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Ex-worker on crusade against chemical plant
Part One
It was the dead birds that set Rita Smith off.
Her husband, Steve, had been ill for years, with oozing sores on his skin, shortness of breath and mental confusion. She suspected that it all was tied to a Mojave Desert chemical plant where they both had worked.
The company, now named Searles Valley Minerals, fiercely denied that working there made Steve Smith gravely ill, and by 2000, Rita Smith's hunt for answers had turned up little, despite all her letters and calls to regulators.
That was before she learned of the largely unpublicized deaths of thousands of migratory birds that landed on a lake created by the plant's discharges at its desolate site northeast of Los Angeles.
"When I was a girl, I read about miners dying in the coal mines, and it is a known fact, if the birds are dying, there is something wrong in the mine," Rita Smith said. "At that plant, the birds were a first warning there was a hazard there, something wasn't safe."
Soon, Smith would begin an assault against the plant in a campaign reminiscent of those waged by crusaders Karen Silkwood and Erin Brockovich, whose battles against corporate giants in the 1970s and 1990s became subjects of Hollywood films.
Sometimes crude, always relentless, Smith would investigate the plant's operations stretching back for decades. She would pore over thousands of documents and pester regulators. She would hear harrowing stories of sick workers and persuade some of them to file claims against the plant alleging health problems caused by exposure to toxic substances.
This is the story of Rita Smith's decadelong journey, from the exhilarating high of her husband's eventual court victory over the company to a devastating low that she did not see coming.
For its part, the company assails the 50-year-old Smith, who lost a 1995 sexual harassment lawsuit against the plant, as someone entirely lacking in credibility. The company says she has waged a baseless campaign, spewing false allegations about the plant that no regulatory agency has seen fit to act on.
Today, the state says the company's injury claim and illness rates are lower than the industry average, and air, water and toxic-substances regulators say the company's record has improved considerably in recent years.
The company says there is no cancer cluster in the area and no prevalence of illness evident among its workers. It adds that a review of Steve Smith's records "did not support the finding that our facility was somehow linked to chemical toxicity in Mr. Smith." In extensive answers the company provided in response to dozens of Chronicle questions, it maintained that it has an excellent safety program, that it has spent millions reducing its emissions and tackling its bird problem, and that there is nothing about the plant's operations that should be considered harmful for workers or neighboring residents.
"Frankly, the wild assertions that reflect on our local community and the background and regulatory framework of our operations are shameful," Searles Valley Minerals' executive director, Arzell Hale, told The Chronicle.
In her campaign, Rita Smith has undeniably hurt herself with her outbursts. She speaks of "toothless, useless-as-tits-on-a-boar regulators" and wants plant executives arrested for murder.
So far, she has failed to persuade any agency to file environmental or labor-safety charges against the plant. But some experts, asked by The Chronicle to review her allegations, say she raises some valid concerns that merit investigation.
In the past two decades, the companies owning the plant have paid out more than $2 million to state and federal agencies to settle air, waste, wildlife and water-related problems, including a turbine modification that for more than a decade sent 40-plus tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxide into the air each year. The plant is also one of the state's biggest industrial air polluters, ranking in 2006 among the top 10 emitters of lung-damaging particulate matter and nitrogen oxide.
Smith remains unconvinced the plant has changed its ways.
"People work to provide for their families and bam! They get sick," Smith said. "That is my bitch with the damned state - that we are kept too ignorant about the hazards coming from these corporations. It's criminal."
Fleeing a bad marriage, Rita arrived in the Searles Valley in 1989. She left behind a painful period in her life that culminated with several months in prison for her conviction in a case involving possession of marijuana for sale.
In Trona, she lived with her sister, right next to the plant site, where mining operations have been conducted by a string of companies for more than a century. In 1993, at a local Mexican restaurant, Rita was introduced to Steve Smith, a fellow worker she had never met because they were based in different parts of the sprawling plant. They were soon married.
Though Trona sits 170 miles northeast of Los Angeles, it feels as if it were thousands of miles from anywhere: It faces a windswept vista of sand and stark mountains that border the barren, rock-strewn valley.
What attracted miners in the 19th century were the minerals deposited in the valley over millions of years. Today, Trona has only about 1,885 residents, and many structures are boarded up. Bits and pieces of people's lives - machine parts, broken cars, a toppled ornamental fountain - are strewn about in many front yards.
Searles Valley has a shimmering lake spread out over 2 square miles. The lake exists only because of discharges from the plant.
In a nonstop loop, the plant pumps millions of gallons of brine - a highly saline mixture of water and minerals - into the plant from a groundwater basin underlying the valley. After targeted minerals are extracted, spent brine is pumped to the lake surface or into the basin below.
The company employs 640 workers and produces almost 2 million tons of products annually, including soda ash, boron minerals and sodium sulfate. Its products show up in everyday items such as glass, detergent and carbonated drinks.
Rita was hired at the plant in January 1990. She operated machinery and sometimes worked on a spill cleanup crew. Steve operated equipment, shoveled up spills, cleaned out chutes and did testing in the laboratory.
Daily, the couple said, they got splashed with "product" - which they said could be anything from a fine dust to a coarse, wet material, all coming from processed chemicals. "The equipment leaked, spewing product and brine," Rita Smith said. "The brine would get on my face. I would breathe it in, and sometimes it would burn my damn nose and my eyeballs."
After Smith had worked at the plant for almost 3 1/2 years, she said, the company terminated her in 1995 while she was off work because of an on-the-job back injury. The company denies it fired her, saying that rather than expect her to work while she was in pain, it "removed her from duty" and provided her with occupational training funding through its insurance company.
By 1998, when he had put in 19 years on the job, Steve Smith said he was too sick to work - suffering from oozing sores, exhaustion, full-body nerve spasms, painful tingling in his limbs and shortness of breath.
Rita Smith was angry over what she saw as the company's refusal to pay for all her husband's needed medical treatments, including tests to pinpoint what was wrong with his nervous system. She wanted answers about why Steve was ill.
At first, Rita Smith's detective work moved slowly. But her search accelerated in 2000, when the state Fish and Game Department began looking into bird deaths at the lake. Initially, it appeared that the deaths were tied to an oil spill from the plant, but Fish and Game noticed that some of the dying birds didn't seem to have oil on them. The agency investigated and concluded that the primary cause of death was the high salt content of the lake, though the company cited other factors, such as the dehydration of migrating birds.
"Salt toxicosis kills these birds within hours or days," said Steve Hampton, the department's resource economist. "When the birds drink the brine, the high salt levels impact the birds' neurological and other systems. The levels of other contaminants that might be out there in the lake are unlikely to kill the birds this quickly."
The state tested the birds for some toxic substances, but not others. Smith said the state should have tested for every possible chemical in the brine.
There would be no lake for the birds to land on if the plant did not pump brine onto what otherwise would be a mostly dry lakebed. But such pumping has gone on for more than 90 years. The company says its return of depleted brine to the lake is the only way it can comply with a U.S. Interior Department requirement aimed at conserving the resource.
The company also asserts that although it has devoted "extensive resources to determining" why the birds die, "we have not secured a definitive statement to answer that question." It says some birds apparently die because they are old or succumb to predators or illness.
Since 2000, when Fish and Game began tracking dead or dying birds at the lake, the department says about 4,000 birds have died there - mostly ducks, grebes and loons.
To Smith, the bird deaths underscored her gnawing question: What chemicals are in the brine that plant employees have worked with for decades, and how do the chemicals, when mixed together, affect human health?
Melanie Marty, chief of the air toxicology and epidemiology branch of the state's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, said that even if the state has identified high salt levels as the cause of the birds' deaths, such a finding is a separate issue from the question of what potential health problems the brine's contents might pose for workers.
In 2001, Fish and Game expressed concern about the arsenic in the brine in a letter to the state Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, which regulates waste discharges from more than 1,400 public and nonpublic entities in eastern California. The letter stated that arsenic and several other substances in the brine "should be expressly addressed" by the board's regulatory actions, particularly because those substances are hard to clean up "when accumulated over time."
Arsenic was not put in the brine by the company. "Through geologic time, arsenic - a naturally occurring element in the earth's crust - was carried by water down to Searles Lake. The arsenic in the brine today is there because it dissolved from the sediments where it had been deposited as a result of the evaporation of the water in the lake," said Carl Hauge, the former chief hydro-geologist for the state's Department of Water Resources.
Lahontan's top officer, Harold Singer, said the chemicals in the spent brine pumped back to the lake "are below hazardous waste levels, except for naturally occurring arsenic." He added that the board "allows the arsenic discharge under an exemption provided for in state law" for such a naturally occurring element.
Singer says that because the plant doesn't increase the level of arsenic already pre-existing in the brine, "there is no regulatory purpose to setting arsenic limits because they aren't changing the naturally occurring level in the brine."
In 1978, more than two decades before Fish and Game raised its concern with the water board, the federal government had adopted a revised standard for arsenic in the workplace, citing the cancer risk it posed for workers.
