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Pretty Little Liars Extract
Posted by Kate Agar in Book Excerpts
Pretty Little Liars has had the most fabulous of revamps to tie in with the new TV series now showing on VIVA. (It's ah-mazing, so check it out asap if you haven't already)
Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.
Benjamin Franklin
How It All Started
Imagine it's a couple of years ago, the summer between seventh and eighth grade. You're tan from lying out next to your rock-lined pool, you've got on your new Juicy sweats (remember when everybody wore those?), and your mind's on your crush, the boy who goes to that other prep school whose name we won't mention and who folds jeans at Abercrombie in the mall. You're eating your Cocoa Krispies just how you like 'em – doused in skim milk – and you see this girl's face on the side of the milk carton. MISSING. She's cute – probably cuter than you – and has a feisty look in her eyes. You think, Hmm, maybe she likes soggy Cocoa Krispies too. And you bet she'd think Abercrombie boy was a hottie as well. You wonder how someone so . . . well, so much like you went missing. You thought only girls who entered beauty pageants ended up on the sides of milk cartons.
Well, think again.
Aria Montgomery burrowed her face in her best friend Alison DiLaurentis's lawn. 'Delicious,' she murmured.
'Are you smelling the grass?' Emily Fields called from behind her, pushing the door of her mom's Volvo wagon closed with her long, freckly arm.
'It smells good.' Aria brushed away her pink-striped hair and breathed in the warm early-evening air. 'Like summer.'
Emily waved 'bye to her mom and pulled up the blah jeans that were hanging on her skinny hips. Emily had been a competitive swimmer since Tadpole League, and even though she looked great in a Speedo, she never wore anything tight or remotely cute like the rest of the girls in her seventh-grade class. That was because Emily's parents insisted that one built character from the inside out. (Although Emily was pretty certain that being forced to hide her IRISH GIRLS DO IT BETTER baby tee at the back of her underwear drawer wasn't exactly character enhancing.)
'You guys!' Alison pirouetted through the front yard. Her hair was bunched up in a messy ponytail, and she was still wearing her rolled-up field hockey kilt from the team's end of-the-year party that afternoon. Alison was the only seventh grader to make the JV team and got rides home with the older Rosewood Day School girls, who blasted Jay-Z from their Cherokees and sprayed Alison with perfume before dropping her off so that she wouldn't smell like the cigarettes they'd all been smoking.
'What am I missing?' called Spencer Hastings, sliding through a gap in Ali's hedges to join the others. Spencer lived next door. She flipped her long, sleek dark-blond ponytail over her shoulder and took a swig from her purple Nalgene bottle. Spencer hadn't made the JV cut with Ali in the fall, and had to play on the seventh-grade team. She'd been on a year-long field hockey binge to perfect her game, and the girls knew she'd been practicing dribbling in the backyard before they arrived. Spencer hated when anyone was better at anything than she was. Especially Alison.
'Wait for me!'
They turned to see Hanna Marin climbing out of her mom's Mercedes. She stumbled over her tote bag and waved her chubby arms wildly. Ever since Hanna's parents had gotten a divorce last year, she'd been steadily putting on weight and outgrowing her old clothes. Even though Ali rolled her eyes, the rest of the girls pretended not to notice. That's just what best friends do.
Alison, Aria, Spencer, Emily, and Hanna bonded last year when their parents volunteered them to work Saturday afternoons at Rosewood Day School's charity drive – well, all except for Spencer, who volunteered herself. Whether or not Alison knew about the other four, the four knew about Alison. She was perfect. Beautiful, witty, smart. Popular. Boys wanted to kiss Alison, and girls – even older ones – wanted to be her. So the first time Ali laughed at one of Aria's jokes, asked Emily a question about swimming, told Hanna her shirt was adorable, or commented that Spencer's penmanship was way neater than her own, they couldn't help but be, well . . . dazzled. Before Ali, the girls had felt like pleated, high-waisted mom jeans – awkward and noticeable for all the wrong reasons – but then Ali made them feel like the most perfect-fitting Stella McCartneys that no one could afford.
Now, more than a year later, on the last day of seventh grade, they weren't just best friends, they were the girls of Rosewood Day. A lot had happened to make it that way. Every sleepover they had, every field trip, had been a new adventure. Even homeroom had been memorable when they were together. (Reading a steamy note from the varsity crew captain to his math tutor over the PA system was now a Rosewood Day legend.) But there were other things they all wanted to forget. And there was one secret they couldn't even bear to talk about. Ali said that secrets were what bonded their five-way best-friendship together for eternity. If that was true, they were going to be friends for life.
'I'm so glad this day is over,' Alison moaned before gently pushing Spencer back through the gap in the hedges. 'Your barn.'
