives in Key West with her son, A.J.The Employee of the Quarter Committee selects an employee four times a year for the award. Employees are considered after being nominated by their peers. Final selection is based on several factors, which include attendance, attitude, efficiency, initiative, and job performance.The Utility Board will recognize Gonzalez at an upcoming meeting. Her name will be engraved on a perpetual plaque that hangs in the William Arnold Service Building lobby, she will receive a $250 bonus, and an extra vacation day, according to a press release from the utility.Trip Advisor honors 4 businessesFour locally owned Key West properties have been recognized with a 2013 Certificate of Excellence from Trip Advisor. Only 10 percent of the businesses listed on the online travel review site receive the certificate of excellence.Camille's Restaurant, Truman Hotel, Blue Marlin Motel and BEST WESTERN PLUS Hibiscus Motel received the award for their continued excellence in guest service and product, according to traveler and diner reviews."We are very proud of our staff for their efforts to bring this award to our properties." Deborah Branham, general manager of the three hotel properties. "Our owner is local and hands-on, which allows us to provide the best stay for our guests."Camille's owners Denise and Michael Chelekis are at their Simonton Street restaurant every day, proudly greeting guests by name and ensuring everyone has a great meal and a fond memory. Mariners Hospital receives awardMariners Hospital's Imaging Services Department received a 2013 Protecting the Patient award from Nuance Communications, Inc., a leading provider of voice and language solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. The award was presented in recognition of the department's Fail Safe procedure, an electronic alert notification system used when results from diagnostic imaging tests indicate a patient requires immediate medical intervention.The hospital was one of seven winners out of 10,000 healthcare institutions using Nuance clinical documentation solutions.The software was called into use recently when a patient had left the hospital after an imaging study. As Dr. Wayne Moccia read the image, he realized the patient had a life-threatening situation. Using the Nuance software, the department started the process to notify the patient's physician. When the physician could not be reached in 15 minutes, the software notified Imaging, which then tried to reach the patient. Failing that, the police were contacted. The police arrived at the patient's home at the same time as the patient, who was brought by ambulance to the hospital. Within one hour of recognizing the patient was in a critical situation, Imaging had provided the patient with appropriate care."This award reflects Mariners' commitment to quality and accountability," said Rick Freeburg, Mariners CEO. "We are proud of the entire imaging team for its efforts on behalf of patients." Home | Legal Classifieds | Privacy Policy | About us | Subscribe | Advertise | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10363 | Mass Funeral Held For Riot Dead In Egyptian Town By editor
Jan 27, 2013 ShareTwitter Facebook Google+ Email Relatives of the Egyptian policemen who were killed in Port Said grieve during their military funeral in Cairo on Sunday.
Amr Nabil
Originally published on January 27, 2013 5:09 pm Update at 6:10 p.m. ET Morsi Declares State Of Emergency In a televised address Sunday night, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi declared a 30-day state of emergency and night curfew in three provinces hit hard by recent violence. NPR's Leila Fadel says it means that during this time the government can arrest anyone they want if they look "fishy," and they can use the full force of the state to try and quell the city. "Some human rights groups are saying that it's a little concerning that they're employing what they call 'Mubarak-era tactics' to try and calm the protests," Fadel says. The three provinces under the state of emergency are Port Said, Ismailiya and Suez. Update at 1:29 p.m. ET Protests Turn Deadly At least three people are now dead and more than 400 hurt in the mass funerals of those killed in Saturday's violence in Port Said. Al Jazeera is reporting on the story from Port Said. Here's what the news organization says: "Medics said on Sunday that an 18-year-old man and two other people died of gunshots, while 17 others had sustained gunshot wounds after violence erupted at a march of thousands of mourners in the Egyptian city for 31 people killed on Saturday in the canal city." The protests are ongoing. Saturday's protests were in reaction to death sentences handed to 21 people involved in a deadly soccer riot in the city last year. Those riots, which killed 74 people, erupted after the home team scored a rare win against a rival team from Cairo. As NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reported last year: "Many witnesses say rabid Port Said fans charged their Cairo counterparts. Other witnesses blamed unidentified thugs wielding sticks, knives and rocks who hid among the Port Said fans. By most accounts, police and security forces did not intervene." And here's more from Al Jazeera about the riot and the heightened tensions over the verdict: "Many Egyptians believe the deadly stadium violence was orchestrated either by police or by Mubarak supporters, and any verdict was likely to trigger a highly charged response. "Cairo football fans had threatened widespread chaos if justice was not served, and Port Said residents said the ruling was politically motivated." Our original post: Thousands turned out Sunday in the Egyptian city of Port Said for a mass funeral for 35 people killed Saturday in anti-government rioting. As NPR's Dana Farrington wrote on the blog Saturday, the violence broke after an Egyptian court sentenced 21 people to death for their role in a deadly soccer riot last year. NPR's Leila Fadal reported on the events for our Newscast unit. Here's what she says: "The streets of the northeastern city of Port Said erupted with wails and calls for the toppling of Egypt's Islamist-led government. Men carried coffins of the dead killed on Saturday during rioting that was sparked by the death sentence of 21 soccer fans convicted for participating in sport-related violence. "Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi has yet to address the nation since anti-government protests began on Friday and were compounded by the violence in Port Said. More than 30 people were killed in the city yesterday and at least nine people in protests the day before. "Egypt's opposition called for more anti-government demonstrations and demanded early presidential elections. They called for a boycott of the upcoming parliamentary elections and amendments to Egypt's new constitution." The Associated Press reported that violence broke out briefly during Sunday's funeral when "some in the crowd fired guns and police responded with volleys of tear gas." More than 100 people were injured. There was also a funeral in Cairo, the capital, for two policemen who were killed in the Port Said violence.Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. © 2016 KMUW | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10366 | After Crash, Why Were Asiana Passengers Told To Stay Seated? By Mark Memmott
Jul 11, 2013 ShareTwitter Facebook Google+ Email Passengers move away from Asiana Airlines Flight 214 on Saturday in San Francisco. This photo was taken by a passenger.
Eugene Anthony Rah
Originally published on July 14, 2013 3:41 pm One of the latest details revealed about Saturday's crash of Asiana Flight 214 in San Francisco likely raises a question in many minds: After tumbling down the runway and coming to rest, why did the flight crew initially ask passengers to remain in their seats rather than immediately start to evacuate the plane? Instead, an announcement was made for everyone to stay put. It was another 90 seconds or so before the evacuation order was given. An initial review of what happened indicates the pilots may have thought it was safer to wait for emergency personnel to get to their crippled jet before having passengers get out. According to what Deborah Hersman, head of the National Transportation Safety Board, told reporters on Wednesday: -- When the Boeing 777 came to a stop, flight attendants asked the pilots if they should begin evacuation procedures. "The pilots indicated that they were working with air traffic controllers," Hersman said, and asked that passengers be told to stay where they were. "We don't know [yet] what the pilots were thinking," Hersman added, "[but] in previous accidents there have been crews that don't evacuate. They wait for other vehicles to come to be able to get the passengers out safely." -- Moments later, however, a flight attendant saw fire outside the aircraft. "Certainly, if there's an awareness that there's fire aboard an aircraft, that's a serious issue," Hersman said. A flight attendant alerted the pilots. "The aircraft evacuation began after that," she said. "Hindsight is 20/20," Hersman also told reporters. But, she added, "pilots are in the front of the airplane. They really don't have a good sense of what's going on behind them. They need to get that information from the flight attendants." And when Flight 214's crew got that information, it appears, the evacuation began. Two people died from injuries they suffered in the crash or immediately after (investigators are looking into whether one person was struck and killed by an emergency vehicle responding to the scene). But all 305 of the other people on board survived. The NTSB has posted video of Hersman's briefing. Bill posted Wednesday about other details from her presentation. She also discusses another piece of information — that, as USA Today reports, the pilot has told investigators he was "temporarily blinded by a bright light when 500 feet above the ground. Asked whether it's possible that someone on the ground aimed a laser light at the aircraft, Hersman said, "we really don't know at this point what it could have been." The potential danger of laser lights aimed at cockpits has been a concern for several years. Update at 6:55 p.m. ET. NTSB: 'No Anomalous Behavior' Hersman, at a news conference on Thursday, said there is no sign that the autopilot failed aboard the aircraft. "There is no anomalous behavior of the autopilot, of the flight director, and of the auto-throttles, based on the FDR data reviewed to date," she said, referring to the 777's flight-data recorder. She said the first internal call to abort the landing came three seconds before impact and the second abort call was made just 1.5 seconds prior to the crash. Hersman also said that the pilot told investigators that the bright light "could have been a reflection from the sun" and that he didn't think it affected his ability to fly the plane.Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. View the discussion thread. © 2016 KRWG | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10369 | Wednesday Morning Political Mix By Frank James
Oct 9, 2013 ShareTwitter Facebook Google+ Email President Obama gets some support outside the White House, Oct. 8, 2013.
JEWEL SAMAD
Originally published on October 9, 2013 6:18 am Good morning, fellow political junkies. It's Day 9 of the partial federal government shutdown. Global financial markets at this point still appear to expect sanity to eventually prevail in the Washington fiscal standoff. We'll have to see if they're right. The day's big news is expected to be President Obama's choice to head the Federal Reserve of the candidate thought to be his second choice since his first proved politically problematic. Here are some of the more interesting politically related items that caught my eye this morning. Economist Janet Yellen is President Obama's choice to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve, succeeding Ben Bernanke, The Wall Street Journal's Jon Hilsenrath and Peter Nicholas report. If confirmed by the Senate, she would become the first woman to be the world's most powerful central banker. Most of us hope she won't get to be the first U.S. Fed chief to have to pick up the pieces should the federal-government default on its obligations. Lawrence Summers, who was thought to be Obama's preferred candidate, won't have such worries, at least. Some Senate Democrats are warning that the chamber's majority might be forced to change the rules to make it easier for the majority to advance a debt-ceiling raising bill to a floor vote if Republicans decide to filibuster it., Politico's Manu Raju and Burgess Everett report. That move would make the Senate's atmosphere even more toxic. The vast majority of the federal government would remain closed if President Obama and Senate Democrats accepted the House Republicans' approach of reopening government in a piecemeal way, Derek Thompson vividly explains at The Atlantic. Remember the immigration issue? It's kind of gotten lost amid the current fiscal fight. Supporters of an immigration overhaul want to make sure it's not forgotten, however. Hundreds demonstrated at the U.S. Capitol Tuesday with some being arrested, including several congressmen, reports NPR's Hansi Lo Wang. It's easy to lose track of how many times, David Frum has stood athwart history to yell "stop" at his own Republican Party. His latest piece in The Daily Beast is a particularly cogent example of it. Recruiting Democratic candidates to run for House seats in Republican districts has become relatively easier because of the government shutdown for which the GOP gets the greater share of the blame, Greg Sargent writes in the Washington Post's Plum Line. Obama has a Kansas cousin with Tea Party leanings who plans to primary Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) reports Katrina Trinko in the The Corner blog at the National Review Online. House members who workout in the private gym in the Capitol are being forced to reuse their towels because linen service is a casualty of the government shutdown, reports The Hill. Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. View the discussion thread. © 2016 KSUT Public Radio | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10375 | See our listening area and KVNF radio frequencies across western Colorado Documentaries Help Amplify Conservative Voice By editor
Mar 17, 2013 ShareTwitter Facebook Google+ Email Phelim McAleer directed the film FrackNation, one of more than 20 documentaries screened at this year's CPAC.
Mike Groll
Originally published on March 17, 2013 12:11 pm A decade ago, there were only one or two documentary films screening at CPAC, the annual meeting of conservative activists. This year, there were more than 20. As independent financing and filmmaking becomes more accessible, conservatives are turning to movies to get their message out to a larger, younger audience. In the main CPAC auditorium Saturday, headliners such as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz filled the seats, but it was standing-room only in a smaller room down the hall, too. The conference room had become the convention's theater. Lights dimmed and a quote from Thomas Jefferson flashed onto the screen: "Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper." The film is called Hating Breitbart. It's a documentary about the polarizing conservative media mogul Andrew Breitbart, who died last year, not long after appearing at the 2012 CPAC. "You need to tell a story," says the film's director, Andrew Marcus. "You need to have a protagonist and an antagonist, just basic storytelling stuff." Marcus says that films like his are the way to get the conservative story out to a broader demographic. Documentary film has long been dominated by directors who lean liberal. Think Michael Moore and Oliver Stone. That's changing, though. Just last year, the conservative documentary 2016: Obama's America got wide distribution and made money. The theme of the film is that President Obama's politics are rooted in 20th century anti-colonialism. "Film offers an opportunity to reach a much wider audience," says Dinesh D'Souza, the writer and director of 2016. He's also the author of Obama's America and The Roots of Obama's Rage. "My book was a best-seller. It sold 100,000 copies. But this film, 3 million people saw it," he says. Not only does film itself have a wider reach, but movies are becoming cheaper to make. Digital cameras and accessible software are allowing filmmakers to bypass traditional barriers that once stood between potential viewers and their product. "There actually is great freedom now to be able to make films that are a lot of fun and are very creative," D'Souza says. "If conservatism doesn't show that kind of creativity, it's going to be confined to a narrow fringe of American life." But some of the attendees at CPAC say conservative films share a problem with their movement in general: difficulty making connections. "Conservatives do a poor job of actually talking about the human element," says Mike Warse, a student from Colorado who watched pro-fracking documentary FrackNation. "We've got economic arguments and statistics and all this other stuff that just isn't really helpful unless you can say, 'This is how what we believe makes somebody's life better,' " he says. FrackNation is an answer to the Oscar-nominated anti-fracking documentary Gasland. Director Phelim McAleer follows a group of Pennsylvania farmers who want to lease their lands to natural gas companies, but can't because of government regulation. "There's a real appetite for these kinds of stories," McAleer says. He funded FrackNation with Kickstarter, a crowd-funding website that's already popular with other independent filmmakers. More than 3,000 people donated an average of $70 to help get the movie made. Hating Breitbart's Marcus says this kind of populist financing can make a big difference for conservative filmmakers. "The walls are coming down, and artists are going to be able to reach their audiences without the traditional gatekeepers in place, so that's incredibly exciting," he says. CPAC may not turn into a film festival anytime soon, but the role of movies is growing, both at the annual gathering and in the conservative movement.Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. View the discussion thread. © 2016 KVNF Public Radio | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10393 | « Thank those who allow us to...
No voter values dishonesty...»
That which holds us together...
Save | It's hard to believe that it has been 11 years since terrorists attacked America on Sept. 11, 2001. We watched with horror that Tuesday morning as airplanes flew into each of the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. We were shocked to hear that another plane - thought to be targeting the White House or Capitol - crashed into an open field in Shanksville. Most of us not only remember vividly where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news for the first time, but also how the citizens of this country reacted. It was hard to go anywhere without seeing dozens of American flags flying with pride. Many of us felt compelled to volunteer to help our fellow man by doing things such as donating blood, giving money to help with the cleanup effort or supporting the families of the victims. In the wake of tragedy, our country was the United States. It was a time when we focused on our commonalities instead of our differences. The whole reason the U.S. was sucker-punched that day was because the attackers hated all that America stood for. They wanted to fatally wound our country. But what they accomplished instead was to strengthen the resolve of America and let the world know that this country can do anything. Eleven years later, the World Trade Center is rebuilt, our country's defense is stronger and Osama bin Laden is dead. If the tragic events of that day taught us anything, it's that which holds us together is stronger than that which tries to tear us apart. It's why we're the United States of America. Save | Subscribe to Lewistown Sentinel I am looking for: | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10415 | Grammy nominations 2013: Nods to Kanye, Auerbach, Mumford celebrate diversity of music
The Grammy nominations featured a six-way tie for most nominations with artists like Kanye West, Jay-Z, Frank Ocean, Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, Mumford & Sons and fun. leading the pack. By Chris Talbott, Associated Press /
The band fun. (pictured) scored the most overall Grammy nominations along with five other artists.
Donn Jones/Invision/AP
The Grammy Awards celebrated the diversity of music as six different artists tied for lead nominee — Kanye West, Jay-Z, Frank Ocean, Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, Mumford & Sons and fun.Auerbach received five nominations as a member of the Keys and also is up for producer of the year, earning a spot with the others at the top of the list as the Grammy's primetime television special came to his hometown Wednesday night."We're speechless," Auerbach said in a statement to The Associated Press from Germany, where he's on tour with drummer Patrick Carney.
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The rockers little resemble any of the other acts at the top of the list. The nominations for Jay-Z and West, two of hip-hop's most important figures, is a familiar refrain. Each has routinely been at or near the top of the nominations list for the last several years.Indie pop band fun., a featured performer during the show, aired live from Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on CBS, rode the success of its anthemic hit "We Are Young" featuring Janelle Monae to sweep of the major categories, earning nods for best new artist, song and record for "We Are Young" and album of the year for "Some Nights." The band's producer Jeff Bhasker is up for four nominations."When you call your band fun. with a period at the end of the sentence, you set a very high standard for yourself and for fun itself," Taylor Swift, the concert's co-host, said in introducing them. "Fortunately this band from New York has lived up to the name in the best possible way."R&B singer Ocean, whose mother was in attendance, made a bold social statement earlier this year when he noted he had a same-sex relationship in the liner notes of his new album "channel ORANGE," and The Recording Academy rewarded him with the nominations for best new artist, record for "Thinkin Bout You" and album of the year.And British folk-rock band Mumford & Sons, which made an auspicious debut in front of an international audience during the 2011 Grammys, is up for album of the year for "Babel," one of 2012's best-selling releases.Miguel, who helped Ocean shake up the R&B world this year, and jazz great Chick Corea join the Keys with five nominations apiece. Nas and recording engineer Bob Ludwig join Bhasker at four apiece.
There were no major snubs. Most of 2012's inescapable hits are represented in some way — Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know" is up for record of the year and Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" garnered a song of the year nod. Drake, Rihanna and Nashville residents Swift, Kelly Clarkson, Jack White and best new artist nominee Hunter Hayes were among 16 nominees with three nods.In many ways the nominations reflect a singles-driven year when no album rose to the level of acclaim as Adele's "21" or West's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," which dominated the Grammys last February.The best new artist category is a great example of this year's diversity. From the minimalist R&B of Ocean, the pop-influenced sounds of fun. and Hayes, the soulful rock of Alabama Shakes and the Americana swing of The Lumineers, there's little resemblance between the acts."I think people listen to a lot of types of music and Spotify has proven that, and iPod has proven that," Lumineers member Wes Schultz said. "... Every person in that audience tonight, I saw them freaking out about various artists that have no relationship to each other."Alabama Shakes drummer Steve Johnson noted the diversity in the category after the show, then made a surprising statement: "If I were on the other side of the fence, I'd vote Frank Ocean personally."The members of fun. were "dorking it up" as they learned about their nominations, lead singer Nate Reuss said, and were especially excited to show up in the album of the year category, which also included Ocean's major label debut, the Keys' "El Camino," Mumford's "Babel" and White's "Blunderbuss.""It's been an incredible year in music," guitarist Jack Antonoff said. "It feels like alternative music is back, looking at album of the year, especially those nominations. We couldn't be more proud to be in there. ... I think when we were sitting in our chairs out there, when we saw Jack White up there, that's when we really pinched ourselves. We felt so honored to be in the same category."Miguel also had his mind on the forgotten art form of the album. Nominated in the major category of song of the year for "Adorn," he said in a phone interview from New York that he was most excited about another category — urban contemporary album."Of all of the categories to be nominated for, that is the one that means the most to me just because I just, I miss great albums. That's a huge compliment to say that your entire body of work was the best of the year," he said. "I don't know. That's the one that means the most to me. I'm really hoping maybe, just maybe."He'll find out when the 55th annual Grammy Awards take place Feb. 10 in Los Angeles. Trophies will be handed out in 81 categories.The 5-year-old nominations show was held outside Los Angeles for the first time and showcased Music City for its growing role in the music industry. The Bridgestone Arena marked the largest venue the show has been held in and it may have been a dress rehearsal for a chance to host the main awards show sometime in the future.LL Cool J returned as host, sharing duties with Swift, whose hit song "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" earned a nod in the jam-packed record of the year category. She was joined by fun., Gotye, Clarkson's "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)," The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy" and Ocean's "Thinkin Bout You."Song of the year nominees were Ed Sheeran's "The A Team," Miguel's "Adorn," Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe," Clarkson's "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" and fun.'s "We Are Young."Swift and LL Cool J opened the show by putting together a beat-box version of Swift's hit "Mean." Hayes displayed his versatility while announcing the best pop vocal album by singing snippets of each star's hit song. Maroon 5 played headliner, singing three songs mid-show before finishing off the live broadcast. The group stuck around for an hourlong performance afterward for the crowd in attendance.Assisted by Monae, fun. reimagined "We Are Young" with orchestral strings as the crowd sang along, Ne-Yo, in wine-colored bowler, kicked things up with a cadre of dancers on his new club-infused song "Let Me Love You." And the show tipped its hat to Nashville with a salute to Johnny Cash by Dierks Bentley and The Band Perry.
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10416 | Hunt for Christopher Dorner becomes major PR problem for L.A. police (+video)
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck says he will review alleged cop killer Christopher Dorner's charges of racism. It could be an important step in reversing the LAPD’s history of corruption and abuse. By Brad Knickerbocker, Staff writer /
The hunt for alleged cop killer Christopher Dorner has turned into a major public relations challenge for law enforcement officials, in particular the Los Angeles Police Department, working its way back from a history of corruption and abuse.Not only have hundreds of well-trained officers equipped with military-style vehicles – including helicopters with thermal imaging devices one pilot says can pick out a rabbit in a snowstorm – been unable to find the man charged with killing three people and wounding two others on a rampage aimed at police officers and their families, but the LAPD also has been forced to reexamine the reasons for Mr. Dorner’s dismissal as a police officer in 2009 – brought about, Dorner charges in the 11-page manifesto he posted on Facebook, by racism in the department. And the LAPD is having to make amends to the two people – a middle-aged Hispanic woman and her mother delivering newspapers – wounded when police riddled their truck with gunfire. (The women’s truck was neither the make nor the color of Dorner’s pickup, which was later found abandoned.)How much do you know about the Second Amendment? A quiz.
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The search for Dorner continued Sunday in and around the San Bernardino mountains east of L.A., but police were on edge and alert to the possibility that the alleged killer had left California. Police in Las Vegas (where Dorner owns property) are now traveling in pairs, and motorcycle patrol officers have been ordered into less-vulnerable cruisers.Given Dorner’s claims about why he was fired, which detail specific episodes with specific senior officers named, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck has ordered an official review of the case, which occurred before he took over the department."I am aware of the ghosts of the LAPD's past, and one of my biggest concerns is that they will be resurrected by Dorner's allegations of racism within the department," Chief Beck said in a statement Saturday. "Therefore, I feel we need to also publicly address Dorner's allegations regarding his termination of employment."In his manifesto, Dorner warns that the killing will continue until “the department states the truth about my innocence.”But Beck says, "I do this not to appease a murderer…. I do it to reassure the public that their police department is transparent and fair in all the things we do."A special joint task force is being formed to investigate the Dorner case, the Los Angeles Times reports. Participating agencies include the Irvine and Riverside police departments, the FBI, the US Marshals Service, and other law enforcement organizations.
“It is important to acknowledge this history if we are to understand and overcome the disturbing support for Dorner's manifesto from the black community on the Internet and on black radio, and if we are to ever free ourselves from the toxic wake of the LAPD's past,” civil rights attorney Connie Rice writes in a Los Angeles Times op-ed column.But Ms. Rice, who has faced off against the LAPD many times in court, says Dorner “is absolutely wrong” when he states in the manifesto that the department has not changed in the years since officers on patrol were racially segregated and police brutality like the Rodney King episode caused violent riots.“The LAPD has definitely changed at the top and is currently in the process of changing its old guard culture,” she writes. “We're not done; there are decades still of work to be done to change the institutional culture, but … the good guys are now in charge of LAPD culture; it is a huge change and the right beginning to real police reform.”While this may be a generally accepted view among experts and most residents of Los Angeles, this past week’s shooting of innocent bystanders reminds many Angelenos of a darker shoot-first-ask-questions-later past.Hector Villagra, executive director of the ACLU of Southern California, questions Beck’s initial comments following the mistaken shooting of newspaper carriers Margie Carranza and her 71-year-old mother, Emma Hernandez, both of whom are recovering from their injuries.Also appearing in the Los Angeles Times as a guest columnist, Mr. Villagra writes: “When Beck says that it's not difficult to imagine how officers who were already on edge could make the mistake these officers did, even if he is not commenting directly on this shooting, he risks suggesting that he has prejudged their behavior as excusable, a suggestion that is particularly troubling for those who live in communities where officer-involved shootings happen regularly.”The LAPD is investigating the incident, reported to have involved dozens of shots fired by at least seven officers. Meanwhile, Beck has met with the two women in their home to apologize and to promise that their bullet-riddled truck will be replaced with a new one.How much do you know about the Second Amendment? A quiz.
How much do you know about the Second Amendment? A quiz.
Christopher Dorner: Experts look for clues to alleged cop killer’s mental state (+video)
Christopher Dorner manifesto: a guide to ex-cop's alleged rampage
Los Angeles riots: 20 years later, has LAPD reformed?
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View all Justice | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10419 | Nose job, lies force Egyptian lawmaker to quit
Monday, March 05, 2012 | 2:02 PM CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Egypt’s ultraconservative Islamic Al-Nour party said today one of its lawmakers has resigned from Parliament because he got a nose job and then lied about it, claiming he was beaten.
Lawmaker Anwar al-Balkimy told police he was attacked last week during an attempt to steal his car while he was driving on a highway on Cairo’s outskirts. He said his attackers also robbed of him more than US$16,000.
That led to an outcry against Egypt’s government for failing to prevent such crimes, a stream of visitors to the wounded lawmaker in his hospital room and prominent pictures in local newspapers of his heavily bandaged face.
Then it turned out there was no carjacking, no beating and no robbery. Al-Balkimy just had a nose job.
The problem with that is that his party follows a strict line of Islam that forbids cosmetic surgery as meddling in God’s work.
It was especially embarrassing for al-Nour, just weeks after a surprisingly strong showing in Egypt’s parliamentary election, where it captured a quarter of the seats by championing one of the world’s strictest interpretations of Islam, similar to Saudi Wahhabism. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10431 | UN, Aid Officials Plead for End to South Sudan Fighting Date Published: 03/24/2014 Summary: United Nations emergency response officials called on the warring sides in South Sudan to stop fighting to alleviate the suffering of the country's people, who are facing extreme hardship as unrest goes into a fourth month and the rainy season looms. (..) Aid agencies including the World Food Program (WFP) and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have reported that their offices, hospitals and warehouses have been looted during the fighting in the country. David Kaatrud of WFP said some aid has been held up at checkpoints that have been set up along roads leading to Jonglei and Unity states, two of the states most heavily impacted by the fighting and the resulting humanitarian crisis.
Links: read article Sections | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10444 | USA Today travels 'Back to the Future' with front page from the film
Image: screenshot, Back to the Future II
By Patrick Kulp2015-10-21 11:00:08 UTC
USA Today is welcoming you to the future, as it was envisioned in the time-traveling world of Marty McFly and Doc Brown. The newspaper is marking the date that graced the front page of its appearance in Back to the Future II more than 25 years ago with a wrap-around supplement that features an elaborate recreation of the edition featured in the iconic movie. See also: Marty McFly visits the post-nuclear wasteland in 'Back to the Terminator'
Image: Courtesy of USA TodaySince the copy in the prop version of the front page consists of the same block of text repeated, USA Today had to take some creative liberties and reimagine each article based on the headlines, even adding some new articles editors conceived themselves to fill out the page. The updated version also omits an item about "Queen Diana" visiting Washington — likely because the tragic reality was too depressing for a fun tribute to the movie. As a convenient plot device for marking time and current events amid the flux of time travel, newspapers play a fairly big role in the Back to the Future franchise, though as New York has pointed out, the editorial judgment of the editors behind them often seem a bit suspect. Some glaring gaps and obviously misguided guesses aside, however, the film was impressively prescient about some of the technology that may shape the news industry — though it definitely overestimated the pace of change.
Back to the Future II envisioned that news would be written by automated programs with names like "Compu-Fax" and documented by drone-like hovercams.
While as far as we know, USA Today doesn't employ a staff writer named "Compu-Fax Satelite" (conspicuously misspelled in the film), that sort of technology does exist today. Thankfully for human reporters though, it's not quite adept enough to churn out above-the-fold front page stories (yet). And while hovercams are no where near ubiquitous in today's newsrooms, the movie's predictions about the role of drones in journalism may also prove prophetic, according to some experts. The movie does seem to overestimate the health and resources of today's local press as well as the ascendance of USA Today to the point where it could charge $6 a pop for its own localized editions (the paper currently costs $2 and includes just one national edition). That's no doubt because in the Back to the Future universe, the print industry remains untouched by any disruption from the unforeseen world wide web. Still the creators of the subsequent early '90s animated series recognized that no industry is immune to the unending march of technology: By 2091, USA Today has been ousted from Hill Valley by a publication called the Megabyte Daily — which peddles a print edition for a whopping $86. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Advertising, Business, Media, usa today | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10472 | Townsville pushes for more ETS support
Penny Timms
Thu 26 Nov 2009, 9:06 AM AEDT
The Townsville City Council in north Queensland says it is prepared to lobby the Federal Government to support local businesses affected by the emissions trading scheme (ETS).Operators of Yabulu's nickel refinery, north of Townsville, are concerned the scheme could force it to close unless it is granted Government assistance.Townsville Mayor Les Tyrell says he is prepared to take the issue to the highest possible power."We've only just become aware that there are some issues through the ETS and we're in the process of organising to have discussions with representatives of Queensland Nickel over this over the next few days," he said."There may well be an opportunity for us to take that forward on behalf of any company in the city to the Prime Minister when he visits for the Community Cabinet in December." | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10492 | Red Hook Apocalypse: How Sandy Undid an Up-and-Coming New York City Neighborhood
The hurricane wreaked havoc among the restaurants and businesses in the historic but long ignored Brooklyn area. Now it has to rebuild By Tony Karon / Red Hook, New York City @tonykaronNov. 01, 2012 Share
Seth Wenig / APWorkers dispose of food damaged by Hurricane Sandy at Red Hook's Fairway supermarket in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Oct. 31, 2012 Email
The quirky wooden two-story storefronts of Red Hook’s Van Brunt Street are more reminiscent of a Cape Cod fishing town than the cookie-cutter architecture of the brownstone, townhouse and housing-project symmetry of the Brooklyn neighborhoods that surround it. And the area’s idiosyncratic separateness from much of New York City has long been reinforced by it’s isolation from all the arterial subways that connect Brooklyn with Manhattan and Queens. It’s that quirkiness as well as the gorgeous views across the harbor — Lady Liberty outside your front window and fresh sea air — that has attracted scores of young hipsters and the associated restaurants, coffee shops, artisanal distilleries and other small businesses of the booming Brooklyn-cuisine scene. It has also lately attracted some major retail destination stores — Fairway supermarket, in a 19th century coffee warehouse at the water’s edge, attracts shoppers from throughout the borough on weekends, while a massive Ikea outlet services the whole city — with low water-taxi fees for Manhattanites who want to travel to Red Hook to buy space-saving furniture for their tiny apartments.
(MORE: Is Your Subway Line Running?)
A ghostly silence hung over the normally bustling Ikea on Wednesday, and a few security personnel were the only people to be seen as gulls soared overhead in the gray skies. The store was largely spared water damage, but without power, no business could be conducted. (The city disconnected Red Hook’s electricity on Monday night, having ordered the neighborhood’s residents to evacuate.)
On Tuesday morning, the air was thick with the steady thrumming of sump pumps up and down Van Brunt. Most buildings’ basements were flooded, and the arriviste businesses and longtime residents found one another at a kind of block-party-meets-wake cleanup. People counted the cost of Sandy’s devastation, soldiering on in the knowledge that whatever they had suffered was suffered by their neighbors too. Sometimes it takes a disaster to remind folk that they’re part of a single community, whether they choose to recognize it or not.
Steve Linares, a chef at Fort Defiance, showed TIME the restaurant’s flooded basement. “Our refrigerators are down there, embedded into the concrete. They’re ruined. It’s going to take a long time to pull them out of there and replace them.” He estimated the damage to be $100,000 and said FEMA had been meeting with small-business owners in the area, although he didn’t know what the agency was offering. “We don’t know when we’ll be able to open again, but we’re here helping the owner,” he said. “We like him. He’s a good guy. And it’s in our interests to get him up and running as quickly as possible.”
There was a similar spirit of cooperation throughout the community. “Everybody is helping one another,” said Linares. “People are sharing sump pumps, hoses and generators, doing whatever they can to help their neighbors get through this.”
A couple of doors down, Ben Schneider, who runs the Asian-crossover bistro Good Fork, had a table set up on the sidewalk to provide neighbors and volunteers free coffee and bagels as well as serve as a clearinghouse for generators, pumps and other vital equipment being shared along the street. “Red Hook is like a small town,” said Schneider. “It’s natural that we want to help each other and get through this together.” The water in his dining room reached near table-top height, “but the basement, where pretty much everything happens in these restaurants, is finished.”
Corey Calabrese led a group of volunteers from door to door telling residents and business owners of a planned community meeting later that evening being organized by the Red Hook Initiative. She worried that businesses seemed to have more help at hand than some of the older residents, who needed strong arms and backs to help them move furniture out of flooded basement-level apartments.
(MORE: A Guide to Brooklyn’s Hottest Local Spirits)
Every business along Van Brunt and the pier that juts out into the bay at its end had been devastated, and the water taxis that ply the commuter route along the Brooklyn littoral bobbed uncertainly alongside a pier that was twisted and mangled like wire tie.
Down the street, in Fairway’s parking lot, the store’s fleet of shopping carts were stacked high with goods, which workers in maroon uniforms were cataloging and tossing in a dumpster adjacent to a giant FEMA truck. A security guard who wouldn’t give his name refused to let anyone enter the grounds but allowed that the store had been pretty much destroyed. That assessment was confirmed by a water mark over 7 feet tall on a wall around the side of the building. The store’s pier-side location offers an exquisite view and fresh ocean breeze on a Sunday afternoon, but it also put it directly in the path of what must have been a 15-foot wave cresting the 8-foot breakwater. A stench of meat beginning to rot hung over the muddied rear entrance, and refrigeration trucks were loaded.
Around the corner at Sunny’s Bar, Mike Horenstein, a 26-year veteran of the neighborhood with a salty gray mustache, was undeterred. “We didn’t leave,” he said, “because they told us to evacuate for Hurricane Irene, and nothing happened.” But he’s sardonic: “We’ll rebuild it better. One thing we’ve learned: sandbags don’t make any difference in a storm like this.”
At the nearby headquarters of Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies, whose tart treats are legend throughout the greater New York area, Samantha Citrin was only starting to come to grips with the scale of the damage. “We’re all helping each other,” she said. “We’re good like that.” She was not sure when Steve’s will begin baking again.
On the ocean side of the same pier, staff members of the production kitchen at Mile End, whose smoked brisket and other Montreal Jewish fare have made it an instant legend of the Brooklyn food movement, are in DIY hazmat suits, scrubbing bleach onto the floors and wall of a devastated facility that has suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.
A disconsolate Max Levine showed me around, making sure I saw the brand-new massive smoking ovens that were destroyed by saltwater. One of his partners, Noah Barnamoff, was blunt: “The businesses and residents of Red Hook need help. We’ve come here and invested to help revitalize a historic neighborhood. But after this devastation, everyone should know: we can’t rebuild this community without assistance.”
(PHOTOS: Inside Brownsville, One of Brooklyn’s Most Dangerous Neighborhoods)
Residents and business owners weren’t sure of what sort of assistance they could expect. So far, they were hearing that FEMA will offer low-interest loans. But for many, that won’t be enough.
Outside a flooded duplex apartment on Coffey Street, landlord Gino Vitale helped his tenants pump out water. But it wasn’t only seawater. “There was poo floating in it,” said tenant Elizabeth Freund. “The sewer backed up.”
Vitale estimated the damage his 16 buildings had suffered to be $600,000. Did he have flood insurance? He laughed. He suffered $80,000 of damage from Irene, he said, and his insurance company sent him a check for $4,000.
Much of the furniture from Freund’s basement apartment, which was still under 8 inches of water two days after the storm surge, was stacked disconsolately on the sidewalk. Downstairs, a child’s sneaker and a drumstick float by in murky water. Freund, an artist, and her family evacuated when the surge began, but she soon returned, sleeping on her upstairs neighbor’s sofa. “I needed to be here as soon as possible,” she said. “It’s hard to be anywhere else when all you want to do is get started on fixing your place.”
Mateo Zlatar, who runs a nearby app-design studio near the Gowanus Canal, had thought on the eve of the storm to raise his computers off the floor and place them on a long table, which also held a bowl containing a goldfish. “When I came in on Tuesday morning, the fishbowl was there, still full of water, but the fish was gone,” he said. The water mark on the adjacent wall reaching almost 5 feet suggested that the fish would have enjoyed an hour or two of unprecedented freedom, albeit in water both salty and toxic, before its demise. The canal, after all, is a Superfund site. The computers wouldn’t have lasted as long.
MORE: Brooklyn’s All-Volunteer Ambulance Corps
Tony Karon
@tonykaron Tony Karon is a senior editor at TIME, where he has covered international conflicts in the Middle East, Asia, and the Balkans since 1997. A native of South Africa, he now resides with his family in Brooklyn, New York. Home | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10509 | Last Updated: Monday, 28 February, 2005, 17:12 GMT
Bhutan's smokers face public ban
By Geeta Pandey
BBC News, Bhutan
Thimphu's markets are no longer the place to buy tobacco
A nationwide ban on smoking in public places comes into effect from Tuesday in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.