In 1985, the plant owner, then Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp., issued an employee safety handbook that made no mention of arsenic in the brine. The handbook reassured workers that company products producing airborne dust "are all water soluble" and "even heavy airborne concentrations are not known to have a harmful effect on your health now or at any time in the future."
A year later, a Lahontan board engineer wrote a memo to his boss recounting his conversation with the Kerr-McGee plant's environmental coordinator. The memo suggests that at that point, the company's environmental coordinator knew about arsenic's contribution to the lake's toxicity.
To this day, the company argues that there is no need to alert workers about arsenic because skin exposure is not viewed as a hazard and because "the brine does not pose an exposure (risk) for workers as it cannot be ingested." It also maintains that brine "cannot evaporate into the air where it can be inhaled."
Ten ex-workers told The Chronicle, however, that sometimes brine got splashed in their mouths. Many also said that both wet brine and dried product from the brine got on their skin and clothes. The company counters that any of the foul-tasting brine entering a worker's mouth would be spit out immediately, and that the small amount involved would not pose a risk. The company adds that dermal contamination isn't a problem, either, because the skin acts as a barrier.
Based on the figure provided by the company on the amount of arsenic in the brine, the level is 10,000 times greater than the federal limit for arsenic in drinking water, which is 10 parts per billion. But the company says that because no one drinks the brine, its arsenic level "does not suggest a toxic exposure simply because it exceeds drinking water standards."
The company points to a 1985 state probe that sampled the plant's air and brine and concluded there was no evidence of overexposure to airborne arsenic or any pattern of arsenic-related illnesses evident at the plant. Searles Valley Minerals also says it sharply cut its arsenic emissions into the atmosphere - by 90 percent from 1989 to 1996 alone. The company says its reduction of several pollutants' emission levels in recent years helped cut the nearby community's possible cancer risk from such emissions to an extremely low level.
For Marty, of the state's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, one central question is workers' possible inhalation of contaminants in the brine.
Marty said that if dry brine regularly gets on workers and is often blown about in the air by desert winds, "the question is how much arsenic and other chemicals from the brine are getting inhaled by the workers, and how much take-home exposure is occurring when these workers go home and change their clothes and track the stuff around."
Though the plant does have some showers, the company says there are "no formal employee change or central shower areas, and we are not required to provide them as there is nothing in our work environment that would require those facilities."
On the issue of worker exposure inside the plant, Patrick Wilson, a senior toxicologist in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said: "It comes down to whom you believe.
"If the workers do have routine and repeated contact with brine that has elevated concentrations of arsenic, either through inhalation or ingestion, then a lot of us in the scientific community would have concern about the long-term impacts of that contact," Wilson said. "But if the company runs a clean shop and exposure to arsenic in brine is well controlled and workers have access to personal protective equipment and the protection of state labor regulations, then it would be difficult to make a connection between any illnesses that are currently observed and historical exposure to arsenic."
As Rita Smith sees it, anyone talking about the arsenic in the brine "can say it's 'naturally occurring' all they want to, but if they don't let you know how potent it is, then they killed your ass intentionally because it's admitted it's one of the most toxic substances known to man."
Experts consulted by The Chronicle say that arsenic is no chemical to be underestimated. They add that arsenic contamination typically occurs through ingestion or inhalation.
"Arsenic is a very powerful carcinogen," said arsenic expert John Froines, director of UCLA's Center for Occupational and Environmental Health. "There is significant risk of cancer from arsenic down to the part per trillion level, and further investigations of possible arsenic exposures at the plant are very much in order."
One expert also noted that even though the plant has achieved a sharp drop in its arsenic emissions, the arsenic in the brine remains a concern. David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany in New York, said: "Arsenic is listed by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry as the No. 1 dangerous contaminant, and this reported level of arsenic in the brine is very high.
"Any arsenic exposure increases the risk of cancer," Carpenter said. "Having a brine with a high level of arsenic in the mouth, even if spit out quickly, and on clothes certainly increases the risk of cancer and other diseases associated with arsenic exposure."
The EPA's Wilson added that tests done now cannot reflect levels of arsenic exposure that occurred a decade or more ago. He said: "Following exposure, there is a latency period before symptoms develop - it can be 10, 15 or 20 years later."
Arsenic isn't the only matter at the plant that has received attention. In 2002, the Lahontan board approved a settlement with the company under which the plant - while admitting no liability or fault - paid the state $250,000 and agreed to complete other environmental projects that the state estimated cost $1.75 million. The settlement cited company waste discharge "that may have contributed to detrimental responses in birds," violations exceeding discharge limits on petroleum hydrocarbons, and illegal discharges of spent brine from pipe breaks. At the time, Lahontan's executive officer, Harold Singer, said the settlement was one of the largest "in many, many years."
In 2003, Steve Smith got sicker. His weight plummeted from 215 to 155 in only a few months. "Steve didn't want to live anymore - he was ready to put a gun to his head and kill himself," Rita Smith said.
The company was refusing to pay for doctors who are experts in caring for chemical workers, she said. The company said it would pay for any of the Smiths' medical bills approved by the workers' compensation system.
Angry at the company, Rita Smith returned to Trona in 2003 to hunt for the cause of Steve's illness. As the daughter of a construction worker who grew up in a small North Carolina town, Smith felt at ease with workers and their families.
Going door to door in Trona, Smith got people to write down their families' illnesses and deaths. One woman, the wife of an ex-plant worker, wrote that she had lost three sons - 20, 41 and 44. She added that two died of cancer and one of a heart attack. Smith said the woman told her that her sons had worked in the plant. It is impossible to know whether their plant work contributed to their deaths, and the woman wouldn't talk to The Chronicle.
But some who had worked in the plant did.
In 2004, at Kristy's Family Restaurant in Ridgecrest, Smith sat down with Michael Avery to hear his story.
A tall man with gray hair and a wide grin, Avery was hired at the plant in 1978, when the company was owned by Kerr-McGee. He worked there for 17 years, mainly in shipping.
Some days, he said, he would go home looking like a snowman with product all over him.
In 1994, when he had pneumonia, Avery's doctors told him that although he was 38, he had the lungs of a man who was 78.
In January 1996, Avery said the company terminated him and falsely claimed he had not shown a desire to return to work after being out ill. The company said it received a letter from Avery stating he would like to return to work eventually, but it said Avery himself acknowledged he was not physically able to work at that time.
Avery, now 51, told the Chronicle that in the 1980s, he was on a crew assigned to spray pesticide - he doesn't remember which pesticide - onto pallets used to ship product overseas. "This pesticide I used was full strength out of the five-gallon bucket. It was later learned that this insecticide should have been applied with rubber boots, disposable gloves, disposable coveralls and a special respirator the company didn't even own."
Asked about Avery's account, the company quoted a longtime shipping department manager who "does not recall any form of pesticides being applied to our pallets" before 2004, when spraying began being required in some cases and the plant bought pretreated pallets. But a co-worker of Avery's at the time, Don Huggins, confirmed Avery's story.
Avery also said that in the company's lunchrooms, it was often so windy that he could taste "chemical dust from plant operations" as he ate his sandwich.
Philip Harber, the chief of occupational and environmental medicine at UCLA who was Avery's doctor, said, "Based on what Mr. Avery described and the properties of what was involved, it appears likely his occupational exposure contributed significantly to his lung problem." Citing respiratory, internal and spine injuries, Avery eventually won a $657,000 settlement after negotiations between his lawyer and the insurance company administering the plant's workers' compensation claims.
The company notes that Avery's settlement was reached in the workers' compensation system, which compensates injured workers without regard to fault. Avery also recently filed a new claim with the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, alleging he suffered "extreme cumulative chemical and toxin exposure" in his years at the plant.
The claim, which seeks a financial award for "serious and willful misconduct" by the company, alleges that chemicals from "leaking pipes, lines, pumps and valves would fall upon" Avery as he worked at the plant.
The company said it has no record of Avery voicing concerns about toxic exposure previously. Avery says it was only recently that he had his blood tested and learned that his body had high levels of chemicals not normally found in the general population.
The San Bernardino County district attorney's office told Rita Smith in 2004 that it was rejecting her request to prosecute the company. The office concluded there was insufficient evidence of environmental or other crimes.
Some state Fish and Game Department personnel had a different opinion. Two retired warden supervisors told The Chronicle that they advocated the company be prosecuted for bird deaths.
Mark Caywood, a retired patrol lieutenant, said state Fish and Game management "inferred that pushing the issue or prosecuting the company would result in the closing of the plant. But the game wardens knowledgeable about pollution who worked out there say it's a crime - the company is killing birds."
Donna Davis, the other retired patrol lieutenant, said: "There was no doubt there was a violation. There was no doubt that we had dead birds and the company was the cause of the deaths." But, she added, "There were a lot of politics involved in the County of San Bernardino, and the politics in the county were they couldn't afford to lose that tax base of the plant because that was money in the county's pocket."
Davis and Caywood said they were taken off the case, and a prosecution never happened. "We had freezers full of dead birds," Davis said. "It makes you sick to your stomach when these ducks have a convulsion and die in your arms."