'I'm so glad seventh grade is over,' Aria said as she, Emily, and Hanna followed Alison and Spencer toward the renovated barn-turned-guesthouse where Spencer's older sister, Melissa, had lived for her junior and senior years of high school. Fortunately, she'd just graduated and was headed to Prague this summer, so it was all theirs for the night.
Suddenly they heard a very squeaky voice. 'Alison! Hey, Alison! Hey, Spencer!'
Alison turned to the street. 'Not it,' she whispered. 'Not it,' Spencer, Emily, and Aria quickly followed.
Hanna frowned. 'Shit.'
It was this game Ali had stolen from her brother, Jason, who was a senior at Rosewood Day. Jason and his friends played it at inter-prep school field parties when scoping out girls. Being the last to call out 'not it' meant you had to entertain the ugly girl for the night while your friends got to hook up with her hot friends – meaning, essentially, that you were as lame and unattractive as she was. In Ali's version, the girls called 'not it' whenever there was anyone ugly, uncool, or unfortunate near them.
This time, 'not it' was for Mona Vanderwaal – a dork from down the street whose favorite pastime was trying to befriend Spencer and Alison – and her two freaky friends, Chassey Bledsoe and Phi Templeton. Chassey was the girl who'd hacked into the school's computer system and then told the principal how to better secure it, and Phi Templeton went everywhere with a yo-yo – enough said. The three stared at the girls from the middle of the quiet, suburban road. Mona was perched on her Razor scooter, Chassey was on a black mountain bike, and Phi was on foot – with her yo-yo, of course.
'You guys want to come over and watch Fear Factor?' Mona called.
'Sorry,' Alison simpered. 'We're kind of busy.'
Chassey frowned. 'Don't you want to see when they eat the bugs?'
'Gross!' Spencer whispered to Aria, who then started pretending to eat invisible lice off Hanna's scalp like a monkey.
'Yeah, I wish we could.' Alison tilted her head. 'We've planned this sleepover for a while now. But maybe next time?'
Mona looked at the sidewalk. 'Yeah, okay.'
'See ya.' Alison turned around, rolling her eyes, and the other girls did the same.
They crossed through Spencer's back gate. To their left was Ali's neighboring backyard, where her parents were building a twenty-seat gazebo for their lavish outdoor picnics.
'Thank God the workers aren't here,' Ali said, glancing at a yellow bulldozer. Emily stiffened. 'Have they been saying stuff to you again?'
'Easy there, Killer,' Alison said. The others giggled. Sometimes they called Emily 'Killer,' as in Ali's personal pit bull. Emily used to find it funny, too, but lately she wasn't laughing along.
The barn was just ahead. It was small and cozy and had a big window that looked out on Spencer's large, rambling farm, which had its very own windmill. Here in Rosewood, Pennsylvania, a little suburb about twenty miles from Philadelphia, you were more likely to live in a twenty-five room farmhouse with a mosaic-tiled pool and hot tub, like Spencer's house, than in a prefab McMansion. Rosewood smelled like lilacs and mown grass in the summer and clean snow and wood stoves in the winter. It was full of lush, tall pines, acres of rustic family-run farms, and the cutest foxes and bunnies. It had fabulous shopping and Colonial-era estates and parks for birthday, graduation, and just-'cause-we-feel-like-it fêtes. And Rosewood boys were gorgeous in that glowing, healthy, just-stepped-out-of-an-abercrombie-catalog way. This was Philadelphia's Main Line. It was full of old, noble bloodlines, older money, and practically ancient scandals.
As they reached the barn, the girls heard giggles coming from inside. Someone squealed, 'I said, stop it!'
'Oh God,' Spencer moaned. 'What is she doing here?'
As Spencer peeked through the keyhole, she could see Melissa, her prim and proper, excellent-at-everything older sister, and Ian Thomas, her tasty boyfriend, wrestling on the couch. Spencer kicked at the door with the heel of her shoe, forcing it open. The barn smelled like moss and slightly burned popcorn. Melissa turned around.
'What the fu—?' she asked. Then she noticed the others and smiled. 'Oh, hey guys.'
The girls eyed Spencer. She constantly complained that Melissa was a venomous super-bitch, so they were always taken aback when Melissa seemed friendly and sweet.
Ian stood up, stretched, and grinned at Spencer. 'Hey.'
'Hi, Ian,' Spencer replied in a much brighter voice. 'I didn't know you were here.'
'Yeah you did.' Ian smiled flirtatiously. 'You were spying on us.'
Melissa readjusted her long blond hair and black silk headband, staring at her sister. 'So, what's up?' she asked, a little accusingly.
'It's just . . . I didn't mean to barge in . . . ,' Spencer sputtered. 'But we were supposed to have this place tonight.'
Ian playfully hit Spencer on the arm. 'I was just messing with you,' he teased.
A patch of red crept up her neck. