PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — On a warm, sun-drenched afternoon at PGA National Resort Spa at the end of February, Anthony Kim stood on the fourth hole hitting one tee shot after another. Right, left, left, right, left, right; not one of the six coming close to landing in the fairway.
It was only a practice round, but the eerie silence was deafening if not awkward as Kim stood there reloading, his arm reaching back and his caddie repeatedly tossing him a new ball.
For all of Kim’s accomplishments in his still young career, the 26-year-old has been at times as lost as some of his shots have been.
Just four years removed from winning the Wells Fargo Championship, which was the first of his three victories on the PGA TOUR and the beginning of a career that would skyrocket into superstardom, Kim has come crashing back to earth to face the very real possibility of losing his card after this season.
In nine starts this year, Kim has made two cuts (and failed to finish in the top 40 in either of them). Twice he’s withdrawn due to injury and once he was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard (though he would have missed the cut anyway).
“I don’t want to play golf that way,” Kim said. “It’s not fun, not playing to win.”
What has been fun for Kim is enjoying the spoils and pleasures of being young, rich and famous — much of which was on full display in a 2010 Sports Illustrated profile that chronicled his television-meets-reality “Entourage” lifestyle.
But all those shiny things came with a hefty price tag. As one veteran player put it, success is sometimes hard to deal with and Kim at times has been the poster child of too much, too soon.
Off the course, Kim’s reputation has its share of blemishes from, as Kim himself puts it, regrettable situations he’s put himself in.
“I’m not the poster child for the TOUR for a reason,” Kim said. “I don’t go to Bible study every day. Do I believe in God? Yeah, but not because it’s ‘in.’ I don’t care what’s ‘in.’ I’m here to win golf tournaments, get better, learn about life and hopefully one day when I have kids can tell them, ‘Hey don’t do that; your dad was stupid enough to do that.’”
Kim’s mother, Miryoung, whom he is extremely close to, was also none too happy with some of the things her son said in the Sports Illustrated story. Kim doesn’t deny the authenticity of the piece, adding that’s who he was at the time, but said if he could do some things in his career over again, he would.
“One hundred percent,” Kim said. “At the same time, I’ve learned from those situations. I’m not the perfect kid; I never claimed to be that. What I do in my personal life is my personal life. But because golf is a gentlemen’s game or whatever you want to call it — people forget I’m 26 years old and I’m trying my best.”
But on the course, he wasn’t.
For much of last season, Kim went from the 10,000 square-foot Dallas bachelor pad (complete with a $60,000 home theater system, among other trappings) straight to the first tee without having so much as touched a golf club in his off weeks. At one point, he says he went six months without a lesson. It showed in the results as he missed 11 cuts in 26 starts and on a couple of occasions shot in the 80s.
Kim also had to deal with the death of a close childhood friend who was killed in a car accident in California and a myriad of injuries — most notably a torn ligament in his left thumb that resulted in surgery two years ago.
A hand injury in golf can be a player’s worst nightmare for years, and Kim started making adjustments to his swing to compensate for the bad habits that started showing up inside the ropes.
“A lot of guys out here without great swings, when they’re not playing well they can at least figure out how to put it in play,” Kim said. “I didn’t even have that ability. I had no idea what my body or what my club was doing. I couldn’t control my body and I couldn’t control my clubface.”
The more Band-Aids he tried, the worse the physical and psychological wounds seemed to get. When they didn’t work, Kim lost all confidence.
“The injury did make so many things go bad in my golf swing,” Kim said. “I went from a player who hit it on top of the ball to dipping low with my left shoulder and popping up with my right. It’s impossible to get a good strike on the ball.
“Then there was the disappointment of not playing well and going home and not knowing what to do and just hanging out and wasting time. That’s not the type of person I am to just go home and waste time, and that’s what I’ve been doing.”
“I had no idea what my body or what my club was doing. I couldn’t control my body and I couldn’t control my clubface.”
— Anthony Kim
Kim says he’s taking his career more seriously now — a line that has admittedly rung hollow in the past. But there seems to be some truth to it — for now. He’s cut down on his entourage on the road, said he doesn’t drink during tournament weeks and has added veteran caddie Gary Matthews, who has looped for Camilo Villegas and Sergio Garcia, among others.
So far, however, Kim’s season hasn’t gone as planned.
He’s 204th in the FedExCup standings, has earned just over $33,000 and withdrew from each of his last two starts, telling his former trainer and still close friend Darby Rich, whom he has known since their days at Oklahoma, that he’s burned out from practicing too much lately.
“He said he’s thinking on every shot,” Rich said. “He’s got 40 things going on in his head and doesn’t feel like he can walk up on the ball, see a shot and just hit it.”
Seeing the shot and just hitting it is what made Kim one of the great feel players in the game at the collegiate and professional level.
After helping lead the U.S. to a win in the 2005 Walker Cup, Kim finished second in his first start as a professional after a final-round 65 at the 2006 Valero Texas Open. In his second full year on TOUR, 2008, he won at Quail Hollow and Congressional.
A year later, he made a tournament-record 11 birdies in the second round of the Masters. The following season, he nearly won the Green Jacket, putting together a birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie run midway through the back nine on Sunday before shooting a 65 to finish third.
This year, Kim failed to qualify for the Masters, and unless he finishes in the top 125 on the money list he’ll be on the outside looking in at more than just the gates of Augusta National. His two-year exemption for winning the 2010 Shell Houston Open will expire at the end of the season.
As Kim walked down the fourth hole at PGA National, he did so playing by himself and with Matthews carrying a maroon-and-white stand bag baring the logo of Kim’s alma mater. The Royal Bank of Canada, which had been Kim’s bag sponsor, didn’t renew its contract.
Though Kim says he could easily find someone to give him a bag deal, he’s more concerned with trying to figure out how to hit the clubs that are inside the bag than what logo is on it.
“I’ll play seven good holes then hit two or three drives like that,” Kim said as his caddie gathered up the errant shots. “And there goes my round.”
Matthews found all the golf balls left and right of the fairway that afternoon. Now Kim just needs to find himself and his game.
Even during what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, the reigning Section 4-AA co-champion Valley High School boys tennis team still came home with a couple section titles.
The Vikings had no seniors among their top four this season, and they didn’t even have any juniors among their singles players. The graduation of six of Valley’s seven starters after last season made for a challenge — yet the Vikings remained in the section’s playoff race into their final match of the season.
But even though defense of the team section title came up short, Valley earned the other two available section championships — in singles and in doubles.
“My sophomore No. 1 player upset two seasoned seniors to be the section singles champion, and my all-sophomore doubles team upset a field that came down to six of the final eight being seniors,” Valley coach Rachael Link said. “They’re two underclassmen, and they won the tournament in a section that is very senior-heavy. That’s a super feat with all the experience we have in our section.”
Sophomores Cody Schrecongost and Adam Barone won the Section 4-AA doubles title contested late last week at Valley Sports Complex. Schrecongost and Barone won a pair of three-set matches in the semifinals and finals.
They defeated the St. Joseph senior duo of Dave Fiorvanti and Joe Staniszewski, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, in the semifinals and downed Indiana seniors Alex Pettina and Nick Palko, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, in the title match.
“What Cody and Adam have in common is they just love tennis,” Link said. “Every time they play a match, they learn. They’re going to train five days a week and on the weekends go out and play so that they’re ready. Every week and every match, they get better.
“They learning tennis is a sport that’s progressive and they need to have experience. These two gentlemen, they respect the sport and the intricacies of it. They have a fearlessness from the beginning of the tournament, and they have very good chemistry on the court together.”
Schrecongost and Barone qualified for the WPIAL doubles tournament that begins today.
It is the second WPIAL tournament in as many weeks for Schrecongost, who advanced to the WPIAL Class AA singles tournament quarterfinals April 19. Schrecongost beat Ellwood City’s Matt Barnes in the first round before losing to eventual PIAA qualifier Brad Cisek of Hampton in the quarterfinals.
Schrecongost is a good enough athlete he also was a PIAA qualifier in swimming. He also is on the soccer team and has even played on the Valley football team. He won the Section 4-AA singles title early last month by beating Pettina in the semifinals, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, and Riverview senior Griffin Conley, 6-3, 6-2, in the final.
“That speaks highly of him, not only with the win in our section but within the WPIAL,” Link said. “He finished in the top eight in WPIAL singles — that’s an elite tournament. His athleticism and his competitiveness allow him to compete.
“The big joke with Cody is if you get five serves in, he wants to get six serves in. He will stay until he gets it done. His parents have to drag him off the court in practice. He’s 100 percent energy and 100 percent dedication.”
Schrecongost plays at the top of a young Valley lineup that held playoff hopes at the start of the week. A tight 3-2 loss to Burrell Monday damaged the Vikings’ aspirations, then another loss to Indiana Tuesday extinguished them. The Vikings finished with a 9-5 record in Section 4-AA.
Barone plays second singles and a player who’s even younger than Schrecongost and Barone — freshman Josh Denam — has been at third singles all season. A first-year player, Mitchell Layden, teams with fellow junior Calvin Schafer at first doubles.
The only seniors in the lineup are at second doubles: Chris Pugel and Tim McMannis.
“These are my two leaders on the team,” Link said. “They’ve been our anchor.”
Senior Cody Petit and juniors Josh Frazee and Kyle Huffman also have shown they’re capable of being successful at the varsity level.
“The most important thing I want to get across is these boys, they’re young and inexperienced, but they live for tennis,” Link said. “That has really put us in a position to fight for a playoff spot when I really thought this would be a rebuilding year. We were strong last year, section champs with a lot of senior experience.
“This team has surpassed expectations. I knew Section 4 was very strong with some very good tennis programs.”
By Jamie Schram, Larry Celona and Dan Mangan
The New York Post
NEW YORK — Two Harlem cops yesterday fired a staggering 84 shots at an armed thug after he squeezed off one round at them — but the punk incredibly survived and was charged with slaying his sleeping kid sister and trying to kill their mother, authorities said.
The 3:30 a.m. explosion of gunfire terrified residents near 155th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard.
“It was like a shootout in the movies!” said one shocked tenant of the Polo Grounds Houses.
Steven Murray’s mother, Christine Fryar, 44, who was shot three times by her son, was shown his photo at Harlem Hospital and told cops, “That’s my son! That’s the animal who shot me and killed my daughter!” authorities said.
Murray, 28, suffered 14 bullet wounds during the mayhem after refusing police orders to drop his .22-caliber “Saturday Night Special,” officials said.
“He would not go down,” a law-enforcement source said of Murray.
The uniformed cops — a sergeant and police officer — unleashed the barrage of bullets from 70 feet away. They each reloaded their pistols twice.
“[Murray] still had the gun in his hand. He wouldn’t obey orders. He was pointing [the gun] at the cops, and he wouldn’t respond,” the source said. “After he finally went down, he still had the gun in his hand, and he was still moving.”
Authorities said problems within the family reached a boiling point Monday. Murray’s tragic half-sister, Annie Fryar, 13, was uncharacteristically absent from nearby PS 46.
Murray had just moved back from North Carolina to live with his mother and his sister in the 12th-floor, one-bedroom apartment.
He and his mom were butting heads because he wasn’t working or contributing to the upkeep of the cramped home, and she wanted him to move out, said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.
After missing school, Annie, who often tried to play peacemaker between the pair, went outside Monday evening, but “had to go upstairs because her brother was getting drunk, and her mom and her brother were arguing” again, said her friend Donette Skinner, a sixth-grader.
Building resident Peter Martinez, 42, said he had seen Murray in the lobby just before midnight Monday and, “He was very spooky-looking.
“He was almost homeless the way he dressed and kept his hair,” the neighbor said.
“What made it strange was that he had black gloves [on]. The look on his face made it seem like he was plotting something.”
Martinez recalled a conversation between Murray and his little sister last week in which he heard the suspect hiss to the girl, “You told Ma I brought that girl to the house.”
Annie denied it and looked afraid, Martinez said.
Annie’s mom and brother got into another argument at around 2 a.m. yesterday, and the woman retreated into her bedroom, Browne said.
About an hour later, Murray inexplicably fired two shots into his sister’s head — once near her right eye and then just above, in her forehead — as she slept on a pull-out bed the two shared in the living room, cops said.
Their mother ran out from the bedroom, and Murray allegedly turned the .22 on her, hitting her twice in the hand and once in her head. The last shot miraculously failed to penetrate her skull.
“I heard, ‘Pop! Pop! Pop!’ It was so loud, I thought it was in my apartment,” said an upstairs neighbor. “I heard a woman say, ‘You shot my daughter!’ And she started crying.”
Christine Fryar fled back to her room and called her husband, who lives in The Bronx, and sister.
“I’ve been shot, and I think Annie’s dead!” Fryar told them, according to Browne.
She then saw Murray in the hallway reloading his revolver, police said, and retreated back to her bedroom — desperately blocking the door to keep him out.
Murray finally gave up and fled.
Two cops from the 30th Precinct were investigating an unrelated shooting about 10 blocks away when they heard about the carnage and sped to the scene.
The sergeant and officer spotted the gun-toting Murray lurking near the southbound off ramp of the Harlem River Drive at Eighth Avenue, police said.
“Stop! Drop the gun!” the cops repeatedly said over their cruiser’s loudspeaker, Browne said.
Murray turned and allegedly fired a single shot — which struck the patrol car. The two cops exited the car and opened fire.
The police officer fired 45 shots — one round in his gun’s chamber, two 15-round magazines and all but one round in his third magazine. He told investigators he thought he was out of ammo. The sergeant also fired one shot he kept in the chamber, two 15-shot magazines and eight rounds from his third magazine, Browne said.
After Murray crumpled to the ground from his wounds, there were still four rounds in his small, .22-caliber Röhm Sontheim Brenz, police said.
He was in critical but stable condition last night after undergoing surgery at Harlem Hospital.
Murray has a long arrest record that includes assaulting cops in The Bronx and North Carolina, along with robbery, weapons possession and possession of stolen property. NYPD officials said they know of no outstanding warrants against him.
In the 2006 Sean Bell shooting, five cops fired 50 shots at several suspects. Asked whether the number of shots in this case was warranted, Browne said only, “There were numerous shots fired, and this was the circumstance under which they fired.”
Annie’s death devastated her young friends.
“I didn’t think it was going to get carried away like that,” said a weeping Donette Skinner. “It makes no sense to me. You would have to have so much hatred to shoot your own mother and sister.”
The slain child had been a member of the school choir and active in its Peer Mediation program.
“She was always there to cheer us up, the type of person who wants to be by your side,” said Aaliyah Anderson, 13. “Her family is pretty nice, [but] I never heard her talk about her brother.”
Bundaberg band Brass Monkeys has been making a name for itself around the region with a huge variety of songs.
SULTANS of Swing, Black Magic and some Blue Suede Shoes – Bundaberg band the Brass Monkeys have a little of it all.
The versatile five-piece have been making a name for themselves across the region, becoming well-known for their ability to play almost any song from the 1950s to now.
Vocalist and rhythm guitarist Barry Franklin said the band, which had been together for about two and a half years, drew its huge range from the various backgrounds of the five members.
“I was doing tribute shows before I came to the band,” Franklin said.
He said bass and brass player Tony Brown had been classically trained and bass and drums player Wayne Barnett had a 1980s rock background.
Peter Knight rounds out the five-piece on lead guitar and vocals.
“We do get a lot of people yelling out to play stuff like 500 Miles and Brown Eyed Girl,” Franklin said.
“We like to put the Brass Monkeys spin on it and improvise.”
Franklin said part of what he enjoyed about playing with the band was its ability to add something new to the pub rock favourites.
“It’s nothing for our keyboard player Ross (Andersen) to put the bagpipes over 500 Miles or something like that,” he said.
The band can most often be found in their home club The Waves or playing at corporate events where their tribute shows are quite popular.
Tribute shows available include Las Vegas, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Aussie rock legends.
Upcoming gigs
The Waves, Saturday
Avondale Homestead Tavern in support of Mental As Anything, Saturday, May 12
Four years ago, Marco Ferreira was riding his motorcycle down an isolated road in Los Angeles when he hit some grout and had an accident.
Though he was wearing a full helmet, leather pants and jacket, Ferreira suffered a traumatic brain injury.
When he woke from a six-week coma, his wife, Wendy Tucker, was there.
“You didn’t walk, you didn’t talk, and you couldn’t feed yourself for seven months,” she says during a visit with the 48-year-old Ferreira to StoryCorps in San Francisco. “Since then, it’s just been getting better all the time.”
But Ferreira, a former lawyer, remembers nothing from the time of the accident and doesn’t feel like he’s getting better.
“My mind, I feel, is so damaged; it’s kind of made my life very hard to live, really,” he says. “I tried to commit suicide, because I thought that I’d lost so much of my life, why be alive? Why? So I took a drug overdose, but you took me to the hospital.”
When the 52-year-old Tucker asks her husband if he’s sorry she saved his life, however, he says no.
“You did the right thing,” Ferreira says. “You saved my life, and you’re still saving it. Every day you save it.”
Tucker, who is also an attorney, reminds her husband that before the accident, he was slightly sarcastic.
“You were always the guy known for the quick wit,” she says. “Do you feel that now you’re kinder in some way than you were before?”
“Absolutely, I am,” Ferreira tells his wife. “Absolutely.”
Before the accident, he was salty to their nieces. Tucker says that even though Ferreira’s always loved them, before the accident, he “didn’t have the openness to them.”
“They bugged me before,” he says with a laugh. “All kids bugged me before the accident, that’s the weird thing. I wouldn’t even invite people to our house because they have kids, for Christ’s sake. I wouldn’t do it. And now, I love my nieces. I love those girls.
“This is my second chance to be good and kind,” Ferreira says. “Thank you very much for all your love.”
Ferreira and Tucker have been married since 2001.
Audio produced for Morning Edition by Katie Simon.
Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
Ahead of a scheduled discussion in Parliament on the Finance Bill, 2012, for its clearance next week, top bosses of Vodafone Plc met senior functionaries of the government on Tuesday to discuss tax issues that have emerged due to the proposed retrospective amendments in the Income Tax Act, 1961.
The meeting that Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao and the company’s India [ Images ] non-executive chairman, Analjit Singh, held with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee [ Images ] and his senior officials, including finance and revenue secretary R S Gujral, lasted more than an hour. Mukherjee later said the Vodafone officials presented their case before him.
After the meeting, Mukherjee was closeted with senior officials of Vodafone for about 10 minutes. No ministry official was present during this interaction.
Colao told reporters later, “we presented our case”. He declined to give details.
It is learned the finance minister told the Vodafone officials that Parliament would take a final call on the retrospective amendments proposed in the Finance Bill, 2012, and he could not give any assurance to the company on this count.
Ministry officials said the inter-ministerial group headed by Gujral was likely to meet in a day or two to reply to Vodafone’s notice for arbitration under the Bilateral Investment Promotion Agreement (BIPA) with the Netherlands.
“The government may tell Vodafone that tax issues are not covered under the BIPA,” said an official associated with the process. Waiving the penalty in the case of Vodafone might set a bad precedent, he added.
The government has proposed to amend the Income Tax Act, 1961, with retrospective effect in a manner that will clarify the tax implications and bring into the tax net any Vodafone-type merger and acquisition deals involving domestic assets.
Once Parliament approves the amendment, the government is likely to initiate the process of raising again the tax demand on Vodafone’s acquisition of Hutchison’s stake in Hutchison Essar in 2007.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had set aside I-T department’s demand for the tax. It had subsequently rejected a review petition of the government.
After enactment of retrospective amendments to the Income Tax Act, the government may ask Vodafone to pay over Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) — more than two-and-a-half times of the tax amount the telecom major was “advised to withhold” in its $11-billion deal with Hutchison in 2007.
The retrospective amendments and a validation clause legalising the tax demand despite the Supreme Court quashing would empower the tax department to restore the earlier demand.
The department has estimated Vodafone’s dues at Rs 20,300 crore (Rs 203 billion). This comprises tax of Rs 7,900 crore (Rs 79 billion) on the transaction, interest of about Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion) and a penalty of Rs 7,900 crore for failure to deduct tax at source.
“There is no need to raise a fresh demand,” said a finance ministry official. “We have not amended the law. The intent of the law has always been the same and we just clarified it The earlier demand stays and they may be asked to pay interest and penalty on that,” he added, not wishing to be identified.
An Australian-led development team in Afghanistan has been praised for building a school in under 12 months, while a neighbouring US-funded police station project sat unfinished for three years.
The former US commander of Combined Team Oruzgan, Colonel Jim Creighton, said the Australians had created a beautiful school for local children in Tarin Kowt while the US project was a monument to “coalition ineptitude”.
“Compare the police headquarters with the beautiful school next door, where girls were already getting an education,” he said in an article published online by The EastWest Institute thinktank.
“Without many of the roadblocks that the US experienced, the Australian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) was able to build their school in under a year.”
Mr Creighton, a 30-year veteran of the US Army and now the EastWest Institute’s chief of staff, said the police station development, a US Corps of Engineers project, was 70 per cent complete when he arrived in Oruzgan in July 2010.
But construction ceased after the Afghan contractors in Kabul and Kandahar stopped work once they got all their money.
Getting the development back on track required raising back pay for security services who minded the site and navigating a multitude of US building regulations transferred to projects in Afghanistan.
Some required US-standard plumbing and electric wiring as well as handrails and wheelchair ramps.
“After 11 frustrating months, and intervention at the flag officer level, the project had barely restarted and was still several months from completion when I departed in June 2011,” Mr Creighton said.
But the Australian team did not face any of these barriers.
“The Australians tracked the progress with regular check-ins and aggressive quality assurance,” he said.
“The US experience with absconding contractors would have been detected quickly.”
Mr Creighton said the US could learn from the Australian effort.
“The US should take the spirit of cooperation in the coalition one step further and learn from the efficient operations of some of our partners,” he said.
The EastWest Institute article was published last month.
NEWFANE — Seventeen officers converged on the town gravel pit Saturday morning, one by one drawing their weapons and taking aim at four targets.
In the heat of the moment, each would be forced to rely on their years of training and the muscle memory they had been building up throughout their careers.
A wrong decision could mean the difference between life or death for those they’ve sworn to serve and protect … at least that’s the pressure each member of the Windham County Sheriff’s Department was facing during the drills on April 28.
This year’s drill had a surprise — eight latex balloons, two on each target, flutter rapidly as the wind blows through the gravel pit.
“We want the balloons to dance a little to provide a bit of stress for the officers,” said Sheriff Keith Clark. “We want the exercise to be as realistic as possible; most threats aren’t going to stand still.”
Each officer has 25 seconds to shoot the balloons, with only 24 rounds to do so. One by one they aim down the sights of their handguns, attempting to hit the targets at distances of five, seven, 10 and 12 yards.
Capt. Robert Lakin, who orchestrated the drill, said wind was playing a huge factor in each officer’s score.
“But that’s life,” he said. “You never know what situations you may face each day you come to work. Our hope is that we never have to use our firearms, but when we do we better make sure we do it right.”
With either a
SIG Sauer 229 or Glock 23 in their hands, the shots echoed throughout the pit as wind gusts of up to 25 mph blew, moving the targets around. The stress got to some of the officers.
One of the officers who wasn’t able to complete the course on his first try said, “It felt like I was somewhere else … I just couldn’t put it together.”
Others joked that one of the yellow balloons attached to the 12-yard target that several officers couldn’t seem to hit must have had been made of Kevlar.
Former Brattleboro Police Chief John Martin, who was able to hit all the targets, said doing so required two things.
“It’s a balance between speed and accuracy,” Martin said. “It takes time to line up the sights, especially at longer distances, and if you miss you have to double it. If you just rapid fire, you might miss your target and have to reload, which takes time.”
In the weeks leading up to their yearly drill, officers got together at various shooting ranges throughout the county to practice, not wanting to face the wrath of not passing last weekend’s test.
For those who weren’t able to complete the course in the allotted time, a 500 word essay and remedial weapons training awaited them, Lakin said.
Although each area police department is on a different training schedule, most consist of a shooting drill with a limited amount of time and rounds.
During the exercise for the Windham County Sheriff’s Department, each officer was allowed eight rounds in their firearm and two additional clips with eight rounds each, he said. If they needed to reload they were instructed to drop the clip and put in another without retrieving it.
He explained that training changed about 30 years ago after a firefight in Florida ended with two officers shot and killed, holding their shell casings in hand.
“It was their training to pick up the brass (shell casings) after they fired a clip,” Lakin said. “They weren’t thinking about the threat in front of them and instead had picked up the clips from their weapons.”
Now the training includes simply ejecting the clip and unlatching another from their belt and reloading, forgetting they ever dropped a clip, Lakin said.
“It’s all about building muscle memory through repetition,” he said.
Both Lakin and Clark said they were very impressed by each of the sheriff deputies for all their hard work prior to and during the drill.
“Everyone of them has trained more and harder this year than any before,” he said.
Josh Stilts can be reached at jstilts@reformer.com, or 802-254-2311 ext. 273.
I do not know what it is about a Christian conservative speaking about his faith and about public policy issues that so much enrages the secular liberal left in America but recent writings by the undersigned in this space have generated more personal insult, attack and strawman arguments attempting to demonize what we say than anything I have written during the last seven weeks of 5x a week essays I have posted, and this one – number 37 and sending my count to over 80,000 words – may create a few aneurysms.
I pray for calm among my liberal-left, secular left audience who monitors these pages on the lookout for places to attack Christians.
One of the purposes of today’s report is to support the call of two men of the cloth in south Central Pennsylvania, who began and ended their meeting with State Representative Scott Perry with a prayer.
The two Christian pastors are advocates of the “Women’s Right to Know” bill that is stalled in the State House of Representatives.
The meeting was held to ask Rep. Perry why he had withdrawn his sponsorship of that bill which would most certainly have cost Planned Parenthood a few dollars in lost abortion fees if it were enacted.
If Planned Parenthood is forced by legislation being considered in Harrisburg, to allow the expectant mother to actually see the ultra sound image that is already being taken in 99% of all abortions in America, the fear that the abortionists have is that some of those mothers will get all queasy and change their mind.
In other words, the sight of their own real life baby in an ultra sound image, even as the smooth talking Planned Parenthood operator is telling them it’s just a blob, may cause a few mothers to say “oh its my baby” and cancel the planned abortion.
This fear is so very real that it generated a massive campaign by Planned Parenthood to prevent Pennsylvania from becoming the 24th state in the U.S. to compel them to offer the mother the chance to see the ultra sound image. The campaign used a series of lies, including the claim that the Republican legislator was going to “rape” women with a “vaginal probe.”
Of course, those writing heated letters and angry phone calls are completely unaware that in 99% of all abortions in America Planned Parenthood already DOES an ultra sound image and in 93% of all cases, does an ultra sound using that vaginal probe. The major issue is, will Planned Parenthood be forced to allow the expectant mother to see the image if she wants?
Father Samuel Houser of St. Patrick Catholic Church hosted this meeting at his parish conference room in York City, presided over by the Chairman of the York County Chapter of Americans for Christian Traditions in our Nation (ACTION of PA), Pastor Ken Gibson, to pray that their state becomes the 24th to allow women to see that photographic image of their own baby, despite Planned Parenthood’s vehement objections.
In attendance at this meeting was State Representative Scott Perry, one of the 40 state legislators who had originally sponsored House Bill 1077, the “Women’s Right to Know” bill, but who then withdrew his sponsorship.
Rep. Perry sent an email to the legislators – which I reported last week – saying he followed Sarah Palin’s example of last year – he hadn’t retreated, he was reloading. But he will had some explaining to do.
Rep. Perry is a candidate for the Congressional seat of retiring 6 term Rep. Todd Platts. The April 24 primary will select a Republican nominee for this strongly GOP district and there are seven candidates.
Rep. Perry went into this meeting very much in “the hot seat” with the two Christian pastors. They did not understand why he had withdrawn his sponsorship of a bill they consider so important.
But Rep. Perry came out with two much more informed Pastors, and with a bounce in his step. It isn’t every day that two men of the cloth pray for you as Pastors Houser and Gibson did this past Wednesday.
In fact, the two Christian Pastors were so “fired up” by what they learned in their one hour meeting with Rep. Perry, that they stayed overtime after their meeting, to draft up a “statement” about their meeting with him. And they then issued a news release about their meeting along with the statement. I will conclude today’s column with the full, unedited text of both.
But the real news is this.
Father Houser and Pastor Gibson, both members of ACTION of PA, invited Rep. Scott Perry to speak to a campaign rally of their group tonight – Friday night – and to explain what is needed to secure passage of this “Right to Know” bill.
Both men of the cloth now better understand that the liberal-left is far more organized than conservative-minded Christian members of their congregations. They pray that their congregations will help change that so that legislators don’t hear such a one-sided email and phone response when bills such as HB 1077 are heading for a floor vote.
Rep. Perry told the two Pastors that his side in this battle was outnumbered with some of his colleagues reporting the mail and phone calls running 5 to 1 against them.
When a bill goes into committee for “markup” it doesn’t always come out for a floor vote. So often, it is “bottled up” in the committee.
If the bill does come out it is most often because a consensus of committee members has formed and a vote to release it out of committee – sometimes with changes – has taken place.
But at every step along the way, hearing from constituents who are interested in a bill – whether it is for or against it – can make a huge difference.
But the HB 1077 bill that came out of committee was very different from what had been endorsed by a majority of the GOP controlled State House of Representatives, on its way in.
It was so different from what had been earlier endorsed, that the liberal-left attack on the newly revised bill, was very effective – and caught friendly forces by complete surprise, since they’d never been consulted about or appraised of the changes in advance.
This was Rep. Perry’s explanation when he had more than a few minutes to explain the action that was promised in support of the “right to life” cause. Between the unexpected changes, the enormous outpouring of opposition to the bill, and the relative silence of our side, the “Right to Know” bill is now in danger of defeat.
40 Republicans withdrew their support of a bill because it was totally changed.
What then, would Rep. Perry support?
Father Houser and Pastor Gibson won’t say, beyond the statement they released and which is below in its entirety.
They will only say that they left the meeting smiling and pleased, and that they have a commitment from Rep. Perry to speak at their campaign rally tonight (Friday night), and to work diligently to lead the charge for a “Women’s Right to Know” bill.
Tonight Rep. Scott Perry will speak at the ACTION of PA campaign rally – more than 18 candidates running for U.S. Senate, other statewide offices, for Congress and for state legislature – will be speaking.
But Rep. Perry won’t be speaking merely as a candidate who wants our vote for U.S. Congress on April 24.
He won’t be speaking merely as the candidate who finished in first place at the ACTION of PA candidate forum’s “straw poll” back in February.
Rep. Perry has promised to help ACTION of PA kick off a new push to enact “The Women’s Right to Know” bill in the Republican controlled House of Representatives.
That is why the two pastors – Father Houser and Pastor Gibson – ended the meeting with a prayer for Rep. Perry’s success as their champion. And why they left the meeting happy.
No endorsements have been made in this race, not by either Pastor and not by ACTION of PA. And we know of at least one candidate (Ted Waga to be specific) who has been VERY outspoken on the issue of the Women’s Right to Know bill pending in Harrisburg. In fact, Waga has telephoned and has spoken to several legislators about this topic, and has been one of our information sources for some past reports on this very topic.