The country was the first in the world to impose a nationwide ban on the sale of tobacco products back in December.
According to a notification from the ministry of trade and industry, the decision to ban smoking in public places has been made "to protect the present and future generations from the devastating consequences of tobacco use".
Bhutan's Health Secretary Dr Sangay Thinley told the BBC: "The use of tobacco is not so enormous, but with the changing times, we felt that the smoking trend was growing.
"So we thought we'd do something immediate. We know what a problem this is worldwide - the number of people tobacco kills every day." But more than two months after the ban on tobacco sales, cigarettes and tobacco products are still widely available and consumed.
Traditional society
It is midnight at the Fusion bar in the capital, Thimphu.
If it becomes difficult to get tobacco and they have to pay more, it may motivate people to give up smoking
Dr Sangay Thinley,health secretary
Groups of young men and women cluster around tables, letting their hair down over cans of Tiger beer and shots of Smirnoff vodka.
Dimmed lights and thick cigarette smoke give the place an unreal feel. Bhutan is a very traditional society and most people here still wear the traditional dress - knee-length, skirt-like robes called gho for men and long skirts known as kira for women. But tonight most of those present at the bar are dressed in jeans and body-hugging T-shirts.
And amid raucous laughter comes a show of defiance. "I'm a smoker and I will always be a smoker," says Anuj. Anuj owns a bar and restaurant in Thimphu.
He says he started smoking when he was 14, mostly to impress girls.
Today, he's 36 and smokes at least 20 cigarettes a day.
But how has he fared since the sale of tobacco was banned in Bhutan two and a half months ago?
"I'm not affected," he says. "I stocked up before the ban. I'll need to buy only when I run out of cigarettes. You could call me a smart smoker," he laughs. Underground
The penalty for those flouting the ban on tobacco sales is 10,000 ngultrums ($200). The shops also stand to lose their licence.
I have to be careful. If I get caught, I'll lose my licence. But the profit margin is now good
Cigarette seller
But the official ban on the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products has driven the market for the products underground. Phuntso Wangde, a resident of Thimphu, says cigarettes are still available.
"It's become more difficult, they are not as readily available. But I get it from some people I know.
"They know I'm a smoker so they sell it to me. But now it's more expensive. A pack of cigarettes that earlier cost 30 ngultrums now costs 40."
I go to Thimphu's main shopping avenue, Norzin Lam, looking for someone who still sells tobacco.
In between the stores that sell woollen jackets, jumpers and long socks for men are tiny window shops that sell candies and various other assorted items. This is where most people bought their tobacco before the ban.
Most take one look at me and say they don't have any cigarettes.
But the owner of one window shop agrees to speak to me on the condition that he will not be identified.
"It's very risky now. Lots of people come looking for tobacco but I sell only to the people I know. I have to be careful. If I get caught, I'll lose my licence," he says. "But the profit margin is now good."
Despite a flourishing black market in tobacco products, the health ministry in Bhutan is quite confident that the ban on the sale of tobacco products and now on smoking in public places will have a positive impact.
The ban is to "protect past and future generations", say ministers
The health secretary, Dr Thinley, says the ultimate goal is to have a healthy, tobacco-free Bhutan.
"If we can restrict supply, it may help people take a decision. They know it's bad for their health and if it becomes difficult to get tobacco and they have to pay more, it may motivate people to give up smoking." Dr Thinley says there will be no penalties for those who light up in public. And it will be left to the community to discourage the offenders. His job may be made easier by the fact that he has many supporters on the streets of Thimphu.
Most people say the government's decision is right.
At the Fusion bar, the smokers continue to light up.
They say they know the ban will apply to this bar too, but they shrug it off, saying they've managed to deal with the ban on sales.
Now, they say, they'll just have to deal with the latest ban too. As one of them said to me, if someone wants to smoke, they will.
But many say it is not really an issue as smoking is confined to Thimphu and other small towns - and even here it is not widespread.
Smoking is stubbed out in Bhutan
22 Feb 05 | South Asia
Bhutan forbids all tobacco sales
17 Dec 04 | South Asia
Bhutan seeks to ban smoking
19 Jan 03 | South Asia
Bhutan health walk nets reward
Bhutan's growing cannabis problem
30 May 02 | South Asia
Country profile: Bhutan
14 Aug 04 | Country profiles
Bhutan government | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10513 | Royal Mail CEO In Line For £500,000 Bonus
Moya Greene to receive payout for steering sharp improvement in postal firm’s performance last year, Sky News learns.
20:44, UK, Thursday 23
Moya Greene is in line to receive a £500,000 bonus
By Mark Kleinman, City Editor
The chief executive of Royal Mail is being lined up for an annual bonus worth almost £500,000 just months before the company presses the button on Britain's biggest privatisation for a generation.
Moya Greene, who took over as the boss of the state-owned postal operator in 2010, is expected to receive the payout after nearly trebling Royal Mail's operating profit to £403m last year.
Royal Mail's remuneration committee, chaired by non-executive director Orna Ni-Chionna, has yet to formally agree the pay proposals for the 2012-13 financial year.
Both the pay committee and the wider board will do so ahead of the release of the company's annual report, which will be published by the end of July.
People close to Royal Mail said the forthcoming annual report would show that Ms Greene's base salary had been frozen at £498,000 for the third consecutive year, reflecting the company's state ownership.
Under the terms of her contract, she is eligible for an annual bonus equivalent to a year's salary.
Royal Mail made a £403m operating profit in 2012
One insider said that the terms of Royal Mail's executive pay schemes meant the company's board had little discretion over the size of bonus payouts to Ms Greene and her executive colleagues because they are incentivised according to strict operational and financial targets.
According to last year's annual report, a dozen key metrics include Royal Mail's group operating profit as well as customer satisfaction and employee safety.
Last year, Ms Greene received a cash bonus of £371,000, or 74.5% of her base salary.
Sources said the company's sharply improved performance across the board during the last 12 months meant her bonus was likely to be higher this year.
The payout may provide some ammunition to those opposing the privatisation, although Ms Greene has forged a good working relationship with the CWU, the principal Royal Mail staff union.
Despite the fact that she is one of Britain's highest-paid public servants, one ally of the chief executive said that even with a £1m pay-and-bonus package for 2012-13, Ms Greene's remuneration would be modest compared to the bosses of most FTSE-350 companies.
The Royal Mail boss will also be in line for a long-term bonus award vesting in three years' time that could be worth around £500,000, although she is not expected to earn any additional payment for helping to steer the company through a stock market listing or sale.
A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said: "The Government has not made a decision on the precise form a transaction will take.
"Once we have decided on the type and timing of a transaction we will set out transparently the terms of any incentives ahead of a sale.
"However, it is not our intention to pay deal bonuses."
Ministers are expected to appoint the investment banks that would lead a Royal Mail flotation in the next few days.
A Royal Mail spokesman declined to comment on Thursday.
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Anti-Trump Protests Turn Violent In New Mexico | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10514 | Syrian horror pushes global displacement to record high of 29 mln
by Katy Migiro
| https://twitter.com/katymigiro Monday, 29 April 2013 08:59 GMT
Syrian refugee children play with toys given by Members of the UAE Red Crescent after their arrival at the new Mrajeeb Al Fhood refugee camp 20 km east of the city of Zarqa, April 10, 2013. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed
Report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) says Syria is the fastest evolving internal displacement crisis in the world and that it will continue to accelerate until the conflict is resolved
NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – With daily television images of civilians fleeing shelling with children in their arms, allegations of chemical weapon use and 70,000 deaths, it’s no surprise that Syria tops the global list of countries where people were internally displaced last year.
In 2012, 2.4 million people were newly displaced within Syria, taking the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) worldwide to a record-breaking 28.8 million, according a report released on Monday by the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). “It’s the fastest evolving internal displacement crisis at the moment in the world,” Clare Spurrell, a spokeswoman for the IDMC, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The report says that displacement will continue to accelerate in Syria until the conflict is resolved.
Syria's uprising began in March 2011 with largely peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad but escalated into a civil war pitting mainly Sunni Muslim rebels against the government of Assad, whose minority Alawite faith is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.
In the first four months of 2013 – which are not covered by the report – it is estimated that an additional 800,000 Syrians have been internally displaced, taking the number of IDPs in the country to 3.8 million.
At the end of 2011, there were just 589,000 IDPs in Syria – less than one-sixth the current figure.
The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has only been able to reach 430,000 of those in need, Spurrell said.
“Syria has really gone beyond the tipping point where humanitarians are going to be able to adequately respond,” she said. “A political resolution to the conflict is the most important first step now.”
INVISIBLE AND UNAIDED
Overall, global displacement increased to 28.8 million in 2012 from 26.4 million the year before. Over 6.5 million were newly displaced in 2012, almost twice that of the previous year.
Many of the world’s IDPs get little or no emergency assistance. They are often trapped in dangerous places with few access routes, making it hard for humanitarian workers to reach them. Warring parties also try to block aid to people they see as part of the enemy population.
In Syria, most IDPs stay with relatives, friends and host communities. Others are camped out in mosques, universities, parks and schools. They are largely invisible and unaided.
“Incoming IDPs, often devoid of money assets or any means of sustaining themselves, are placing an unavoidable strain on already exhausted host communities... [who themselves are] suffering a lack of food, a lack of access to healthcare,” said Spurrell, adding that tensions have been reported between IDPs and their hosts in 20 percent of the Syrian province of Idlib governorate.
The Syrian Arab Red Crescent has been unable to reach two-thirds of IDPs, international appeals have not been sufficiently funded and the efforts of civil society to smuggle in medicines and food have been limited by their own lack of resources, the report said.
The few camps that exist are in opposition-controlled areas along the Turkish border.
AFRICAN CRISES
Aside from Syria, the other three large-scale displacement crises that the world struggled to respond to in 2012 were all in Africa.
In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), one million people fled an upsurge in violence. In November, a new rebel group, the M23, displaced 140,000 people from the city of Goma in a single week.
In Somalia, there are still over one million IDPs, despite the end of the famine and a stronger federal government in Mogadishu.
The final trouble spot is Mali. Close to 230,000 people fled northern Mali to escape an uprising by Tuareg rebels early in 2012 and widespread abuses by militant Islamist groups that took control of vast parts of the country in June.
IDMC says 90 percent of IDPs in the countries it monitors live in situations of protracted displacement, defined by UNHCR as having been displaced for five years or more with bleak prospects for an immediate solution.
“You are seeing second and third generations being born into displacement,” said Spurrell. “It is very easy for internally displaced people to become invisible.”
The report calls on governments to do more to help IDPs.
“Most governments would prefer IDPs to go back to their places of origin, but have done very little to create the right conditions for returns,” it said, pointing to continuing social and ethnic tensions and lack of support in accessing basic documents and services."
Refugees and Displacement
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Greece starts clearing makeshift migrant camp on border | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10517 | Published on NewsBusters (http://newsbusters.org)
Home > Journalists Out of Work? Resurrect Leftwing Federal Writers Project
Journalists Out of Work? Resurrect Leftwing Federal Writers Project
By P.J. Gladnick | December 8, 2008 | 7:32 AM EST
Mark Pinsky, writing for the New Republic, has an idea of what to do with all the journalists currently being laid off by the dying newspapers around the country: put them on the public payroll by hiring them for a resurrected Federal Writers Project. This was the New Deal project which provided funding for works which were primarily of a leftwing nature. And any current version of this government program is likely to have the same political ideology as its predecessor. Pinksy explains his dream of subsidizing unemployed journalists (emphasis mine):Barack Obama sounds like he wants to reach back to the New Deal's Works Progress Administration to jump start the economy with an economic stimulus proposal featuring infrastructure repair. If so, it may be time for the man who would be FDR to take a look at another successful--but largely forgotten--jobs program from the Depression era: the Federal Writers Project.America's newspaper industry has been imploding in the last few years, a development that predates the Wall Street collapse but has been hugely accelerated by the economic meltdown, forcing thousands of journalists onto the street. Hundreds more have now joined them from retrenching magazines and faltering websites, bringing the year-to-date total to 14,683 according to the tracking website Paper Cuts. Hundreds more have now joined them from retrenching magazines and faltering websites. Every day the journalism clearinghouse Romenesko links to stories of layoffs and downsizing--Gannett has been cutting 2,000 jobs across the chain, and Newsday has just announced another five percent in the last week alone. Any federal effort to put back to work the hundreds of thousands thrown out of work in the nation's hard-hit industrial, construction, airline, and financial sectors should consider displaced news media workers--including those newly laid off from the publishing industry--as well.
And don't forget that the Tribune Co. is about to go bankrupt and the failing Miami Herald is now up for sale. Oops! Sorry for interrupting Mark Pinsky and his fantasies about New Deal writer glories updated for the 21st century:The Federal Writers Project operated from 1935-1939 under the leadership of Henry Alsberg, a journalist and theater director. In addition to providing employment to more than 6,000 out-of-work reporters, photographers, editors, critics, writers, and creative craftsmen and -women, the FWP produced some lasting contributions to American history, culture, and literature......Today, there are many dislocated "old media" journalists from newspapers, radio, and television on the street--here I declare my personal interest, as one of them--who could provide a skilled pool to staff a new FWP. But since these journalists represent only a fraction of the larger displaced workforce, it is fair to ask what the public benefit would be of money spent.This time, the FWP could begin by documenting the ground-level impact of the Great Recession; chronicling the transition to a green economy; or capturing the experiences of the thousands of immigrants who are changing the American complexion. Like the original FWP, the new version would focus in particular on those segments of society largely ignored by commercial and even public media. At the same time, the multimedia fruits of this research would be open-sourced to all media, as well as to academics. As an example, oral history as a discipline has made great strides in the past 70 years, and with the development of video techniques, the forum of the Internet could make these multi-media interviews widely available to schools and scholars, as well as to average Americans.
Yup! It sure sounds like a leftwing project. And anyone who doubts it, check out how Pinsky thinks it should be administered:How would it work? Administering the new FWP as an individual grant program through community colleges and universities could minimize bureaucracy and overhead. In consultation with the Obama administration--perhaps through the National Endowment for the Humanities--and Congress, guidelines could be established and a small staff assembled in Washington to oversee the projects, in the form of grants, rather than hourly wages. Projects could be pitched locally to colleges, or suggested and posted by them, vetted preliminarily and then approved or rejected by the national staff. And "in consultation with the Obama administration and Congress" guess what sort of projects would get the funding? I guarantee you that any writing project casting doubt on Global Warming would be quickly rejected along with any other writings that question liberal ideology. The main result of any new Federal Writers Project would be as a subsidized propaganda arm for liberals.
New Republic Source URL: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2008/12/08/journalists-out-work-resurrect-leftwing-federal-writers-project | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10524 | More Weather News>Police Blotter Comment
Police BlotterThree charged in armed robbery Three Evans residents have been arrested in connection with an armed robbery in which drugs and cash were taken from a home in the West Lake subdivision. Posted: June 3, 2012 - 12:06am Three charged in armed robbery Three Evans residents have been arrested in connection with an armed robbery in which drugs and cash were taken from a home in the West Lake subdivision. Columbia County authorities charged Joshua Lynn Westover, 23, of the 800 block of Bridgewater Lane, Woodrow Merril Meadows III, 18, of the 900 block of Deercrest Circle, and Andrew Lee Vowell, 16, of the 1400 block of Aylesbury Drive, with burglary, armed robbery and possession of a firearm during commission of a crime.
Meadows and Vowell showed up at a home on the 3700 block of Pebble Beach Drive on May 19 and asked to see the homeowner’s son, according to a Columbia County sheriff’s incident report.
The 61-year-old man allowed the teens inside, where they walked upstairs to his son’s room.
The man went upstairs to check on the teens and saw one of them putting on a hunter’s mask, while the other was holding a rifle.
The teens ran out of the house and jumped into a car when asked what they were doing. Westover was waiting in the car, the report stated.
The man’s son was asleep during the incident.
Sheriff’s Capt. Steve Morris said the incident wasn’t reported until May 25 because the homeowner was uncertain a crime had taken place.
“He, at first, thought that maybe they were there just to play a prank and scare (his son),” Morris said.
An investigation revealed that cash and drugs were taken from the home, and the gun used in the crime was stolen, Morris said.
“This wasn’t a random armed robbery,” he said. “They knew one another or were acquainted at least to some degree.”
No other charges will be filed, Morris said.
All three are being held without bond at the Columbia County Detention Center.
Eight teens cited for underage drinking Columbia County authorities cited eight teens for underage drinking Tuesday at a house party in Evans.
Deputies arrived at a home in the 300 block of Barnsley Drive at about 12:30 a.m. in reference to a loud party and saw several people standing outside, according to a Columbia County Sheriff’s Office incident report.
All were underage and had been drinking alcohol.
The homeowner walked outside and asked for assistance in getting the other underage drinkers out of his home.
Those issued with minor in possession of alcohol are Joseph Nye, 17; Kathleen Tatika Acs, 18; Nathan Reid Lee, 17; Aaron Loy Day, 19; Brandon Daniel Gregoire, 19; Shuntae Hodges, 19; and Paige Alison Jarrard, 18.
A juvenile complaint also was issued on a 16-year-old boy, who was released to his mother.
The following accounts were taken from reports from The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. Additional reports are available at www.columbiacountyso.org:
Inmate charged with spitting on jailer A South Carolina woman in the Columbia County Detention Center was charged with simple battery Monday after she spit on a jailer.
Lorie Denise MacLean, 41, of Walterboro, had been arrested Monday and charged with misdemeanor shoplifting. About 9:15 p.m., a jailer said she was attempting to get MacLean showered when the inmate spit in her face. A county Magistrate judge issued a simple battery warrant for MacLean. She was being held in the jail Thursday on a $2,200 bond, according to jail records.
Martinez home burglarized as homeowners slept upstairs A Martinez man called authorities Wednesday after discovering someone broke into his home overnight as he and his wife slept upstairs.
The 61-year-old said a loud noise woke him at about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. When he checked downstairs, the man said he found the front door unlocked and his garage door partially open. He pushed the garage door button to close the door, which slammed down because the emergency release cord had been pulled. He locked the door to the kitchen and the front door and went back to bed. When he woke at about 7:20 a.m. Wednesday, the man said he found a set of front window blinds up and a pane of glass broken near the locking mechanism. A chair was moved from in front of a liquor cabinet. A $900 laptop computer and four bottles of liquor were missing.
Deputies found a wooden step ladder under the front window. They also found several bags of dirt stacked in front of the garage door, where someone had climbed in through a garage door window. Comment | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10525 | Suspects Con Woman Out Of $4,500 In ‘Pigeon Drop’ Scam
Filed Under: $4500, 68-Year-Old Woman, con artists, Pigeon Drop Scam, Queens, Scam
A surveillance image of a woman who is wanted, along with a man, for allegedly bilking a woman out of $4,500 in a "pigeon drop" scam. (Credit: NYPD)
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Police Sunday evening were searching for two suspects who victimized a 68-year-old woman in Queens with the infamous pigeon drop scam.
The scam generally involves two con artists who claim they have found a large sum of money and convince a victim that he or she can get a cut. They then ask the victim to put down a deposit to show good faith that they will commit to the plan, and make off with the deposit, leaving the victim empty-handed.
Back on Dec. 12, a man and woman targeted a victim for the scam in the 114th Police Precinct, which includes Astoria, Long Island City, Woodside and Jackson Heights in Queens.
The suspects told the woman they had found a large sum of money and could split it, but they would have to pay taxes on it. The victim drove the suspects to the bank, where she withdrew $4,500 and gave it to the male suspect. They then drove to another location, where the victim got out of the car, and the suspects fled the scene in a black sedan with Connecticut plates, police said.
The suspects were described as a black male between 35 and 40 years old wearing a brown suit, and a black female between 35 and 40 years old wearing a blue and white scarf, and a dark blue jacket.
The female suspect was caught on surveillance video.
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10529 | Pssst! We're having a secret drive! No pitching. No interruptions. Secret swag. Click here to make a gift! Obama Declares Emergency As Huge Fires Burn In Washington State By Bill Chappell
Jul 23, 2014 ShareTwitter Facebook Google+ Email A burned-out car sits in front of a ruined house in this photo taken Sunday near Pateros, Wash. Large fires have destroyed hundreds of homes in the state this month.
Stephen Brashear
Originally published on July 23, 2014 5:57 pm Fires are still raging in Washington state, where officials hope rain might help them contain the large fires — but there's also a chance that heavy rainfall could trigger flooding and mudslides. Fire crews have been battling several major fires in central and eastern Washington for the past two weeks. The blazes have destroyed hundreds of homes and caused wide power outages. President Obama declared an emergency in the state today, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help local and state agencies with supplies and disaster relief. From Spokane Public Radio, Steve Jackson reports: "Several fires continue to ravage the state, with the Carlton Complex, the largest in state history, now at 250,000 acres. But cooler temperatures and increased humidity have helped firefighters achieve 16 percent containment. "Communications manager for the Department of Natural Resources Janet Piece says rain is actually in the weather prediction for today. " 'However there is lightning coming with the scattered thunderstorms,' she says. 'So, we're going to have to keep an eye on that, but we're hopeful the rain will keep dousing out what the lightning causes.' The temperatures are expected to get back into the 90s by next week. Good progress has been made on the Mills Canyon fire, near the town of Leavenworth, and the Watermelon Hill fire burning near Spokane. Both are at 90 percent containment Wednesday." More than 2,500 people are currently trying to fight the huge Carlton fire, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. The blaze is larger than the Washington portion of the Yacolt Burn, a 1902 fire that killed 65 people and burned more than 1 million acres of land in Washington and Oregon, Northwest Public Radio reports.Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. View the discussion thread. © 2016 New Hampshire Public Radio | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10550 | Share this:FacebookTwitterGoogleWhatsAppEmailCopy ‘Trayvon could have been me’
EMPATHY: In the wake of the Zimmerman verdict, President Obama yesterday said that in his younger years he had been racially profiled. Photo: Family photo/Splash News
(AFP/Getty Images)
EMPATHY: In the wake of the Zimmerman verdict, President Obama yesterday said that in his younger years he had been racially profiled. (Family photo/ Splash News)
President Obama yesterday opened up about the Trayvon Martin verdict with an emotional speech about the racial divide in America — and compared himself to the unarmed black teen who was gunned down on his way home from a Florida store last year. “Trayvon Martin could have been me, 35 years ago,” the president said in a very personal, moving statement that touched on the “understandable” protests in the verdict’s wake.
“If a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different,” Obama said during an impromptu appearance at the White House daily press briefing.
Young black males are “painted with a broad brush,” Obama said. Nearly all of them have been profiled at some point in their lives, he added — himself included.
“There are very few African-American men who haven’t had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars,” he told reporters.
“That happens to me — at least before I was a senator,” he said.
“There are very few African-Americans who haven’t had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had the chance to get off,” he said.
“That happens often.”
He said that in speaking to kids across the country, and watching daughters Malia and Sasha as they interact with their friends, he has learned that “they’re better than we are.”
Last Sunday, the day following the acquittal of neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, Obama made just one brief statement, devoid of any mention of race, urging “calm reflection.”
His subsequent silence on the verdict had been seized upon by opinion-makers as an abdication by the nation’s moralist-in-chief; but by speaking, he also risks accusations of “politicizing” the verdict.
Obama warned those enraged by the verdict not to count on satisfaction from the Justice Department, which is conducting a preliminary probe into possible charges of civil-rights violations.
“I know that [Attorney General] Eric Holder is reviewing what happened down there,” Obama said. “But I think it’s important for people to have some clear expectations here.
“Traditionally, these are issues of state and local government,” he said of matters involving criminal laws and their enforcement.
And while Florida’s “stand your ground” law wasn’t used as a defense in the Zimmerman trial, the existence of such laws still sends a message “that someone who is armed potentially has the right to use those firearms, even if there’s a way for them to exit from a situation,” he said.
We should ask ourselves, he said, “Is that really going to be contributing to the kind of peace and security and order that we’d like to see?” Had Trayvon been armed and of age, “Could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk?” Obama asked rhetorically.
“And do we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting Mr. Zimmerman, who had followed him in a car, because he felt threatened?”
Today Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, will attend a 9 a.m. rally with the Rev. Al Sharpton at his National Action Network offices at 106 W. 145th St.
A noon rally is planned for the federal plaza near Police Headquarters as part of Sharpton’s multicity “Justice for Trayvon” day of action. With Share this:FacebookTwitterGoogleWhatsAppEmailCopy Share this article:
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10557 | Now, Bloomberg Likes Cuomo
By Azi Paybarah • 03/30/11 4:35pm
One day after expressing his “outrage” at the governor’s proposed cuts to New York City, Mayor Bloomberg said “there’s no fight with the governor.”
Speaking in the Bronx this morning, Bloomberg said he’s “a big supporter of” Cuomo, who “is a doing a great job.”
But Bloomberg, still hoping to get legislative changes approved in Albany that can help the city, added, Cuomo “I think is going to find ways to help us reduce our expenses that don’t cost the state any money.”
Bloomberg said he’s had “long” conversations with the governor, but did not provide more details. Currently, the mayor is seeking to win the right to lay off teachers based on merit, rather than seniority. He’s also looking to gain a greater voice in negotiating with labor unions, who currently deal with state lawmakers on pension issues for which the city picks up the tab.
I asked Bloombrg about the direct mailings he’s begun sending to city residents, defending his proposed budget.
“It’s funny,” Bloomberg said. “Nobody has mentioned to me any of the ads that people have been runing that I think is not exactly representing the real situation. And nobody has mentioned to me the ads where I’ve tried to explain what I think has happened.”
Filed under: Andrew Cuomo, Friendly Fire, Michael Bloomberg | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10562 | 1 (1 Shares) View Stats 5 comments
OpEdNews Op Eds 7/23/2010 at 21:59:16 Should Shirley Sherrod Sue Andrew Breitbart and Fox News?
By John Dean Permalink (Page 1 of 2 pages)
Related Topic(s): Andrew Breitbart; Defamation; NAACP; Shirley Sherrod, Add Tags
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Shirley Sherrod's story was big news this week. If you missed it, the story went like this: Conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart
posted a video clip of Sherrod -- a kindly African-American woman who was the Georgia State Director for Rural Development of the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- giving what appeared to be a racist, anti-white speech to an NAACP audience in March. In the speech, Sherrod appeared to be openly discriminating against a
white farmer. Fox News ran large with the story, with prime-time hosts O'Reilly >and Hannity in red-faced rage over Sherrod's remarks, calling for her head. The Obama Administration quickly, and thoughtlessly, fired Sherrod, and the NAACP foolishly embraced her firing. Turns out everyone except Sherrod got it wrong. Now, many are asking, Should Sherrod sue Breitbart, Fox News, or both? With a Video Clip Distorting the Truth, Should Sherrod Sue for False-Light Invasion of Privacy? Breitbart's video clip (which was 2:38 minutes long) totally distorted Sherrod's redemption talk (which was 43:15 minutes long). Breitbart's blog post characterized Sherrod's point as the exact opposite of what she was, in fact, sharing with her audience. CNN, which
refused to run the initial story, talked with both Sherrod and the farmer, and they explained that, in fact, Sherrod had helped him save his farm. By mid-week, and with the full forty-three-minute speech available online, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs apologized to Sherrod on behalf of the Administration, and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, who had earlier demanded her resignation, was trying to persuade the wronged Sherrod to take a new position with his department.
The NAACP announced that it had been "snookered" by Breitbart and Fox News, and apologized to Sherrod as well. Clearly, a great injustice was done to Shirley Sherrod. So it is not surprising that she is considering -- and many have urged her to file --
a lawsuit to right the wrongs she has suffered. By week's end, Sherrod told the CBS Morning Show that she "would definitely consider" legal action. There have been posts all over the Internet encouraging such action. Here is a small sampling. At CNN: " I'm thrilled that the NAACP has owned up to its mistake and come to her defense. I would hope that this includes legal assistance, and that she files a very loud, very messy lawsuit against all parties involved in this despicable episode," said commenter Julieann Wozniak. A newsvine.com
poll on the question "Should Shirley Sherrod sue Andrew Breitbart over edited video tape or simply move on?" was running eighty-nine percent favoring the suit when I last checked. And George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley wrote an extended blog post asking a more fundamental question: "Can Sherrod Sue Over the NAACP Tape?" - Advertisement - Setting aside the race-baiting politics of Breitbart, and the remarkably inept handling of this matter by the Obama Administration and
the NAACP, since there has been no shortage of commentary on both subjects, I would like to examine the potential of such litigation if Sherrod were to file it, as well as its likely impact. Sherrod's Most Viable Lawsuit -- Based on a "False Light" Claim -- Is Problematic Professor Turley zeroes in on the most viable lawsuit Sherrod appears
to have based on the known facts: a suit for what is called false-light
invasion of privacy. Such a claim is separate from a defamation claim, and in some states, depending on the facts alleged, courts see the two types of action as duplicative and dismiss the false-light claim in order to proceed with the defamation claim. What is interesting here, however, is that the false-light claim seems to more accurately describe
what was done to Sherrod than a defamation claim -- which requires a specific, false factual statement -- would. To explain the nature of the action, Turley cites and quotes the Restatement of Law
definition of the tort known as Publicly Placing a Person in a False Light: "One who gives publicity to a matter concerning another that places the other before the public in a false light is subject to liability to the other for invasion of his privacy, if (a) the false light in which the other was placed would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, and (b) the actor had knowledge of or acted in reckless disregard as to the falsity of the publicized matter and the false light in which the other would be placed." Of course, the Restatement is merely a model, without its own legal force. But Georgia, where Sherrod was injured by the false attack, and California, where Breitbart lives, both have laws recognizing a false-light tort along the lines the Restatement describes. - Advertisement - Professor Turley points out the difficulty with respect to Sherrod's succeeding in such a suit: Plaintiffs who are public officials are considered public figures, and held to a different standard. Sherrod appears to be both a public official and a public figure, as an USGA official who has been forced to thrust herself into the spotlight in her
own defense. To be more specific, the U.S. Supreme Court has imposed a First-Amendment standard on all state laws (as well as on federal law) through its interpretation of the Constitution. To protect freedom of speech and the press, the High Court has required extremely high levels of proof and evidence before anyone making a public statement will be held accountable for it. Thus, the offending statement must have been made with "actual malice," a state of mind which, ironically, need not be actually malicious. (This is not the best label the Court has ever selected, as it can thus be very misleading.) Rather, this Supreme-Court- created constitutional requirement has come to mean that for a defendant to be liable when sued by a public person, the statement at issue must have been made with the knowledge that it was false, or with reckless disregard to whether it was true or false. Furthermore, this knowledge -- amounting to "actual malice" -- must be established by clear and convincing evidence. 1 | 2
John Dean was White House legal counsel to President Nixon for a thousand days. Dean also served as chief minority counsel for the House Judiciary Committee and as an associate deputy attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice. He is author of the book, (more...) Go To Commenting
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10598 | Behind The Fireworks – Interview With Producer Of Country’s Largest Fireworks Display
» Check out the Summer Guide at CBS Local June 18, 2012 10:42 AM
Filed Under: fireworks, Fourth of July, Gary Souza, Interviews, Macy's, Spring Summer
New York (Photo Credit: Yana Paskova/Getty Images)
Fireworks are a Fourth of July tradition, dating back to the first anniversary of Independence Day in 1777. (Fireworks were actually invented centuries before.) Displays are held in cities and towns all across this great land of ours.
The biggest Fourth of July fireworks celebration takes place in New York City each year. The sky lights up over the Hudson River, which divides Manhattan and New Jersey, creating a magnificent spectacle seen for miles around.
We interviewed Gary Souza, vice president of Pyro Spectaculars, the company that stages the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks. He is in charge of designing and producing the event, as well as others along the east coast.
CBS Local: What is you role with Pyro Spectaculars?
Souza: I am one the family member owners of the company and the Vice President, and my main focus is working on the design and production of the Macy’s 4th of July fireworks and all other events that we participate in on the East Coast.
CBS Local: In addition to the Macy’s fireworks, what other ones do you handle?
New York – Statue of Liberty (Photo Courtesy of Pyro Spectaculars, Inc. © 2012)
Souza: I am mostly involved with what we do with the East Coast and the Macy’s contracts. So whenever we do something with the parade, closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange. Those are what I’ve been mostly involved with. And the Macy’s job really takes time… it’s a full year project. So that’s why I am assigned to exclusively work with that show. Macy’s, being biggest show in America, it’s the show that sets the tone for the rest of our displays. We go out and start to acquire product and look for new and exciting products to use in the show. We’re always challenged, and have been for the nearly 30 years we’ve been involved with Macy’s, to find the biggest and the best and the most exciting and the most technologically advanced products and presentation that we can. So we’re always looking for that, and we are shopping around the world. And that process really starts in the fall. It really runs through until today… we are getting ready to send all the trucks out to New York.
See more July 4th fireworks.
CBS Local: So your company started planning the Fourth of July fireworks along about September, October of 2011?
Souza: The actual process starts while we are watching the show from last year… It all is sort of like a dream… It’s a vision in your mind. Right now I have a mind full of visions, scenes that we’ve been working on that tie in with the music of the show. So you play that over and over in your mind and then go back to it and use the computers to try to tweak things to try to make it look more like what you’re envisioning and make sure it’s what you’re wanting to see. And then that dream becomes a movie that you get to watch on July 4. And at that time we can say, the performance could have been better if we did this… Either we had too much or too little or other ways we can put things together and present them in a way that it would be more exciting. And that’s where it starts.
Then we take a couple of weeks off to let your mind relax, and then when you go off in the fall with artwork, drawings and discussions and collaborations with the people that put things together for our company. We’ll then take that information and go out to the manufacturers and start the process of buying and acquiring that product because fireworks take a long time to make… It’s not something that you can go down to the local store and pick up an extra pound or a few more. If you’re out of them, you’re out of them, and you’re out of them for months. The process of making one firework can take two to three weeks. The process of drying the stars that are going to make the effect… you have to mix it, roll it, let it dry, put the next layer on, let it dry, then go to the next layer. And then you take all the stars that are going into the effect, and you put them in the shell casing, wrap that up in paper-maché-type glue and then let it get hard and dry again. And then it has to be shipped and brought to wherever you’re going to use them. So it’s quite a big process that goes into getting to July 4th.
Preview this summer’s movie blockbusters.
CBS Local: Do you go to your suppliers with specific requests or do you go see who has what and then pick from what’s available? Or is it a combination of that?
Souza: It’s a combination of knowing what we would like, knowing what that manufacturer makes. And then it’s presenting those ideas and saying, ‘well, this is how we like it.’ And so it’s giving them the specifications, because what makes the Macy’s show so unique is that it has fireworks, but some of the fireworks we use will last 17 seconds in duration. The less expensive, just booms and bangs and the ones that you might see around town, they burn out very quickly. But when you’re doing a show that is on national television with HD cameras, it really will pick up all of the little things in there that are great if you have them. And if you don’t, it will pick up all the flaws. And you need to get brighteners, because it will show the colors. The stars, they need to burn bright, and they need to last for awhile.
We use a lot of shells that have color that show up well on television. So if you have something that burns out quickly, it doesn’t present very well. So we have the live audience as well as the television audience, so it’s very important that we have the fireworks that have a blend of both. So the fireworks that we use, if you pay attention to them, they have multiple lives. They will burst, sometimes burn out, reignite and come back or sometimes just hang and cascade and burn from a thousand feet all the way down to the water’s edge before they burn out, often times changing color along the way.
So that type of firework, each one of those little things you see burning, is a star that was handmade and it has different layers, almost like a jawbreaker, different layers of powders within so they can have that effect. And the longer the duration, the bigger the star. And that’s where it gets difficult to kinda match and blend. What’s the best for the live audience? What’s the best for telecast? And how do you fit all that onto one barge, which is basically the size of a postage stamp, to make that happen out in the river?
CBS Local: So that leads me to my next question, which I think you just may have answered. What special challenges does the New York display present?
Souza: Certainly there are numerous challenges with any fireworks show. But in New York, in this particular venue, the Hudson River is very wide. It has weather issues, current issues, traffic issues. It’s a major waterway. The Coast Guard does a spectacular job in working with the Macy’s team to help to coordinate how we’re going to access the river at a certain time, allow thousands of boats as spectators to come to certain areas yet not close the entire waterway for an entire evening. It’s a very large national/international waterway. Commerce must go on. They do a spectacular job.
And that’s really a challenge to take these fireworks, get them from wherever they may come from around the world, deal with all the regulatory issues and agencies that are involved to get to that point, assemble a crew of 40 people from around the country that are experts — some have worked on this show for over 25 years. Get them all assembled and pull this off all within the course of about 10 days, given weather issues and humidity and wind and rain and whatever comes your way. You have a finite issue with July 4th happening at exactly one time. You can’t change it. You have to be there. It has to be done. And you have so many hours to accomplish that. With all the design and all the planning that goes in, it allows those 40 people to pull this off in the limited amount of time and on a limited amount of space.
San Francisco – Golden Gate Bridge (Photo Courtesy of Pyro Spectaculars, Inc. © 2012)
CBS Local: It sounds like a logistical nightmare.
Souza: Well it is. It’s very challenging. I’ve been involved with the Macy’s show since 1983. I worked on it with my father when I was much younger. It was one of the first big shows I worked on. Just over the years, gaining experience and working on other logistically challenging events. We just did the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge. And it was a very large show. For the first time, fireworks were actually fired off the bridge and up and down the towers. We had exactly one hour of bridge closure time before the show and during the show. And that’s the only time that one lane was closed. So to pull all that off… and that is logistically challenging as well. Doing shows in other countries and other cities that have other issues. Each venue has its own issues.
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CBS Local: I saw some of the pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge show on your website, and they’re amazing.
Souza: Pulling that off pushed and taxed every element of our technical team, to be able to do some of the digital dancing things. There were 13 computers that all had to be synchronized to do their part in the big performance. The computers had to receive the code. And they had their little segments that they had to do. But when they all went off, it looked like one big event. That’s similar to what we’ve done with the Macy’s show. The technology has developed over the years largely from our experience working with the Macy’s show.
