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There are still two long months to go between now and the
start of the 2011-2012 NHL season, but expectations for the Rangers have
already been set very high.
Thanks to a group of hard-working, overachieving youngsters
the 2010-2011 Rangers took a big step forward and snagged a playoff berth. The addition of Brad Richards will only put
more pressure on the team, but we must remember that this is still a growing
If all goes right next year: Henrik Lundqvist continues to
be one of the best goalies in the world, Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik lead
a much-improved attack and the young defense continues to play well beyond its
years, the
Rangers could be one of the league's surprise teams and make some noise in
the playoffs.
However, if the development of some key young players stall,
Gaborik can't rediscover his scoring touch, the injury bug continues to bit the
Blueshirts and Lundqvist doesn't perform at his usual level; the
2011-2012 season could turn out to be a huge disappointment.
It's not hard to imagine either scenario unfolding, but as
with every debate in sports, the truth will likely lie somewhere in the middle.
With good luck, the Rangers could be knocking on the door as
contenders, but they could just as easily be battling for the seventh or eighth
playoff spot. As the summer progresses
it's easy to get caught up in one way of thinking or another, but remember that
every season is a crapshoot and the performance of every player and every team
varies from one year to the next.
There's no such thing as a given and even though we're
pretty sure the Rangers have made dramatic improvements, there are a dozen
other fan bases in the league that think the same way about the direction of
their clubs.
We'll just have to wait and see how the year unfolds, but
keep in mind that this group of Blueshirts is ahead of schedule and that
patience may be in order. The talent
level on Broadway is improving all the time, but the results may not
immediately translate on the ice.
There will be ups and downs in 2011-2012 and the season
could go either way. As long as the
franchise continues to move in the right direction it's hard not to be
optimistic about the team's future, but it may not be fair to expect an Eastern
Conference Finals berth nine months from now.
Click here for our full Summer 2011 Archive >
Follow us on Twitter (@NYRBlueBulletin and @kevinbaumer) and on Facebook.
Click here for our full Summer 2011 Archive >
Follow us on Twitter (@NYRBlueBulletin and @kevinbaumer) and on Facebook.


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- Northern New York Newspapers
- Watertown
- Ogdensburg
- Massena-Potsdam
- Lowville
- Carthage
- Malone
- NNY Business
- NNY Living
- NNY Ads
GREAT BEND The public will be able to vote on Carthage Central School Districts capital construction project proposal March 19.
The main $13.15 million project to address safety, security and building maintenance issues districtwide will be presented as the first proposition, the Board of Education decided at its Wednesday meeting. The second proposition would include the first project in addition to a smaller, $3.75 million project to address technology upgrades and West Carthage Elementary classroom additions.
Board member Mary Louise Hunt was worried voters would be confused and try to vote only on the second proposition, perhaps because they have ties with West Carthage Elementary. However, the board is trying to find a way not to allow residents to vote on the second proposition if they vote against the first one.
Mrs. Hunt also wanted to know exactly what the money for the technology upgrades would go toward.
Board President Barbara A. Lofink said the project will focus on the basic infrastructure, to build bandwidth and help support future technology additions.
Were getting to the point of overload with the system we have now, Mrs. Lofink said. Were getting to the point where were past capacity.
Both Mrs. Hunt and teachers union President Patricia A. Sheehan, who is also a facilities committee member, said this was the first time they were told the money would serve that direct purpose.
Board member Kent D. Burto said if the technology and classroom addition proposition were considered a necessity, there should be only one proposition to convey their importance.
Were talking 32 cents, he said. We should be upfront with the public about our needs.
The total cost for both projects would be $16.9 million, $17.6 million less than last years defeated proposal, and would cost the average homeowner $1.33 per year.
Ms. Sheehan said the committee wanted to have the two propositions to win voters back after the last capital project did not pass. However, if technology was a maintenance issue, she said, it should have been addressed that way originally.
Mr. Burto said he still felt there should be one proposition but wanted to respect the facilities committees decision to have two because of the work it put into it.
The board voted unanimously to accept the date for the public to vote on the project as noon to 9 p.m. March 19 in the Carthage High School library.
The facilities committee will meet again Monday to move forward with the project.
This is our last chance, or we are going to have to find a way to absorb it in our budget over the next five years, board member Lori D. Miller said.
Before the board approved the referendum, there was a question of whether there should be one or two propositions on the ballot. Some board members felt creating a basic infrastructure for technology should be added to the bare bones maintenance project originally presented.
Im wondering if were shooting ourselves in the foot with the two propositions, Mrs. Hunt said.
The board eventually voted to have the two propositions as presented at the Jan. 14 meeting, but not without a discussion.
Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.
You can continue on to this article in a few seconds, or you can visit one of our websites:

subset: commoncrawl


text:
St. George / Hurricane KOA
5800 N Highway 91
Hurricane, UT 84737
Reserve: 800-562-8607
Info: 435-879-2212
- Get Directions
From Cedar City: Heading South on I-15, take the Leeds/Exit 23. End of ramp turn left to Stop Sign. Then turn right, continue through Leeds onto Old Hwy 91 & South approximately 2.5 miles to KOA on left.
From St. George: Heading North on I-15, Exit 22. At stop sign at the end of the exit ramp, turn right & KOA on left side after approximately 2.50 miles. OR Take the Zion Park/Hurricane Exit 16. AVOID a left turn on Old Hwy 91 (ROUGH, Unpaved Road) & Continue on RT 9 for approximately 2.5 miles. At second stop light, turn left onto SR 318/Quail Creek State Park. Continue around the Lake to stop sign. Turn right toward Harrisburg/Leeds. The KOA is on the right
*** Campground Address NOT GPS Friendly ***Get Google Directions
VKR Program
Purchase your one year membership now for only $27.
Send a KOA Gift Card or check out what special deals our Partners have cooked up especially for you.


text:
5 Item(s)
Limousin Reserva 13 Marques Riscal 6/75(6x75cl)
Light gold colour. Complex and elegant nose with hints of vanilla, honeysuckle and wild fennel. Dense, mouth filling palate, with hints of nuts as well as of toasted wood and an underlying reminiscence
of fine lees.
Sauvignon Rueda 14 Riscal 6/75(6x75cl)
Pale yellow in colour with hints of green. Very complex nose with abundant fruit (lime, grapefruit, passion fruit and melon), green grass and an underlying minerality that adds personality. Crisp palate, medium-bodied with a clean, long lingering finish.
Finca Montico Rueda 13 Riscal 6/75(6x75cl)
A bright straw colour with hints of green. The typical aromas of verdejo can be detected on the nose with medium intensity. Fennel, fine herbs, white flowers, pear and nectarine are all evident. The palate is fat and fresh with a round, unctuous character and long finish. Lees ageing and good acidity allow the wine to conserve the varietal aromas leaving a fresh, aromatic and complex wine.
Blanco Rueda 14 Marques Riscal 6/75(6x75cl)
Brilliant straw colour. Superb example of Verdejo varietal wine with a mixture of tropical fruit aromas and hints of fennel and fresh green grass. Refreshing mouthfeel, full bodied with a slight final bitterness which gives it complexity and the very characteristic personality of wines of this variety.
5 Item(s)


text:
EXCLUSIVE — Renaissance Downtowns CEO Donald Monti: "If Charles wants to stay here, I think we can help make it happen."
Kevin Schultz
In a phone conversation on Wednesday afternoon, Renaissance Downtowns CEO Donald Monti firmly stated that his intention in developing the Nassau County Hub property — the 77 acre property the Coliseum sits on — is to help retain the New York Islanders and establish an economic and technological center for the County. Monti is one of four Long Island developers who have submitted a Request for Qualifications to Nassau County, in the hopes of being selected to develop the Coliseum Hub.
"To be honest, there really is no other team but us," Monti said regarding his support for keeping the Islanders on the Hub property. "I'm not saying this for self-serving reasons, I'm saying it because there's nobody that cares about the Islanders staying that's responded. When they say so publicly then they mean so even more privately."
Monti also stressed the need to act now, in an effort to turn around the decades of stagnation that has hindered both the County Hub property, the Coliseum and the team.
"I go back to the four successive years that they won the Cup and at that time I was a season ticket holder. To me it would be an absolute shame for any area to lose a professional franchise. What's going to keep the Islanders here is a positive momentum and we have to make sure that's the message that resonates constantly. I think I'm the only respondent that's committed to do that."
Monti's plan for the hub is two-fold and doesn't simply involve the Coliseum property. His company, Renaissance Downtowns, has already been selected as the master developer for the largest development project ever on Long Island — the Village of Hempstead downtown revitalization project. At a cost of $2 billion, the project will build 3,500 residential units, two million square feet of commercial and retail space, and establish a modern downtown in Hempstead. It's main focus is on the 90 acres surrounding the Hempstead train station and bus terminal.
If Renaissance Downtowns is selected as master developer for the Coliseum Hub Property, Monti's grand vision is to have the two projects — the Coliseum Hub and Downtown Hempstead — feed off of each other.
"The synergies between the two projects are just unbelievable," Monti said. "There is only 8/10ths of a mile separating them so the financial challenges that come from a standalone project can be mitigated… When you have a common developer for both projects."
Monti's vision for the Hub Property is not retail and residential based, as was the case with the Lighthouse Project. His vision for the Hub is based around two major components; sports and entertainment facilities alongside high-tech research and development facilities. The thinking is that the millenial generation, in their mid-to-late twenties or early thirties, could live and shop in Downtown Hempstead while working in the new facilities at the Coliseum Hub.
"It's the beginning of something I believe is going to be the turnaround and the transformative project that everyone [on Long Island] is waiting for," said Monti. "Many of the millennials that are thinking of getting the heck out of here are gonna think twice when they say 'wow, look at what they're doing in Hempstead and if they can do that in Huntington Station and other downtowns across Long Island — I'm staying.'"
Another of Monti's downtown revitalization projects is a 6-square mile space in Huntington Station where Renaissance Downtowns has also been named the master developer.
As for what he would do in regards to the Coliseum itself, Monti was certain that a renovated arena does not make sense.
"I don't see a renovation working," he responded when asked whether he envisioned a new arena or a renovation. "There are a couple reasons; logistical reasons, you never get exactly what you want when you renovate, and in many cases you spend more. That's not going to be my call, that's going to be Charles' call. But from my vantage point, new is the way to go."
While the County selects a master developer, Renaissance Downtowns and Monti have not had any contact with the Islanders' Charles Wang or Michael Picker.
"There are so many things that we need to sit down quickly on with Charles and Mike Picker," Monti responded. "But that's the way we work. We're a very nimble organization. We get things done like nobody does. If Charles wants to stay here, I think we can help make it happen."
And how does that happen, what with the infamous Town of Hempstead zoning rules and time ticking down?
"We feel that's a zoning envelope — considering what we're doing in the village — that can certainly work," said Renaissance's Vice President of Marketing and Public Affairs Brandon Palanker. Palanker is confident his group's plans won't test the Town of Hempstead's zoning regulations. "If you're trying to do it as an absolute standalone it becomes more difficult but that's not our position because we have those complementary uses less than a mile away in the village hub."
Monti and Palanker have yet to hear anything from the County regarding the success or failure of their Request for Qualifications submission. Hypothetically, if his company was awarded master developer for the property today, Monti believes he could start construction in the spring of 2013 with a total project time of 30 months from start to finish.
Nassau County has yet to select a master developer for the Coliseum Hub and time is of the essence as the Islanders lease expires in 2015. Owner Charles Wang has said he will not keep the team there past 2015 if the Coliseum remains in its current condition.
"Certainly Brooklyn beats Kansas City," Monti said when the subject of the Islanders moving in 2015 was broached. "But there's something that tells me if Brooklyn could have been done, it would have been done."
With a few projects already in the works, Monti and his company are working hard on revitalizing Long Island's downtowns. When it comes to the Coliseum Hub, Monti believes that Islander Country can be an integral part of the process and help find a solution.
"We need to turn [the Hub] around starting now," he insisted. "I think that the Islander fan base can be a catalyst for helping the County to make a quick but thorough decision."


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|NCDOT To Close US 421 Bridge Tonight
|Written by NCDOT Release
|Friday, 26 October 2012 05:26
Traveling to the Winston-Salem area this weekend? The N.C. Department of Transportation is closing U.S. 421 North at Shallowford Road (Exit 246) near Lewisville, starting tonight at 8 p.m. for bridge preservation work. Hopes are that the NCDOT will reopen the road by Monday,
Oct. 29, at 3 p.m., weather permitting. The DOT says the closure is necessary to allow crews to perform preservation work on the U.S. 421 North bridge over the Yadkin River. Crews will use high-powered jets of water to remove any deteriorated concrete from the bridge, then will place a layer of latex-modified concrete on the bridge's surface. These enhancements will improve the ride quality for motorists, as well as help the 54-year-old bridge last longer by sealing and protecting the pavement from water damage. With the work is under way, NCDOT will encourage through traffic on U.S. 421 North to take I-40 West to I-77 North and follow it back to U.S. 421 North. For local traffic, NCDOT will install a tapered closure on U.S. 421 North to help it continue to flow safely and smoothly around the work zone. Just south of Shallowford Road (Exit 246), the department will close the left lane of the highway. At Shallowford Road (Exit 246), crews will close the right lane, completely shutting down that side of the road.
At that point, U.S. 421 North traffic must take the following detour route:
· Take Exit 246 to Shallowford Road;
· At the end of the exit ramp, turn left onto Shallowford Road;
· Follow Shallowford Road for 3.3 miles;
· Turn right onto Dinkins Bottoms Road;
· Follow Dinkins Bottoms Road for 1 mile to the U.S. 421 junction; and
· Turn left onto the U.S. 421 North entrance ramp to return to the highway.
NCDOT will help guide motorists around the closure, using large message boards and signs. Drivers may experience traffic delays while the closure is in effect. The department encourages motorists to take alternate routes, if possible, to avoid the area.
|Share This Article:


text:
Install [gocr-0.40]
And [subrip-0.3-4]
Subrip may also be found in the TOOLS subdirectory of the mplayer source.
Decide which subtitle ID you need:
mplayer -vo null -ao null -frames 0 -identify dvd://1
Extract the .idx and .sub files for that subtitle ID:
mencoder -ovc copy \ -o /dev/null \ -nosound \ -vobsubout subtitles \ <- the name of the output files -vobsuboutindex 1 \ <- the index used in the output -vobsuboutid en \ <- the code used in the output file -sid $N $basename <- the i.d. of the stream to be extracted
Run subrip:
rm -rf db mkdir db subrip $basename 1 $basename.srt You will be prompted to identify about 40 glyphs during this process.
Fix the errors in the .srt file by hand, and you're done!
If subrip seems to be asking you to identify the same character more than once, the subtitle file may be too difficult for subrip to process... This does happen.