No, it is entirely appropriate that the prayer this past Wednesday was not for Scott Perry the candidate for Congress, but for the State Representative who may as a champion of this cause, help rally support to see “The Women’s Right to Know” bill enacted into law in Harrisburg.
I join Father Houser and Pastor Gibson in being thankful for this turn of events, and look forward to what Ted Waga and Scott Perry will have to say on this topic at the Friday night rally – free to the public – of Americans for Christian Traditions in our Nation in York, PA.
Here’s the news released late this afternoon (followed by the full text of their statement):
Christian Pastors Urge Rep. Scott Perry to speak out on “Women’s Right to Know” Bill, urge passage in Harrisburg
Pastor Ken Gibson and Father Samuel Houser meet with Perry, who seeks GOP nomination for U.S. Congress, invite him to speak at rally tonight
Meeting with State Representative Scott Perry, a candidate for the GOP nomination for U.S. Congress to replace the retiring Rep. Todd Platts in the May 24 GOP primary, two Christian pastors urged passage of “Women’s Right to Know” legislation to force Planned Parenthood abortion clinics to allow expectant mothers in their care to see any ultra sound image taken of their baby and urged him to speak out at a campaign rally they invited him to speak at tonight. Perry accepted their invitation.
Pastor Gibson and Father Houser, who are leaders of “Americans for Christian Traditions in our Nation (ACTION of PA) said “We pray that clear statements of support will be forthcoming from Representatives such as Scott Perry favoring the “Women’s Right to Know.”
We believe it is critical that a bill should be passed and signed into law in this session, which guarantees that the mother have the right to see the ultra sound image already being done in 99% of all cases of abortion in the United States.”
Pastor Gibson, who is Chairman of the York Chapter of ACTION of PA and Father Samuel Houser, met with State Rep. Perry at Houser’s St. Patrick Catholic Church conference room on Beaver Street in York City this past Wed. for one hour. They released a statement after the meeting in which they said that one political party which won control of the State House and Senate and Governor’s mansion “…promised in the last election to give results” but this “Right to Know” bill is stalled.
Pastor Gibson announced that one of their key advisers on this issue is Michael Geer, President of the Pennsylvania Family Institute with an office in Harrisburg who was in contact with them in the hour before their meeting.
Both Pastors pledged that they will redouble their efforts, together with other pastors they are in contact with, to urge their congregations “to register to vote, to express their opinions to their legislators on public policy issues and to vote only for those candidates who clearly express that the centrality of faith is of prime importance to them as they determine public policy questions.”
ACTION of PA (York County Chapter) is a conservative Christian political action committee which endorsed three candidates for state legislature and will hold a free rally for them today April 13 at 7:15 PM at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort and has invited the public to attend.
Details about the free candidate forum and rally tonight (Friday) at 7:15 PM and the one hour reception preceding it (6 to 7 PM) are at http://www.yorkcountyaction.com.
(full text of their statement follows)
Statement of 4/11/12 regarding
Rep. Scott Perry “Women’s Right to Know” Bill
Statement of Pastor Ken Gibson and Father Samuel Houser, after their meeting with PA State Representative Scott Perry, candidate for the GOP nomination for U.S. Congress to replace retiring Rep. Todd Platts. The meeting took place at the St. Patrick Church Conference Room in the city of York on Wed., April 11, with the two pastors joined by several members of St. Patrick Church.
All of those in the meeting are members of “Americans for Christian Traditions in our Nation (ACTION of PA), with Pastor Gibson serving as the York County Chairman. Rep. Scott Perry had been one of the original sponsors of House Bill 1077, the “Women’s Right to Know” bill which was reported out of committee with significant changes to the original proposal. The changes to the original which caused some 40 GOP legislators to withdraw their sponsorship, including Rep. Perry.
“We commend State Rep. Scott Perry for taking the time to meet with us today and for his work in the legislature representing his constituents and his beliefs. We recognize the possibility that his work may continue in Washington if he is successful in his quest for a Congressional seat where he would represent more of us. We met to express our concerns about the threat to religious liberty in America today, seek ways in which we can work together to influence public policy and learn more about the process. We come away from our meeting convinced that Rep. Perry is a good man and faithful to important moral principles which should always guide all public policy.
“We remain concerned that the passage of important legislation such as one that would guarantee the “Women’s Right to Know,” is still in question in the state capitol of Harrisburg, despite the control of both chambers of the legislature and of the Governor’s mansion by a political party that promised in the last election to give us results. We pray for a more favorable outcome in both the national and state public policy arenas and we continue to urge our congregations to register to vote, to express their opinions to their legislators on public policy issues and to vote only for those candidates who clearly express that the centrality of faith is of prime importance to them as they determine public policy questions.
“We pray that clear statements of support will be forthcoming from Representatives such as Scott Perry favoring the “Women’s Right to Know.” We believe it is critical that a bill should be passed and signed into law in this session, which guarantees that the mother have the right to see the ultra sound image already being done in 99% of all cases of abortion in the United States.
“And we thank Rep. Perry for taking the time to meet with us today, and were especially pleased to pray for the success of all public policy leaders in doing what is right for America, right for their constituents and right in the eyes of our almighty Father.
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HanoverHenry of RED STATE is Pat Henry on Facebook, and I’m on the lookout for new friends there. You can also communicate via private mail at Facebook, and I welcome new sources for my articles focusing on the conservative-Christian viewpoint in Pennsylvania. I appreciate your sharing this article elsewhere and only ask that you include this “disclaimer” in any reprints or sharing you do. And I thank those whose information have helped me with some of my reports, including those who do not wish to be quoted by name.
Links to articles I wrote at RED STATE at my Facebook Notes section.
In many years past, running under 8:07 put you in good position to make the Penn Relays in one of the two Large School 4×800-meter relay heats. But not this year.
So after a very solid 8:06.45 that was good for fourth at Wednesday’s Holmdel Twilight Penn Relays Qualifier, Franklin coach Dorrell Hilliman is reloading for this Saturday’s Skyland Conference Relays at Hunterdon Central.
Hilliman feels he needs at least a sub 8:05 to qualify for Penn in the 4×800 for the fourth straight year.
The Penn Relays accepts the 35 fastest Small Schools and 35 Fastest Large Schools for the 4×800. Since the cutoff to submit times for the Penn Relays is this Sunday at noon, the Skyland meet is Franklin’s last shot.
Franklin’s foursome will consist of Sabum Abanda, Javon Pittman, Darrell Gooding and Anfernee Joseph.
Their splits on Wednesday were- Abanda-2:00.5. Pittman-2:02.6. Gooding-2:01.7.
Joseph-2:01.6.
The Penn Relays (April 26-28 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia) are expected to announce the 4×800 and DM qualifiers this Monday.
Nicki Minaj will be headlining her first-ever North American tour this summer.
The “Starships” rapper, who recently returned to Twitter after a (gasp!) week-long hiatus, will kick off the 14-city run on July 16 in Chicago and wrap up August 12 in Vancouver, BC, according to the announcement on her official website. Tickets go on sale this Friday, so get those credit cards ready, kids.
Minaj is also slated to play several radio festivals in the coming months including Wild 94.9’s Wild Jam in San Francisco on May 10, KIIS FM’s Wango Tango in L.A. on May 12, Wired 96.5 Fest in Philadelphia on June 1, Jam’n 94.5 Summer Jam in Boston on June 2, Hot 97 Summer Jam in New York on June 3, and Hot Jam in Hartford on July 20.
July 16 – Chicago, IL – The Chicago Theatre
July 17 – Detroit, MI – Fox Theatre Detroit
July 19 – Cleveland, OH – State Theatre at Playhouse Square
July 22 – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre Atlanta
July 24 – Miami, FL – James L. Knight Center
July 26 – Birmingham, AL – Boutwell Auditorium
July 28 – Houston, TX – Bayou Music Center
July 29 – Dallas, TX – Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie
July 31 – St. Louis, MO – Peabody Opera House
August 2 – Denver, CO – Wells Fargo Theatre
August 4 – Las Vegas, NV – Planet Hollywood Resort Casino
August 7 – Phoenix, AZ – Comerica Theatre
August 11 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre
August 12 – Vancouver, BC – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
National secretary Kathy Jackson’s future in the Health Services Union (HSU) will be on the table at a meeting of the top brass in Sydney, says acting president Chris Brown.
Mr Brown says six branches of the HSU have indicated they would back moves by the federal government to place the East branch under administration.
‘There’s different factions in the room that would have clearly different views on it,’ he told reporters ahead of Friday’s meeting.
‘I guess we’ll wait and see what views are expressed and what the outcome of that actually is.
‘Six of the seven branches have indicated that they would seek leave to intervene in the matter, and they’ll be supporting strongly the government’s application.
‘There is a resolution that will be proposed today that the national union does the same thing.’
The federal government intends to make an unprecedented application in the Federal Court seeking a declaration that the HSU’s East branch had ‘ceased to function effectively’.
The court will be asked to approve a scheme for the appointment of an administrator ‘until democratic control of the branch can be restored’.
Mr Brown said members of the executive were also worried about the factional battle between HSU national secretary Kathy Jackson and suspended president Michael Williamson, as well as Ms Jackson’s role as executive president of the East branch.
‘There is concern amongst a lot of members of the national executive about not only the ongoing infighting … but also the role that Kathy Jackson plays as national secretary, which is in conflict with her role as the executive president of the East branch,’ he said.
Mr Brown said it would be up to the meeting to decide the fate of Ms Jackson, who strongly opposes the government’s plan for an overhaul of the branch.
‘There’s 14 people around the table so any of them can put up a resolution, and we’ll see what comes out of that,’ he said.
Mr Brown acknowledge that this would not be a usual meeting of the executive.
‘On paper it should be, but let’s wait and see how it actually plays out,’ he said.
The national executive meeting would also discuss Federal Court action initiated by the union’s national secretary Ms Jackson.
Ms Jackson alleges up to 20 of the 70 members of the HSU East branch are not entitled to vote at union council meetings because they are employed by the union.
Leading figures from the Republican Party are in Charlotte on Tuesday for grand opening ceremonies of the Mecklenburg County Victory Center.
The center, on Mockingbird Lane off Park Road in south Charlotte, will serve as the Republican Partys base of operations in the Charlotte region for contacting voters through the general election in November.
Grand opening ceremonies are taking place at 11:15 a.m.
Among those participating are Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee; U.S. Sen. Richard Burr; and Robin Hayes, chairman of the GOP in North Carolina. The Charlotte office has particular importance to the GOP because of the citys status as site of the Democratic National Convention this year. In addition, North Carolina is considered a key swing state in the presidential election.
The office is at 1515 Mockingbird Lane, Suite 111.
The Villa Marina Arcade and gardens will play host to another Brass Band Season, beginning on Tuesday 1 May with the Salvation Army Band and ending on 25 September with Rushen Silver Band.
The Brass Band Season is a popular annual feature of the Arts Council’s regular events, providing an opportunity for the brass bands of the Isle of Man to play regularly throughout the summer in the grounds of the Villa Marina.
All of the Island’s brass bands will perform during the season, including for the first time the Manx Youth Wind Band. Concerts take place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 8pm in the Villa Marina Arcade and on Sunday afternoons at 3pm in the Villa Marina Gardens if the weather is fine. In the event of bad weather Sunday concerts move to the Villa Marina Arcade. Admission is free, although the performing band may take a collection.
The Brass Band Season, supported by the IoM Arts Council, starts at 8pm in the Villa Arcade on Tuesday 1 May and admission is free.
Laurence Skelly, MHK, Arts Council Chairman said: ‘The Arts Council is delighted to support this showcase for our talented brass bands once again. Some of our local bands have won awards in UK competitions and as well as having two youth bands as part of the season this year, each band has its own talented group of young musicians which they nurture. It is fantastic to witness what a large community of top class brass musicians we have here on the island.’
For further information please contact the Isle of Man Arts Council on 694598, or email iomartscouncil@dtl.gov.im alternatively, visit www.iomarts.com.
I went to see a DanceNOW showcase of emerging artists this month held at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. I was not going to photograph the showcase — just see some new work and meet some new people. But whenever I watch dance, I see pictures, and I wanted to shoot.
I just started playing with Instagram, and I thought it would be a fun challenge making some dance photographs with the app. Shooting with Instagram on the iPhone is far from an ideal way to capture dance. Especially the way I like to capture it. I like to use two cameras with both wide lens and long lens at the same time. I like having the freedom to move around the theater if need be. With my digital cameras I can shoot hundreds of images very quickly without reloading and without any delay on the trigger or delay in the capture processing. I can keep shooting and make choices later in the editing room.
From the seat I was in at the showcase, there was a host of challenges I would face. So I decided I’d make it a fun game for myself.
The challenges:
Limited movement for camera location
Strong graphic elements in background (trim on the wall and distinct architecture of the ceiling)
Slow shutter speed
Delayed shutter trigger
Backlit from only one light source and a left-side window
I had never seen these works before (although I’m used to that)
Square frame format (I’m used to the rectangle format of the 35mm)
Rules of the game:
Only allowed to upload 1 image per dance
The image must give a feel for the choreographer’s work
Once I captured and uploaded one image, I couldn’t shoot any more of the same dance. So I was gambling on every piece wondering, “If I choose this picture, will I miss something really fantastic that I haven’t yet seen?” I wanted to capture a variety of shots, too, so I was hoping to capture something unique in each piece. There were two pieces where I took image after image and kept hitting delete instead of upload, thinking I could make a better shot or a more interesting moment was coming. I erased a few good shots and ended with NOTHING! So frustrating.
All in all, it was a fun game, and I’m looking forward to a chance to try it again. Did I win this round? You be the judge.
Brian Nelle is only in seventh grade, but his ingenuity has already made a difference in the life of a wounded veteran.
The Brunswick Middle School student wants to be a physician’s assistant, but his latest innovation has him thinking about a part-time career as an engineer, he said.
Brian, a Boy Scout, has made a device that makes it easier to reload a 9mm pistol magazine one handed.
“I have airsoft guns,” Brian said, referring to replica guns that fire plastic pellets. “Those always interested me.”
While Brian’s innovation may sound advanced for a 12-year-old, it not only has a practical use, but it also has made a huge impression on the man for whom it was intended.
Adam Kisielewski, a retired Marine sergeant, lost his left arm and right leg in a bomb blast during a sweep for insurgents at a school outside Al-Karmah, Iraq, on Aug. 21, 2005. The blast killed his platoon leader, 2nd Lt. James Cathey.
“It was a pretty violent area and a pretty violent time. We were getting into stuff pretty frequently,” Kisielewski said.
Kisielewski finished high school in Wisconsin early to join the Marines in 2002. He now lives in a ranch home in Thurmont with a large U.S. flag flying out front and a shooting range out back. It was there that his friend, David Staten, noticed Kisielewski had trouble reloading magazines for his rifle and pistol, Staten said.
Staten, who is retired from the Navy and works at the U.S. Public Health Service at Fort Detrick, mentioned Kisielewski’s troubles to his colleague, Timothy Nelle, Brian’s father. Staten thought the elder Nelle, an avid woodworker, could make a device to help. Brian, needing a science project, took note of the men’s work and sought to improve it.
After some online research and a trip to the hardware store, a prototype was made, but it proved too tough to handle one-handed, Brian said.
On a second attempt, Brian — with his dad doing the “dangerous” work — came up with a design that includes a spring-loaded mount on a metal rod to hold the magazine upright. Brian added a commercially available loader that he modified to lock in place so bullets can be loaded into the standing magazine.
“My friend Jack, he wants to be a Marine, too, and I just like to know, if something happens to people, I can help them,” Brian said.
The device is screwed onto a board that Kisielewski can bolt to his all-terrain vehicle to prevent it from slipping as he reloads.
Brian presented the final product to Kisielewski at Operation Second Chance, an organization in Clarksburg that helps wounded veterans. Kisielewski is its vice president.
Kisielewski called Brian’s work ingenious and awesome.
“(It is) something I never would have ever dreamed up, and I’m 28 years old,” he said. “I think he’s definitely got a career in engineering in front of him or whatever else he wants to do.”
Knowing that people like Brian are interested in helping make his life easier propels Kisielewski forward, he said.
“I’ve always had a lot of drive in life, but with so many people in your corner, it’s hard to fail,” he said.
Brian’s project won first place in the middle school engineering division of the Frederick County Public School’s Science and Engineering Fair and was the first runner-up in the overall middle school division, according to an FCPS news release.
Brian plans to submit the device at the state level this summer, he said.
Conference USA, which has four schools departing to the Big East next season, is reloading by adding six schools in 2013, industry sources told CBSSports.com.
Florida International, Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Texas San Antonio, Charlotte and Old Dominion will join C-USA giving the league 14 members. However, it’s not clear how soon after 2013 Charlotte, which is beginning its football program in 2013, and ODU, currently in the FCS, would be able to compete as a C-USA football member.
An official announcement could come as early as Friday, sources said.
C-USA and the Mountain West originally were going to merge into one league, but there were too many legal obstacles and that will no longer happen, sources said. Instead, C-USA will increase to 14 members and the Mountain West will be at 10 members by adding Utah State and San Jose State in 2013, CBSSports.com reported last week.
Even though C-USA and the MWC will remain separate leagues, they continue to work together on a plan to share scheduling, television and marketing resources.
C-USA was forced to seek new members after Houston, SMU, UCF and Memphis announced they were leaving for the Big East in 2013. By maintaining at least 12 football members, C-USA will continue to hold its football championship game.
C-USA’s new members will come from the Sun Belt (FIU, North Texas), WAC (Louisiana Tech, UTSA), Atlantic 10 (Charlotte) and Colonial Athletic Association (ODU).
When completed, Conference USA’s new 14-team league is expected to be split into two divisions: East – East Carolina, FIU, Marshall, Southern Miss, UAB, Charlotte and ODU; West – Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Rice, Texas San Antonio, Tulane, Tulsa and UTEP.
Israel‘s National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror is holding talks with European officials ahead of the next round of talks over Iran‘s disputed nuclear programme, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The report, in the left-leaning Haaretz daily, said Amidror’s trip was linked to Israeli concerns that the talks between Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers could ultimately end with a deal that would allow Tehran to continue enriching uranium.
Israeli officials refused to comment on the report.
The P5+1 grouping of diplomats from the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, held a first round of talks with Iran on April 14 in Istanbul with a second round due to take place in Baghdad on May 23.
Haaretz said Amidror arrived in Brussels on Monday and held talks with Helga Schmid, the EU deputy secretary general for political affairs, who is responsible for preparatory talks with Iran ahead of the Baghdad meeting.
Amidror was expected to travel on Wednesday to Berlin where he was to meet top German officials, among them Hans-Dieter Lucas, Germany’s representative to the Iran talks, the paper said.
Two weeks ago, Amidror was in Moscow for similar talks and met Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Haaretz said.
Israel has consistently warned that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an existential threat to the Jewish state, and has refused to rule out a pre-emptive strike in a bid to halt it.
And top officials have expressed doubt the talks would be effective, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month criticising the Istanbul meeting as having little impact, and effectively giving Tehran “a freebie” to continue enriching uranium.
And on Monday, Defence Minister Ehud Barak also said he had little confidence the talks would succeed.
“The P5+1 engagement with Iran, however, does not fill me with confidence. I may sound pessimistic but the state of Israel cannot afford to be duped,” he told journalists at a meeting of the Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem.
Israel is concerned that the world powers may cut a deal with Iran that would have only a limited impact on its nuclear programme in exchange for an easing of sanctions, Haaretz said.
Baltimore Area Decorative Hardware Retailer Announces New Portfolio from Top Brass Hardware Manufacturers
Ellicott City, Maryland (PRWEB) May 01, 2012
A Touch of Brass, the retail authority in decorative brass hardware fixtures for over 30 years, announces their spring catalog of Baldwin and Emtek door hardware. A Touch of Brass will be extending their current line of Emtek features, as well as introducing a line of keyless deadbolts from leading industry partner, Baldwin Hardware.
Emtek is focused on bringing together design and functionality by creating sturdy door latches that simultaneously act as an integral part of home décor. A Touch of Brass will introduce three new products to its already extensive line of current Emtek door locks, hinges, deadbolts, and entrance sets. Starting in early May, A Touch of Brass will offer Emtek’s Norwich Knob, Conventry Lever, and Concealed Fastener Mechanism.
All three of these new product offerings are purported to provide more stylish and innovative doorknob options. The Norwich Knob and Conventry Lever will perfectly compliment a traditional home décor, while the Concealed Fastener Mechanism offers a modern and simplistic design that camouflages screws and latches.
A Touch of Brass also looks forward to new spring arrivals from renowned hardware partner, Baldwin Hardware. Beginning in May, A Touch of Brass will offer Baldwin’s entire line of keyless entryway deadbolts. These electronic locks offer added security along with the convenience of a keyless lock. Each keypad allows homeowners to create a custom security code, as well as temporary codes for visitors or contractors.
In addition to enhanced safety and security, these deadbolts provide a stylish option for updating your home interior and external entryways.
Easy to personalize, install, and configure, these new interior and exterior entryway solutions will add a touch of elegance to any home décor. A Touch of Brass customers can order new Emtek door knobs or Baldwin entryway hardware as well as their long-‐standing favorite brass hardware from A Touch of Brass online.
About A Touch of Brass:
Family owned and operated, A Touch of Brass has been in the business of decorative hardware for over 30 years. During that time, the Maryland-‐based retailer has worked with everyone from contractors and designers to everyday people trying to add a touch of beauty to their homes.
With a new and improved, eCommerce-‐focused website, new and returning visitors can buy fine decorative door hardware products from top manufacturers such as Baldwin Hardware, Decor Grates, Emtek, Wood Ventures and more.
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Katie Riesenfeld A Touch of Brass 800.564.9826 724 Email Information
The Lancashire Sinfonietta performed a 15-minute concert at the University of Lancaster
The brass band section of a Lancashire orchestra has hit the high notes by performing 10 metres (33 ft) up a climbing wall.
The Lancashire Sinfonietta musicians were harnessed on the wall at the Lancaster University Sports Centre.
Their 15-minute concert is the first in a series called Curate the Campus featuring art in unusual locations.
The orchestra is practising ahead of a similar performance at the 2012 Open Golf Championship at Lytham St Annes.
‘Scared of heights’
Fiona Sinclair, the general manager of Lancashire Sinfonietta – Lancaster University’s orchestra-in-residence – said: “Our musicians are really game because none of them are climbers and some of them are scared of heights.
“We are going to be providing entertainment at the Open in Lytham and want to perform in high spaces such as church roofs to get people to look up.
“We have never done anything like it before and it is risky so Lancaster University suggested try doing something elevated for Curate the Campus.”
The band will be playing music linked to the idea of “a spirit of adventure” including the theme to Indiana Jones and 633 Squadron.
WASHINGTON (AP) — BET Networks is entering the exploding business of prepaid cards, partnering with an industry leader in hopes of reaching millions of black Americans who don’t use banks.
BET, the biggest brand name in black media, is offering the card with NetSpend, one of the biggest prepaid card companies. NetSpend hopes the endorsement will help it convert BET viewers into fee-paying customers.
Blacks are overrepresented among what the financial industry calls the unbanked and underbanked, people who don’t have bank accounts or who use high-cost services like check-cashing and payday loans.
Prepaid cards are like debit cards but aren’t attached to a checking account and sometimes lack the consumer protections offered by debit and credit cards. They are the fastest-growing electronic payment method, according to a 2010 study by the Federal Reserve.
BET began taking phone and online orders this month for the card, called the Control Prepaid MasterCard. The companies are testing the market before what they expect will be a flood of interest, says Dan Henry, CEO of NetSpend.
“We look for true partners, like BET, who recognize this need in this country: to provide financial services for low-income consumers,” he says. Those consumers often resort to costly options like storefront check-cashers. For some, prepaid cards are a lower-cost alternative.
To the financial industry, the unbanked are a mostly untapped market. American Express and other companies are marketing prepaid cards and other products designed for people who can’t get bank accounts or don’t trust banks.
Other potential customers live paycheck to paycheck and prefer the safety of a card that will not charge unexpected fees for overspending or bounced checks.
About 22 percent of black households don’t have bank accounts, compared with 3 percent for whites, according to a 2009 study by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The study found that more than half of black households either don’t have bank accounts or sometimes use higher-cost financial services.
“There are so many people still using check-cashing services, so many people paying exorbitant bank fees, so many people who are managing their financial affairs solely on a cash basis,” said Scott Mills, BET’s president and chief operating officer.
He says the company chose its partner carefully, even though other prepaid cards have been hawked on BET-owned channels for a decade. He says BET executives were impressed with NetSpend’s focus on reaching underbanked Americans.
The goal of companies like NetSpend and its chief rival, Green Dot Corp., is to convince people without bank accounts to sign up for cards, then keep those people using them — and keep incurring monthly fees. One way NetSpend retains customers is by cutting fees for people who have their paychecks deposited directly.
Some companies also use the cards to convert underbanked consumers into bank clients. The Control card offers high-yield savings accounts to people who have $500 or more deposited directly each month. Big banks try to “graduate” card users into regular checking accounts.
The companies rake in millions from fees paid by customers, by stores when people swipe the cards, and from a small amount of interest paid on the cash deposited by cardholders.
Executives from BET and NetSpend would not provide details on how the two companies will divide the profits from the Control card. NetSpend had 2.1 million active cards at the end of 2011, with $11 billion loaded onto the cards last year.
Black celebrities have already endorsed cards that compete for a slice of the market. They include hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons’ RushCard, radio host Tom Joyner’s Reach Card and rapper Lil Wayne’s Young Money Card.
Control card users pay $7.95 per month, $2.50 per ATM withdrawal, $1 for overspending and 50 cents to check the account balance via telephone or ATM. There’s also an unspecified fee for reloading the card with cash or a check rather than direct deposit.
Those who have $500 per month deposited directly qualify for a lower monthly fee of $5, the high-yield checking account and a $10 “purchase cushion” that allows users to overdraw their accounts without penalty.
Consumer groups have raised alarms about hefty fees and aggressive marketing by some prepaid card companies. In a report released Thursday, Consumers Union said weak regulation has allowed prepaid cards to mushroom into “a second-tier and much less desirable banking system” for many consumers.
It called on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the government’s new watchdog agency, to require clearer fee disclosures and make prepaid providers follow the same rules that govern debit and credit cards.
CFPB officials have signaled that the bureau is taking a close look at the prepaid card market. Its review could include their fee structures, marketing materials and disclosures.
Yet clearer fee disclosures, and even lower fees, are unlikely to dampen consumers’ hunger for the cards, Henry, the NetSpend CEO, suggested last year during a conference call with analysts.
“We don’t find a lot of price sensitivity to this product,” Henry said.
That’s because many people prefer the upfront costs of prepaid cards to the unexpected fees banks sometimes charge, says Anisha Sekar, vice president of cards for NerdWallet, a website that researches cards and helps people compare offers.
“They’re more willing to pay the cost of a card to get that mental security,” she says.
Henry says marketing partnerships like the one with BET will help drive prepaid-card growth, especially as more employers and governments eliminate paper checks and banks offer fewer free checking accounts.
“I see all these new partners we’re getting as a way we’re getting more boats on the water or being able to reach and attract these consumers as they are driven into the electronic payments economy,” he told analysts last year.
___
Follow Daniel Wagner at www.twitter.com/wagnerreports.
Brian Nelle is only in seventh grade, but his ingenuity has already made a difference in the life of a wounded veteran.
The Brunswick Middle School student wants to be a physician’s assistant, but his latest innovation has him thinking about a part-time career as an engineer, he said.
Brian, a Boy Scout, has made a device that makes it easier to reload a 9mm pistol magazine one handed.
“I have airsoft guns,” Brian said, referring to replica guns that fire plastic pellets. “Those always interested me.”
While Brian’s innovation may sound advanced for a 12-year-old, it not only has a practical use, but it also has made a huge impression on the man for whom it was intended.
Adam Kisielewski, a retired Marine sergeant, lost his left arm and right leg in a bomb blast during a sweep for insurgents at a school outside Al-Karmah, Iraq, on Aug. 21, 2005. The blast killed his platoon leader, 2nd Lt. James Cathey.
“It was a pretty violent area and a pretty violent time. We were getting into stuff pretty frequently,” Kisielewski said.
Kisielewski finished high school in Wisconsin early to join the Marines in 2002. He now lives in a ranch home in Thurmont with a large U.S. flag flying out front and a shooting range out back. It was there that his friend, David Staten, noticed Kisielewski had trouble reloading magazines for his rifle and pistol, Staten said.
Staten, who is retired from the Navy and works at the U.S. Public Health Service at Fort Detrick, mentioned Kisielewski’s troubles to his colleague, Timothy Nelle, Brian’s father. Staten thought the elder Nelle, an avid woodworker, could make a device to help. Brian, needing a science project, took note of the men’s work and sought to improve it.
After some online research and a trip to the hardware store, a prototype was made, but it proved too tough to handle one-handed, Brian said.
On a second attempt, Brian — with his dad doing the “dangerous” work — came up with a design that includes a spring-loaded mount on a metal rod to hold the magazine upright. Brian added a commercially available loader that he modified to lock in place so bullets can be loaded into the standing magazine.
“My friend Jack, he wants to be a Marine, too, and I just like to know, if something happens to people, I can help them,” Brian said.
The device is screwed onto a board that Kisielewski can bolt to his all-terrain vehicle to prevent it from slipping as he reloads.
Brian presented the final product to Kisielewski at Operation Second Chance, an organization in Clarksburg that helps wounded veterans. Kisielewski is its vice president.
Kisielewski called Brian’s work ingenious and awesome.
“(It is) something I never would have ever dreamed up, and I’m 28 years old,” he said. “I think he’s definitely got a career in engineering in front of him or whatever else he wants to do.”
Knowing that people like Brian are interested in helping make his life easier propels Kisielewski forward, he said.
“I’ve always had a lot of drive in life, but with so many people in your corner, it’s hard to fail,” he said.
Brian’s project won first place in the middle school engineering division of the Frederick County Public School’s Science and Engineering Fair and was the first runner-up in the overall middle school division, according to an FCPS news release.
Brian plans to submit the device at the state level this summer, he said.
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A DELIGHTED and surprised Jean Jarvis was presented with life-presidency of Warbleton Brass Band at its concert last Sunday at the Dunn Village Hall, Rushlake Green.
The band president, Judith Kinnison-Bourke, said this honour, which had only been given once before in the band’s 100 year-plus life, was in recognition of Jean’s long and devoted service to the band. Jean started playing as a girl, although was not able to play with the band until the late 1950s as women were not allowed to play in public until then.
Over the years Jean has played with and served the band in various roles. Amongst them she maintained the music library, and latterly was band secretary, a role she only grave up recently. She continues to play.
Warbleton Brass Band was founded in 1896. In those days, early players would have paid about £7.10s for a four-valve euphonium. They were nearly all local residents whereas today’s band members come from far afield. Every Friday evening from 7.30pm the band can be heard practising in Dunn Village Hall and anyone can join. Information email: secretary@warbletonbrassband.co.uk
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – If you go to Nashville Electric Service, they’ll expect you to pay your electric bill in full.
But for years, the folks at Gaylord Opryland have been getting a bit of a break on the bill for their big Country Christmas spectacular — in exchange for tickets to the big shows and other perks that have gone to some of NES’s top brass.
“Why don’t they just pay what they owe like everybody else?” asked NES customer Ken Jakes.
Jakes runs a Nashville produce business, and his company also uses a lot of electricity. Which is why he was stunned when he came across a mention of the Gaylord deal while looking through some NES records.
“The executive staff, as you well know, they are not very underpaid — they are some of the highest paid employees within Davidson County,” Jakes added. “Why are they getting all these free perks?”
Our investigation discovered that, for years, Gaylord has counted on NES to supply free transformers to power the two million lights, as well as to cool its massive ICE! display. Gaylord did pay for the electricity it used.
NES spokesman Tim Hill calls it a good deal for the Metro-owned utility.
“It was a good opportunity for us to partner with a good community corporation here that brings a lot of business here to Nashville,” Hill said.
120 tickets to the ICE! show — valued at $24 dollars each
25 tickets to Louise Mandrell’s dinner show — $70 each
30 tickets to the Rockettes — $84 each
25 certificates for rooms and parking at the resort hotel — each worth almost $300
They were not given to senior management unless they asked for them,” spokesman Tim Hill said.
“But senior management did use some of these tickets?” we asked.
“Yes,” he acknowledged, “they did use some of them.”
Among those taking advantage of the free hotel rooms and tickets was NES President Decosta Jenkins, who our investigation caught last year charging ratepayers for expensive dinners, alcohol, even hotel movies.
Jenkins, who’s an avid golfer, also took at least one pass to play free at the lush Gaylord Springs golf course.
All of that was a result of a contract signed by Jenkins himself.
“Why should N-E-S executives be personally benefiting from this contract?” NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Hill.
“They are not personally benefiting,” he insisted.
“They are getting free room nights, they are getting free tickets,” we noted.
“Anybody could have used the tickets, Phil. I could have used the tickets if I wanted to.”
In fact, Hill says Jenkins took one of those expensive room certificates to use as a gift, executive VP Alan Bradley used one, while chief financial officer Teresa Broyles-Aplin — the woman who oversees the contracts — took at least two.
That despite an NES policy that says “the acceptance of gifts, hospitality, or entertainment in excess of $100 from customers… or other parties doing business with NES is prohibited.
“That is a personal benefit as a result of this contract,” we noted.
“Well, yeah, it was a gift certificate that they gave us and they used them,” Hill said.
Jakes questioned whether NES should be using such a back-door methods.
“If NES wants to buy some Rockette tickets and golf courses, let them pay Gaylord back — what’s this swapping back and forth?” he asked.
But both NES and Gaylord insist that this contract is a normal sort of sponsorship deal — a deal that provides the electric company with a chance to get its name before the public in a positive way.
“This was an opportunity for us in a way to get advertising,” Hill said. “Like I said, 80 percent of the benefit of this package was in advertising.”
A presentation prepared by Gaylord showing how NES benefited shows its logo appeared in ads in The Tennessean and the Nashville Scene.
But it also counts ads in Memphis, in Knoxville, even in Birmingham — all places far outside the NES service area.
“All this is,” Jakes said, “is documentation to try to justify a swap deal that should have never happened to start with.”
While the intentions may have been good, Jakes questions whether public agencies should be engaged in such trades.
“I’ll furnish them a few potatoes and tomatoes and maybe throw in some onions to see if I can get a contract. But you and me both know that’s not going to work,” he added.
As for who really benefited, we don’t know for sure. That’s because the folks in charge at NES say they did not to keep any records about how these perks were disbursed.
We also don’t know exactly how much the contract was worth.
MANILA, Philippines – Globe Telecom partners with Generika Drugstore, one of the fast-growing drugstore chains selling quality affordable generic medicines in the country, to enable customers who are buying medicines to also reload their Globe or TM prepaid phones via point-of-sale (POS) technology at any Generika checkout counters nationwide.
With the tie-up, customers buying medicine will also be able to buy Globe or TM prepaid load in any of the checkout counters of the 260 branches of Generika Drugstore nationwide. Load bought by customers at the counter will be instantly credited to their Globe or TM accounts upon payment. Customers also get instant confirmation of their transaction via text, with the receipt as additional proof of purchase.
“The partnership marks another first for Globe as we integrate our prepaid mobile reloading into the sales system of a major chain — this time, with a fast-growing drugstore chain selling affordable generic medicines in the country,” says Ramon Matriano, Consumer Sales Group head of Globe.
“The partnership with Generika Drugstore for POS reloading further cements our leadership in providing alternative prepaid reloading options to serve as many customers as possible. Last year, is a banner year for us as we had several milestone POS partnerships — with a national hypermarket chain, premium supermarket chain, and large convenience store chain,” adds Matriano.
“We are very pleased with this new value-added service that we are offering to our customers in partnership with Globe. One of our primary goals is to provide our customers the opportunity to maximize their visit to our drugstore — to be able to buy medicines and even load under one roof,” says Julien Bello, vice president of Generika Franchising Services Corporation.
Generika Drugstore customers can buy a minimum of P15 prepaid load via POS. To purchase prepaid load, a customer simply needs to give his/her mobile number to the cashier at the checkout counter and indicate the desired amount of load to buy. The service provides instant virtual credit upon payment. The customers also get instant confirmation of his/her transaction via text, with the receipt as additional proof of purchase.
Globe has continually improved its product offers for its prepaid subscribers, ending 2011 with over 30 million subscribers. Globe Prepaid and TM closed the year with total subscribers of 15.5 million and 13.1 million, 12-percent and 13-percent higher than 2010 levels, respectively. Growth was driven by affordable and all-you-can inter and intra-network call and text services such as SuperUnliAllTxt25, SuperAllTxt20, and SuperUnli.
On the other hand, Generika is poised to open at least 100 additional stores nationwide over the next eight months, a pace that would bring the total number of operational stores to almost 400 by the end of 2012.
This
was to be a blog entry on the New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars at New Orleans Jazz Fest. It still will be. But on my way to the Lagniappe Stage, I decided to sit
for a few minutes at Economy Hall to catch part of a set by the Treme Brass
Band. And therein lies a tale of consummate delight.
The
Treme is one of the best-known of New Orleans’ brass bands, and for the first
chunk of their performance, they were typically terrific. Then the members
summoned a cadre of young musicians to the stage, students in various programs
around town. I figured we’d hear a bit of earnest jazz-making from a bunch of
reasonably adept teenagers. I certainly wasn’t prepared for what actually
emerged: fully considered, mature playing that more than once was, frankly,
stunning.
Leading
the way was trumpeter John Michael Bradford, all of 15 years old. He’s gotten
quite a bit of attention for his accomplishments in and around New Orleans,
though I’d never heard him until this particular Sunday afternoon with the
Treme Brass Band. Yikes. Fabulous. As part of a deliriously fine account of “That’s New
Orleans,” he was glory-bound. So were his fellow student players.
Much
of the Economy Hall audience was similarly ecstatic, second-liners streaming up
and down the aisles, listeners on their feet yelling and clapping,
photographers jockeying for position up front, thrusting phone cams underneath
the tent flaps in the back. If these teens are the future, bring it on, I say. Bring
it on.
Not
surprisingly, I stayed for the Treme’s entire set, finally scooting over to the
grandstand to hear the Klezmer All-Stars. Not precisely Treme to Tel Aviv, but
enough of a stylistic contrast to jolt my brain into a separate set of
listening gears.
Klezmer
summons up all sorts of aural imagery, mostly along the lines of traditional
fare and traditional instrumentalists like clarinetist Giora Feidman. The New
Orleans Klezmer All-Stars, while acknowledging the genre’s foundations, delight
in pushing and pulling its organizational principles.
A
clarinet, for instance, might give way to a soprano saxophone — still reedy,
but with a distinctly different timbre. There’s liberal use of electric
guitars, and those guitars often supply crashing, heavy textures that owe as
much to rock than to what we consider “classical” klezmer.
Even
so, the Klezmer All-Stars retain the distinctive, modal flavor of klezmer: the
almost wailing, Sephardic tone color that manages to be both contemporary and
timeless. The riffs may be 20th and 21st-century, the
instrumental attacks full of frank and full spectacle, but with a violin floating
over the top, the New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars — with forgiveness to “Cats” -
are now and forever.
A final note: Sitting next to me was a young woman from Louisville, Ky., whose family I knew when I lived and worked there. She is getting married soon, and told me that she has booked the Klezmer All-Stars to play at her wedding — which will include a second line moving guests from the wedding canopy to the reception. I hope someone blogs the event. It should be a helluva bash.
Naval officers may be sent to China to receive submarine training, a Defence Ministry source says.
Defence Minister ACM Sukumpol Suwanatat has proposed naval officers receive basic submarine training in China.
ACM Sukumpol and armed forces leaders toured the Qingdao Submarine School at the weekend, and thought that offering instruction to naval officers would be a good idea.
They inspected Type 039 Song Class attack submarines.
Any officers sent to China for training will have to take Chinese language lessons first.
The source said the training should not be construed as Thailand expressing interest in buying Chinese submarines in the future.
The Defence Ministry recently scrapped a navy plan to buy six second-hand submarines worth a total of 7 billion baht from Germany. It failed to obtain cabinet approval by the Feb 29 deadline set by Berlin.
ACM Sukumpol said the Song Class submarine which he observed had a rather crammed interior but is technologically advanced.
He said the ministry was still interested in buying submarines and was in the process of compiling information about them.
The navy will study submarines in commission in Europe, South Korea and Singapore.
ACM Sukumpol said the ministry has not set a requirement as to whether the navy should procure new or second-hand submarines.
“China is like family. We are sincere with each other,” the defence minister said. ACM Sukumpol added Thailand would not meddle with any conflicts within the region.
Navy chief Surasak Roonroengrom said the navy cannot afford to buy new submarines costing between 10-20 billion baht each.
“I’m afraid the chances of the navy getting the submarines have diminished,” he said, referring to the failed deal with Germany.
Did you know?
You can introduce your kids to edutianment reading with our Student Weekly magazine: Thailand’s only all-English entertainment and education magazine for teens and all ages.
The Eastern Iowa Brass Band will wrap up its 25th subscription season with a spring concert at 7:30 p.m. today in the Mount Vernon District Auditorium, 731 Palisades Road S.W. in Mournt Vernon.
The concert will feature three soloists, including the two winners of the band’s Young Artists Competition: Lydia Raim, Ben Reid and Kate Wohlman. Tickets are $10 for adults and $4 for students.
For more information, visit easterniowabrassband.com.
A major general in the China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has called for “decisive action” from the Chinese government to assert its territorial claim against the Philippines over the Scarborough Shoal dispute.
Prominent Chinese military commentator Major Gen. Luo Yuan accused the Philippines of initiating the current standoff in the South China Sea.
“Therefore it is important that China demonstrates its determination to safeguard its national sovereignty and security,” Luo said.
“Strategically, I feel that instead of withdrawing, China should have taken the opportunity presented by the situation to strengthen its claims to Huangyan Island (the Chinese name for the shoal) by raising the Chinese flag or establishing a military or fishing base,” he added.
Luo added it was necessary to correct misunderstandings regarding China’s stance and philosophy.
“It is incorrect to assume that China will completely rule out military action in any event during this period of strategic opportunity,” which he termed as an opportunity “to both economic and national defense development.”
The assumption that China will abandon the notion of war at all costs due to its “peaceful rise” philosophy is also incorrect, he added.
To safeguard our sovereign and territory rights, we will never hesitate to face up to any military challenge, he said.
“China is committed to resolving international disputes through dialogue and diplomacy, but the problem in the dispute with the Philippines is that Manila is unwilling to enter dialog,” he said.
Luo said as the situation has become urgent, China should amend its existing diplomatic policy regarding the South China Sea from “shelve disputes and carry out joint development” to “proactively resolve disputes and jointly develop in line with China’s priorities.”
“It is the Philippines that violated China’s sovereignty over Huangyan Island by forcing an inspection of a Chinese fishing vessel. Therefore, action was required in order to respond to this unnecessary provocation to let both the Philippines and any potential future provocateur know that such actions will not be
tolerated,” he added.
Luo’s earlier commentaries stated that the United States clearly wanted to encircle China as a reaction to President Barack Obama’s recent tack of a military pivot to the Asia-Pacific region.
Luo, who is well-known for his hawkish views, said the United States is making much of its ‘return to Asia’, has been positioning pieces and forces on China’s periphery, and the intent is very clear — this is aimed at China, to contain China.”
While Luo’s comments do not represent official policy it serves as a reflection of the undercurrents of nationalist ire with Washington that Beijing’s policy-makers face.
Luo was among several PLA officer-pundits who lambasted US policy earlier last year, before both governments moved to ease tensions over Taiwan, Tibet and other disputes.
Analysts have said that although the PLA is firmly under the thumb of China’s Communist Party, officer-analysts have been given some leeway to strike a tougher tone in their comments.
Later in 2010, however, Chinese President Hu Jintao made clear that he could ill-afford a new round of tensions that might sour ties with Washington ahead of 2012, when he retires from power and the US is focused on its presidential race.
Hu admonished the military for letting officers speak on sensitive disputes, a scholar familiar with official discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters earlier.
But Luo, at least, appears emboldened to speak out again.
He said the United States should keep focused on its “war on terror” against Islamist militants.
An earlier commentary of Xue Hao, an offical of the National Defense of the People’s Republic of China, described the recently held Balikatan military exercise between American and Filipino forces was meant to set up “the stage” to prepare for combat operations “to further stir the situation in the South China Sea.”
In the number of military forces from both sides, the Philippines as the host country dispatched 2,300 personnel, while the US dispatched 4,500 personnel for the exercise, becoming the largest military force in the number of military personnel dispatched by the US compared with previous similar exercies.
“In the aspect of the exercise location, the practical combat subjects such as amphibious combat are arranged in the waters off the west of the Palawan Island of the Philippines, approaching to the Nansha Islands of China, which belongs to the dispute-ridden area,” according to Xue.
“It’s not difficult to see the Philippines’ real intent hidden behind the US-Philippines joint military exercise. The biggest meeting point for both the US and the Philippines is probably to enhance both parties’ influence in the Asia-Pacific region by stirring the situation in the South China Sea,” he said.
“The reason why the US worked so hard to send massive forces and pull in other countries was not only to ‘keep up appearances’ for the Philippines’ sake, but also to fulfill its strategic need of returning to the Asia-Pacific,” he said.
China’s official news agency Xinhua, meanwhile, quoted a Defense Ministry spokesman as saying that the mainland’s armed forces have vowed to “fulfill their duty” to safeguard China’s territory in the South China Sea.
“China’s military forces will collaborate closely with related governing bodies, including fishery administration and maritime law enforcement, to jointly ensure the country’s maritime rights and interests,” Geng Yansheng said in Beijing.
This was the first official remark from the armed forces following a standoff with a Philippine warship in waters off China’s Huangyan Island on April 10.
Analysts said the comments were also in response to growing domestic demand to ensure sovereignty in the South China Sea.
Earlier, Defense Minister Liang Guanglie said that any military action will be based on the needs of diplomacy.
Media reports said that China has sent a nuclear-powered submarine to the South China Sea, but the spokesman did not confirm or deny the accuracy of the reports.
Beijing has shown reason and restraint in handling the dispute and tried to calm tension by withdrawing patrol ships, yet Manila’s recent decision to send more vessels to the waters worsens the situation, Yang Baoyun, a professor at Peking University, said.
“In the meantime, China should beef up infrastructure, tourism and administration on islands in the South China Sea to avoid further disputes,” Yang added.
Manila’s standoff against Beijing has entered the seventeenth day and Beijing has not sent warships to the area.
Huangyan Island has been an integral part of China’s territory for centuries and the Philippines admitted China’s sovereignty over the island before it started to officially lay rival claims in 1997.
Last April 10, Xinhua claimed 12 Chinese fishing boats were harassed by a Philippine warship while taking refuge from stormy weather in a lagoon near the island. Two Chinese patrol ships in the area later came to the fishermen’s rescue, and the warship left.
Concerns about Scottsdale’s competitiveness in the marketplace have ignited a debate over the pay and benefits of public-safety employees, who are leaving the city for other opportunities.
Rookie police officers in Scottsdale earn the lowest salary of all major cities in metro Phoenix, according to a compensation study comparing Scottsdale with similar Valley police departments.
“We don’t have a problem in our top pay. We do have a problem in our bottom pay in terms of being competitive in the marketplace,” Police Chief Alan Rodbell told the City Council last week.
Chet Anderson, past president of the Scottsdale Fraternal Order of Police, said at least one employee falls under the federal health and nutrition program for women, infants and children, commonly abbreviated WIC. “But it would not surprise me if there were more cops and certainly civilian employees,” he said.
Additionally, Scottsdale officers receive the fewest personal days, holidays and sick days, said Jim Nolan, Scottsdale Fraternal Order of Police president.
Scottsdale, which pays starting officers an average $49,878, is losing police personnel for better pay and benefits, department officials confirmed.
Last year, Scottsdale’s police force lost 26 experienced employees, Nolan said.
“We’ve seen people leaving in droves, and that’s going to continue,” said Jim Hill, president of the Police Officers of Scottsdale Association.
“What we’re seeing is we’re no longer competitive,” Hill said. “We’re not even in the top tier.”
Rodbell, who oversees a public-safety department of 924 full-time-equivalent positions, said police staffing has dipped.
Since 2009-10, the department has eliminated 63 positions, with plans to ax another 10 next fiscal year.
Among major Valley cities, Scottsdale ranked lowest in starting salary, second to Gilbert, which pays its rookie officers $50,544.
Since a peak in 2007-08, Scottsdale has spent less every year on police overtime, though the city projects a slight increase this fiscal year.
By dividing the police budget of each city by the number of sworn officers, Mayor Jim Lane said Scottsdale could gain a better comparison.
“We want to be competitive and we want to be properly served, and we don’t want to cut morale and the kinds of situations that developed because of the difficulties police officers and maybe even firefighters have had with the current situation,” Lane said.
Councilwoman Lisa Borowsky supported increasing the starting salary for new police officers, which “doesn’t necessarily increase the budget” if the city lowered the salaries of higher-paid police officials.
But Councilman Ron McCullagh said that adjusting salaries won’t make a difference if employees are retiring or leaving on their own volition.
He urged city officials to look “from the standpoint of the budget,” projected in 2012-13 to be $112.6 million for public safety, the biggest slice of the financial plan.
“I’m trying to figure out how to get this number from $112 million to $100 million,” McCullagh said. “We have other departments where we have cut staff. … The point is, how much public safety can the city afford? How much should they afford?”
CLAYTON, Mo., April 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Olin Corporation (OLN) announced today that it has entered into a new $265 million five-year senior revolving credit facility that replaces its $240 million senior revolving credit facility. The new credit facility will expire on April 27, 2017 and is comprised of a $215 million US dollar denominated portion under which Olin may borrow and a $50 million US/Canadian dollar denominated portion under which Olin and one of its Canadian subsidiaries may borrow. The facility is unsecured and contains restrictions on Olin that are similar to the restrictions contained in the $240 million senior revolving credit facility. The facility also includes a $110 million letter of credit subfacility and the ability to increase the size of the facility to $365 million.
Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, will act as Administrative Agent for the facility; Bank of America, N.A. and Citibank, N.A., have acted as Syndication Agents; and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner Smith Incorporated have acted as Joint Lead Arrangers and Joint Bookrunners.
In addition, Olin entered into a Forward Purchase Agreement and the Second Amendment to the Amended and Restated Credit and Funding Agreement governing The Industrial Development Authority of Washington County Series 2010A bonds, The Industrial Development Authority of Washington County Series 2010B bonds, The Mississippi Business Finance Corporation Series 2010 bonds and The Industrial Development Board of the County of Bradley and the City of Cleveland, Tennessee Series 2010 bonds to reduce the interest rate on the bonds and secure a commitment from the current holders of the bonds to repurchase the bonds through October 31, 2016.
Olin’s Board of Directors also authorized the repayment of $7.7 million of The Industrial Development Board of the County of Bradley (Tennessee) Variable Rate Demand Revenue Refunding Bonds (Olin Corporation Project) Series 1993C bonds. The Company intends to exercise the early redemption provision and repay the bonds during the second quarter of 2012. The bonds, which currently pay a fixed rate of 6.625%, will be redeemed at 103% of their face value.
COMPANY DESCRIPTION
Olin Corporation is a manufacturer concentrated in two business segments: Chlor Alkali Products and Winchester. Chlor Alkali Products manufactures chlorine and caustic soda, sodium hydrosulfite, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen, potassium hydroxide and bleach products. Winchester products include sporting ammunition, reloading components, small caliber military ammunition and components, and industrial cartridges.
This communication includes forward-looking statements. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on management’s beliefs, certain assumptions made by management, forecasts of future results, and current expectations, estimates and projections about the markets and economy in which we and our various segments operate. The statements contained in this communication that are not statements of historical fact may include forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties.
We have used the words “anticipate,” “intend,” “may,” “expect,” “believe,” “should,” “plan,” “project,” “estimate,” “forecast,” and variations of such words and similar expressions in this communication to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those matters expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of future events, new information or otherwise. Relative to the dividend, the payment of cash dividends is subject to the discretion of our board of directors and will be determined in light of then-current conditions, including our earnings, our operations, our financial conditions, our capital requirements and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. In the future, our board of directors may change our dividend policy, including the frequency or amount of any dividend, in light of then-existing conditions.
The risks, uncertainties and assumptions involved in our forward-looking statements, many of which are discussed in more detail in our filings with the SEC, including without limitation the “Risk Factors” section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, include, but are not limited to, the following:
sensitivity to economic, business and market conditions in the United States and overseas, including economic instability or a downturn in the sectors served by us, such as ammunition, housing, vinyls, and pulp and paper, and the migration by United States customers to low-cost foreign locations;
the cyclical nature of our operating results, particularly declines in average selling prices in the chlor alkali industry and the supply/demand balance for our products, including the impact of excess industry capacity or an imbalance in demand for our chlor alkali products;
economic and industry downturns that result in diminished product demand and excess manufacturing capacity in any of our segments and that, in many cases, result in lower selling prices and profits;
costs and other expenditures in excess of those projected for environmental investigation and remediation or other legal proceedings;
unexpected litigation outcomes;
new regulations or public policy changes regarding the transportation of hazardous chemicals and the security of chemical manufacturing facilities;
changes in legislation or government regulations or policies;
adverse conditions in the credit and capital markets, limiting or preventing our ability to borrow or raise capital;
the occurrence of unexpected manufacturing interruptions and outages, including those occurring as a result of labor disruptions and production hazards;
the failure or an interruption of our information technology systems;
higher-than-expected raw material and energy, transportation, and/or logistics costs;
weak industry conditions could affect our ability to comply with the financial maintenance covenants in our senior revolving credit facility and certain tax-exempt bonds;
the effects of any declines in global equity markets on asset values and any declines in interest rates used to value the liabilities in our pension plan; and
an increase in our indebtedness or higher-than-expected interest rates, affecting our ability to generate sufficient cash flow for debt service.
All of our forward-looking statements should be considered in light of these factors. In addition, other risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we consider immaterial could affect the accuracy of our forward-looking statements.
We are covering the Transformers Collectors Club Panel Live! Check out the updates after the jump. Keep reloading the page for news and updates that were presented at the panel. Get the scoop on the Figure Subscription Service for Transformers Collectors Club, Exclusives, and much more after the jump.
Figure Subscription Service for Transformers Collectors Club
Just like they are doing for JoeClub. There will be no prize points yet. All figures will be released today! There will be a 3-4 week subscription time frame.
The new service will have a more modern back-end, which allows you to see all messages from the Club, your orders, and your address.
They are still deciding if there will be a 3 month drop or a 6 month drop due to price points.
They are trying to do two per month, so there will be six figures every three months.
You can either pay in full in the beginning, or in three installments.
The figures shown today will not be in the order they are released. They will be a surprise every release.
They’re only explaining the nuances of the toy designs for this year. Here are the figures to be offered:
Breakdown
Classics 2.0 Sideswipe in Generation 1 Stunticon Breakdown colors.
Jackpot
Transformers Animated Jazz In Generation 1 Actionmaster Jackpot colors: Black vehicle with Orange hood and red windshield.
Scourge
Reveal the Shield G2 Optimus Prime mold. The Robots In Disguise Scourge deco, complete with upside down Decepticon logo and red sword.
Slipestream
Transformers Prime Starscream mold In Transformers Animated Slipstream colors. The figure will get a new head mold.
Circuit
– The next one is from left field. Transformers Movie Lockdown mold. He is a character from the Marvel UK Transformers comic. And he is using the Axor head
Ultra Mammoth
Beast War Neo Big Convoy mold in Ultra Magnus colors.
Depth Charge
Free membership incentive figure this year is Depth Charge. Using the Transformers Dark of the Moon Terradive mold. Complete with Trident. Pete Sinclair says that he went on a diet, but the Terradive head mold is perfect for Depth Charge.
We are dedicated to being to be the best resource for all your Transformers news and reviews every day. Keep your browser dialed to Tformers.com for updates as they happen.
Google Drive has come to Chrome OS, the browser-based operating system that arguably needs it more than the average PC.
(Credit:
screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)
Google Drive is handy for mobile devices and conventional computers, but it’s just arrived on another class of devices where it’s potentially a lot more transformative: Chrome OS.
Google Drive synchronizes files across multiple devices and with Google’s own servers; a file copied or saved into the folder on a personal computer or uploaded to the Google Drive Web site is then accessible on other devices. It’s tightly integrated with Google Docs, Google’s online service for word processing, presentations, and spreadsheets.
On personal computers, Google Drive or competing services such as Dropbox or SkyDrive can be useful. But on Chrome OS, Google’s browser-based operating system, it’s a big step up. That’s because its file management interface is rudimentary, and when you use it to store files, they aren’t available elsewhere unless you export them somehow — uploading photos to Picasa or e-mailing PDFs to yourself, for example.
With Drive, though, files stored with this supposedly cloud-computing operating system are actually integrated directly with the cloud. You could already get your Google Docs, of course, but now you can see all the other files you’ve stored much more easily. And services like Dropbox don’t work easily on Chrome OS the way they do on Windows or Mac OS X.
“Think of it as your drive for Chrome OS,” said Scott Johnston, the product manager in charge of Google Drive, in an earlier interview this week. “It’s as if you have a local disk, but it happens to be stored in the cloud.”
That’s potentially important for another reason: unlike even low-end laptops, the Chrome OS laptops Google calls Chromebooks today have only 16GB. That’ll change with later models, said Sundar Pichai, senior vice president for Chrome and Apps at Google.
But it seems unlikely that it’ll ever match the much larger capacities needed for a less network-centric device, and Pichai said people will keep only what they most need on Chromebooks.
“People will have a way of choosing important files,” Pichai said. “I think of Chromebook as a cache of important data and not all your stuff.”
It’s clearly an early version of Google Drive, though. For example, I couldn’t drag and drop a file in Chrome OS’s download folder into Google Drive, though copy and paste worked to move it. And as with Google Drive in general, I find it slower than Dropbox to synchronize new files across different devices. Reloading the page doesn’t actually fetch updated data, but for me going back to a parent folder then reopening the one I wanted refreshed it.
There were some resizing issues, with thumbnails flowing awkwardly as I shrank the window. And for whatever reason, the thumbnail images were bigger and at least for me more useful using the Web interface rather than the Chrome OS file manager interface.
Those who want to try it out will have to use the developer channel of Chrome OS, which can be choppy going sometimes since it’s got newer features that haven’t been tested as well. To use the file manager interface on Chrome OS, type Ctrl-M.
Chromebooks so far haven’t made much of an impression on an industry fixated more with tablets, mobile phones, and ever-slimmer Mac laptops. Google is beavering away on the project, though, most recently adding a new, more traditional interface to Chrome OS. That initially was available only for the Acer- and Samsung-built Chromebooks, but now it’s available on Google’s Cr-48 Chromebook prototypes, too.
Google also has said faster Chromebooks are on the way.
One of my first lessons of program building came at the hands of Mike Brey, who took over at the University of Delaware at the tail end of my collegiate career. When I say career, I’m referring to my melodious play-by-play calls of Blue Hen basketball. Anyway, Brey imparted on me the wisdom of the transfer.
Over the course of his time in Newark, I would chide the coach that he took so many transfers it seemed like he didn’t start recruiting until campus directories were printed and he knew how to get in touch with players on other teams. Steadily, Brey constructed a winning program at Delaware behind guys who were on their second and final chances.
Since graduating and watching Brey enjoy nearly two decades of success, I’ve never lost the importance of what a good transfer can do for a program, especially at the mid-major level. Would VCU have gone to the Final Four without Jamie Skeen two years ago? That’s just one example, but I’m a firm believer that makeup of a good mid-major program has room for multiple transfers.
[+] Enlarge Charles LeClaire/USPRESSWIRENew Rhode Island coach Dan Hurley is mining talent from the state of New Jersey.For that reason, we shine the light on Rhode Island, where Dan Hurley quickly adopted a Brey-like philosophy. On Wednesday night, Hurley dipped into the transfer pool and sprung wing Jarelle Reischel from Rice. VCU was the other finalist for the kid who started 10 conference games as a freshman for the Owls. He played his high school ball in New Jersey, as did Hurley’s first impact transfer.
Gil Biruta averaged 9 points and 5 rebounds for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Like Reischel, he’ll sit out next season, but he’ll have two years of eligibility remaining; Reischel has three.
When you’re transferring, it’s basically one’s last chance at making the best decision. There’s no room for error. Often times dropping down a level is the best choice, but the reality is Biruta could have played in any league. However, he played for Hurley at St. Benedict’s in high school. The familiarity led to him making a strong transfer choice based on prior information.
“I was tempted to go to a bigger school and league but it’s not really about it, it’s about how coach is going to use me and help me improve,” Biruta said. “I know he’s going to bring good guys and the team chemistry would be great.”
Rhode Island was 7-24 last season. Chances are it won’t be much better next year. But reloading is a process and Hurley, along with his brother Bobby and former Rutgers assistant Jim Carr and URI alum Preston Murphy, have their eyes on the long term.
The biggest challenge facing URI now is patience. There’s a waiting game that comes when you take transfer players. With two good ones in the bank, the task is putting pieces around them, constructing a solid foundation class in 2013 and implementing the culture change that’s bound to come with a Hurley at the helm.
Rhode Island isn’t relevant yet, but it’s on the recruiting trail for sure, as evidenced by these two newcomers. Relevancy is measured in wins and that’s going to take more time and most importantly another recruiting class. Regardless, the players are beginning to see what URI has a chance to become.
“I had many options, but Hurley getting the job at Rhode Island was perfect timing,” Biruta said. “I can trust Coach Hurley, I know how he treats players. Why would I risk it and go somewhere else when I know he can build a winning program?”
URI also owns commitments from former Wagner power forward Mike Aaman (Raritan, N.J./Raritan) and retained URI pledge Jordan Hare (Saginaw, Mich./Saginaw).
By the way, these Hurley boys are sticklers for tradition. So far the only transfers they’ve taken are New Jersey kids. Heck, Aaman is a Jersey guy and Hare was a retainee from the last staff.
Fact is, they’re mining New Jersey right now. Evidence? This weekend, Derrick Gordon, St. Pat’s Class of 2011, is visiting. He was the best freshman at Western Kentucky last year. Word is he’s looking to return north. Maybe he’ll find his way to Rhode Island, the Garden State’s most fertile friendly suburb.
Beavers to Bearcats to Broncos: Lisbon’s Wolfe off to Rockies
Staff/wire report
englewood, colo.
The Denver Broncos’ surprise second-round pick even caught the player off guard.
Versatile defensive lineman Derek Wolfe from Lisbon didn’t have many conversations with his new employer leading up to being selected at No. 36 overall on Friday night. Maybe one, but not nearly as many as he had with other teams.
So when his name was called, well, he was a little bit shocked.
Pleasantly, of course.
“I know I can make a difference,” said Wolfe, a Beaver Local High graduate who was a standout at Cincinnati. “I’m ready for the opportunity.”
In Wolfe, the Broncos receive a speedy 6-foot-5, 300-pound lineman who can play both tackle and end. The Broncos will more than likely ask Wolfe to play in the trenches and become a diversion to free up defensive ends Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller, who’s coming off a sensational first season in which he was named the rookie of the year.
For Wolfe, it doesn’t really matter where he lines up. He just wants playing time.
Not only that, but he comes with a chip on his shoulder, since he believed he was a first-round talent who slipped into the second day of the draft.
“I was a little upset,” said Wolfe, who was the Big East’s co-defensive player of the year after a final season in which he had 91/2 sacks and 211/2 tackles for loss for the Bearcats. “I’m not the type of guy to sit around and wait. I want to get in the mix.
“I’m going to try to learn from everybody. Just try to do everything I can to help us win a championship.”
He is the first Beaver Local graduate to get drafted and the first Mahoning Valley native selected this year. Several other Valley natives have a chance to get picked in Rounds 4-7 today, including Ohio State running back Dan Herron (Warren Harding) and Toledo cornerback Desmond Marrow (Mooney).
Others in the mix to get drafted or earn free agent deals are Northwestern DL Vince Browne (Lisbon), Ball State safety Sean Baker (Canfield), Kent State offensive lineman Chris Anzevino (Harding), Kent DL Ishmaai’ly Kitchen (Mooney) and Toledo TE Jerome Jones (Ursuline).
The 22-year-old Wolfe had a solid performance at the combine, running the 40-yard dash in 5.01 seconds and bench pressing 225 pounds 33 times.
“I think what the combine did was just make [teams] go back and really look at my film, see the things I actually did,” Wolfe said. “See how much I loved the game. I don’t take plays off.”
If anyone expects Peter Chiarelli to do an extreme makeover on the Bruins [team stats] during this offseason, he made it pretty clear yesterday he has no intention of doing that.
The overall message from the Bruins general manager at yesterday’s end-of-season press conference was, while there may be some additions made, he likes this team and is confident it will bounce back nicely next season.
“From the makeover perspective, certainly we’re not going to do anything to make over this team,” said Chiarelli, who met the press alongside coach Claude Julien. “You’ve heard me talk about parity in this league. A first-round loss this year (for the Bruins), and there could be another Stanley Cup final next year. It’s that close.
“I’d like to maybe look at a forward to bolster our top-nine. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to look at re-signing (free agent Benoit) Pouliot or putting (Jordan) Caron up there (on a top line). But we’re going to look at the trade and free agent markets.
“But in the major-change front, I’m not looking to do anything like that. I’d like to add some pieces.
“We lost in the first round, after having won the Cup last year, (but) to me we can go after the Cup again next year. I have every confidence we can do that.”
For those fantasizing about the Bruins signing one of the two grand prizes of the unrestricted free agent market — Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter or New Jersey winger Zach Parise — it sounds like Chiarelli’s no major-change comment shoots that down.
Julien admitted some of his players didn’t deal as well as others with the mental demands of a post-Stanley Cup season — the long season a year ago, then the short summer, then the lofty expectations and pressure this year.
“Our team as a whole wasn’t the team we know we could have been,” he said. “We didn’t have that energy level that you normally see with our team when it’s at its best. That’s the unfortunate part, is we know there was more in us than what we showed in that first round.
“I felt if we could pull through Game 7, I really felt that a lot of weight would have come off some of our players’ shoulders and we would have kind of picked up the pace going into the second round. But that wasn’t the case.”
Two guys perhaps feeling that hefty weight were forwards Milan Lucic (0-3-3) and David Krejci (1-2-3), as both didn’t produce much against the smothering Capitals defense.
“Some of our guys didn’t perform as expected,” said Chiarelli. “We’ve all have seen (Lucic) do wonderful things, and (Krejci). Statistically, they didn’t do much. No one really did. Statistically it was a real tight series.
“They’re two real good players. We want more from them, but they’re two real good players and they’ve given us a lot of good things. We’ll delve into that and see where it takes us.”
Chiarelli noted that the team’s third and fourth lines were, “outgrinded” by their big and strong Capitals counterparts. Overall, he felt the absence of Nathan Horton and defenseman Adam McQuaid (both out with concussions) hurt the team’s strength and physical play, and the balance of the forward lines.
Both Chiarelli and Julien addressed the Bruins weak power play, which went 2-for-23 in a tight series when one well-timed power-play goal might have changed everything.
“When it was crunch time and we needed it, it didn’t happen,” said Chiarelli. “I think we have a pretty good skill-set. It’s something we have to work on, simple as that. It didn’t come through. I have confidence in our group.”
Pep Guardiola announced today he would step down as manager of Barcelona at the end of the season, confirming media rumors that began swirling yesterday afternoon. In typical Barcelona fashion, assistant Tito Vilanova will take over, continuing the tradition of reloading internally that has made Barcelona one of the most successful clubs in the world.
In Guardiola’s four-year reign over Barcelona, he won everything a club soccer manager can win. Three La Liga titles, a Copa del Rey (with one more potentially on the way), three Supercopa de Espana wins, two Champions League trophies, two UEFA Super Cups and two Club World Cup titles make him the most successful manager since Johan Cruyff developed the total football style for which Barcelona is known today. Guardiola didn’t give a specific reason for his departure, but alluded to the pressure and demands of managing a prestigious club. That’s nice, but he might as well have said, “What the hell else can I do here?”
With Barcelona out of the Champions League and out of La Liga title contention, it feels like the end of an era in soccer. It’s been a while since I’ve used a somewhat obscure literary reference in a post that no one will read, so I’ll go for it here. Guardiola’s resignation, while he offered no significant analysis of it, reminds me of Randall Jarrell’s essay on Modernism, “The End of the Line.” In it, Randall Jarrell imagines what might come after Modernism after it reached the logical conclusion of its ideals; he claims that Modernism had become too elitist, too self-referential to continue as a successful literary tradition.
I think something similar has happened at Barcelona, and Pep knows it. The Catalans have perfected a beautiful style of soccer, but during their Champions League losses over the past two weeks I heard countless references to Barca’s lack of a “Plan B.” When beauty, an elite playing technique based on passing, possession and classy finishing no longer reflects the realities of the game, what option does Barcelona have but to make a major change? Jose Mourinho’s Inter team established the blueprint for beating Barca, but it’s taken two years for other teams to implement a counterattacking, defensive style to stifle the world’s most skilled soccer players. The ideology that Pep championed no longer works as consistently as it did in the previous four years, and as a result Barca are no longer the top of the elite.
What’s more, La Liga itself has become an elitist league, one in which the same two teams compete for the title every year because of their financial superiority – thanks in part to independently negotiated television contracts – and the contrasting financial woes of the rest of La Liga. The ivory tower that houses Real Madrid and Barcelona doesn’t reflect the true nature of a league (and a country) experiencing genuine crisis, and while that disparity likely won’t change over the next few years, new measures like FIFA Fair Play and the burgeoning unrest over financial inequality will eventually impact the way major soccer clubs conduct business. The next decade or so should reveal the direction club soccer is heading in the wake of Barcelona’s outstanding, and almost unbelievable run as the world’s greatest team.
That’s not to say Barcelona and Vilanova won’t win trophies, or that the era of total soccer and teams trying to emulate Barca is dead. The Blaugrana have the best player in the world and a fantastic squad, but this season and Pep Guardiola’s resignation could prove to be the end of the line for Barcelona’s absolute domination of soccer. Like Jarrell, I don’t know exactly what’s coming next, but I know that the sport will change and adapt.
A company’s own top management tend to have the best inside view into the business, so when company officers make major buys, investors are wise to take notice. Presumably the only reason an insider would take their hard-earned cash and use it to buy stock of their company in the open market, is that they expect to make money — maybe they find the stock very undervalued, or maybe they see exciting progress within the company, or maybe both. So in this series we look at the largest insider buys by the ”top brass” over the trailing six month period, one of which was a total of $745K by Bahram Akradi, CEO at Life-Time Fitness Inc (NYSE: LTM).
Akradi’s average cost works out to $44.07/share. Shares of Life-Time Fitness Inc were changing hands at $47.07 at last check, trading up about 2.6% on Friday. The chart below shows the one year performance of LTM shares, versus its 200 day moving average:
Looking at the chart above, LTM’s low point in its 52 week range is $33.15 per share, with $52.68 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $47.07.
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SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Exactly thirty five years ago born in the New Orleans neighborhood of Treme, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band revolutionized the New Orleans brass band by incorporating funk and bebop into the traditional style. Anchored by original members Roger Lewis, Kevin Harris, Gregory Davis, Efrem Towns and Kirk Joseph, the band has signed with Savoy Jazz who will help celebrate their auspicious anniversary with the release of “TWENTY DOZEN” — an all new eleven track album which will be released on May 1st. Produced by Scott Billington at The Music Shed in New Orleans, the album showcases the Dirty Dozen Brass Band‘s quintessential sound mixed with a heady Caribbean flavor. The full album will be available as an Amazon “Daily Deal” at the special price of $4.99 starting on April 28 through May 5th (see info below). The band have confirmed a triumphant series of shows and events in their native New Orleans surrounding the Jazz Heritage Festival including an in-store at Louisiana Music Factory on Tuesday, May 1st at 2pm, a very special album release/35th Anniversary reunion concert at the Temple on April 28th and a featured slot at the Jazz Heritage Festival on May 3rd.
Born under the auspices of the Dirty Dozen Social and Pleasure Club in 1977, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band are a seven member ensemble who started out as the house band and eventually broke through the boundaries of the traditional brass band to evolve into a highly lauded world-renowned musical force. With several incarnations throughout the years, the band now consists of Gregory Davis (trumpet, vocals), Roger Lewis (baritone, soprano sax), Kevin Harris (tenor saxophone), Efrem Towns (trumpet, flugelhorn), Kirk Joseph (sousaphone), Terence Higgins (drums) and Kyle Roussel (keyboard). Former member Jake Eckert (guitar) is featured throughout “TWENTY DOZEN.”
Confirmed performances and events:
4/26/2012 New Orleans LA, Tipitina’s
4/28/2012 New Orleans LA, The Temple, 35th Anniversary Family Reunion / Album Release Party, co bill with Big Sam’s Funky Nation
4/29/2012 New Orleans LA, House of Blues, support to Trombone Shorty Orleans Avenue
4/30/2012 New Orleans, LA, Tipitina’s, Instruments A Comin’ Benefit
5/1/2012 New Orleans, LA, Louisiana Music Factory, In-store performance, 2pm
5/3/2012 New Orleans LA, New Orleans Jazz Heritage Festival
5/4/2012 New Orleans LA, d.b.a.
5/5/2012 New Orleans, LA, Joy Theatre, Preservation Hall Crescent City Revue w/ Dirty Dozen Horns
Savoy Jazz is a unit of the Savoy Label Group (SLG). SLG is the North American based division of Nippon Columbia, the oldest music company in Japan. The Savoy Label Group has evolved into a Grammy Award winning and chart topping independent music company consistently outperforming competitors in key music categories as monitored by Billboard Magazine. SLG is led by Steve Vining and is based in Los Angeles, CA.
The Lancaster British Brass Band has been going strong since it began in 2005.
Now, with a new conductor — who’s British, by the way — at the helm the band is moving in a new direction.
Expect to hear the Beatles, Brubeck and a rock version of Bach at the series of concerts the band will perform Saturday at First Presbyterian Church, Sunday at Lititz Church of the Brethren and May 6 at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd.
“A lot of the music British brass bands played was pop music,” explains Steven Allen, the band’s new conductor. “The bands were like a civic iPod. They played everywhere — parties, weddings, political rallies.”
Allen is an associate professor of music at both Rider and Rutgers universities, a composer, president of the North American Brass Band Association and the founder of the Princeton Brass Band.
It was a friend who plays in the Princeton band as well as the Lancaster band who recommended Allen for the job.
“I really want our concerts to have something for everyone,” Allen says.
The band also will play “Danny Boy,” “Resurgam,” a piece written for British brass band by Eric Ball, and “Hymn of the Highlands,” a series of Scottish dances by Philip Sparke.
Allen got interested in music when he was a child growing up in southern England.
“It was asthma that got me into it,” he says.
His doctor wasn’t sure what to do and suggested a musical instrument that would require specific breathing.
Allen started playing the euphonium. It was a good fit.
“I ended up winning national competitions and played with some of the best brass bands in the country and ended up conducting some as well,” he says.
Allen gave up music for about seven years in the 1980s to go into the Christian ministry.
“I got disillusioned with the hierarchy of that group and went into academics,” Allen says. “And then in 1999, my wife and I moved to America. I got the Princeton Brass Band going in 2004, which marked my return to brass bands.”
He admits to having been a little skeptical about forming the band in America, but soon discovered that British brass bands are highly popular here.
“It’s an incredibly warm sound, very resonant,” Allen says. “It gets to you some way. The word spirit comes from breath, actually using breath, and this might sound a little new-agey, but these bands sort of take your breath away.”
Allen notes that a British brass band sounds very different from a brass ensemble or a concert band.
A British brass band features cornets, trombones, tubas, horns and percussion, but no trumpets or French horns.
They began in Northern England in the early 1800s, when mill owners realized it would be better to have workers playing instruments than hanging out in pubs drinking and listening to political rabble-rousers.
The companies encouraged workers to take up the instruments, even purchasing them and giving them lessons.
“When you’re learning to play, you get further on brass instruments than any other instrument,” Allen says, noting that beyond that, becoming a great brass player can be exceedingly difficult.
Most of the musicians who played in the British brass, even the best bands, were not full-time musicians, so brass instruments were perfect.
Factories would have their own bands and the competition among them was fierce.
“They were like the rock stars of the era,” Allen says. “If the Beatles had been born in the 1850s, they would have played in a brass band.”
He points to “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” (both the music and the album cover art) as an example of how ingrained the bands were in British culture.
Allen is eager to begin playing with the Lancaster band, noting with a laugh that he’s “the first conductor who comes soaked in the tradition.”
The top brass of the embattled Health Services Union will meet to discuss ongoing brawling within its ranks and federal government moves to put its East branch into administration.
The meeting of the HSU national executive begins at 11am (AEST) in Sydney on Friday.
Acting President Chris Brown told AAP he expected the meeting to be quite heated.
“It’s probably the most unpredictable meeting of the national executive that we’re going to go into,” he said.
Mr Brown said the meeting will consider Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten’s announcement on Thursday that the government would make an unprecedented application in the Federal Court seeking a declaration that the HSU’s East branch had “ceased to function effectively”.
The minister will ask the court to approve a scheme for the appointment of an administrator “until democratic control of the branch can be restored”.
Under Mr Shorten’s plan, the East branch would be broken up into the three separate branches that existed prior to an amalgamation in August 2010.
All the elected positions would become vacant and the administrator would run the branch until fresh elections could be held.
Mr Brown said he strongly supports Mr Shorten’s course of action.
He said demerging the East branch would establish some stability and give members of that branch the opportunity to determine fresh leaders.
“It will close down the factional fighting between Kathy Jackson and (president) Michael Williamson,” he said.
Mr Williamson has been suspended from the union since October last year on full pay following allegations he embezzled union funds. He denies any wrongdoing.
It’s believed the meeting may also discuss the fate of Mr Williamson and Ms Jackson.
Mr Brown said the national executive meeting would also discuss Federal Court action initiated by the union’s national secretary Ms Jackson.
Ms Jackson alleges up to 20 of the 70 members of the HSU East branch are not entitled to vote at union council meetings because they are employed by the union.
After the brilliant Binary Domain reminded me how wonderful shooting robots could be, I happened across EPOCH on the App Store, which promised further mech-blasting fun. One problem: it was a third-person shooter.
Third-person shooters on iOS tend to fall into two categories: clunky and slightly less clunky. So it was with some surprise and more than a little delight I found that EPOCH has a control scheme I’d almost be tempted to describe as elegant.
Rather than forcing you into awkwardly manoeuvring your avatar with virtual sticks, developer Uppercut has opted for a system of taps and swipes. Slide your finger downwards and you’ll duck behind the obligatory waist-high wall – or reload if you’re already crouching. There are pillars at either side that you can glide to with lateral swipes. Then, when those robotic fools are reloading, you slide your finger up to pop out of cover and tap them to lock on, with your shots automatically heading towards their titanium target.
Missiles, grenades, and a slo-mo ability are triggered by pressing buttons in the top-right of the screen. All have fairly lengthy cooldown periods.
With the aiming and firing handled by the game, it’s merely your job to move, dodge, reload and emerge at the right time. It doesn’t sound quite as satisfying, but after a while you honestly don’t miss lining up your sights and pulling the trigger. Besides, you’ve already got enough to contend with. Staying out of trouble isn’t as simple as waiting it out.
Some enemies lob grenades, while others fire charged shots that can pass through cover. A third type sweeps a powerful laser beam horizontally across the screen, forcing you to pull off the best move, a somersault that takes you from one side to the other. Time all your moves well, and not only do you look brilliant, you’ll be rewarded for your efficiency at the end of the stage, with an extra cash bonus based on how much armour you have left.
There’s an oddly rhythmic feel to it all, and combined with the short but readable tells, the sharp, precise movements of its avatar and the clever control scheme, and you’ve got kind of a halfway house between Infinity Blade and underrated GameCube blaster P.N.03 (Chris Donlan is no doubt heading to the App Store right now).
The data you intercept during missions ranges from the personal log of a royal guard addressing his princess, and some touching texts from a worried accountant to his wife.
I don’t even mind that its settings are generic UE3 post-apocalyptica, because the murk only makes the bright flashes of laser fire and grenade warning lights that much easier to spot. It’s probably more happy accident than smart functional design, but hey – it works.
What doesn’t work so well is the upgrade system. You can buy new weapons, grenades, missiles and armour, but even if you ace the levels without taking any damage, the piffling amounts you’re paid aren’t nearly enough to afford anything half-decent. Of course, you can buy credits with real money, but with no restrictions on what you’re able to take into a level it’s all too easy to pick up a really strong weapon and breeze through. If you stick with what you’ve got – or what you salvage from the various containers scattered about the ruined environments – you’ll probably have to grind quite a bit on the harder settings, otherwise it all gets rather attritional.
Nonetheless, EPOCH is worth persevering with, and not just for the surprisingly well-written text logs you can collect which offer a bit of context to the bot-on-bot conflict. Get rid of the crappy in-app purchases and you’ve got the perfect template for a smartphone shooter; here’s hoping a few iOS developers are taking notes.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — When Bowl Championship Series officials leave the beachside hotel where they’ve gathered to hammer out the future of college football’s postseason, they want to have the choices narrowed down to two or three.
STAPLES: Three questions will determine change
The 11 conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director met Wednesday for about eight hours to discuss overhauling how a champion is determined and possibly implementing a four-team playoff. It was the fourth such gathering this year. They reconvene Thursday and BCS executive director Bill Hancock said they all agreed it’s time to start crossing items off the list.
“I think that’s what everyone wants to do. Get down to two, maybe three,” he said. “I think we’re making good progress on that. I think we’re going to make it.”
One thing is clear: “The status quo is off the table,” Hancock said. Though he cautiously added they have not ruled out making over the current system that guarantees only a No. 1 vs. No. 2 championship game.
But all signs point toward that being unlikely, and that by the 2014 season the BCS as fans have known it will be gone.
“I would say there is an expectation that there will be significant change,” Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said.
Delany and his fellow commissioners arrived in south Florida with four options to discuss, but much of the focus has been on a four-team playoff with two national semifinals and a title game.
That model comes with many variables, such as where the games will be played, how the teams will be picked and how the bowls fit in – if they do at all. The role of the bowls represents a potential obstacle. Specifically, the Rose Bowl.
On Tuesday, bowl executives from the Sugar, Orange, Fiesta and Rose met with the conference commissioners to give their input and answer some questions about how their games could work in a new postseason system.
An option being discussed could force those traditional bowls to give up holding their games in years in which they host a semifinal or championship game. That could mean a year without a Rose Bowl, which has been played every year since 1916 – most of those games matching the champions of the Big Ten and Pac-12.
“We feel like we have something very special and unique in college football,” Rose Bowl spokeswoman Gina Chappin said. “We went into the room with the intention of reaffirming what we are.”
The Big Ten and Pac-12 don’t just play in the Rose Bowl, they’re partners with the game. Delany and Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott have made it clear that protecting that lucrative partnership is a priority.
“I just want to make sure that the changes that we make are evolutionary,” Delany said. “That they support the regular season. That they’re from a Rose Bowl perspective, that they sustain that tradition. That we’re also able to produce something that the public appreciates and supports.
“You want to control change. You want to have evolution, not revolution because you don’t know that the unintended consequences will be.”
Delany and Hancock insisted the Rose Bowl won’t stand in the way of change.
“Everybody is going to have to make some changes,” Hancock said. “Everybody recognizes the importance of the Rose Bowl.”
There have also been discussions about playing semifinals on campus sites and having only the championship game at a neutral site, like a college football Super Bowl. That idea was pushed by the Big Ten, which has long desired getting teams from warmer climates on its frozen turf for big games.
But there are concerns that playoff games on campuses could be logistical nightmares and the idea doesn’t seem to be gaining support.
“I think maybe it has more disadvantages than advantages,” Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive said. “One of the disadvantages is I think when you’re trying to determine who’s going to play for the national championship, what’s the competitive environment in which you put a team to play for the national championship.
“That’s not to say that I wouldn’t listen to it.”
The full group hasn’t even started talking about a new model for revenue distribution, which Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson predicted would be “contentious.”
How willing Delany and Scott are to consider options that could minimize the importance of the Rose Bowl will be pivotal in determining what proposals the commissioners take with them when they leave Florida.
“How it ends up,” Delany said, “to be determined.”
The end is near, though. Hancock said that the commissioners would like to be able to present a new format to the presidential oversight committee for approval by July 4.
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — When Bowl Championship Series officials leave the beachside hotel where they’ve gathered to hammer out the future of college football’s postseason, they want to have the choices narrowed down to two or three.
STAPLES: Three questions will determine change
The 11 conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director met Wednesday for about eight hours to discuss overhauling how a champion is determined and possibly implementing a four-team playoff. It was the fourth such gathering this year. They reconvene Thursday and BCS executive director Bill Hancock said they all agreed it’s time to start crossing items off the list.
“I think that’s what everyone wants to do. Get down to two, maybe three,” he said. “I think we’re making good progress on that. I think we’re going to make it.”
One thing is clear: “The status quo is off the table,” Hancock said. Though he cautiously added they have not ruled out making over the current system that guarantees only a No. 1 vs. No. 2 championship game.
But all signs point toward that being unlikely, and that by the 2014 season the BCS as fans have known it will be gone.
“I would say there is an expectation that there will be significant change,” Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said.
Delany and his fellow commissioners arrived in south Florida with four options to discuss, but much of the focus has been on a four-team playoff with two national semifinals and a title game.
That model comes with many variables, such as where the games will be played, how the teams will be picked and how the bowls fit in – if they do at all. The role of the bowls represents a potential obstacle. Specifically, the Rose Bowl.
On Tuesday, bowl executives from the Sugar, Orange, Fiesta and Rose met with the conference commissioners to give their input and answer some questions about how their games could work in a new postseason system.
An option being discussed could force those traditional bowls to give up holding their games in years in which they host a semifinal or championship game. That could mean a year without a Rose Bowl, which has been played every year since 1916 – most of those games matching the champions of the Big Ten and Pac-12.
“We feel like we have something very special and unique in college football,” Rose Bowl spokeswoman Gina Chappin said. “We went into the room with the intention of reaffirming what we are.”
The Big Ten and Pac-12 don’t just play in the Rose Bowl, they’re partners with the game. Delany and Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott have made it clear that protecting that lucrative partnership is a priority.
“I just want to make sure that the changes that we make are evolutionary,” Delany said. “That they support the regular season. That they’re from a Rose Bowl perspective, that they sustain that tradition. That we’re also able to produce something that the public appreciates and supports.
“You want to control change. You want to have evolution, not revolution because you don’t know that the unintended consequences will be.”
Delany and Hancock insisted the Rose Bowl won’t stand in the way of change.
“Everybody is going to have to make some changes,” Hancock said. “Everybody recognizes the importance of the Rose Bowl.”
There have also been discussions about playing semifinals on campus sites and having only the championship game at a neutral site, like a college football Super Bowl. That idea was pushed by the Big Ten, which has long desired getting teams from warmer climates on its frozen turf for big games.
But there are concerns that playoff games on campuses could be logistical nightmares and the idea doesn’t seem to be gaining support.
“I think maybe it has more disadvantages than advantages,” Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive said. “One of the disadvantages is I think when you’re trying to determine who’s going to play for the national championship, what’s the competitive environment in which you put a team to play for the national championship.
“That’s not to say that I wouldn’t listen to it.”
The full group hasn’t even started talking about a new model for revenue distribution, which Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson predicted would be “contentious.”
How willing Delany and Scott are to consider options that could minimize the importance of the Rose Bowl will be pivotal in determining what proposals the commissioners take with them when they leave Florida.
“How it ends up,” Delany said, “to be determined.”
The end is near, though. Hancock said that the commissioners would like to be able to present a new format to the presidential oversight committee for approval by July 4.
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — When Bowl Championship Series officials leave the beachside hotel where they’ve gathered to hammer out the future of college football’s postseason, they want to have the choices narrowed down to two or three.
STAPLES: Three questions will determine change
The 11 conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director met Wednesday for about eight hours to discuss overhauling how a champion is determined and possibly implementing a four-team playoff. It was the fourth such gathering this year. They reconvene Thursday and BCS executive director Bill Hancock said they all agreed it’s time to start crossing items off the list.
“I think that’s what everyone wants to do. Get down to two, maybe three,” he said. “I think we’re making good progress on that. I think we’re going to make it.”
One thing is clear: “The status quo is off the table,” Hancock said. Though he cautiously added they have not ruled out making over the current system that guarantees only a No. 1 vs. No. 2 championship game.
But all signs point toward that being unlikely, and that by the 2014 season the BCS as fans have known it will be gone.
“I would say there is an expectation that there will be significant change,” Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said.
Delany and his fellow commissioners arrived in south Florida with four options to discuss, but much of the focus has been on a four-team playoff with two national semifinals and a title game.
That model comes with many variables, such as where the games will be played, how the teams will be picked and how the bowls fit in – if they do at all. The role of the bowls represents a potential obstacle. Specifically, the Rose Bowl.
On Tuesday, bowl executives from the Sugar, Orange, Fiesta and Rose met with the conference commissioners to give their input and answer some questions about how their games could work in a new postseason system.
An option being discussed could force those traditional bowls to give up holding their games in years in which they host a semifinal or championship game. That could mean a year without a Rose Bowl, which has been played every year since 1916 – most of those games matching the champions of the Big Ten and Pac-12.
“We feel like we have something very special and unique in college football,” Rose Bowl spokeswoman Gina Chappin said. “We went into the room with the intention of reaffirming what we are.”
The Big Ten and Pac-12 don’t just play in the Rose Bowl, they’re partners with the game. Delany and Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott have made it clear that protecting that lucrative partnership is a priority.
“I just want to make sure that the changes that we make are evolutionary,” Delany said. “That they support the regular season. That they’re from a Rose Bowl perspective, that they sustain that tradition. That we’re also able to produce something that the public appreciates and supports.
“You want to control change. You want to have evolution, not revolution because you don’t know that the unintended consequences will be.”
Delany and Hancock insisted the Rose Bowl won’t stand in the way of change.
“Everybody is going to have to make some changes,” Hancock said. “Everybody recognizes the importance of the Rose Bowl.”
There have also been discussions about playing semifinals on campus sites and having only the championship game at a neutral site, like a college football Super Bowl. That idea was pushed by the Big Ten, which has long desired getting teams from warmer climates on its frozen turf for big games.
But there are concerns that playoff games on campuses could be logistical nightmares and the idea doesn’t seem to be gaining support.
“I think maybe it has more disadvantages than advantages,” Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive said. “One of the disadvantages is I think when you’re trying to determine who’s going to play for the national championship, what’s the competitive environment in which you put a team to play for the national championship.
“That’s not to say that I wouldn’t listen to it.”
The full group hasn’t even started talking about a new model for revenue distribution, which Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson predicted would be “contentious.”
How willing Delany and Scott are to consider options that could minimize the importance of the Rose Bowl will be pivotal in determining what proposals the commissioners take with them when they leave Florida.
“How it ends up,” Delany said, “to be determined.”
The end is near, though. Hancock said that the commissioners would like to be able to present a new format to the presidential oversight committee for approval by July 4.
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — When Bowl Championship Series officials leave the beachside hotel where they’ve gathered to hammer out the future of college football’s postseason, they want to have the choices narrowed down to two or three.
STAPLES: Three questions will determine change
The 11 conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director met Wednesday for about eight hours to discuss overhauling how a champion is determined and possibly implementing a four-team playoff. It was the fourth such gathering this year. They reconvene Thursday and BCS executive director Bill Hancock said they all agreed it’s time to start crossing items off the list.
“I think that’s what everyone wants to do. Get down to two, maybe three,” he said. “I think we’re making good progress on that. I think we’re going to make it.”
One thing is clear: “The status quo is off the table,” Hancock said. Though he cautiously added they have not ruled out making over the current system that guarantees only a No. 1 vs. No. 2 championship game.
But all signs point toward that being unlikely, and that by the 2014 season the BCS as fans have known it will be gone.
“I would say there is an expectation that there will be significant change,” Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said.
Delany and his fellow commissioners arrived in south Florida with four options to discuss, but much of the focus has been on a four-team playoff with two national semifinals and a title game.
That model comes with many variables, such as where the games will be played, how the teams will be picked and how the bowls fit in – if they do at all. The role of the bowls represents a potential obstacle. Specifically, the Rose Bowl.
On Tuesday, bowl executives from the Sugar, Orange, Fiesta and Rose met with the conference commissioners to give their input and answer some questions about how their games could work in a new postseason system.
An option being discussed could force those traditional bowls to give up holding their games in years in which they host a semifinal or championship game. That could mean a year without a Rose Bowl, which has been played every year since 1916 – most of those games matching the champions of the Big Ten and Pac-12.
“We feel like we have something very special and unique in college football,” Rose Bowl spokeswoman Gina Chappin said. “We went into the room with the intention of reaffirming what we are.”
The Big Ten and Pac-12 don’t just play in the Rose Bowl, they’re partners with the game. Delany and Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott have made it clear that protecting that lucrative partnership is a priority.