Fish and Game's spokesman, Steve Martarano, said Davis and Caywood were moved to other projects after the investigation was over, and it was not a transfer to silence them. He added that the department settled the case by requiring the plant to do several things, including rescuing and rehabilitating birds and creating a new wetlands for birds in the Owens Valley, about 55 miles north of Searles Lake.
"The department believes the number of birds protected or saved by the new wetlands area at Owens Valley will fully offset the number of birds dying at Searles Lake," Martarano said.
Bill Sellers, an investigator for the county district attorney's office, said he did not find evidence supporting Smith's claims of criminal conduct by the plant. According to Smith, Sellers told her that workers have to prove an injury was caused by the chemicals. Smith said she responded: "Excuse me, do people walk around with laboratories attached to their damned asses?"
One evening in January 2005, Rita Smith was at home watching a "CSI" show on television when she heard a character mention a toxicological investigation into someone's death. Immediately, she knew she had a new tool in her own investigation.
She wanted to have her husband's fat tissue tested for a precise picture of his contamination levels. She started hunting for experts who could tell her where her husband could get these tests. Later, almost as an afterthought, she got tested, too.
That's when the mystery deepened. Rita Smith, who had fought for so many years to learn why her husband was ill, found out she was contaminated herself - with one of the most toxic compounds on the planet.
Rita Smith first called The Chronicle wanting to tell her story in 2002. She told an editorial assistant who answered the phone that her husband, a former chemical plant worker, was very sick after working at a plant in the San Bernardino County town of Trona in the Mojave Desert. She said thousands of birds had died near the plant - then named IMC Chemicals Inc. The details were sketchy.
The notes taken by the editorial assistant were passed on to Chronicle reporter Susan Sward. Over the next few years, Sward listened to Smith tell bits and pieces of her story over the phone, and more than a year ago, Sward began pursuing the story.
During her investigation, Sward interviewed more than 100 people - plant supervisors, former and current plant workers, some of their families, regulators, scientists, professors and Trona residents. She traveled twice to Trona. She asked the company dozens of questions about its operations. The company, now named Searles Valley Minerals, responded with hundreds of pages of detailed answers.
Rita Smith, a former employee of a chemical plant in the Mojave desert, wages a campaign to learn why her husband, who also worked there, had become so ill.
After struggling for years to understand her husband's ailments, Rita Smith receives alarming news about her own health.
Part Two
Crusader against plant receives alarming newsGo To Original
Rita Smith curled up alone in her garage office, crying. Minutes before, a laboratory employee had given her the news over the phone: Her test results weren't good, and she should see her doctor. Quickly.
It was 2005. For years, Smith had been embroiled in a battle with the owners of a chemical plant in the California desert where Smith and her husband, Steve, had worked.
She was convinced that the deaths of thousands of migratory birds, which perished after landing at a lake created by the plant's discharges, were a warning that plant workers were in danger. That is an allegation the company, now named Searles Valley Minerals, strongly denies.
Before the phone call, she hadn't been that worried about her test, done by the highly regarded AXYS Analytical Services, a laboratory in Canada. Yes, she had suffered from headaches and nausea for years, but it was Steve who had the strange symptoms: the chronic exhaustion, the damaged skin, the weight loss, the pain all over his body, the shortness of breath. Not her.
But Rita Smith soon got the word from her doctor. She was contaminated with high levels of DDE - a metabolized form of DDT, a pesticide banned in the United States since 1972. Steve's DDE level was above average, though not as high as hers. Like DDT, DDE is considered a probable carcinogen.
Rita Smith's mysterious test results marked the lowest point in her decadelong fight against the chemical company. What had started as a crusade to win medical treatment for her husband was now, in her mind, a campaign to expose toxic crimes in the desert.
The company says it is certain DDT hasn't been used at its plant since 1990, that it knows of no DDT use by any previous plant owner, and that tests required since 1991 have found no DDT or DDE in the lake's brine. Furthermore, the company says, it has an excellent safety program, and no evidence links its employees to any cluster of illnesses.
The company notes: "Since 1998, Ms. Smith has contacted numerous agencies. ... None of those agencies have notified the company of evidence to support the charges made by Ms. Smith."
Despite her failure to have charges pressed against the company, Smith remains unrelenting in her crusade, and the lab news only strengthened her resolve. Last year, after the lab tests, the Smiths each filed a "serious and willful misconduct" claim against the company in the workers' compensation system.
The company is contesting those new claims and hasn't offered her any settlement. Even if it did, Smith said, there is no settlement that would stop her from talking about what she has learned. Otherwise, "my Creator could say, 'You're a fiery little heifer. I gave you and your big mouth a message for mankind, and you allowed your mouth to be stuffed with green bills, so you are going to hell.' "
"I won't sell my soul for dollars - I am not going to hell. The words 'I give up' are not ones I use."
Once the Smiths got their test results, they focused on a plastic bag that Steve Smith said he brought home from the plant in the early 1990s. In it, he said, was plant-produced boric acid he used to kill cockroaches. He said he put the acid he didn't use in the sealed bag.
The Smiths had the same lab analyze the boric acid in the bag. The lab found very low levels of DDT in the boric acid. The couple believes the DDE got in their bodies during their years at the plant - Rita's 3 1/2 years there and Steve's 19 years, which ended in 1998.
The company rejects that allegation and says the Smiths' sample proves nothing because there were no controls over its collection. The company adds that the amount in the boric acid sample would equal "one drop in a 6-foot-deep Olympic-sized swimming pool."
The company says it ensures product purity with "stringent quality-control testing and monitoring," and there never has been any report of product contamination. The company also notes that Steve Smith grew up in the agricultural Central Valley before DDT was banned - and that the couple lived in the Central Valley for some years after leaving the plant.
The Chronicle shared the Smiths' tests with experts who said the results raise serious concerns. "The question is where did they get their exposure?" said David Carpenter, a professor of environmental health sciences at the University at Albany in New York and an expert on DDT. "These are some of the most dangerous compounds known to man.
"It certainly should be the response of the state to confirm they have been exposed to contamination and to do something about it - get the contaminants removed or get the people removed from the source of contaminants," Carpenter said.
Patrick Wilson, a senior toxicologist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said the DDE levels in the Smiths, who left the plant in the 1990s, compared with levels in people in the early 1970s before DDT diminished in most people's bodies after its 1972 ban.
"What is the continuing source in those individuals' bodies given the pesticide has been banned for so long?" he asked.
He said that because Rita Smith's DDE levels remain so high this many years after the DDT ban, her level potentially resulted from several factors - perhaps her work at the plant, her diet and any periods when she lived in an agricultural area where pesticides are used.
David Jones, a recently retired associate division director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco, said, "Because the plant pumps arsenic-containing brine above ground, the lake has created potential contaminant exposure pathways for humans and birds that did not previously exist." Another source of pollutants in the lake, he said, could be past dumping of waste into the lake from industrial or agricultural sources.
"There could be a problem that cuts across air-water-land issues, but with the regulatory system as it is - a water board, air board, solid waste board - there is no one-stop shopping, and no one maybe is looking at the whole thing."
Jones said any attempt to link plant workers' health problems to specific chemicals would be very difficult for several reasons: Epidemiologic studies typically need large numbers of people to survey - more than the relatively small workforce at the plant. Many different chemicals have been used there over so many decades. The plant ownership has changed so many times. And many retired workers move away, so their illnesses and causes of death often are not closely monitored.
During Smith's campaign, she contacted California Supervising Deputy Attorney General Edward Weil, who has prosecuted environmental cases for 15 years.
Summarizing the difficulty facing regulators, Weil told The Chronicle: "No one disputes the chemicals in the Smiths' blood, but how did it happen? Some of these chemicals are not ones everyone has in their bodies, and they have high amounts of them.
"But that's not to say how the chemicals got there, who did it, when they did it or whether it was illegal when they did it."
On Nov. 14, 2006, Rita Smith scored her biggest victory.
A workers' compensation administrative law judge ruled that Steve Smith's health problems were linked to his 19 years at the plant. The decision stated: "As a consequence of exposure to PCBs, chlorinated pesticides, arsenic, other dioxin-like chemicals and other contaminants," Steve Smith suffered injuries to his skin, lungs, neurological and other bodily systems. The judge said the full extent of his injuries is not yet known.
The State Workers' Compensation Appeals Board and a state appeals court upheld the decision.
The state appeals court said IMC Chemicals, which owned the plant when Steve Smith filed his case, had ample opportunity to challenge his assertion of work-related chemical exposure. IMC cannot "now hide behind what appears to have been a purposeful trial tactic" of not introducing evidence of what chemicals were present at the Trona plant, the court stated.
The company, now named Searles Valley Minerals, says its counsel and insurance company had "an incredible amount of documentation and professional expertise available to them." But the company said those handling the case on the company's behalf failed to use that information and develop other information to challenge Smith's claims.
In particular, the company attacks the qualifications of one of the doctors the Smiths relied on in Steve Smith's successful workers' compensation case - James Dahlgren, who has been an assistant clinical professor of family medicine at UCLA as an unpaid volunteer since 1977.In his background, Dahlgren has some controversy. When treating some chemically contaminated patients, he uses and defends a detoxification procedure that some critics in the medical community have argued is totally ineffectual. In Steve Smith's case, though, the state court found the chemical company's criticism of Dahlgren's testimony without merit.
Dahlgren testified in a recent deposition for Rita Smith's new workers' compensation case that her DDE levels were elevated, but he focused heavily on her arsenic exposure on the job, calling it "huge." Describing how she worked with arsenic-laced brine in the plant, he said she would have breathed in a mist from it and got it on her body and her clothing - in addition to breathing in "the dust that was generated in the various operations."
He also testified that he thought "it would be critically important that the workers at the plant, as well as the people who live in the neighborhood, be studied for exposures that are still ongoing."
Rita Smith felt vindicated by the ruling in Steve's case, but by this time, she said she was having more health problems herself - exhaustion, shortness of breath and recurring nosebleeds. And she still had not persuaded any agency to sue the plant for environmental and labor-safety violations.
Weil, the California deputy attorney general, says he has found no grounds to file a suit. He added that he understands that both the Smiths are very sick and that Rita Smith has a real reason to be upset. But he said state regulators must focus on "preventing people from getting sick in the first place. The idea is to protect all the potential Rita Smiths out there."
Of the company, he said: "A lot of agencies have looked at this place over long periods of time, and a lot of enforcement actions have been taken."
David Sizemore lives in Kansas, far from Trona, where he was in management positions for 18 of his 29 years at the plant.
In his years there, the former production superintendent says the company placed a big emphasis on increasing the tonnage put out by the plant. "I crawled in just about every tank in my plant, mostly inspecting them for leaks," he said.
About what hazards he might have faced, he said: "We were always told any chemical would dissolve in your body eventually. ... In most production areas, we were exposed to brine on a constant basis. Sometimes you'd get it in your mouth. People went home with a variety of products on them, according to which area they worked in."
Sizemore, who recently filed his own workers' compensation claim against the company, also has an opinion about the incidence of cancer among those who worked at the plant.
Not long ago, Sizemore leafed through a 1979 Trona phonebook - with about 1,100 names in it - and found dozens of plant workers who, he said, had died of cancer. That wouldn't even be a full count, he said, because many plant workers who died of cancer lived in other towns. His own father, a machinist at the plant, died in 1983 of liver cancer. He was 59.
The state, however, says that it has found no evidence of a cancer cluster in the area and that the cancer rate in San Bernardino County in the most recent period for which data are available - 2000 through 2004 - is statistically the same as the statewide average.
Additionally, the company said a review of workers' compensation files since 1990 found that no employee or employee's family member filed a claim of cancer because of workplace exposure. The company also said it complies fully with Proposition 65 - the 1986 state law requiring warnings for exposures to substances known to cause cancer or reproductive harm.
Sizemore, who says he has had skin cancer and a red rash all over his arms, said he was fired at age 47 by the plant in 1993 after he ruptured a disk and was off work for one year. He says he now receives Social Security disability payments and money from an insurance disability policy that he took out while he was working at the plant. The company, responding to a query of whether it fired Sizemore, said he sought medical leave benefits after his injury, did not "request a return to work" and moved out of the state.
Thinking of fellow workers who died of cancer and all he knew about how the company operated, Sizemore said, "I really don't think the company did the people justice. I think they should have taught people in layman's terms what was out there and what to look out for."
Moments after visitors enter his office, Arzell Hale, executive director of Searles Valley Minerals, passes out small samples of minerals wrapped in plastic.
At 71, Hale has worked at the plant for three decades. Over the years, he says, he has learned that open-door policies work well for the company, which was sold recently for an undisclosed sum by an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners Inc., a private investment firm, to Nirma Ltd., an India-based company that specializes in detergents and soaps.
During a plant tour, Hale chatted about what he said makes Searles Valley Minerals a great place to work: "Our employees can say anything they want anytime they want. Some companies deserve unions, but I believe in making unions unnecessary."
Asked what motivated Rita Smith's crusade, Hale declined to speculate but mentioned "as background" her failed sexual harassment suit against the company. Smith counters that it was not her suit, in which she says she alleged that a supervisor touched her breast, that drove her. Instead, she said, she was fighting for proper medical care for her husband.
In his defense of the company, Hale touts its environmental record. He said the company has spent more than $15 million on the bird problem alone. Though the company says it has had 23 spills it would classify as major in the past decade, all spills are given "the highest priority" for cleanup, Hale said. "If you have a spill, report it," he said.
Emphasizing how much the workforce means to him, Hale said he always recalls what his father, a Texas farmer, told him: "Don't ever forget where you came from.' "
"That is the reason the little people are so important to me," Hale said.
In the past six years, the California Department of Fish and Game estimates, 348 to 706 birds have died at Searles Lake each year.
In 2005, Searles Valley Minerals won state approval of an agreement that allowed for the continued bird deaths. If the company finds more than an average of 241 dead birds a year over a five-year period, the state may require the company to pay $218 for each bird above that count. The agreement described what the company is doing to rehabilitate sick birds and scare other birds away from Searles Lake, using cannons, shiny tape and other methods.
The company also was required to pay $300,000 for a new wetlands at the Dirty Socks Duck Club in the Owens Valley, about 55 miles north of the plant. The state Fish and Game Department says that only the club's owners and their invited guests may hunt ducks in the new wetlands area, and the club is not permitted to sell memberships enabling club members to hunt in that area.
Fish and Game spokesman Steve Martarano said, "Taking everything into consideration, we concluded the settlement agreement and mitigation plan would produce the greatest benefit for wildlife."
Since the bird tally began in 2000, Fish and Game's Steve Hampton, who analyzes the numbers, says the bird death rate has remained fairly steady: "I think the fluctuations you have seen have been a result of natural factors such as weather - when there is less rainfall, there is less water available elsewhere, and more birds come to Searles Lake."
Rita Smith says: "The dying birds got my curiosity screaming hot, but the deal the company made with the state about the birds brought out the rebel-belle in me: That deal was a fraud on the people - birds are still dying, and people are, too."
When Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, was asked about the plant, he said: "We are monitoring the situation. The settlement with the state does not bar the federal government from filing civil or criminal actions in the future."
It has been three decades since Steve Smith felt he was doing the right thing by taking a job at the chemical plant - earning enough to move his family into the middle class. By the time he left the job, he said, he was making close to $50,000 a year.
The Smiths now live in the Sierra foothills and say they get by on disability payments, along with financial help from Rita's family.
These days, Steve Smith broods a lot. The company points out that in 2004, Smith was taken in by police for a medical evaluation after he told a doctor he had guns and wanted to hurt his ex-employer. Smith acknowledges: "I was at my wit's end. I told the therapist I wanted to shoot Arzell's ass for all the poison they had dumped in me without telling me."
Day after day, Smith says he has "less than zero energy. It's hard to get up and do anything. My whole body is racked with pain that makes me feel like my skeleton is disintegrating." Smith, who is 6 feet 1, says he now weighs 155 pounds, up from a low of 131 in 2005, when he began taking weight-gaining medicine. Doctors also are watching nodules in his testes to see whether they are cancerous.
For Rita Smith, the future looks bleak.
Doctors tell her that her liver is failing. Her doctor, Dahlgren, says that Smith had hepatitis C before working at the plant and that her exposure to chemicals there caused her condition to worsen, so she now needs a new liver to live longer.
To pursue a lawsuit on behalf of workers and their families, Smith has talked to law firms big and small - but her case is unlike that of Erin Brockovich, a legal assistant who helped residents of Hinkley, a San Bernardino County desert town with contaminated water, win a $333 million settlement against Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in 1996. Lawyers often tell Rita Smith that the possibility of this sort of lawsuit doesn't exist because the alleged injuries occurred on the job. Under state law, the only recourse for workers like the Smiths, the attorneys say, is the workers' compensation system.
So far, the couple say, the company still fights paying legitimate medical bills, and the judge still hasn't made a final award in Steve's original workers' compensation case. The company says it already has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills for the Smiths and will pay all bills approved in the workers' compensation system.
In the big picture, the company sees its role as exemplary. "We live and work in a harsh environment," Hale told The Chronicle. "We produce some of the most essential products for human uses, and we're proud of what we accomplish and how we do it."
None of the company's assurances stop Rita Smith.
Lately, she has been lining up former and current plant workers - among them Michael Avery - to file workers' compensation claims against the plant. Avery's claim cites the "company's failure to take steps necessary to minimize the hazards of work injury" and says that its inaction helped cause severe injuries to his whole body.
When Rita Smith thinks of the future, she fears that the couple's three children and grandchildren will come down with cancer and other disorders because the family lived for some years in Trona.
"The bottom line is that employees have the right to go to work and have safe workplace practices - state and federal law require that - and to have full disclosure about the chemical hazards involved in the process," Smith said.
"Only this will appease me: Regulators testing workers and doing thorough investigations to find out what hazards exist in that plant. If they don't do that, they are not trying to find the truth in anybody's community - mine or yours."
Rita Smith first called The Chronicle wanting to tell her story in 2002. She told an editorial assistant who answered the phone that her husband, a former chemical plant worker, was very sick after working at a plant in the San Bernardino County town of Trona in the Mojave Desert. She said thousands of birds had died near the plant - then named IMC Chemicals Inc. The details were sketchy.
The notes taken by the editorial assistant were passed on to Chronicle reporter Susan Sward. Over the next few years, Sward listened to Smith tell bits and pieces of her story over the phone, and more than a year ago, Sward began pursuing the story.
During her investigation, Sward interviewed more than 100 people - plant supervisors, former and current plant workers, some of their families, regulators, scientists, professors and Trona residents. She traveled twice to Trona. She asked the company dozens of questions about its operations. The company, now named Searles Valley Minerals, responded with hundreds of pages of detailed answers.
Rita Smith, a former employee of a chemical plant in the Mojave Desert, wages a campaign to learn why her husband, who also worked there, had become so ill.
After struggling for years to understand her husband's ailments, Rita Smith receives alarming news about her own health.
To read the complete series online, go to sfgate.com.
More bird deaths
When California game wardens first began wrestling with the bird deaths at Searles Lake, a similar case was brewing in New Mexico - involving a subsidiary of the same corporation that owned the plant in California where Steve and Rita Smith had worked.
In 2000, the environmental group Forest Guardians filed a federal lawsuit over bird deaths against IMC Potash Carlsbad, which like IMC Chemicals in Trona was a subsidiary of IMC Global Inc., one of the world's leading producers of phosphate and potash crop nutrients.
The suit in New Mexico alleged that the plant there was violating the Clean Water Act by making nonpermitted discharges of mining wastewater. From 1996 through 2000, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates, more than 1,600 birds died on the shallow lake where the company was discharging its wastewater.
John Horning, executive director for Forest Guardians (which since has been renamed WildEarth Guardians), said the moment the group looked into the bird deaths, "we knew nothing would be done" without a lawsuit. He added that the company entered into a 2002 settlement with his group that included a payment of $50,000 for habitat mitigation.
The Forest Guardian lawsuit got the attention of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the federal agency prepared to file its own lawsuit against the plant in Carlsbad, N.M. Russ MacRae, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife senior biologist in New Mexico, said the government argued that the company was violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by discharging highly saline wastewater into a shallow lake where migratory birds landed, drank the water and died.
When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made its own settlement with the company, the agency stated: "Potash mining in southeastern New Mexico is big business, and it is also creating some big messes that have fallen through the cracks of the current regulatory system."
Under the federal settlement, which ran for three years starting in September 2002, IMC Potash Carlsbad had to pay $125,000 for wetland enhancement. The company, which produces potash for fertilizer and animal feed, also was required to rescue and rehabilitate birds incapacitated by salt and to conduct patrols aimed at scaring away the birds.
Linda Thrasher, a spokeswoman for the company, which is now named Mosaic after the 2004 merger of IMC Global Inc. and Cargill Inc.'s fertilizer business, said the company conducts patrols twice daily in migratory seasons and three times a week in other periods. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the company reported between zero and 10 bird deaths at the site per year from 2002 through 2007.
MacRae said that he believes the company's efforts did cut the number of bird deaths on one shallow lake, Laguna Uno. But he added that hundreds of birds have been killed this spring at another lake - Laguna Grande - "where the company has been discharging wastewater and hazing birds" in an effort to scare them away from the lake. He said this development has prompted the agency to open a new investigation into the bird deaths.
Bird experts have reported that salt toxicosis has been a problem for birds in other areas, including North Dakota and California's San Joaquin Valley.


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December 19th, 2013
Happy Thursday all! There's less than a week until Christmas and I'm getting excited! A smattering of gorgeous celebs were […]Continue Reading
December 12th, 2013
Happy Thursday everyone! Can you believe we're in mid-December already? Time is flying! A smattering of celebs were snapped by […]Continue Reading
December 5th, 2013
Happy Thursday Everyone! December is in full swing and it's shaping up to be a rather stylish month thus far […]Continue Reading
November 29th, 2013
Happy Friday everyone! I just finished eating leftovers and now it's back to fashion! This was a pretty tame week, […]Continue Reading
November 21st, 2013
Happy Thursday everyone! Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I cannot wait for the food, though the pounds I'm […]Continue Reading
November 14th, 2013
Happy Thursday everyone! That frigid Fall chill has finally set in here in NYC, giving me a chance to pull […]Continue Reading
November 7th, 2013
Happy Thursday everyone! I'm reeling off of Jessica Chastain's talk with Karl Lagerfeld last night: I learned so much! The […]Continue Reading
October 17th, 2013
Happy Thursday everyone! The temps in NYC are throwing me for a loop: I don't know what kind of Fall […]Continue Reading
October 10th, 2013
Happy Thursday everyone! Fall-like temperatures have finally touched down in the Big Apple, giving all of us autumn lovers reason […]Continue Reading
September 26th, 2013
Happy Thursday everyone! Paris Fashion Week is in full swing and October is right around the corner: my oh my […]Continue Reading
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The official Faugères Web site at faugeres.com tells much more about the region and its wines. All I can say is that this wine was a good value, balanced and fragrant with a distinct flinty element. I don't have the discernment to say anything about the terroir (see this article about the terroir of the Napa Valley), but if your French is fair, you can read the vintner's elaboration on schist at the Faugères Web sitethere's no English counterpart.
More on About.com:
Visit Languedoc
Languedoc Recipes
Languedoc Wines
Visit Montpellier
"Naked City" of Cap d'Agde
Beziers and the Cathar Country


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The Wauwatosa Police Department will soon have its first furry, four-legged officer.
A German shepherd has been purchased from a kennel in Sharpsville, Pa., that specializes in providing dogs to law enforcement agencies.
Officer Tim Kastner, who has served on the department for eight years, has been chosen to work as the canine handler. He was chosen from 16 officers who asked to be considered for the position, Capt. Jeff Sutter said.
Kastner was selected after an evaluation by department supervisors, interview process, and a physical fitness and agility test.
Kastner will attend a six-week handlers training academy at the kennel beginning in late March. Then he will bring the dog back to Wauwatosa.
To be a handler, an officer must forgo promotions and shift changes and commit to staying with the Police Department. Police dogs are expected to have a work life of seven to nine years, and during that time, the animal lives and works with its handler.
The Common Council agreed to pay $5,000 toward the cost of the canine officer program, which will be used to work the street patrol and narcotics beats. Having a dog on the force could decrease worker's compensation claims and increase revenues through asset forfeitures.
Grant money is funding most of the $40,000 cost associated with buying the dog, and training it and its handler.
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38 U.S. Code § 1535 - Children of Indian War veterans
Whenever there is no surviving spouse entitled to pension under section 1534 of this title, the Secretary shall pay to the children of each Indian War veteran who met the service requirements of section 1511 of this title a pension at the monthly rate of $73.13 for one child, plus $8.13 for each additional child, with the total amount equally divided.
Source(Pub. L. 85–857, Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1137, § 535; Pub. L. 94–169, title I, § 106(31),Dec. 23, 1975, 89 Stat. 1018; renumbered § 1535 and amended Pub. L. 102–83, §§ 4(b)(1), (2)(E), 5(a), (c)(1),Aug. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 404–406.)
1991—Pub. L. 102–83, § 5(a), renumbered section 535 of this title as this section.
Pub. L. 102–83, § 5(c)(1), substituted "1534" for "534" and "1511" for "511".
Pub. L. 102–83, § 4(b)(1), (2)(E), substituted "Secretary" for "Administrator".
1975—Pub. L. 94–169substituted "surviving spouse" for "widow".
Effective Date of 1975 Amendment
Pub. L. 94–169, title I, § 106,Dec. 23, 1975, 89 Stat. 1017, provided that the amendment made by that section is effective Jan. 1, 1976.
The table below lists the classification updates, since Jan. 3, 2012, for this section. Updates to a broader range of sections may be found at the update page for containing chapter, title, etc.
The most recent Classification Table update that we have noticed was Tuesday, August 13, 2013
An empty table indicates that we see no relevant changes listed in the classification tables. If you suspect that our system may be missing something, please double-check with the Office of the Law Revision Counsel.
|Description of Change
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|Public Law
|Statutes at Large
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The chin strip, like a soul patch, is a strip of hair that grows just below the center of the lips. This patch of hair extends to the point at which the chin begins to turn under.
Facial Hair Styles, Gallery 2Facial Hair Styles, Gallery 3Facial Hair Styles, Gallery 4
How to Choose the Right Beard for Your Face ShapeHow to Grow a BeardHow to Care for Your Beard
Dave Alexander
About.com Men's Hair


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DUBAI, UAE, October 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
Dubai Kartdrome, the busiest karting facility in the region, is bracing for a bumper year of racing along with the ever popular Arrive & Drive sessions with the advent of new lights and a slicker experience for both the serious race drivers and the weekend racers.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130508/613221 )
To start with brand new lights have been erected to provide a better night driving experience at the facility adjacent to the Dubai Autodrome and situated in the heart of Motorcity.
Kartdrome manager Ryan Trutch explained, "We have found the time and funds to invest in a new Musco lighting system which apart from creating far better all-round illumination, they have also done so in a energy saving manner ticking all the 'green' boxes in the process. Drivers will notice the difference as the light is now crisp and clear, with a far bigger area illuminated by the new system."
"We have also upgraded most other facilities and now have a Pro Shop selling merchandise and racing gear. Stickers, caps t-shirts and a variety of cool clothing with Kartdrome branding will be available on sale. And the plan is roll out different lines a couple of times a year. All in all our Arrive & Drive experience has been ramped up several of notches," added Trutch.
"We are expecting one of our busiest years not only with the Arrive & Drive, but also with the racing we are hosting at the venue. The Kartdrome Endurance Championship continues to grow from strength to strength with full grids for all the rounds emphasising the popularity of what is our flagship event. We are very proud of the partnerships we have developed with the likes of Mini (AGMC), TAG Heuer, Liqui Moly, Red Bull, Sodi and OMP Racewear."
"We also have two great back to back weekends where the UAE Rotax Max championship visits the Kartdrome. We will again host have rounds of the SWS Sprint challenge with the winners progressing to the World Finals, with plans also for an Indoor series. We are going to be very busy," predicted Trutch.
Assisting Ryan Trutch with the formidable task of running the Kartdrome (outdoor and indoor venues) is David Bright who has been instrumental in sprucing up the venue. He is a big racing fan which is evident by the tweaks he has introduced to the Kartdrome, and how he engages with the fast growing karting community.
Bright is confident that the local karting scene is in good shape and the Kartdrome contributing positively to the local scene.
"Over the summer, there has been new race teams formed and international karting manufacturers showing interest in the UAE series. If summer testing is anything to go by recently, then there is going to be some very exciting races! The whole Rotax scene is going up a level in terms of professionalism and presentation, which is fantastic to see. I think we are close to having a UAE driver on the top of the podium at the World Finals. I believe our paddock on race day will be heaving with new faces and huge enthusiasm. It will be a spectacle!" declared Bright.
"Since starting here at the Kartdrome, it was always our aim to develop and improve karting here in this region. With the new racing formats we have introduced, it seems to be working. The Ramadan challenge was a record breaker with 34 karts on the grid for the last race just proves how successful the series is," concluded Bright.
The Kartdrome is open to the public for Arrive & Drive sessions on:
- Sunday and Monday the Indoor Kartdrome from 14:00 pm until 22:00 pm; the Outdoor Kartdrome from 16:00 pm until 11:30 pm.
- Tuesday to Saturday the Indoor Kartdrome from 09:00 am until Midnight; the Outdoor Kartdrome on 09:00 am until Midnight.
Race dates featuring UAE Rotax Max Championship, SWS Sprint and/or Endurance Championship:
- 10/11 October: Kartdrome Endurance Championship Round 3, 700 km Driven by Mini
- 25/26 October: UAE Rotax Max Challenge Round 2 & Round 3 Kartdrome double-header
- 05/06 December: Kartdrome Endurance Championship Round 4, 24 Hours Driven by Mini
- 17/18 January: UAE Rotax Max Challenge Round 7 & Round 8 Kartdrome double-header
Race action from the March 2013 round of the Kartdrome Endurance Championship
Race action from the March 2013 round of the Kartdrome Endurance Championship
Kartdrome manager Ryan Trutch with Assistant Kartdrome manager David Bright
- Sports & Recreation


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So Did You See The Kid That Fell Out Of The Stands During The UCLA Vs. ASU Game?
Too many men on the field Arizona St, 10 yard penalty, replay the down.
[...] falls out of the stands at UCLA v. ASU game [Barstool] Cleveland Browns Tailgaters pay respect to Lebron jersey [BustedCoverage] The Eagles cheerleaders [...]
this is awesome. stoolies, watch carefully. you're seeing the downfall of el presidente right before your eyes. this guy is fucking nosediving and so is barstool sports. people are starting to tire of the excessive cockiness and unfunny shit. look at this clown…. he doesn't post on weekends but since he's getting a new asshole torn by all his commenters, he starts getting desperate. three sunday night blogs and none of them contain any significant blogging and they're all shit that no one cares about and they're very clearly forced. you're plummeting bro…. just fucking retire and take the fame.
Buddy, that guy fell out of the first row, the guy in Chicago some how fell out of the stadium. Did he just say fuck it? Then run and jump out of the building?
High degree of difficulty, almost stuck the landing, 7.2
People falling out of the stands everywhere. Good that kid is OK. Too bad the guy at the Chicago Bears game isn't.
This was happening all over Lucas Oil Stadium last night
Surely you can't be serious?
kid was probably halfway through a jerry thorton post on his iphone and couldn't take it anymore.
"His dad had just told him they were mortaging the house."
That looked scary. redfingerpaints, I hope that's true.
Probably got tackled right after for trying to jump on the field
that fall couldn't have been fun. at least he got to be on the field though, that's pretty sweet i guess
So do you remember that time yo actually wrote blogs?
His dad had just told him they were mortaging the house.
must be an arizona st. fan
hes my cousin. hes ok and doing much better.


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Free guided tours are available at 1pm each Wednesday, 3pm & 4pm on Sunday.
All lectures, guided tours & films are on a first-come, first- served basis with no booking required, unless otherwise stated.
To book workshops/events online, please click here - 1 place is available per person unless otherwise stated e.g. Family Days.
Book Club meeting - Portrait of a Turkish Family
Published in 1950 Irfan Orga's moving memoir details the disintegration of a wealthy Ottoman family, both financially and emotionally. Filled with brilliant vignettes of old Turkish life it is rich with the scent of fin de siècle Istanbul in the last days of the Ottoman Empire. Click HERE for more information.
Public Lecture: Conservation in Focus: A Year at the Chester Beatty
Josefin Bermark-Jiménez, Heritage Council Intern, Chester Beatty Library.
This event has been organised especially to mark the Heritage Week.
Free, no booking required.
Public Lecture: Asian Contemporary Ceramic Masters: China and Japan in Focus
Intercultural Tour with Community Ambassador
Irish language tour with Jack FitzGerald
Meeting point is in the atrium of the Library. Free, no booking required.
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Criminal Justice/EMU Technology Management BS (TR01C3CJ)
Associate Degree/3+1 Transfer
The technology management program is designed for transfer students with an associate of applied science degree. The interdisciplinary curriculum provides the necessary foundation to meet the changing needs of management in a variety of fields including criminal justice. Check with an advisor for information on transferring.
EMU Technology Management BS
Copies can be obtained from the Counseling Office, a program advisor, or from the Curriculum and Assessment Office Web site: www.wccnet.edu/departments/curriculum/articulation.php?levelone=colleges
Contact Information
- Division
- Adv Tech/Public Serv Careers
- Department
- Public Services Careers Dept
- Advisors
- Ruth Walsh
|Complete a maximum of ninety-four credits at Washtenaw Community College as outlined on the Articulation Agreement.
|Complete a minimum of thirty credits at Eastern Michigan University as outlined on the Articulation Agreement.
- Total Credits Required
- 94
Get Advising From Home
Save a trip to campus. Just fire up your computer webcam and microphone to talk to an advisor online.more »
Books Delivered to You
Save time and gas: Get your books online through WCC's Barnes & Noble Bookstore.more »
What Students Say About Online Classes
"When I took an online class for the first time I was amazed at how organized it was. It was so easy to navigate and provided me with all the links and tools I needed to complete my course."—Mary Beth H., 30


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|Youth volunteers had a good time while doing some hard work at Kabian Park in last year's clean-up.
The event is supported by members of Habitat for Humanity Inland Valley, the City of Menifee, Menifee Interfaith and Community Service Council, Sun City Civic Association, Quail Valley Community Group and Verizon FIOS. Plans call for rehabilitation and clean-up projects at 28 homes in the Sun City community as well as clean-up in parts of Quail Valley, including Kabian Park.
Volunteers will assist in exterior home repairs, house painting, weed abatement, fence repair and other clean-up as needed. Additional volunteers will help beautify Kabian Park in Quail Valley.
Funds to support the project are being donated by Verizon FIOS and Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley. Volunteers for the home rehabilitation project will meet at the Sun City Civic Association at 8 a.m. and will return at 12:30 p.m. for lunch, check presentations and some closing comments from Mayor Scott Mann. Volunteers in Quail Valley will meet at Kabian Park to begin their project.
Volunteers 12 and over and invited to participate but must register at the start of the event.


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Arrests Made in Connection with Death of Philip Seymour Hoffman
The New York Times reports that three men and one woman were arrested in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday, February 4th, in connection with the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman. The actor was found dead on the bathroom floor of his West Village apartment with a needle in his arm on Sunday, February 2nd.
According to the report, more than 350 bags of heroin were recovered during the time of the arrests. It remains unclear if the suspects knew Hoffman directly.
An NYPD detective told The Hollywood Reporter, "Four people were arrested earlier this evening under suspicion of narcotics offenses but whether they are connected to the Hoffman death or not is still under investigation and the case is still developing."
In addition to news of the arrests, USA Today has revealed details of funeral arrangements for the late actor. According to the site, a private service will be held, attended by Hoffman's friends and family. No date for the service was provided.
The actor's representative Karen Samfilippo said in a statement: "There will be a private funeral service held in N.Y. for The Family and close friends of Philip Seymour Hoffman. Plans are also underway for a memorial service later in the month also to be held in N.Y. In lieu of flowers, The Family requests donations be made in Phil's name to two charities that were very close to his heart: The DreamYard Project and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. The Family wishes to thank everyone for their continued support and good wishes."
Hoffman most recently appeared on stage in 2012's revival of Death of a Salesman, for which he received a Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Play.
The show marked his return to Broadway for the first time since his critically acclaimed, Tony-nominated performance in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night in 2003. He also received a Tony Award nomination in 2000 for his performance in Sam Shepard's True West.
His Off-Broadway credits included The Seagull at the NYSF/Delacorte Theatre (dir: Mike Nichols), Othello, The Merchant of Venice, Shopping and Fucking, Defying Gravity and The Author's Voice. As co-artistic director of theLAByrinth Theatre Company, he has directed productions of Stephen Adly Guirgis' Jesus Hopped the A Train, Our Lady of 121st Street, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot and The Little Flower of East Orange, and also starred in and directed Jack Goes Boating. He won the 2005 Academy Award and Golden Globe Award, among other honors for Capote. His film credits also include Boogie Nights, Happiness, Magnolia, The Talented Mr. Ripley, State and Main, Almost Famous, Cold Mountain, Charlie Wilson's War (dir: Mike Nichols), Doubt (Academy Award nomination), Jack Goes Boating, Moneyball, The Ides of March, The Master and, the Hunger Games among others.
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This impressive mansion, situated close to the M27, displays good quality throughout. The bedrooms are spacious with a good range of facilities. Public areas include a large conference room and a ple...More about Botleigh Grange Hotel
Wisteria House is located on the edge of the village of Stubbington, just�a short walk from local amenities, and only one mile from the beach at Lee-on-the-Solent. Attention to detail is key at this B...More about Wisteria House
High quality, budget accommodation ideal for both families and business travellers. Spacious, en suite bedrooms feature tea and coffee making facilities, and Freeview TV in most hotels. Internet acces...More about Premier Inn Portsmouth (Port Solent East)
Convenient for both the port and town centre, this modern hotel is popular with both business and leisure guests. The well-equipped bedrooms are comfortably furnished. Public areas include an informal...More about Holiday Inn Southampton
This property offers practical, comfortable accommodation at reasonable prices. Not all rooms are en suite but bathrooms are well situated. Breakfast is served in the dining room or as a take-away opt...More about The Brimar Guest House
Located close to the M3 and convenient for Southampton Airport and the New Forest, this hotel is suitable for both the business and leisure traveller. All bedrooms have air conditioning and work desks...More about Holiday Inn Southampton - Eastleigh M3 Jct 13
High quality, budget accommodation ideal for both families and business travellers. Spacious, en suite bedrooms feature tea and coffee making facilities, and Freeview TV in most hotels. Internet acces...More about Premier Inn Southampton West Quay
Set within the picturesque village of Warnford, located close to major transport links to Winchester, Portsmouth and Southampton. The bedrooms are tastefully appointed to retain the charm and characte...More about George & Falcon
Located a few miles from the historic city of Winchester and within easy reach of the south's transport links, this modern, purpose-built property is presented to a high standard. Bedrooms are spaciou...More about Holiday Inn Winchester
The Four Seasons B&B is located in Hythe with easy access to both Southampton and the New Forest. Bedrooms are tastefully decorated with modern decor and furnishings, and rooms are equipped with Freev...More about Four Seasons B&B


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"Where Fillmore County News Comes First"
Online Edition
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014
Volume ∞ Issue ∞
- 5:25:09, Aug 27th 2014 - hawkeyejay - Hank, I wouldn't bet your pension or SS check on ACA being cast in stone ... [Read More]
- 5:10:18, Aug 27th 2014 - hawkeyejay - Just like Yvonne to trot out the " Republican War On Women" routine. I g ... [Read More]
- 7:33:35, Aug 27th 2014 - KingslandGrad95 - wtf, why did you make that comment on a story regarding high school ... [Read More]
- 11:00:14, Aug 25th 2014 - wtf - Your article on Preston fastpitch wins big. The under 15 age takes 2nd.. There ... [Read More]
- 8:52:32, Aug 25th 2014 - Rae - I wish that you had included Stab from TJ's Liquor in your article. Stab has b ... [Read More]
- 10:32:36, Aug 22nd 2014 - Mad Mike - Doc, how do you get any truth or facts with the current set up that this ... [Read More]
- 9:31:25, Aug 22nd 2014 - KingslandGrad95 - doc, You mentioned that "Republicans want the truth, they just ... [Read More]
- 8:00:02, Aug 19th 2014 - doc - Republicans want the truth, they just don't like facts. ... [Read More]
- 7:58:04, Aug 19th 2014 - doc - Gas prices were $4.25 the last summer that GWB was in office. ... [Read More]
- 4:40:55, Aug 19th 2014 - dave - Gas prices were $1.79 a gallon when GWB left office ... [Read More]
FCHS marching band playing at the first home football game
Fri, Sep 4th, 2009
Posted in Education
Posted in Education
Don't miss your chance to see the 2009 FCHS Marching Band in action at the first home football game on Friday, Sept. 11th! The 82-member marching band will perform the first selection from their fall show, entitled, "ROCK REWIND." Selections include "How Far We've Come," by Matchbox 20, "Livin' On A Prayer," by Bon Jovi, and "Back In Black," by ACDC. The band just completed a very successful two week marching band camp and is preparing audition tapes for its upcoming trip to Colorado in the spring of 2011. Drum Major this year is Anton Adamek, Color Guard Captains are Leah Dols and Tricia Harstad, Color Guard Instructor is Mrs. Jessica Powell, and the band is under the direction of Lane Powell. Students will be selling "Wake Up To The Band" raffle tickets beginning on Sept. 8th. The winning ticket will be drawn at halftime of the homecoming game on Oct. 9th. All proceeds go to student accounts for their trip!


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Back Country Campsite Closed
Due to bear activity at Bryce Canyon's back-country, the following campsite has been closed until further notice: Sheep Creek
Earth Systems Kid's Page
Hello kids! I'm Dinama Stabenstein. I'm a geology grade student. I'm quick and hungry. If you want to know more about me, see my biography.
I hope that you are hungry to learn more about Earth Systems. If you are, check out these very cool Web sites:
GEODETECTIVE Home - Earth Systems Home
Contact our Education Outreach Specialist here.
Did You Know?
USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36) was named after the park. Commissioned 15 September 1950 at Charleston SC,(22 years after the park was established, to the day), Decommissioned 30 June 1981. A plaque, with a Flag and Ensign last flown over the ship are on display in the Headquarters building. More...


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Remember Me
Last year, I met with members of the Shefton family of Cleveland. They lived near a former lead smelter site, but had to move when one of their sons was diagnosed with high-lead levels in his blood. No Ohio family or business should be forced to relocate because of hazardous materials or contaminated properties in its neighborhood. But unfortunately, this happens all too often in our state.
In Ohio, parcels of land known as brownfields are left behind after a commercial building or factory has been demolished or abandoned. These brownfields can be found in big cities and small towns in all parts of the state. In fact, by some estimates, Ohio has thousands of potential brownfield sites.
These brownfields don't belong in neighborhoods where children walk to school, and they don't belong in communities looking to attract new businesses.
We need to redevelop these sites to make way for new investments. That's why I'm co-sponsoring legislation to clean-up, re-invest in and re-develop these properties. The Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act would overhaul the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) existing Brownfields Program.
We know that by providing targeted funding and allowing increased flexibility, we increase the likelihood that more sites are cleaned up. That's why the BUILD Act would increase clean-up grants and more than double the funding ceiling for remediation grants. The legislation would also allow the EPA to award multi-purpose grants, which means federal resources could be used for multiple elements of a project, including site inventory and planning and remediation for one or more brownfields.
In order to increase flexibility further, the bill also lets more nonprofits qualify for site-assessment grants. Right now, nonprofits can only apply for site clean-up grants, but we know that local organizations and community development groups have the capacity to do so much more, especially in smaller communities.
Finally, the BUILD Act maintains current funding levels through Fiscal Year 2016. Simply put, this means it would not be subject to partisan fights during the next presidential election.
The BUILD Act is a perfect example of a public-private partnership. By cleaning up previously used sites for redevelopment opportunities, we can attract private capital back to our cities. If we can incentivize developers and businesses to locate in our towns, we can increase local tax revenue and protect our green spaces from continued development.
The BUILD Act and the Brownfields program play an integral role in revitalizing vacant or abandoned properties to meet environmental and public health challenges while spurring economic development in Ohio.
We must do everything we can to ensure the brownfields around our state are cleaned up and are no longer eyesores in their communities.
Last week, I heard from Daniel Brewer, a Navy veteran from Cincinnati who could not find a good paying job after returning from Afghanistan. Though Daniel had substantial training in the Navy, moving home to Ohio, he had trouble translating his skills into the civilian workforce.
Daniel's experience is all too common. Time and time again I've heard similar stories throughout Ohio: biotech firms, high-tech manufacturers, and small businesses are hiring for open positions, but can't find the workers with the right skills to fill these job openings. With too many Ohioans still unable to find work, we should be doing all that we can to ensure that our workers are qualified to fill Ohio jobs.
Since 2007, I've convened more than 215 roundtables across Ohio's 88 counties, listening to community and business leaders, workers, and entrepreneurs on ways to strengthen our economy. A theme that developed early on was that despite high unemployment, employers are having a hard time finding workers with the skills necessary to fill the available jobs. As a result, job openings in high-growth industries, like healthcare, clean energy, and biosciences, and even the manufacturing sector, are going unfilled.
According to Forbes, Ohio ranks 10th per capita in the nation among states expecting the biggest looming skilled labor shortage – due, in part, to an aging population and limited workforce training resources.
The skills gap exists – especially for careers in high-tech fields. This gap denies workers new opportunities they deserve and undermines our nation's economic competitiveness. It also limits our state's ability to attract new jobs and businesses.
In response to the stories I heard during my early roundtables throughout Ohio about the need to close the skills gap, I first introduced the Strengthening Employment Clusters to Organize Regional Success (SECTORS) in 2008. Last week, I reintroduced it with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME).
The SECTORS Act creates partnerships between educators, industry, and workforce training boards to ensure that workers have the right skills to get hired in high-tech, emerging industries with good-paying jobs. If we're going to attract new employers, we need to ensure that local workforce development efforts support the needs of local industries. That's what this bill does.
It means community colleges, whether it's Cincinnati State, Tri-C, Zane State, and Sinclair State or Rhodes State, and workforce investment boards, industry, and labor, working together to serve local needs.
We know economic development and workforce skills training go hand-in-hand. We've seen this in Youngstown with NAMII. When the skilled workers are there, more investments follow. It's not only good for businesses; this legislation is also important for Ohio families.
America has a unique opportunity to address the skills gap that prevents hardworking Americans—like Daniel Brewer—from finding good jobs and prohibits eager-to-grow companies from hiring the skilled workers needed to expand. We close the skills gap by going directly to the source of Ohio's economic might: our skilled workers and innovative businesses.
WASHINGTON — It is easy to understand how everyone in the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case feels.
If I were Martin's mother, I'd want his killer's heart on a platter. If I were Zimmerman's mother, I'd be grateful my son escaped greater injury, however he managed.
If I were African-American, I would fear for my sons and be furious at a system that condones vigilantism, and then acts as though naming a teen's death a "tragedy" ends the discussion.
The list could go on. The point is that this is one of those rare instances in which everyone is right within his/her own experience. Blacks are right to perceive that Martin was followed because he was black, but it is wrong to presume that recognizing a racial characteristic is necessarily racist. It has been established that several burglaries in Zimmerman's neighborhood involved primarily young black males.
Picture Zimmerman's neighbor and defense witness Olivia Bertalan hiding in her locked bedroom with her infant and a pair of rusty scissors, while two young males, later identified as African-American, burglarized her home. They ran when police arrived.
This is not to justify what subsequently transpired between Zimmerman and Martin but to cast a dispassionate eye on reality. And no, just because a few black youths caused trouble doesn't mean all black youths should be viewed suspiciously. This is so obvious a truth that it shouldn't need saying and yet, if we are honest, we know that human nature includes the accumulation of evolved biases based on experience and survival. In the courtroom, it's called profiling. In the real world, it's called common sense.
One thing we can all agree upon without much strain is that this incident — this senseless, heartbreaking death — never should have happened. Zimmerman, who began acting as a watchman in 2004 and had made more than 40 calls to authorities over the years, never should have left his car once he had notified police, who told him to stay put.
We also can surmise that Zimmerman would not have followed Martin if Zimmerman weren't carrying a gun. If Martin were perceived as dangerous, wouldn't an unarmed individual keep his distance until police arrived?
Thus, we conclude that Zimmerman's actions led to the confrontation that ultimately resulted in a fight that ended with the fatal shooting.
It never should have happened. And it didn't have to.
The jury obviously felt that Zimmerman acted in self-defense or, at least, that the state failed to prove otherwise. It must have been a terrible conclusion to reach because, no matter what the legal definitions that guided them, it seems impossible that someone's young son, guilty of nothing, should die while his killer walks. Adages become such for a reason: The law is an ass.
By the definitions, instructions and evidence — in other words, by the book — the jurors ruled as they could and justice feels ill-served.
So, yes, we understand how everyone feels. But feelings are like weather — they come and go and shift with time. Part of maturity — and fundamental to civilization — is learning to process feelings through thought, reflection and, in this case, debate.
Instead, in the wake of the Zimmerman verdict, feelings have been magnified and exploited by enablers — from certain members of the media, who seem more like rapacious rabble-rousers than journalists, to professional activists who, in fact, thrive on disorder. This is a good time to recognize that activists with television shows are not, in fact, journalists. When Al Sharpton went to Florida to organize demands that Zimmerman be charged, he was acting as the civil rights activist he is, not as a broadcast journalist he plays on television. Now, as he proceeds to organize protests in 100 cities, he has a global bullhorn with which to sound his fury.
With such instigation, grass-roots quickly erupt into wildfires. News organizations can't ignore news, obviously, but which came first: The death threats? Or the TV correspondent speculating whether Zimmerman would need to fear for his life?
As soon as passions cool, assuming we let them, the discussion that needs to take place surrounds a question: What was George Zimmerman doing walking around his neighborhood armed and loaded? In what world is this normal behavior?
The answer: Not a world most of us want to live in. Let's start there.
Kathleen Parker's email address is
Wind turbines are incompatible with farming
My home is on 65 acres 3/4 mile from 100 wind turbines. Your county's residents have asked me what their future holds. I implore Van Wert County to avoid making the same mistake that McLean County did in destroying thousands of acres of what was once the most productive soil in the world by permitting wind turbines without protecting residents and agricultural businesses with safe setbacks. Farming and living in a peaceful rural community is gone once turbines come.
Choosing turbines will cause you to give up access to environmentally friendly methods of protecting waterways from nitrogen runoff by planting cover crops aerially. Aerial applicators reserve the right not to spray within one mile of a turbine. Our past state association president said, "Aerial application can be done in maybe 10% of the fields inside wind farms, but it isn't worth somebody's life to get in there and try to do that." Many fields will lose the option to protect their crops aerially. If a plane hits a tower, blade, or unmarked meteorological tower, the leaseholder can be sued by the developer for damages. A farmer here testified that he will never be able to spray his field by air again: he can't get insurance. When offered more turbines, he declined, stating he wouldn't have gotten the first ones had he known. Farmers have a right to do what they want on their own property, but they do not have a right to put up a wind turbine which may deprive their neighbor of their livelihood, income they get from farming. Can the county be sued for approving this as an unfair business practice? Will your neighbor sue you to recover damages they'll suffer from decreased yields and increased costs because of your turbine?
Soil compaction and crushed field tiles from heavy cranes is permanent and occurs repeatedly during 60 year leases. Tile removal and raised access roads in fields create drainage nightmares. Farmers seldom get the same yields after destroying their fields with wind turbines. Wind turbines are completely incompatible with farming. You choose - farm or place an industrial power plant in the middle of a once a productive field.
You cannot do both. It's inexcusable for Van Wert County to ignore evidence from victims of other wind farms. Deny permits which will endanger the health, safety and livelihood of your citizens.
Learn more - Windaction, www.fairwindenergy.org.
Kim Schertz
Hudson, Ill
Read your article in the Saturday newspaper about "The Ice Man," This article really hit home with me because I was an Ice Man in the late 1930s.
I worked for the Steinle Brewery Co. one whole summer and fall. I worked with Leonard and Clarence Lause at the time.
I don't know who wrote this article but there is a lot more to tell about being an ice man. It was hot, hard and sometimes long work to do. I could probably write this whole page about what we did that summer.
I do have an ice pick like the one in the picture, the top one. These picks and tongs were a big part of this job.
I really liked the article because I had something to do with it a long time ago.
I only wish you really did know what an "ice man" really did in a day's work.
Arthur J. Grothouse