text:
42 U.S. Code § 12805 - Sweat equity model program
(a) In general
The Secretary shall make available a model program to provide grants to public and private nonprofit organizations and community housing development organizations to provide technical and supervisory assistance to low-income and very low-income families, including the homeless, in acquiring, rehabilitating, and constructing housing by the self-help housing method.
(b) Rehabilitation of properties
The program shall target for rehabilitation properties which have been acquired by the Federal, State, or local governments.
(c) Homeownership opportunities through sweat equity
(1) The program shall utilize the skilled or unskilled labor of eligible families in exchange for acquisition of the property.
(d) Rental opportunities through sweat equity
(1) The program shall include rental opportunities for eligible families which will help expand the stock of affordable housing which is most appropriate for the target group.
(e) "Self-help housing" defined
The term "self-help housing" means the same as in section 1490c of this title.
(f) Additional restrictions
The guidelines for the model program shall generally comport with the additional protections and restrictions specified under section 1490c of this title.
Source(Pub. L. 101–625, title II, § 255,Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 4121.)
Assistance for Self-Help Housing Providers
Pub. L. 104–120, § 11,Mar. 28, 1996, 110 Stat. 841, as amended by Pub. L. 105–276, title V, § 599E(a),Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2663; Pub. L. 106–569, title II, § 202,Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 2951; Pub. L. 108–285, § 2,Aug. 2, 2004, 118 Stat. 917, provided that:
"(a) Grant Authority.—The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may, to the extent amounts are available to carry out this section and the requirements of this section are met, make grants for use in accordance with this section to national and regional organizations and consortia that have experience in providing or facilitating self-help housing homeownership opportunities.
"(b) Goals and Accountability.—In making grants under this section, the Secretary shall take such actions as may be necessary to ensure that—
"(1) assistance provided under this section is used to facilitate and encourage innovative homeownership opportunities through the provision of self-help housing, under which the homeowner contributes a significant amount of sweat equity toward the construction of the new dwellings;
"(2) assistance provided under this section for land acquisition and infrastructure development results in the development of not less than 4,000 new dwellings;
"(3) the dwellings constructed in connection with assistance provided under this section are quality dwellings that comply with local building and safety codes and standards and are available at prices below the prevailing market prices;
"(4) the provision of assistance under this section establishes and fosters a partnership between the Federal Government and organizations and consortia, resulting in efficient development of affordable housing with minimal governmental intervention, limited governmental regulation, and significant involvement by private entities;
"(5) activities to develop housing assisted pursuant to this section involve community participation in which volunteers assist in the construction of dwellings; and
"(6) dwellings are developed in connection with assistance under this section on a geographically diverse basis, which includes areas having high housing costs, rural areas, and areas underserved by other homeownership opportunities that are populated by low-income families unable to otherwise afford housing.If, at any time, the Secretary determines that the goals under this subsection cannot be met by providing assistance in accordance with the terms of this section, the Secretary shall immediately notify the applicable Committees in writing of such determination and any proposed changes for such goals or this section.
"(c) National Competition.—The Secretary shall select organizations and consortia referred to in subsection (a) to receive grants through a national competitive process, which the Secretary shall establish.
"(d) Use.—
"(1) Purpose.—Amounts from grants made under this section, including any recaptured amounts, shall be used only for eligible expenses in connection with developing new decent, safe, and sanitary nonluxury dwellings in the United States for families and persons who otherwise would be unable to afford to purchase a dwelling.
"(2) Eligible expenses.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the term 'eligible expenses' means costs only for the following activities:
"(A) Land acquisition.—Acquiring land (including financing and closing costs), which may include reimbursing an organization, consortium, or affiliate, upon approval of any required environmental review, for nongrant amounts of the organization, consortium, or affiliate advanced before such review to acquire land.
"(B) Infrastructure improvement.—Installing, extending, constructing, rehabilitating, or otherwise improving utilities and other infrastructure.Such term does not include any costs for the rehabilitation, improvement, or construction of dwellings.
"(e) Establishment of Grant Fund.—
"(1) In general.—Any amounts from any grant made under this section shall be deposited by the grantee organization or consortium in a fund that is established by such organization or consortium for such amounts, administered by such organization or consortium, and available for use only for the purposes under subsection (d). Any interest, fees, or other earnings of the fund shall be deposited in the fund and shall be considered grant amounts for purposes of this section.
"(2) Assistance to affiliates.—Any organization or consortia that receives a grant under this section may use amounts in the fund established for such organization or consortia pursuant to paragraph (1) for the purposes under subsection (d) by providing assistance from the fund to local affiliates of such organization or consortia.
"(f) Requirements for Assistance.—The Secretary may make a grant to an organization or consortium under subsection (a) only pursuant to—
"(1) an expression of interest by such organization or consortia to the Secretary for a grant for such purposes;
"(2) a determination by the Secretary that the organization or consortia has the capability and has obtained financial commitments (or has the capacity to obtain financial commitments) necessary to—
"(A) develop not less than 30 dwellings in connection with the grant amounts; and
"(B) otherwise comply with a grant agreement under subsection (i); and
"(3) a grant agreement entered into under subsection (i).
"[(g) Repealed. Pub. L. 105–276, title V, § 599E(a)(6),Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2664.]
"(h) Geographical Diversity.—In making grants under subsection (a), the Secretary shall ensure that grants are provided and grant amounts are used in a manner that results in national geographic diversity among housing developed using grant amounts under this section.
"(i) Grant Agreement.—A grant under this section shall be made only pursuant to a grant agreement entered into by the Secretary and the organization or consortia receiving the grant, which shall—
"(1) require such organization or consortia to use grant amounts only as provided in this section;
"(2) provide for the organization or consortia to develop a specific and reasonable number of dwellings using the grant amounts, which number shall be established taking into consideration costs and economic conditions in the areas in which the dwellings will be developed, but in no case shall be less than 30;
"(3) require the organization or consortia to use the grant amounts in a manner that leverages other sources of funding (other than grants under this section), including private or public funds, in developing the dwellings;
"(4) require the organization or consortia to comply with the other provisions of this section;
"(5) provide that the Secretary shall recapture any grant amounts provided to the organization or consortia that are not used within 24 months after such amounts are first disbursed to the organization or consortia, except that such period shall be 36 months in the case of grant amounts from amounts made available for fiscal year 1996 to carry out this section, and in the case of a [sic] grant amounts provided to a local affiliate of the organization or consortia that is developing five or more dwellings in connection with such grant amounts; and
"(6) contain such other terms as the Secretary may require to provide for compliance with subsection (b) and the requirements of this section.
"(j) Fulfillment of Grant Agreement.—If the Secretary determines that an organization or consortia awarded a grant under this section has not, within 24 months after grant amounts are first made available to the organization or consortia (or, in the case of grant amounts from amounts made available for fiscal year 1996 to carry out this section and grant amounts provided to a local affiliate of the organization or consortia that is developing five or more dwellings in connection with such grant amounts, within 36 months), substantially fulfilled the obligations under the grant agreement, including development of the appropriate number of dwellings under the agreement, the Secretary shall use any such undisbursed amounts remaining from such grant for other grants in accordance with this section.
"(k) Records and Audits.—During the period beginning upon the making of a grant under this section and ending upon close-out of the grant under subsection (l)—
"(1) the organization awarded the grant shall keep such records and adopt such administrative practices as the Secretary may require to ensure compliance with the provisions of this section and the grant agreement; and
"(2) the Secretary and the Comptroller General of the United States, and any of their duly authorized representatives, shall have access for the purpose of audit and examination to any books, documents, papers, and records of the grantee organization or consortia and its affiliates that are pertinent to the grant made under this section.
"(l) Close-Out.—The Secretary shall close out a grant made under this section upon determining that the aggregate amount of any assistance provided from the fund established under subsection (e)(1) by the grantee organization or consortium exceeds the amount of the grant. For purposes of this paragraph, any interest, fees, and other earnings of the fund shall be excluded from the amount of the grant.
"(m) Environmental Review.—A grant under this section shall be considered to be funds for a special project for purposes of section 305(c) of the Multifamily Housing Property Disposition Reform Act of 1994 [42 U.S.C. 3547].
"(n) Report to Congress.—Not later than 90 days after close-out of all grants under this section is completed, the Secretary shall submit a report to the applicable Committees describing the grants made under this section, the grantees, the housing developed in connection with the grant amounts, and the purposes for which the grant amounts were used.
"(o) Definitions.—For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:
"(1) Applicable committees.—The term 'applicable Committees' means the Committee on Banking and Financial Services [now Committee on Financial Services] of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.
"(2) Secretary.—The term 'Secretary' means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
"(3) United states.—The term 'United States' includes the States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and any other territory or possession of the United States.
"(p) Authorization of Appropriations.—There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2001.
"(q) Regulations.—The Secretary shall issue any final regulations necessary to carry out this section not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Mar. 28, 1996]. The regulations shall take effect upon issuance and may not exceed, in length, 5 full pages in the Federal Register."
[Pub. L. 105–276, title V, § 599E(b),Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2664, provided that: "Notwithstanding the amendments made by subsection (a) [amending section 11 ofPub. L. 104–120, set out above], any grant under section 11 of the Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act of 1996 [Pub. L. 104–120] (42 U.S.C. 12805 note) from amounts appropriated in fiscal year 1998 or any prior fiscal year shall be governed by the provisions of such section 11 as in effect immediately before the enactment of this Act [Oct. 21, 1998], except that the amendments made by paragraphs (8) and (9) of subsection (a) of this section shall apply to such grants."]
[Pub. L. 105–276, title V, § 599E(c),Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2664, provided that: "This section [amending section 11 ofPub. L. 104–120, set out above, and enacting provisions set out as a note above] shall take effect, and the amendments made by this section are made on, and shall apply beginning upon, the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 21, 1998]."]
Funding for Self-Help Housing Assistance, National Cities in Schools Community Development Program, and Capacity Building Through National Community Development Initiative
Pub. L. 104–120, § 12,Mar. 28, 1996, 110 Stat. 845, provided that:
"(a) Authority to Use Assisted Housing Amounts.—To the extent and for the purposes specified in subsection (b), the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may use amounts in the account of the Department of Housing and Urban Development known as the Annual Contributions for Assisted Housing account, but only such amounts which—
"(1) have been appropriated for a fiscal year that occurs before the fiscal year for which the Secretary uses the amounts; and
"(2) have been obligated before becoming available for use under this section.
"(b) Fiscal Year 1996.—Of the amounts described in subsection (a), $60,000,000 shall be available to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for fiscal year 1996 in the following amounts for the following purposes:
"(1) Self-help housing assistance.—$40,000,000 for carrying out section 11 of this Act [set out above].
"(2) National cities in schools community development program.—$10,000,000 for carrying out section 930 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–550; 106 Stat. 3887).
LII has no control over and does not endorse any external Internet site that contains links to or references LII.