CBS Local: How exactly do you activate a firework?
Souza: Each of the 40,000 shells that will be in this year’s show has an electronic match, or an ignitor. Each shell will then have to be placed within its own mortar or tube, that will range in size from two inches in diameter up to 10 inches in diameter. So each aerial shell will be placed into a mortar. And these mortars with have to be strategically placed about the barge, in the area that will allow it to create the effect we’ve designed in the sky. So once the aerial shell is placed in the mortar, that electronic ignitor will then be connected to various [computer] terminals throughout the barge that will assign it an address. So the computer will then recognize that address. So say it’s position 1A, position 3A might be in the center, position 4A. So if you wanted all the A’s to fire at one time, you could have that. And in some cases in the Macy’s show, we’ll have over 300 aerial shells firing within a one-second period…
Then the computer has a program in it. It picks up a timed code that’s synchronized to the music. So when the musical score is played over the radio or television, that score is also synchronized to the computers on the barge — two computers on each barge. When it picks up that signal, it has a synchronizing time clock, an internal clock that will run, it will stay with the music. … At this given hundredth of a second, it’s going to release power to whatever address we tell it to. So those addresses will then all launch at a maybe a certain angle or maybe all straight up or maybe crisscrossing in the sky and create some of the lower-level effects before they make the burst up above. So that’s it.
There will be about five miles of wire on each barge. And that’s what takes part of the time of that 10 days for those 40 people is that they have to strategically locate all of this equipment, secure it, load each of the 40,000 aerial shells, connect two wires off of each of the aerial shells into terminals, which will then be connected to the two computers, which will recognize the address where they’re located. And that’s how the show is pulled off… There are four barges this year, with two computers on each barge.
CBS Local: What special safety precautions do you have to take?
Souza: Well there are a lot. From the manufacturer’s part of it, there are lots of things to be careful of. Static electricity is always your enemy. Using the electronic match — or the ignitor — has been something that has really allowed us to launch fireworks without having to stand next to them with a highway flare, as you might see at some small-town shows. There are shows that are fired like that all across the country. And we do everything we can to make that as safe as you can. But we are now firing shells, with hundreds of them a second, that you couldn’t do with a highway flare. So the ignitor allows us to have more design occur and makes it more technologically amazing to watch. But it is also one of the more dangerous aspects of it, because basically you’ve added a match head into an explosive device. So if it’s dropped, if it’s dragged, somehow that match head gets enough energy — whether it be a force or heat or electronics — it will make it go off. So you have to be very careful in the management and handling of each firework item.
In addition to that, you’ve got lots of stuff all over a barge, lots of equipment in a finite space. The barges are almost 300 feet long and 40 feet wide, but by the time we get to July 4, it’s pretty well loaded up, with almost every space full of fireworks. So you have to watch where you’re walking and stepping over things, and make sure things are secured down so wind or another explosion of another device doesn’t knock something over. All of the pyrotechnicians are licensed pyrotechnicians. They have a certificate of fitness from the New York City fire department. We work in close cooperation with the New York fire department. They’re always there to help us and work together with us to make this as safe as possible.
CBS Local: How do you decide how to order the fireworks? What goes best with what? What follows what to make the most dramatic effect? New York (Photo Credit: Yana Paskova/Getty Images)
Souza: That’s really where the art form comes into play. You only get one chance, and that’s the frustrating part about fireworks. Doing graphics on a computer, you can hit delete, erase or undo. With the fireworks show, particularly one on live television, you don’t get a second chance. What I touched on earlier is that there’s this dream, this vision in your mind. When I watched last year’s show, there were things that I really liked, and there were some things where I thought, ‘gosh, we could really add this thing to it and enhance that more and make it even better.’
For instance, this year there’s a song called ‘Sparks Fly’ from Taylor Swift. It’s a fun song … a toe-tapping fun song that is in this year’s show… So we wanted fireworks that moved and sort of swayed, like if you were listening to the song, you might sway, sort of dancing. It had color in it. But it had this bright and hot sensation to it. Orange is a new color we’re bringing out this year, and we’re using it for that song. But we’re also blending it with red. So it’s red hot and orange hot. ‘Ignite the Night’ is the theme of the show, and that touches on that, because it’s red hot, orange hot. And the combination of those two is almost like a raspberry sherbet. It was fun. So that’s new this year.
See which music acts are on tour this summer.
There is another scene in there where we do what we call a falling leaves sequence. There’s purple and green and yellow and red and white cascades that are real small, and they hang in the air for about eight seconds. It just makes this falling sequence that is so slow and so gentle, yet it plays well with the music. It’s the beginning of ‘God Bless the USA’ by Lee Greenwood. So this year, we took those falling leaves, and we added this fan of rainbow colors coming up to it. So it’s coming up very slowly below and then from up above slowly cascades down the other complementary rainbow colors. I’m really looking forward to that.
We try to match the music for what the music feels like to us. We try to find the pace of the music and match the firework to that, so that you don’t over-blast the sky. Too much going on is really just blowing up the sky. We want to make a tasteful presentation so you can appreciate the quality of the fireworks. Use the technology and the space and the angles of mortars on the barge to spread the fireworks wider across the sky. We basically will fill over a mile’s length of river with fireworks from four barges. It really opens up this big venue of fireworks for everybody to see that will hopefully match and blend to the feeling of the song, whether it be fun or patriotic or dancing or passionate.
CBS Local: Do you pick the music, or is the music chosen for you?
Souza: What’s really fun this year is that America picked the music. We worked with Macy’s this year. We went back and looked at some of our favorite songs that we’ve ever done fireworks to over the years, and asked America to vote on the website, ‘what songs did you think were the best?’ And actually, the number one song was ‘America the Beautiful’ by Ray Charles. It’s right up there in the beginning after the fanfare in the show. That was the one that America chose. There were a lot of songs in this year’s show that were voted on by the people in America that said that these are the ones that they liked. And we were able to work those into the show. The theme is ‘Ignite the Night,’ and that’s what we’re bringing out there for everybody to see, is the way we’re igniting the fireworks to the Fourth of July and blending that to the music.
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New York – The Golden Mile (Photo Courtesy of Pyro Spectaculars, Inc. © 2012)
CBS Local: What style of music and fireworks do you find go best with the Fourth of July?
Souza: I think you can’t have a Fourth of July show without having a John Philip Sousa march. Songs like ‘The Stars and Stripes Forever,’ it has to be there. And you’ve gotta put ‘God Bless America.’ And this year we have another really exciting moment. Somebody was chosen on the website, who sent in their version of the National Anthem. And that has been put into the show this year. It’s somebody who was given the music online, and they listened, and they sent in their recording. And they were selected to record that for the show this year. We’re going to take somebody from America, who wanted their version out there, and they’re going to have fireworks blended to that.
I think the Fourth of July is not the same without red, white and blue, without whistles and poppers and things that blend to the great patriotic music that we have. I really like the ‘Yankee Doodle’ song, just because it’s kind of crazy. It’s more than just a red, white and blue. We add whistles and noise and swirling serpents and things to go along with the piccolos in the song. So I think that’s fun, and I like fun fireworks. But I also like the really passionate moments.
On the Macy’s show, we’ve always made a big point of building up what we call ‘The Golden Mile.’ And we always find a song each year that will match what we want to do with this Golden Mile, which is a mile-long length of the river that we just fill with about 90 seconds of gold glimmering cascades that burst from 1000 feet down to the water. And it is beyond ‘oh’ and ‘ah’ to people. It just captures you. And to be able to look around and watch people’s faces during that. The whole area, 3 million people on the shore, everywhere you look, they’re mesmerized to the sky. That feeling that you’ve been able to bring to people is really what drives me to want to do this. We capture them with that moment… and then ‘boom,’ into the finale. It’s just so fun to be able to do that, and then see the world sort of stop for that 30 minutes in time and say, ‘wow, that was amazing.’ And the enthusiasm and the patriotism that’s instilled afterwards is beyond description.
Check out the Summer Guide at CBS Local. Comments | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10618 | May 24th, 2010 12:51 PM ET
CNN Poll: Anger at BP as most Americans say spill will affect them Oil washes ashore in Louisiana. Most Americans say that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will personally affect them.
Washington (CNN) - Most Americans say that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will personally affect them, and more than three quarters say they disapprove of how BP has handled the situation, according to a new poll. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday also indicates that a slight majority of the public disapproves of how the Obama administration's handling the spill.
Fifty-three percent of people questioned in the poll say the spill will affect them or their familes indirectly, with another 31 percent saying the spill affects them directly. Only 16 percent of people questioned say they and their families will not be affected by the spill.
Full results (pdf)
"Although the spill is limited, for now, to one area, most Americans think its effects will ripple far beyond the Gulf states," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "The number who say they will be directly affected by the spill is highest in the South, but about a third of people who live in the Northeast and Midwest also think they will be directly affected. That figure drops to 26 percent in the western states that are the furthest from the Gulf of Mexico."
The poll's release comes as a BP executive Monday defended his company's attempts to stop a massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, amid growing frustration and suggestions that the federal government could take over the effort.
More than three quarters of people questioned in the survey say they disapprove of how BP has handled the spill, with 24 percent saying they approve of how the oil company has acted.
"One in four say they are less likely to buy gasoline from a BP station as a result of the spill," adds Holland. "But anger at BP doesn't let the federal government off the hook."
The Obama administration has come under increasing criticism in the past week for its handling of the spill. According to the poll, a slight majority, 51 percent, disapprove of how President Obama has handled the spill, with 46 percent approving of how the White House is dealing with the situation.
Fifty-three percent say the efforts to contain the spill will be unsuccessful, and six in ten are not confident that the government will be able to prevent another big oil spill in the future.
"A majority say they still support offshore drilling for oil and natural gas. But that figure is down 17 points since the days of "drill, baby, drill" during the 2008 presidential election, and the number who say they strongly favor drilling has dropped by nearly half," says Holland.
Since the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon in late April about 40 miles off Louisiana and its subsequent sinking, oil has been gushing into the Gulf at an estimated rate of about 5,000 barrels a day (210,000 gallons). Some estimates have put the amount of oil spewing from the well far higher.
Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead after the sinking. The cause of the explosion has not been determined.
Efforts to shut down the well have failed so far, though BP says it has been able to capture some of the escaping oil and pump it to a ship on the surface.
According to the survey, 55 percent of the public says the possibility of environmental damage as a result of offshore drilling is a very serious problem, with another 28 percent saying it is a somewhat serious problem.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted May 21-23, with 1,023 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.
–CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report
Filed under: CNN poll • Energy • Popular Posts • President Obama
Ben S. Pauls
The oil spill will eventually effect all of America because the oil is invading the breeding grounds of many species and killing them off. This is all part of the food chain, the simple beginnings of the food chain in many cases.
May 24, 2010 02:43 pm at 2:43 pm | « Previous | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10635 | Listen Live Murdoch's News Corp. Faces New Legal Threats By David Folkenflik
Originally published on April 20, 2012 5:46 am Transcript STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep. LYNN NEARY, HOST: And I'm Lynn Neary. Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is facing a series of new threats. The company's British newspaper division stands accused of phone hacking and bribing police officers. That scandal has already cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars. Now News Corp is fending off media reports that one of its companies worked with hackers to harm its competitors' global satellite and cable TV operations. NPR's media correspondent David Folkenflik reports. DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE: News Corp announced last month that it would sell its large stake in a company called NDS. NDS is a little-known, but pivotal unit for News Corp. It focuses on smartcards and encryption to protect satellite TV programming from people who want to watch it without paying. Within days of that announcement, two influential news organizations - the Australian Financial Review and the BBC - alleged that NDS has helped News Corp's pay TV outlets gain an unfair advantage. Those reports are based on 14,000 newly obtained emails and on interviews with hackers, telling of a shady website with a cinematic name. (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PANORAMA") VIVIAN WHITE: Whose was the House of Ill compute? LEE GIBLING: It was NDS. It was their baby. And it started to become more their baby as they fashioned it to their own design. FOLKENFLIK: This is from the BBC investigative program "Panorama," which made the case that NDS had cultivated a network of hackers. Hacker Lee Gibling told the BBC that NDS was seeking to spread the secret computer codes for News Corp's pay TV rivals. (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PANORAMA") GIBLING: They delivered the actual software to be able to do this with private instructions it should go to the widest possible community. FOLKENFLIK: Emails also referred to a fund for payments to police informants in England, a reference with powerful echoes, given the separate and earlier allegations that News Corp's British newspapers had bribed police officers. News Corp and NDS executives would not speak for this story, but they flatly deny the charges. Officials claim the BBC and the Australian Financial Review have taken emails about intense anti-piracy initiatives and portrayed them as part of an untrue scheme involving pay TV hacking. NDS dismisses the credibility of the computer hackers interviewed and contends there was just a single payment to police: a charitable donation for laptops. Related allegations surfaced in several lawsuits filed against News Corp in the U.S. over recent years. All were dismissed or resolved without any significant finding of wrongdoing by the company. Mark Lewis is the most prominent of the British attorneys suing News Corps in the UK for victims of phone hacking. He says the company sought to discredit those claims when they first arose, as well. MARK LEWIS: Look, with phone-hacking allegations, people dismissed them as being old allegations and know that they'd already been investigated. And what we have to do is to look at them. FOLKENFLIK: Lewis says he's now exploring a suit against NDS and News Corp over the pay TV piracy allegations. Satellite and pay TV represent a primary financial engine for the company. News Corp has a controlling minority stake in the British broadcasting giant BSkyB, for example, which generates well over a billion dollars a year in profits for the company. But British regulators are now weighing whether News Corp is a fit and proper controlling owner of BSkyB, given the criminal investigations of phone hacking and bribery and the concerns of whether executive James Murdoch misled a parliamentary inquiry. So the stakes are high. Rupert Murdoch tweeted, quote, "seems every competitor and enemy piling on with lies and libels. So bad, easy to hit back hard, which preparing." ANDREW NEIL: The Murdoch culture is to take-no-prisoners. FOLKENFLIK: Andrew Neil was the chief executive who launched BSkyB. He left Murdoch's orbit in the mid-1990s, and has no personal knowledge of the NDS allegations. But Neil says he finds them compelling. NEIL: The Murdoch culture is to destroy the competition. It is the end will justify the means. Now, that doesn't mean that you're encouraged to break the law, but it does create a culture where you push things as far as they go. FOLKENFLIK: That culture will again come under scrutiny next week when Rupert Murdoch and his son James are to face several days of questioning at a wide-ranging judicial inquiry in London. David Folkenflik, NPR NEWS. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.Related Program: Morning Edition on 89.5-1 © 2016 Public Radio Tulsa | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10663 | Subscribe TV Listings › Home › Ground water commission issues management report
Submitted by Ruston Leader on Sat, 04/14/2012 - 9:40pm in News
BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Ground Water Resources Commission recently fulfilled a directive made by state legislators in 2010 to provide a report by 2012 on the state’s ground water and surface water to members of the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee and the Senate Natural Resources and Environmental Quality committees.
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Secretary Scott Angelle, chairman of the state Ground Water Resources Commission, said that the report — being delivered in accordance with 2010’s House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 1, authored by Rep. Jim Fannin — is not an ending, but a continuation of the state’s efforts to manage its water resources.
Community breakfast brings honor to GSU founder
The final preparations are underway as Grambling State University gears up for the annual Community Breakfast, which brings the community from near and far to Grambling to celebrate the university’s annual Founder’s Day festivities.
As a part of GSU’s Founder’s Week, Interim President Cynthia Warrick is inviting the university community and the general public to attend the annual Founder’s Week Fellowship Breakfast, scheduled for 8-10 a.m. Monday in the Black and Gold Room at the Favrot Student Union on campus.
RHS students provide world event
If residents have ever wondered how other countries celebrate the holidays, Saturday will be their chance to learn.
Piano students capture state honors
Ruston Area Music Teacher’s Association was honored recently to have two local students win honors at the annual state competition. The competition is one of the largest Louisiana piano competitions. More than 100 students competed, representing areas such as New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Lafayette, Shreveport, Monroe and Ruston.
Madeline Smith, daughter of the Rev. Edward and Mrs. Mildred Smith of Ruston, won Honorable Mention in the third and fourth grade division. Madeline will be a fourth-grade student at A. E. Phillips in the fall and takes piano in the piano program there.
Strutting their stuff
Local boys and girls can compete against themselves and others when they showcase their basic football skills at the annual NFL Punt, Pass and Kick competition.
The Ruston Parks and Recreation event, open to ages 6-15, is the first preliminary for a series of competitions that will culminate with the nation’s top few vying for the winning titles just prior to a New Orleans Saints game. The event is entirely free to enter and will take place in the field in front of Ruston High School. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10666 | This Just In Teen killed in Vermont crash
ENOSBURG — A standout high school basketball player in Vermont has died following a two-vehicle collision.Police said 17-year-old Brandon Gleason of Enosburg was a front passenger in a Jeep when it collided with a pickup Friday night on Route 105 in Enosburg. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office said Gleason later died at a St. Albans hospital. Gleason was a senior at Enosburg Falls High School and was the state’s Mountain Division player of the year this past season.Capt. Jay Sweeny of the sheriff’s office told WPTZ-TV that the driver of the pickup, 53-year old Patrick Prue of Franklin, was charged with driving under the influence, but that it hasn’t been determined who was at fault in the crash.Three other teenagers in the Jeep were treated for injuries. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10669 | 50 Years Later, I Have A Dream Speech Resonates With New Generation
By Ron Jones
Filed Under: Elk Grove, i have a dream, martin luther king jr, News
ELK GROVE (CBS13) — Fifty years after it was delivered, Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic speech continues to inspire younger generations in Elk Grove.
Ron Jones was 5 when the speech was given and he still remembers it today.
Today’s middle schoolers, who obviously weren’t there, say it still resonates with them.
“He helped us kind of fulfill our dreams today,” said Sarah Jordan.
Students in Elk Grove didn’t know King, but they can identify with his message.
“Knowing him as a boy was one thing,” said a student.
Sacramento civil rights leader Marion Woods not only knew King, he grew up with him as a boy in Georgia. He’s sharing the struggles of that era, and the good times he spent with King and his family. Growing up, Woods never imagined Kind would have such a calling on his life.
“Watching him as a man was just absolutely thrilling,” said Woods.
Woods says he was there that day 50 years ago when King delivered his iconic speech.
“He had done the I have a dream speech at other gatherings but not like that,” said Woods. Ms. Tracy Christopher Schilling’s history class is making King’s speech relevant today.
“I can learn about how hurtful it is to discriminate against others,” said Joseph Cravalho, a student.
Woods also says the speech teaches there are rewards for never giving up, even in the face of opposition.
“They need to know what their struggle was all about,” said Woods.
He is also working on a memoir to share with generations to come.
Ron JonesfacebookFollowRon Jones began his television career in 1988 while working as an officer for the Oakland Police Department. Not only did he patrol the streets of Oakland as an officer but he was featured in cable television commercials related to crime preven...More from Ron JonesComments
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10674 | Sheriff Says Abduction By Acquaintance Possible In Sierra LaMar Case
By Mike Colgan
Filed Under: Abduction, Disappearance, Mike Colgan, Morgan Hill, Parkway Lake, Search, Searchers, Sierra Lamar, Uvas Reservoir
15-year-old Sierra Lamar was last seen near Palm and Dougherty avenues in unincorporated Morgan Hill on March 16, 2012. She is described as 5'2" with a thin build and was last seen with carrying a Juicy brand black and pink purse. (CBS)Sierra Lamar (CBS)
MORGAN HILL (KCBS) – About 150 volunteers showed up on Wednesday as the search parameters were extended to include areas north of Palm Avenue and south of Bailey Road in the search for missing Morgan Hill teen Sierra LaMar.
Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said the most likely scenario is that Sierra was abducted by an acquaintance.
KCBS’ Mike Colgan Reports:
“An acquaintance could be anything. It cannot just be someone that she knows,” said Smith. “It can be someone that she’s comfortable seeing in the area that she knows would be there, someone that is really known to the area. But we don’t believe she ran away or left voluntarily.”
Family spokesperson Tonya Miller said they are glad to hear that dive teams are searching Uvas Reservoir and Parkway Lake.
“We need to find her and I’m glad that they’ve upped it to no longer really a runaway, that she’s missing and in danger because that’s what we’ve been saying all along,” said Miller. “We don’t think she ran away. If this is what it takes for increased efforts to get her home, absolutely let’s do it.”
The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department said that they have received more than 500 tips in the case so far.
LaMar was last seen leaving for school on the morning of March 16.
Mike Colgan
Mike Colgan, who has worked in Bay Area radio for more than 40 years, has been at KCBS since 1988. Other stops include a 13 year stint at KFRC, then known as the Big 610.
Mike is assigned to the KCBS Silicon Valley Bureau. He has covered many of t...More from Mike ColganComments | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10675 | 3 Killed In Oakland As City Changes Course On Crime Fighting
Filed Under: Crime, Homicide, Murder, Oakland, Police, Shooting, Stabbing, Violence
Police at the scene of Friday mornings deadly shooting. (CBS)Police at the scene of Friday mornings deadly shooting. (CBS)
OAKLAND (CBS SF) — Three people were killed in two separate incidents in Oakland overnight, just hours after city officials announced the hiring of a high-profile adviser to the force.
Officers responded to reports of a shooting in the 800 block of Mead Avenue around 1 a.m., where they found two people shot to death, according to police.
Police said Darrell Johnson, 21, of Oakland, and Keith Davis, 19, of El Sobrante, were the victims of the shooting.
No arrests have been made and police said they do not know the motive for the shooting.
Oakland Police Investigating 3 Early Morning Homicides, City In Safety Crisisplaypause
Police said that around 2:30 a.m., police were called to a report of a stabbing in the 5800 block of Walnut Street. The victim had been stabbed to death.
The three killings bring the number of homicides in Oakland this year to 130, the highest total since 2006.
According to police Chief Howard Jordan, five of the homicides have been ruled to have been justified, leaving Oakland with 125 criminal homicides so far in 2012.
The latest homicides happened just hours after city officials announced the hiring of William Bratton as an advisor to the police department on Thursday afternoon. Bratton is credited with shaping up New York and L.A.’s police departments resulting in double digit crime drops. Oakland has seen 130-murders so far this year marking a four-year high for the city’s homicide rate.
Civil Rights attorney John Burris, a long time critic of the OPD is encouraged at Bratton’s input but he worries about there being too many cooks in the kitchen.
“We have a police chief. We’re getting ready to hire a compliance director. We have a monitor that’s under the direction of the courts and now we have an additional consultant,” Burris said.
He worries there could be uncertainty or confusion amongst the ranks as to who’s in control. “When you bring someone in who’s very talented, then hopefully their talent can be utilized in a constructive way,” Burris added.
He did commend the city for turning to much needed help to address a more than 20 percent jump in murders robberies and rapes this year. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10677 | Posted December 15, 2015 06:53 am - Updated March 4, 2013 12:08 am By Walter C. Jones Morris News Service ANALYSIS: Act 2 begins in this year's ethics saga ATLANTA — A decision point is approaching for Georgia’s political leaders when it comes to ethics.In the opening act, the Senate made the first appearance by passing a rule on its members that limits gifts from lobbyists to $100. The House responded by passing legislation that bans all gifts — except those given to organized groups of legislators or that can be characterized as part of their official duty.The leaders of the two chambers have publicly criticized each other’s handiwork as weakened by exceptions. For example, is the Senate limit $100 per instance, per session, per day or what? And the House proposal still allows lodging and meals for whatever official duties may be.More than one cynical observer has predicted that the two chambers would hold fast their positions and refuse to pass anything. Members in each could say, “We tried. It was those other guys that blocked it.”The House has recently put the issue back in the Senate’s court. Since Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle presides over the Senate, he’s the one who has to decide whether the cynics are right or not.Cagle’s own career might be an example of how good ethics lead to good politics. After all, he became lieutenant governor by beating Ralph Reed in the Republican primary, partly over questions about Reed’s involvement with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was under investigation at the time and has since served time in federal prison for fraud.Abramoff was recently in Georgia for what Common Cause called Ethics Week. The week began with the House voting 164-4 for the House proposal, House Bill 142 sponsored by Speaker David Ralston.Abramoff, who ran Washington’s largest, most generous, most successful lobbying firm for 10 years, isn’t impressed by the bill.“If I were a lobbyist here, I would run through that bill in about three seconds,” he said. “There are too many loopholes there.”He made his comments during a luncheon at the Atlanta Press Club, and later he was seen at the statehouse delivering them one-on-one.“It’s like a lobbyist’s Disneyland here,” he said To promote his memoir, he’s already traveled around the state some and concluded that everyone he’s met — other than politicians — is clamoring for tough ethics legislation.He describes what that would look like, something that would have foiled him. Spending many months of reflection in a federal prison provides the opportunity to clarify one’s observations, he said.An effective law would allow no gifts of any sort, under any circumstances from lobbyists, he said. Even campaign contributions from them would be limited, and they and their clients wouldn’t be allowed to bundle donations from others or direct political action committees, he adds.Gifts, lavish dinners and exotic golf trips were the tools he used to win votes from members of Congress, and that’s what gave him an advantage over honest lobbyists and citizen activists, he said, because he tapped into the politicians’ human nature.“When you do me a favor of any kind, if I’m not a jerk, I’m going to be grateful,” he said, noting that gratitude from a politician translates into votes.People who make the lobbying choice would consciously give up some rights to campaign donations, a choice Abramoff figures would pass constitutional muster. But he admits he’s no lawyer.He would classify as a lobbyist anyone who gets paid to influence government officials. He said federal laws are so vague that he would not have fallen under the definition of lobbyist even at the peak of his lobbying activity.His final reform would be a 10-year period after leaving office before engaging in lobbying.We’ll know soon whether or not Cagle and Ralston, or even Gov. Nathan Deal, take the advice of a man who spent a decade exploiting federal ethics rules strong enough to eventually send him to prison. Thirteen days remain in the 2013 legislative session, and another 40 next year before the trio of state leaders face voters again.They have each said they recognize the importance voters attach to ethics reform, and now they’ve had a master thief tell them how to build the foolproof lock. What will they do with the information?Walter Jones is the Atlanta bureau chief for Morris News and has been covering Georgia politics since 1998. Follow him on Twitter @MorrisNews and Facebook or contact him at [email protected] and 404-589-8424. Advertisement | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10696 | Archive for Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Second Spring Hill woman dies from Junction crash
Laura Miller, a 19-year-old Spring Hill woman who was injured in a fatality accident April 29 at the Baldwin Junction, has also died.
Miller was a passenger in a car driven by Jennifer Jamison, also 19 and from Spring Hill. Jamison was declared dead at the scene of the accident.
Miller was taken by ambulance to Kansas University Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., where at last report she was in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit. She died Monday.
The accident happened in the late afternoon of April 29 when, according to the Douglas County Sheriff's office, Jamison was westbound on U.S. Highway 56, stopped at the stop sign, but then pulled in front of a pickup that was northbound on U.S. Highway 59. The driver of the pickup is from Ottawa, but no other information was released about him. He refused treatment at the scene.
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The Tripwire On Flight 370
Posted March 18th, 2014 @ 7:36am by Clive Irving
The fate of Flight MH370 could have been decided in three minutes.
The Malaysians changed more than the clock when they backtracked Monday from their original statement that the last voice contact from the airplane (“All right, good night”) was received at 1:30 a.m., putting it instead at 1:19 a.m.
The need for an absolutely accurate timeline of the Boeing 777’s flight path has always been essential to investigators. It’s the first thing that they request and normally would be instantly retrievable from air traffic control radars and transmissions between the airplane and the ground. It has been severely lacking in this case.
The timeline has big implications for those trying to understand not just the correct sequence of events but what may lay behind them. Critically, it would mean that with the transponder turned off at 1:22 a.m.—three minutes after the final words from the cockpit, the number of suspects grows suddenly larger.
The transponder is really the tripwire for whatever began to unfold on that jet. It identifies the airplane to traffic controllers and confirms its position. As long as it appeared that the transponder was de-activated before the final voice report, it left open the possibility that the pilots lied to air traffic control and were themselves already embarked upon a pre-planned series of actions that would allow the flight to vanish (however bizarre that scenario seemed).
So if the pilots were not covering up a plot, what happened? Was Act One of a skyjacking, and if so, what was Act Two?
The interrogation of the skyjacking theory would start with the choice of airport, and the choice of the flight. Investigators would consider the political context, whether there was any known motivation for taking captive a particular group of passengers and then making political demands in return for their release.
The classic case of this was, of course, in 1976 when four members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacked a French Airbus flying from Israel to France and demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The airplane landed at Entebbe, Uganda, and 105 Jewish and Israeli hostages were taken. The episode ended with a dramatic Israeli raid at the airport to free the hostages.
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10729 | They've got muck; we've got rakes.
Pat Robertson On Washington Monument Crack: 'Is That A Sign From The Lord?' (VIDEO)
Newscom
ByRyan J. ReillyPublishedAugust 25, 2011, 9:30 PM EDT
Television evangelist Pat Robertson suggested on Thursday that a four-foot crack in the Washington Monument caused by Tuesday's earthquake might be a sign from God.
"Ladies and gentlemen I don't want to get weird on this so please take it for what it's worth," Robertson said. "But it seems to me the Washington Monument is a symbol of America's power, it has been the symbol of our great nation, we look at that monument and say this is one nation under God," he continued. "Now there's a crack in it, there's a crack in it and it's closed up. Is that a sign from the Lord? Is that something that has significance or is it just result of an earthquake? You judge, but I just want to bring that to your attention," he said.
"It seems to me symbolic," Robinson said. "When Jesus was crucified and when he died the curtain in the Temple was rent from top to bottom and there was a tear and it was extremely symbolic. Is this symbolic? You judge."
No word on what sign Robertson thinks God was trying to send with the damage to the National Cathedral.
[via Right Wing Watch] | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10733 | More than 400 speeches by women—politicians, scientists, and celebrities.
Gifts of Speech: Women's Speeches from Around the World
Liz Linton Kent, Director
Home » History Content » Website Reviews Gifts of Speech: Women's Speeches from Around the World
Charting changes in women's rhetoric in the public realm from 1848 to the present is possible through this archive of more than 400 speeches by influential, contemporary women. These include prominent female politicians and scientists, as well as popular culture figures. There is an emphasis on the United States (particularly after 1900), including speeches from women as diverse as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Mary Church Terrell, Marie Curie, Helen Keller, Emma Goldman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Friedan, and Ayn Rand. A nearly complete list of Nobel lectures by women laureates provides access to acceptance speeches. The search function is particularly useful for pulling speeches from a diverse collection into common subject groups. It also allows for the study of the language of women's public debate by following changes in the use of particular metaphors or idioms, such as the concept "motherhood."
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10742 | Archive Commentary
PopMusic: Do They Know Its Christmas? Plugged in to public health Published on March 14, 2013 by Lauren Weisenfluh
Written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise awareness and money to combat the 1984-1985 Ethiopian famine, Band Aid’s “Do They Know Its Christmas?” was a joint single by a myriad of popular ‘80s musicians, including David Bowie, Sting, Bono and Adam Clayton of U2, and Phil Collins of Genesis. The song became the best-selling single ever in the United Kingdom until 1997, earning $13.6 million worldwide, every penny of which was donated towards the cause.
Driven by the success of the single, Geldof and Ure organized the 1985 Live Aid concert to keep the famine in the public spotlight. To this day, Live Aid is remembered as ‘the day rock and roll changed the world,’ earning £30 million for famine relief in Africa.
The money brought early-warning systems that prevented an Ethiopian famine in 2003 from spinning into ‘80s-magnitude devastation, said Ure, the song co-author and co-organizer of the Live Aid concert, in an interview with Music OMH. “People are alive today who wouldn’t have been alive had people not stuck their hands in their pockets and bought that record,” she told the magazine. Enough money was raised from the “Christmas” single to send “seven emergency flights and three ships to Africa” containing a wealth of humanitarian aid, such as “one hundred and forty tons of high energy biscuits, one thousand two hundred and forty tons of dried skim milk powder, twenty five tons of full cream milk powder” and more, writes Trócaire, the official overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland.
The song pleads with the listener to remember that “there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas time/The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life /Where nothing ever grows, no rain or rivers flow/Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?” After establishing the plight of the Ethiopian people, the ending asks listeners to be generous with their good fortune and remember those less fortunate: “Feed the world/Let them know it’s Christmas time/and Feed the world.”
Today, Ethiopia is green again: “In 1984 the land was parched brown and covered in tents,” writes Peter Gill, one of the first journalists to arrive to the center of the 1984 Ethiopian famine, in his 2012 book “Famine and Foreigners: Ethiopia Since Live Aid.” “Today the site of the camp had a flush of green to it, even four months into the dry season.”
Read our introduction to the PopMusic series, The 2×2 Project’s compilation of some of the most iconic songs tackling topics of public health. Come back to see new songs posted every Thursday.
Edited by Jordan Lite. Additional research by Arti Virkud.
Africaband aiddo they know its christmasfamine reliefpublic health music Public Health Music
Lauren Weisenfluh
Lauren is a 2nd year Mailman student pursuing her Master's in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology. She's particularly interested in the intersection between ecology and public health—specifically, emerging infectious disease. Follow her @LaurenWeisenflu. Previous Article
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10744 | Home » ArtsLife » ArtsLife » COOKE: Minnikin’s back from abroad
COOKE: Minnikin’s back from abroad
By STEPHEN COOKE Entertainment Reporter Published December 12, 2012 - 5:45pm Last Updated December 12, 2012 - 8:13pm Former Guthries member Gabriel Minnikin is back in Halifax with a show next Wednesday at the Carleton Music Bar & Grill with Catherine MacLellan. (ADRIEN VECZAN / Staff) PhotoSTEPHEN COOKE
Relaxing in a booth at a favourite old haunt, Quinpool Road’s storied Ardmore Tea Room, Gabe Minnikin seems happy to be home for the holidays.
For most of the past decade, the former Guthries member with the distinctive baritone growl has been working out of Manchester, England, and he marks his current visit back in Halifax with a show Wednesday at the Carleton Music Bar & Grill with friend and recent Canadian Folk Music Award winner Catherine MacLellan.
“It’s flown by, it really hasn’t felt like nine years,” says Minnikin, who arrived from the United Kingdom this week bearing copies of his third solo CD, Parakeets with Parasols.
“This musical family I’ve assembled, the players are just amazing,” he says, describing the circle of roots musicians he has been able to draw from across the pond.
“They’re not into the traditional Manchester kind of music, or indie music, but they’re well-schooled in American country music, and they’re really good at it.
“And they’re young. They were raised by their parents on records by Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers, so when someone like me comes along, they think, ‘Oh, this guy’s the real deal!’ I mean, I’m not, believe me, but it’s like, ‘Well, he can walk the walk and talk the talk, and he’s got these songs …,’ so they’re loyal to me.”
Manchester was the most appealing of his initial three choices for setting down new roots in England, followed by London and Glasgow, but he was intrigued by the city’s musical past, from ’60s acts such as the Hollies and the Bee Gees through punk and post-punk bands Buzzcocks and Joy Division, and Britpop icons the Smiths and Oasis.
Minnikin was encouraged to become an honorary Mancunian by a Manchester member of U.K. folk boosters the Cosmic American Music group, and a big fan of his former band the Guthries.
The decision paid off, as Minnikin found a welcoming community to bring his lavish musical vision to life on his latest release. Fans of classic ’60s folk-rock will be surprised to see names of legends such as Neil Young and Chris Hillman in the credits on Parakeets with Parasols, although it should be noted that this Young is a horn player from Colne, north of Manchester, and Hillman is, in fact, a 24-year-old pedal steel player from Stoke-on-Trent.
But having sidemen with similar names to his idols proved to be a good omen for the record, which features lush orchestrations of strings and brass, largely arranged by Halifax’s David Christensen and inspired by the records of Roy Orbison, Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson.
Minnikin notes it took two years and three recording studios to get from start to finish on Parakeets with Parasols, but he is glad he stuck it out to get the sound he wanted.
“The budget was pretty shoestring, and most of the musicians did it out of the kindness of their own heart. But many had never been in a recording studio before, and they were well up for the experience.”
For Wednesday’s show, Minnikin is working on getting as many of his former fellow Guthries as possible to join him at the Carleton (the band’s lineup included Matt Mays, singer-guitarist Dale Murray and his drummer brother, Brian Murray, and bassist Serge Samson).
Unfortunately, sister and fellow Guthries alumnus Ruth Minnikin won’t be joining him, since she is taking a break from performing to teach English on the island of Jeju, off the southern tip of South Korea, between Shanghai and Nagasaki in the East China Sea.
There will be chances for future family get-togethers down the road, though, as brother Minnikin is contemplating a return to Canada in the next year or so, and may be living here by the time his sister returns.
OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS at the Carleton in the coming week include tonight’s CD launch by the Band Before Time, with their second disc Other Blunders. A week from tonight, it is a special gathering of young tunesmiths at the Gordie Sampson Songcamp songwriting circle with distinguished campers Molly Thomason, Carleton Stone and Breagh MacKinnon.
For tickets, go to thecarleton.ca or call 422-6335.
([email protected])
By STEPHEN COOKE Entertainment Reporter | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10763 | This Week’s Cold Front Could Be Deadly For The Homeless
by Tara Culp-Ressler Jan 6, 2014 11:33 am
CREDIT: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
Four homeless men warm themselves on a steam grate by the Federal Trade Commission, blocks from the U.S. Capitol, on Saturday
Meteorologists are warning of an impending “Arctic blast” that could set record low temperatures across the country this week, dropping to 35 below zero in some parts of the Midwest. Icy wind chills are making the cold snap even more dangerous, driving temperatures down to as low as 50 below zero and increasing the risk of hypothermia. As of Monday, 26 states are under warnings or watches for “severe wind chill,” and health officials are warning that even just a few minutes outdoors without proper layers of clothing could lead to frostbite, particularly among people over the age of 65.
Cities like St. Louis, Chicago, and Milwaukee canceled public school on Monday, encouraging people to stay indoors. Museums, libraries, and zoos are also closed in Chicago. “This winter storm will be one for the record books,” Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said on Sunday, telling people to remain inside unless absolutely necessary.
But for homeless people across the country, staying inside isn’t always an option. According to the latest government data, more than 600,000 Americans are homeless on any given night. And the low-income individuals who live on the streets are particularly at risk during extreme weather events. Each year, about 700 homeless people die from hypothermia, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless. Most of those deaths occur in the Northeast and Midwest, but people also freeze to death in places that aren’t typically prepared to combat cold weather, like the Bay Area.
The recent cold front and winter storms have already led to some deaths. A man froze to death on a sidewalk in Milwaukee on Friday, and an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s froze in upstate New York after wandering out of her home. And anti-poverty advocates are worried about the dangers to come for the homeless population as it gets even colder later this week.
“We’re going to lose a certain amount of them,” Billy Bishop, the co-founder of Homeless Not Hopeless in Cape Cod, acknowledged to a local outlet.
Shelters across the country are currently scrambling to ensure they can accommodate additional people during this week’s cold snap. In Missouri, the Red Cross is on standby to help treat people suffering from extreme cold. Shelters in Tennessee have activated their emergency plans, setting up overflow areas for an anticipated rush. Kansas shelters are extending their hours this week in light of the bitter cold. The Salvation Army is ramping up its outreach in Minnesota, one of the states expected to bear the brunt of the freezing temperatures. Major cities are setting up warming centers to provide relief to extremely poor people who typically spend most of their time outside.
But in some areas, there may not be enough resources to keep everyone healthy. In Camden, New Jersey, shelters are already overcrowded in the aftermath of last week’s snowstorm, and city officials have been accused of being unprepared to serve the homeless. Shelters are also starting to fill up in Iowa and Alabama, where local groups are encouraging individuals to donate warm clothing and blankets to the homeless. Agencies in Pennsylvania warn they’re already stretched too thin and may not have any more space for people suffering from the cold this week.
Health officials are encouraging people to dial a local hypothermia hotline if they see any individuals on the streets this week. And, in light of the fact that government programs to combat homelessness have been slashed because of the sequester, people concerned about the current weather could also be moved to make a more long-term investment to address the issue. “Play the long game. Contribute to a good organization that works with severely poor people in your area,” Harold Pollack, a public health and poverty expert based in Chicago, suggested to Forbes.
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Hopedale Bed & Breakfast to Open In June
By ROBERT A. DEFRANK ,
Save | Post a comment | HOPEDALE A new bed and breakfast is opening its doors to travelers this summer with the promise of home away from home. Sue Snyder of Hopedale is in the last stages of completing the Village Inn, scheduled to open June 25. Snyder said the venture is an ambition she had nursed for years as she observed the unused 3,000 square foot 70s-style house. "I'd driven by here a few times and it was for sale," he said. "I've always liked to cook and take care of other people," she said. "I thought the only reason I could justify living in a giant house like this is if I shared it." There are four rooms to rent, a dining room, showers and den. The rooms are of varying sizes, including a room for five for the convenience of hunters, visitors to area festivals, and other parties. The house was erected in 1952 and was added to in the 1970s. "It's a very nice house that I started with. What I do is just make it back to livable," she said. Renovations included electric work, the installation of part of a roof and copper plumbing, gas and hot water tanks, as well as a geothermal heating system allowing residents to set the temperature of each room to their personal tastes. She added a gas fireplace in the den and a 100-inch television screen. There is also a television in the dining room. The house is equipped with WiFi for high speed Internet use. There is a library stocked with books, DVDs and games for children. "I'm trying to have all the comforts of home," she said, adding that she aims for the creation of a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. The exterior boasts three patios. Snyder is also in the process of installing fountains internally and externally. The surrounding property also has some wildlife visitors. The work took about a year. This is Snyder's first venture into the bed and breakfast business. "I'm no gambler. This is my big gamble," she said. Snyder noted that the house should prove an ideal stop for workmen on the job and traveling vacationers, including bicyclers and hikers who use the various trails. She added that there is a wealth of good restaurants and sites in the area for travelers to consider. "A bed and breakfast is an absolute trend nowadays," she said, noting that economic worries, travel expenses and turmoil abroad mean many Americans are opting for vacations closer to home. "A lot of people are spending weekends at bed and breakfasts." She is grateful for the community for its support and the enthusiasm generated by the project. "The town really opened up to this," she said. "I really feel this will be successful." In the future, she hopes to expand by installing a tanning salon in the basement as well as an outdoor hot tub and pool, she also hopes to host small banquets and family reunions. Snyder said she plans to employ a daytime cook for when she is out at work, a lawnkeeper, and a cleaner and housekeeper to help maintain the rooms daily. The site is located at 184 East Main Street. For more information, call (740) 937-9988. DeFrank can be reached at [email protected]. © Copyright 2016 Times Leader. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10784 | 3 Americans Dead After Shooting At Kabul Hospital By Mark Memmott
Apr 24, 2014 ShareTwitter Facebook Google+ Email An Afghan police officer kept watch Thursday at the gate of the Cure hospital in Kabul. Earlier, authorities say, a security guard at the hospital opened fire — killing three American citizens.
Shah Marai / AFP/Getty Images
Originally published on April 24, 2014 6:25 pm Three American citizens were killed Thursday at a Christian organization's hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, when an Afghan security guard opened fire. Another American citizen was reportedly wounded. One of those killed was an experienced pediatrician from Chicago who had been working at the hospital for seven years, according to media reports. The other two killed were a father and son whose names and ages had not yet been released. Government spokesman Sediq Sediqqi says the gunman was shot and wounded and is now under arrest, NPR's Sean Carberry reports from Kabul. His gunshot wound may have been self-inflicted. As Sean tells our Newscast Desk: "Attacks on foreigners have been on the rise this year. Last month, the Taliban attacked the guesthouse of an American aid organization — it turned out the intended target had been a neighboring Christian guesthouse. Earlier this month, an Afghan police commander opened fire on two Associated Press journalists, killing one and seriously wounding the other." The Washington Post writes that: "Over the past three months, as Afghanistan is in the midst of electing a new president, 20 foreigners have been killed in separate attacks targeting civilians. The attacks have occurred at a popular restaurant, an upscale hotel and other venues where foreigners congregate. "The Taliban has taken credit for much of the violence, including one March 20 assault on the Serena Hotel in Kabul, which killed nine people, including two Canadians. "The violence is accelerating the pace at which foreigners are fleeing Kabul, which until recently has provided relative security for aid workers, journalists and civilian contractors. "With Thursday's shooting, the dangers facing foreigners is heightened by what appears to be growing incidents of random attacks by Afghan security officials." The site of Thursday's attack was a hospital run by Cure International, which is based in Lemoyne, Pa. One goal of Cure's hospital in Kabul is to transform the lives "of children with disabilities and their families in Afghanistan through medical and spiritual healing." The Associated Press is referring to those who were killed as "three doctors." Sean reports that according to the Afghan ministry of health the three Americans were a child specialist who has been working in the hospital for seven years and "his two guests," who were a father and son and may also have been medical workers. Sean also reports that the ministry says a woman, an American citizen, was wounded. The U.S. embassy in Kabul says in a statement that "with great sadness we confirm that three Americans were killed in the attack on CURE Hospital." Update at 12:15 p.m. ET. Chicago Health Center IDs One Victim: "A Chicago-area doctor was among those killed Thursday in an attack at a charity-based children's hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan," NBC Chicago and other news outlets are reporting. He's identified as Dr. Jerry Umanos, who before going to Afghanistan was a pediatrician at Lawndale Christian Health Center. "We have lost a dear friend," LCHC's Chief Ministry Officer James Brooks told NBC Chicago. CNN says Umanos "had worked at the hospital in Kabul for seven years, longer than anyone else." CBS Local in Chicago is reporting that "Umanos was shot when he went to the gate to receive his American friends. Those two, who Afghan officials said were father and son, were also killed when the guard opened fire." Update at 7:35 a.m. ET. More On The Attack And The Hospital. In his latest report for our Newscast Desk, Sean says: -- The three "American medical workers" who were killed were arriving to work when the shooting began. -- The wounded American was reportedly a nurse -- Mohammed Zahir, a nearby vendor, says he heard three separate bursts of gunfire. -- Soraya Dalil, the minister of Public Health, says Cure is one of the best hospitals in the city and provides advanced treatment to Afghans.Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. View the discussion thread. © 2016 Tri States Public Radio | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10791 | Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:08pm BST
Iraqi insurgent leader captured: state television
BAGHDAD Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the purported leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaeda-linked insurgent group, has been captured, Iraqi state television said Thursday.The insurgent group is one of a handful of Sunni Arab extremist groups blamed for suicide bombings and other attacks in the northern city of Mosul and other parts of Iraq.Violence has dropped sharply since the height of sectarian killings in 2006-07, but attacks continue. The report came on the same day that two separate suicide bombings killed 68 people in Baghdad and in a town northeast of the Iraqi capital.
Al-Iraqiya television said Baghdadi was believed to have been captured in eastern Baghdad. Security experts have previously speculated that Baghdadi was a character invented by some extremist groups rather than a real person.
U.S. Major-General David Perkins, spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, told Reuters Television in Washington the U.S. military had not yet been able to confirm the capture of the insurgent leader, whose detention has been reported before.
Iraqi forces are taking greater responsibility for security in Iraq as U.S. troops, who now number close to 140,000 in Iraq, prepare to withdraw fully by the end of 2011.(Editing by Jon Boyle) | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10797 | HomeNews and StoriesNews
A new home on memory lane in Bosnia and HerzegovinaAt 73 years old, refugee returnee Biserka Vukasinovic is the proud owner of a UNHCR-renovated house full of memories and new friendships.
By: Nefisa Medosevic/Mina Jasarevic, ed. Vivian Tan | 14 April 2011 Biserka Vukasinovic (standing with glasses) hosts a sewing class for other returnee women in Gorazde, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
© UNHCR/N.Medosevic
GORAZDE, Bosnia and Herzegovina, April 14 (UNHCR) - Biserka Vukasinovic has a strong homing instinct, honed from her experience as a refugee twice over, a returnee and an internally displaced person. Every time she lost her home, she found a way back.
The first time she was displaced from her native Bosnia and Herzegovina was during the Second World War, when she was a young girl. "My father and mother prepared an ox-drawn cart and loaded our belongings. With my two sisters, we fled. We found a house without windows and doors, and sought shelter within," she recalls with clarity. "Once, a German soldier came to our door, held me on his knees and began to cry. I reminded him of the daughter he left behind in Germany."
They returned home eventually. Biserka grew up, married and lived with her husband of some 30 years, Aco Vukasinovic, in Gorazde, a city in the eastern part of the country. He passed away shortly before the 1991 conflict, and when war erupted, she became one of 24,000 Bosnians to seek refuge in Serbia.
Biserka fled with a severe case of pneumonia and financial difficulties. "The local Red Cross did not recognize me as a person in need of assistance," she remembers. "I had to find a variety of ways to survive. Many times I went to Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria, where I purchased the goods which I resold in Serbia."
The conflict ended in 1995, and she dreamed of returning to Gorazde to rebuild her damaged home. While in Serbia, she tried unsuccessfully to collect donations for the reconstruction. Eventually, her nostalgia compelled her to voluntarily renounce her refugee status in Serbia and return to Gorazde in 2009. Standing among the ruins of what was once her home, "I was struck when I saw that only walls remained," she recalls.
With help from UNHCR's implementing partner Vasa Prava, Biserka applied for internally displaced person (IDP) status, becoming one of 113,000 IDPs living in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2006. The municipal authorities allocated accommodation in some barracks in Gorazde, but Biserka's long-time friend Jovanaka, a returnee herself, welcomed Biserka into her home.
Biserka was selected for UNHCR's housing project, which seeks to rebuild homes for vulnerable people such as single mothers, large families with small children and the elderly, and families with socio-economic difficulties. A total of 22 most vulnerable families numbering 80 people were selected to receive assistance for sustainable return to pre-war areas of residence, including support in acquisition of rights to social protection, health care, pension and education.
At the end of last year, Biserka moved into her new home on her old patch of land. With her modest pension, she couldn't furnish it the way she wanted. Nonetheless, the two beds, a table and stove were satisfactory.
For her, the fact of homecoming was more important, as it was for over 1 million other returnees who have reclaimed their homes since 1995. As a group, they represent a return statistic. As individuals, they represent courage. With modest to no support, Bosnia's returnees reclaimed their lives and place of origin, even though in many cases return was unwelcome, and economically or socially strenuous.
Biserka is an example of audacious returnee women who provide a network for one another, without which she herself could not have returned. She offers the same support in return. Most recently, she hosted a gathering in her home where some 15 returnee women drank coffee, joked and made handicrafts while inviting collective laughter into what became again Biserka's home.
While these women seem to be settling in well, thousands of internally displaced individuals and families throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina still have immense needs, 16 years after the conflict ended. The most vulnerable among them need housing, psycho-social support and income-generating projects.
A little help goes a long way, as Biserka can attest. Today, at 73, she is sociable and full of optimism. "I really feel happy to be able to move to my humble home and to host gatherings for a large number of women and alleviate their feelings of neglect and abandonment," she says with a smile.
Biserka and Aco had no children and, although he is dead, she maintains a special bond with her late husband, visiting his grave daily. Some two kilometres from her home she has a garden where she planted ornamental trees, roses and other flowers. This spring, she will begin to cultivate land, adding vegetables to her plot.
On the table of her home is an old photo taken in the 1960s in which Biserka and her husband hug one another, smiling in their youth. She holds an album with photographs of him, family and friends. She says she is happy that these memories remain with her, memories that now give her the strength to live in peace, with dignity.
By Nefisa Medosevic and Mina Jasarevic in Goradze, Bosnia and Herzegovina
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An unexpected meeting with Angelina Jolie brings joy a year later
UNHCR welcomes latest regional effort to end refugee displacement in Balkans
UNHCR to continue helping Balkans flood victims over the winter | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10840 | SB 5 Affects the Presidential Race in Ohio
Share Share Download Backers of President Obama’s re-election campaign are trying to sway Ohio voters by using a familiar issue. Ohio Public Radio’s Jo Ingles reports. Wednesday, June 27, 2012 at 4:29 pm
Last year, after Republican state leaders passed a controversial collective bargaining bill that slashed the power of public employee unions…. teachers, firefighters, police officers and other labor activists from around the state joined arms with Democrats in an effort to repeal that law.
They paraded through downtown Columbus, past the Statehouse, to the Secretary of State’s office where they unloaded a semi truck full of petition signatures. They only needed fewer than 300,000 valid signatures but they turned in well over one point three million. Their energy was palpable.
Fast forward to now, one year later, a central Ohio police officer and a Democratic State Senator join a couple of organizers for President Obama’s re-election campaign on a sidewalk that, just a year ago, was filled with thousands of protestors. Senator Charleta Tavares issues this warning about Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
TAVARES: "If he had his way, Mitt Romney would make issue two a nationwide problem."
That’s a point Democrats are pounding in a new web ad:
POLICE OFFICER: "For all of the police and firefighters who worked very hard against issue 2, knocking on doors, making phone calls, they would be throwing all of that away if they vote for Mitt Romney."
The police officer who makes that statement in that ad is Central Ohio officer Scott Clinger. He says it’s important to remind Ohioans that Romney supported issue two and that he has come out against hiring more police officer and firefighters. But on this day, Clinger is the only police officer speaking out at this event on the issue though he warns he’s not the only one working to defeat Mitt Romney.
CLINGER: "I am one of those working on the campaign and there are others out there, working on the campaign, making phone calls, knocking on doors and doing the same things that we did on SB 5. We haven’t forgotten."
Ohio’s largest labor federation, The AFL-CIO, says its members are already working, behind the scenes, to insure President Obama’s re-election. In a news release, the AFL-CIO says it, along with other labor groups and an ally group,Working America, has been doing outreach and will do more. The Labor 2012 operation plans to involve more than 70,000 volunteer shifts that will focus on voter registration, voter education and voter turnout in the coming months. Chris Maloney, a spokesman for Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, isn’t worried Democrats will be able to revive the spirit that led to the overwhelming repeal of the unpopular labor issue last year.
MALONEY: "This is nothing more than a pathetic attempt to distract attention away from Joe Biden’s awkward cancellation on Ohio Democrats earlier this week and the President’s failed policies which have left 425,000 Ohioans struggling to find work."
Maloney says he finds some irony when he compares the candidate Barack Obama of four years ago with the President Barack Obama of today.
MALONEY: "And it’s really telling that four years after they adopted the mantra of Hope and Change, it’s these kinds of actions that we’ve come to expect from the President’s campaign whose idea of support for labor and the middle class has been reduced to directing negative web video and holding press conferences."
There are four months left until Ohioans vote. A lot of money has already been spent on ads to persuade Ohioans for or against the candidates…..and most political pundits believe there will be many more ads between now and then. In this swing state, the question might be which issue motivates voters the most. Main Topic
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10869 | More Ways to LISTEN What Egyptian State TV Says About The State Of Egypt By Merrit Kennedy
In an image from a video broadcast on Egyptian state TV, President Mohammed Morsi addresses the nation on July 2 — his final speech before the military deposed him.
Ismael Mohamad
/ UPI /Landov
Soldiers stand on an armored personnel carrier positioned outside the state-run television station in Cairo, on July 6.
Louafi Larbi
Originally published on July 9, 2013 8:23 am It sounded like a slip of the tongue. As millions of Egyptians took to the streets calling for President Mohammed Morsi to step down, state TV anchor George Heshmat casually used the word "revolution" instead of "protests." This signaled that state TV was beginning to assert its independence from a government that was never a good fit for it anyway. It was clear that something had changed at the voice of the state — even before Morsi was pushed from power. Now, seven armored personnel carriers are positioned outside the building in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, and soldiers stand at the ready through its corridors. But the soldiers are not in the newsroom. "You can say that we made a war here to deliver our message and to erase all the stereotype images that have been about us in the past," says Samar Mahdi, an editor there. Controlling The Coverage Egypt's state-run television station has now worked under four different leaders in the past 2 1/2 years, following the military's ouster of Morsi last week. State TV lost much credibility with the Egyptian public during the 2011 uprising when it blatantly sided with ousted President Hosni Mubarak. But it is still seen as the source of official information. Mahdi says that she, like much of the news team, decided to sign a petition refusing to follow any directives from the presidency in the week leading up to the June 30 protests. "We said that we, the Egyptian television, we are standing with the people, with the people's opinion, and we will cover in a very professional way what is happening in the Egyptian street," Mahdi says. She also says they aren't going to be the mouthpiece of the Muslim Brotherhood, either. Khaled Mehanni, a supervising editor, says that as rival protests began to escalate two weeks before Morsi was forced from power, the presidency started trying to tightly control the coverage. "We were told to cover pro-Morsi demonstrations and ignore all other squares and parks," Mehanni says. He says that the atmosphere became even more heated when the station aired the military's 48-hour ultimatum to Morsi without the consent of the information minister and disobeyed the directives of top management by sending reporters out to opposition protests. A senior aide to the deposed president adamantly denies that the presidency had tried to control the coverage, pointing out that state TV had never been particularly pro-Morsi. Morsi had trouble winning over many government institutions. Veteran anchor Amr Shennawi read the lead-in to the military statement announcing that Morsi had been pushed from power last Wednesday, and he says he felt incredibly happy and relieved at that moment. "Like we having a big rock over your chest and for long time and all of a sudden it's gone," Shennawi says. No Military Intervention, For Now Rasha Abdulla, a journalism professor at the American University in Cairo, questions why the state TV employees changed the tone of their coverage. "Did they do that because it is the right thing not to follow directives from the regime and then no matter who the regime is, they are not following directives anymore? Or did they do that just because they didn't like that particular leadership?" Abdulla says. "In my opinion, for the most part, it was the latter." She says that she doesn't think Morsi's government ever had full control of state television to begin with. No one from Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood has appeared on state TV this past week. State TV reporters say that they have invited members to appear; a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood denied this. On Monday, after clashes between the military and Morsi's supporters killed at least 51 people, State TV's coverage mirrored the military's depiction of the events and ignored the Brotherhood's account. Economics correspondent Nevine Hassan-Nada says that so far, the soldiers in the building have not interfered with coverage. "And believe me, if they try to interfere, they're going to get exactly what President Morsi got. I promise you," Hassan-Nada says, laughing. Other media haven't been so lucky. The military is intervening in other outlets less satisfied with its move against Morsi: It has shut down three private Islamist TV channels since the former president was ousted.Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Related Program: Morning Edition on 90.5 WKARView the discussion thread. © 2016 WKAR | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10875 | email: WLU
WLUCarol Shaben named winner of the 2013 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction
Jul 30/13| For Immediate Release
Ute Lischke, Professor Department of English and Film Studies 519-884-0710 ext. 3607 or [email protected]
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WATERLOO � Carol Shaben has won the 2013 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction for Into the Abyss: How a Deadly Plane Crash Changed the Lives of a Pilot, a Politician, a Criminal and a Cop (Random House Canada, 2012). Award receptions to honour Shaben will take place Nov. 13 at Laurier�s Waterloo and Brantford campuses. In Into the Abyss, Shaben reconstructs a 1984 commuter plane crash in northern Alberta that killed six passengers and wounded four others�including Shaben�s father, a prominent cabinet minister. �It�s a stylishly written, fast-paced tale of redemption that�s more gripping and engaging than you might expect,� said Ute Lischke, award juror and Laurier professor of English and Film Studies. While the story is an expertly researched, detailed reconstruction of the crash and a call for better oversight of small, commuter airlines, its heart lies in the portraits Shaben draws of the crash�s survivors: her father, the pilot and an RCMP officer and the prisoner he was transporting. Through interviews and written documents, she paints a haunting portrait of the bond created among the survivors and how the crash affected their lives. Shaben is a freelance writer who lives in Vancouver with her husband and son. In 2005 she left a business career to focus on her long-time passion for writing, and in 2009 she was nominated for three National Magazine Awards, winning two: a Gold Medal for Investigative Reporting and a Silver Medal for Politics and Public Interest. Into the Abyss is her first book. In addition to Into the Abyss, the shortlist for the 2013 Edna Staebler Award also included: Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes by Kamal Al-Solaylee (HarperCollins, 2012) and A Thousand Farewells: A Reporter�s Journey from Refugee Camp to the Arab Spring by Nahlah Ayed (Viking, 2012). On Wednesday, Nov. 13, the award presentation will take place from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Senate and Board Chamber on Laurier�s Waterloo Campus, followed by a reception at 8 p.m. A reception will also be held on Laurier�s Brantford campus earlier in the day; details will be available at wlu.ca/staebleraward. About the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-FictionEstablished and endowed by writer and award-winning journalist Edna Staebler, the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction is administered by Wilfrid Laurier University, the only university in Canada to bestow a nationally recognized literary award. The $10,000 award encourages and recognizes Canadian writers for a first or second work of creative non-fiction that includes a Canadian locale and/or significance. Winning books are distinguished by first-hand research, well-crafted interpretive writing and a creative use of language or approach to the subject matter. Previous winners include authors Linden MacIntyre, Wayson Choy and Elizabeth Hay. The award is celebrating its 22nd anniversary this year.
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10894 | Obama's Plan To Kick-Start Housing Market By editor
Originally published on January 28, 2012 10:46 am Transcript SCOTT SIMON, HOST: The future of the state of the U.S. housing market was a primary focus for the White House this week. On Tuesday's State of the Union address, President Obama unveiled a new plan to try to correct the housing downturn. It would allow qualifying homeowners the chance to refinance their mortgages at historically low rates. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: No more red tape, not more runaround from the banks. A small fee on the largest institutions will ensure that it won't add to the deficit. And we'll give those banks that were rescued by taxpayers a chance to repay a deficit of trust. (SOUNDBITE OF CHEERING) SIMON: Mr. Obama said his new plan would save homeowners about $3,000 a year on their mortgages. For more, we're joined by our friend from the business world, Joe Nocera, also a columnist for the New York Times. He joins us from New York. Joe, thanks for being with us. JOE NOCERA: Thanks for having me, Scott. SIMON: And what exactly is the president proposing? Who would benefit? NOCERA: Well, anybody who has a mortgage at a higher rate than the current rate - which is pretty much everybody. I mean, we are at historically low rates. And the idea of being able to easily refinance at a lower rate, a get a fixed 30 year at these historic - you know, 4 percent or so, would be pretty wonderful. You know, there are - the devil is in the details, as it has always been with the administration's housing policies. And it's really hard to know exactly who will qualify and how exactly it will work. But in theory, this is what we need to do to get housing back. SIMON: Yeah, and that would free up capital that could be spent elsewhere in the economy. NOCERA: Well, exactly. I mean, you lower your mortgage, you have more money every month and you don't feel as constrained. And you don't feel this overhang of mortgage debt, which the country desperately needs to get down anyway. And people will start spending again, yes. Housing leads the country out of a recovery. That is a historic pattern. It has not happened this time because frankly the federal government's been too busy bickering how to fix housing, and so nothing's happened. SIMON: The other part of the president's housing proposal is this new investigative unit would focus on abusive lending practices. It would be part of the existing Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which the administration set up in 2009. How do you peg the chances for success of this new agency? NOCERA: Slim, to be honest, Scott. The Justice Department and the various states have done a very, very poor job of prosecuting mortgage fraud. They've only gone after small fries; there's not a single person from Countrywide who's been prosecuted for the millions of fraudulent mortgages that that company made. It's really quite astonishing. So, I'm very skeptical with this new effort will make much of a difference. SIMON: The White House, though, says - the new unit is going to be chaired, by the way, by Eric Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York. And the White House says this new task force will have more jurisdiction and resources than what they've had, and the Attorney General Eric Holder says subpoenas have already been served. NOCERA: Well, let's see. Let's see. Eric Schneiderman is an interesting person to run this. He's been very skeptical of the efforts of the various states to do this big settlement with the banks, which is not yet happened. And he - one of the reasons he's skeptical is he says it's not tough enough, it lets the banks off the hook, and so on and so forth. So, there is a possibility that that could make a difference. And secondly, New York has something called the Martin Act, which other states don't have, which is a very powerful tool for prosecuting financial crimes. So, you know, that is the ray of hope. However, given the Department of Justice's track record in failing to prosecute financial fraud and financial crimes since the crisis, you know, I say, you know, as we say, it remains to be seen. SIMON: This proposal would require congressional approval. How do you see the chances of that? NOCERA: Well, I think the president put it pretty well in the State of the Union address when he said, you know, there are a lot of people who don't think anything's going to happen, and none of these proposals will pass this Congress. I think that's exactly right. So, don't lay your hopes on this one. SIMON: New York Times columnist Joe Nocera, joining us from the studios of the Radio Foundation in New York. Joe, thanks so much. NOCERA: Thank you, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.Related Program: Weekend Edition on WUKY © 2016 WUKY | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10901 | BULLDOG BULLETIN BOARD
Tuesday April 29, 2014
Strong storms damaged homes and businesses in the Harlan County city of Evarts Monday afternoon. Winds ripped the roof off the Dairy Hut and blew a hole in the side of the Marathon gas station. Both businesses are located in downtown Evarts and are owned by Randy Brackett. Winds also damaged several houses, including the home of Evarts mayor Eddie Manning. No injuries were reported in Harlan County because of the storm._____A fire in a Pike County railroad tunnel is causing some concern for folks in the area. Several schools cancelled class on Monday, as the Robinson Creek area fills with heavy smoke and fumes. Monday morning, firefighters from Shelby Valley worked to extinguish the flames inside the tunnel that stretches 700 feet through the mountain. Pike County Emergency Management Director Doug Tackett says the odor is due to the old age of the tunnel and how it was built, using creosote which can emit toxic fumes..Instead of using water, officials are going to use dirt to try to smother it out. In a statement from CSX officials they say there is significant damage to the tunnel and do not have a timeline as to when the line will reopen. CSX is working with the state fire marshal's office to determine a cause._____Developers are halting a three-state underground pipeline project that drew intense opposition in Kentucky from residents, activists and even a group of nuns. Williams Co. and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners said in a web posting Monday that they were not able to assemble a large enough customer base for the natural gas liquids that would be delivered by the proposed Bluegrass Pipeline. They suggested, however, that the project could be resurrected at a later date. The companies said they are no longer seeking to acquire land for the project and offices that housed land acquisition teams have been closed._____A man is in the hospital after being struck by lightning in Powell County. It happened around 8:45 Monday morning at the Powell County Transfer Station on Highway 15 in Clay City. Officials say the man was alert and talking when crews got to the scene. He was taken by ambulance to Clark Regional Hospital in Winchester . The victim's name and condition have not been released._____A Perry County School brought national honors to Eastern Kentucky with rankings out last week. U.S. News and World Report awarded the school a Bronze Medal. Two qualifications earned schools Bronze Medals. Schools had to first perform better than average in the state, and economically disadvantaged students had to perform better than expected. Buckhorn's rate of economically disadvantaged students stood at 78 percent._____Fayette County Public Schools are undergoing big zoning changes for the first time in more than ten years. The district has announced plans to build two new elementary schools, one new high school, and to create new boundaries for school districts. With two new elementary schools set to open in 2016 and a new high school in 2017, school leaders say re-working the map on attendance zones is a necessity. ADVERTISE | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10915 | Sandy Hook shooting game sparks outrage
Video game prompts users to 'Shoot Mother' and 'Get AR15 and Clips'
By Jenny Wilson
POSTED: 11:11 AM CST Nov 20, 2013 NEWTOWN, Conn. (WTIC) - An online computer simulation game titled "The Slaying of Sandy Hook Elementary School" has surfaced, and drawn shock and disgust because it allows users to reenact Adam Lanza's actions the day of the Dec. 14 shootings.The game takes users first through Lanza's home in Newtown, instructing them to "Shoot Mother" and "Get AR15 and Clips." Gamers then move a virtual gunman through Sandy Hook Elementary School, where he uses his weapon to fire at teachers and students. Relatives of Sandy Hook teacher Victoria Soto, who was killed in the attack, denounced the game after news reports about it surfaced Monday night."Please tell us how playing a game that recreates how Vicki died would be beneficial? Please tell us," a family-endorsed Twitter account said in a tweet to Ryan Jake Lambourn, the creator of the game.Lanza shot and killed his mother at their Newtown home before shooting 20 first-graders and six adults at the school.Lambourn, who could not be reached for comment, defended himself online. He said that the game was intended to promote stricter gun control measures, a policy pursued by many in the aftermath of the shootings. In a message in the game's credits, Lambourn explains that he grew up in Houston, a city with a strong gun culture, and later moved to Sydney, Australia -- a country that enacted sweeping changes to its gun laws after a 2001 massacre. "Guns are no longer a noticeable part of Australian culture," said Lambourn, who also created a game about a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech University."Here we are nearly a year after the Sandy Hook shootings in which 26 people were killed and absolutely nothing positive has come out of it," he said. Sen. Christopher Murphy, who led the gun control movement in the Senate after the Newtown shootings, sharply criticized Lambourn."To make a game about the murder of 20 children and their six teachers is absolutely sickening," he said. "I hope the very disturbed person who could think of something like this sees the cruelty of what he's done and stops it."The game has been removed from one of the sites on which it was available.
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10928 | « William H. Grimditch Jr.
Michael R. Leahy»
Jane Keet
Save | Jane Keet, a former resident of Saranac Lake, died peacefully on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014 in Aptos Calif. Born Edith Jane Welton, Jane was the wife of Dr. Ernest E. "Ell" Keet, a much-loved local physician and the first medical partner of Dr. Francis B. "Frank" Trudeau at Medical Associates in Saranac Lake. Her father, Thurston Scott Welton, was a noted surgeon and editor of the American Journal of Surgery. Her mother, Edith Welton, suffered from tuberculosis and cured in Saranac Lake in the 1920s but passed away when Jane was just 8. Jane was born at home in Brooklyn on Feb. 18, 1919. She graduated from Packer Collegiate Institute and then attended Barnard College. She married Dr. Keet in 1939, just as he was finishing his residency in internal medicine. In 1941, Dr. Keet volunteered for the U.S. Navy and served during the war as a lieutenant commander in the Philippines. Three children were born between 1941 and 1948, all of whom survive her, as do seven grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Article Photos
Widowed at 55, Jane traveled to SUNY Plattsburgh for several years to complete her bachelor's degree and to earn a master's degree. She left Saranac Lake to pursue a Ph.d. and to teach English literature and writing in Boston at Suffolk and Northeastern Universities. She remained in Massachusetts until 2007. She moved to Aptos, Calif., and has lived near her physician son Robert, his wife Patrice Mullen Keet (from Saranac Lake) and his extended family since then. While in Saranac Lake Jane was active in the hospital Women's Auxiliary, the Paint and Palette Festival, and many other civic organizations. For years after moving to Massachusetts she was a frequent visitor to the family home on Lake Colby. In 2002, she dedicated the new Ambulatory Care Wing at the Adirondack Medical Center, named in honor of her late husband. In addition to Robert, she is survived by her daughter, Mary Jane Dowling of Cape Cod, and her son Ernest "Lee" Keet of Saranac Lake. A memorial service will be held for her in Saranac Lake this coming summer, at a date to be announced. Save | Subscribe to Adirondack Daily Enterprise I am looking for: | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10929 | News Opinions Blogs Local Communities Sports CU Ads Classifieds Jobs Extras Customer Service Features
« This is how they became the...
Where the wild things are...»
Joann Groce: First Call co-founder still strives to help out
By Nick Dutro - Staff Writer ([email protected])
Save | Joann Groce has two great loves: music and human services. And at 81, she's far from losing sight of either one. Groce, who is from Carey and later lived in Cincinnati and Columbus, has made Tiffin her home, and part of that has included working on some social projects which continue to thrive today. Although she has always been interested and involved in music, Groce made her mark on Tiffin through volunteerism and social programs. Having moved to Tiffin in 1959 after her husband, John, took a position with Heidelberg University, Groce was involved in teaching music at local schools but was drawn into helping with local church organizations, with which she had experience after college. This early experience, which involved providing child care for area youth, was just the beginning of her role in human services for the area, as her time as a volunteer led directly to a new job opportunity - First Call for Help. Groce said the idea came out of the Seneca County Community Council, an organization initiated by Theodora Wilson, who, like Groce, came to the area when her husband began working for Heidelberg. Groce said Wilson was one of the first social workers in Seneca County, and having experience while living in Brooklyn, N.Y., decided it was important to identify the need for services in the community. Groce said Wilson had "all these ideas," and when Wilson had a difficult time getting First Call for Help started, she brought in Groce to help pitch the idea. Eventually they got the interest of the United Way and the idea was born as Information and Referral, which opened in May 1978. At first it was just Groce and a card file, but she was able to take the concept and help link people with the services they needed. Those first calls which came in were often people needing help in paying bills, getting gasoline and food. Every call was just as important as the next, although some were more interesting than others. "Somebody asked me at one time if I knew a good lawn mower," she joked. "You just never knew what people would call for." One part of the job she said she enjoyed was the follow-up, checking to see if people had gotten the assistance they needed. She said it helped her to see if the service was working and gave her some joy in finding help for people. "I got to know a lot of people that way," she said. The organization would go through some changes even in her time there. For instance, as the national United Way became involved, they requested the organization be called First Call For Help for consistency. Groce also was involved with getting the heating assistance program started. "Information and Referral, when I started, was not really encouraged to get involved directly, to serve people from the office," Groce said. "It was to link people to the service. Now, if you found there was a gap in the service, then you might have to step forward - and that's why the heating fund got started." As First Call for Help grew more substantial with volunteers and part-time help, Groce decided it was time to move on, leaving in June 1987. But involvement in the community would not end there. After taking some time off, and getting back into volunteering for a short period, Groce began working in mental health, first as a case manager with Sandusky Valley Center. She said it, and future positions helping people with developmental disabilities, was hard but rewarding work. Her involvement with the community has been noted by many. Pat DeMonte, executive director of the Tiffin-Seneca United Way, worked with Groce and her husband while she was the executive director at Seneca County Agency Transportation - which also was a product of the Community Council. Although it was John who was on the board, the Groces were involved with the program and helped it get off the ground. "She has a real passion for wanting to help people," DeMonte said. "She is very caring and concerned about the community." Sue Hampshire, a previous head of First Call for Help, said she met Groce through FISH food pantry, and they became good friends. "She was kind of a mentor for me throughout the years, and very much a role model," Hampshire said. "She's a wonderful lady who cares about the community and the people, and even now has kept an interest." "She's doing things and continues to do so with her usual enthusiasm to make the world a better place," Hampshire added. Today, Groce calls herself a "short-term volunteer," giving of her time to campaigns or projects, such as the recent Tiffin City Schools levy. While she has a great deal of interest in helping with the community, she said she's not too crazy about boards anymore. Instead, her retirement has allowed her to focus on other interests, such as traveling. When her husband was alive, they would visit different parts of the country and even made trips to Africa, China and Europe. She also likes to take "little jaunts" through Ohio, which she said is something she never did in the past. "Ohio has a lot to offer, and John and I used to just go right through because we were in a hurry to go to North Carolina where he was raised," she said. But it is her other passion that has taken off recently. Although she has been involved with various choirs and choruses through church organizations in the past, Groce said she loved being part of the Heidelberg University Community Chorus recently, which she called "wonderful" and a place where she was able to get together with college students for a unified experience. So, while Groce is no longer volunteering full time, she has far from decided to give up on doing the things she loves. "I'm fortunate. I have the little problems, a little aging and stuff. The important thing is the attitude," she said. "Limitations are bad, but you can handle them if you keep up with your family, friends and meet young people." Save | Subscribe to The Advertiser-Tribune I am looking for: | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10938 | City of Aiken beautifies Laurens Street bridge with fresh coat of paint, plants
Police: Hephzibah man arrested after pulling gun on driver
Warrenville man charged with kidnapping, cruelty to children Bill would require South Carolina cities to hold elections
City of Aiken Crew Leader Cheryl Rich and Santonio Flowers paint the silver, chain-link fence black at the Laurens Street bridge on Wednesday. A little bit of work has been happening at the Laurens Street bridge to beautify the area around the newly-built structure.
City of Aiken Public Service crews worked this week to paint the silver, chain-link fence black to match the fencing that was installed at the end of Colleton Avenue.
At the corners of the bridge, the ground has been mulched, and Brodie junipers and Royal Raindrops crabapple trees have been planted.
The City is continuing to look at “other beautification opportunities” for the bridge and surrounding area, according to City Manager Richard Pearce’s “Issues and Updates” letter.
Pearce said the City saw opportunities to use funds from its plant bank to replace greenery that was lost during construction.
Pearce said he has gotten a few anecdotal comments about the bridge. Some people expressed their distaste with the look of the bridge through the Aiken Standard “TalkBack” while others said it was the functionality, not the aesthetics, that mattered.
Pearce said that, since the bridge was within public right-of-way, it didn’t fall under the jurisdiction of the Design Review Board, which works towards preserving the character of the historic district.
It was an emergency repair in which federal money was used, and it was a project that only had a short time to be completed, he said.
The bridge was an emergency repair prompted by the S.C. Department of Transportation when a corner of the structure began to fail after heavy rains in April.
The project was mostly covered with Federal Relief funds, which meant it had to be completed within 180 days. The bridge was demolished in mid-June.
The project went just a few days over deadline, which meant SCDOT had to pay 20 percent of the remaining cost – that was about $6,000 out of the approximately $2.5 million the new bridge cost.
The bridge reopened in October.
The bridge, which was flat before, was designed differently with a small arch to meet new requirements established by Norfolk Southern, which has a railroad track running underneath.
This increased elevation meant that the portion of Colleton Avenue that intersects with Laurens Street had to be permanently closed. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10941 | Editorial: Scrutiny necessary with environmental changes
Regulations crafted to protect South Carolina’s natural resources may be scaled back or eliminated under a new plan developed by the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.
The proposals are aimed at scaling back any unnecessary rules that place a burden on businesses and employers. It’s a longstanding and, at times, partisan debate whether certain regulations, both at the federal and state level, are more backbreaking than beneficial to businesses.
Certain rules can appear to be crafted nonsensically, almost aimed at hampering growth, while doing little to protect our natural environment. However, particularly in a sour economy, lawmakers and bureaucrats can be tempted to strip regulations that may be deemed superfluous, but serve a much-needed environmentally friendly purpose. Consequently, any changes to the state’s environmental regulations should be carefully examined before ultimately being approved.
When considering policies that impact our state’s air, water and land, we certainly want a comprehensive review of anything that could be irrevocably harmful, both to our business community and environmental resources.
Fortunately, the proposed changes must go through Gov. Nikki Haley’s regulatory reform task force, which will hold a series of public meetings in July to receive feedback, according to The State newspaper. The new rules must also be approved by the state legislature before becoming official. The department wants to alter a number of environmental rules, including air and water pollution controls and hazardous and infectious waste management rules.
Unneeded regulations should be scrapped, but determining the pluses and minuses of those rules need to be properly examined.
Removing rules that are outdated or redundant can clean up our laws and regulations, while promoting growth. But removing pertinent ones may cause unforeseen damage for future generations.
North Augusta’s Nick Champy signs with East Georgia CollegeReligion briefs for April 20Yellow Jackets clinch region titleFormer resident wins Salvation Army awardNorth Augusta looking to clinch playoff spot | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10949 | Media CenterOur ExpertsAnalysisIn the NewsPress ReleasesRadio CommentariesVideoSurvey of Jewish Opinion
Home || Media Center || Analysis
Ah, the Joys of Centrism!
June 24, 2013 We live in such a sharply polarized world that, regrettably, centrism, independence, and, yes, nuance are alien to many.
Instead, too often, it’s a bifurcated liberal-conservative, hawk-dove, with-us or against-us environment.
But AJC has been fighting mightily against such binary thinking for a long time – and well before Bill Clinton’s “triangulation” or Tony Blair’s “third way” entered the political discourse.
It’s not that we were necessarily so visionary, but rather that we saw the complexity of certain issues, which couldn’t easily be placed in a convenient, airtight, doctrinal box.
Take the Arab-Israeli conflict. We stubbornly refuse to be quarantined in one ideological corner within the pro-Israel community, of which we are among the staunchest of members.
That, though, can lead to some telling and even humorous moments. The last few days are an illustration.
On June 17th, AJC condemned the statement of Israeli Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, who declared that the “attempt to establish a Palestinian state in our land has ended.” He called on fellow Israelis to “build, build, build” in the West Bank.
Bennett is a pillar of the new Israeli government. He is also at odds with the prime minister, who has supported the vision of a two-state accord. And he contradicts the chief negotiator for Israeli-Palestinian talks, and fellow Cabinet member, Tzipi Livni, who declared earlier this month, at the AJC Global Forum, that the vision is of “two states for two peoples.”
We believe in a democratically-elected Israeli government that speaks with one, not multiple, voices. And, above all for Israel’s sake, we believe in the pursuit of an enduring peace based on two states, even as we noted in our statement that “we are under no illusion about the difficulties of achieving a two-state accord.” So we chose to speak up. It wasn’t the first time, nor is it likely to be the last time, but this time, for some reason, it was widely noticed.
Along came voices on the right.
One columnist asserted that ours was “an act of sheer lunacy.” He claimed our statement “condemned a democratically-elected Jewish government.” For good measure he added, “In an act of even more sheer lunacy, this organization [AJC] which speaks for probably no one – other than a handful of wealthy liberals – says ‘Bennett contravenes the outlook of Prime Minister Netanyahu…’” Moreover, he alleges that our job is to “assail Jewish organizations which criticize [President] Obama’s support of the Palestinian Arabs.” And last, he claims to have visited our website and found “nothing on the Arabs, naturally – but condemnation of Jews, sure they step right up.”
Not to be outdone, a fellow ideologue wrote a public email claiming we were doing irreparable “harm to the Jewish State and putting its very existence in jeopardy.”
And then there were the voices on the left.
There was the assertion that “This is certainly not the first time the AJC has issued a statement of criticism, but it’s still quite a rarity. The last known time was in March 2011…” Then came the charge that “These days, the AJC is more likely to criticize the U.S. government on Israel’s behalf…” Finally, we were accused of having ignored the comments a few days earlier by Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon, which were very much in the spirit of Bennett’s. The writer then asked rhetorically if AJC would also take him on, replying to her own query with the words: “It is doubtful.”
Meanwhile, an editorial welcoming our statement on Bennett nonetheless slipped in that: “It’s good to see they’ve [AJC] begun applying the same standard to officials of the Israeli government” as to other governments and officials, whose actions AJC has challenged when they “endanger the Jewish people or the Jewish state.”
It makes you want to laugh – or cry.
Here are the facts, all of which are out there for anyone who cares to grapple with them. But then again that would undermine the zeitgeist, wherein inconvenient truths are too often best ignored, lest they upset one’s carefully constructed outlook.
How could we “condemn a democratically elected government,” when we specifically supported the prime minister who was challenged by one of his deputies? And isn’t Netanyahu on record in support of a two-state agreement, whereas Bennett opposes that objective?
As for our approach to the administration, I’ll let our left-wing and right-wing critics thrash that one out, since one sees us as the nemesis and the other as the handmaiden of the White House. Maybe, just maybe, our stance is precisely what a non-partisan group is supposed to do – support when appropriate, criticize when necessary.
And if there’s nothing on the AJC website about the ongoing Arab campaign against Israel, then this observer has failed to see the hundreds, if not thousands, of national radio broadcasts, blogs (including dozens on this Jerusalem Post website), columns, letters-to-the-editor, analyses, and advocacy and diplomatic campaigns that we continue to author.
As for his mirror image on the left, equally blinded, it seems, by an all-encompassing ideology, she could easily have found our June 12th press release criticizing the remarks of the very same Danon to whom she refers. And she could have located other statements repeatedly supporting the objective of a two-state accord, including after the speeches of Secretary of State John Kerry and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni earlier this month at the AJC Global Forum.
So, too, the editorial writer could have found the same things, challenging the paper's notion that we’ve only now “begun” speaking up.
The bottom line:
First, all I can say is Caveat lector. Let the reader beware.
And second, at AJC, we’ll proudly continue to defy ideological pigeonholing and call them as we see them.
Israel at 68 David Harris in Huffington Post and The Times of Israel
Muslims in Brussels Daniel Schwammenthal in New York Times
Europe: Do the Right Thing on Hezbollah David Harris in Huffington Post and Times of Israel
AJC CEO on FOX: Brussels Terror David Harris on Fox News
I Was in Brussels David Harris in Huffington Post and Times of Israel
Europe and Migration: Five Challenges David Harris in Huffington Post and Times of Israel
November 29: A Significant Date in Arab-Israeli History David Harris in Huffington Post and Times of Israel
Happy Thanksgiving As Islamist Terrorism Increases, Some Respond… By Assailing Israel David Harris in Huffington Post and Times of Israel
Five Lessons from the Paris Tragedy David Harris in The Huffington Post and The Times of Israel | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10953 | Residents in McCalla neighborhood rally to save their much-loved covered bridge, 'a true landmark'
Jesse Chambers
on August 07, 2014 at 11:02 AM, updated August 07, 2014 at 7:55 PM
MCCALLA, Alabama – It is not uncommon to find a subdivision with a distinctive entrance – an arch, a stone gate, maybe some flower beds – but few developments would be able to compete in this category with Tannehill Valley Estates in McCalla.
One of the two entrances to the Estates, which are located just off Eastern Valley Road, features a 45-foot-long covered bridge.
The bridge, which crosses Mill Creek, was built in 1972 and is one of only four in Jefferson County, according to a web site that maintains a list of covered bridges nationally.
It is also a point of pride for many of the residents of the neighborhood.
"It's what separates our subdivision from the cookie-cutter subdivisions they are building now," Jeremy Jackson, a resident of the Estates for six years, told a visitor to the bridge on Tuesday. "It sets it completely apart. It adds the character and the old feel you used to get with old neighborhoods."
But all is not well with the bridge. It is still in use and is safe to cross, but its condition has deteriorated in recent years, and the residents of the neighborhood are working to save it – an effort that will likely prove to be very expensive.
About 10 area residents met at the bridge on Tuesday morning to talk about what the bridge means to their neighborhood and the area, their desire to save it and their plans to launch a fundraising campaign.
The bridge, which is supported by massive iron beans, is structurally sound, according to Bob Free, who has lived at the Estates for 21 years. "It's got a good foundation," he said. "It just needs a new top."
One of the main problems is the roof, which consists of rapidly deteriorating cedar shingles and needs to be replaced or repaired, according to John Elam, another long-time resident.
The roof could be replaced with metal, which would be more durable, but replacing it with more cedar shingles would help "to keep that look," Elam said, referring to the current rustic feel of the bridge.
The residents said that they do not as yet have an estimate of what a full renovation of the bridge will cost. "We need to get a couple of roofers to come out and give estimates," Free said.
But the repairs will likely not be cheap. "We are going to have to get a lot of donations," Free said.
And their efforts were complicated last Thursday night, when an unidentified driver leaving the development hit the bridge, knocking out some railings and taking down three 4" x "4 support posts. The residents have made a list of the lumber needed to repair it and think it may cost $1,000-1,500, according to Free.
The group is just now beginning fundraising efforts and has not yet collected any money. They expect that most of the money will come from the people in or near the neighborhood, "But we'll take all the donations we can get," Free said.
Some of the residents expressed the feeling that the bridge has value for – and could attract support from – other people in McCalla because of the unique feel it adds to the area.
Elam said that the bridge could be an additional amenity for visitors, especially since it is only about two miles away from Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park, a popular tourist destination that celebrates the area's rural past and pioneer heritage.
"If it's this close to Tannehill Park, and they say they have over 500,000 people a year visiting that park, they come right by here," Elam said, pointing toward Eastern Valley Road.
The Sadler Plantation House, built in about 1817 and located near the park, also attracts lots of visitors, according to Elam. "(The bridge) just sort of gives a rustic landmark to go along with all that."
The bridge regularly draws visitors of its own, including a lot of people who like to stop and take photos of the bridge, according to several residents.
"People always come here and take pictures," resident Jan Gill said. "They take graduation pictures, engagement pictures."
And her family gets into the act, too, Gill said. "We bring our get-ups down here, whether it's Christmas or pumpkins or whatever," she said. "We'll come down and make fall pictures, spring pictures, stuff like that. We are very much in love with the bridge."
And Gill believes that it is not just people in the Estates who feel that way, "It is used by more people than just us," she said.
People are always stopping by the bridge, according to resident Margie Bragg, who has lived in the Estates for 24 years. "I think it means a lot to the area and to the neighbors, especially those who have been here as long as we have," she said. "My kids grew up here and they loved coming down (to the bridge)."
"I like these old bridges," resident Wayne Terry said. "I just like the looks of them, and it's real neat."
This will not be the first time the bridge has needed repairs, according to Free, who said the first major renovation occurred in 2004 after the bridge was given to the Estates by Walter Russell, an area resident and large landowner whose family built the bridge.
About 80 people from the development donated about $7,000, of which $3,000 was used for bridge repairs and the rest for paving a short stretch of road between the bridge and the entrance to the subdivision, according to Free.
The repairs were necessary because some decaying boards in the bridge deck had caused Jefferson County to condemn the bridge. After the repairs were done, the county traffic engineer allowed the bridge to reopened in early 2005.
The residents want to keep their bridge because it has become part of their lives and because it has been a feature of the landscape since before the development – which is about 30 years old – was even built.
"For (visitors) who have never been down here before, this is our guide for getting into our neighborhood," resident Johnny White said.
It's a landmark," Free said. "It means a lot to me. That's why I've taken care of it for 10 or 11 years."
"It's just for everybody in the neighborhood, and I think it needs to be saved," Wayne Thornton said. "It's a true landmark. I can't believe we let it get like this. We'll make us a list of what needs to be done."
Elam is also doing research about the possibility of applying for official historic status for the bridge, at least with the state of Alabama. The bridge has a page at the web site www.waymarking.com.
It is also included in a list of Alabama at www.wikipedia.org.
To get more information about the bridge, or to offer help in restoring it, contact Free at 205-477-6957 or [email protected]. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10963 | CAR Muslims feel 'abandoned' by government - Al Jazeera English Created with Sketch. Watch Live Now Playing
AfricaCAR Muslims feel 'abandoned' by government
Many citizens displaced by ongoing conflict say they are struggling to make ends meet during Ramadan.
21 Jul 2014 19:20 GMT | Africa
Central African Republic has been gripped by ethnic and religious violence since a coup in March 2013 [AFP]Muslims who have been displaced by conflict in the Central African Republic have accused the transitional government of abandoning them during the month of Ramadan.Muslims in the CAR capital of Bangui are fasting for the holy month of Ramadan but challenges of insecurity and lack of food in Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps have dampened the spirit of Ramadan for many."We are doing the best that we can during this Ramadan period. Many of our families have been displaced. We are here, we do the best that we can," Moussen Souleman, an internally displaced person, told Reuters news agency on Monday.Many Muslims who have been displaced by conflict say that they feel that they have been abandoned by their government because they are Muslims.Tens of thousands of Muslims have lost their homes in the conflict that began a coup in March 2013.
The community says they were struggling to fulfil their duties as Muslims during Ramadan because they had barely enough to eat and felt threatened by the continuous insecurity that has enveloped the country.
"The president has no consideration for Muslims. Even in the US, Barack Obama wished Muslims a happy Ramadan, even the militants in Israel did the same. But here, at the beginning of Ramadan, not even the president nor the government wished a happy Ramadan to Muslims, which means nobody cares for us," said Aroun, an internally displaced person.
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CAR has been gripped by ethnic and religious violence since the Muslim-led Seleka rebels, seized power in the mainly Christian nation in 2013.Seleka left power in January under international pressure and since then anti-Balaka Christian militias have preyed on Muslims.
Those attacks have largely driven Muslims from the capital Bangui, effectively partitioning the country, whose east is controlled mainly by Seleka.
During Ramadan, the ninth and holiest month in the Islamic calendar, all healthy adult Muslims are expected to refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours.There are now 2,000 French troops working alongside 6,000 African peacekeepers in the former French colony, which is rich in diamonds and gold but has seen little but internal strife and the spillover of regional conflicts since independence.Key political and religious groups have threatened to boycott peace talks scheduled to begin on Monday, July 21 in the Republic of Congo, saying their country's future should be resolved at home.Source: Agencies
RelatedThe war across the river
Crossing the Oubangi into the DRC has become the difference between life and death for refugees fleeing the CAR.
Children pay price of CAR conflict
Children playing in Bangui monastery is a rare sight of joy as hundreds of thousands have been displaced by fighting.
Africa Content on this website is for general information purposes only. Your comments
The war across the river
A life in limbo for young CAR refugees | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/10972 | Home » Magazine » 1995 » Volume 46, Issue 7 The San Patricios Most of them were American soldiers who fought with skill, discipline, and high courage against a U.S. Army that numbered Ulysses Grant in its ranks. The year was 1847.
James Callaghan November 1995 | Volume 46, Issue 7 PrintEmailO‘Reilly and the others sentenced to be flogged were tied to trees in front of the Church of San Angel. Two mule drivers with bullwhips took turns laying the fifty lashes on O’Reilly’s bare back. His flesh, said one observer, soon had “the appearance of a pounded piece of raw beef, the blood oozing from every stripe as given.” O’Reilly suffered through his flogging in grim silence, but he screamed and passed out when branded on the right cheek. An officer inspected the damage and noticed the brand had been applied upside down. The captain was brought back to consciousness, and the brand was reapplied correctly.As the mule drivers moved on to the next man, a U.S. officer found the entire scene “revolting,” and a reporter described it as “the most cruel and sanguinary scene that was probably ever enacted in a war.” Captain Davis wondered what kept these men alive: “it was a marvel to me.” Some were fitted with eight-pound iron collars; they were to be confined at hard labor and dishonorably discharged when the U.S. Army left Mexico. The U.S. surgeon at San Angel had to treat the men after their punishment. “They were lured from their duty by the magnificent promises of Santa Anna,” he wrote, “bore the brunt of his battles, were poorly paid, and finished their career in damning ignominy.” The next day, September 11, four San Patricios were hanged at Mixcoac.Mexico did not forget O’Reilly. After the war a San Patricios monument was raised; in 1960 a commemorative medal was struck. Mexico was outraged by what its papers termed “barbarities” inflicted on men “who had carried themselves with the highest courage.” But the outcry over the San Patricios was eclipsed by the renewal of the war. Charging Santa Anna with violating the truce, Scott sent his army down Molina del Key to attack Mexico City. The key to the city’s defense was the fortress at Chapultepec, and as the U.S. soldiers prepared to attack it on September 13, 1847, thirty San Patricios were brought to Mixcoac to be hanged. All of them were bound at chest, hands, and knees, and the nooses set in place. Then they waited, watching the white fortress of Chapultepec Castle two miles away.Col. William S. Harney, commanding the execution detail, pointed his sword toward the fortress and told the condemned that at the very moment the Mexican flag was replaced by the Stars and Stripes—“the flag you have dishonored”—they would die. For hours they waited in the shadow of death under the broiling sun. One soldier in the detail thought it “a gross refinement of cruelty such as we might expect to find among the Indian tribes.… The soldiers were unanimous in their expression of abhorrence and detestation at the diabolical inhumanity of the proceeding.”But Colonel Harney was in command. Clouds of gunsmoke hid the flag as the U.S. troops battled their way into the fortress. Section after section had to be taken, often in handto-hand combat, and in one of those sections a wounded Captain Murphy was captured. The U.S. soldiers decided that he was a San Patricio, and Murphy, sword in hand, was about to die gamely when a senior Mexican officer intervened, pointing out that Murphy was the son of Mexico’s minister to Britain. The U.S. soldiers apologized and pressed on with the battle.And in the end, the lives of the San Patricios at Mixcoac rested in the hands of an eiehteen-vear-old cadet named Augustín Melgar. Mexico’s West Point was housed in the fortress at Chapultepec, and Santa Anna had ordered “the boys” out before the battle. But the boys, los niños , voted to stay and fight, and their courage was epitomized by Melgar, who made his stand under his flag. Ammunition gone, he fought with his bayonet until he died. The U.S. platoon that took Melgar’s position was commanded by a West Pointer named George Pickett, and he carried an American flag in his tunic. In the next war, Lieutenant Pickett and one-quarter of the U.S. Army’s officer corps would switch sides to fight for another flag. Even Raphael Semmes, who found the San Patricios “dishonored and dishonorable men,” would follow his conscience and serve against the Stars and Stripes. So it is interesting that Pickett, whose famous charge was the high-water mark of one lost cause, raised the flag that meant death for men who had fought gallantly for another. Pickett ran up his flag: and when the guards at Chapultepec saw it, they started to cheer. “As soon as the flag was seen floating in the breeze they were launched into eternity,” an artillery man remembered. “What must have been the feelings of those men when they saw that flag—for they knew their time had come! But on the other hand, a cheer came from them which made the valley ring.”John O’Reilly and the surviving San Patricios were imprisoned at hard labor in the Citadel. A few more San Patricios turned up, but now that the war was over, the United States had little interest in them. However, the Mexican Army did have, and the Foreign Legion companies remained on the rolls. Captain McHerron wanted to retire to his Mexican lands, and the vacancy was filled in October 1847. The new commander of the San Patricio Battalion was a distinguished U.S. officer, Michael O’Sullivan, who resigned his commission to rematerialize as a full colonel in the Mexican Army a week later. « first | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11045 | How Johnnie Boden came to dress the UK's yummy mummies
By Katie Hope
Business reporter, BBC News
From the section Business
Johnnie Boden had to put his house on the line to keep the business going
"Ugly building. Nice clothes," says the sign outside mail order clothing firm Boden, provider of the unofficial uniform for so-called yummy mummies and their children across the UK.The firm's headquarters, in a concrete block on a drab London trading estate, are about as different as you can imagine to the bright prints and elegant styling of its clothing worn by the prime minister's wife Samantha Cameron and US First Lady Michelle Obama.You might have expected something more glamorous for a firm whose catalogues depict the ultimate middle England fantasia of rosy-cheeked children and smart women in fashionable (but not too fashionable) outfits.But 52-year-old founder Johnnie Boden, worth £215m according to The Sunday Times Rich List, is not a man prone to extravagance.'You are the milk in my tea'This is not the only contradiction. Image caption
Boden HQ is on a drab London trading estate
The man whose booming tones thank customers for calling if they phone out of hours, and sends them a letter saying "Johnnie" is missing them if they haven't ordered for a while, is surprisingly self-effacing in person.He says the decision to link the business so closely with himself was not because of a louder-than-life personality, but a way to differentiate Boden from rival clothing brands. "The clothing market is very saturated and you need everything you can summon to make yourself seem different." Boden, who brings his dog Sprout into work with him once a week and who charms customers with sentences such as, "You are the milk in my tea, the sauce on my chips and the dark bits in my ginger hair," is a far cry from the light-hearted image he projects.He is keen to emphasise that despite all the frivolity featured in his catalogues with models answering whimsical questions such as, "What gets your knickers in a twist?" and "What's the biggest fib you've ever told?", running Boden is a serious business. Pushed into actionJohnnie Boden benefited from an expensive education at Eton and then Oxford, but later had to make "enormous sacrifices" when he started the business.He had to put his house on the line to keep the company going, and worked round-the-clock.In fact, he wouldn't have founded it at all if it weren't for his now wife telling him he was "a failure" and needed to get his act together.
Boden is known for its bright colours and patterns
He had received an inheritance from his uncle enabling him to leave the City stock-broking job he'd spent five years loathing, but still "wasn't quite brave enough" to launch the firm and needed the extra push.To get started, he spent time with other entrepreneurs. "I demolished the fear that you had to be superman to start your own business. I realised actually that anyone can do it," he says.One-man bandIn 1991 he launched Boden, starting out with eight menswear products which he hand-drew himself for the catalogue. A year later, having realised men were not big spenders on clothes, he launched women's clothing and in 1996 childrenswear.All this time, Boden was a one-man band - doing everything from designing the clothes to taking photos for the catalogue."It was clearly pretty amateurish," he says self-deprecatingly.More than two decades on, everything is still designed and produced internally, albeit now with 1,096 staff. "If you're going to build a brand you need to control as much as you can. And you don't want too many sets of eyes," he says.
Boden's dog Sprout comes to the office once a week
He now employs a chief executive and finance director, and as managing director claims to have "stepped back in many areas", but admits his wife would disagree.He still signs off "pretty much everything", but his main focus is determining Boden's growth strategy.'Run its course'In the UK the typical household income of a Boden customer is between £60,000 and £70,000 - less wealthy, he says, than many suspect.
Johnnie Boden, pictured here with his family, is now focusing on overseas sales
The brand targets customers aged from 25 to 50, but what Boden calls the "bulls-eye" is the 35-year-old woman who typically has children, and for whom the most important thing is that the clothes are flattering."Sometimes a lot of catwalk trends, for example oversized coats, are hideous. Unless you're young and skinny it just doesn't look very nice."In 2011 Boden reported a sharp 45% drop in pre-tax profits to £17.9m, citing higher cotton prices and heavy discounting across the sector.But it also marked the first time that international sales outpaced those in the UK and the company admitted that its home market remained challenging.Boden says the brand is influenced by fashion, but does not "slavishly follow" trends. However, he admits its current strategy has "probably run its course" at home and that "the bigger and easier opportunity" is abroad.In 2012, pre-tax profits recovered, rising 36% to £24.3m, largely thanks to international sales which continued to grow.International sales now account for about 55% overall. Its biggest market is the US, where Boden was launched in 2002. Americans, Boden says, think the brand is very stylish. "So their idea of stylish is different to a European's idea of stylish."Some 1.5 million people currently wear his clothes and Boden calculates that if he started opening shops he could quadruple the number of potential customers. But he has no plans to do so, as he believes it would divert staff's focus from growing overseas sales.
Related Internet links Boden The Sunday Times Rich List 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11057 | UPI CANBERRA, Australia -- Julia Gillard made history Tuesday as Australia's first female acting prime minister.Gillard, 46, assumed her role as head of government after Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd left for Bali to attend the U.N. conference on climate change.Gillard, who as deputy prime minister also holds the portfolio of education, employment and workplace relations, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. she hoped her position would inspire young women across the country to enter the male-dominated world of politics.The ABC reported from Bali that Rudd was under increasing pressure from environmental groups to back an interim greenhouse gas reduction target of up to 40 percent for developed countries. Copyright © 2007, by United Press International. All Rights Reserved. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11058 | UPI DIBRUGARH, India -- No one had taken responsibility for a bomb that went off beneath a passenger train in India Thursday, killing five people and injuring several others.The blast occurred shortly before 1:30 a.m. in India's northeastern state of Assam, the BBC reported. The train had left Dibrugarh and was headed for the state capital of Guwahati and New Delhi, the British network said.North-East Frontier Railway spokesman Trikhal Rabha told the BBC it was fortunate the bomb exploded beneath a car that primarily held parcels and space for only a few people. Authorities investigating the attack said it appeared the explosives were planted on the railroad tracks and left a deep crater."It appears the explosive was planted on the track but we need more investigation to establish that," Assam police intelligence chief Khagen Sarmah said. None of the several insurgent groups active in Assam had claimed responsibility for the blast, the BBC said.On Monday, a Delhi-bound passenger train carrying a large number of Indian soldiers was derailed in the neighboring state of West Bengal, resulting in one death and several people injured. Sabotage had not been not ruled out in that incident. Copyright © 2007, by United Press International. All Rights Reserved. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11061 | Print Email Font ResizeCongress fuming over U.S. purchase of Russian helicopters for AfghanistanBy Karen DeYoung, The Washington PostPosted:
07/12/2013 07:47:07 PM EDTIn this picture taken on June 30, 2010, Afghan National Army soldiers board a Russian-built Mi-17 helicopter in Kabul. (Patrick FALBY/AFP/Getty Images)WASHINGTON — By the end of 2016, Afghanistan's air force is due to have 86 Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters. Most of them will have been purchased by the United States from Rosoboronexport, the same state weapons exporter that continues to arm the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.
Congress is not pleased — but has struggled to do anything about it.
The Pentagon says there is no better, cheaper helicopter than the Mi-17 to operate in Afghanistan's desert expanses and high altitudes, and that it is the aircraft the Afghans know best.
For its latest order of 30 helicopters, the Defense Department sidestepped a congressional ban imposed last year on using fiscal 2013 funds to buy anything from Rosoboronexport. Instead, the military found the money in its 2012 Afghanistan budget to finance the nearly $600 million contract.In this picture taken on June 30, 2010, an Afghan National Army soldier sits inside a Russian-built Mi-17 helicopter in Kabul. (Patrick FALBY/AFP/Getty Images)
Adding insult to perceived injury, the Pentagon said it would have gone ahead with the contract even if it had to use 2013 funds, under a waiver provision in the ban that allows it to take action it determines to be in U.S. national security interests.
"Gosh sakes, we won the vote 407 to 5," fumed Rep. James Moran, D-Va., who spearheaded the prohibition in the House. "These guys are only focused on Afghanistan, and couldn't care less what is happening in Syria." Last month, the House Appropriations Committee added a similar amendment to the 2014 defense funding bill.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex., who organized last year's unanimous Senate vote, chastised the administration for "arrogant circumvention" of bipartisan congressional will and said, "American taxpayers should not be indirectly subsidizing the murder of Syrian civilians."Advertisement
The dispute over the helicopters is only the latest political controversy involving Rosoboronexport. In 2006, the George W. Bush administration accused the company of transferring sensitive technology and weapons to Iran and eventually imposed sanctions against any U.S. purchases from the exporter.
The Obama administration lifted the sanctions in 2010 as part of its policy "reset" toward Russia, after Moscow suspended delivery of S-300 missiles to Iran — the same advanced antiaircraft system that Rosoboronexport has contracted to provide Assad — and agreed to support U.N. sanctions against Iran.
During the sanctions period, the Pentagon bought an initial tranche of Mi-17s for Afghanistan from U.S. contractors who purchased them directly from Russian manufacturers.
As the United States prepared to tender the recent contract, Russia's Defense Ministry decreed that all items destined for "military use" could be sold only through Rosoboronexport. U.S. contractors cried foul and sought congressional support when the Pentagon agreed to submit to the new rule.
Pentagon officials said the Mi-17s are the most sensible solution for Afghanistan.
"They've been using it for years," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in House testimony in April. "Easy maintenance, unsophisticated. We can get it pretty quickly. That's the one they want."
Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmakers that the purchase was a crucial component of U.S. withdrawal plans from Afghanistan. "We are trying . . . to provide them as much capability as possible so that they can in fact take responsibility for security" when U.S. combat forces leave at the end of 2014, he said.
But an audit issued two weeks ago by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction called the recent 30-helicopter contract "imprudent." It said Afghanistan's rudimentary air force was incapable of operating and maintaining the aircraft without significant U.S. military support and called for the contract to be suspended pending further planning.
Lawmakers have also objected to Russian maintenance training and spare-parts programs for the helicopters in Afghanistan, an arrangement worked out by NATO as part of its efforts to foster closer Russian cooperation with the alliance.
Dempsey said that disagreement with Russia over Syria did not mean there could not be collaboration elsewhere. "It's easy to point out the friction points among nations, whether it's Russia or China," he said, "but there's also plenty of places where we have common interests, and Afghanistan just happens to be one of those with Russia."
Moran questioned what he called "at best, a mixed signal we're sending to the Russians. We really don't want them selling arms to Syria, but we're going to keep buying arms from them anyway," he said. "We ought to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. . . . It doesn't seem to be asking too much to have a coordinated policy here."Print Email Font ResizeReturn to Top RELATED Welcome to your discussion forum: Click the login link below to sign in with or to set up a Disqus account or to access your social networking account. When you do, your comment should be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (What are the guidelines?.) Report abuse by flagging a comment (mouse over the comment). Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Berkshire Eagle. So keep it civil.
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11120 | Group presses for rail trail from Needham Heights to Newton Backers differ on rail-trail strategy - The Boston Globe
Rail-trail supporters divided over strategy
By Jennifer Fenn Lefferts
Globe Correspondent October 28, 2012
Supporters of a proposed rail trail that would run between Needham Heights and Newton are trying to jump-start the project after it was put on the back burner by the Needham Board of Selectmen.But some town officials worry the group’s efforts could slow the momentum of another recreational path on an inactive rail corridor, this one running south from Needham Junction.
The Friends of the Needham Rail Trail Greenway formed this summer after town officials decided to focus on the 1.9-mile link between Needham Junction and Dover as part of the Bay Colony Rail Trail project. Tom Connors, who formed the new group, doesn’t want the town to give up on the 1.13-mile path that would stretch to the northeast from Needham Heights, crossing Webster and Gould streets, Route 128 and the Charles River, into Newton.He led a petition drive that placed an article on
Monday’s Special Town Meeting warrant that would create an advisory committee to study both proposed trails, and determine the feasibility of building them. “Our goal is to utilize all unused rail lines in Needham,’’ said Connors, a former member of the Bay Colony Rail Trail Association. “We’d like to form a committee to study the issue.’’But if the article is approved, some town officials say, it could jeopardize progress on the Bay Colony’s Needham Junction trail. Also on the warrant is a proposal to spend $35,000 in Community Preservation Act funds for an engineering study on the project. The town committee overseeing the CPA program supports the request, but its chairman said the panel would seek to withdraw it if Town Meeting approves Connors’ article.
“If Town Meeting wants to have a more extensive study, then they’ll probably want funding for that study so it would be more efficient to do it all at once,’’ said Mark Gluesing, the Community Preservation Committee’s chairman. Jerry Wasserman, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said selectmen support both rail trails, but think the Bay Colony group is ready to move forward first at Needham Junction. And that won’t happen if the advisory committee is approved, he said. “It will hold up Bay Colony and I don’t want to do that,’’ Wasserman said. The selectmen voted to recommend Town Meeting send Connors’ proposal back to the board instead of approving it. “We believe the work we’ve being doing with the Bay Colony Rail Trail is the way to go,’’ Wasserman said. Wasserman said the board also supports the Needham Heights rail trail, but wants to hold off until some other issues are resolved. For example, a bridge is needed to carry the path across Route 128/Interstate 95, but the existing span is slated to be torn down as part of the highway’s ongoing reconstruction project, Wasserman said. “There is no rush because the state isn’t going to build a bridge there any time soon,’’ Wasserman said. “We feel there is time to explore what is the best alternative. I’d love to see a rail trail and public transportation.’’
Town Manager Kate Fitzpatrick said the town just started a feasibility study with Newton that will look at transit options along the stretch in Needham Heights to connect the two communities in an effort to boost economic development. She said there has been some talk about expanding the MBTA’s Green Line through Newton and into Needham, or running an MBTA bus or shuttle line along there. Lynda Hughes, a Needham Heights resident, thinks it makes sense to look at both projects at the same time, and doesn’t understand the hesitation among town officials.
“My fear and concern is if it isn’t done as one cohesive project, it won’t get done in the future,’’ Hughes said. “It’s kind of concerning that the town isn’t looking to do a full feasibility study on the entire project.’’Tad Staley, the president of the Bay Colony association, said his group is not opposed to the Needham Heights trail, but decided the immediate focus should be on the trail that has fewer obstacles to overcome, and that has the selectmen’s support. Residents, businesses, and town officials have shown broad support for the Bay Colony group’s effort to create a recreational path on the inactive rail line that runs south from Needham Junction. The segment is part of a stretch that continues for 7 miles through Dover and into Medfield; officials in the two towns are also working on creating a recreational path along the railroad right of way. “Bay Colony looked at both as opportunities in the course of working with the town of Needham on this, and it became clear to most of us that the southern section was more straightforward with fewer complications,’’ Staley said. “The controversy is not on whether we should have one in the north, but on the timing.’’Staley said the 2-mile section from Needham Junction to the Dover line at the Charles River could be available as a recreational path within two years, at very little cost to the town. The Bay Colony association is working with an organization that would construct the path, topped with crushed stone or stone dust, in exchange for the right to salvage the steel railroad tracks it would remove. But Connors said the same company is willing to work on the trail in Needham Heights, which means it, too, could be done for little money. He also said the Route 128 road project won’t be done for several years, so the existing railroad bridge could still be used until then. He thinks there would be a bigger incentive for the state to rebuild the bridge if it is already being used for an existing rail trail.“What’s needed is for the town to explore this issue,’’ Connors said. “Let’s try to get it done now.’’To update Town Meeting members, the Friends of the Needham Rail Trail Greenway held an information meeting last week with a slide presentation about the proposed rail trails. The presentation included a look at how the town could connect the 2.75 miles between the north and south sections along Rosemary Lake and with bike lanes. Jennifer Fenn Lefferts can be reached at [email protected]. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11122 | Why income disparity in Boston isn’t a bad thing - The Boston Globe
Opinion | Edward L. Glaeser
Why income disparity in Boston isn’t a bad thing
By Edward L. Glaeser
Globe Correspondent March 24, 2012
THERE IS a deep economic division in Boston, just as there is in the country as a whole. Last week, the Boston Foundation released its annual Boston Indicators Report, which correctly reminds us that “the current configuration of the innovation economy is not working well for everyone, and, indeed, reinforces historic divides.’’ From 2006 to 2010, 15 percent of Boston families earned over $150,000 annually, while 28 percent of Boston’s children lived in poverty. But while the inequality within a city can reflect the inequality of the nation, the two issues are fundamentally different. And in Boston’s case, inequality is as much a sign of urban strength as urban weakness.