“I just want to make sure that the changes that we make are evolutionary,” Delany said. “That they support the regular season. That they’re from a Rose Bowl perspective, that they sustain that tradition. That we’re also able to produce something that the public appreciates and supports.
“You want to control change. You want to have evolution, not revolution because you don’t know that the unintended consequences will be.”
Delany and Hancock insisted the Rose Bowl won’t stand in the way of change.
“Everybody is going to have to make some changes,” Hancock said. “Everybody recognizes the importance of the Rose Bowl.”
There have also been discussions about playing semifinals on campus sites and having only the championship game at a neutral site, like a college football Super Bowl. That idea was pushed by the Big Ten, which has long desired getting teams from warmer climates on its frozen turf for big games.
But there are concerns that playoff games on campuses could be logistical nightmares and the idea doesn’t seem to be gaining support.
“I think maybe it has more disadvantages than advantages,” Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive said. “One of the disadvantages is I think when you’re trying to determine who’s going to play for the national championship, what’s the competitive environment in which you put a team to play for the national championship.
“That’s not to say that I wouldn’t listen to it.”
The full group hasn’t even started talking about a new model for revenue distribution, which Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson predicted would be “contentious.”
How willing Delany and Scott are to consider options that could minimize the importance of the Rose Bowl will be pivotal in determining what proposals the commissioners take with them when they leave Florida.
“How it ends up,” Delany said, “to be determined.”
The end is near, though. Hancock said that the commissioners would like to be able to present a new format to the presidential oversight committee for approval by July 4.
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Police at the scene of a shootout at the Polo Ground Houses today.
Two cops fired a staggering 84 rounds at a thug who had just murdered his sleeping 13-year-old sister and shot their mom in the head in a Manhattan apartment — but the maniac amazingly survived the furious fusillade.
“That’s my son! That’s the animal who shot me and killed my daughter!” moaned Christine Fryar, 44, from her bed in Harlem Hospital when cops showed her a photo of accused gunman Steven Murray, sources said.
The deadbeat son Murray, 28, at that same hospital was treated for 14 bullet wounds suffered after he fired a shot at cops and ignored repeated orders to drop his .22-caliber “Saturday Night Special” pistol, police said.
“He would not go down,” said a stunned law-enforcement source, describing how Murray stood along 155th Street in Harlem as the two cops shot at him from 70 feet away, reloaded their pistols once with 15-round magazines, fired again, then reloaded a second time.
“He still had the gun in his hand, he wouldn’t obey orders. He was pointing [the gun] at the cops and he wouldn’t respond,” the source said.
“After he finally went down he still had the gun in his hand and he was still moving.”
Murray — who has a long arrest record and two prior busts for assaulting cops — recently moved back from North Carolina to live with his mom Christina and his half-sister Annie Fryar in their one-bedroom apartment in the Polo Ground Houses in upper Harlem, police said.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said friction soon developed between Christine Fryar and his son because he wasn’t working or contributing to the upkeep of the cramped home, where he shared the sofa bed in the living room with Annie. Murray also was becoming disruptive and Fryar wanted him to move out, Browne said.
On Monday, Annie uncharacteristically was absent from nearby PS 46 Arthur Tappan School, but later spent time outdoors at the Polo Grounds Houses with her friend, Donette Skinner, a sixth-grader at the same school.
“We were hanging out together, and she said she had to go upstairs because her brother was getting drunk, and her mom and her brother were arguing,” said Donnette.
At 2 a.m. today, Murray and Fryar argued in the apartment, according to Browne. The mom then went to bed.
About an hour later, Browne said, Fryar hear a loud “pop” and emerged from her bedroom to encounter Murray — who began firing a .22-caliber revolver at her, hitting Fryar twice in the hand and once in her head.
“I heard pop, pop, pop. It was so loud I thought it was in my apartment,” said Fryar’s upstairs neighbor today. “I heard a woman say, ‘You shot my daughter!’ And she started crying.”
Fryar then fled to her room, where she phoned her husband, who lives in The Bronx, and her sister.
“I’ve been shot, and I think Annie’s dead!” Fryar told them, according to Browne.
Fryar then left her room and saw Murray in the hallway — where he was reloading his revolver, police said. She again retreated to her bedroom, and held the door against Murray as he tried to kick it open.
Murray then fled the apartment, according to Browne.
When 32nd Precinct cops arrived after receiving multiple 911 calls, then found a bleeding Fryar and Annie dead on the sofa bed, faced-down with two bullet wounds to the right side of her head.
Coincidentally, two cops from the neighboring 30th Precinct were investigating another reported shooting about 10 blocks away when they heard the report of the Fryar shooting, and sped to the scene.
The sergeant and officer soon spotted Murray, carrying his gun, lurking near the southbound off ramp of the Harlem River Drive, at 155th Street and Eighth Avenue, police said.
The cops used their PA speaker on their cruiser to order him, “ Stop, drop the gun,” repeatedly, according to Browne.
Murray, who was about 70 feet away, then turned and fired a single shot, which hit the police cruiser, Brown said.
The two cops then opened fire at him — and continued firing as he failed to fall to the ground.
The officer fired 45 shots in all — leaving just one round in the third 15-round magazine that he used during the confrontation. He later reported that he thought he was out of ammo.
The sergeant fired 39 shots — with eight final shots coming from his magazine, Browne said.
Murray eventually crumpled to the ground from his wounds, but the cops said he was still pointing the gun at them. That small .22-caliber Röhm Sontheim Brenz gun had four live rounds in its six-shot cylinder, police said.
Additional reporting by Joe Mollica, Yoav Gonen, Kevin Sheehan and Reuven Fenton
DCPI
Police recovered this .22-caliber revolver at the scene.
You get up in the morning, groggy and sleepy eyed. Maybe you take your shower …
During an event that was supposed to be about firearm safety in Virginia, an unfortunate couple was accidentally shot.
The Bedford County Sheriff’s Office explained to local media outlets that Michael L. Deel was attending a guns safety class when the .45-caliber handgun he was holding accidently discharged, sending the bullet through his hand. His wife, Michelle, was sitting next to him at the time of the shot and was also hit in the leg.
The incident occurred Saturday during a firearms safety class which was being held in a private residence in Bedford County. Thomas Starke, the class instructor, told police that he had momentarily left the room when he heard the gun discharge.
When Starke returned to the room he found two people with gunshot wounds. He also told police that there were five other people in the room when the gun went off.
The Deel’s were taken to a local hospital where they were treated and later released for non-life-threatening injuries.
When Michael Deel was contacted by local media he explained that the shooting was a “stupid accident.”
This is not the first gunshot victim at a gun safety event.
A man was recently attending a local gun show in Georgia when he accidentally shot himself in the leg.
Police reported that 26-year-old Charles Lake was leaving a gun show which was being held at the Savannah Civic Center. He had the weapon in his possession, and while reloading, the firearm suddenly discharged a round that went into his own leg.
Savannah-Chatham police spokesman Julian Miller said that Lake had bought the pistol at the gun show the day before. Lake returned to the gun show the next day to purchase another firearm.
According to reports Lake was reloading his pistol while he was in the parking lot at the civic center because of the rule banning loaded firearms while participants are inside the gun show.
Fort Wayne IN- -(Ammoland.com)- Sinclair International is excited to announce that its 2012-A catalog is now available. With more than 10,000 products – nearly 800 of them new –packed into 268 full-color pages, it’s sure to keep the precision reloader, competition shooter, or general firearms enthusiast up-to-date and equipped for success.
“We’re very proud of our latest catalog,” said Bill Gravatt, President of Sinclair International. “Many people associate Sinclair with high-quality reloading products, and we certainly offer that. However, we also have a wide-array of products that would appeal to nearly any shooter.”
To receive a catalog free of charge, simply visit www.sinclairintl.com to order one, or download the PDF version. Customers may also request a catalog by calling 800-717-8211.
Tech-savvy customers are encouraged to check out the fully-interactive digital edition. This easy-to-use, cover-to-cover replica of the print copy allows customers to conveniently access product demonstration videos, search for specific products by name or item number, and view additional information or purchase items via embedded live links.
Sinclair International is the world’s premier supplier of high-quality reloading tools, components, ammunition and accessories, plus unique competitive shooting and hunting supplies. A member of the Brownells Group since 2007, Sinclair International stocks more than 15,000 items and supplies handloaders, shooters and hunters worldwide. To place an order, or for additional information, call 800-717-8211 or visit www.sinclairintl.com.
So it is over. After going four rounds and 25 playoff games last spring, the Vancouver Canucks lasted only five games this time around, a failure unthinkable following a second straight Presidents’ Trophy.
It will be almost six months until the Canucks play another game of significance and maybe even longer if there is a work stoppage due to an expiring collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and its players. There will be a lot of talking and tweaking and rebuilding or reloading between now and then. Here are five things for the Canucks to ponder as cries of ‘Wait’ Til Next Year’ echo around Vancouver.
epap@vancouversun.com
COACHING 1) Keep Alain Vigneault. There will undoubtedly be both hysterical and reasonable arguments to have him walk the plank but, with his sublime record behind the Canuck bench, he deserves a mulligan and an opportunity to come back and make amends. Prior to this spring, Vigneault was 4-for-4 in the first round. In six seasons behind the Canucks’ bench, he’s won six playoff series, five Northwest Division titles and consecutive Presidents’ Trophies. His teams have reached the 100-point mark five times
GOALIES
2) Make it official, quickly announce Cory Schneider is the new No. 1 for next season and that every attempt to find a new home for Roberto Luongo will be made. The decision to start Schneider in Wednesday’s and Sunday’s elimination games is a pretty good indication the team is already heading in that direction. Luongo has had a fine six-year run in Vancouver, but he’s 33 now and his numbers are dropping. His GAA of 2.41 was nearly half a goal per game higher than Schneider’s 1.96.
3) POWER PLAY POINT MAN
It’s difficult to pin the power play’s second-half demise on the absence of one player, but there’s a case to be made that hard-shooting blue-liner Christian Ehrhoff was sorely missed as the season progressed. Ehrhoff had the ability to skate the puck up ice and, more importantly, get his accurate shot through traffic. This year, there was a revolving door on the first unit alongside Alex Edler, who struggled down the stretch and into the playoffs.
4) LINEMATES FOR KESLER
It isn’t completely fair to say Kesler is skating on a helicopter line – anybody who makes the NHL can play the game – but there has been a surprising lack of chemistry between Kesler and David Booth, a fellow Detroit native brought in specifically to play with last year’s Selke Trophy winner. Both Booth and Kesler like to take the puck and go, and there has been little razzledazzle passing between them.
5) GO YOUNGER
Last summer, the Flyers opted to jettison marquee mid-career forwards Mike Richards and Jeff Carter and it created a larger role for Claude Giroux while also opening up ice time for rookies Matt Read, Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn. Canucks may not have that many elite prospects but the loss to the Kings indicates it’s time to reassess their mix. The Sedin twins, Alex Burrows and Manny Malhotra are already in their 30s. Ryan Kesler and Chris Higgins will be in their late-20s next year.
LAMBERTVILLE — A Michigan truck driver was charged with failing to properly secure a load after he continued driving, apparently unaware that a pickup truck had fallen off the back of his flat-bed tractor-trailer and landed in the road, police said.
Police were called to the area of Routes 165 and 179 on April 19 and found the pickup near Nicola’s Pizza and the Bridge Street traffic light.
Jay Cummings, 59, was later found on Interstate 95 in Hopewell Township and ordered to return to Lambertville to retrieve the 1986 Mitsubishi pickup truck, which had to be pushed out of the road, police said.
After reloading the truck, Cummings was also charged with violating a tractor-trailer ban.
The ban, signed into law in 2001, bars heavy trucks from a 22-mile stretch of Route 29, extending from the Route 29 intersection with Interstate 95 in Hopewell Township to its end at Route 12 in Frenchtown. The ban came after a tractor-trailer hauling garbage from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania crashed into Lambertville Video on Route 165, killing an employee.
MADISON, Wis. — Just thinking about all the talent Wisconsin has lost in the past two years can be a little daunting.
The Badgers saw four first- or second-team All-Americans leave after the 2010 season (Gabe Carimi, John Moffitt, Lance Kendricks and J.J. Watt) and two more depart after last season (Peter Konz, Kevin Zeitler), along with their NCAA record-breaking transfer quarterback (Russell Wilson). Many programs would expect a dip after having so much star power leave town, but Bret Bielema is feeling fine.
[+] Enlarge Jeff Gross/Getty Images“Of the last 66 kids we signed, 64 of them are still on campus … ” Bielema said.”I used to freak out when we lost players, too,” Bielema said. “But we do a good job of just developing. We always talk about being a developmental program, and I think it truly is that type of program now.”
Wisconsin’s ability to keep reloading will be put to the test in 2012. The team returns just 11 starters from last year’s Big Ten champions, and six assistant coaches — including almost all of the offensive brain trust — left for other jobs in the offseason. Yet many still predict the Badgers will repeat as Leaders Division champs.
They will need new starters to emerge at receiver, on the right side of the offensive line, on the defensive line, in the secondary and of course at quarterback, where Maryland transfer Danny O’Brien could plug the hole. But O’Brien is the exception, as Wisconsin usually just brings along the next man on the depth chart.
“There are All-Americans sitting behind All-Americans, especially at spots like offensive line and running back,” linebacker Chris Borland said. “Like last year, having lost Moffitt and Carimi, and then our line was arguably better. I think it speaks more to the development than it does to the players.”
Madison might well be the world’s leading producer of offensive linemen, and the running back tradition is just as strong. But other positions are becoming known for their string of successes as well, including tight end and safety. In each of the past two years, Wisconsin has lost an all-conference safety — Jay Valai in 2010 and Aaron Henry in 2011. But Bielema says this year’s pair of starters, Dezmen Southward and Shelton Johnson, might be his best duo yet.
“A guy might not be good enough to play right away, but a lot of times he’ll develop for a year and come on the scene when a guy leaves or gets injured,” said Jared Abbrederis, who’s gone from former walk-on to one of the league’s best wideouts. “That’s kind of how it goes around here.”
What’s most impressive about the Badgers’ recent run is that they’ve done it without many high-profile recruits. Bielema mostly signs three-star types and rarely brings in the true blue-chipper that gets scouting services drooling. Even though the program’s exposure has increased of late, he still has little interest in trying to recruit much outside of a few key areas.
“We do what we can with what we’ve got,” Bielema said. “I don’t think we want more national recruits. A lot of times, those guys come with some issues you don’t want to deal with. I take a lot of pride with the way our guys go about their business and handle themselves.”
Player development is going to be key for Wisconsin’s immediate future, because a cavalry of help isn’t coming. The team signed only 12 players in February and expects to bring in an even smaller class next year. The reason? So few players have left before their eligibility ended.
“A lot of places sign 24 or 25 kids every year, so something is happening to those kids,” Bielema said. “Of the last 66 kids we signed, 64 of them are still on campus, which is an unheard of number.”
Last year’s Rose Bowl team had only 24 juniors and seniors, and the rest were underclassmen. If those youngsters develop the way their predecessors have, then the Badgers will have a deep and experienced team soon. In fact, when O’Brien — who has two years of eligibility remaining — came on his visit, Bielema told him, “I think we’ll be really good this year. But next year, on paper, might be the best team I’ve ever had.”
That’s a big statement, given how much talent — both players and coaches — has exited Madison in the past two years. But Wisconsin is confident in its ability to reload from within.
“We realize we’re a developmental program,” athletic director Barry Alvarez said. “We don’t have the access to a lot of five-star guys. We might have a Joe Thomas coming out of the state or get a Ron Dayne because of his ties to the area. But for the most part, we develop players. And I think we have the right formula.”
Youngsters who have signed up for Stalham Brass Band’s new youth training section.
Richard Batson
Tuesday, April 24, 2012 12:43 PM
A resurgent brass band has recruited more than 50 youngsters as it builds a youth team to secure its future.
The scheme at Stalham was spurred on by musical director Tim Thirst’s desire to revive its youth section for the Jubilee and make a “training band fit to perform for the Queen.”
It has been boosted by two grant awards of £10,000 to enable sessions, including masterclasses from top bands, to be free for local youngsters.
Mr Thirst, said a year ago the band, like others in rural areas, was suffering a drop in the number of players due to lack of tuition in schools, and youngsters moving away for education and employment.
He said: “I knew exactly what I wanted to do to ensure the long term future.” It involved a new training programme over three years and costing about £35,000 – and so far Mr Thirst has raised £29,600.
Two £10,000 sums have come from Grants for the Arts and the Norwich Town Close Estate Charity, with a further £1,000 from the Norman Jones Trust, done through the British Federation of Brass Bands, where Stalham is a member.
Mr Thirst said 50 new recruits had signed up at a local junior school and other schools were due to join in over the coming months.
Pupils had been assessed for their choice and suitability for particular instruments. Weekly classes in school would follow with after-school and weekend activities scheduled for later.
Trainees would also have visits to, and master classes run in cooperation with, championship bands and musicians from the Corps of Army Music.
The initial three-year time scale was designed to eventually become a rolling programme for eight to 16-year-olds in the area with more than 100 participants in the scheme at any one time.
“Tuition, instrument hire, band membership and other support activities are funded by the grants and are entirely free,” he added.
British Federation for Brass Bands liaison officer Terry Luddington said he had been working with the Stalham band for nearly a year, and praised Mr Thirst for exploring more than 40 applications to produce an “amazing” total so far.
The scheme echoed the federation’s aim of putting brass bands back into the community, where they helped bring people of all ages together, attracted people to take up a new interest, and encouraged other groups and individuals to support the band, even if they were not musical.
He added: “We very much look forward to monitoring the progress of the Stalham Brass Band training programme and see how we can further develop and replicate the best practice results in other rural communities around the country.”
Stalham Brass Band is the longest-established brass band in East Anglia, formed in about 1870. It has played for the Royal family at Sandringham at Christmas, was awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Award for Voluntary Service in 2004, and in the last New Year’s Honours list Mr Thirst was made an MBE, just like his father Gerald who ran the band before him.
SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Exactly thirty five years ago born in the New Orleans neighborhood of Treme, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band revolutionized the New Orleans brass band by incorporating funk and bebop into the traditional style. Anchored by original members Roger Lewis, Kevin Harris, Gregory Davis, Efrem Towns and Kirk Joseph, the band has signed with Savoy Jazz who will help celebrate their auspicious anniversary with the release of “TWENTY DOZEN”—an all new eleven track album which will be released on May 1st. Produced by Scott Billington at The Music Shed in New Orleans, the album showcases the Dirty Dozen Brass Band‘s quintessential sound mixed with a heady Caribbean flavor. The band have confirmed a triumphant series of shows and events in their native New Orleans surrounding the Jazz Heritage Festival, culminating in a very special album release/35th Anniversary reunion concert at the Temple on April 28th and a featured slot at the Jazz Heritage Festival on May 3rd.
Born under the auspices of the Dirty Dozen Social and Pleasure Club in 1977, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band are a seven member ensemble who started out as the house band and eventually broke through the boundaries of the traditional brass band to evolve into a highly lauded world-renowned musical force. With several incarnations throughout the years, the band now consists of Gregory Davis (trumpet, vocals), Roger Lewis (baritone, soprano sax), Kevin Harris (tenor saxophone), Efrem Towns (trumpet, flugelhorn), Kirk Joseph (sousaphone), Terence Higgins (drums) and Kyle Roussel (keyboard). Former member Jake Eckert (guitar) is featured throughout “TWENTY DOZEN”.
Confirmed performances and events:
4/26/2012 New Orleans LA, Tipitina’s
4/28/2012 New Orleans LA, The Temple, 35th Anniversary Family Reunion / Album Release Party, co bill with Big Sam’s Funky Nation
4/29/2012 New Orleans LA, House of Blues, support to Trombone Shorty Orleans Avenue
4/30/2012 New Orleans, LA, Tipitina’s, Instruments A Comin’ Benefit
5/1/2012 New Orleans, LA, Louisiana Music Factory, In-store performance
5/3/2012 New Orleans LA, New Orleans Jazz Heritage Festival
5/4/2012 New Orleans LA, d.b.a.
5/5/2012 New Orleans, LA, Joy Theatre, Preservation Hall Crescent City Revue w/ Dirty Dozen Horns
Savoy Jazz is a unit of the Savoy Label Group (SLG). SLG is the North American based division of Nippon Columbia, the oldest music company in Japan. The Savoy Label Group has evolved into a Grammy Award winning and chart topping independent music company consistently outperforming competitors in key music categories as monitored by Billboard Magazine. SLG is led by Steve Vining and is based in Los Angeles, CA.
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After losing two of its top post presences from the 2011-12 campaign, the Griz men’s basketball team took their first step toward reloading Thursday.
Seventh-year head coach Wayne Tinkle announced the signing of a National Letter of Intent by Marko Kovacevic, a 6-foot-11 center from Beograde, Serbia. He played the past two seasons with Western Nebraska Community College.
“We’re excited about Marko,” Tinkle said. “He brings a lot of skill, he can shoot outside, and he’s a good passer. He can really rebound, which is something we’ve been missing inside.”
The Griz enter next season with senior forwards Art Steward and Derek Selvig graduated. Tinkle wouldn’t go as far to say his new recruit’s game is a blueprint of Selvig’s, but did say he mixes certain elements of several Griz players.
“He’s like a combination of Mathis (Ward), Hutch (Eric Hutchison) and Derek,” he said.
Kovacevic averaged 11.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game as a sophomore in 2011-12. He also shot a staggering 66 percent from the field. Tinkle said he’s more of a traditional post player, who can score with either hand and has the ability to knock down long-range jump shots.
Kovacevic may be even more surprised than Montana fans by his arrival at the University.
“When I went to visit Montana, I was really surprised at the school because the players played really hard and I fit in,” Kovacevic said in a press release posted on his junior college’s website. “They are a team that can make me better. I didn’t think about playing at the Division I (level) at all when I came over here. I came over here to play at WNCC and at a junior college.”
Tinkle expects Kovacevic to compete with Hutchison next year for the starting center spot. Tinkle said Hutchison is “more bouncey,” but Kovocevic brings a nice combination of post skills. He said he looks forward to the two bigs competing for the spot next fall.
Kovacevic chose to attend Montana despite offers from lofty schools like BYU, Washington State, Utah, Memphis and Texas Tech, among others.
Tinkle’s team still has one more scholarship to offer another prospect, and he hopes to have a player signed soon.
So it is over. After going four rounds and 25 playoff games last spring, the Vancouver Canucks lasted only five games this time around, a failure unthinkable following a second straight Presidents’ Trophy.
It will be almost six months until the Canucks play another game of significance and maybe even longer if there is a work stoppage due to an expiring collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and its players. There will be a lot of talking and tweaking and rebuilding or reloading between now and then. Here are five things for the Canucks to ponder as cries of ‘Wait’ Til Next Year’ echo around Vancouver.
epap@vancouversun.com
COACHING 1) Keep Alain Vigneault. There will undoubtedly be both hysterical and reasonable arguments to have him walk the plank but, with his sublime record behind the Canuck bench, he deserves a mulligan and an opportunity to come back and make amends. Prior to this spring, Vigneault was 4-for-4 in the first round. In six seasons behind the Canucks’ bench, he’s won six playoff series, five Northwest Division titles and consecutive Presidents’ Trophies. His teams have reached the 100-point mark five times
GOALIES
2) Make it official, quickly announce Cory Schneider is the new No. 1 for next season and that every attempt to find a new home for Roberto Luongo will be made. The decision to start Schneider in Wednesday’s and Sunday’s elimination games is a pretty good indication the team is already heading in that direction. Luongo has had a fine six-year run in Vancouver, but he’s 33 now and his numbers are dropping. His GAA of 2.41 was nearly half a goal per game higher than Schneider’s 1.96.
3) POWER PLAY POINT MAN
It’s difficult to pin the power play’s second-half demise on the absence of one player, but there’s a case to be made that hard-shooting blue-liner Christian Ehrhoff was sorely missed as the season progressed. Ehrhoff had the ability to skate the puck up ice and, more importantly, get his accurate shot through traffic. This year, there was a revolving door on the first unit alongside Alex Edler, who struggled down the stretch and into the playoffs.
4) LINEMATES FOR KESLER
It isn’t completely fair to say Kesler is skating on a helicopter line – anybody who makes the NHL can play the game – but there has been a surprising lack of chemistry between Kesler and David Booth, a fellow Detroit native brought in specifically to play with last year’s Selke Trophy winner. Both Booth and Kesler like to take the puck and go, and there has been little razzledazzle passing between them.
5) GO YOUNGER
Last summer, the Flyers opted to jettison marquee mid-career forwards Mike Richards and Jeff Carter and it created a larger role for Claude Giroux while also opening up ice time for rookies Matt Read, Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn. Canucks may not have that many elite prospects but the loss to the Kings indicates it’s time to reassess their mix. The Sedin twins, Alex Burrows and Manny Malhotra are already in their 30s. Ryan Kesler and Chris Higgins will be in their late-20s next year.
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The Dirty Dozen Brass Band makes its sixth appearance on Mountain Stage, recorded live in Charleston, W.V. Widely credited with revitalizing the sound of New Orleans jazz, the band blew down musical barriers by combining its love of traditional sounds with funk and bebop. Built around the idea of jazz as a constantly evolving organism, the group has shared the stage with Grateful Dead, Elvis Costello, Miles Davis, David Bowie, 2 Live Crew and The Black Crowes.
In celebrating 35 years together, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band kicks off this set with the dark grooves of “Blackbird Special,” the lead track from its first album, My Feet Can’t Fail Now. But the remainder of this set is drawn from the new Twenty Dozen — including “Jook,” which wasn’t heard on the radio broadcast of this show.
Assemblers who can’t justify halting production runs to obtain counts of remaining component inventories are going to welcome a new device from Manncorp. Aptly named “SpotCheck,” this hand-held counter fits most pockets and budgets. Where it differs from customary reel counters is in its unique design that provides fast estimates of parts quantities without removing the tape from the pick-and-place feeders. There is no time lost in threading leader tape and loading the reel onto the counters – which, according to Manncorp CEO, Henry Mann, “cannot be accomplished by traditional counters. At only $349, SpotCheck’s is also very affordable.”
Completely self-contained and requiring no attachments, SpotCheck produces SMD tallies in less than 60 seconds without interrupting production. Another feature, according to Mr. Mann, is SpotCheck’s pre-kitting functionality. “By providing almost instantaneous readouts of SMD quantities to be used in upcoming runs, risk of parts run out is prevented and downtime for component reloading is avoided. This makes it a must for any SMT line. Accuracy range is ±5%,” he stated.
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Get up to date on the latest pro days and all NFL Draft info. Watch videos.
Drafting: Fourth Pick
Cleveland has had nine top-16 picks since 1999 and two No. 1 picks. The problem is only two players — tackle Joe Thomas and cornerback Joe Haden — remain on the team to show for it. The two No. 1 picks — Tim Couch (1999) and Courtney Brown (2000) — were busts. The Browns have had nine years of double-digit losses, except for the 10-6 record in 2007.
The Browns amazingly stood pat in free agency, and in fact lost running back Peyton Hillis to the Chiefs. With four picks in the first 67 selections, including two first rounders, the Browns are confident they can improve on their drafting and their team.
With the No. 4 pick the Browns get a chance to add a blue-chip player, and don’t care what position it comes at because they need help everywhere. What I can’t see them doing is reaching for quarterback Ryan Tannehill with that pick. This is less an affirmation in their faith in current starter Colt McCoy as much as Mike Holmgren hasn’t selected a quarterback in the first round in his 30-year career. I can’t see him doing it on speculations about the Texas AM QB with his 19 starts.
The Browns would love to trade back and pick up additional picks, but if that doesn’t happen running back Trent Richardson would be a great replacement for Hillis.
They desperately need a wide receiver, but No. 4 may be too high for Justin Blackmon. Kendall Wright and Alshon Jeffery could be options with their No. 22 pick or Rueben Randle at 37th overall.
Cincinnati Bengals
Finished: 9-7 Eliminated in wild-card round
Drafting: 23rd pick
Last season, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis got everything he could out of his young team and made the playoffs. They won all nine games against non-playoff teams, but ironically lost all eight games against teams that made the postseason.
Drafting wide receiver A.J. Green and quarterback Andy Dalton set the tone for the Bengals offense. Tight end Jermaine Gresham and the return of the injured receiver Jordan Shipley leaves Cincinnati set in the passing game. Lewis wants to beef up the ground game and may use one of their first four picks on a running back.
Mike Brown deserves some credit for getting his quarterback situation under control. The Bengals acquired a first-round pick from the Raiders in the process of trading Carson Palmer.
Defensively, the Bengals did more with less than any other defense in the NFL.
They must rebuild a secondary unit that was hit by free agency last year and injury. They had to decide between Jonathan Joseph and Leon Hall, who they chose but ended up blowing an Achilles’ tendon.
The Bengals have the firepower to move up, but that is unlikely given the players available in the middle of the first round.
The Bengals could come away with a group of players with Alabama ties: defensive back Dre Kirkpatrick (Alabama); cornerback Janoris Jenkins (North Alabama); along with safety Mark Barron (Alabama), to instantly stack their secondary.
In the second round, they could find pass-rush help from Marshall defensive end Vinny Curry or Nebraska’s Jared Crick. They would love to have Miami (OH) guard Brandon Brooks fall to them in the third round.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Finished: 12-4 Eliminated in wild-card round
Drafting: 24th pick
Cap issues, injuries and being exposed in the playoffs as a team that can’t play man coverage are just a few of the difficulties facing the Steelers. The Steelers never say they are rebuilding, but reloading. This year could be the exception.
The Steelers have to address the offensive line, both inside and out, and their secondary. If they lose Mike Wallace to free agency, wide receiver can be added to this list as well. The linebacking corps, always a key to the Steelers’ success, needs to add some depth.
The Steelers have never been a major player in free agency, but they lost a number of longtime contributors like linebacker James Farrior, guard Chris Kemoeatu, defensive end Aaron Smith, wide receiver Hines Ward and cornerback Bryant McFadden.
Last year’s first-round pick defensive end Cameron Heyward didn’t progress much as hoped, but could see substantial improvement in Year 2. They did find a starter in the second round with tackle Marcus Gilbert.
Memphis nose tackle Dontari Poe would be a great pick to follow Casey Hampton in the middle, if he lasts to the 24th pick. Tackle Cordy Glenn from Georgia would fill a much-needed spot, as would Ohio State’s Mike Adams. Adams is still developing but could be the best overall talent at the position in the draft. If the Steelers do lose Wallace, wide receiver Kendall Wright or Stephen Hill might be what they are looking for.
Iowa State guard Kelechi Osemele looks to be a Steelers type of offensive lineman that could be there with their second-round pick.
Baltimore Ravens
Finished: 12-4 Eliminated in AFC Championship Game
Drafting: 29th pick
Some have categorized the Ravens as getting old, but that stems from the questions of how long Ray Lewis and Ed Reed will continue to play. General manager Ozzie Newsome has systematically infused younger talent on this team, which should sustain them for a while. The Ravens franchised Ray Rice and are trying to tie up quarterback Joe Flacco long term. They will be the faces and cornerstones of the Ravens when Lewis and Reed decide to call it quits.
Even with the success of last year’s first- and second-round picks — Jimmy Smith and Torrey Smith — the Ravens still need to address their secondary and wide receiver positions.
Although the top priority for the Ravens could be in the offensive line.
Free-agent acquisition Bryant McKinnie proved solid enough at left tackle, but is showing signs of slowing down. The interior of the offensive line was hit hard in free agency with the loss of Ben Grubbs to the New Orleans Saints. They persuaded center Matt Birk to not retire, but he may have a tough time finishing the season.
The Chargers signed defensive end Jarret Johnson, which will affect the Ravens defense as he was a subtle staple on the squad. The Ravens have been trying to find a complement opposite Terrell Suggs, but have failed in their attempts.
The Ravens have been very successful with late first-round picks and they will likely have solid options in all of these areas except for the pass rusher. Peter Konz or Kevin Zeitler, both from Wisconsin, could be available for the interior line.
They might be lucky enough to have Baylor’s Kendall Wright fall to them at 29. It is unlikely cornerback Janoris Jenkins from North Alabama would fall this far, but if he did they may take a chance on his character like they did Jimmy Smith last year. If that doesn’t happen, they may be in the market for cornerbacks Alfonzo Dennard from Nebraska or Trumaine Johnson from Montanta in the second round.
BOSTON — First the Red Sox lost Friday as Fenway celebrated its 100th anniversary. Then Boston blew a nine-run lead Saturday and lost to the Yankees 15-9.
But believe it or not, then things got better, at least for manager Bobby Valentine.
Sunday the series finale was rained out, saving Valentine the awkwardness of having the manager he replaced, Terry Francona,call the game as the analyst for ESPN’s scheduled broadcast.
But more important, shortly after Saturday’s debacle, GM Ben Cherington, team president Larry Lucchino and principal owner John Henry met with Valentine for 30 minutes and said they weren’t blaming him for the 4-10 start.
“This is not a 14-game problem,” Henry was quoted as saying by CBSSports.com. “This is a 41-game problem (dating to the Red Sox’s 7-20 collapse in September 2011). Our pitching has been terrible over the last 41 regular-season games.”
Said Cherington, “The players will always influence wins and losses more than anybody else, and that’s no different here. (Valentine is) doing the best he can with the roster he has. It’ll get better. He knows that, and I know that, and along the way, if changes need to be made on the roster, that’s my responsibility.”
Cherington said he is “very satisfied” with Valentine.
“It’s been a tough week. If I had to rate them all, this is one of the toughest,” Valentine said Sunday. “When you’re 4-10, it’s not easy to say that everything is going perfectly. But I think they’re good players, high quality, and we’re going to win a lot of games.”
The Red Sox, who have lost five in a row, open a seven-game road trip to Minnesota and Chicago today. No makeup date with the Yankees was announced.
“They’ve bounced back before,” Valentine said. “This is a psychological situation. You’ve got to be tough. I think we’re a tough team. We’ll find out.”
Daniel Bard, who was to start Sunday’s game, will skip his turn and work out of the bullpen in relief temporarily. When the team needs a fifth starter, it will be Bard, Valentine said.
Other rainouts: The Giants game in New York against the Mets was postponed because of rain and rescheduled as part of a single-admission doubleheader today beginning at 4:10 p.m. The Mets will push starter Johan Santana to Tuesday, so Miguel Batista will make a spot start against Giants ace Tim Lincecum in Game 1, and Madison Bumgarner will start against Dillon Gee in Game 2. In Washington, the series finale between the Nationals and Marlins was called; no makeup date was scheduled.
Humber back to work: White Sox RHP Phil Humber, who threw the 21st perfect game in major-league history Saturday, returned each of the 100-plus text messages he received and listened to all the phone calls of congratulations before falling asleep by 1:30 a.m. Sunday. But Sunday morning he was back to his usual poststart routine preparing for his start Thursday against Boston. “I’ve got to pitch in four days. It’s not like the season is over and you can kind of just go home and think about it,” Humber said.
Blue Jays:Francisco Cordero will serve as closer with Sergio Santos going on the DL after being diagnosed with shoulder inflammation.
Cardinals: CF John Jay will return to St. Louis to have his sprained right shoulder re-examined.
Padres: INF/OF Kyle Blanks will have season-ending surgery on his left shoulder, the second time he has had a year cut short by a major operation. He tore his labrum while swinging a bat. Blanks, 25, had elbow ligament replacement surgery that ended his 2010 season.
Tigers: RHP Doug Fister, on the 15-day DL since April 8 with a left side strain, said he didn’t have a timetable for his recovery.
Twins: RHP Nick Blackburn (right shoulder) will rejoin the rotation and pitch Tuesday against Boston.
Funf Brass Quintet, a professional group that plays an eclectic repertoire, will perform at Friedens Lutheran Church in Myerstown on May 6 as part of the church’s 200th anniversary celebration. The concert will begin at 7 p.m. at the church, 301 W. Washington Ave.
The quintet, based in Harrisburg, includes South Lebanon Elementary School teacher Shawn Small. He and Jeremy Walmer are graduates of Northern Lebanon High School. Another member, Erica Lambert, is a Palmyra Area High School graduate.
Small, who plays trumpet, is a graduate of Lebanon Valley College. The other four members – Walmer (trumpet), Clay Lambert (tuba), Erica Lambert (French horn) and Paul Veraa (euphonium) – are James Madison University alumni.
The group plays classics, jazz, Dixieland, rag and patriotic music and has performed in Mt. Gretna in the summer and during the holidays at Hershey Theatre.
Funf was formed at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., in 1997. In 2002, the group was the resident student brass quintet for The Bay View Music Festival in northern Michigan. In 2005, Funf relocated to Harrisburg.
The softball regular season does not end for a few weeks, but it will feel like playoff time today in Walla Walla.
The Wa-Hi Blue Devils (5-0 CBBN 4A) will host the Richland Bombers (4-0) in a league clash that has kept area fastpitch fans riveted in recent years.
Last spring, the teams split their doubleheader and finished the regular season tied for first, but the Blue Devils beat the Bombers for the district and regional titles.
In 2010, Walla Walla swept Richland on the way to an undefeated CBBN Cascade record, but the Bombers claimed the district championship behind the pitching of then-freshman Paige Goulet. In the regional title game, though, the Blue Devils came away with a 7-2 victory.
Jerry Humphreys’ Wa-Hi team is
9-0 overall, but the coach said, “We’re not sure what that means yet.”
The Blue Devils will get some idea when they face Richland at 4 p.m. today.
Though the Bombers (9-2) lost several key players from last year’s team, including pitcher Lindsey Walchli and catcher Bethany Burch, reloading hasn’t been much of an issue. Goulet and Kayla Andrews have given opposing teams fits from the circle. Also, Andrews, a sophomore, and freshman April Utecht are wowing crowds with their power stroke. Between them, they have 35 RBIs and eight home runs this season.
Richland coach Casey Emery said his players are keeping their cool in practice as they prepare to face the defending state champions.
“We’re a little bit sharper as far as our focus and intensity level, but it’s kind of just another week,” Emery said. “I don’t really sense any nervousness or anything that maybe a young team might have going against the
No. 1 team in the state. I think that’s a good thing. I don’t think we’re trying too much or pressing too much.”
Richland also will ride a wave of excitement emanating from the return of shortstop Monika Hebky. The junior underwent thyroid cancer surgery late last year and needed time to recover after another procedure in March.
“I fully expect she’ll be close to old Monika,” Emery said.
With Hebky back, Richland will have yet another player who is well acquainted with the Blue Devil-Bomber battle.
Emery expects to start up to six seniors today. That experience will be vital against Alyson Ambler, whom Emery called “one of the best pitchers ever in our league.”
Given the history between these teams, this doubleheader, intense though it might be, could add fuel to another postseason showdown or two.
“It’s a fun game because both sides are motivated to play their best when they come against each other,” Humphreys said.
Both teams hope the weather won’t put a damper on today’s doubleheader after rain hit Walla Walla on Thursday.
On Tuesday, the Blue Devils’ second game against Moses Lake was postponed in the bottom of the fourth because of rain. The game will pick up where it left off at noon April 28 in Walla Walla.
State champions to face off: Reigning Class 4A state champion Walla Walla will host one game against defending 1A titlist Connell at 5 p.m. May 8.
Humphreys said the schedule finally worked out after the teams tried to meet earlier this season.
“We’re looking forward to playing them,” Humphreys said. “They have a great pitcher (Washington commit Ashley Thompson) and a great team around them.”
CBBN 3A: Southridge must face West Valley today without pitcher/first baseman Janelle Randles, who injured her hamstring last week against Pasco.
“She did the splits trying to help a teammate, and she knew what happened right away,” Southridge coach Eric Weisgerber said.
Randles did not play in Tuesday’s doubleheader against Eastmont. She is undergoing therapy, but the extent of her injury is not known. Also, there is no timetable for her return. Weisgerber said she is out this week.
“Hamstrings, calves, even when you tweak them, they don’t always respond the way you want them to,” Weisgerber said. “It’s a matter of getting work done, time, ice, a multitude of things.”
Sarah Gilliam will get the majority of innings in Randles’ absence.
NWAACC: Two Walla Walla Community College players will continue their careers next season at the university level.
Former Wa-Hi standout Jill McDaniels signed with Central Washington, and pitcher/outfielder Dara Kosanke will go to Utah Valley State.
McDaniels, a second baseman, is hitting .429 for the Warriors. She is the NWAACC leader in home runs (nine) and RBIs (39).
Kosanke has a .485 batting average and leads the NWAACC with 19 wins. She has a 2.60 ERA with 109 strikeouts in 1371/3 innings.
Last year, the Richland and Walla Walla softball teams split their regular-season doubleheader.
This year was no different in the end result, but something felt different about Friday’s matchup.
Alyson Ambler, who had helped Walla Walla reach unprecedented heights last year with its first state title, was pitching in her final home doubleheader, being honored with balloons and applause from the crowd.
Columbia Basin softball team begins East Region play (w/ capsules)
Though 12 games have come and gone for the Columbia Basin College softball team, the season begins today, as far as the Hawks are concerned.
And what better way to start NWAACC East Region play than against the six-time defending regional champion?
CBC (4-7-1) welcomes Wenatchee Valley College to Pasco for an regional-opening doubleheader. Last year, the Knights tied with Walla Walla Community College for the East Region’s top record and took third in the NWAACC tournament in Portland.
KENNEWICK — The Lindsey Kamphuis show drew a rapt audience Friday at Lawrence Scott Park.
The Kamiakin senior recorded nine strikeouts in each game as the Braves defeated Richland 12-2 and 3-2 in a nonleague doubleheader.
“I was very confident,” Kamphuis said after Game 1, which went six innings. “I love pitching. I’ve played against a lot of those players for a long time, and I was happy to get strikeouts against some of them.”
The three Kennewick schools and Hanford at the top looking down on the rest of the CBBN 3A — check.
Walla Walla getting out in front of the CBBN 4A — check.
Ben Jacobs lamenting on how his Richland Bombers need to learn how to play catch — the same club that ends up in the state semifinals year after year — double-check.
BOSTON — Fourteen games into his tenure as Red Sox manager, Bobby Valentine had his first postgame meeting with his bosses yesterday.
A 15-9 loss to the Yankees at Fenway Park after blowing a nine-run lead will do that, especially when you’re in last place.
“I think we’ve hit bottom,” Valentine said. “That’s what I told them after the game. You have to sometimes hit bottom, and if this isn’t the bottom then we’ll find some new ends to the Earth, I guess.”
After meeting with Valentine, along with owner John Henry and president Larry Lucchino, general manager Ben Cherington said he was pleased with the job Valentine is doing — despite the 4-10 record.
“I’m very satisfied,” Cherington said. “The players will always influence wins and losses more than anybody else, and that’s no different here. He’s doing the best he can with the roster he has.”
As the Red Sox bullpen gave up 14 runs in two innings, Valentine was booed lustily multiple times while he changed pitchers, each one unable to stop the Yankees’ rally. He seemed unfazed by the negative reaction.
“I’ve been booed in a couple of countries and a few different stadiums,” Valentine said. “I don’t want to be booed. I want the good decisions.”
After hearing “We Want Tito!” chants that began toward the end of Friday’s loss to the Yankees, Valentine should expect the clamor for the return of Terry Francona to become more frequent.
“It’s expected,” Valentine said. “They like performance.”
After yesterday’s loss, Valentine’s players tried to be optimistic.
“I don’t want to see if it gets any worse,” said shortstop Mike Aviles after David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia declined to answer questions. “If this is bottom, we’re good. There’s nowhere else to go but up, right?”
The Red Sox pounded Yankees starter Freddy Garcia, knocking him out in the second inning. But things began to unravel in the seventh.
After Felix Doubront was yanked following six solid innings, the bullpen had another embarrassing performance, surrendering seven runs in consecutive innings. It was the latest implosion for a bunch of relievers who have struggled all season.
“I knew this was going to be extremely challenging and extremely eventful,” Valentine said. “And it’s been eventfully challenging.”
It doesn’t look like it will get any easier for the injury-plagued club. The Red Sox traded for Cubs outfielder Marlon Byrd yesterday, but they have more problems than any one player can fix.
“You have to be tough,” Valentine said. “I think we’re a tough team. We’ll find out.”
Regardless, he doesn’t regret returning to managing.
“This is my job,” Valentine said. “If they said it was only going to be for the good days, I probably wouldn’t have come. Challenges are great.”
Cherington said, “It’ll get better. He knows that and I know that. And if along the way, changes need to be made on the roster, that’s my responsibility.”
BOSTON — Fourteen games into his tenure as Red Sox manager, Bobby Valentine had his first postgame meeting with his bosses yesterday.
A 15-9 loss to the Yankees at Fenway Park after blowing a nine-run lead will do that, especially when you’re in last place.
“I think we’ve hit bottom,” Valentine said. “That’s what I told them after the game. You have to sometimes hit bottom, and if this isn’t the bottom then we’ll find some new ends to the Earth, I guess.”
After meeting with Valentine, along with owner John Henry and president Larry Lucchino, general manager Ben Cherington said he was pleased with the job Valentine is doing — despite the 4-10 record.
“I’m very satisfied,” Cherington said. “The players will always influence wins and losses more than anybody else, and that’s no different here. He’s doing the best he can with the roster he has.”
As the Red Sox bullpen gave up 14 runs in two innings, Valentine was booed lustily multiple times while he changed pitchers, each one unable to stop the Yankees’ rally. He seemed unfazed by the negative reaction.
“I’ve been booed in a couple of countries and a few different stadiums,” Valentine said. “I don’t want to be booed. I want the good decisions.”
After hearing “We Want Tito!” chants that began toward the end of Friday’s loss to the Yankees, Valentine should expect the clamor for the return of Terry Francona to become more frequent.
“It’s expected,” Valentine said. “They like performance.”
After yesterday’s loss, Valentine’s players tried to be optimistic.
“I don’t want to see if it gets any worse,” said shortstop Mike Aviles after David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia declined to answer questions. “If this is bottom, we’re good. There’s nowhere else to go but up, right?”
The Red Sox pounded Yankees starter Freddy Garcia, knocking him out in the second inning. But things began to unravel in the seventh.
After Felix Doubront was yanked following six solid innings, the bullpen had another embarrassing performance, surrendering seven runs in consecutive innings. It was the latest implosion for a bunch of relievers who have struggled all season.
“I knew this was going to be extremely challenging and extremely eventful,” Valentine said. “And it’s been eventfully challenging.”
It doesn’t look like it will get any easier for the injury-plagued club. The Red Sox traded for Cubs outfielder Marlon Byrd yesterday, but they have more problems than any one player can fix.
“You have to be tough,” Valentine said. “I think we’re a tough team. We’ll find out.”
Regardless, he doesn’t regret returning to managing.
“This is my job,” Valentine said. “If they said it was only going to be for the good days, I probably wouldn’t have come. Challenges are great.”
Cherington said, “It’ll get better. He knows that and I know that. And if along the way, changes need to be made on the roster, that’s my responsibility.”
It may not be America’s favorite pastime, but owning and shooting guns might be a close runner-up.
Firearm retailers in Cache Valley are part of a nationwide, multi-billion-dollar industry that works to quench what experts say is a growing demand for guns and ammunition here and across the country.
Whether you shoot for sport, buy a gun for personal protection, or use the piece as a political statement, one thing is certain: Utah gun sales have increased substantially in recent years and don’t appear to be slowing.
Gunsmiths say there are a number of factors, including supply and politics. In 2008, for example, more people in Utah bought guns than during any other year since 1996, and the number of concealed firearm permits in Cache Valley and around the state has jumped dramatically since 2007.
State officials don’t keep tabs on every firearm purchased in Utah but do track each background check required to purchase a gun. The information is compiled by the same state bureau that gathers crime statistics, arrests and fingerprint records.
The Bureau of Criminal Identification filters every request for a firearm purchase and each year denies thousands of gun shop transactions. But for every denial there are hundreds of approved gun sales. Last year, 80,526 Utah residents made formal requests to purchase one or more firearms. The bureau has 16 years of data, much of which shows the same upward trend retailers can spot in their financial records each quarter.
Kris Larsen, owner of Al’s Sporting Goods in Logan, says his store noticed a gun sales spike in 2008 after the last presidential election and says the same upward trend is starting up again this year.
“Right when Obama won the election, it tended to create a fury of people worried about an increase in gun laws,” Larsen said. “In 2008 and 2009, even with the economy as bad as it was, there was an upswing in gun sales for sure.”
Rumors about restricted gun rights, he said, generates speculation in the firearms industry and rumor usually helps to drive up prices.
“Just rumor and talk is enough for the gun industry to go crazy,” Larsen added. “I’ve noticed this February, March and April, there has been a 40 to 50 percent increase in the number of background checks and that’s very reflective of what happened post-2008 election.”
Speculation also shifts the availability of shooting supplies.
Ammunition and reloading goods across the U.S. are becoming scarcer as the general election gets closer and as news reports highlight the candidates’ position on guns.
“In the last 60 days, we’ve noticed a real price increase and drop in availability of certain pistol ammunition and popular rifle ammunition,” Larsen said. “There have been rumors that certain things such as reloading supplies will be taxed by the Obama administration and that created a major shortage of those supplies over the last few years.”
But Larsen said residents of
Cache Valley are a lot more savvy than “alarmists” who drive up ammo demand.
“Cache Valley people are very level-headed and are looking at this rationally,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of the alarmist types. We have a lot of people who love their Second Amendment, and they love to shoot and shooting is not a bad thing.”
For gun owners who decide to carry a concealed firearm, the process has simplified in recent years and the required course work can be completed in just hours. Concealed firearm permit holders must be at least 21 and — in most cases — have no criminal record. In Cache Valley there are 16 instructors offering the four-hour course for a cost of between $40 and $150.
Permit instructor Paul White owns of a small gun store in Richmond and can even sell students a firearm if they don’t already have one. His customers range from first-time gun owners to combat-tested military veterans.
“People take my concealed firearms class for a number of reasons,” White said. “First and foremost is the desire to protect one’s self and family. Another group of people simply want to exercise their right. I also get some who take it for a political statement. I get all ages, all races, men and women and I even have people who take the class who have never owned a firearm or have never touched one.”
White sells an average of 250 guns a year from his online shop, MyFavoriteGunStore.com, which he said is much smaller compared to other retail gun establishments. White charges $40 to teach the program and prides his operation on quality training.
“I don’t teach for the money,” he said. “I teach it because I love it and I want people to get good training and to have a positive experience getting it.”
The curriculum for the course is set by the Utah Department of Public Safety and covers basic safety training, weapon familiarity and state and federal laws. However, it does not require participants to show proof of shooting experience. That, White said, is the responsibility of the gun owner.
“The reality is that if you don’t know how to operate your handgun, you are being highly irresponsible,” he said. “It’s not the state’s problem to teach you how to shoot, and it’s not my problem as an instructor to teach you.”
With the class credit complete and permit in hand, concealed carriers next have to choose which firearm is right for them. Popular gun models are the Ruger lightweight compact pistols, or LCPs, as they’re known in the industry. The small gun fits easily into a pant or coat pocket and when loaded weighs less than 10 ounces.
“They’re very easy to conceal and you can take them with you everywhere you go,” adds White. “Or I have some guys who want to buy the biggest tank of a gun they can buy and other people who like a 9-mm. They’re inexpensive to shoot and people of all ages and sizes can shoot them.”
White said he’s never met anyone who took up shooting who didn’t like it. With today’s online technology, background checks are quick and simple and access to guns and ammunition means anyone with a clean record can enjoy the privilege of owning a gun.
“I can’t think of a person I’ve ever met who doesn’t like shooting guns,” White said. “It’s a fun, safe activity.”
Louisville owes its bourbon dominance to Prohibition: Out of the six permits issued in the country during Prohibition to sell whiskey for “medicinal purposes,” four were in Louisville. Still today a third of Kentucky bourbon is distilled in city limits. And a new education and training center andartisan distillery opening this month downtown, the Distilled Spirits Epicenter, will offer hands-on distilling instruction, classes and bottling servicesto small bottlers and those who want to be. Moonshine University, in particular, promises to be fun for enthusiasts.
More importantly to most visitors, though, Louisville is the center of the universe fortastingbourbon. Whether you’re still recovering from college shots or are a whiskey connoisseur, Louisville’s bourbon scene is as multi-faceted as the spirit itself. A day on the Urban Bourbon Trailcan introduce you to the Louisville beyond the cloying mint juleps and floppy hats of Derby.
First, be smart. Especially if you’re not used to it, bourbon sneaks up on you if you imbibe too fast, don’t drink enough water, or consume on an empty stomach. Stay hydrated, eat at every stop, and seriously, take taxis!
Your day starts at Dish on Market, housed in Louisville’s first color motion picture theater. Marshall, one of the two brothers who own the place, loves to talk history. Ask him to tell you about the building and talk bourbon. Meanwhile, order the Presidential breakfast, inspired by Harry Truman’s purported daily meal of toast, eggs, bacon, fruit, milk, and a shot of whiskey, in this case a generous pour of Old Grandad. “This is not your grandma’s bourbon,” laughs Marshall. You may feel like people are staring as your whiskey fumes waft about. That’s OK. They’re just too chicken to go hardcore this early. But like Marshall’s family motto says, you can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning. The key is to eat your breakfast first so you have a cushion for your bourbon.
Consider exploring the shops of NuLu (go east on Market) before lunch at Avalonon Bardstown Road, where you’ll want to wander later to check out the fun and funky shops. Like every stop on the trail, folks here know their stuff. If you like drama you might opt for the Flaming Pyroses, a Four Roses Manhattan set on fire (with Grand Marnier – “no bourbon was harmed in the making of this drink,” says Ryan, the bartender). For a less potent option, go for the Kentucky Mule, a twist on the classic bourbon and ginger, and familiar to fans of the vodka-based Moscow Mule. A range of lunch options well below $10 leaves you plenty to spend on drinks if you want to spring for the George T. Stagg, a $30 pour of liquid fire that will singe your lashes as you inhale, but burns oh so smoothly.
If it’s not madness at the track (that is, if you’re visiting outside of Derby week), hit the Derby Cafe in the afternoon to study up on your bourbon, and if you must have a mint julep, kick back at the bar.
After a rest, head for the old-fashioned opulence of The Brown Hotel. Piano music in the lobby bar will set the tone for your genteel sipping. Since this is your first evening stop, ease your way in with a Kentucky Cider – the light Basil Hayden joins sparkling apple cider and lemon for a lovely aperitif. Order a small plate or two – a recent option showcased country ham on brioche with a crayfish salsa, the perfect bite to whet your appetite.
A few blocks, and light years away, next up is the bar at Proof on Main. The restaurant for 21C Museum Hotel, repeatedly ranked among the top 10 hotels in the world, this is your “see and be seen” hotspot stop. Craft cocktails are offered with a selection of heartbreakingly delectable snacks. Don’t miss the cured meats plate, lonzino, lardo, and smoked grapes. The bar menu changes seasonally, but you could ask nicely for a Gold Rush for an all-too-easy-to-down honey, lemon and bourbon drink. Sip among the well-heeled crowd, then take a spin around the confrontingly contemporary art collection.
If you’ve paced yourself, you’re ready for dinner. You’re off to Baxter Station, where you’re unlikely to bump into tourists. Instead, this joint serves comfort fare to a regular crowd of its Irish Hill neighbors, families, white-haired long-timers and a sprinkling of hipsters. Traces of its past remain – once a saloon popular with nearby train station employees (no women allowed in those days), then a grocery during Prohibition, and back to a tavern until a rave restaurant review of the food turned it into a restaurant. Leftover door signage to the twinkly-lit back room remains because they don’t see any need to scratch away the past. This is pretense-free food and drink, no craft cocktails or fusion fuss here. The bourbon fried chicken, hot and crispy as nature intended, will fill you up nicely. Try Old Fashioned with Woodford (invented in Louisville) or choose your bourbon neat from the bar-tab friendly list.
Wrap up your night with dessert at Bourbons Bistro, a mecca for bourbon-lovers with more than 130 selections. Grab a chair at the bar for serious discussion. Tell the bartender what you like – caramel and vanilla, for instance – and he’ll give you a knowledgeable recommendation, like Vintage 17 Year. If you’re not up to straight bourbon, order the Bourbon Cobbler. Dessert in a glass, this sweet cocktail will go down so easily you might find yourself at the bottom tempted to order the 1969 Old Crow, a rare bourbon in a ceramic chess piece – you’ll see the face scowling as he keeps watch over the bar – that costs a cool $125. You might actually see someone order it, and watching a patron sip a drink that spendy is entertainment in and of itself. To finish the night, have the bread pudding. The towering carb-fest not only tastes amazing, but soaks up all that bourbon. You’ll need it – tomorrow is another day in Louisville.
Dana McMahanis a Louisville-based travel, food and fitness writer. Her articles have appeared in Delta Sky magazine, Fodors.com, TheDailyMeal.com, the Huffington Post, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, among other outlets. She blogs here.
SOUTHINGTON — More than 300 trumpet players of all levels and ages performed together harmoniously as they attempted to break the world record for the largest trumpet ensemble Saturday.
Although the Southington Brass Blast event did not break the Guinness World Record for the largest trumpet ensemble, co-organizer Marty Semmel said it went better than he could have ever imagined.
The current record, according to Semmel, is held by a group of Bolivians who gathered some 1,100 trumpeters.
“Having all of these trumpet players together at one event was awesome,” said Semmel, participant and principal of Southington High School. “I have a 10-year-old daughter who also plays the trumpet, so it was nice to have her playing right next to me.”
Participants arrived early to practice together for the first time before performing for the audience.
Each participant was given one of four parts to play from each song, said Semmel. The songs included, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “America the Beautiful” and “Gonna Fly Now,” best known as “Theme from Rocky.”
“It was inspiring,” said Betsy Casey, who was there to see the performance. “It was so patriotic, not overwhelming at all, the way the music just blended together was very nice.”
Casey said the best part of the show was just watching all the little children performing with their fathers, mothers, and even grandparents.
“It was really cool to see them playing together, you could see three different generations together on that field.”
Martin London, 13, of Wethersfield said he really enjoyed performing with all the other trumpet players, despite being “bummed out” that they didn’t break the world record.
“It was amazing to see a band that big,” said Russell London, Martin’s father. “It was beautiful hearing all those trumpets just come together so nicely. For as little practice as they had, they did an amazing job.”
Event organizer, Eric Semmel, said the memory of Frank Hooper, his music teacher when he was growing up in Windsor, inspired him to launch the Southington Brass Ensemble a year ago as a way for parents to perform music with their children and to raise money for organizations supporting students and musicians. Semmel came up with the idea of the Brass Blast to raise more money.
Although the event was free and opened to the public, spectators were encouraged to give a donation and participants paid $20 to perform. All the proceeds will go to the Mill Foundation for Kids, the Southington High School Band Backers, and the Connecticut Music Educators Association.
“This was not just about breaking a record, it was also a way to bring awareness to the importance of music education, while at the same time raising money for youth in music, and other musical organizations,” said Joanne Kelleher, public relations for Southington Brass Blast.
Although Semmel wasn’t able to get the 1,200 trumpet players he needed to break the record, he said he will try again next year.
The event was sponsored by the Southington Arts Council and brass instrument manufacturer E.K. Blessing, which donated a trumpet which was raffled off at the event.
For more information on the Southington Brass band or for information of future events, visit www.southingtonbrass.com.
Lluvia Mares can be reached at (860) 584-0504, ext. 7238, or at lmares@bristolpress.com.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – The Republican primary for a Texas Senate district stretching from San Antonio to south Austin is grabbing attention for the rugged fight between the incumbent and his top challenger.
Sen. Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio is fighting to keep a seat he’s held since 1993. His top challenger is former Texas Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones. Physician Donna Campbell also is in the race.
Ames Jones has called Wentworth petulant, unethical and tired. She also has the backing of Texans for Lawsuit Reform, 1 of the state’s most powerful conservative lobbies.
Wentworth says Ames Jones is desperately trying to find an office after dropping out of a dying campaign for the U.S. Senate.
The primary election is May 29.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
J oin the Colorado Brass Company and percussionist Chuck Landgraf for an afternoon of purely fun music from the movies and “classic” television. The ensemble will be covering westerns, musicals, comedies — even touching on cartoon music. This is a concert designed to send you home whistling any of a dozen merry melodies. This concert is sponsored by Optical Perspectives.
The group is a professional brass quintet out of Fort Collins. Most of the members are music educators as well as performers. They play a wide variety of styles of music, from classical to jazz to renaissance to ragtime. The Brass Company has been a Northern Colorado staple for more than a decade, formed to provide high quality music. They typically perform as a quintet, but the company consists of ten of the area’s busiest brass musicians — music educators, music professionals, and private sector professionals with a passion for brass music.
Janet Geldert — horn
Raised in Indianapolis, Ind. and Minnetonka, Minn, Geldert began playing horn at age 10. She received horn lessons from Christopher Leuba, principal horn of the Chicago Symphony and Minnesota Orchestra. Geldert performed with the Des Moines Symphony, the Madison Symphony, the Adirondack Wind Ensemble, and several chamber ensembles. Geldert was a founding member of Adirondack Brass and performed with that quintet for 15 years. And she was an adjunct instructor of horn at SUNY-Plattsburgh; performing in Colorado with the Wind Symphony and Loveland Orchestra as well as CBC.
Jason Mather — tuba
Mather is a Colorado native who began his study of the tuba at the age of twelve. He studied with Jack Robinson at the University of Northern Colorado and with Don Harry at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Mather won the Rocky Mountain Concerto Competition in 2003.
Larry Currey–
trumpet
Originally from El Paso, Texas, Larry received his business degree from New Mexico State University, where he picked up his early playing experiences, performing with every ensemble that used the trumpet. He continued playing professionally in the Southwest, and was a founding member of El Paso’s Quintessential Brass, which is currently one of the country’s longest continually running brass quintets. Locally, he’s the founder of Fort Collins’ Colorado Brass Company, and regularly plays with many other local ensembles. Both his ensemble and solo skills have been utilized throughout his playing career.
Thomas Currey — trumpet
Thomas is a recent graduate of Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich. He was active in his school’s music department, where he was featured twice as a concerto soloist with the Hillsdale College Symphony Orchestra. Thomas works for Integrated Energy Solutions in Fort Collins. He hopes to attend law school in the fall.
David Miles –
trombone
Miles has been playing trombone since 1988 when he first started elementary school in New Mexico. During his senior year at Fort Collins High School, Miles performed with the John Phillip Sousa National High School Honor Band. Miles then moved on to Colorado State University where he earned a bachelors of music (music education) and later earned his masters of music (instrumental conducting). Miles has performed with the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra, the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Brass, the Fort Collins Wind Symphony and the Colorado Brass Company. Miles currently teaches band at Fort Collins High School in Fort Collins, CO. David lives in Fort Collins with his wife, Amanda, and their sons, Elliot and Jacob.
Next week is the season finale. The Estes Valley Chamber Singers, Estes Park’s premier choral ensemble under the leadership of their co-founder and artistic director, J. Richard Dixon, will close our season on April 29.
“Thank you to our wonderful audience for helping us make this the most successful Winter Series ever,” said Music Festival officials. “See you this summer for the spectacular programming of Michael Christie and the Colorado Chamber Orchestra. Mark your calendars for July 9,16,23,30. All summer concerts are held on Monday nights in the air conditioned Stanley Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m.
“Thank you to the Stanley Hotel, our weekly sponsors and Winter Season Major Benefactors: Ron and Sylvia Kuhns, Daniel and Stephanie Rauk and Ron and Vivian Gordon. A special thank you to Candace Carnahan at the Stanley for her continued support and assistance in scheduling the Music Festival recitals and concerts.
NEW YORK: US imports of brass mill products increased by 7.3 percent in February from a year earlier and exports surged 17.8 percent in that time, an industry group said.
Imports of brass mill products in February rose to 36,021,612 lbs from 33,583,095 lbs in the same period in 2011, the Copper and Brass Fabricators Council said in a statement this week.
Exports grew to 19,347,506 lbs in February from 16,429,515 lbs a year earlier, it said.
For the year through February, imports of brass mill products totaled 76,026,319 lbs, up 7.6 percent from 70,671,586 lbs for the first two months of 2011. Exports for the year through February jumped 11.8 percent to 38,146,661 from 34,116,802 in the same 2011 period.
Mexico was the top destination for exported US brass mill products in February at 6,954,442 lbs, followed by Canada at 6,809,013 lbs, China at 950,846 lbs, Saudi Arabia at 716,905 lbs and South Korea at 526,573 lbs.
The US imported the most brass mill products in February from Germany at 7,325,443 lbs, followed by Canada at 4,491,628 lbs, South Korea at 4,929,852 lbs, South Korea at 4,286,969 lbs, and Mexico at 4,273,985 lbs and China at 3,423,058 lbs.
Imports of all sheet, strip, plate and foil products came to 11,121,724 lbs, while exports of those products totaled 7,699,821 lbs.
Imports of all pipe and tube products amounted to 11,819,066 lbs, while pipe and tube exports totaled 4,999,111 lbs.
The tally of imports of all profiles, rods and bars came to 10,507,006 lbs, with exports at 4,759,450 lbs.
Imports of copper alloy wire totaled 2,573,815 lbs while exports were 1,889,124 lbs.
Brass mill products are widely used in building construction, automotive products and for electronic and electrical applications.
There’s cause for concern in parts of Chickamauga, as news of a possible outdoor shooting range spreads across town. That shooting range could be up and running by the beginning of summer. But it’s not the time frame that’s got people fired up, it’s the proposed location of the range.
“About three weeks ago, an application was made, well initial applications were pit in, to apply for a shooting range and light manufacture for ammunition and reloading of ammunition,” said James Powell, the zoning administrator for the City of Chickamauga.
After Powell got the application, he followed protocol. He advertised the proposal in the Walker County paper, posted signs on the property, and sent out letters explaining it to homes and businesses within 300 feet of the property. One of those businesses is the Academy for Little People.
“Basically shocked! I don’t think the people who are wanting to put the firing range in totally understand how it could impact the children,” Sharon Armour, owner of the daycare and preschool.
Armour says more than 200 kids from six weeks old to 12 years are at their facility every day.
“My main concern is the safety of the children. We are less than 500 feet from the property. A stray bullet could hit out building, hit our playground,” Armour said.
But Powell says that isn’t likely.
“They wouldn’t be shooting towards the daycare. They’d be firing toward the park area, that’s my understanding,” he said.
Even that, though, doesn’t bring a sense of calm to Armour or the parents at her school.
“Here we are so proactive and anti-guns in our schools but then we’re subjecting kids as young as 6 weeks old to hearing gunshots all day at their school,” said Armour.
But before that happens, the property will have to be rezoned and the proposal, heard by the planning commission at a public hearing. If they pass it, there will be a second hearing, in front of the mayor and the city council. That could all happen at soon as May.
“I think we have an excellent commissions, but planning and city commission, and I think once they see the facts and understand where we’re coming from, that they’ll totally agree with us that this is a totally dangerous situation to put all of our children in,” said Armour.
This Thursday the first public hearing on this proposal will be held. It will be at 7 p.m. at the Chickamauga Civic Center and will be an opportunity for anyone to come and voice their support of the firing range, as well as their concerns.Neighbors Worried About Planned Shooting Range
An Anniston-based manufacturer is under new ownership, but no drastic changes to the company or cutbacks are expected.
Ken Dickson, the new president of Lee Brass in Anniston, confirmed Thursday that an Ohio-based group of private investors had purchased his company and that the transaction had closed April 10. Dickson said he was not at liberty to release the identity of the investor group. The cost of the purchase was also withheld.
“They requested to withhold their identity … they are not a public group,” Dickson said.
However, according to public records from the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office, a private, Ohio-based equity firm called The Reserve Group purchased Lee Brass. Also, The Reserve Group’s website lists that it acquired Lee Brass this year.
Attempts to reach The Reserve Group for comment Thursday were unsuccessful.
Dickson, who previously worked in Birmingham in general industry, said he was brought to Anniston to help Lee Brass’ management grow the company. Dickson said there were no current plans to downsize Lee Brass. He did not know if there were plans to hire more workers.
“The management here will remain with the company,” Dickson said. “We have to learn more about the business before we develop plans for the future.”
Although he would not discuss Lee Brass’ new owners, Dickson said they purchased the company because of the success it has had in recent years despite the recession.
“Lee Brass is a solid company composed of solid people with a good product,” Dickson said. “The new investors, working with the current Lee Brass management team, are excited for the opportunity to continue the positive momentum at Lee Brass and assist in its future growth.”
Among other products, Lee Brass produces lead-free pipes for drinking water systems. It currently has 198 permanent and 23 temporary employees — an improvement from the 178 employees it had in 2010.
According to its website, The Reserve Group is a family-based private equity firm formed in 1995. It specializes in the acquisition, management, revitalization and expansion of basic manufacturing companies.
Along with Lee Brass, The Reserve Group’s portfolio contains nine other companies, including manufacturers in Texas, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Founded in 1917, Lee Brass pours 12 different copper-based alloys to serve several markets including marine, plumbing and industrial.
The marine segment serves the U.S. Navy shipbuilding and repair market. Lee Brass is the largest supplier of copper nickel fittings and flanges to the Navy.
The Plumbing and Industrial segment serves the housing, industrial and commercial markets. Lee Brass recently introduced its LEE FREE fitting product designed to meet new low-lead regulations for potable water systems.
Bruce Jameson, former CEO of Lee Brass and now executive vice president with a focus on sales, said the company has grown in recent years despite the recession due to efforts to diversify its product line and find additional customers like the Navy.
Lee Brass was not always so successful, however.
Lee Brass began to struggle in 2005 when its then parent company, Amcast Industrial Corp., filed for bankruptcy, Jameson said.
“Lee Brass didn’t file for Chapter 11, but our parent company filing didn’t help any,” Jameson said.
Amcast has since gone out of business.
At its lowest point, Lee Brass had shrunk to 165 employees. Jameson had previously worked for Lee Brass but was working with another company at the time of the bankruptcy.
He and two others were asked to come back to help Lee Brass survive, Jameson said.
“We worked together to turn the company around,” he said.
Star staff writer Patrick McCreless: 256-235-3561. On Twitter @PMcCreless_Star
GALLERY: Nelson Brass Band seeks new members for its 150th birthday year
11:40am Friday 20th April 2012 in News
By Tyrone Marshall
, Reporter
BLOWING HARD Nelson Brass Band is appealing for new members
A BRASS band is celebrating its 150th birthday this year, but is desperately appealing for new members.
Nelson Brass Band is currently a few members short of its full compliment of 25 members, and wants to see new people join the group in its Sesquicentennial year.
The group, which is the only competition band in Pendle, have a generational gap, with young and old members, but not many in between.
The band’s finest hour came in 1939, when they finished second in the British Open Championship.
Agnes Stringfellow, band co-ordinator, said: “We do have a bit of a generational gap. The playing and learning of instruments in schools is coming back in a bit so we do have some younger members.
“But at the moment we are a few people short, we are having to pull people out of retirement which isn’t ideal.”
The band have members for teenagers up to 80 years of age, and are looking at starting a junior section to give the performers of tomorrow an early chance.
The history of Nelson Brass has been linked to that of the town and especially the textile industry.
In the latter part of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, Nelson was a booming new town built on cotton and the band mirrored the boom, and it was regarded as one of the best brass
bands in the country, winning many national titles.
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They were hit hard with the rapid decline of textiles and, because of this, after the Second World War players left the area for work and older players retired.
The band struggled through this period until the last 30 or so years, when they have returned to winning trophies.
The band has a turbulent history, having twice been forced to fold, only to be resurrected a few years later.
It has been running now since it was reformed for the second time in 1957.
The band once had a concert cancelled by the town council’s alderman, in 1898, because they were playing songs considered to be too popular.
As well as celebrating their 150th birthday, two band members are also celebrating 50 years with the band this year, Milton Pickles and Peter Kendall.
Mrs Stringfellow said: “We have two members who have done 50 years, which is a brilliant achievement. We have already had our band dinner to celebrate the anniversary and later in the year we will
be performing a special concert at the ACE Centre in aid of Pendleside Hospice.”
The band play several concerts a year and usually enter at least two competitions in the North West as well.
This year they will be performing in Barley for the Queen’s Jubilee, and will also be playing at Durham Miners’ Gala for the third year in a row.
They rehearse every Wednesday, and new members are asked to contact nelsonbrass.com.
150 YEARS OF SWEET MUSIC
Nelson Band, as it was known then, was formed in 1862 and practised in a room at the back of an old inn, which later became the Lord Nelson pub.
After 11 years the band was boasting that it had 476 pounds and 19 shillings in prize money.
In 1894 they hit controversy, when the town council’s alderman called a halt to a concert in Victoria Park because they were playing music considered ‘too popular’.
After disbanding for a short while the band reformed in 1898 as Nelson Old Band, and rehearsed at the Prince of Wales Inn.
In 1920, the band acquired Clifford House and became a social club as well as a brass band.
The band folded for a second time in 1965 because of financial problems, but reformed a year later after a grant of £650 from the town council.
Since then the band has stayed together, and reached a peak in 2001 when they represented the North West in the National Finals and played in Paris.
RICHLAND The softball regular season does not end for a few weeks, but it will feel like playoff time today in Walla Walla.
The Wa-Hi Blue Devils (5-0 CBBN 4A) will host the Richland Bombers (4-0) in a league clash that has kept area fastpitch fans riveted in recent years.
Last spring, the teams split their doubleheader and finished the regular season tied for first, but the Blue Devils beat the Bombers for the district and regional titles.
In 2010, Walla Walla swept Richland on the way to an undefeated CBBN Cascade record, but the Bombers claimed the district championship behind the pitching of then-freshman Paige Goulet. In the regional title game, though, the Blue Devils came away with a 7-2 victory.
Jerry Humphreys Wa-Hi team is 9-0 overall, but the coach said, Were not sure what that means yet.
The Blue Devils will get some idea when they face Richland at 4 p.m. today.
Though the Bombers (9-2) lost several key players from last years team, including pitcher Lindsey Walchli and catcher Bethany Burch, reloading hasnt been much of an issue. Goulet and Kayla Andrews have given opposing teams fits from the circle. Also, Andrews, a sophomore, and freshman April Utecht are wowing crowds with their power stroke. Between them, they have 35 RBIs and eight home runs this season.
Richland coach Casey Emery said his players are keeping their cool in practice as they prepare to face the defending state champions.
Were a little bit sharper as far as our focus and intensity level, but its kind of just another week, Emery said. I dont really sense any nervousness or anything that maybe a young team might have going against the No. 1 team in the state. I think thats a good thing. I dont think were trying too much or pressing too much.
Richland also will ride a wave of excitement emanating from the return of shortstop Monika Hebky. The junior underwent thyroid cancer surgery late last year and needed time to recover after another procedure in March.
I fully expect shell be close to old Monika, Emery said.
With Hebky back, Richland will have yet another player who is well acquainted with the Blue Devil-Bomber battle.
Emery expects to start up to six seniors today. That experience will be vital against Alyson Ambler, whom Emery called one of the best pitchers ever in our league.
Given the history between these teams, this doubleheader, intense though it might be, could add fuel to another postseason showdown or two.
Its a fun game because both sides are motivated to play their best when they come against each other, Humphreys said.
Both teams hope the weather wont put a damper on todays doubleheader after rain hit Walla Walla on Thursday.
On Tuesday, the Blue Devils second game against Moses Lake was postponed in the bottom of the fourth because of rain. The game will pick up where it left off at noon April 28 in Walla Walla.
State champions to face off: Reigning Class 4A state champion Walla Walla will host one game against defending 1A titlist Connell at 5 p.m. May 8.
Humphreys said the schedule finally worked out after the teams tried to meet earlier this season.
Were looking forward to playing them, Humphreys said. They have a great pitcher (Washington commit Ashley Thompson) and a great team around them.
CBBN 3A: Southridge must face West Valley today without pitcher/first baseman Janelle Randles, who injured her hamstring last week against Pasco.
She did the splits trying to help a teammate, and she knew what happened right away, Southridge coach Eric Weisgerber said.
Randles did not play in Tuesdays doubleheader against Eastmont. She is undergoing therapy, but the extent of her injury is not known. Also, there is no timetable for her return. Weisgerber said she is out this week.
Hamstrings, calves, even when you tweak them, they dont always respond the way you want them to, Weisgerber said. Its a matter of getting work done, time, ice, a multitude of things.
Sarah Gilliam will get the majority of innings in Randles absence.
NWAACC: Two Walla Walla Community College players will continue their careers next season at the university level.
Former Wa-Hi standout Jill McDaniels signed with Central Washington, and pitcher/outfielder Dara Kosanke will go to Utah Valley State.
McDaniels, a second baseman, is hitting .429 for the Warriors. She is the NWAACC leader in home runs (nine) and RBIs (39).
Kosanke has a .485 batting average and leads the NWAACC with 19 wins. She has a 2.60 ERA with 109 strikeouts in 1371⁄3 innings.
Richland, Walla Walla look to add to softball rivalry
The softball regular season does not end for a few weeks, but it will feel like playoff time today in Walla Walla.
The Wa-Hi Blue Devils (5-0 CBBN 4A) will host the Richland Bombers (4-0) in a league clash that has kept area fastpitch fans riveted in recent years.
Last spring, the teams split their doubleheader and finished the regular season tied for first, but the Blue Devils beat the Bombers for the district and regional titles.
Columbia Basin softball team begins East Region play (w/ capsules)
Though 12 games have come and gone for the Columbia Basin College softball team, the season begins today, as far as the Hawks are concerned.
And what better way to start NWAACC East Region play than against the six-time defending regional champion?
CBC (4-7-1) welcomes Wenatchee Valley College to Pasco for an regional-opening doubleheader. Last year, the Knights tied with Walla Walla Community College for the East Region’s top record and took third in the NWAACC tournament in Portland.
KENNEWICK — The Lindsey Kamphuis show drew a rapt audience Friday at Lawrence Scott Park.
The Kamiakin senior recorded nine strikeouts in each game as the Braves defeated Richland 12-2 and 3-2 in a nonleague doubleheader.
“I was very confident,” Kamphuis said after Game 1, which went six innings. “I love pitching. I’ve played against a lot of those players for a long time, and I was happy to get strikeouts against some of them.”
The three Kennewick schools and Hanford at the top looking down on the rest of the CBBN 3A — check.
Walla Walla getting out in front of the CBBN 4A — check.
Ben Jacobs lamenting on how his Richland Bombers need to learn how to play catch — the same club that ends up in the state semifinals year after year — double-check.
RICHLAND — Walla Walla earned its first district championship since 2002, beating Wenatchee 10-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-21 in the CBBN 4A title match Saturday at Art Dawald Gymnasium in Richland.
The Blue Devils swept Richland in the opener to reach the championship but got off to a bad start against the Panthers. They lost the first set decisively before coming back to sweep the next three to earn the crown.
“We had a great week of practice and came in feeling prepared,” said Wa-Hi coach Audra Cummings. “My girls did a really good job siding out and not giving teams more than two points. We were able to keep our momentum.”
[+] Enlarge AP Photo/Jay LaPreteAfter leading NC State to a deep run in the tournament, C.J. Leslie will return for his junior season.Leslie struggled as a freshman, but lived up to his recruiting hype as a sophomore, averaging 14.6 points and 7.5 rebounds a game. NC State morphed from an apparently middling ACC squad, to an NCAA tournament bubble hopeful, to being the team that upset Georgetown in the second round. Their run ended when they pushed eventual national runner-up Kansas to a three-point loss. Mark Gottfried’s first year at NC State couldn’t have finished any better. And things are looking even more promising in Year 2.
Having Leslie back in the fold is hugely important, obviously, but pairing him with Gottfried’s other returners, and a stocked first recruiting class, is the real source of optimism here. Gottfried will welcome three top-100 backcourt players in 2012: No. 5-ranked shooting guard Rodney Purvis, No. 8-ranked small forward T.J. Warren, and No. 5-ranked point guard Tyler Lewis, all of whom could compete for starting spots right away. Meanwhile, returning junior guard Lorenzo Brown will provide solidity and experience for that backcourt, forward Richard Howell will pair alongside Leslie, while one of the country’s top shooters, Scott Wood, roams near the 3-point line. (Update: The first version of this post included forward DeShawn Painter on NC State; Painter transferred to Old Dominion this offseason. Apologies for the error.)
That is a very good, athletic team, one with talent in the backcourt, bodies in the frontcourt and an offensive centerpiece in Leslie, who in 2011-12 proved one of the nation’s most adept mid-post and elbow scorers. His development should continue in 2012, and even for unbiased observers, it should be thrilling to watch.
Though not as thrilling as it will be to NC State fans, of course. The Wolfpack are a top-10 team to start the season, not to mention a worthy favorite to win the ACC. North Carolina lost Kendall Marshall, Harrison Barnes, Tyler Zeller and John Henson; Duke lost its most talented player in Austin Rivers and looks likely to struggle on the defensive end again this season. Both teams have the talent to compete again for the top spot in the ACC, to be sure, but would you take either of their lineups over NC State’s? I wouldn’t.
Which is why this is such a thrilling time to be a Wolfpack fan. NC State fans are among the nation’s most dedicated and hungry for success. They’ve never accepted the role of third fiddle willingly, but for much of the past decade, as Herb Sendek decamped for Arizona State and Lowe fell astoundingly flat as his replacement, they’ve had to swallow an utter lack of success on a year-in, year-out basis. Now, with Gottfried reloading and Leslie returning, they may just be the favorite to win the ACC.
It’s been a long time since we could say that. Relish it, Wolfpack fans. It appears, after so much misery, your time has finally come.
Music lovers in the community will be given the free opportunity to enjoy a selection of brass tunes Saturday at a local church.
The Great Lakes Adventist Academy Department of Music will present its touring brass ensemble at 11 a.m. at Ionia’s Seventh Day Adventist Church, located at 721 Elmwood Drive.
The music will be conducted by Robert Anderson, who has been conducting high school and university ensembles for more than 47 years.
Ensemble musician Greg Leavitt plays trumpet in the 13-member group made up of mostly high school students. He said the group has performed in churches around the state.
“Our mission is to spread God’s love through music,” said Leavitt.
He added they will be performing a selection of traditional hymns and classical pieces in various arrangements that will appeal to all attendees.
Leavitt said Anderson is an excellent conductor who makes the music interesting and fun, doing his best to make sure those who hear it are blessed by it.
“He has a way of helping students advance and do well,” Leavitt added.
Members of the church are looking forward to the event as well, and Seventh Day Adventist Church Head Elder Gary Knowlton said anyone who loves music will enjoy the performance.
“This is an accomplished group,” said Knowlton. “I’ve heard them before, and they are really good.”
He added he hopes the concert is well attended and enjoyed by all.
SXC Health Solutions Corp said it will buy rival pharmacy benefit manager Catalyst Health Solutions Inc for $4.4 billion as it seeks to keep pace in the rapidly consolidating market for managing Americans’ prescriptions.
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The deal comes only two weeks after Express Scripts Inc closed its $29 billion acquisition of Medco Health Solutions, creating the clear leader in the pharmacy benefit management (PBM) sector.
SXC, in buying Catalyst, will double the number of prescription claims it handles, becoming the fourth-largest PBM in the country and giving it more heft to compete with Express Scripts in attracting employers, health insurers and other customers.
“The landscape has changed with the Medco/Express Scripts transaction,” Jefferies Co analyst Brian Tanquilut said. “It is forcing some consolidation for other players to remain competitive. If you want to play offense in the PBM space, you need to be price-competitive.”
SXC Chief Executive Mark Thierer said the combined company would be able to expand its reach to larger clients.
“With our increased size, we will strengthen our leadership position among middle-market PBMs and be very well-positioned to compete against the nation’s largest PBMs,” Thierer, who will head the combined company, told analysts on a conference call.
PBMs are supposed to cut the cost of medicines for their employer and health plan clients, in large part by encouraging more use of generic drugs. The sector’s importance has grown since the new U.S. healthcare law heightened focus on reducing costs throughout the healthcare system.
In an interview with Reuters, Thierer said SXC would stand apart from its bigger rivals by giving potential large clients the ability to customize by picking from a menu of services, such as specialty pharmacy care, mail-delivery drugs and various clinical programs.
“It’s actually a radical departure from how people buy pharmacy in this marketplace,” said Thierer, who earlier in his career worked for 10 years at Caremark before the PBM was bought by drugstore chain CVS. “I grew up in this industry. That’s all those guys have sold for years is a bundled offering.”
At $81.02 a share, the cash-and-stock offer represents a nearly 28 percent premium to Catalyst’s Tuesday closing price.
SXC said the deal would substantially add to earnings in 2013. The combined company is expected to have $13 billion in revenue, it said. SXC posted $5 billion in revenue last year.
U.S.-listed shares of SXC were up 8.2 percent at $86.84 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq.
Because SXC stock is a component of the offer, Catalyst shares jumped above the offer price, rising 31.4 percent to $83.47.
GAINING SCALE
SXC had already been growing through smaller acquisitions. Last year alone, it struck three deals in the PBM sector, including buying privately held HealthTrans LLC for $250 million.
The combined company, which will be headquartered in Lisle, Illinois, will cover about 25 million members and handle about 200 million prescriptions.
SXC will rank behind Express Scripts, CVS Caremark Corp and the pharmacy benefit unit of insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc in prescription claims handled, according to Jefferies’ Tanquilut.
Its larger size will allow it to gain more leverage in negotiating buying drugs from pharmaceutical companies, Tanquilut said.
“SXC saw that Medco/Express will have better buying power as a larger entity,” the analyst said. “Scale is the driver of the PBM business.”
While SXC has catered more to health insurer clients, Catalyst’s customers have tended to be state contracts and corporations, Tanquilut said.
Under terms of the deal, Catalyst shareholders will receive $28 in cash and 0.6606 SXC share for each Catalyst share.
The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2012. SXC expects $125 million in annual cost savings and other synergies over the first 18 to 24 months after closing.
Catalyst has been using SXC’s technology platform for its claims processing, allowing for a likely smooth integration between the companies, analysts said.
“In terms of the integration, the transaction risk is relatively low,” Paradigm Capital analyst Gabriel Leung said.
Some analysts said the deal could benefit the companies’ larger rivals in the short term, because SXC and Catalyst will be less likely to win new business as they focus on integration.
Representative John Dingell, Michigan Democrat, admires the Shakespearean artifacts in the Great Hall of the Folger Library.
Representative John Dingell, Michigan Democrat, admires the Shakespearean artifacts in the Great Hall of the Folger Library. Photographer: Stephanie Green/Bloomberg
Dan Conway, senior vice president for external affairs for The Chubb Corporation, and The Chubb Corporation’s Queenie and Trevor Gandy.
Dan Conway, senior vice president for external affairs for The Chubb Corporation, and The Chubb Corporation’s Queenie and Trevor Gandy. Photographer: Stephanie Green/Bloomberg
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, and Deborah James, executive vice president for government affairs for Science Applications International Corporation, and Frank Beatty with L-3 Communications.
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, and Deborah James, executive vice president for government affairs for Science Applications International Corporation, and Frank Beatty with L-3 Communications. Photographer: Stephanie Green/Bloomberg
Major General Michael Linnington, a commanding general, and Michael Oates, vice president of army systems and special operations forces programs for Lockheed Martin.
Major General Michael Linnington, a commanding general, and Michael Oates, vice president of army systems and special operations forces programs for Lockheed Martin. Photographer: Stephanie Green/Bloomberg
Lawrence Prior, executive vice president, service sectors, BAE systems talks to Jim Bennett, whose son, Daniel, was killed in Afghanistan.
Lawrence Prior, executive vice president, service sectors, BAE systems talks to Jim Bennett, whose son, Daniel, was killed in Afghanistan. Photographer: Stephanie Green/Bloomberg
Mellon Auditorium took on a patriotic theme for an evening honoring fallen soldiers and their survivors.
Mellon Auditorium took on a patriotic theme for an evening honoring fallen soldiers and their survivors. Photographer: Stephanie Green/Bloomberg
Anyone who “aspires to
leadership” should read Shakespeare’s “Henry V,” according to
Representative Rush Holt, the New Jersey Democrat.
“It’s a little militaristic, but you gotta love it.”
Holt, along with British Ambassador Peter Westmacott,
reflected on the writer’s works last night at the gala for the Folger Shakespeare Library, the world’s largest collection of
things Bardish.
The gala co-chairmen, David and Margaret Gardner, posed in
front of the library’s statue of the character Puck, inscribed
with words from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
During the cocktail reception in the library’s Great Hall,
Representative John Dingell, the Michigan Democrat, said
“Hamlet” was his favorite Bard work. His wife, Debbie Dingell,
vice chairman of General Motors Foundation Inc., was “at home
with President Obama,” helping him campaign in Michigan, the
congressman said.
Gala committee member Edward Leahy, who’s on the law
faculty at Oxford University, said he favored “Macbeth,” while
Francis Wahlgren, the international department head and senior
vice president for printed books and manuscripts at Christie’s,
admired the library’s prized possession, a 1623 First Folio, the
first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays.
After the cocktail hour, guests made their way into the
Elizabethan theater for the evening’s entertainment: “Wait,
Wait, Forsooth!” — a parody of the NPR show “Wait Wait …
Don’t Tell Me.” Holt and other guests were quizzed on their
Bard knowledge.
A filet mignon dinner was served to the more than 200
guests in the library’s Gail Kern Paster Reading Room. The
evening raised over $200,000.
TAPS Gala
The Mellon Auditorium glowed with red, white and blue
decorations and military officers in full dress regalia.
On Tuesday night, the Tragedy Assistance Program for
Survivors Honor Guard Gala gave General James F. Amos,
commandant of the Marine Corps, its Military Award. Fellow
Marines greeted him like a rock star when he arrived with his
wife, Bonnie.
Secretary of the Navy Raymond Mabus, himself a former Naval
officer, was among the 600 military personnel and civilians
present who helped raise more than $1 million for TAPS, which
offers support to the families of fallen soldiers.
Steven Schorer, president of DynCorp International LLC, a
sponsor of the evening, joined members of congress who included
Joe Heck, a military physician in the Army Reserves and a Nevada
Republican. Norm Dicks, the Washington Democrat, was given the
TAPS Congressional Award.
Lawrence Prior, the executive vice president of BAE Systems (BA/)
PLC, another sponsor, talked to Jim Bennett, whose son, U.S.
Marine Corps Lance Corporal Daniel Bennett, was killed in Afghanistan in 2009.
(Stephanie Green is a writer and photographer for Muse, the
arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. Any opinions
expressed are her own.)
Get ready for Mardi Gras on Main Street as downtown Danville transforms into New Orleans for the Great American Brass Band Festival’s first-ever Bayou Brass.
The event, set for 5:30-10 p.m. June 8, will be a New Orleans-themed celebration and fundraiser for the festival. It will be held on Main Street between the intersections of Third and Fourth streets, as well as in Weisiger Park at the Boyle County Courthouse.
Visitors can expect an event for the whole family unlike Danville has seen before, including celebratory beads, bayou-themed treats, Mardi Gras crafts and activities for the kids, as well as an assortment of beer and hurricane drinks.
The U.S. Herald Trumpets will kick off the music portion of the night at 6:30 p.m. and will be followed by performances by New Orleans’ own Stooge’s Brass Band and Tornado Brass Band.
Admission is free, but food and drinks will be purchased by attendees. All proceeds go toward maintaining and improving the festival, a Danville tradition for 23 years.
For more information, visit info@gabbf.org or gabbf.org.
Leading hospitality security vendor keys on eco-friendliness, substituting green materials for 100 tons of brass metal
DALLAS — VingCard Elsafe, the global leader in hospitality security and part of the ASSA ABLOY Group, announces that it has phased out the use of brass metal plating and painting in the manufacture of its locking systems, opting instead to use a more eco-friendly process to color stainless steel. These finishes represent 90% of the total manufacturing volume and are applicable to more than 50% of the decorative parts. The change in materials will have a significant and immediate impact on VingCard Elsafe’s environmental footprint, dramatically reducing harmful emissions caused by the manufacture of brass-coated equipment. Approximately 100 tons of brass metal will be replaced with stainless steel as a result of the switch.
VingCard Elsafe has adopted a new method of metal coloration called physical vapor deposition, or PVD, an environmentally friendly process that involves vaporizing an alloy onto stainless steel within a heated vacuum. PVD requires no chemicals and produces no waste or hazardous materials of any kind, resulting in no environmental impact whatsoever. The PVD process has other added benefits, as well. PVD-treated surfaces have high wear resistance for discoloration, and the stainless steel adds enhanced anti-corrosion properties.
The previous process to create brass-coated doorknobs and latches required either plating or painting, both of which had negative environmental effects. Brass plating resulted in gaseous emissions of alkaline and acid vapors, along with the release of toxic chromium and other pollutants. Brass painting, meanwhile, released volatile organic compounds (VOC) into the atmosphere, some of which could be hazardous when inhaled and which contributed to photochemical smog. In making the switch to stainless steel and PVD, VingCard Elsafe has eliminated chromium waste and VOC dispersals by 100 percent, while sulfuric acid and hydrogen chloride are cut by 90 percent and 30 percent, respectively. Furthermore, stainless steel reduces CO2 emission by 80% compared to brass.
Besides eliminating the negative environmental effects of the brass plating process, the move by VingCard Elsafe to simplify its lock manufacturing process has had other related green benefits. By doing away with the need for secondary surface treatments of the locks, new product components are now supplied directly from metal stamping to the point of use in the assembly line. This means less shipping and transportation is required for product manufacture, resulting in a diminished carbon footprint.
Several VingCard Elsafe lock designs required no changes to comply with the company’s green initiatives, including products with satin and polished chrome finishes. Both satin and polished chrome are provided as natural surfaces, with no additional surface treatments necessary.
“The global hospitality industry is a massive consumer of energy and natural resources and, as such, has increasingly focused on green initiatives in recent years, in order to reduce its environmental impact,” said Lars Wittemann, VP of Operations for VingCard Elsafe. “Through adjustments to our manufacturing process and other eco-friendly programs throughout the organization, we are helping our hotel customers around the world to maximize their own green initiatives and contributing to the overall reduction in global warming. As one of the industry’s largest suppliers, we feel it is our responsibility to lead, not only in advanced technology solutions, but also in our commitment to sustainable solutions that help protect the future of our planet.”
VingCard Elsafe is the world leader in developing locking systems, electronic in-room safes and energy management solutions for the hospitality industry, offering user-friendly systems that meet the unique operational needs of hotels and resorts. For more information, please visit www.vingcardelsafe.com.
About VingCard Elsafe The world leader in hotel security technology, ASSA ABLOY Hospitality has products installed in more than 42,000 properties worldwide, securing in excess of 7 million hotel rooms and is part of the ASSA ABLOY Group, a publicly listed company. VingCard provides numerous electronic locking system solutions, including traditional magnetic-stripe, smartcard systems and the latest RFID electronic locks compatible with the main ISO standards: ISO 14.443A (MIFARE), ISO 14.443B, ISO15.693 and NFC-compatible (Near Field Communication), fully integrated PMS interface software solutions, as well as the world leader in wireless online locking solutions for hotels based on ZigBee secured open platform. VingCard has worldwide service and support in more than 166 countries. Elsafe provides the only UL-listed (1037) hotel safe series on the market today in keypad and card-based models. Elsafe Safes include a UL-listed internal power outlet to support recharging of laptops and camcorders, full wireless online capabilities and RFID versions compatible with VingCard system. Elsafe customers also enjoy the same worldwide service and support. Orion by VingCard Elsafe is the new Energy Management Solution that reduces energy consumption, ensures guest comfort and contributes to improve hotels green initiatives. The ASSA ABLOY Hospitality Group is dedicated to the hospitality industry. For more information on VingCard Elsafe, visit www.vingcardelsafe.com
The 2012 NCAA football season’s kickoff is months away. The Michigan State Spartans haven’t even played their Spring Game, and the Michigan Wolverines played theirs this past weekend.
But all of that aside lies one gleaming, beyond-interesting fact about the two programs: Michigan State has won four in a row. Michigan, except in a 26-20 overtime loss in 2009, hasn’t even been all that competitive during its losing trend.
Now, there is no denying Michigan’s historical domination (67-32-5) over Michigan State, which hasn’t rattled off such a winning streak since 1959-62. But, the here and now suggests that the Spartans, who are reloading after losing several key components to graduation and the NFL Draft, are by in large the state’s top college football team.
Sugar Bowl or not, the Spartans have yet to bow to Michigan since 2007. And that might not change any time soon, according to Spartans coach Mark Dantonio.
“We’re laying in the weeds,” Dantonio told ESPN. “We’ve beat Michigan the last four years. So where’s the threat?”
Golden. Absolutely golden. There is nothing better than a dagger-like comment months prior to the football season to get things rolling. And for those keeping track, the Spartans and Wolverines play Oct. 20 at The Big House in Ann Arbor.
It’s almost unfair for Dantonio to drop such a gem so early. His quote will be ingrained in the minds of Michigan coach Brady Hoke until that storied Saturday rolls around.
Some may take Dantonio’s comment as being overconfident. He’s never been one to hold back while talking about Michigan. We all remember his rebuttal to former Michigan star Mike Hart’s “Little Brother” comment, in which Dantonio remarked about Hart’s height, implying that he was “little.”
It gets nasty, but in a spirited, fan-friendly, we-don’t-like-you sort of way. The comments are great for the rivalry, which is rapidly coming to a head. Both basketball programs are Big Ten Conference title contenders, and the same goes for the football teams.
Michigan State Spartans basketball coach Tom Izzo said it best: “A rivalry is a rivalry if both teams are real good or both teams are real bad. It’s been kind of a roller coaster for both teams in some ways.”
The football rivalry is more important, at least lately. For years, the Wolverines owned the Spartans on the field, posting several lopsided victories. But during its last winning streak of six, Michigan was challenged — at least in four of those games. From 2002-2007, Michigan won by a touchdown — touchdown plus conversion (45-37 in 2004) — or less in all but two games: 2002′s 49-3 win and 2006′s 31-13 victory.
Michigan isn’t the same Michigan it was under Rich Rodriguez. One can sense the urgency — Hoke’s desire to restore the traditional roar of the Wolverines. But Michigan State is no longer a doormat in the Big Ten, it’s not Michigan’s “Little Brother” and it’s not settling for four wins in a row.
Adam Biggers has followed NCAA football for over 20 years, specifically the Michigan State Spartans and the Big Ten Conference. He can be found on Twitter @AdamBiggers81.
Anthony Davis, fellow freshmen Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marquis Teague, and sophomores Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb have all declared for the NBA draft.
“This is a players-first program,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said to open Tuesday’s news conference. “During the season, it’s about the team. … When the season is over, it’s about moments like this.”
Before announcing that all five would go pro, Calipari joked that only Davis, Jones and Lamb were leaving — a little joke “to scare some coaches out there.”
Davis, who won national freshman of the year, defensive player of the year and player of the year, is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick. Kidd-Gilchrist is projected to be the No. 2 pick.
Calipari said all of the players would finish the academic semester.
Their departures — plus those of seniors Darius Miller and Eloy Vargas — mean Kentucky will have to replace 93.3% of the scoring and 94% of the rebounds from this season’s national championship team.
Calipari has indicated several times in the past two weeks that he expects to have to replace each of the top six players from the team that won the program’s eighth NCAA championship and gave him the first title of his career.
Calipari even addressed it in his post-title game news conference:
“I said this a couple years ago and everybody got crazy, when we had five guys drafted in the first round: ‘This is one of the biggest moments, if not the biggest, in Kentucky history.’ The reason was I knew now other kids would look and say, ‘You gotta go there.’ What I’m hoping for is six first-rounders on this team. We were the first program to have five; let’s have six. That’s why I’ve gotta go recruiting.”
So what if Kentucky will have to start from scratch with its starting lineup next season? Calipari has already secured the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class for the fourth consecutive year.
No rebuilding — just reloading.
Contributing: Kyle Tucker from The (Louisville) Courier-Journal
(Reuters) – SXC Health Solutions Corp said it will buy rival pharmacy benefit manager Catalyst Health Solutions Inc for $4.4 billion as it seeks to keep pace in the rapidly consolidating market for managing Americans’ prescriptions.
The deal comes only two weeks after Express Scripts Inc closed its $29 billion acquisition of Medco Health Solutions, creating the clear leader in the pharmacy benefit management (PBM) sector.
SXC, in buying Catalyst, will double the number of prescription claims it handles, becoming the fourth-largest PBM in the country and giving it more heft to compete with Express Scripts in attracting employers, health insurers and other customers.
“The landscape has changed with the Medco/Express Scripts transaction,” Jefferies Co analyst Brian Tanquilut said. “It is forcing some consolidation for other players to remain competitive. If you want to play offense in the PBM space, you need to be price-competitive.”
SXC Chief Executive Mark Thierer said the combined company would be able to expand its reach to larger clients.
“With our increased size, we will strengthen our leadership position among middle-market PBMs and be very well-positioned to compete against the nation’s largest PBMs,” Thierer, who will head the combined company, told analysts on a conference call.
PBMs are supposed to cut the cost of medicines for their employer and health plan clients, in large part by encouraging more use of generic drugs. The sector’s importance has grown since the new U.S. healthcare law heightened focus on reducing costs throughout the healthcare system.
In an interview with Reuters, Thierer said SXC would stand apart from its bigger rivals by giving potential large clients the ability to customize by picking from a menu of services, such as specialty pharmacy care, mail-delivery drugs and various clinical programs.
“It’s actually a radical departure from how people buy pharmacy in this marketplace,” said Thierer, who earlier in his career worked for 10 years at Caremark before the PBM was bought by drugstore chain CVS. “I grew up in this industry. That’s all those guys have sold for years is a bundled offering.”
At $81.02 a share, the cash-and-stock offer represents a nearly 28 percent premium to Catalyst’s Tuesday closing price.
SXC said the deal would substantially add to earnings in 2013. The combined company is expected to have $13 billion in revenue, it said. SXC posted $5 billion in revenue last year.
U.S.-listed shares of SXC were up 8.2 percent at $86.84 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq.
Because SXC stock is a component of the offer, Catalyst shares jumped above the offer price, rising 31.4 percent to $83.47.
GAINING SCALE
SXC had already been growing through smaller acquisitions. Last year alone, it struck three deals in the PBM sector, including buying privately held HealthTrans LLC for $250 million.
The combined company, which will be headquartered in Lisle, Illinois, will cover about 25 million members and handle about 200 million prescriptions.
SXC will rank behind Express Scripts, CVS Caremark Corp and the pharmacy benefit unit of insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc in prescription claims handled, according to Jefferies’ Tanquilut.
Its larger size will allow it to gain more leverage in negotiating buying drugs from pharmaceutical companies, Tanquilut said.
“SXC saw that Medco/Express will have better buying power as a larger entity,” the analyst said. “Scale is the driver of the PBM business.”
While SXC has catered more to health insurer clients, Catalyst’s customers have tended to be state contracts and corporations, Tanquilut said.
Under terms of the deal, Catalyst shareholders will receive $28 in cash and 0.6606 SXC share for each Catalyst share.
The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2012. SXC expects $125 million in annual cost savings and other synergies over the first 18 to 24 months after closing.
Catalyst has been using SXC’s technology platform for its claims processing, allowing for a likely smooth integration between the companies, analysts said.
“In terms of the integration, the transaction risk is relatively low,” Paradigm Capital analyst Gabriel Leung said.
Some analysts said the deal could benefit the companies’ larger rivals in the short term, because SXC and Catalyst will be less likely to win new business as they focus on integration.
“These two small-cap PBMs have been taking share … for a number of selling seasons,” BMO Capital Markets analyst Dave Shove said in a research note. “This merger could reduce some competitive pressure on CVS and Express Scripts as the new SXC integration process diverts some mindshare.”
SXC expects to finance the deal with $1.7 billion in debt.
In the interview, Thierer said the PBM industry remained fragmented and competitive despite the recent high-profile deals. SXC will still look to buy smaller PBMs that use its technology platforms, he said, and the company structured the Catalyst deal to maintain flexibility in striking other deals.
“You’ll see continued consolidation, and we’ll be driving it in the middle market,” Thierer said. “The notion of reloading and doing more acquisitions, we were thoughtful about that and we plan to do that.”
On closing, SXC shareholders are expected to own about 65 percent of the combined company, with Catalyst shareholders owning the rest.
J.P. Morgan was the lead financial adviser for SXC, while Goldman Sachs was the lead financial adviser for Catalyst.
(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf in New York; Additional reporting by Aftab Ahmed and Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore; editing by John Wallace and Matthew Lewis)
CHICAGO (CBS) – It’s a thriving illegal enterprise these days: crooks making off with manhole covers, metal gutters and copper pipes from homes, then selling the items to unscrupulous scrap metal dealers.
Now, there’s a new wrinkle: thieves are targeting antique brass mailbox covers from one Avalon Park neighborhood.
CBS2’s Mike Parker reports the mail boxes are vanishing, one by one.
Since the thieves started hitting the South Side townhouse complex near 81st Street and Ingleside Avenue a week and a half ago, they’ve come back again and again in the dead of night. They have now pried at least a dozen of the brass items out of the brick façade, leaving gaping holes where the decorative mailbox covers used to be.
Resident Rose Smith says, “I would like to get a glimpse of them or catch them so you can call the police and have them quickly arrested.”
Another resident, Jack McCrary, almost got such a glimpse at 3 a.m. Wednesday
“I heard a noise,” he says. “I thought it was somebody shaking to see if my door was unlocked. It never occurred to me that they would be stealing my mailbox.”
Smith says, for all she knows, they’ll be making off with the wrought iron railing on her front porch.
Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th)says it is all about money, and he is right. The average current scrap price for brass is a $1.25 per pound. Given the 3-pound weight of each mailbox cover, a dozen of them could bring $45.
Sawyer wants to tighten up the laws governing scrap metal companies, to make it more risky for them to buy stolen goods.
“Give them heavy disincentives for those that are illegally obtaining these items and those that are illegally accepting them,” he says.
Sawyer agrees that arresting the thieves ”would be a wonderful thing, but you’ve got to catch them.”
Why don’t the residents of the townhouses chip in and buy a video surveillance camera? One resident answered simply, “they’ll probably steal that too.”
Where Shalin Liu Performance Center, 37 Main St., Rockport
When Friday, April 20, 8 p.m.
Tickets $19-$34. Call 978-546-7391 or online at www.rockportmusic.org.
As venerable and established as the Boston Symphony Orchestra is, founded 127 years ago, the BSO Brass Quintet, comprising five principal players in the orchestra, is a relatively new phenomenon.
“We had a warmup at Old South Church last week,” says Thomas Rolfs, principal trumpet at the BSO, who joined the orchestra in 1991, “but Rockport is really our first performance as a group. Some of us played on opening night of the hall” — when a chamber orchestra performed Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll” — “and we’re really looking forward to it.”
Longtime fans of the Rockport Chamber Music Festival have come to appreciate the brass chamber repertory through the appearance of many stellar groups over the years, including the Synergy, Atlantic, Empire, Triton, Boston — even going back to the 1980s, when the superb (and now defunct) Annapolis brass quintet gave some memorable performances. The BSOBQ, comprising five of the finest brass players in the world, will undoubtedly extend that fine tradition.
The program includes contemporary works by Leonard Bernstein, Gunther Schuller, Jan Bach and Serbian/French composer Ivan Jevtic, as well as a set of early madrigals by Gilles Farnaby. Although brass ensembles frequently rearranged works originally written for other instruments, Rolfs says, “we’re trying for now to stick with works originally for brass. Eventually we’ll run out of repertory, but for now we keep it like that.”
Of particular interest are two pieces by Jevtic, “Three Slavonic Madrigals” and “Quintette Victoria.” The composer, born in Belgrade but a longtime resident of France, writes music that Rolfs says “I wouldn’t call tuneful, but it takes a lot of material and condenses it. We were quite taken with it, but I have to say we’re still figuring it out. We’ll be working out an approach to it. We sent Jevtic an email and invited him to Rockport, and so we’re hoping that he’ll be there at the performance.”
Schuller’s “Music for Brass Quintet” was written, Rolfs says, “in 1961. It’s one of his earlier pieces, with a little jazz element in there, little riffs that show up. It’s definitely the most difficult piece we play, and although we love it, we love it more when we’ve finished playing it. That’s how difficult it is.”
Besides Rolfs, the quintet is comprised of principals James Sommerville (French horn) Mike W. Roylance (tuba), Thomas Siders (trumpet 2), and Toby Oft (trombone). In addition to establishing a performance schedule, the quintet also serves as ensemble in residence at Boston University. Despite the unrelenting Symphony Hall schedule, and summers at Tanglewood, Rolfs and the rest of the group are determined to establish a presence in the area.
“The quintet is really the right group of personalities,” he says, emphasizing that nobody actually serves as leader, and that they are all equals. “We all get along, and we all have a desire to perform this repertory. BU got us involved with students there, as many of us already do at New England Conservatory, and we’ll also be involved at the BU Tanglewood Institute.
“It may be hard to fit into the schedule, and I can only speak for myself. But we’re pretty honest with each other, and I’d like to have an expanded role in the community. Coming to a place like Rockport is a part of that.”
MIAMI — Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts and business President Crane Kenney led a contingent of team executives at Marlins Park on Wednesday, where they checked out the $634 million ballpark and looked for touches that could work in an eventual renovation of Wrigley Field.
The Cubs players seemed to like the amenities of the new ballpark, though Jeff Samardzija gave it a “meh,” saying he still preferred their old park, Pro Player Stadium.
Could the Cubs actually bring the Marlins’ kind of modern touches to Wrigley Field during a massive rebuild?
“That comes up a lot among players,” Jeff Baker said. “You can tear down Yankee Stadium and build a new one, and they won a World Series there in their first year.
“I’m sure there was an outcry at first when they left Yankee Stadium, but they got some new amenities the fans like and still are drawing well. You can rebuild as long as you do it right and keep the trends, the tradition and the history.
“Wrigley is awesome. I love it, and everyone here loves playing there. But there are seats behind poles, and I know I wouldn’t want to sit in any of those.”
Samardzija said Wrigley is a unique experience, but could use a few changes.
“I’m not for tearing Wrigley down and making a whole new stadium,” Jeff Samardzija said. “It’s no different than taking your car in for a tuneup — just dot the i’s and cross the t’s. We went to Boston last year and it showed me what you could do with Wrigley. Everything still has that old, historic feel to it. A new paint job goes a long way.
“I like the feel of Wrigley, the smell of it. It puts me in the mental state where I’m ready to play a ballgame. there’s no other place like it. Do players want more space and more facilities? Obviously. But all anyone wants is that comfort factor, and usually when a place is just refurbished, it gives you a little more comfort.”
Wood watch:Kerry Wood received a cortisone shot in his shoulder, and now the Cubs await the results. Manager Dale Sveum said Wood’s shoulder will be a constant concern because of his “track record” of injuries.
“We’ll see what happens when the weather gets better and going back-to-back days,” he said. “But (monitoring) it will still be an everyday thing until we know he’s feeling great and he’s really strong.”
The Cubs probably will get someone up from Triple-A Iowa by Sunday if Wood is unavailable to pitch and has to go on the disabled list.
A couple weeks ago, as I was moderating a panel on the future of strategy gaming at PAX East, one audience member asked why so many strategy games have a problem with endgames. Namely, why has the player usually won the game long before it ends?
Designers Jon Shafer (Civilization V) and Chris King (Victoria II) fielded the question and made some good points about the challenge of designing endgames, but what kept nagging at me was that I didn’t really agree with the premise of the question. To me, it sounded like there was something else going on that would make the finale irrelevant.
“I have a question for the questioner,” I said, after everyone had weighed in. “Do you reload when things go wrong?”
He froze, then offered a weak smile. “Eh, um, yeah, I do.” He shouldn’t have been embarrassed to admit it, though: a lot of people do the same thing. And it’s ruining strategy.
No Fate
Strategy is different from most other genres. The outcome is not supposed to be predetermined. The player isn’t “supposed” to win any more than you’re supposed to win every time you play chess against someone else. That’s why strategy games are so infinitely replayable: there is no script. If you make an incredible comeback, that’s not just a plot twist. You did that.
Defeat is the price we pay for that freedom. You come to the final stages of a Civilization game and realize an AI faction is on track to win, and there’s not a damn thing you can do. You’re basically sidelined while another nation launches a spaceship. Or you never even make it that far, pulverized into dust during the Bronze Age because you gambled that other civs would leave you alone while you built libraries.
When we start rigging outcomes by reloading after suffering setbacks, we are cheating ourselves. If the heart of a strategy game is interesting decisions, it is their consequences that give those decisions meaning. When I see my relationship with Montezuma plummeting, and notice more troops appearing on my border, do I scrap everything and start getting ready for war? Or do I gamble that his attack is a few turns off, and I have time to research a more advanced army unit that could make mincemeat out of his forces? This decision could mean the game. But if I know that I can just reload if it goes bad, it means nothing.
There’s a bigger problem, however: strategy games don’t work if players are fixing it so that every event works out in their favor. Not only will the ending be boring, as the combined effects of all their unnatural luck and skillful play slowly overpower the game balance, but this kind of behavior actually encourages lazier design. The types of designs that make cheaters of us all.
Another Victory Like This and We’ll Lose the War
On intermediate and harder difficulty levels, Creative Assembly’s Total War games give the AI factions significant economic and recruitment bonuses, allowing them to sustain far larger armies than a player can. Set the difficulty a bit higher, and they get massive morale bonuses and a strong predisposition to hate you. It’s not hard to see that high difficulty settings in Total War are predicated on the expectation that players are reloading to achieve perfect victories, or else are simply superhuman.
It’s hard to say whether Creative Assembly is reacting to player behavior or causing it with punishing difficulty settings. But either way, Total War turns into a tedious slog on higher difficulty settings, where you end up playing the same battle two or three times until you win a decisive victory. It implies to players that quicksave and quickload are not conveniences, but a game mechanic.
Wargames and RTS campaigns have always been rife with hyper-difficult missions that tacitly encourage constant saving and reloading. The Panzer Corps campaign rapidly escalates the difficulty to a point where it’s unbeatable unless you know exactly where and what all the hidden enemy units are, and know exactly what forces to deploy. Wargame: European Escalation plays with a similarly stacked deck.
The danger with this approach is that players can no longer trust that they have been handed a fair challenge. When every scenario is the Kobayashi Maru, you start saving after every step until you find a winning solution, no matter how difficult it would be to pull off in a single continuous playthrough. That behavior doesn’t just stop when we quit — we take it with us into the next game we play.
It surely doesn’t help that many strategy games are absurdly long, and demand far too much work. Nobody wants to be halfway through a 200-turn game of Paradox France’s Pride of Nations and realize that the best possible outcome is a middling finish. Who wants to spend every turn checking on 50 different factories, a dozen armies, and a half-dozen colonies just so you can figure out exactly how mediocre you are? Games like this demand such an investment that players can’t allows themselves to have a bad game, because it means hours upon hours of tedium and frustration.
The Fix Is In
This is no way to play a strategy game, and to get away from it, we need more developers to encourage fair play. Unity of Command, for example doesn’t even allow players to save mid-mission, but the missions are so short and the game is so good that replaying a mission a few times is hardly a burden. I’m even more excited about the “iron man” mode in XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Players will still have a choice of difficulty levels, and then they can choose to disable player saves. That will free me from the worst temptation of the squad-tactical game: save-spamming my way through a hard engagement so that I don’t lose any of my hard-won veterans.
Saves have always been a hard problem for PC games to solve, no matter the genre. But ultimately we need to stop playing as if victory is the only acceptable outcome, and we need games to stop reinforcing those bad habits with unfair challenges. When our response to the fortunes of war is to hit reset, we are might as well be playing a Call of Duty campaign.
Spy Guy says: If I could play blackjack the way I play Civilization, I’d be a very wealthy spy. Hit me! Bust? *F9* I stay. But the best strategic victories are the ones you really earn, without a crystal ball. Can you resist the sweet siren call of the quickload button?
Rifle cartridge comparison (left to right): 308 Winchester, 30-06 Springfield, 300 Weatherby, 300 Remington Ultra Magnum (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
An old gun nut can teach modern corporations an important lesson about experimentation and testing in business. No, I’m not that old gun not, but after outlining my views on experimentation for an upcoming book, I drove down to the pistol range for a little shooting practice. While I was switching magazines, the range safety officer—an old gun nut—stopped by to chat. We got to talking about reloading ammunition and he gave me a valuable lesson for businesses.
For you non-shooters, many people gather up their used brass casings, then reload them with a fresh primer, gunpowder and new lead bullets. The range officer told me that he had been reloading his own ammunition since 1955, both to save money and for greater accuracy. I asked how he made more accurate ammunition than a factory could, and he told me his story.
A cartridge (the combination of shell casing, primer, powder and bullet) has some variables. He would test six different types of powder, six different amounts of powder, and six different bullet weights. As he said this, I was doing mental math and came up with over 200 combinations. He would make up a batch of cartridges and try them out in his 30-06 rifle. Even if a rifle is clamped onto a solid bench while fired, five successive shots will land in five different places. For accuracy, the shooter would like the five bullet holes in the target to be spaced close together. Less accuracy is shown by the bullet holes being spread over a wider area of the target.
So this fellow would test different variations of powder and bullet weight until he got a group as tightly clustered as possible. Then he would note the critical figures for his three variables, so that he could reproduce the ammunition.
At one time, he told me, he was loading ammunition for four different rifles, all firing the 30-06 cartridge. Each rifle performed best with a different recipe.
I’ve heard business leaders tell me that they know what their customers want. Few of them have engaged in the systematic testing that my old gun nut did for fun. And suppose that you interviewed four different customers who supposedly were interested in the same product. Ask each about the relative importance of price, reliability, style, delivery time, support and warranty. With four different customers, you might need four different combinations to serve each customer best. Although it’s hard to test customers as one would test bullets, it’s not hard to divide a group of customers into sub-groups that can be more easily tested. The project takes work and attention to detail, but it’s not beyond the capability of a decent manager. If my old range safety officer can do it with ammunition, you as a professional can do it with your business.
WASHINGTON, April 17 (UPI) — A U.S. Arm soldier will be awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his heroics in the Vietnam War, the White House has announced.
Army Spc. 4 Leslie Sabo Jr., a rifleman with the 101st Airborne Division, is credited with saving the lives of several fellow soldiers in Company B, 3rd Battalion, 506th infantry when they were ambushed by a larger enemy force in eastern Cambodia on May 10, 1970.
Sabo charged the enemy soldiers, killing several of them before attacking a flanking unit that was forced to retreat.
While the platoon was reloading, an enemy grenade landed nearby. Sabo picked it up and threw it, shielding a wounded comrade. He absorbed most of the blast, saving the other soldier’s life.
Though wounded, Sabo charged an enemy’s bunker, sustaining multiple serious wounds from automatic weapons fire. He got close enough to take out the bunker with a grenade, but the resulting blast killed him, as well.
Sabo’s unit nominated him for the Medal of Honor, but the paperwork was lost until Vietnam veteran Tony Mabb came across Sabo’s file while doing research at the National Archives military repository in College Park, Md.
Mabb contacted his congresswoman, who recommended Sabo receive the Medal of Honor.
The White House extended an invitation Monday to Sabo’s widow, Rose Mary Sabo-Brown of New Castle, Pa., and his brother George for the May 16 ceremony.
Anthony Davis, fellow freshmen Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marquis Teague, and sophomores Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb have all declared for the NBA draft.
“This is a players’ first program,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said to open Tuesday night’s news conference. “During the season, it’s about the team. … When the season is over, it’s about moments like this.”
Before announcing that all five would go pro, Calipari joked that only Davis, Jones and Lamb were leaving — a little joke “to scare some coaches out there.”
Davis, who won national freshman of the year, defensive player of the year and player of the year, is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick. Kidd-Gilchrist is projected to be the No. 2 pick.
Calipari said all of the players would finish the academic semester.
Their departures — plus those of seniors Darius Miller and Eloy Vargas — mean Kentucky will have to replace 93.3% of the scoring and 94% of the rebounds from this season’s national championship team.
Calipari has indicated several times in the past two weeks that he expects to have to replace each of the top six players from the team that won the program’s eighth NCAA championship and gave him the first title of his career.
Calipari even addressed it in his post-title game news conference:
“I said this a couple years ago and everybody got crazy, when we had five guys drafted in the first round: ‘This is one of the biggest moments, if not the biggest, in Kentucky history.’ The reason was I knew now other kids would look and say, ‘You gotta go there.’ What I’m hoping for is six first-rounders on this team. We were the first program to have five; let’s have six. That’s why I’ve gotta go recruiting.”
So what if Kentucky will have to start from scratch with its starting lineup next year? Calipari has already secured the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class for the fourth consecutive year.
The NFL released their 2012 regular season schedule on Tuesday night. Thanks in part to a league-worst 2-14 record in 2011, the “reloading” Indianapolis Colts find themselves with low expectations and very little nationwide recognition in the upcoming season. As it stands now, the Colts will only have one nationwide prime time game, which will be away on a Thursday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Colts begin their new era with an away game against the Chicago Bears, who the Colts defeated in Super Bowl XLI. This season’s Chicago team will be much different, with new offensive weapons and a new offensive coordinator. The Bears will be looking to return to prominence in a difficult NFC North division.
Rookie head coach Chuck Pagano will lead his version of the Indianapolis Colts to three home games in a row in weeks two, three, and five of the regular season. The new “Horseshoe” has an early bye in week four, which could prove problematic in the long run for a young team lacking in experience.
In week six, the Colts travel to New Jersey to battle the New York Jets. The Jets defeated the Colts in the 2010-11 NFL Playoffs, which just happened to be the last game in a Colts uniform for Peyton Manning. In the previous year, these two teams met in the AFC Championship game. Both teams missed the playoffs last season, and both will be looking to rebuild and rebound from their own separate disappointments.
If the Colts can hold steady throughout the middle part of the season, they may find themselves in a very winnable situation near the end of the year. The Colts have three of their six AFC South divisional games scheduled in the last four weeks of the regular season. Indianapolis plays the often-injured (and often overrated) Houston Texans in week 15 and week 17. The Texans won the AFC South in 2011, making the NFL Playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
These young Colts have a big hill to climb. As a franchise that won more games in the last decade than any other NFL team in any ten-year span, Indianapolis looks at the 2012-13 season as a possible stepping stone in their return to glory. Regardless of what happens in the 2012 NFL Draft next weekend, the Indianapolis Colts have made the moves to try and position themselves for a possible return to the postseason in the near future.
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The meeting that Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao and the company’s India [ 
Charles LeClaire/USPRESSWIRENew Rhode Island coach Dan Hurley is mining talent from the state of New Jersey.For that reason, we shine the light on Rhode Island, where Dan Hurley quickly adopted a Brey-like philosophy. On Wednesday night, Hurley dipped into the transfer pool and sprung wing Jarelle Reischel from Rice. VCU was the other finalist for the kid who started 10 conference games as a freshman for the Owls. He played his high school ball in New Jersey, as did Hurley’s first impact transfer.
Jeff Gross/Getty Images“Of the last 66 kids we signed, 64 of them are still on campus … ” Bielema said.”I used to freak out when we lost players, too,” Bielema said. “But we do a good job of just developing. We always talk about being a developmental program, and I think it truly is that type of program now.”
Louisville owes its bourbon dominance to Prohibition: Out of the six permits issued in the country during Prohibition to sell whiskey for “medicinal purposes,” four were in Louisville. Still today a third of Kentucky bourbon is distilled in city limits. And a new education and training center andartisan distillery opening this month downtown, the 
AP Photo/Jay LaPreteAfter leading NC State to a deep run in the tournament, C.J. Leslie will return for his junior season.Leslie struggled as a freshman, but lived up to his recruiting hype as a sophomore, averaging 14.6 points and 7.5 rebounds a game. NC State morphed from an apparently middling ACC squad, to an NCAA tournament bubble hopeful, to being the team that upset Georgetown in the second round. Their run ended when they pushed eventual national runner-up Kansas to a three-point loss. Mark Gottfried’s first year at NC State couldn’t have finished any better. And things are looking even more promising in Year 2.
Spy Guy says: If I could play blackjack the way I play Civilization, I’d be a very wealthy spy. Hit me! Bust? *F9* I stay. But the best strategic victories are the ones you really earn, without a crystal ball. Can you resist the sweet siren call of the quickload button?