text:
Blogs Open Menu
BlogsOpen MenuBlogs Open MenuHP Corporate Blogs in Read-Only ModeOpen MenuHP Corporate Blogs in Read-Only Mode Open MenuDue to the upcoming division of Hewlett-Packard Company into two new companies, many of the blogs on this site will be migrating to new homes. For approximately the next ten days, you will be able to read articles here, but unable to comment on them. When the blogs are settled in their new homes, you will be automatically redirected. We thank you for your patience.
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Prioritizing Time to Get Started on Strategic Planning
In my last blog 3 Steps an IT manager Should Take to Earn Their Seat on the Board, I talked about how to create a successful strategy for an IT organization.
Even if you understand what needs to be done to create your strategy, it can be very difficult to get started. One challenge you may face is that an IT service provider has to manage what it does over three very different timescales:
- Operational – dealing with the incidents, problems and changes that are affecting the service right now. Operational timescales can range from a few minutes to a few days.
- Tactical – planning and implementing the projects and changes that will satisfy current and expected business demand. Tactical timescales vary from a few days to a year or more.
- Strategic – understanding trends in customers and markets, ensuring that you have the right services to satisfy long term needs, and optimizing your organization to deliver these in the best possible way. Strategy can take weeks or months to define – and years to implement.
Operational issues may be very urgent, and this can force strategic planning to be postponed. Similarly, issues relating to projects may prevent strategic work from making progress. The benefit that can be gained from investing time and effort in each of these areas is often the reverse of this urgency.
- Strategic planning can help to transform the business, resulting in major improvements in business value, quality and cost of IT.
- Tactical improvements can help to grow the business, by satisfying customer needs and reducing short term costs.
- Operational activities, at best, result in maintaining the current situation by resolving an incident, for example.
An organization that spends all its time reacting to emergencies needs to find a way to pause, take a breath, and start strategizing. We use a three step approach to help our customers do this:
- The first step is to ensure that key stakeholders understand the potential benefits of taking a strategic approach. If all the stakeholders really understand the consequences of not having a strategy then this will help them to correctly prioritize their time. This step should include formally identifying the stakeholders and making sure that you involve the correct stakeholders at the right time.
- The second key thing to do is to assign distinct responsibilities for operational, tactical and strategic activities. A manager who is accountable for any two of these will find it extremely difficult to carry out the longer term planning. This step should ensure that appropriate roles and metrics have been defined so that people are both empowered and measured to encourage the activities they need to perform. If a manager is measured on day-to-day service performance then it is unlikely that they will focus on strategic planning.
- The third step is to just start doing it. This will require a small team to plan and design the workshops and other activities you need to get started (see 3 Steps an IT manager Should Take to Earn Their Seat on the Board for descriptions of these activities). If the stakeholders really understand the benefits, and if the correct stakeholders have prioritized strategy ahead of operational and tactical responsibilities then it is surprisingly easy to make progress.
After you have made these starting steps, you will find it increasingly easy to focus on strategy and to start moving your whole IT organization from being a consumer of corporate finance to being a creator of corporate value.
Read some of my other blogs for more ideas and suggestions on how you can create your service strategy:
- 3 Steps an IT manager should take to earn their seat on the board
- IT Strategy: 3 more things you can learn from the U.S. Government
- IT strategy: 4 things you can learn from the U.S. government (yes, the U.S. government)
- Using strategic service management to help create value for your customers
Learn more about HP IT Service Management (ITSM) Services and how we can help you improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your IT operations.
For more info about me and what I can do for your organization, see my profile at our Technology Services Experts page.
Follow me on Twitter @StuartRance
I like your definitions of Operational, Tactical and Strategic. Very straight forward and understandable.
Stuart, Your article reinforces the reasons why the role of a Strategist is one of my potential Valentines @work. http://bit.ly/wIcmow
Hi Stuart, nice short article and indeed some good definitions. I have to say that you make it sound simple...maybe a bit too simple. Especially step 2 has proven to be interesting / challenging in my experience and alresdy a small transformation in culture and habits. Agree?
I couldn't agree more. While I think that most CIO's will say, there is nothing revolutionary being said, my experience is that actually taking these steps in real life is often very hard to do.
Most companies fail when it comes down to strategic planning in the IT organisation.
Thanks to all for the feedback.
I do agree that it can be VERY hard to get started, and that step 2 could be particularly difficult. If the organizational culture makes senior management accountable for operational issues then there will be lots of effort required. In the worst case it may need a complete overhaul of the governance of IT to enable people to focus on the strategic areas.
Nevertheless, the hardest bit is deciding to get started, and the approach I have described can really help senior management to get on the right track.
Very good article, thank you Stuart, I like the structure you propose. These items always can look "simple" but often may be forgotten for the stake of moving fast into implementation/problem solving, i.e. starting by "doing". This is the law of time pressure and deadlines... So nice to keep in mind always and always !
Thank you. I do agree that the 'simple' things are often overlooked, because IT people like to get on with the interesting stuff.
My experience is that organizations that don't get the basics right are constantly having to deal with emergencies. time spent on strategy helps to prevent these emergencies from happening later.
To achieve anything to do with strategy, it is absolutely essential that there is no conflict with operational requirements. Operational demands will always be seen as more urgent and inevitably the strategic thinking will get put to the bottom of the pile.
Clear communication of strategic decisions is also important so that every member of the IT organisation understands the business service behind every IT task and the future direction of the business
I agree with both of your points.
- Operational issues will always be seen as more urgent than strategic ones, but if this keeps happening then the strategic work will never get done, and nothing will improve. This is why I suggest separation of responsibilities, so that operational issues are properly managed by people who focus on operational issues at the same time as people with strategic responsibilities can focus on work that is needed to transform IT.
- Strategy absolutely must be communicated to be of any value. Starting with the mission and vision, which should be so well integrated into people's understanding that it influences everything they do.
You point out the importance of three distinctly different types of work that IT (or any organization) needs to be engaged in. Doing the work (operational), improving the work (tactical), and transforming the work (strategic). I think that it can become tempting to enter into a "forced choice" about which of these three activities is "most important". A different approach to this challenge may be to help organizations understand how much of each activity and the importance of each activity to the overall business.
Perhaps a slightly hyperbolic example will help to make my point. Assume for a moment that you are the VP of operations for a fast food chain. One day you are visiting a retail store and see that the grill is getting backed up, so you decide to hop on the line and start frying burgers. Because of your years of experience, you fry burgers faster than anyone else, and the store does more business that day that it ever has. You notice these results and decide that the best thing you can do is roam from store to store, increasing sales by frying burgers.
This may be useful work, but it is not the work of the VP of operations. The work of frying burgers is clearly operational and should be performed by the individual contributors tasked with that job. Greater adherence to existing frying processes or improvement to the overall frying system are improvement projects that are the purview of tactical management. But there is an additional level of concern. Someone must be scanning the environment to determine that fried burgers are out and roast chicken is in. Without this perspective the organization will miss the critical need to create fundamentally new capabilities. These transformational projects are in the strategic domain of executives.
I have often observed IT executives "frying burgers" in emergency situations. The work provides a level of comfort and satisfaction because it is tangible and familiar. However it distracts these executives from the potentially more important (but often less immediate) work of finding better ways to support emerging business needs. Further, middle management often supports and encourages these executives to stay in the operational and tactical domains since strategic changes can mean changes to the system that made the middle managers successful in the past.
Others have commented on the difficulty of moving organizations to a strategic perspective. I suggest that perhaps it is a matter of approach as much as difficulty. The strategic perspective is a fundamental transformation to management thinking. It requires that executives conceive of their roles in completely new ways and then transform their organizations to support this new operational mode. This transformation frequently requires external support that is beyond the traditional MoC role of stakeholder analysis/alignment, communication, and training. These are necessary, but not sufficient to the task. Executive development and the development of strategic executive capabilities may be the "next frontier" for IT organizations and an important differentiator for both IT and the businesses that they support.
I enjoyed reading your comment, and I think your analogy is really helpful. I shall be using that story with my customers.
Thank you.
Nice analogy Joe and very useful!
A good article Stuart that addresses one of the key points that is often missed - the different time frames of the activities between strategic and operational points of view. From my experience the type of person who is good operational-style activities (quick to react, short-term focus, "fire-fighting", etc) isn't always so good at the strategy-style activities (careful analysis, long-term focus, etc.). So it isn't just separating the responsibilities it is also finding the right people.
You make a very good point about people with operational skills not necessarily having strategy skills. this may explain why so many IT execs spend their time on operational activities instead of concentrating on strategy!
I completely agree with the comments about timeframes. A few additional points:
First, people often rise to management positions because of their effectiveness at dealing with immediate crises. This is not to say that these individuals are incapable of strategic thinking – simply that they may need to consciously switch the timeframe they devote their attention to – and actively delegate more tactical activities to less senior staff. This is one (of many) reason why a conscious governance plan can be a critical for successful IT transformation. It is important that the governance plan not be restricted, as it often is, to high-level decision making, but that it also defines decision making rights, responsibilities, and accountability systems for operational activities.
Second, as already mentioned strategic thinking capability is one very important success criteria, but it alone is not sufficient. No matter how good an individual is at long-term thinking, if they are constantly dealing with short-term issues, the strategy will nearly universally suffer. This is one more reason for a strong governance plan that assigns specific responsibilities for common tactical decisions (away from the strategic leaders) and uses accountability as a tool for improving the organizations decision making capabilities.
Thank you for another insightful comment. It's funny how many of the difficult issues in IT come down to governance in the end.
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20 U.S. Code § 1072a - Federal Student Loan Reserve Fund
(a) Establishment
Each guaranty agency shall, not later than 60 days after October 7, 1998, deposit all funds, securities, and other liquid assets contained in the reserve fund established pursuant to section 1072 of this title into a Federal Student Loan Reserve Fund (in this section and section 1072b of this title referred to as the "Federal Fund"), which shall be an account of a type selected by the agency, with the approval of the Secretary.
(b) Investment of funds
Funds transferred to the Federal Fund shall be invested in obligations issued or guaranteed by the United States or a State, or in other similarly low-risk securities selected by the guaranty agency, with the approval of the Secretary. Earnings from the Federal Fund shall be the sole property of the Federal Government.
(c) Additional deposits
After the establishment of the Federal Fund, a guaranty agency shall deposit into the Federal Fund—
(1) all amounts received from the Secretary as payment of reinsurance on loans pursuant to section 1078 (c)(1) of this title;
(2) from amounts collected on behalf of the obligation of a defaulted borrower, a percentage amount equal to the complement of the reinsurance percentage in effect when payment under the guaranty agreement was made—
(A) with respect to the defaulted loan pursuant to sections 1078 (c)(6)(A) [1] and 1078–6 (a)(1)(B) of this title; and
(B) with respect to a loan that the Secretary has repaid or discharged under section 1087 of this title;
(3) insurance premiums collected from borrowers pursuant to sections 1078 (b)(1)(H) and 1078–8 (h) of this title;
(4) all amounts received from the Secretary as payment for supplemental preclaims activity performed prior to October 7, 1998;
(5) 70 percent of amounts received after October 7, 1998, from the Secretary as payment for administrative cost allowances for loans upon which insurance was issued prior to October 7, 1998; and
(d) Uses of funds
Subject to subsection (f) of this section, the Federal Fund may only be used by a guaranty agency—
(e) Ownership of Federal Fund
The Federal Fund, and any nonliquid asset (such as a building or equipment) developed or purchased by the guaranty agency in whole or in part with Federal reserve funds, regardless of who holds or controls the Federal reserve funds or such asset, shall be considered to be the property of the United States, prorated based on the percentage of such asset developed or purchased with Federal reserve funds, which property shall be used in the operation of the program authorized by this part, as provided in subsection (d) of this section. The Secretary may restrict or regulate the use of such asset only to the extent necessary to reasonably protect the Secretary's prorated share of the value of such asset. The Secretary may direct a guaranty agency, or such agency's officers or directors, to cease any activity involving expenditures, use, or transfer of the Federal Fund administered by the guaranty agency that the Secretary determines is a misapplication, misuse, or improper expenditure of the Federal Fund or the Secretary's share of such asset.
(f) Transition
(1) In general
In order to establish the Operating Fund, each guaranty agency may transfer not more than 180 days' cash expenses for normal operating expenses (not including claim payments) as a working capital reserve as defined in Office of Management and Budget Circular A–87 (Cost Accounting Standards) from the Federal Fund for deposit into the Operating Fund for use in the performance of the guaranty agency's duties under this part. Such transfers may occur during the first 3 years following the establishment of the Operating Fund. However, no agency may transfer in excess of 45 percent of the balance, as of September 30, 1998, of the agency's Federal Fund to the agency's Operating Fund during such 3-year period. In determining the amount that may be transferred, the agency shall ensure that sufficient funds remain in the Federal Fund to pay lender claims within the required time periods and to meet the reserve recall requirements of this section and subsections (h) and (i) ofsection 1072 of this title.
(2) Special rule
A limited number of guaranty agencies may transfer interest earned on the Federal Fund to the Operating Fund during the first 3 years after October 7, 1998, if the guaranty agency demonstrates to the Secretary that—
(3) Repayment provisions
Each guaranty agency shall begin repayment of sums transferred pursuant to this subsection not later than the start of the fourth year after the establishment of the Operating Fund, and shall repay all amounts transferred not later than 5 years from the date of the establishment of the Operating Fund. With respect to amounts transferred from the Federal Fund, the guaranty agency shall not be required to repay any interest on the funds transferred and subsequently repaid. The guaranty agency shall provide to the Secretary a reasonable schedule for repayment of the sums transferred and an annual financial analysis demonstrating the agency's ability to comply with the schedule and repay all outstanding sums transferred.
(4) Prohibition
If a guaranty agency transfers funds from the Federal Fund in accordance with this section, and fails to make scheduled repayments to the Federal Fund, the agency may not receive any other funds under this part until the Secretary determines that the agency has made such repayments. The Secretary shall pay to the guaranty agency any funds withheld in accordance with this paragraph immediately upon making the determination that the guaranty agency has made all such repayments.
(5) Waiver
The Secretary may—
(A) waive the requirements of paragraph (3), but only with respect to repayment of interest that was transferred in accordance with paragraph (2); and
for a guaranty agency, if the Secretary determines that there are extenuating circumstances (such as State constitutional prohibitions) beyond the control of the agency that justify such a waiver.
(6) Extension of repayment period for interest
(A) Extension permitted
The Secretary shall extend the period for repayment of interest that was transferred in accordance with paragraph (2) from 2 years to 5 years if the Secretary determines that—
(i) the cash flow of the Operating Fund will be negative as a result of repayment as required by paragraph (3);
(ii) the repayment of the interest transferred will substantially diminish the financial circumstances of the guaranty agency; and
(B) Repayment of income on transferred funds
All repayments made to the Federal Fund during the 6th, 7th, and 8th years following the establishment of the Operating Fund of interest that was transferred shall include the sums transferred plus any income earned from the investment of the sums transferred after the 5th year.
(7) Investment of Federal funds
Funds transferred from the Federal Fund to the Operating Fund for operating expenses shall be invested in obligations issued or guaranteed by the United States or a State, or in other similarly low-risk securities selected by the guaranty agency, with the approval of the Secretary.
[1] See References in Text note below.
Source(Pub. L. 89–329, title IV, § 422A, as added Pub. L. 105–244, title IV, § 413(a),Oct. 7, 1998, 112 Stat. 1674; amended Pub. L. 110–315, title IV, § 438(a)(1),Aug. 14, 2008, 122 Stat. 3258.)
References in Text
Section 1078 (c)(6)(A) of this title, referred to in subsec. (c)(2)(A), was redesignated section 1078 (c)(6)(A)(i) of this title by Pub. L. 109–171, title VIII, § 8014(d)(3)(A), (B),Feb. 8, 2006, 120 Stat. 170.
2008—Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 110–315substituted "and 1087" for "1087, and 1087–2(q)".
Effective Date
Section effective Oct. 1, 1998, except as otherwise provided in Pub. L. 105–244, see section 3 ofPub. L. 105–244, set out as an Effective Date of 1998 Amendment note under section 1001 of this title.
LII has no control over and does not endorse any external Internet site that contains links to or references LII.


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A responsive portfolio for a creative web agency. I love the wonderfully bright and friendly design aesthetic!Maxime GaillardPosted in Web Design → Portfolio
The Jungle is an interactive communication agency. I like the use of yellow to create a distinct impression and the flow of the site.Jérémy Gosset durandPosted in Web Design → Corporate
A redesign of my portfolio featuring a responsive grid format. Keeping it flat and minimal helped to organize pieces from across a variety of disciplines.Alexa FalconePosted in Web Design → Portfolio
That's the business agenda that Bommtempo Telecom gives away for their clients. The design is great! Clean and with a good usage of their logo colour tones helping to make a professional impression.Arthur FinklerPosted in Branding → Brochure
It was time to start working on my own website, so I decided to redesign it from scratch. It features a flat UI, a lot of typography and it is responsive.Joe GuarinoPosted in Web Design → Design
Socialapp.io provides brands with custom Facebook contest, content, and coupon apps. The site was custom designed and developed with special attention for animations, retina optimisation and responsive design.Wim SegersPosted in Web Design → Software
A simply beautiful design for a sales dashboard that uses colour well. I particularly like the use of standard interface elements, such as the hamburger icon, that help to make the interface intuitive.Posted in Interface → Element
A beautiful wallpaper design based on Max Bill's/Otl Aicher's famous poster design from the 1972 Olympics. Everything from the angularity to the co-joining colour frames seems to aptly elicit the overall feel of iOS 7, so I decided to turn the poster rendition into a wallpaper.Posted in Interface → iPhone App
A neat animated gif designed for a 404 page. I love the illustrative style and the timing of the animations.Posted in Interface → Element
A simply beautiful business card design. I particularly like the geometric pattern and minimal space used by the logo.Posted in Branding → Business Cards
A fascinating logo design concept that uses shadows to create a sense of perspective and depth. I like the definition that has been achieved with such a limited colour palette.Posted in Branding → Logo
I love the iOS 7 aesthetic of these icon designs. I particularly like way the camera icon design matches the actual camera on the back of the iPhone.Posted in Interface → Element
A superb design for a work management platform for creatives. I love the use of colours and visualisations.Posted in Interface → Web App
A simple portfolio for a specialist digital and graphic design agency. I particularly like the simple layout, minimal use of text, and overall lack of clutter.Posted in Web Design → Design
Spear is my take on a NAS Application, meant to be fast, reliable, and above all, as user-friendly as possible (KISS). I've decided to create a modular design as in my opinion it makes a lot of sense to allow the user to customize and arrange how the information is displayed. This also allows for a more fluid layout where needed, for example, low resolutions.Posted in Interface → Web App
A fascinating and minimal site for a furniture designer that uses images and text on white to create contrast.Posted in Web Design → Misc
A superb portfolio site for a design agency that uses an effective gallery to showcase previous projects. I like the use of an intuitive permanent navigation bar in conjunction with an interesting vertically scrolling site.Posted in Web Design → Portfolio
Here we have some simple icons that exemplify good intuitive icon design.Posted in Interface → Element
A superb site for a passionate team of designers, developers, and marketers, that build high quality websites. I like the intuitive navigation and effective use of colour for branding.Posted in Web Design → Design
A superb example of consistent design across ten different business cards. The typography works particularly well to create a distinct sense of coherence.Posted in Branding → Business Cards


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The recent report from ABC News that in Florida, where there are more concealed weapons permits than anywhere else in the country, violent crime has dropped to the lowest point in history, delighted Sean Caranna, executive director of Florida Carry, Inc. "We're happy to have facts and statistics put into these debates, because every time they do, we win," he said.
Firearm-related violent crimes in Florida have dropped by one-third in just four years, 2007 to 2011, while concealed carry permits jumped by 90 percent in that period. Further, violent crime of any kind dropped almost as much, 26 percent.
There were naysayers, but their voices are becoming muted as more and more states have adopted "shall-issue" carry laws and have seen their own crime rates drop as well. One of the naysayers was Gary Kleck, a Florida State criminologist who calls himself "as liberal as they get." He said the link between more permits and less crime might just be a coincidence. He said that nationally, crime has been falling steadily since 1991 and Florida's numbers might just be part of that trend. He warned against drawing too hasty a conclusion that one statistic caused the other. "The real problem there in drawing conclusions is that you're guessing why that decline or change in gun violence has occurred," he stated.
In a backhanded support of Kleck's warning, Arthur Hayhoe, the executive director of the Florida Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, said "It's difficult to attach gun control to the reduction of crime, and vice versa. We don't know what works. We can't prove that gun control works because we don't have gun control laws."
Kleck has authored numerous books and articles over the last twenty years, but none garnered as much national attention as his 1994 National Self-Defense Survey which, based on a survey of 5,000 households, concluded that there were far more incidents were gun owners defended themselves against potentially violent crime than there were actual crimes involving the use of guns. This outraged liberals who thought Kleck would find something that would support their typically anti-gun posture. One such was Marvin Wolfgang, another liberal Florida criminologist who described himself as being "as strong a gun-control advocate as can be found among all criminologists in this country." He said,
Click here to read the entire article.