The report reminds us that Boston was once, like all of America’s older cities, a manufacturing powerhouse built around railroads and a port, and we had plenty of jobs for less educated workers. Those jobs disappeared, but Boston was able to escape the fate of Detroit because it had the educated workers who now power urban success. Per capita output in the most educated fourth of America’s metropolitan areas is $45,000, while per capita output in the least educated fourth of metropolitan areas is under $30,000. Boston’s per capita output is over $62,000. Boston’s economic comeback did not, however, produce uniform prosperity. The Boston Foundation report wisely emphasizes the suffering in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan, “where the child poverty rate is 42 percent.’’ It is a tragedy that America sentences so many of its children to lives of deprivation, and the persistence of this problem has fueled the continuing debate about how much our system of taxes and entitlements should redistribute wealth. But what inequality says about Boston is quite different. Cities attract poor people with the promise of economic opportunity, a more robust social safety net, and the ability to get around without a car. Poverty rates tend to rise near new subway stops not because subways impoverish local residents, but because poor people move near public transit. More than one half of Boston’s population was born outside Massachusetts, and over 30 percent were born outside the United States. Almost one half of Boston’s foreigners were born in Latin America, and one quarter are Asian. We should celebrate the long-standing urban edge in integrating newcomers into America. Cities are good gateways for immigrants, and immigrants are good for cities. The diversity of Boston’s immigrants is visible in the restaurants popping up in city neighborhoods, whether serving Italian or Vietnamese. Not all of Boston’s poor are upwardly mobile restaurateurs, of course. In many cases, poverty is multi-generational, and the city’s most deprived neighborhoods can feel oceans away from the region’s thriving information industries. Advertisement
Yet we will achieve little in fighting poverty in Boston if we focus on the traditional tools of taxing and redistributing. Mayor James Michael Curley tried to right old wrongs by taking on the old Brahmin establishment, but he mostly managed to get them to leave the city. Local welfare states are easily stymied by the mobility of companies and wealthy taxpayers. The poverty in Dorchester calls for more redistribution by the federal government, not local ones; leaving the country is far more difficult than leaving the city. The best way Bostonians can promote equality on the local level is to ensure that everyone has the skills needed to succeed in the information age. Only 41 percent of adult high school dropouts are currently employed, while 73 percent of college graduates are employed. Boston is a great hub for education and technology, which makes the city an ideal breeding ground for ideas that can improve the educational prospects for disadvantaged children. If the Commonwealth seriously wants to fight inequality, it should do more for education-oriented start-ups that use new technologies to teach our children - and it should spend less money subsidizing, for instance, film companies. And if we can figure out how to teach better here, Boston will also be doing its part to fight equality on a national and global level.Edward L. Glaeser, a professor of economics at Harvard University, is author of “The Triumph of the City.’’ His column appears regularly in the Globe. Get Today’s Headlines from the Globe in your inbox: Privacy Policy | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11148 | BROOKLYN TODAY Business leaders looking to close more blocks for ‘Summer Streets’ Business leaders looking to close more blocks for ‘Summer Streets’
Josephine Beckmann, district manager of Community Board 10, (pictured with her husband John), said the board will hold a hearing on an application by the Merchants of Third Avenue to expand its Summer Stroll program. Eagle photo by Paula Katinas
By Paula Katinas
Bay Ridge business leaders who sponsored a successful “Summer Stroll” on Third Avenue last year are looking to expand the event this year to include more blocks. The Merchants of Third Avenue, the group behind the “Summer Stroll on 3rd” series of evening walking events, has filed an application with the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) to host another summertime happening. Last year, the avenue was closed to vehicular traffic on four Friday nights in July and August from 82nd Street to 89th Street and pedestrians were allowed to stroll in the street to enjoy live music, poetry readings, and other forms of entertainment.
“This year, the Merchants of Third Avenue have expanded their application to include Third Avenue between 68th and 90th Streets for the following dates: July 19 and 26 and Aug. 9 and 16,” Josephine Beckmann, district manager of Community Board 10, said.
The community board’s Traffic and Transportation Committee will hold a public hearing on the application on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 7 p.m. at P.S. 102 on 211 72nd St.
The committee will make a recommendation to the full board on whether the city should approve the application. The board will then issue a recommendation to the DOT.
“We decided to go larger this year because last year proved to be such a big success,” Charles Otey, a Merchants member and one of the organizers of the “Summer Stroll” event. “We had tens of thousands of people come and enjoy our avenue.”
The Summer Stroll event would be part of “Summer Streets,” a city-wide program by DOT in which streets are closed to traffic to encourage pedestrian strolling.
Beckmann spoke about the Summer Stroll application during her district manager’s report at the Jan. 28 meeting of the community board.
In other news, Beckmann said the city is repairing stretches of the Shore Road Promenade damaged by Hurricane Sandy. She recently accompanied City Parks Commissioner Kevin Jeffrey, Councilman Vincent Gentile (D-Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights-Bensonhurst), CB 10 Parks Committee Chairman June Johnson and Community Board 11 District Manager Marnee Elias-Pavia on an inspection tour.
“Ten areas along the stretch of the seawall that sustained substantial damage will be restored. New York City Parks expects that repairs will be completed before Memorial Day,” she said.
“There were a total of 30 benches lost, large sections of rail and capstone, a large section of broken paved area; two six-foot sections of the sea wall, a portion of the Bay 8th Street stairs. Several sink holes will be back filled and repaved,” Beckmann said.
“We also discussed about the future of the sea wall and continued efforts by both Community Boards to advocate for long term funding to refurbish the entire length of the sea wall from the Verrazano Bridge to Bridge to Caesars Bay. We will remain in contact with New York City Parks regarding the progress of the repairs and updates,” she said.
Beckmann said the Parks Department has officially begun to recruit lifeguard candidates for the 2013 summer season. “Parks lifeguards playa critical role in the city's 8 beaches and 54 outdoor pools. If you know anyone who may be interested, information is available by calling 311,” she said.
January 31, 2013 - 10:00am Related Articles Take a 'Summer Stroll on 3rd’ tonight in Bay Ridge
Bay Ridge shopkeepers hoping to drum up business in the sleepy summertime will stage a second “Summer Stroll on 3rd" this Friday night. … Full Article
‘Summer Stroll' set for 3rd Ave in Bay Ridge
BAY RIDGE — “It feels like it’s all coming to a head within the next two weeks,” Bina Valenzano, chair of the “Summer Stroll on 3rd” event, told her fellow members of the Merchants of Third Avenue at a meeting on June 25. … Full Article | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11157 | Buffalo Zoo’s polar bear cub steals hearts, draws funding By Mark Sommer
, updated March 23, 2013 at 11:51 PM Tweet
State funds put Buffalo Zoo’s polar bear exhibit back on track
Kali the polar bear cub set to leave Alaska for Buffalo
Luna’s name shines brightest in competition
Luna, the Polar Bear Cub
Buffalo is infamous worldwide for its nasty winter weather.Now it has a star who wears that weather like a fur coat.The cuddly polar bear cub introduced here a month ago is stealing hearts from Buffalo to Australia and back again.The debut went international – with photos and videos of the adorable bundle of fuzz gaining attention in the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, India, Canada and Israel among other places around the globe. The New York Times, Washington Post, “The Today Show” and “Good Morning America” were among those spreading the word about “Luna,” which is what the cub is being called until a permanent name is chosen in a contest now on Facebook.That international fame for the cub is also attracting a lot of attention – as well as money – for the Buffalo Zoo, where she was born Nov. 27, one of only three polar bear cubs born in a U.S. zoo last year.But the zoo is the second home the cub has known.The morning after Luna was born, she went home with Alice Rohauer, the veterinary technician who has raised her. The cub’s mother, Anana, had become agitated shortly after giving birth to her 1½-pound cub. The mother went from den to den, and after awhile put the newborn down to pace. It was at that point that the curator and veterinarian decided to lock her out of her den and take the cub away.“Anana was a younger mom, didn’t have much practice, and it’s not uncommon, even for the bears in the wild, to not really know what to do with the cubs, and they perish,” said Rohauer, a 26-year veteran of the zoo,Rohauer was selected as the surrogate mother because she played a similar role for other zoo animals, including a baby spotted hyena last year, and before that an addax, reindeer and bighorn sheep. She also was a good candidate because she has the training to administer fluids and medication, could monitor the cub closely and call the vet at any hour.
At home in Cheektowaga
At Rohauer’s Cheektowaga home, Luna lived in a playpen with a lid on top in the living room. A heating source was used to replicate the mother’s body temperature of 98 degrees the first two weeks, after which the cub’s ability to regulate body temperature kicked in.The cub was a challenge, Rohauer said, explaining how Luna grew quickly and became playful and raced around her home.“She’d run around and chase my boyfriend around the house,” she explained. “But they are hunters. She would act like she was done playing, but if he turned his back and, say, washed his hands at the sink, she sought him out.“She looked for her chance, and then she would take a bite at his pants. We’re easy prey,” Rohauer said.Although the cub doesn’t like to be snuggled, Rohauer said she could examine her while the cub drank a milk replacer given to puppies, with taurene to help with vitamin absorption and lactates to help with bloating since polar bears are lactose-intolerant.“She lets me do anything anytime she’s eating. There’s a sweet side to her then,” Rohauer said.“She’s happy when she’s doing something she wants to do. When she gets unhappy, she’ll let you know. She’ll bite you. She doesn’t want to be snuggled,” Rohauer said.In early March though, Rohauer realized the bear cub was getting too frisky to sleep overnight in her home.Luna moved back into the zoo hospital March 10.“I’m so grateful to Alice because this has been the major commitment in her life over the last four months, and she’s done an exceptional job,” said Donna Fernandes, the zoo’s president.
Inside her 8-by-10-foot caged space last week, Luna took turns playing with a frozen water bottle near the giant dog crate she sleeps in, and a group of large dog toys that also keep her occupied. A room next door allows her to lie in a small pool of water.The cub, who now stand 31 inches tall and weighs 36 pounds, also occasionally gets to go into a small exhibit area next to the vet hospital in the mornings, which allows her to negotiate changes in topography to work on balance, and a pool where she can develop swimming skills.The cub will live in the vet hospital until a new holding center is constructed before the completion of the exhibit, which will offer a pool and caging material.Rohauer said she will appreciate other touchstones in the bear’s development as her physical involvement with Luna lessens. And she remains grateful for having personal contact with a creature that in the wild would hunt her just as it does seals and walruses.“I know she will know me as an adult, and I’ll know if she recognizes me through the bars, and I’m fine with that. I can’t wait until she’s 100 pounds, and after that to see her in her new exhibit,” Rohauer said. “That’s where I go, to the future. It’s all about what’s in the best interest of the animal. I just know I did my part for their survival, and that’s satisfaction enough.”That may be more than what the cub’s mother can experience. Anana now is in a zoo in Brookfield, Ill., and if she returns to Buffalo, she and her cub won’t recognize each other, Rohauer said.
Bringing in money
Meanwhile, all that national and international attention that Luna has brought to the Buffalo Zoo is helping with fundraising. Contributions to the campaign for the new polar bear exhibit, which began March 1, now total more than $500,000, with over 56,000 in small donations.“The response has been amazing. No one at the zoo can really remember a time when it was so great,” said Rachel Gottlieb, the zoo’s spokeswoman. “We’ve been getting large donations from as far away as California.”The funds will go toward the $4 million needed to build the $14 million Arctic Edge exhibit space that will eventually be the new home for Luna and other arctic wildlife. That could include the company of Kali, a similarly aged orphaned polar bear cub found near Point Lay, Alaska, March 12. That cub will be coming to the Buffalo Zoo later this spring, although it may eventually end up at the Saint Louis Zoo, which also is building a new polar bear exhibit expected to be completed in 2015.To make a “Polar Pledge,” go to www.buffalozoo.org or text zoo bear256512. email: [email protected]
This week Fredonia woman charged with aggravated DWI Kaleida Health to become parent of Upper Allegheny Health System Route 20 bridge to be named for Westfield soldier who died in Afghanistan Marijuana, LSD, cocaine and cash seized in Town of Chautauqua raid Higgins calls for state DOT to study taking down the Skyway Fredonia woman charged with aggravated DWI Kaleida Health to become parent of Upper Allegheny Health System Route 20 bridge to be named for Westfield soldier who died in Afghanistan Marijuana, LSD, cocaine and cash seized in Town of Chautauqua raid Connect with us | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11172 | Man shoots bus driver, takes child in Alabama
MIDLAND CITY, Ala. — Police, SWAT teams and negotiators are at a rural property where a man is believed to be holed up in a homemade bunker this morning after fatally shooting the driver of a school bus and fleeing with a 6-year-old child passenger, authorities said. The man boarded the stopped school bus in Midland City on Tuesday afternoon and shot the driver when he refused to let the child off the bus, Dale County Sheriff Wally Olsen said. The driver later died of his wounds. His identity wasn’t released. The shooter took the child, authorities said. County coroner Woodrow Hilboldt said the overnight standoff continues early today with tactical units, negotiators and other officers at the scene near a church. He said the suspect was believed to be in an underground shelter on his property. “That’s what has been described to me as an underground bunker. Someplace to get out of the way of a tornado,” Hilboldt said. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11173 | Fire today damages house in Clearfield Twp
CLEARFIELD TWP — Fire forced a contractor to flee a friend’s house that he was working on early this morning, authorities said. The man and his dog were uninjured but the two-story house at 3016 Old Route 422 East was destroyed in the fire shortly after 2 a.m. Damage to the house and contents is estimated at $120,000, according to fire officials. The home, owned by David and Vicky Jageman, is insured. The second floor of the two-story, farm-style house was made of wood and was completely hollowed out. Much of the vinyl siding on the brick structure of the bottom floor had melted. The blaze is believed to be accidental, said Chief Kevin Hesidenz of the East Butler Volunteer Fire Department. The Jagemans hired the contractor, a friend, to do renovations while they were at work. They both were working midnight shifts, Hesidenz said. “(The contractor) was putting in a bath tub, and he may have been working with the water lines,” Hesidenz said. “He told me he came out into the living room and heard a “pop” from the back room.” Moments later, he spotted flames and tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher. “But the fire was too big,” Hesidenz said. Some 30 to 35 firefighters from seven departments battled the blaze, tapping water from Worthington in Armstrong County, about six miles away, for a tanker shuttle. But the fire won out. Assisting the East Butler VFD were firefighters from Herman, Lick Hill, Chicora, Oneida Valley, Winfield and Worthington. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11175 | Portraits waste money
Recently I was watching Diane Sawyer on television news. She had a segment about the portraits of our government officals being paid for by taxpayers. Each of these paintings is costing us anywhere from $22,000 on up. She said that, in the last two years, there has been $400,000 spent on these portaits. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was questioned about his painted portrait. He gave a very arrogant laugh and stated, “Isn’t that a small-ball question?” I personally feel that an enlarged photo, framed, would be sufficient, when we’re paying for it. Vilsack’s is the kind of thinking that got this country in the financial shape it’s in. Our government officials feel that everything they want at the taxpayers’ expense is “small ball.” Well, this small ball goes from thousands to hundreds of thousands and so on. Over the past several years, the media have exposed so much waste and corruption in our government and there usually is nothing done about it. It merely is swept under the carpet. Our government sometimes is likened to a soap opera. You can go days without watching it, and when you decide to watch it again you know exactly what’s going on — because nothing has changed.
Earl F. Tirk Jr. Oakland Township Back | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11190 | The Leveson Report
What consequences, if any, will its publication have? By Alasdair Reid
Leveson: Cameron is under pressure to implement his recommendations. Credit: Getty Images
Many of last Friday’s newspapers implied that the Leveson Report had been pretty much killed stone dead the previous afternoon. They pointed out that the report – 1,987 pages produced at a cost to the tax-payer of £3.9 million – had been "in play" for not much more than an hour and a half. That was the gap between the time of its publication on Thursday afternoon and the point in Prime Minister David Cameron’s Commons statement when he rejected its main recommendation, for a new regulatory body underpinned by primary legislation.
And that, they inferred, was that. This was surely all over, bar the shouting – and, actually, there probably wasn’t going to be much in the way of shouting either.
Over the weekend, however, that analysis became less clear-cut. The Government may yet be forced on to the back foot.
Observers who’d been predicting a long and bitter political row over Leveson were basing their forecast on the assumption that the report, in one of its many scenic detours down the B-roads of recent media business history, would be critical of the Government’s handling of News Corporation’s June 2010 bid for BSkyB. Or accuse it generally of hobnobbing disreputably with media barons.
No such matter. Had the report been embarrassing in this respect, Cameron’s room for manoeuvre might have been much reduced. And yet it found no substantive fault in the manner in which Jeremy Hunt, the then Culture Secretary, dealt with regulatory issues arising from the bid.
Interestingly, though, we may not have heard the last of this – it began to emerge over the weekend that Hunt’s political opponents still believe they can keep this issue alive. Their faint hope is based on the fact that the report criticises Hunt’s special advisor, Adam Smith, for some of his actions during the bid process. Labour, it seems, may now seek to argue that this amounts to a "breach of the ministerial code" on Hunt’s part, and could refer this to the man charged with investigating such breaches, Sir Alex Allan.
Arguably, if the Opposition succeeds on this front, all sorts of things could be back in play once more.
1. From the perspective of the media world as a business sector, the most important aspect of the Leveson Report is, indeed, its exoneration of Hunt. Those disposed to paranoia have long had a visceral distrust of mergers and acquisitions activity in this marketplace – and have depicted a sleazy world of corrupt politicians in hock to greedy media barons. That boil, hopefully, has been lanced.
2. It was acknowledged by almost everyone, including the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, that it might be a rather good idea to keep Ofcom’s nose out of the newspaper business (as had been one of the report’s central recommendations). Recent weeks have been rather unkind to the Ofcom chief executive, Ed Richards, who (wholly separately) was also passed over yet again for the BBC director-general job.
3. Maria Miller had a comfortable run-out in her first high-profile set piece as the new Culture Secretary. And she has now been given a cameo role in kicking the report even deeper into the long grass. The Conservatives’ Liberal Democrat coalition partners are threatening to vote next month, alongside Labour, for a full implementation of the report’s recommendations. So Miller has been charged with persuading them of the ridiculousness of their position by drafting a dummy bill along Leveson-style lines.
4. Miller and Cameron were planning this week to instigate meetings with senior newspaper executives, with a view to exploring new forms of self-regulation for the newspaper industry.
5. It has been rumoured that ideas for new self-regulatory structures might be taken forward politically by a committee including, in addition to Conservatives, a former Labour cabinet minister and a former leader of the Liberal Democrats.
6. Meanwhile, Hacked Off, the lobby group fronted by, among others, the actor Hugh Grant, is continuing to call for full implementation of the Leveson Report. Its online petition, launched at the end of last week, had attracted more than 50,000 signatories within its first 24 hours. At the time of writing, that figure had risen to almost 130,000.
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11200 | Holiday Island
Online Reader
Sheriff speaks out, urges moving ahead with salary study
By T.S. Strickland, Carroll County News
CARROLL COUNTY -- For the first time, Carroll County Sheriff Bob Grudek has publicly urged County Judge Sam Barr to move forward with a proposed study of county salaries.
His comments came at the beginning of a Nov. 16 meeting of the Quorum Court.
"I feel that that study would be beneficial to all the county employees," Grudek told the court, "especially to the Sheriff's Office."
Grudek explained that he thought his deputies were underpaid.
"I feel that our deputies are paid somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 less than their counterparts -- being Eureka Springs, Green Forest, or Berryville," he said.
Justices of the Peace and Barr have been at an impasse over the study since July, when JPs allocated up to $20,000 for the proposal. Since then, Barr has refused to pursue the study.
Prosecuting Attorney Tony Rogers has said Barr is within his rights. Although JPs are the only ones who can allocate money for the study, Barr is the only one with the authority to actually sign the contract.
Still, JPs have publicly criticized Barr for his stance on the issue.
For his part, Barr has questioned the usefulness of the proposal, given the fact that JPs have said there will be no raises in 2013 regardless of the study's recommendations.
Beyond this, Barr has said the study would be a waste of money.
After all, the Arkansas Association of Counties already publishes a salary survey that lists the compensation of employees of every county in the state, and this document is available free of charge.
On the other hand, JPs Ronald Flake and Lamont Richie, two vocal proponents of the study, have argued JPs need more detailed information to fulfill their constitutional mandate to set salaries.
They point out that the survey makes no attempt to define the responsibilities of each listed position or to impose a uniform vocabulary on the information presented.
Thus, Richie said, it is impossible to tell if they are comparing "apples to apples."
At this month's meeting, Grudek sided with the JPs. He said he felt the study was the only way to prove that Carroll County deputies were underpaid.
"I know $20,000 is a lot of money," he said, "but it's not gonna get any cheaper to do the study, and if we wait till next year, I feel that by the time we would approve the money for it, and by the time it's done, and by the time it's implemented, you're looking at probably 2015."
The sheriff also questioned whether the county was in as dire financial condition as previously suggested by the Budget Committee.
The committee had called for 10 percent cuts county wide earlier this fall, due to increasing costs for retirement and health insurance benefits and predicted revenue losses.
"Looking at the numbers we're generating this year, and what I presented to you, I don't see where we're going to have that big of a financial crisis in our county," Grudek said. "I think the 10 percent is just too drastic of a cut."
Later in the meeting, County Assessor JoAnn Harris told JPs that next year's revenue outlook was, indeed, brightening.
Harris said property tax revenue should actually increase next year, contradicting earlier predictions.
"Twenty thousand dollars is a good investment in the employees of Carroll County," Grudek concluded, "and I think it is a small amount to pay and a small thank you and a big thank you to the people who have worked hard (for our county)."
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Well hell, you got people to do this for free. Seems they aren't really worth it.
The largest employer in the county hires hundreds of illegals. Why not follow their example. Get em for half the price.
-- Posted by Atlas Shrugged on Wed, Nov 28, 2012, at 6:27 PM
© 2016 Carroll County News | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11210 | Home » News » US Knights of Columbus resolve to promote life and marriage, defend the Pope
Washington D.C., Aug 5, 2010 / 04:55 pm (CNA).-
The Knights of Columbus closed their 128th Supreme Convention today in Washington, D.C., approving several resolutions renewing the fraternal organization's commitments to defending life from conception to natural end, protecting marriage as the union of one man and one woman, strengthening the family and defending the Holy Father.“The Knights of Columbus renew our deep and historic commitment to oppose any governmental action or policy that promotes abortion, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, euthanasia, assisted suicide, and other offenses against life,” the first approved resolution states. “We continue to speak out to our elected representatives about the need to enact legislation to oppose these practices and to protect human life in all its stages,” it adds.The Knights also emphasized that they “support programs that provide women facing crisis pregnancies with alternatives to abortion, including adoption,” and reaffirmed their “commitment to building a ‘culture of life’ by promoting policies that favor the family.” The world’s largest Catholic fraternal organization also backed their long-standing policy of not inviting to any Knights of Columbus event, persons, especially public officials or candidates for public office, who do not support the legal protection of unborn children, or who advocate the legalization of assisted suicide or euthanasia.” The ban on people who support abortion or assisted suicide also extends to the granting of awards or honorary positions within the Knights, and renting or allowing them to use facilities controlled by the organization.The argument being advanced by some in the Obama administration that freedom to worship must be protected rather than the freedom of religion was also addressed by the assembly.The Knights of Columbus recalled that “the full guarantee of religious liberty cannot be limited to ‘freedom of worship’ but must include full ‘freedom of religion,’ which necessarily encompasses the public dimension of religion, the freedom from persecution or discrimination on the basis of conscience and belief, and the fact that believers are called upon to play an active role in building the social order.” “We will never waver in our efforts to promote the Church’s understanding of religious freedom as an inherent right of all; and that we remain steadfast in our support of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which declares that every person has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and that this right includes the freedom to manifest one’s religion in teaching, practice, worship and observance,” the resolution says. During the final session, the Knights of Columbus also approved a resolution expressing “its profound gratitude to Pope Benedict XVI for his lifetime of dedicated service to Christ and his Church.“We call upon the entire Order to express our solidarity with the Holy Father through a commitment to prayer, fasting and acts of charity for the intention that God may protect him from his enemies and grant him the courage and wisdom to guide the Church in these turbulent times,” the resolution states. The Knights of Columbus “will never waver in its commitment to defend the Holy Father and assist him in his pastoral mission of bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world,” the group stressed. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11218 | Lauren Moraski
Watch: Billy Joel performs "New York State of Mind" with college freshman
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 12: Billy Joel performs at "12-12-12" a concert benefiting The Robin Hood Relief Fund to aid the victims of Hurricane Sandy presented by Clear Channel Media & Entertainment, The Madison Square Garden Company and The Weinstein Company at Madison Square Garden on December 12, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Clear Channel)
Larry Busacca
Billy Joel may not have expected this proposition during a recent Q&A session at Vanderbilt University: "I was wondering if I can play with you. I would accompany you, that is."
The question came from a student who mustered up enough courage to ask if he could join Joel for his favorite song, "New York State of Mind."
Joel didn't hesitate for more than a couple of seconds, quickly saying, "OK" before the student, Michael Pollack, took the stage and sat right down at the piano to play. The two chatted about the arrangement and soon Pollack started a very impressive piano version of the 1976 song, with Joel joining right in on vocals. Needless to say, the "Piano Man" was quite impressed. After their impromptu performance, Joel said, "That's Michael Pollack. Remember that name. Guy's got chops!...And that's how you get to be a horn player in NYC. Take a chance...I love when that happens...Michael, I think you're going to do fine."
In an interview with Vanderbilt's student newspaper, "Inside Vandy," the freshman student recalled the moment: "I walked up, we spoke about the arrangement for about 15 seconds -- he just went through what he wanted me to play -- and then from there, it was just foggy. It's hard to remember. I just started playing. I had practiced it a little bit thinking maybe I'd get the chance to go up...I kind of lost myself playing...It was probably the greatest moment of my life, up to date."
Based on the smile on Pollack's face, it may take a lot to top that moment.
The surprise performance took place at the end of January, but after a few websites picked up the story this week, the video has quickly gone viral. Joel will next be seen on the bill for this year's New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in April.
Lauren Moraski is managing editor of entertainment at CBSNews.com | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11220 | Greetings. Check out the eEdition and our Facebook Business Directory.
House honors Mississippi’s ‘Idol,’ Jasmine Murray
Dispatch Staff Report
The Mississippi House of Representatives this morning honored Columbus native Jasmine Murray, who made it to the top 13 of "American Idol." She''s the first person from Mississippi to ever make the finals of the top-rated televised talent show. With Reps. Tyrone Ellis, D-Starkville, and Esther Harrison, D-Columbus, as lead hosts, Murray appeared before the House to be praised for her accomplishments. She''s a student at the Mississippi School for the Arts in Brookhaven. Since her appearance on "American Idol," Murray has been featured on "Live with Regis and Kelly" and "The Ellen Degeneres Show." She''s been interviewed by "Extra," "Entertainment Tonight," CNN and hundreds of other media outlets. She''s also in People magazine this week. About 1,500 stories were generated about her after she left the show. Murray plans to finish high school and go to college. She also wants to continue her music career and explore different avenues of entertainment from acting to modeling. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11228 | Restructuring in Sound’s Kitsap newspapers
Sound Publishing Co.’s Kitsap newspapers have restructured to improve how the newspapers work together to better serve their communities. Regional publisher Lori Maxim said the newspapers formerly worked independently, sometimes duplicating efforts and not readily identifying reporting and marketing opportunities of interest to multiple communities. She made these regional appointments to build teamwork within the group:
Donna Etchey has been promoted to regional advertising director. She was formerly the publisher of the Bainbridge Island Review and North Kitsap Herald. This new role for Etchey will utilize her skills in building business-development teams and advertising services throughout the county.
Etchey joined Sound Publishing in 1996 at the North Kitsap Herald. She serves on the boards of the Poulsbo and Kingston Chambers of Commerce, the Downtown Bainbridge Island Association and the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association. She is a member of the North Kitsap Rotary Club. She lives in Kingston with her husband, Jeff, and has three grown children.
Richard Walker, editor of the North Kitsap Herald, takes on the additional role of regional managing editor. He will oversee the development of the editorial team and content in all publications. Walker worked as a reporter and editor for dailies and non-dailies in California, Utah, Alabama, and Washington. He transferred to the Herald in 2011 from The Journal of the San Juan Islands, a Sound Publishing newspaper in Friday Harbor. Previously, he was editor of a group of newspapers in Placer County, California. He is a U.S. Navy veteran. He and his wife, Molly, live in Poulsbo and enjoy exploring the Kitsap Peninsula.
Brian Judge is the new regional circulation manager. Judge joined Sound Publishing in 2010 as circulation manager of the Redmond Reporter, and he subsequently managed circulation for the Marysville Globe, Arlington Times, and most recently the Bellevue Reporter and Scene Magazine.
Judge grew up in the Seattle area and has a BA in media studies from The Evergreen State College. He earned an associate of arts degree from Cascadia College, where he worked as a photographer on the campus newspaper. He is a talented photographer who continues to take professional photos in his spare time.
Bryon Kempf, formerly a creative artist at the Central Kitsap Reporter, is now regional composing manager. He is a graduate of Northwest College of Art and has worked at Sound Publishing as a creative artist for 18 years. Prior to that, he was a graphic designer with ADM publications for four years, ran his own freelance design business for seven years, and was a retail department manager for the Art Institute of Seattle. He lives in Poulsbo and enjoys spending his time with his wife and 5-year old daughter.
Jodi Blackmore, formerly office manager of the North Kitsap Herald, is now regional administrative manager. She joined Sound Publishing in 2004 as administrative assistant at the Central Kitsap Reporter. She was promoted to office manager of the North Kitsap Herald and Kingston Community News in 2006. Prior to working for Sound, she was an office assistant at a dentist’s office and a retail manager, buyer and merchandiser at a clothing store.
Sound restructures Port Orchard, Bremerton newsrooms
Kitsap newspapers have published many letters opposing
Around Kitsap | Kitsap Week | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11239 | Over the past decade, property values in the 200-person village of Cheshire, Ohio, USA, plummeted. Acid rain fallout damaged cars, odors nauseated residents and thick plumes of smoke sometimes blocked the sun. When sulfurous blue clouds periodically covered the town and caused breathing difficulties for some during summer 2001, many residents became desperate. The following spring, this centuries-old village of Cheshire made a very modern proposal: residents offered to sell their town to the source of its problems, the next-door power plant, owned and operated by American Electric Power ("AEP"). Ninety families in this small southeastern Ohio River town will divide approximately $20 million and abandon their long-time homes, if they sign confidentiality agreements and waive their rights to sue the power company for any future health claims. AEP will, in turn, acquire land for their operations and simultaneously quell the voices that have been plaguing them for years. "A win-win situation for all involved", reported analysts, newspapers and some members of Cheshire's village council. Unconvinced the filmmakers embark on their own journey to Cheshire to explore the unprecedented buyout proposal's consequences. Though dominated by the presence of Ohio's largest coal-fired power plant, the filmmakers find the village to be a picturesque and thriving community. Hundred year-old trees and American flags line Main Street. Families lounge and BBQ at the new park next to the Ohio River. Others linger at the post office. But when the villagers begin to express their concerns, the deal's ramifications become all too evident. "It's like the civil war," describes one resident, "there are neighbors against neighbors, families against families, and husbands and wives against each other." While a few families are anxious to escape the power plant, others only reluctantly prepare to leave behind their community. And then there are some who just plain refuse to participate in the buyout deal. These holdouts claim that the plant's emissions do not affect them, that they are too old to part with their roots and memories, or that they do not want to be susceptible to the whim of large corporations and the majority's will. This growing group of dissenters has not yet given up on the village; the deal has not yet been finalized. From summer 2002 through the beginning of 2003, the filmmakers chronicle the buyout's developments. A feisty widow, a mellow bait shop owner, and an all-knowing postmaster are only some of the residents that share their varying viewpoints on the buyout proposal. For the out-of-towners, these villagers also paint a portrait of an American small town, a town that may be used to stockpile coal by the coming year. Through their laughter, tears, and anxiety the film raises questions about the surrendering of traditional values, the meaning of progress, and the power money has over the environment and one's health. The consequences facing Cheshire are many, but the significance of the Cheshire transaction ultimately lies in its potential to set a precedent for other communities and corporations across the country. Characters
Awards, Screening and Distribution Information
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11254 | http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/New-director-takes-over-at-Houston-National-3516829.php
New leader tries to mend fences at Houston National Cemetery
By Lindsay Wise
Updated 10:07 pm, Friday, April 27, 2012
Photo: Michael Paulsen
The new director of the Houston National Cemetery, Mat Williams, says he has no problem with prayer and will be reaching out to volunteer groups to repair strained relationships.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has appointed a new director of Houston National Cemetery to replace Arleen Ocasio, who left the post in December after becoming entangled in a lawsuit over allegations of religious censorship.
Mat S. Williams, 55, is an Army veteran and native Texan who comes to Houston from El Paso, where he oversaw burial maintenance and administrative operations at both Fort Bliss National Cemetery and Fort Bayard National Cemetery in New Mexcio. Williams' first day on the job was Monday.
"When I first drove in, I said, 'This is just a beautiful cemetery,' " Williams said. "You can tell it's well taken care of, people are taking pride, and I'm here to make sure that continues."
Williams said he has no problem with prayer at VA national cemeteries.
"Not only does it happen, it's always allowed," he said. "I've never had an issue with it. I've never had a problem with it. Families never complain. We're here to serve the veterans' families, their wishes. It's really what they want in that service. So if they want a religious service, they can have a religious service."
Williams met with members of the Texas congressional delegation in Washington this week to brief them on his new role. He also plans to reach out to volunteer groups at the cemetery to repair relationships strained by the lawsuit, which was settled in September.
Local veterans and volunteer groups had accused Ocasio and other VA officials of banning them from using religious speech - including the words Jesus and God - during services at the cemetery on Veterans Memorial Drive.
"I want to bring the community together," Williams said. "This is Houston's national cemetery. I just happen to be managing it right now."
Born in Abilene, Williams grew up in Glendale, Ariz., and earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Northern Arizona University.
After graduation in 1985, he spent six years in the Army, with assignments at Martin Army Hospital in Georgia and Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii.
Williams started his VA career as a medical supply technician in Puget Sound in Washington state in 1993. His work with the National Cemetery Administration began at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, Wash., in June 1997.
Prior to becoming director of the Fort Bliss and Fort Bayard national cemeteries in October 2010, Williams was director of Wood National Cemetery in Milwaukee, and oversaw five other historic cemeteries and soldiers' lots in southern Wisconsin.
Williams and his wife, Cindy, have three children.
[email protected] | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11261 | Archives:Behind the News
CJR on the Polks
Past coverage of today’s winners
This morning, the administrators of the Polk Awards, one of journalism’s most prestigious prizes, announced 2009’s recipients. We’ve structured this week’s News Meeting around the decision to grant a prize to the anonymous videographer and disseminators of the video of Neda Agha-Soltan’s shooting death during the summer’s post-election protests in Iran. Head on over to offer your thoughts on the pick.
Meanwhile, you can visit the Polk site for a full list of the winners. And keep reading for a selection of what CJR has published on the awardees, and to learn how a CJR writer helped bring the subject of one Polk winning series to the public eye.
New York Times reporter David Rohde won the award for foreign reporting for his five-part first-person series telling the tale of his capture and captivity by the Taliban. CJR interviewed Times editor Bill Keller on the paper’s efforts to spring Rohde. We also published a blog post pointing to unanswered questions about the Rohde episode, and asked readers for their thoughts on the Times’s decision to seek and maintain a blackout of coverage of their reporter’s kidnapping.
Bloomberg News’s Mark Pittman, Bob Ivry, Alison Fitzgerald, and Craig Torres won the award for national reporting for their work on the financial bailouts. Pittman, who died at the age of fifty-two late last year, and his reporting were the subject of voluminous coverage at CJR’s Audit desk. Start with this one-year-old Q&A, and then follow the links. Here are two Pittman remembrances from CJR, along with a eulogy that his now Polk-winning colleague Bob Ivry wrote and delivered. (And over at the Audit, Dean Starkman adds some fresh thoughts on today’s Bloomberg/Pittman win.)