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Utah ranks 26th in the nation in using money from the 1998 state tobacco settlement to protect youth.
A report released by a coalition of public health organizations found that Utah spends 39.4 percent of the minimum amount recommended by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for tobacco prevention.
The CDC has recommended that Utah allocate a minimum of $15.23 million a year on tobacco prevention and the state's actual spending is $6 million.
"Utah has made a good start toward protecting its kids from tobacco, but its ultimate success depends on whether it continues to property fund and implement its tobacco prevention program," indicated William Corr, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids vice president.
"We have conclusive evidence from around the country that tobacco prevention programs work to protect kids, save lives and save money for taxpayers by reducing tobacco-related health care costs," pointed out Corr. "Even in these difficult budget times, tobacco prevention remains one of the smartest and most fiscally responsible investments that Utah can make."
The evaluation, entitled Show Us The Money: An Update on the States' Allocation of the Tobacco Settlement Dollars, was sponsored by the campaign, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society and American Lung Association.
The report was released as legislative bodies reconvened across the nation, with many states poised to raid tobacco settlement money to cover budget shortfalls.
The tobacco settlement will provide states with $246 billion during the next 25 years. The CDC recommends that states spend approximately 20 percent to 25 percent of the money on effective, comprehensive prevention programs.
However, the report found that only five states - Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi and Minnesota - are currently funding tobacco prevention at less than half the CDC minimum.
Additional results indicate:
Only 19 states have committed even 50 percent of the minimum funding level recommended by the CDC.
Sixteen states have committed between 25 percent and 50 percent of the minimum amount recommended by the CDC.
Twelve states have committed less than 25 percent of the minimum amount recommended by the CDC.
Three states and the District of Columbia have committed no settlement money or a major funding source to tobacco prevention.
In addition, the evaluation determined that several states are raiding money previously committed to tobacco prevention to address budget shortfalls.
"These are penny-wise, pound-foolish decisions that ignore the evidence that tobacco prevention programs not only reduce smoking and save lives, but save far more money than they cost by reducing smoking-caused health care expenditures," indicated the report.
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, killing more than 400,000 Americans annually. Nearly 90 percent of all smokers start at or before age 18.
Every day in the U.S., 5,000 kids try a first cigarette and 2,000 youth become regular smokers, one-third of whom will die prematurely as a result.
In Utah, 11.9 percent of high school students currently smoke and 4,300 youth become regular, daily smokers every year. Utah received $27.5 million in tobacco settlement money in 2001.
Since starting a statewide program in 1998, Florida has cut smoking rates by 47 percent among middle school students and 30 percent among high school students. The decline represents nearly 75,000 fewer youth smokers and more than 24,000 fewer premature smoking deaths.
Since 1997, Maine has cut smoking by 36 percent among high school students, while Oregon has cut smoking by 42 percent among eighth graders.
Recent studies show that California, which started the nation's oldest tobacco prevention program in 1989, has saved tens of thousands of lives by reducing smoking-caused birth complications, heart disease, strokes and lung cancer, according to the health care coalition.
Studies confirm that California is saving more than $3 in smoking-caused health care costs for every dollar allocated to tobacco prevention.
And Massachusetts, which started the state's program in 1993, is saving more than $2 for every dollar spent on tobacco prevention, concluded the nationwide campaign.


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BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Nine films were nominated for for the Academy Award's best picture Thursday morning. Winners for the 85th Oscars will be announced Feb. 24 at a ceremony aired live on ABC from Hollywood's Dolby Theatre. The nominees for best picture were: The old-age love story "Amour." This image released by Sony Pictures Classics shows Emmanuelle Riva in a scene from "Amour."
The Iran hostage thriller "Argo." This undated publicity film image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Bryan Cranston, left, as Jack O'Donnell and Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez in "Argo."
The independent hit "Beasts of the Southern Wild." This film image released by Fox Searchlight Pictures shows Quvenzhane Wallis portraying Hushpuppy in a scene from "Beasts of the Southern Wild."
The slave-revenge narrative "Django Unchained." This undated publicity image released by The Weinstein Company shows, from left, Christoph Waltz as Schultz and Jamie Foxx as Django in the film "Django Unchained," directed by Quentin Tarantino.
The musical "Les Miserables." This publicity film image released by Universal Pictures shows Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean holding Isabelle Allen as Young Cosette in a scene from "Les Miserables."
The shipwreck story "Life of Pi." This publicity film image released by 20th Century Fox shows Suraj Sharma in a scene from "Life of Pi," directed by Ang Lee.
The Civil War saga "Lincoln." This publicity film image released by DreamWorks and Twentieth Century Fox shows Daniel Day-Lewis portraying Abraham Lincoln in the film "Lincoln."
The lost-souls romance "Silver Linings Playbook." This publicity film image released by The Weinstein Company shows Jacki Weaver, left, and Robert De Niro in "Silver Linings Playbook."
The Osama bin Laden manhunt chronicle "Zero Dark Thirty." This film image released by Columbia Pictures shows a scene from "Zero Dark Thirty," directed by Kathryn Bigelow.


text: What kind of help do you need? (Example:"Panda AdminSecure", "2093 error") Tweet Error 3356 updating the Endpoint Protection files Information applies to: Products Endpoint ProtectionEndpoint Protection PlusSymptomsError 3356 occurs updating the Endpoint Protection files, during the protection installation process.CausePossible lack of coordination among the files on the server. SolutionOnce the error message is displayed on the screen, follow the steps below:Edit the file Walupd.ini in %ProgramFiles%\Panda Security\WaAgent\WalUpdDelete section WEB_CATALOG. See an example below:[WEB_CATALOG]DATE=2010-11-25 15:19:43UUID={7A5D56D2-ABB7-490B-A176-6DFF05F8C168}Click the option Retry that is displayed in the error window. Data needed to report the incidentIf the issue is not solved, it is then necessary to collect a series of data from the computer. Please, read How to report problems from the Endpoint Protection console and follow the instructions indicated.Help nº- 20140701 503356 EN Help us improve our service by letting us know your opinion. Your suggestions will help to resolve your questions more quickly and effectively. Have you resolved your query with this article? YES NO Thanks for your answer How would you improve this article? Do you want to contact TechSupport?


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It happened in Florida in November, 2001. Derek, the slightly older brother, smashed his sleeping father's head repeatedly with an aluminum baseball bat. His kid brother watched it. Then they set fire to the house and fled to the home of Rick Chavis, a 40 years old friend of their father, where they hid for a couple of days before turning themselves in to the police.
Tried as Adults
The prosecutor decided that the boys should be tried as adults, which is deplorable in itself. How can they be tried as adults when they are not? That's an idea stemming from a vindictive society, taking pride in refusing to consider circumstances – as if crimes are committed out of malice alone, as if some people are evil from birth. As if compassion is perversion.
But it got more complicated, once trial procedures started. The boys changed their story, now claiming that Rick Chavis had killed their father, in order to pursue his love affair with Alex, the youngest. Alex said that they had a sexual relation. Chavis had previous been convicted of child molestation.
For some reason, the prosecutor chose to have two separate trials – one where Chavis was accused of the murder and the other where the boys were accused. This seems like a travesty of justice. The prosecutor hardly believed that there were two equally true sequences of events, not in this universe. If he couldn't decide on who was the murderer, then how could he expect a jury to do that?
Chavis was tried first, but the jury's verdict was kept secret until the trial of the boys had finished. It turned out he had been acquitted, whereas the boys were declared guilty to murder of the second degree. Later it was revealed that their jury believed the boys had been accessories to the murder, but that Chavis had been the one swinging the baseball bat.
For this and other reasons, the judge wisely decided to throw out the conviction of the boys, calling the prosecutor's double trial "unusual and bizarre". He ordered for mediation, in which the brothers admitted to third degree murder and were sentenced to 7 and 8 years.
Chavis was acquitted from accusations of having had sex with Alex. Instead he was sentenced for hiding the boys for a couple of days after the murder and destroying evidence – washing the blood off their clothes. For that he got the maximum penalty, 35 years in prison.
It's an absurd punishment for washing clothes, so it seems he was in fact punished for other crimes from which he had been acquitted, or plainly because he was a convicted child molester.
Why Is Still a Mystery
The circumstances around the murder remain confusing, although there's little doubt as to how the actual killing took place and the whodunit. Most of all, the why is still a mystery. Why would the boys kill their father, who seems not to have abused them?
What appears most likely is that Alex feared that his father would stop him from pursuing his love affair with Chavis. Alex had confessed something of the sort, also claiming to have pushed his brother to the murder. But how could he have gotten his brother along on that?
|Alex and Derek King on trial.
For most of their lives, Alex and Derek had been separated. Only seven weeks before the murder, Derek was thrown out of his foster home, where he had lived for six years. He returned to his father, with whom Alex had lived just about all of his life. So, Alex and Derek would have been strangers to one another. What bonds could they have formed in seven weeks, to make the one kill for the other?
Had their father been extremely abusive, it might have triggered Derek to defend himself and his brother, but not even the boys themselves claimed this. Instead, they both said that he was doing a decent job as a father, although in poor circumstances.
Derek's foster parents regarded him as an increasing menace and wanted to send him to military school. But his father objected to that, which is why Derek was returned to him instead. Derek must have regarded this as a noble and loving fatherly intervention. Why would he in just seven weeks grow to hate the man enough to agree to kill him?
This mystery seems not to have been investigated at any depth, neither in the trials nor after them. Maybe that was a consequence of the boys being tried as adults, so their psyches and motivations were of little interest. Only their deeds mattered and not what caused them.
Children Are Victims, Constantly
I don't understand how this could have been neglected. When children commit a terrible crime there are always circumstances leading up to it, circumstances of which the children have very little control, if any. Simply put: when children are brutal it's because adult have been brutal to them.
Adults are expected to be rational, even in moments of crisis. If abused, they should go to the police instead of taking revenge. They are supposed to control their desires, get over their disappointments, and so on. Very often adults do not. So, how can it be expected of children, who are yet to learn self discipline and to let their actions be ruled by the conscious mind?
The world of children is different. They are helpless against the injustices and misfortunes of which they may be victims, since they have no say in the adult world. In a way, they are prisoners in it. Therefore, it cannot be expected of them to act rationally in straining situations. When they try, they are usually ignored by the adults around them, sometimes even punished for it.
|Mugshots of Alex and Derek King from their time in jail.
Alex and Derek King were just 12 and 13 at the time of the murder, so they had no chance of behaving in an adult way. They should not have been tried and convicted before their mental and emotional states had been properly examined and considered.
Instead, some people involved in the proceedings made smug remarks about the boys not seeming to take it seriously, not showing remorse, et cetera. Well, they were kids.
Also, it's only in the movies that people cry when they are sad, laugh when they are happy, and shout when they are angry. In reality, the relation between emotion and expression is a complex one, often confusing both to the person in question and to others.
Not Much to Gain
It's quite possible that Alex and Derek planned and committed the murder, because they calculated on somehow gaining from it. They thought they could go and live with Rick Chavis, once their father was out of the way. Then, Alex could continue his sexual relation with the man. Derek enjoyed the idea of living in a home with much less restrictions.
|Rick Chavis at his first trial.
Alex seemed indeed to have some affection for the man at that time. He had written notes expressing it clearly, and he admitted readily to it in court. He was still doubted – by the jury acquitting Chavis, as well as by others. But would he have come up with such a story, especially when he would have gained much more sympathy if claiming to be the unwilling victim of a child molester?
Derek had no such interest in Chavis. Instead, he enjoyed the freedom Chavis allowed the boys – smoking weed, playing video games, watching big screen cable TV, and staying up late. Chavis obviously made sure that both the boys got what they wanted, so that he did, too.
Nonetheless, these imagined gains would hardly have been enough for the boys to go ahead with the beastly murder, were they not scarred to begin with. Deliberately killing their father with a baseball bat – I doubt that any benefits would tempt them to it. Such desperate acts are rarely done in order to get something, but to get away from something.
Cracks on the Polished Surface
It's odd that the court didn't explore the possibility that the boys might have had something they really wanted to get away from. Not even their defense lawyers seem to have investigated the possibility, although there were several indications that there might have been something rotten in the state of Denmark, so to speak.
For example, the boys never experienced an ideal home environment. Their mother left when they were very young, their father was struggling to make ends meet. He sent Derek to foster parents when the boy was around seven, and still had problems managing the home. Derek's foster parents gradually grew tired of him, returning him to his father seven weeks before the murder.
Alex was seemingly well adjusted, participating in Pentecostal church activities, as did his father. But that's an environment far from perfect for a child who might nourish feelings of sexual ambiguity.
After the trial, their paternal grandfather spoke to a reporter about his belief that the boys were guilty. He also mentioned meeting the boys when they were incarcerated during the trial, and they suddenly got very angry with each other, starting to fight so viciously that a guard had to break them up.
At another moment, Derek mentioned to his grandfather that the church he went to was prejudiced, because they were against homosexuals. Derek asked his grandfather if he was, too. He replied that he was, adding: "It's dirty. It's filthy. The Bible is against it." The grandfather, reverend of the Pentecostal church, then asked if Derek was a homosexual, to which he replied by throwing up his arms and saying: "No, I'm not."
Derek was obviously protective of his brother. But enough to kill, just to ascertain his brother's love life? Maybe, if their father had the same intolerant views as their grandfather did.
The grandfather also suggested that there were additional problems in the family, such as a custody battle between Terry, the father, and their mother.
Anyway, although they looked like two angels in the courtroom, Alex and Derek didn't have an easy life. This should have been examined in order for the trial to be fair.
The Court Drama
We know what Shakespeare said: "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." That's true for everything we engage in, as soon as we are two or more to interact. Well, in some cases, we do it on our own. In childhood we learn about playing games. We never stop.
It's certainly true for what happens in a court. It's a stage, where everybody is eager to show himself at his very best. The players all want to be believed, although they contradict each other. They use every trick in the book to seduce the audience, which is the twelve members of the jury – but also, nowadays, the media reporters present and through them the general public.
Of course, nobody is more desperate to make a good impression than the one accused. They make sure to dress up and behave their very best. That was true also for the King boys, when they appeared at court on their own trial. Neatly dressed, with their hair combed as if for Sunday school. Defense lawyers not making sure of it would not have done their job.
With Alex and Derek the effect was striking. They looked like two little angels worthy of occupying spots in a Leonardo da Vinci painting. Neither the jury nor the American audience watching them on Court TV could imagine such little darlings capable of striking their father's head repeatedly with a baseball bat. Probably, only Oscar Wilde would have expected it.
But in the case of these two boys, no elaborate metamorphosis was called for. Vicious tongues compared their court appearances to their prison mug shots, claiming that the latter were truer representations of them – but who would look good on a mug shot? There are photos of them from before they were arrested, proving that they did indeed look as innocently sweet as creatures of Eden.
|Derek King at their trial.
I'm not at all sure that it was to their advantage. At first, it was sure to gain them some sympathy, but through the proceedings they may have invoked a strange rage in many spectators – the indignation of beauty soiled, as if the boys were guilty because of their looks, instead of in spite of them. As if their sweet appearances were of devilish origin.
Angels or demons, instead of just children. Spectators either adored or despised them. The trial became biblical.
In Their Own Words
One of the terms of the mediation was that Alex and Derek King had to hand in two-page written confessions. Since the mediation was their last chance to avoid very long and severe prison sentences, and the content of their confessions made little difference, it's likely that they wrote those as truthfully as they were able. The documents can be found online.
Derek's confession is typed. Its structure and language strongly suggest that his lawyer helped him with it. Alex made a handwritten confession, quite hard to read because of its many spelling errors and abbreviations. The confessions have one thing in common: they deal mainly with Rick Chavis and his actions.
|The first page of Alex King's confession.
It's blatantly evident that although they were supposed to write confessions, they used most of their words to blame Rick Chavis, directly and indirectly. His negative influence and manipulations are pointed out, whereas the actual crime committed by the boys is dealt with in passing.
The reason they got away with this in their confessions can only be that all those involved in the mediation really agreed with the boys about Chavis' role in the crime.
About the actual murder, Derek only writes: "Alex suggested that I kill dad. I murdered my dad with an aluminum baseball bat. I set the house on fire from my dad's bedroom." Alex elaborates minutely more on their crime (in his own spelling): "We talked 'bout killin my dad. When we got home Derek got bat and hit dad in hed. After wile dad didn't mov. We set bedro. on fire."
Alex's confession might not have sufficed like that, because there's an addition on a second page, separately signed: "I suggested that Derek kill my dad and that started a short talk about it. (I don't remember what exactly was said.)"
These recounts are strangely sparse. Were they not made by children, one would get the impression of complete detachment, as if the brutal murder of their own father had no impact whatsoever on them. Except for the repeated blaming of Rick Chavis, there is no explanation to the deed.
What is implied is that Chavis led the boys to it, by slandering their father (Alex even mentions that "Rik told me my dad wasn't my rel father.") and offering his home as theirs – pointing out that their father would never accept it.
"Rik told me he was afred of wte my dad would do to 3 of us if Derek said anything," Alex writes in his confession. In his long list of accusations of Chavis, Derek states about him that he "Told us that dad would kill us before he would let us live with Rick."
Now, to make the two sons that afraid of their own father in such a short time period as was the case here, would hardly be possible if it were not somehow in line with their own impression of their father. If they feared him to begin with, and regarded him as prone to excessive violence in some situation, then they might be easily manipulated into exaggerating the threat. That could make them panic and act at the first opportunity, which the timeline shows is what they did.
Alex and Derek use many words in their confessions to describe how Chavis spoiled them, but they say nothing about what their home situation with their father lacked. It would probably not have been accepted in the mediation if the boys put any kind of blame on the victim of the murder, so that can be of no surprise. Still, for Chavis to be able to tempt the boys at all, not only would he have offered what they didn't get at home, but also they must have felt a strong need of getting away from their home situation.
If so, they saw their father as the only obstruction to get a much better life, which would make them even more prone to believe that he would go to extremes to stop them. In the quick escalation of events, and Chavis feeding the fire, this could have made the boys desperate. Not that their confessions spell it out, but that's where a compelling motif can be found.
The Speedy Chain of Events
Although Alex got to know Rick Chavis already when he was seven years old, their relation started several years later – probably when the boy had grown to an age attractive to Chavis. Alex wrote in his cofession: "We first had sex not long after my 12th birthday." He was born on July 12, 1989, so that would have been in the summer of 2001. No doubt, this changed everything.
That summer was also when Terry moved to the house where he was later murdered.
Only seven weeks before the murder, Derek joined the Terry King household, after spending more than six years with a foster family and having no contact with his blood relatives. That would be early October.
The boys spent time in Rick Chavis' trailer home, now and then, until their father reacted and forbade them. He was probably not at all aware of what took place in Chavis' home, but he had become suspicious of the situation.
On November 16, the boys ran away from home, hiding with Rick Chavis. Their father reported it to the police and struggled to find them. They stayed with Rick for more than a week, before Derek was found by the police on November 24. He was returned to his father.
The next day, November 25, Chavis told Terry that he had "found" Alex. He was returned to his father in the evening. The boys pretended to have stayed in the woods. Terry and his boys spent the evening taking down the signs of the boys being missing that Terry had posted in the neighborhood. Sometime after midnight, they were back in the house.
During that night, November 26, Terry was killed. A neighbor noticed the house on fire and called the fire department shortly before 1:30 AM, and at 1:37 the boys called Chavis, who quickly came and picked them up.
Next day, November 27, Chavis drove Alex and Derek to the police station in the afternoon, where they surrendered themselves and confessed to the murder, but hiding Chavis' involvement completely.
This escalation of events through little more than four months moves straight on to the climax of the night between the 25th and 26th of November. It's like the plot of a movie. It's even in accordance with Aristotle's ideas about the drama, expressed in his Poetics. What happens seems unavoidable, where one event leads mercilessly to next.
Once Rick Chavis had made his relation with Alex a sexual one, the chain of events commenced and could not end in anything but tragedy.
Crime of Passion
What emerges in this sad story is a crime of passion. There were overwhelmingly powerful emotions erupting in all the persons involved. Indeed like a tragedy of Ancient Greece.
Chavis was probably at length unable to resist the temptation of the boy developing into something more and more desirable in his eyes. Alex was seduced and thought he had found love and a life of happiness, which he could not bear to let go once he had experienced it.
|One of Alex King's notes about his love for Rick Chavis.
Derek entered about halfway into this boiling drama. He obviously took the side of Alex and Chavis against the father. Although not at ease about the relation between his brother and Chavis, he accepted it. Also, it was evident that he preferred staying with Chavis instead of at home. He had no doubt that Terry was a severe threat to the situation.
Derek's role in the drama is still the most puzzling one. He had the least to gain and the least to lose, so how could he allow himself to be the very instrument of the murder? It can only be explained by immense affection for Alex. That affection was obviously mutual, since Alex later repeatedly insisted that he had urged his brother to commit the murder.
Whatever love there might have been between Chavis and Alex, the brotherly love between Derek and Alex surpassed it. It grew quickly, since they only had seven weeks together before the crime. But that's a much longer time for children than it ever is for adults.
Had they spent more time together, their mutual affection might even have worn down some, by the quarrels and fighting that's also common among brothers.
Another necessary ingredient is the home their father offered them. He was strict, isolating them from any social life outside school. That can't be done to children growing up. He also lived an isolated life. In his efforts to make ends meet he must have struggled with a sense of personal failure. There is much about that home environment not told, out of respect for the murder victim.
Also, the boys had been deserted repeatedly by their parents, who sent them to foster homes more than once. Especially Derek, who had only spent a few weeks with his father this time around, must have had little trust in any fatherly love or commitment. How could he know that he would not be sent away again, disposed like garbage?
So, there we have it. Two boys living in what they would describe as a kind of prison, fighting for their freedom. One man offering that freedom, but really intended on using the boys for his own pleasure. Another man standing in the middle of this, like a fence. How could he be anything but the target?
|Terry King, father of Alex and Derek.
At the night of the murder, the climax of the drama, Terry must have made it clear to the boys that they would wake up to a very different situation, one they could not bear. Unaware of how much was really at stake for them, he made the mistake usually seen in action films – threatening with something horrible to happen later. It would have been enough if he just implied that drastic changes would come, for the imagination of the boys to run wild.
Alex and Derek felt they couldn't afford to wait for it. So they acted on the same night. That's desperation. What followed was despair.
Judgment Is Irrelevant
We have this ugly tendency of jumping to the opportunity of judging the conduct of others, although we rarely know all the circumstances. That reflex of ours is unbecoming. It's also irrelevant. Good and bad are inventions dependent on tradition and context. They rarely apply with any accuracy to specific situations.
I guess that everybody would hurry to agree that Rick Chavis was the real villain in the above drama. The bad guy. Well, that's only true if he had chosen his sexual orientation out of free will and was able to restrain it, which is highly unlikely. Also, it requires that the others would live happily ever after, if he had not interfered. That, too, is highly unlikely. The boys were deeply displeased with their family life and their father seems to have been miserable. That would lead to tragedy, be it of another kind.
Some people commenting the case on the Internet have suggested that Alex was the evil force of the drama, manipulating his brother to the murder, just to pursue his own lustful desire. He has been described as a narcissist, which is almost categorizing him as a sociopath. That's jumping to conclusions about a boy his age, still in the process of growing up to be whatever.
He may have been manipulated and mistaken about his true feelings for Rick Chavis, but it seems clear that he was convinced of them at the time. Although only twelve, he surely knew how his father, and most of the world, would react. If, for the first time in his life, he found satisfaction, what could he do but fight with every means for it?
And Derek, who had been discarded again and again in his short life, struggling with what is described as ADHD and emerging rebellious behavior, how could he not jump at the opportunity to live in the tolerant environment he thought that Chavis was offering? Also, knowing about intolerance, how could he not jump as eagerly to the defense of his brother, whom he had found to be just as oppressed as he was?
No, they all did what they could not refrain from doing. It could have been demanded of them to rise above themselves and overcome without submitting to violence, but we learn nothing about humankind if we just insist they should have.
When I write a work of fiction, I have one basic principle about the characters of the story. I have to understand them all, I must be able to portray them so that they make some kind of sense. I have to feel that in a given situation, that could have been me. Otherwise I'm completely unable to have the story make any kind of sense. I think that every writer would agree.
Honestly, in this sad story, the one I would have the most trouble portraying understandingly is Terry, the father of the boys. As I see it, he was unable to show his youngest son enough affection for the boy not to seek it in a predator, and he was unable to give Derek a sense of value and trust. On the other hand, it was a man deserted twice by the mother of his children, a man failing to provide even the basic necessities for a family. Also, he was probably a man entrapped by a religion without sympathy for his failures.
It's possible to understand them all, without needing to excuse or defend them.
What a Story!
Now, I look at the long text I've written about this terribly sad crime case. I had no idea I would, but I came across the story when surfing the Internet, and I got stuck. What a story!
Let's turn to Shakespeare, again: "never was a story of more woe." There are thousands upon thousands of such stories and they all deserve to be told. What strikes me with this one is how close to the formal structure of the drama it comes. Of course, that's not because reality imitates fiction, but the other way around.
Human life is indeed one of stories, as if written in books. Some happy and some sad, comedy and tragedy. We all get both kinds in our lives. The proportions vary, though, and the world is not really fair. Some get comedy in abundance, others have their lives shadowed by immense tragedy, with few reasons to smile and none to laugh out loud.
As a writer, I am addicted to telling such stories, again and again. I'm a parasite on the lives of others, real and imagined. The sad fate of Alex and Derek grabbed me, although I knew from the start that it's not the kind of story I would turn into a book. Still, this long text is on the verge of becoming one, so I have to round it up.
Are there lessons to be learned from what happened to the King family? Certainly. Otherwise there would be no point in telling the story. Actually, if lessons would not emerge we just didn't pay enough attention to the story.
I think that this story is primarily about tolerance. Like countless times before and since, adults treated children with insufficient care and still refused to be patient and sensitive to their reactions.
The mother who left, only to return when her boys became famous, remained reluctant to face what they had become and why. The father who isolated them in his own hermitage refused to consider what it did to them. The man who lusted for them didn't care what he caused them. The court system didn't bother to see them for what they were and the situation they were in, but only considered their deed.
Actually, the only innocent ones in this story were the children. Because they were victims with no real choice of their own. The Bible states that man was given free will. Well, that's still not true for children.
Not that real free will and the power to act on it is any guarantee of children behaving exemplary. Adults don't, so children would probably not manage much better. But until they have this option they cannot be damned for their actions, no matter what they do. Whatever their own hands do, they are always in the hands of others.
Alex and Derek King have both ended their prison sentences, in 2008 and 2009. They made some talk show appearances and quickly reunited, though shortly. Since then, they struggle separately to continue with life in a regular manner. They are in their early twenties.
|Derek and Alex King on a talkshow, after their release from prison.
When he was released, he joined an anti-violence campaign with Deepak Chopra, the New Age writer and spiritual adviser. That seems to have ceased. Kathryn Medico, who wrote a book about the case and acts like sort of a mother to Alex, introduced them.
Derek has succeeded in living outside the news, except for a few TV appearances soon after his release. Both of the brothers study and try to find work, which is not easy for people with a criminal record.
Their ordeal is far from over.
Two books have been written about the Terry King murder: Angels of Death, 2003, by crime writer Gary C. King (no relation), and A Perversion of Justice, 2004, by the above mentioned Kathryn Medico and Mollye Barrows. I have not had the opportunity to read any one of them. Instead, I've used Internet sources. They exist in abundance, of course. Here's a good place to start: The murder of Terry King.