The New York Times’s Alan Schwarz won in sports reporting for his series on concussions and other head injuries in the National Football League. CJR ran a Q&A with Schwarz on the subject in our January/February issue, which is available online in an extended version. Abrahm Lustgarten of ProPublica won the award for environmental reporting for his work on safety and environmental concerns surrounding a novel form of gas drilling that involves injecting chemical-laced water deep into the earth. In July 2008, we took readers behind the scenes of early collaboration between Lustgarten and two New York outlets as state government developed the regulatory framework for such extraction. And finally, CJR has a bit part in the tale that won Stars and Stripes its Polk award for military reporting. In August, Matt Mabe was invited on NPR’s On The Media to discuss a moving piece he wrote for our July/August issue on the challenges of transitioning into journalism after years in the military, and his regret in having to leave a reporting job at the Newark Star-Ledger this summer when the Army called him back for a third combat tour. (Unfortunately, the full text is no longer available online.) Mabe spoke with the program from Afghanistan, where he described the Army’s hiring of outside consultants to profile and evaluate the reporting of journalists seeking embeds, with a potential eye towards rejecting requests the consultants deemed likely to net tough coverage. A Stripes reporter heard the discussion, and decided to look into the allegation. The resulting series was recognized with a Polk today. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11268 | Trump, Icahn Vying for Atlantic City Casinos
Tuesday, 23 Feb 2010 | 12:01 PM ETThe Associated Press
Lawyers for billionaires Donald Trump and Carl Icahn are in court playing a real-life version of Monopoly over who should control some prized Atlantic City property. Arguments started Tuesday as two groups try to persuade a federal bankruptcy judge in Camden that their plan and ownership group is the right one for Trump Entertainment Resorts, which is now in bankruptcy. Trump, who does not currently own the three casinos that bear his name, has joined with the current owners and a group of bondholders. They're opposed by Icahn and Texas banker Andy Beal. Icahn and Beal say they'd eliminate the company's debt, much of which they own. Trump's lawyers say the casinos would be hurt if Icahn won because it would take the Trump name off the casinos. _____________________________________Calculators and Advice from Bankrate.com:
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11269 | Time to save the whales, again
LONDON, England (CNN) -- To a generation that has grown up with environmentalism as part of its conscience, it must seem that saving the whale was a battle that had already been won, or at least wasn't in danger of losing. But on Wednesday, Iceland announced it was going to resume commercial whaling, breaking a worldwide ban that had been in place for twenty years.The moratorium on commercial hunting of whales came into effect in 1985, by which time the whale had become as much a symbol of the green movement as a campaign itself, born in the 1970s and tied to the heroic and media-savvy endeavour of Greenpeace activists blocking harpoons in tiny dirigibles. With climate change grabbing the headlines in the press, saving the whale seems to have slipped off the agenda. But the reality is that whales have never stopped being hunted. Iceland has been skirting the ban since its inception, and has a research quota agreed with the International Whaling Commission of 200 between 2003 and 2007. With 161 already caught, next year's harvest will number 39. The other whaling nations, Norway and Japan, both have their reasons to flout the ban. Norway lodged an official reservation to the ban formed by the IWC when it came into effect and has been commercially hunting whales since 1993. Japan brings in the world's largest catch of whales under the guise of "scientific research," and in recent years those numbers have been creeping up. This year's catch is expected to reach 2,400, while Japan and Norway plan to kill 3,215 in 2008.Each country maintains that whale numbers have increased sufficiently to support the number they kill. Environmental groups however have been particularly concerned by the decision of Japan to extend its hunt to fin, sperm and humpback whales, the latter being one of the most endangered species. It's not clear that there is much of a market for the catch either. A recent poll found only 1.1 percent of Icelanders eat whale meat once a week or more, while 82.4 percent of 16 to 24-year-olds never eat it. While some of Japan's "scientific" catch ends up at restaurants as expensive delicacies, 20 percent of its 2004 stock was put into industrial freezers. Pro-whaling groups in Japan have resorted to promoting whale meat in schools, an initiative supported by the government, in a concerted effort to reach out to a new generation. The economic benefit of reviving the whaling industry in Iceland is decidedly shaky as well - Iceland makes more money from whale-watching than servicing a tiny market for whale steaks. "Why kill whales and revive a dying industry with a history of mismanagement and deception," questions Greenpeace. With the market for whale products saturated in blubber it doesn't makes sense. The reason for whaling then is more cultural and political than economic. Norway's whaling keeps northern coastal towns happy, while whaling is seen as an integral part of a traditional Japanese way of life, seen as under threat by some of the older generation. "For Iceland the issue is about the right to whale. Behind the decision is a real fear that if we allow ourselves to be dictated to by other countries about whaling, the world will tell us what we can and cannot fish. It's about safeguarding our fishing grounds," Sigrun Davidsdottir, an Icelandic novelist and economic analyst told The Guardian newspaper. The news of Iceland's return to commercial hunting has drawn condemnation by governments of anti-whaling countries. Ben Bradshaw, the UK's fisheries minister called the move "inexplicable and inexcusable" and summoned the country's ambassador to explain Iceland's decision. "By choosing to hunt endangered fin whales, the Icelandic government is drawing a line in the sand," said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director WWF's Global Species Programme. "This is the thin edge of a dangerous wedge." The commercial ban remains an important political issue and for green groups is a symbol of arguably their greatest success. "For most western governments with active animal conservation groups, being on the side of the whale is the one time they can be seen to demonstrate their green credentials," said John Vidal for The Guardian. In fact western governments' ambivalence to many green issues was highlighted by Iceland as it levelled a charge against the UK and U.S. as being interested only in conservation rather than management when it suited, and had failed to prevent rapid declines in other marine life, such as north Atlantic and North Sea cod. Undoubtedly our perception of whales as intelligent and social creatures has helped their cause, although any cynics who think that only the cute will survive should be reminded that without the ban scientists would not have had the chance to discovered the behavioural patterns of the ocean mammals that remind us of ourselves. The greatest threat to the recovering whale populations may be to come. Japan has secured a blocking minority in the IWC, with the backing of small, developing nations without much of an interest in whaling, such as Samoa and St Lucia. An attempt to pass a proposal to "normalize" whaling and shift the agenda to managing commercial hunts was only narrowly defeated in the summer. Now with Iceland operating as a full member despite not respecting any of its rules, the future looks bleak for the IWC and could be even worse for whales. It may be time to break out those bumper stickers again. Tools: Save |
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11282 | Deadly storm brings much of Washington to a halt
Boy dies, mother missing after car gets swept into Oregon creek
Travis Barrett leans back as a chunk of tree springs upward after his cut with an electric chainsaw on in Seattle. An ice storm followed heavy snow in western Washington, bringing down trees that killed one person and knocked out power for about 100,000 homes while sending cars and trucks spinning out of control. Albany, Ore., firefighters search Periwinkle Creek in Albany after a car with two adults and two children was swept into the swollen creek from a parking lot Wednesday. One child and the father were rescued within an hour of the car going in the creek. The body of the other child was found later. His mother is missing and presumed dead. Heather Wilson ran into a rough spot on an onramp to I-5 south near Exit 154A in Tukwila on Wednesday. Wilson, of Mountlake Terrace, was on her way to Auburn to work as a poker dealer in a casino when she ran into the guard rail. Though WSDOT service trucks tried to help her, she decided to wait for AAA for help. Published: January 18, 2012, 4:00 PM
SEATTLE — A monster Pacific Northwest storm coated the Seattle area in a thick layer of ice Thursday and brought much of the state to a standstill, sending hundreds of cars spinning out of control, temporarily shutting down the airport and knocking down so many trees that members of the Washington State Patrol brought chain saws to work. Oregon experienced torrential rain that swept away a car from a grocery store parking lot, killing a 1-year-old boy and leaving his mother missing and feared dead. East of Seattle, a man was killed by a falling tree. The snow, ice and heavy rains continued to wreak havoc in the region a day after the system brought a huge snowfall to parts of Washington state. The storm also raised worries that flooding could become a broader concern for days to come.
“It’s like a storm in slow motion that keeps happening again and again,” said Puget Sound Energy spokesman Roger Thompson. Freezing rain and ice pellets caused numerous accidents in the Seattle area, where drivers are mostly inexperienced with driving in snow or ice. The last widespread freezing rain in Seattle was in December 1996, said meteorologist Jeff Michalski at the National Weather Service. On the icy interstate north of Seattle, a transportation department worker responding to an accident was injured in a crash. The 36-year-old man was taken to a Seattle hospital and listed in satisfactory condition.
The National Weather Service used the Emergency Alert System to break into Thursday morning broadcasts with an ice storm warning until noon for the Seattle area and southwest Washington, a warning that was extended into the early afternoon. Among the concerns were widespread power outages and the threat that structures could collapse under the weight of ice. The state Transportation Department closed one highway because of falling trees that also took out power lines, and about 200,000 were without power in the greater Seattle area Thursday. Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire declared a state of emergency, authorizing the use of National Guard troops if necessary. Ice closed Sea-Tac Airport completely in the early morning before one runway was reopened. Lines hundreds of people long snaked around nearly every ticket counter at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, with many passengers on their cellphones as they tried furiously to rebook their flights. Readerboards showed the vast majority of flights canceled or delayed. Cabbies struggled to get people at the airport safely to their homes or hotels. Chris Van Dyk of Yellow Cab said “it’s like servicing Dante’s part of hell. It’s an ice cube, it’s just unreal.”
Van Dyk said drivers tried to get people as close as they could to their destinations, but when they entered the side streets, they kept getting stuck.
Braving the icy Queen Anne hill in Seattle, commercial truck driver Darrin Sjostrand was loading his Toyota Prius to drive his wife to the airport. He was giving himself an extra hour.
“It was supposed to warm up,” he said. “Ice is kind of the great equalizer. It doesn’t matter if you have a four-wheel drive, you’re going to slide.”
Authorities also worried about flooding in the coming days as temperatures warm up. Rain was forecast throughout the weekend.
“It’s a very dangerous situation,” with a major impact on roads, said Brad Colman, the meteorologist in charge of the weather service office in Seattle. “We’re expecting a significant impact on power.” Oregon didn’t receive the snowfall that Washington did — but got plenty of rain. Rising water from heavy rains swept a car carrying four people into an overflowing creek in Albany. Two people escaped but one child’s body was recovered and authorities said the boy’s mother was missing in the creek in the Willamette Valley community of Albany and feared dead. “The water just got high so fast,” said fire department spokeswoman Wanda Omdahl. “It’s a big tragedy.” Another Willamette Valley town, Turner, was also being threatened by floodwaters. The Marion County sheriff’s office said five rescue boats have been sent to assist residents there. To the west of Oregon’s Coast Range, residents were being evacuated in the town of Mapleton, with a population of about 900.
Near Issaquah, a person backing an all-terrain vehicle out of a shed was killed by a falling tree, King County sheriff’s Sgt. Cindi West said. Other details about the incident weren’t immediately available. Washington State University in Pullman was closed. The University of Washington also canceled Thursday classes at three campuses, including Seattle. The storm caused hundreds of roadway accidents, but no fatalities. The state Transportation Department closed Highway 18 near Issaquah because of falling trees.
“We want to make sure all the limbs that are going to come down, come down,” said DOT spokeswoman Alice Fiman in Olympia.
Karina Shagren, a spokeswoman for Gregoire, said even though an emergency declaration has been issued, the National Guard has not been called up. Shagren said that what sparked the proclamation was concern over truck drivers carrying dairy products not being able to drive more than 12 hours a day due to federal regulations. East of the Cascades, a light snow continued to fall Thursday, and drivers crept along roads slowly throughout the region. Cleanup work at the Hanford nuclear reservation was called off for the day, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory closed as well.
At a bus stop near the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard, Canadian transplant Jennifer Hastings waited for the bus to head downtown.
“I didn’t buy snow tires. This is Seattle. We were like, it doesn’t snow here,'” said Hastings, who moved here last year. Cooper reported from Albany, Ore. Associated Press writers Doug Esser, Ted Warren, Shannon Dininny, Rachel La Corte, Nigel Duara contributed to this report. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11307 | No estimate on reopening Liberty Island; statue OK by
11:27 PM, Friday, November 30 2012 | 865 views | 0 | 7 | | Parts of the brick walkway of Liberty Island that were damaged in Superstorm Sandy were shown during a tour Friday in New York. Tourists in New York will miss out for a while on one of the hallmarks of a visit to New York, seeing the Statue of Liberty up close. Though the statue itself survived Superstorm Sandy intact, damage to buildings and Liberty Island's power and heating systems means the island will remain closed for now, and authorities don't have an estimate on when it will reopen. (ASSOCIATED PRESS / Richard Drew)
NEW YORK (AP) — The Statue of Liberty survived Superstorm Sandy with every crown spike in place, but its surrounding island was so badly damaged that the National Park Service doesn’t know when the beloved tourist attraction will reopen or how much repairs will cost.A tour of Liberty Island on Friday showed broken railings, torn-up paving stones, damaged equipment and flood-wrecked buildings.The storm destroyed boilers, sewage pumps and electrical systems, said David Luchsinger, the superintendent of the Statue of Liberty and of the neighboring Ellis Island.“Our entire infrastructure on both islands, both Liberty Island and Ellis Island, was under water,” he said.Luchsinger estimated that 75 percent of Liberty Island’s 12 acres was flooded, with water as high as 8 feet. The water would have been chest-high on the plaza that visitors cross en route from the ferry to the statue itself, he said.Days after the storm, there was a controlled detonation of explosives on Ellis Island. Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst said the explosives were stored there to train bomb-sniffing dogs. They were compromised by the storm and had to be destroyed.The Oct. 29 storm came one day after the Statue of Liberty’s 126th birthday and the grand reopening of the crown — though the park was closed at the time in advance of the storm. The crown had been closed for a year for a $30 million upgrade to the monument’s fire alarms, sprinkler systems and exit routes.The rest of the statue was open during that year and had 3.7 million visitors last year, making it the 19th most visited national park in the nation.Luchsinger said Sandy did not damage any of the work completed during the renovation.“I can tell you that if you walked in there today it would look like we just reopened it,” he said. “Not one dime of it was lost.”Historical artifacts on Ellis Island also survived intact, Luchsinger said.Luchsinger evacuated ahead of the storm and returned Oct. 30, when Liberty Island was covered with mud and debris. Hundreds of National Park Service workers from as far away as California and Alaska have spent the past month cleaning the island and assessing the damage.Friday’s tour showed there is much still to be done. The main passenger dock was splintered but usable on Friday, while an auxiliary dock in back of the island was in pieces. Generators are supplying most power on the island, though one working transformer lights the statue itself.A water line several feet high marked the walls, and dried seaweed was still stuck in the chain-link fence.Luchsinger, 62, has lived on Liberty Island with his wife during his 3 1/2 years as superintendent. But no more. The storm blew the doors and windows out of the low-slung brick house, and the couple lost almost everything they owned.“I had a digital grand piano in there,” Luchsinger said. “I had a whole bunch of stuff. I had a couple of my mother’s antique Tiffany lamps. ... The water was about 4 1/2 to 5 feet.”The house and adjoining staff buildings on landfill behind the statue will probably be razed and not rebuilt, Luchsinger said.“One of the things we want to do is rebuild smartly and sustainably,” he said. “The buildings on the back side of the island are not sustainable. ... To rebuild and have them flooded out again doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. We probably won’t have anybody living on the island any more. I’m probably the last one.”
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11338 | Iraqi refugees in Kentucky charged with planning to help arm Al Qaeda Save for later
Two Iraqi refugees who came to the US in 2009 have been charged with plotting to send Stinger missiles to Al Qaeda in Iraq. By
Warren Richey, Staff writer
These undated photos provided by the U.S. Marshals Service, show Iraqis living as refugees in Bowling Green, Ky., Waad Ramadan Alwan, right, and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, left. The two men are charged with trying to send sniper rifles, Stinger missiles, and money to al-Qaeda operatives in their home country.
U.S. Marshals Service via The Courier-Journa/AP View Caption About video ads
of Two Iraqi nationals who came to the US as refugees have been arrested in Kentucky on charges that they conspired to provide money, weapons, and other support to Al Qaeda in Iraq, federal officials announced on Tuesday.Waad Ramadan Alwan and Muhamad Shareef Hammadi, both of Bowling Green, have entered not guilty pleas and are being held pending a pretrial detention hearing. They were charged in a 23-count indictment returned last week.
Mr. Alwan is accused of conspiring to kill US nationals abroad, distributing information on the manufacture and use of improvised explosive devices in Iraq, and plotting to transfer Stinger missiles to Iraq.
Mr. Hammadi is charged with attempting to provide material support to Al Qaeda in Iraq, and conspiring to transfer Stinger missiles.“Over the course of roughly eight years, Waad Ramadan Alwan allegedly supported efforts to kill US troops in Iraq, first by participating in the construction and placement of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq, and, more recently, by attempting to ship money and weapons from the United States to insurgents in Iraq,” said Todd Hinnen, acting assistant attorney general for national security.Both Alwan and Hammadi came to the US from Iraq in 2009. The FBI began investigating Alwan five months after he arrived after being granted refugee status. A year later, in August 2010, the FBI began using a confidential human source who engaged in recorded conversations with Alwan. The investigation of Hammadi began in January.Alwan admitted in recorded conversations that from 2003 to 2006 he was an insurgent who used IEDs and sniper rifles to target US forces in Iraq, according to court documents.Based on these representations, the FBI has identified two latent fingerprints belonging to Alwan on a component of an unexploded IED recovered by US forces near Bayji, Iraq, according to officials. Alwan is believed to have worked at the power plant at Bayji and lived nearby before moving to the US. He reportedly told the FBI source that he worked on the IED with an associate who had lost an eye in a premature explosion. US officials have discovered a latent fingerprint on a recovered unexploded IED that they say belongs to an individual with one eye who was detained by US forces in June 2008. Federal officials say in September 2010 Alwan expressed interest in helping the FBI’s confidential source provide support to militants in Iraq. They plotted to provide money, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, C-4 plastic explosives, and Stinger missiles to insurgents fighting US troops. Later, Alwan allegedly recruited Hammadi to help in the effort. Officials stressed that none of the money or weapons involved in the undercover operation in the US was actually provided to Al Qaeda in Iraq. Related Stories
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11339 | Independent papers get license to report Zimbabwe news Save for later
The first of five new independent newspapers could start reporting Zimbabwe news this weekend after receiving a government license. By
Ian Evans, Correspondent
Simba Rushwaya, Correspondent
June 2, 2010 Save for later
Cape Town, South Africa; and Harare, Zimbabwe — The first of Zimbabwe’s new independent newspapers could be on the streets as early as this Sunday after media groups were granted licenses last week.Sixteen months after the launch of the power-sharing government, the Zimbabwe Media Commission gave five groups permission to operate. Its action came after months of lobbying by journalists, publishing companies, and from within Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).Until last week, the MDC’s partner in government, ZANU-PF, (the party of President Robert Mugabe), had been reluctant to allow potentially hostile new publications to appear on the streets, challenging the state-supported Herald’s dominance. Pressure for the move came from South Africa's president Jacob Zuma, who is the official mediator between the two parties.
"As a party we have always advocated for media freedom and we are happy our dream has been realized especially with the help of our friends ... from South Africa," said Jameson Timba, deputy minister of Information and an MDC member. "There was a need to open the media space."
Alpha Media Holdings hopes to be the first company to hit the newsstands when its NewsDay publishes on June 6. It has been running dummy editions with a fully staffed newsroom and printing presses on hand ready for the ZMC’s decision.Planning to join that publication will be Modus Publications, Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe, Fruitlink Ventures, and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions – the only other groups to apply for licenses.The commission, which is chaired by Godfrey Majonga, a former Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corp. newsreader, gave the go-ahead last Wednesday, but analysts believe the decision was taken high up in the ZANU-PF hierarchy, and possibly by President Mugabe.“I’m sure they [MDC] played a part, but the decision would have come from ZANU-PF," says Zoe Titus, regional programs manager at the Media Institute of Southern Africa. "The decision to bring in draconian media laws in the early 2000s was brought in by them and was probably made in the president’s office.... Zimbabwe is under intense scrutiny at the moment and its democratic credentials are under the microscope, so this was a factor.”Fewer people get information from newspapersBut, she says, the decision did not go far enough.With daily papers costing $1 and Sundays $2, Ms. Titus said a decreasing number of people can afford to get their information from newspapers.“While the world celebrates we should remember that there has been no change in the broadcast sector, which is strictly state-owned and controlled," she says. "Newspapers serve their function, but many people get their information from television and radio and those areas have not been opened up, although we are optimistic they will.”The five organizations plan to publish five newspapers – four dailies and the unions’ weekly – that could create as many as 500 jobs. Journalists will automatically be accredited once they are employed by the newspapers. No reporter at any of the approved publications has so far been refused documentation.Continued constraints on journalists Journalists will still be subject to strict legislation, such as the Access to Information Protection and Privacy Act 2002 (AIPPA), engineered by one-time Mugabe ZANU-PF loyalist Jonathan Moyo. Journalists blame him – a former information minister – for bringing in draconian legislation such as AIPPA and the 2002 Public Order and Security Act. Among AIPPA’s provisions is the requirement that reporters wait 90 days for government information, while POSA gives police sweeping powers to ban meetings and marches and arrest reporters who attend them.The restrictions, plus criminal defamation laws, resulted in the closure of many media outlets, including the independent Daily News, in 2003. That newspaper is now to be resurrected.Seasoned media watchers say reporters will still need to tread carefully.“The move to give other organizations the right to publish other than state organs is a welcome move, because most of the journalists on the streets and those abroad will get jobs," says Barnabas Thodhlana, a former associate editor of the Daily News on Sunday as well as the founding editor of NewsDay.But he adds, “the same actors who banned The Daily News are still in government and will do anything to make sure journalists don’t exercise their watchdog status on the government. There is need for extreme professional conduct on the part of journalists. They need to check and check again their facts to avoid publishing falsehoods."Harare media consultant Jealousy Mawarire says that "progressive forces" in government influenced the licensing decision. "But to a larger extent it is the realization by ZANU-PF that the media no longer reach the general populace and have no influence on politics," he argues. "If you look at broadcasting, for example, only 43 percent of the country can access the television and radio stations in operation.“ZANU-PF is very aware that the economy can’t sustain so many newspapers on the market because of the under-performing economy. Many of these newspapers will close down due to viability problems," he adds. "We have few advertisers who can match the arrival of so many players.”Zimbabwe Journalists for Human Rights chairman Pedzisai Ruhanya agrees. “I think the inclusive government responded to the pressure of reforming the media," he says. "They had to be seen to be doing something about it because it is one of the items in their GPA [Global Political Agreement]. The other thing is that there is a high possibility that elections will be held next year and this is part of leveling the playing field ahead of the polls. The next election should be credible and this is part of trying to live to the international standards.”But companies are nonetheless positive about the future. ALPHA Media chief executive officer Raphael Khumalo. whose stable has The Zimbabwe Independent and The Standard, says they are ready. "Obviously these are exciting developments," he says. "What we have been waiting to do in two years we are now able to immediately. It will be our wish that we will be able to report on issues that affect Zimbabweans in the townships and in the rural areas.” Related:
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11353 | Print Email Font ResizeAnniversariesHickenlooper's speech touches on issues from guns to civil unionsBy Tim HooverThe Denver PostPosted:
01/11/2013 08:17:32 AM MSTGov. John Hickenlooper shakes hands with Senate Minority Leader Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, as he arrives in the House chamber before his State of the State speech Thursday. In his third address before a packed audience at the Capitol, the governor broached the contentious issue of gun control by suggesting a debate over universal background checks for all gun purchases. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)In what was his most substantive and wide-ranging State of the State address ever, Gov. John Hickenlooper on Thursday took on the issues of gun control, Medicaid, tuition for illegal immigrants, child welfare and constitutional reform, among other topics.The Democratic governor even found room to praise the Denver Broncos in his third such address to the legislature, which lasted nearly 42 minutes.Hickenlooper called for a moment of silence in the House chamber to remember those who died in Colorado wildfires and in the Aurora shooting massacre. The mayor, police chief and fire chief of Aurora were present for the governor's annual address.As he has done in previous speeches, Hickenlooper tried to radiate a level of optimism in his address.
Photos: Gov. John Hickenlooper
View more photos from Gov. Hickenlooper's State of the State address on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013.
"Speaking of faith and recovery, the inspirational renewal of the Denver Broncos parallels our state's economic rebound," the governor said. "After a historic recession and several challenging years, our economy is back."Republicans disputed that assessment later.House Minority Leader Mark Waller, R-Colorado Springs, noted the state still has a 7.7 percent rate of unemployment. "That's not a signal to me that our economy is back," Waller said. "We need to get that unemployment rate down under 4 percent in order for us to truly say the economy is back."Advertisement
The governor received a standing ovation, at least among Democrats, when he called for background checks on all gun sales. Currently, people who purchase guns from individuals are not required to undergo background checks. But Republicans did applaud Hickenlooper when he called for strengthening the state's mental-health system in hopes of catching would-be assailants sooner."Surely, Second Amendment advocates and gun-control supporters can find common ground in support of this proposition: Let's examine our laws and make the changes needed to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people," Hickenlooper said. "It's not enough to prevent dangerous people from getting weapons. We have to do a better job of identifying and helping people who are a threat to themselves and others."The governor also called on lawmakers to: • Pass legislation allowing civil unions for same-sex couples. • Reform the state's enterprise-zone laws, which give tax incentives to businesses. • "Find an equitable and fair way for undocumented kids" to attend college in Colorado. • Help reform the state's child-welfare system, whose failings were outlined in The Denver Post/9News investigative project "Failed to Death." • Pass oil and gas regulations that are "fair, rational and based on science."Hickenlooper brought up the issue of constitutional reform, saying the state is on an "unsustainable fiscal course" with conflicting amendments that restrain the budget while simultaneously requiring greater spending. Any rewrite of the state funding formula for schools should take this into account, he said.The governor also called on lawmakers to work together on expanding Medicaid eligibility, a move that he said could be done in tandem with cost savings. Republicans, now in the minority in both chambers, adamantly oppose the expansion.Gov. John Hickenlooper. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)Senate Minority Leader Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, said the governor's plea for constitutional reform seemed a disconnect with his desire to expand Medicaid. "We have a real serious conflict between the governor who says we are on an unsustainable fiscal course and in the same speech he's talking about expanding the largest-growing unfunded program in the state with Medicaid expansion," Cadman said. "How do we tie our wagon to a train that's definitely going to crash?"The governor also called for cooperation on crafting a framework of regulations for the limited sale and possession of marijuana, which voters legalized in November. "We are determined to implement this new law in a way that promotes the health and safety of all Coloradans," he said.And the Democratic governor dismissed suggestions that he'd had a honeymoon for his first two years, when a divided legislature kept many controversial issues from ever coming to his desk."They say I got lucky — but I don't see it that way," Hickenlooper said. "Our blessing was not divided government in the last two years; our blessing was in the many relationships we formed with lawmakers from both parties — and that you have with each other." The former brewpub owner concluded, "These relationships endure. They span the geography of our state, and they transcend political affiliation. And they've been nourished by our working together — helped along every once in a while by a cold Colorado beer."The governor made no mention of repealing the death penalty, an issue some Democrats are talking about. Hickenlooper has said previously he is still struggling with the issue.Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626, [email protected] or twitter.com/timhoover | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11355 | Print Email Font ResizeSam's Club revealed as anchor at Longmont's redeveloped mallBy Tony Kindelspire Longmont Times-CallPosted:
Longmont has confirmed that Sam s Club, which also has a location in Loveland, is the membership club warehouse anchor that has signed on to be part of Village at the Peaks.
For the Times-Call
)LONGMONT -- The city of Longmont has confirmed that Sam's Club is the "membership club warehouse" anchor at Village at the Peaks, the name for the redeveloped Twin Peaks Mall. Longmont economic development director Brad Power confirmed the identity of the retailer Wednesday morning, which the mall's owner, NewMark Merrill Mountain States, had previously declined to disclose. "Everything that comes in our door ... is subject to public inquiry," Power said. "We decided as a team that if we were ever asked a direct question as to who that anchor retailer was, we would reveal it." Allen Ginsborg, managing director and principal of NewMark Merrill Mountain States, had said Tuesday that his company had signed an agreement with Sam's that left it up to the retailer to decide when its name became public, which is why he had not disclosed the name. (.)Now, all three of Village at the Peaks' main anchor tenants are known: Knoxville, Tenn.-based Regal Entertainment Group, which currently runs the United Artists theater in the mall, will be the operator of a new 12-screen movie theater; Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market will be the natural grocer that Ginsborg has said was high on Longmont residents' wish list, second only behind a new movie theater; and Bentonville, Ark.-based Sam's Club will be the operators of a 100,000-square-foot membership club warehouse store. "It's all good news, right?" Ginsborg said Wednesday. "We've got a project that's real and we've got some of the best retailers in the world as part of it." He added that just as Longmont residents expressed a strong desire for a new movie theater and a natural grocer, a membership-style retailer such as Sam's Club or Costco also figured high on people's wish lists. "When we pursue tenants we pursue everybody in the category," Ginsborg said. "We may have preferences and we may have opinions, but at the end of the day the marketplace decides who locates at our site." Sam's Club originally had been announced years ago as a neighboring tenant to Longmont's second Walmart Supercenter, which was built in 2010 southeast of Colo. Highway 119 and County Line Road. At the time the Supercenter opened, parent company Wal-Mart said it was still planning to build the Sam's Club, but in a "future phase." But the city's development services manager, Joni Marsh, said Wednesday that the company's application on the southeast side of the city had expired, and she believed that parcel of land had been put up for sale. Sam's Clubs are in more than 600 locations and claim 47 million members in the United States and Puerto Rico, according to information posted on the company's website. The site also said each store averages 175 employees. The city is partnering on the $80 million mall redevelopment by contributing up to $27.5 million to the project that will repaid using tax increment financing. The redevelopment agreement required the developer to secure a "large-format general merchandise retailer" -- Sam's Club -- that will occupy at least 100,000 square feet and is projected to generate at least $400 of taxable sales per square foot; a stadium-style movie theater -- Regal -- projected to generate at least $35 of taxable sales per square foot; and a natural grocer -- Whole Foods -- that will occupy at least 28,000 square feet and is projected to generate at least $540 of taxable sales per square foot. The agreement calls for deconstruction of the existing mall and construction of Village at the Peaks to be under way by the end of this year, with 75 percent of the new center built and open for business by the holiday season in 2014. Tony Kindelspire can be reached at 303-684-5291 or at [email protected] Email Font ResizeReturn to Top RELATED | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11362 | Former Lloyd town supervisor Harold Berean Jr. remembered for his generosity
HIGHLAND, N.Y.� -- Former town of Lloyd Supervisor Harold Berean Jr. died Thursday at the age of 70 and was being remembered Monday by those he worked with as a generous man who gave selflessly to his community.
"He was a gentleman who really had the welfare of the town at heart," said Town Clerk Rosaria Peplow. "He worked very diligently, not only in government but also in the community.
Berean served two terms as the Lloyd town supervisor, first from 1994 through 1997 and later from 2000 through 2001. Before that, he was a town of Lloyd councilman from 1970 through 1974.
Berean, a lifelong Highland resident, was the second-generation owner of Berean Press Inc., spending close to five decades in the commercial printing business.
He was recently employed at All American Ford in Kingston.
Current Lloyd Town Supervisor Paul Hansut said he knew Berean all his life and said he will be greatly missed.
"He always had time for youth sports and was an umpire in District 16 Little League," Hansut said. "He was a very active member of our community. There wasn't a charity around that he didn't help."
Hansut added that Berean always demonstrated integrity as a public servant.
"When he was supervisor and councilman, he didn't let politics determine his decisions. He was concerned with doing the right thing," Hansut said.
Peplow said she knew him for almost 30 years and their children went to school together.
"I was very lucky to have been town clerk while he served as supervisor," she said.
Berean is survived by his wife, Patricia, three children and six grandchildren.
The Torsone Funeral Home in Highland is handling arrangements.
Calling hours were Monday.
The funeral is today at 10 a.m. at St. Augustine Church in Highland, with burial to follow at St. Peter's Cemetery in Poughkeepsie. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11368 | 'We are more than the worst thing that's ever happened to us': Paul Simon and Edie Brickell's singer daughter speaks out following her parents' arrest over shoving match
Paul Simon, 72, and Edie Brickell, 48, were charged following dispute at their home in New Canaan, Connecticut on Saturday at 8.20pmBoth appeared in Norwalk Court on Monday smiling and holding handsSimon told the court the spat with his wife was 'atypical' and they were leaving court together to watch their son's baseball game Ms Brickell told the judge: 'He's no threat to me at all'The couple's lawyer Allan Cramer told MailOnline: 'I don't think he started the shoving'Mr Cramer added that the fight escalated because 'Edie is from Texas and Paul is from Queens'Late night host David Letterman last year told Edie: 'I remember you as someone who liked whiskey.' She replied: 'I like it all!'Simon married third wife Edie in 1992; the couple have three childrenBy
Sara Nathan
The daughter of Paul Simon and Edie Brickell has spoken out following the domestic dispute that saw her parents hauled into court - insisting: 'We are more than the worst thing that's ever happened to us'.Lulu Simon, 19, a talented singer/songwriter, was not at her parents estate in New Cannan, Connecticut, at the time of the row - which Edie claims is only the fourth in her 22-year marriage to Paul.However, her grandmother, Larry Linden - who at 71 is a year younger than her 72-year-old father - was on the scene and dialed 911.Lulu's tweet gives an insight into the turmoil behind Paul and Edie's show of marital unity after their arrest as they turned up to court holding hands - calling the fight 'atypical' and claiming they had no fear of each other.Scroll down for video Singer: Lulu Simon is following in the footsteps of her famous parents and is a singer/songwriter
Speaking out: Lulu Simon, daughter of Paul Simon and Edie Brickell, tweets following their dispute
Kids: Paul Simon with his children, Lulu, now 19, Gabe, now 16, and Adrian, now 21, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music 2008 Spring Gala
It is also at odds with a message that Lulu - the spitting image of her mom - re-tweeted a message from comedian Demetri Martin, which read: 'My favorite thing of all time is exaggeration'.While her older brother Adrian, 21, a musician, tweeted 'Everything AOK'.Their younger brother Gabe yesterday celebrated his 16th birthday - and following their court appearance his parents said they planned to watch his ball game.Paul and Edie appeared before a Norwalk, Connecticut, judge on Monday on charges of disorderly conduct.Folk
singer Edie, who has been married to Simon for 22 years, confessed that she had started the fight and that any rift was now healed.‘I got my feelings hurt and I picked a fight with my husband. The police called it disorderly. Thank God it's orderly now,’ she said in a statement.Last year, when she appeared on David Letterman's late night show, the host said: 'I remember you as someone who liked whiskey,' to which Edie replied: 'I like it all!'Edie had a turbulent childhood in Texas. Her parents split up when she was three and her mother Larry worked long hours as a receptionist to try to pay the rent.
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Two of Edie's siblings were put up for adoption, as she once admitted: 'My mom just couldn't take care of them', and the What I Am singer recalled moving constantly and being shunted into day care.This, she said, turned her into a 'loner', adding: 'I suffered from unbearable shyness...nobody ever knew me.'However, she found fame with her band the New Bohemians, and married Paul in an intimate ceremony at his estate on Montauk, Long Island, on May 30, 1992. The couple met when Edie was performing on Saturday Night Live on November 5, 1988. She noticed Paul standing in front of the cameraman and reminisced: 'Even though I'd performed the song hundreds of times in clubs, he made me forget how the song went when I looked at him.'We can show the kids the tape and say, 'Look, that's when we first laid eyes on each other.'Her mother Larry has made it clear that she's extremely fond of her son-in-law, saying after their marriage: 'It's a very, very wonderful thing, because he's made her so happy.'In 2009, she said the couple were far from starry, telling her local ABC station: 'They are at home with their kids, Paul coaches baseball..they're so low-key and private.'In fact, she said at the end of the Little League season, the coaches signed baseballs for the kids, adding: 'For the kids, it's just Gabe's dad. One of the other coaches, he said 'you might want to hold on to that!' 911: Larry Linden, the mother of singer Edie Brickell, is said to have called the police after witnessing a row between her daughter and husband Paul Simon on Saturday night
Singer Paul Simon, left, holds hands with his wife Edie Brickell at a hearing in Norwalk Superior Court on Monday. The couple were arrested Saturday on disorderly conduct charges by officers investigating a family dispute at their home in New CanaanWhen contacted today, a friend told MailOnline that Larry did not want to comment over the recent dispute.Paul and Edie arrived at court smiling and holding hands, before sitting next to each other for the arraignment.Paul said the dispute with wife was 'atypical', adding: 'Neither of us have any fear.'While Edie, who is significantly taller than her husband, told the judge: 'He's no threat to me at all.'Sources told the New York Post that the couple have been 'under stress' because of their busy work schedule.Edie is rehearsing the Broadway musical Bright Star with Steve Martin and Paul recently returned from a tour with Sting.The
couple were represented in court by leading entertainment and property lawyer, Allan Cramer, whose clients also include Rolling Stone Keith Richards.He told MailOnline
that police initially received a call from a man, believed to have been Paul, who hung up. Cramer said Larry who was visiting the
couple, then called the police. Paul Simon and wife Edie Brickell hold hands as they enter court in Connecticut today after both being charged with disorderly conduct following a domestic dispute at the weekend
'Edie and Paul had gone to a cottage on the property where one of the kids lives and he wasn't there,' the lawyer said. The dispute took place in a cottage in the grounds and was partly witnessed by Edie's mother, Mr Cramer elaborated. None of the children were present.Mr Cramer said: 'They love each other. On a scale of one to ten, this was a one, it was nothing. They had an argument over a couple of minor things, very minor, the kind of things that husbands and wives argue over. ' Asked if either partner was violent, Mr Cramer said the fight involved 'a slight push'. 'The row escalated', Mr Cramer told MailOnline because: 'Edie Brickell is from Texas. She likes to have things direct. Paul is from Queens. She wanted to talk it out. Paul didn't want to have a discussion and he tried to leave (the cottage) and Edie blocked the door.'Asked if Edie then pushed his wife, he said: 'I don't think he started the shoving. I believe the mother was there and made a call. 'Paul wanted to leave and Edie didn't want him to leave. She wanted to talk. He didn't want to talk. He wanted to exit. She was blocking the door. ' Singer Paul Simon and his wife Edie Brickell leave Norwalk Superior Court after the hearing on Monday. The couple said they were going to watch their son Gabe's baseball game afterwards - it was his 16th birthday
The couple appeared in court together on Monday where they said they had 'no fear' of each other and later planned to attend their son's baseball game
Mr Cramer said that after police served each of them with a summons, Paul agreed to leave the estate for the night.'They called me early morning to ask me to help,' added the lawyer, who said he is a family friend.The couple have agreed to meet a psychologist whom the judge has appointed as a mediator.
She will report back to the court on May 16. Under this arrangement, neither of them will have to plead to the disorderly conduct charges.The
pair reportedly declined an invitation to leave the modern courthouse through a back entrance and walked out of the front doors, where a black
chauffeured SUV picked them up. 'Edie
and I are fine,' Paul said, as camera crews shouted questions. They planned to have lunch together, he said, before they drove off sitting side by side. Simon, 72, follows his 48-year-old wife into court following their Saturday evening bust-up which was described by their attorney as '1 on a scale of 1-10'
Mr Cramer told MailOnline that they plan to spend tonight under the same roof. He added that they regretted involving police.The attorney said: 'They did not understand that under Connecticut law, the police had to take action. They thought they'd just come by and calm things.'Edie said to me, "We've been married 22 years and we've only had four arguments." They're lovely people. The marriage is fine.'
Paul Simon and Edie Brickell, pictured in 2002, have both been arrested in Connecticut on domestic abuse charges
Musical couple Paul Simon (pictured left) and his wife Edie Brickell (right) were arrested at their home in the wealthy enclave of New Canaan, Connecticut on Saturday night Investigating officers gathered information and found probable cause to arrest the couple, according to a
police statement given to MailOnline today. Authorities
refused to reveal the address at which the couple were arrested. Mr Simon and Ms Brickell were released on a Promise to Appear in Norwalk Superior Court today.The mediator appointed to decide on the couples fate was identified to Mail Online as Denise Callahan. A member of one of Connecticut's most influential legal families, her father, Robert Callahan, served as the state's chief justice. According to her official biography, she specializes in family relations counseling.The
couple and their three children have lived in the picturesque and exclusive town of New Canaan for many years. Other celebrity residents include Harry Connick Jr. and Brian Williams. Paul, who is worth an estimated $45million, is one half of the legendary folk duo Simon & Garfunkel. He has won 12 Grammys for his songs including The Boxer, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Still Crazy After All These Years and Graceland.
Paul Simon and his wife Edie were arrested at their lavish home in New Canaan, Connecticut on Saturday evening
In 2003, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for his work as part of Simon And Garfunkel. He is a member of The Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.Edie is known is her own right as a folk singer. Her 1988 album Shooting
Rubberbands at the Stars, the debut album by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, went to No. 4 on the Billboard 200 charts. Paul has been married three times, first to Peggy Harper in 1969. They had a son, Harper Simon, in 1972 and divorced in 1975.He went on to marry actress and writer Carrie Fisher in 1983, whom he proposed to after a New York Yankees game. The couple's marriage ended the following year but they got back together after divorcing before splitting up several years later. Share or comment on this article
'Not every angle is your best angle and that's OK': Fitness fanatic's before and after pictures of her... | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11373 | James Lee "Jim" Brazel
James Lee "Jim" Brazel, age 68, went to be with the Lord on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010. Jim was born on May 4, 1941, in Cape Girardeau, to parents Pete and Ella Brazel. Jim was a member of Dexter High School class of 59 and earned a degree in business administration from Southeast Missouri University. Jim served his country in the United States Air Force, and he retired from Brooks AFB Department of Human Resources Laboratory in 1997. Jim was a 40-year-member of the Master Masons, Blue Bonnet Lodge. He was also a lifelong Methodist and a member of the University United Methodist Church for 16 years. Jim actively served in the church as a volunteer with Vacation Bible School and the Prayer Ministry and was active in Believers Sunday School Class and the Emmaus Community. Jim was active in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and was scoutmaster of Troop 288 for many years and a member of The Order of the Arrow. Jim was a member of The Next Level men's bible study at Oak Hills Church and a member of the Bamboo Club. He loved being outdoors and was an avid vegetable gardener and a lover of dogs. Jim never met a person or a dog he didn't like. It brought him great pleasure to create crosses and fish from horseshoe nails and give them away. On May 17, 2009 Jim received a lung transplant and the family would like to thank the medical teams at University Hospital and CTRC for their loving care. Jim was a loving husband, devoted father and grandfather. He was preceded in death by his parents and his infant brother. Jim is survived by his wife of 47 years, Linda K. Brazel; son, Chris Brazel of Northport, Ala. and son, Craig Brazel and his wife Yvonne and grandchildren, Etta and Jati, all of St. Louis; sister, Reba Ward of Bell City; brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Charles and Pam Kruse of Dexter. A memorial service was held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010, at University United Methodist Church in San Antonio, Texas.
Memorial contributions may be made to University United Methodist Church, Texas Organ Sharing Alliance or a charity of your choice.
Arrangements were with Porter Loring Mortuary North, 2102 North Loop 1604 East, San Antonio, Texas 78232. (210) 495-8221. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11382 | Defense Secretary Panetta Discusses Tough Negotiations over Lockheed F-35 Fighters
Shane McGlaun (Blog) - September 28, 2012 9:05 AM
79 comment(s) - last by rommelrommel.. on Oct 2 at 5:06 AM
No contract after nearly a year of negotiations
Negotiations between the U.S. government and Lockheed Martin over the $400 billion F-35 Lightning II program have been tense. Defense News reports that one deputy program manager said that the relationship between the Department of Defense and Lockheed is "the worst I have ever seen." After that comment was made, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta stated, "I don't know that I would portray it in those terms. These are difficult negotiations, as they always are when you're dealing with the amount of money and the complexity that's involved with the Joint Strike Fighter."
Defense News reports that last week Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter put his support behind comments made by Air Force Major General Christopher Bogdan. Bogdan had harsh words for Lockheed Martin’s failure to sign a contract with the Pentagon for 32 F-35 fighters after almost a year of negotiations.
However, Panetta does not agree that the relationship between the U.S. government Lockheed is the worst he's ever seen.
Lockheed F-35B Lightning II fighters [Source: Lockheed Martin]
“I don't share it, number one, because … I don't know the history of just how much has gone on in the past,” Panetta said. “But at least from what I have seen at this point, my view of it is these are very tough negotiations, but they aren't a reflection that either side has given up or thinks that the other side, you know, is in a more difficult state at all.”
Panetta is also reportedly unhappy that Congress won't be back in session until after the elections in November. An initial round of budget cuts in defense spending is set to begin in January. With Congress out of session until the elections are over, there is no chance of avoiding or delaying the defense spending cuts.
Panetta said, "I'll take whatever the hell deal they can make right now to deal with sequestration. The problem now is that they've left town and all of this has now been put off into the lame duck session."
“We need stability,” he said. “You want a strong national defense for this country? I need to have some stability. And that's what I'm asking the Congress to do: Give me some stability with regards to the funding of the Defense Department for the future.”
RE: Out to lunch, be back in December
quote: Are you an aeronautical engineer? Complete with doctorate, academic and industrial awards thank you very much. quote: Do you work for Lockheed? Are you nuts?!?Why would a turkey vote for Christmas? If I was in Lockheed right now I'd be laughing all the way to a million dollar home. quote: Yes but no single aircraft has ever had to do ALL the things being asked of the F-35 airframe. Hello? I guess you aren't getting the bit where that isn't nearly as big a leap as Lockheed would like you to believe. Nor is it a leap into the unknown as much knowledge already existed in each field and integration of most aspects.Otherwise what excuse would they have for not delivering the thing near time and budget? Parent
Bubbacub
"Are you an aeronautical engineer?"Complete with doctorate, academic and industrial awards thank you very much.head shot! Parent
Lockheed, Pentagon Continue Negotiations on F-35 Purchase Deal | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11428 | Home Page »News »Regional News » Forecast for Colorado River? High and dry
Forecast for Colorado River? High and dry
The bottom line is, demand is ahead of supply,’ senior water engineer says
Article Last Updated: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 10:25pm
GLENWOOD SPRINGS � Planners and engineers in the Colorado River Basin say a parched future could be in store for the region during the next 50 years as they prepare for a seven-state meeting in Las Vegas next week.Senior Colorado River District water resources engineer David Kanzer said Tuesday communities in the basin are living beyond their means. He says it is worse for river communities downstream.Planners and engineers have spent three years and $4 million to forecast water supply and demand scenarios from now through 2060, and they say the consequences could be dire for the river with headwaters in Colorado.�The bottom line is, demand is ahead of supply. We are living beyond our means, and the gap is greatest in the Lower Basin,� Kanzer said.Kanzer presented a summary of the Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study to the Colorado River District�s 15-member board during the board�s quarterly meeting on Tuesday in Glenwood Springs, hoping to come up with a negotiation strategy before the Las Vegas summit. The public was not invited.Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Bureau of Reclamation officials have warned that the Colorado River�s historical 15 million acre-feet per year flow has been reduced by 12 years of drought to about 12 million acre-feet. Officials say an acre-foot can meet the water needs of up to two families per year.Water interests and the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming together lay claim to all the water in the river and then some.Officials are concerned the river won�t be able over the next 50 years to meet demands of a regional population now about 40 million and growing.Mexico also has a stake in the river, and officials set new rules to share Colorado River water south of the border and let Mexico store water in Lake Mead near Las Vegas.According to The Glenwood Springs Post Independent, the study is an effort to face up to a future in which millions more people, along with farms and industry, will be fighting for the limited supplies. Kanzer said by 2060, the gap is expected to be as much as 8 million acre-feet a year.In the meantime, water regulators are trying to educate the public about the water shortfall that Western states will face.
Colorado River Study: www.crwcd.org | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11429 | Home Page »News »Local News » The long road to a final resting place
The long road to a final resting place
Tribal officials lead efforts for reburial standards
Many Native American cultural items discovered during excavations such as this one, performed in 2005 in the Ridges Basin area, fall under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The act mandates certain identification, consultation and reburial procedures for Native American remains, but lack of lands available for reburial has become an obstacle for tribes across the nation.
On a May day last year in Santa Fe, the national committee reviewing issues surrounding the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act received a presentation by a group from Colorado. A group from Colorado had come to appeal for help identifying more places on public lands for reburial of Native American remains. �Today, we are here to express to you a significant barrier and ask you to be a strong supporter in partnership with us to make small changes in procedure, policy and interpretation, so we may utilize state and federal lands more broadly to provide for reinterment,� Southern Ute Tribal Council member Pathimi GoodTracks said. �We have hundreds of relatives waiting, waiting for reburial, and it is distressing to Native people when our ancestors and relatives are left in limbo.�Such collaboration between tribes and government agencies is not new in Colorado and has helped make the state a model for the implementation of a law that many recognize is complicated, sensitive and potentially very contentious.The state could continue to be a model in this work, Ute Mountain Ute Vice Chairman Bradley Hight said in a later interview.�One of things we�re finding out is that Colorado is being watched and the two Ute tribes being watched by everyone,� Hight said. �We are the leaders.�Ahead of the curveColorado first stood out as a leader in implementing the federal law when state and tribal representatives took it upon themselves to develop a policy for reburying remains that could not be traced to a specific tribe. When the law was signed in 1990, it was viewed as a landmark law that made the treatment of human remains a human rights issue, said Greg Johnson, chairman of the religious studies department at the University of Colorado, who studies reburial issues. The act requires federal agencies and institutions that receive federal funding to return Native American human remains, funerary items and sacred objects to Native American tribes.But the law left some issues unresolved or ambiguous, including the question of how to handle culturally unidentifiable remains.A few years after the law was passed, representatives from Colorado�s museums, state government and tribes pulled together 45 other tribes to create a standard procedure for dealing with culturally unidentifiable remains found on state and private lands. The procedure, approved in 2006, has been called the most extensive of its kind in the nation and Colorado quickly began receiving calls from other states looking to replicate its work, said Bridget Ambler, curator at the Anasazi Heritage Center, who worked on the process extensively in her former role as curator of material culture at History Colorado.A few years later, the NAGPRA review committee came out with its own regulation addressing culturally unidentifiable remains that mirrors Colorado�s process.Now Colorado�s tribal and governmental bodies hope to use a similarly collaborative approach to make headway on another issue the law fails to define � the process of finding land for reburials, especially when their origin is unknown.At the Santa Fe meeting, Colorado Commission on Indian Affairs executive secretary Ernest House Jr. described a lack of burial options for Native American remains whose origins are unknown. Many tribes prefer state and federal lands for reinterment because they are more secure and better monitored, but those agencies don�t have policies for reburying remains that may not have come from their lands, House said. Julie Coleman, heritage program manager at the San Juan Public Lands Center, agreed that internal policy restrictions and liability concerns make it complicated for the U.S. Forest Service to rebury items not excavated from its lands. Multiple tribes have described similar difficulties.Of the almost 45,000 culturally affiliated and culturally unidentifiable human remains that have been noticed by federal agencies and museums, only about one quarter have been transferred to tribes. �Lack of a place to rebury has come forward as a reason for many,� Sherry Hutt, national NAGPRA program manager wrote in an email.The issue is �certainly one of the unresolved and broadly contentious issues under NAGPRA,� Johnson said. In 2011, Colorado tribes and agencies started to problem solve on their own, forming a workgroup to identify lands within Colorado.�We already have a very strong state protocol with regards to 47 tribes being in agreement (about how to rebury unidentifiable items),� House said in a recent interview. �This is the next step.�Finding a way forwardAfter hearing the presentation from Colorado representatives, the review established a subcommittee to review the reburial policies of federal agencies and consider drafting an across-the-board policy.�We all know that once the remains come into the possession of a tribe that the responsibilities of the museum or federal agency effectively ends with that transfer of control or possession,� said Eric Hemenway, a review committee member during the committee�s November meeting, �but for the tribes, this is an ongoing issue that their responsibilities don�t end, that there�s another whole phase of their responsibilities that come into play once they take possession of these remains.�During the next several months, tribes, state and federal agencies in Colorado plan to present their work to the subcommittee at its meeting in May.Dawn Mulhern, Fort Lewis College�s NAGPRA coordinator, said many organizations struggle to find the funding, the staff members and the time to comply with the law�s requirements, Mulhern said. The large number of tribes with roots in the Southwest adds to the complexity of such work, she said.But collaboration such as Colorado�s is promising, Johnson said.�Just the amount of emotional energy and material resources it takes to get work done is a huge barrier,� Johnson said. �Therefore, collaborative efforts might prove to be the way forward.�[email protected]
Anthropology professor Dawn Mulhern analyzed the Fort Lewis College collection of items to determine cultural affiliation. Now, she is working to transfer those items to tribes.
House Jr. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11430 | Home Page »News »National & World » Border-crossing deaths surging
Border-crossing deaths surging
By Alan GomezUSA TODAY
Article Last Updated: Monday, March 18, 2013 10:00pm
Fewer people are illegally crossing America�s southwest border with Mexico, but the region saw a big increase in immigrant deaths in 2012, according to a report set to be released today.U.S. Border Patrol identified 477 deaths along the southwest border, up from 375 the year before, according to the report from the National Foundation for American Policy, an Arlington, Va.-based group that researches immigration issues. That 27 percent increase in deaths comes even as total migration from Mexico has slowed in recent years.Stuart Anderson, executive director of the foundation and author of the report, said the rise in deaths may add support to the drive for a complete immigration overhaul that is being negotiated in Congress.�The primary reason that people are dying is that there�s not a legal work visa for them to come legally,� Anderson said. �These are rational people who are trying to work and support their families. If you had a widely available, legal work visa ... they would choose to come in legally.�Customs and Border Protection spokesman Bill Brooks said they also saw a 25 percent increase in rescues of people struggling to make the journey in 2012. He said more than 900 Border Patrol agents are trained emergency medical technicians and that the agency has been installing emergency beacons to help stranded immigrants.�CBP works hard to avoid loss of life among those who attempt to enter the U.S. illegally,� Brooks said. �CBP reminds those who might consider attempting to illegally cross of the dangers involved, from smugglers who may seek to exploit them to harsh physical conditions.�Part of the reason for the rise in deaths is the increase in Border Patrol agents that has driven immigrants to more remote, treacherous areas along the border.The largest increase in deaths came along the easternmost sector in Texas, the Rio Grande Valley Sector, where deaths more than doubled in 2012� 2013 USA TODAY. All rights reserved.
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2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11507 | To Mosque or Not to Mosque
by R. R. Reno
A friend asked. I was almost taken aback by my answer: I dont really care. I cant muster a great deal of concern about the proposed Islamic center in New York near Ground Zero. Maybe Im callous. Maybe Im out of touch with the American people. But the more I think about it, the less I care. Few dispute that Imam Abdul Rauf has a constitutional right to build an Islamic Center on Park Place, two blocks north of Ground Zero. Yet over the last couple of weeks a growing number have joined a chorus of critics who claim that the building the planned mosque would be insensitive, disrespectful, and unwise. Others have pointed out that the sources of funding for the proposed Islamic Center are unsavory, or that Adul Rauf isnt the great moderate he pretends to be. I suggest that we step back for a moment. Lots of insensitive, disrespectful, and unwise things happen in New York, and a great deal is done with true motives disguised. Why, then, the furor? No one would deny that symbolism is at the root of this controversy. Many see the project as a deliberate act of aggression, a stick in the eye of America. Its a gesture that can be read as saying, We took down the buildings, and were going to celebrate our victory. Those who lost family members and friends feel like they are watching someone dance on their loved ones grave. Those anxious about the clash of civilizations feel the building escalates the conflict. Those who fear the America is becoming a spineless nation led by an elite committed to a strategy of appeasement feel that approval of the Islamic center is a capitulation to the beginnings of an Islamic invasion. Im not interested in denying the specific feelings, worries, or fears, but lets look at the context. America is an extremely powerful nation with a very robust, vibrant, and remarkably successful culture. Therefore”and this goes to the root of my indifference to the issue”an Islamic Center in New York is irrelevant. Compared to the locomotive of American society, its like a penny on a railroad track. Consider how we appear to others. English seems an unstoppable linguistic virus. For good or ill, the global economy revolves around us. Our society is unique in its ability to absorb and assimilate immigrants who become profoundly loyal citizens. Our military may not be able to perform nation-building miracles, but since 9/11 it has shown itself quite capable of quickly destroying our enemies. And theres more. Alone among Western nations, the United States has shown itself capable of joining Christian piety with economic prosperity, modern political freedoms, and a civic culture of tolerance (the limits rather than existence of which define our current political battles over social issues). By contrast, a great deal of the Muslim world is currently in a state of crisis, in large part because of the felt internal conflict between faith and modernity. This crisis should be obvious to anyone who contemplates the real symbolic meaning of suicide bombers. A society that has reduced itself to strapping explosives on to young men (and women as well) is a desperate society. The same holds for what many say will be the perception among Muslims in the Middle East, whom we are told will read the symbolism as a sign of their strength and our craven weakness and capitulation. Could there be a more absurd and deluded interpretation of the significance of a small building in New York? Or of our culture of tolerance? Or of our capacity for swift, vigorous, and united responses to real threats? So let me put the matter as bluntly as possible. Whatever the perceived symbolism, whatever the intended symbolism, the real world suggests otherwise. Societies dominated by Islam are relatively troubled, whereas we are relatively healthy. Yes, the deranged and desperate can be dangerous. But irritating as it may be for small children to be waving a sharpened stick around our ankles (and requiring as it does firm discipline), the stick doesnt threaten our eyes. Last week I went down to Ground Zero, and the physical reality of the place reinforced my indifference. The planned Islamic Center will be a couple of blocks away, an invisible thirteen-story building in a sea of massive office buildings that cuts off all views. Unless a tourist seeks it out, it will not be noticed. Instead, the presiding presence is and will remain St. Pauls Chapel, a gracious, nearly 250-year-old Episcopal church that sits on a beautiful, tree-covered cemetery overlooking Ground Zero. And of course there will be the giant soaring skyscrapers planned for the rebuilt World Trade Center plaza, along with the requisite memorials. The symbolism reflects the reality of New York, and of America. Were a largely if often confusedly and half-heartedly Christian nation that builds temples to Mammon, and then liberally scatters memorial and monuments to satisfy our secular piety. America is a mixed-up national project, unlikely to satisfy the exacting ideals of a theologian, political philosopher, or cultural theorist, and yet preternaturally successful, perhaps because it is a nation and society largely in accord with basic human sensibilities that resist reduction to neat theories and pat principles. Aristotle ranked magnanimity among the virtues that characterize a man who is at once powerful and noble. This virtue involves treating those who are weaker with a certain indulgence. When a servant breaks a vase, a magnanimous soul waves it off. If an underling owes a debt, it is forgiven as a gesture of indifference. Dont worry about it, says the magnanimous person. Although we often see its fierce side in the news, by and large Islam is weak. Its not vying for political control or cultural dominance in America, where its largely irrelevant. Radical Islam is of course a global threat, but mostly as a power of disintegration rather than a force to be reckoned with. The country currently facing an existential threat from Islam is Pakistan, not America. We should be magnanimous. Abdul Raufs Islamic Center on Park Place may be a good idea or a bad idea. Im not sure myself. But this seems obvious: in comparison to the very big fact of America, its a small idea, and not worth worrying about. R.R. Reno is a senior editor of First Things and Professor of Theology at Creighton University. He is the general editor of the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible , to which he contributed the commentary on Genesis . 0 Print
Articles by R. R. Reno @rr_reno | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11526 | Starbucks Deepens Global Tea Footprint with Teavana Buy
Furthering its reach in the multi-billion-dollar specialty tea market, Starbucks (SBUX) on Wednesday said it is buying Teavana (TEA) for about $620 million in cash.
Teavana shareholders will receive $15.50 per share in cash.
Starbucks said the purchase of Teavana, which makes more than 100 varieties of premium loose-leaf teas, other artisanal teaware and related merchandise, propels it deeper into the $40 billion tea market.
“We believe the tea category is ripe for reinvention and rapid growth,” Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said in a statement. “The Teavana acquisition now positions us to disrupt and lead, just as we did with espresso starting three decades ago.”
Investors seemed slightly less optimistic on the deal and pushed Starbucks’ shares down more than 2% to $49.31 shortly after the announcement. Teavana's stock soared more than 52% to $15.42.
The Teavana brand adds to Starbucks existing Tazo brand and Schultz said it gives the café operator an opportunity to create a two-tiered market position, dominating globally both coffee and tea, two of the world's biggest beverage markets.
Teavana’s 300 mall-based stores and global sourcing capabilities and merchandising will add to Starbucks' existing infrastructure. Starbucks said it intends to grow the number of Teavana retail stores and add a “high-profile neighborhood store concept,” which it is hoping will expand the tea brand’s domestic and global footprint.
In a partnership through Starbucks’ joint venture partner Alshaya, Teavana recently opened its first store in the Middle East and has plans to enter new, high-consumption tea markets around the world, the companies said in a joint statement.
Starbucks’ president of channel development and emerging brands, Jeff Hansberry, who will head the new subsidiary, said the acquisition provides Starbucks with new channels of distribution and strengthens its core offerings. The Seattle-based coffee company expects Teavana to be accretive to earnings by about a penny a share in fiscal 2013. Shareholders holding about 70% of the outstanding shares have approved of the deal, which as of now is slated to close by the end of this year pending regulatory clearances. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11607 | FBI issues photos of 2 suspects in Boston bombing
April 19, 2013 12:01 AM This combination of Associated Press file images released by the FBI on Thursday, April 18, 2013, show two images taken from surveillance video of what the FBI are calling suspect number 2, left, in white cap,and suspect number 1, right, in black cap, as they walk near each other through the crowd in Boston on Monday, April 15, 2013, before the explosions at the Boston Marathon. (AP Photo/FBI)FBI
April 19, 2013 12:01 AM BOSTON -- The FBI released photos and video Thursday of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing and asked for the public's help in identifying them, zeroing in on the two men on surveillance-camera footage less than three days after the deadly attack.
The photos depict one man in a dark baseball cap and the other in a white cap worn backward. The men were seen walking one behind the other in the crowd, and the one in the white hat was seen setting down a backpack at the site of the second explosion, said Richard DesLauriers, FBI agent in charge in Boston.
"Somebody out there knows these individuals as friends, neighbors, co-workers or family members of the suspects. Though it may be difficult, the nation is counting on those with information to come forward and provide it to us," DesLauriers said.
The images were released hours after President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama attended an interfaith service at a Roman Catholic cathedral in Boston to remember the three people killed and more than 180 wounded in the twin blasts Monday at the marathon finish line.
The two men -- dubbed Suspect 1 (in the dark hat) and Suspect 2 (in the white hat) -- are considered armed and extremely dangerous, DesLauriers said, and people who see them should not approach them.
"Do not take any action on your own," he warned.
The break in the investigation came just days after the attack that tore off limbs, shattered windows and raised the specter of another terrorist attack on U.S. soil. FBI photo-analysis specialists have been analyzing a mountain of surveillance footage and amateur pictures and video for clues as to who carried out the attack and why.
Generally, law enforcement agencies release photos of suspects only as a last resort, when they need the public's help in identifying or capturing someone.
Releasing photos can be a mixed bag: It can tip off a suspect and deny police the element of surprise. It can also trigger an avalanche of tips, forcing police to waste valuable time chasing them down.
Within moments of the announcement, the FBI website crashed, perhaps because of a crush of visitors.
In the images, both men appear to be wearing dark jackets. Suspect 1 appears to be wearing a backpack. The planting of the backpack is not depicted in the video footage that was made public.
The FBI made no mention of the men's height, weight or age range and would not discuss the men's ethnicity.
"It would be inappropriate to comment on the ethnicity of the men because it could lead people down the wrong path potentially," said FBI agent Greg Comcowich.
The information on the first suspect was developed within a day or so before its release, DesLauriers said. Agent Daniel Curtin said the FBI did not issue the photos earlier because authorities wanted to be meticulous: "It's important to get it right."
Seven victims remained in critical condition. Killed were 8-year-old Martin Richard, of Boston, 29-year-old restaurant manager Krystle Campbell, of Medford, Mass., and Lu Lingzi, a 23-year-old Boston University graduate student from China. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11620 | Family carries on century-old tradition Written by Deb Egenberger Thursday, 28 July 2011 13:26 Moore still lives in 1891 house.
The original homestead certificate signed by President Grover Cleveland in 1895 officially granted Edwin Moore complete control of 160 acres of land south of Gothenburg.
Moore certainly had no idea then that a worn piece of paper and the very fields he had planted would still be in family hands 116 years later.
Actually, Edwin and his bride, Sarah, settled 4 miles south of Gothenburg in 1889 when five families moved here from Unadilla.
The Moore, Bothwell, Beyette, Soller and Fairbanks families all came to the same three-mile area together.
The Moore homestead was initially a tree claim so the family had to prove they’d planted trees before receiving their homestead document.
Cedar and elm trees remain around the old house which was built in 1891. The barn erected in 1893 is also still standing.
It’s been 122 years and four generations since Edwin Moore laid claim to the land. That makes a Dawson County Pioneer Farm Family Award long past due.
“I was gone from home in 1989 and Dad didn’t want to do it alone,” said Joe Moore, great-grandson of the original landowner.
This year Joe’s father, Fred Moore Jr., decided it was time to accept recognition for keeping the land in the family for more than a century.
“It’s a pretty amazing accomplishment in this day and age,” Joe said. “There’s a lot of history there.”
Fred Jr.’s father Fred Moore was born on the farm in 1890, one of eight children born to Edwin and Sarah.
After Edwin and Sarah both died, there was an argument between siblings over land.
Fred Sr. ended up paying his brothers and sisters so he could keep the home place to live there and continue farming.
Fred Sr. and his wife, Lula, carried on the farm and cattle business and passed the land on to their only son, Fred Jr., who still lives there.
“My dad was older when I was born,” said Fred Jr. “I remember him talking about all kinds of historical things. I just wish I’d have paid attention better.”
Except for a short time on a farm his father owned south of North Platte, the house south of Gothenburg is the only home Fred Jr. has ever known.
It’s also still known as “the home place” to Joe, the fourth generation of Moore men.
Fred recalls the white school house he attended just down the road, the Antelope Baptist Church a half-mile west of his home and the weekly Saturday night trips into town.
His parents used to park their car on the main street and visit with other folks who came into town for weekly groceries.
“If it was a decent film suitable for me to watch, I’d get to go to the picture show,” Fred said. “It cost 12 cents to get in and I’d get a whole quarter. That meant I had 13 cents to spend on popcorn and candy.”
Those days are long gone. Fred said it’s been 20 years or more since he’s been in a theater.
“It costs way too much now,” he said.
Joe also recalls the simpler days growing up on the farm when he went to class in the Little Red School House not far away.
“It’s amazing how much things have changed,” Joe said.
The land is still owned by the Moores but they don’t plant and harvest the crops anymore.
Mark Ostergard does the custom farming while Brian Scroggin takes care of the hay.
The cattle—about 75 head—belong to the Moores. Fred said while he’s busy working as a truck driver, he still does his share of cattle chores.
And the tradition continues.
“I’m just a hobby farmer and cattleman now,” said Joe, who works for Paulsen, Inc.
Just because Joe doesn’t depend on the land to support his family doesn’t mean his ties are any weaker.
“Nobody knows what’s going to happen down the road,” he said, “but I’m going to do everything I can to keep it in the family.”
Joe has already made a strong effort to connect his children to the family farm.
Megan, 13, and Korbin, 10, already have cattle of their own that graze there.
Joe’s sister, Jacie Moore, and her 6-year-old son, Patrick, have their own cattle there too.
“It’s a start,” Joe said. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11625 | Cars HomeAPW
Ice Creams and Coffee Beans cafe poised for a comeback
Ice Creams and Coffee Beans
Abbie Ridings poses in Ice Creams and Coffee Beans on Tuesday. Ridings and her husband, Dean Ridges, have purchased the restaurant and are making some changes.
MICHAEL JUSTUS/[email protected]
By TREVOR [email protected]
Published: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 5:16 p.m.
There have been ups and downs for one of Spartanburg's culinary mainstays over the past quarter-century.
But the west-side Ice Creams and Coffee Beans could be poised for a comeback under its new owner Abbie Ridings, who is shaking things up with fresh offerings and ideas aimed at bringing in diners.One thing that hasn't changed though is the strawberry iced tea.“I grew up eating here,” said Ridings, a 1999 graduate of Dorman High School. “I never knew how much heart and soul went into this place, but now I know. It was run with love.”Ridings acquired the business in April 2012 from Jessica Mullins, the daughter of Jane and Buddy Mullins, who opened the restaurant in 1987 at the Reidville Circle Shopping Center at 1735 John B. White Sr. Boulevard.It was part of the Ice Cream and Coffee Beans franchise that opened in the state in the early 1980s and included locations in Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach.In 1992, the couple opened a second location across from Converse College in the space that is now Converse Deli. Theirs were the only two stores that served sandwiches in addition to fresh coffees and desserts.The couple sold the east-side store to Dawn Barnett in 1996. Barnett changed the name to The Coffee Cup Caf� and Sweetery in 2003.Ridings, who worked in outside sales, said she heard last year that the west-side store might be closing and she decided to make an offer.“It's hard to see something that's a part of your childhood go,” Ridings said. “It has been so neat for me to see a new generation of local residents come in here and enjoy it like I do.”Since she took over, Ridings has quietly been making changes to improve the restaurant's service and the customer's experience.She has continued to renovate the interior and resituated the store's main counter, which used to extend out into the dining area, but now runs parallel to the dividing wall for the kitchen.Last week, Ridings added a Sunday service to the eatery's repertoire, allowing it to be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. seven days a week.The owner said she hasn't tinkered with the original menu, but will be adding some food items and smoothies, as well as catering and deliveries for parties with 12 or more people.“I'm not really trying to reinvent the wheel,” Ridings said. “I just want to bring it into 2013 … With all of the development that has come to this side of town, it's easy to get lost in the shuffle. People know we are here, and now we are inviting them back.”She said the restaurant's soups and sandwiches will continue to be made fresh every day.The store will still feature fresh coffees and desserts like its strawberry cake, derby pie and brownies. It also carries the Charleston-based Wholly Cow ice cream brand, which Ridings said is not available anywhere in the Upstate.The owner said she will continue to make upgrades. She is searching for local artists who want to sell their paintings or music in her store.For more information, call 574-2252, or visit Ice Creams and Coffee Beans' Facebook page. | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11645 | About Us > Newsroom > News Releases > This is archived information. It may contain outdated contact names, telephone numbers, Web links, or other information. For up-to-date information visit GSA.gov pages by topic or contact our Office of Public Affairs at [email protected]. For a list of public affairs officers by beat, visit the GSA Newsroom.
Vice President's Office Honors Travel Reform Teamfor Saving the Government $785 Million a Year
GSA# 9392
Contact: Darlene Meskell
or Hap Connors
Under a 1939 law, supervisors were required to certify that each long-distance telephone call made by a Federal employee on travel was "in the interest of the Government." All travelers had to submit receipts for telephone calls, regardless of the amount. Agencies had to review them and retain them for six years and three months. It cost the government more to audit the calls than the calls themselves.
Despite the reduction in long-distance costs to less than 10 cents a minute, this law and other out-dated Federal travel regulations were not changed until last September, when the Federal Employee Travel Reform legislation was enacted.
The changes will save the Government nearly $785 million a year in travel expenses and the costs of relocating employees.
Today, the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP), the multi-agency team responsible for recommending these reforms, received Vice President Gore's Hammer Award for improving the way Government works.
The award was presented by Elaine Kamarck, the Vice President's chief of staff, at the JFMIP conference in Arlington, VA. Sean Allan, now retired from the General Services Administration (GSA), and Donald Charney, Chief Financial Officer of the Agency for International Development, accepted the award for more than 60 team members from 24 agencies.
"This effort is clearly a magnificent example of what a team can accomplish," Kamarck said. "The re-engineering efforts of this team make life more reasonable for federal employees as they travel or relocate, which means they can be less hassled and more productive."
Besides abolishing the long-distance call-certification requirement, the changes include such "common sense" approaches as:
� Eliminating costly and time-consuming layers of approval for expense reimbursement;
� Paying relocating employees pre-determined costs for house-hunting trips and temporary lodging;
� Creating an incentive program for Federal employees who sell their own homes when they are relocated, rather than using Government relocation contractors; and
� Changing the rules for shipping privately-owned vehicles.
The JFMIP is a cooperative program established in 1948 when several Federal agencies came together to mobilize resources and coordinate efforts to improve financial management practices in the Government. In 1994, it created the interagency travel improvement project team to reengineer Federal travel policy.
GSA, a key player on the travel team, is leading the effort to get additional improvements adopted. A bill currently in Congress would require Federal workers to use the government travel card to charge official travel expenses. This provision supports the JFMIP recommendation to maximize the use of travel charge cards to reduce the need for agencies to provide cash advances and disbursement facilities.
Use of the government travel card, currently provided by American Express under contract with GSA, facilitates monitoring of travel expenses, and refunds to government agencies more than one-half percent of every dollar spent. In recent years, use of the travel card has returned more than $18 million annually.
GSA is also supporting the JFMIP recommendation to would allow agencies to pay for employment assistance for the spouse of a transferring employee. This is one of only two of the group's recommendations not included in the legislation enacted in 1996.
GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy is currently streamlining Federal travel and relocation regulations and rewriting them in a "plain English" question-and-answer format to make them easier to understand.
For further information on this and other GSA programs, visit the GSA home page at http://www.gsa.gov. Last Reviewed 2010-04-30 | 新闻 |
2016-22/0600/en_head.json.gz/11670 | Inmates urged to find freedom in God
Jail volunteer chaplain Cliff Smith can relate to the incarcerated
Cliff Smith works as a volunteer chaplain at the Snohomish County Jail.
Published: Saturday, November 17, 2012, 12:01 a.m. << Prev
EVERETT -- Cliff Smith knows what it's like to live without freedom.Not just from his years behind bars, but from the decades he spent chained to drugs and violence, alcohol and anger.He was saved, years and years ago.Now, Smith shares those lessons with people who are locked up at the Snohomish County Jail and the Monroe Correctional Complex. He tries to show them that they, too, can find God -- and freedom -- within themselves, he said.The 63-year-old Snohomish steel worker served time himself, more than 30 years ago. Altogether, he estimates he spent about six years in various county jails for offenses related to his heroin addiction: assaults, carrying weapons, being under the influence in public.It's a story he's used to telling, part of his Christian testimony.In 1979, he was 31, locked up in Oroville, Calif., serving 18 months.His estranged parents came to visit from Washington. They'd aged since he left home. They forgave him. They asked him to come back. He did. He left heroin behind.Smith's struggles weren't over, though. He turned to drink, and spent years an angry, bitter man, even after he met his wife, Zoe, he said.One night, he was working late in his steel fabrication shop. Everyone else had gone home, unable to handle his violent temper. He remembers seeing himself in the bathroom mirror."I saw myself, just the anger in my eyes," he said. "I heard this voice say, 'This is what your wife and children see every day,' and it just broke my heart."That night, he prayed. He didn't know if he believed yet, but he knew he needed to change.Attending church and Bible studies, Smith got to know multiple chaplains who work at the county jail. One couple asked him to think about joining them."I told them I'd pray about it," he said. "I did not want to go into the jail again. I did not want to hear those doors slam."Soon after they asked, Smith dreamed he was inside a jail. This time, he was praying. He knew God sent him the dream about his future, because it couldn't have been his past.Working with inmates, Smith wants to see the Holy Spirit in them, and give them hope, he said. They can see the scars on his arms and know he's been there, been like them."These are lives that have been broken and need to be saved," he said. "I want to see them restored and only God can do that."Smith is one of more than 100 men and women who volunteer to provide faith services at the jail, said Ron Jinkens, the head chaplain.Services include Bible studies, chapel, and individual prayer and Biblical guidance. Services are available in nondenominational and Catholic formats, English and Spanish, for male and female inmates.Full sign-ups and waiting lists are the norm, Jinkens said. The volunteers are driven by compassion and mercy, he said. They have to be able to feel for people nobody else wants to be around."All the people who come into jail to provide ministry services to the inmates are driven not by world standards but by a love of God and a wish to be able to share that love with inmates and to see that their lives might be turned around, and they might live a useful, productive life," he said.The inmate population always is changing, but Smith has seen a few faces show up at church instead of back at the jail, he said.Sometimes, he dreams about saved inmates pouring out of the jail and into local churches.In the dreams, they've changed their lives because they've found something new, something positive and powerful.Rikki King: 425-339-3449; [email protected] ministryMinistry services have been offered at the Snohomish County Jail for more than 30 years as a collaboration between the county and local faith groups. For more information, call 425-388-3295.
Story tags » • Human Interest • Everett • Crime • Punishment • Faith
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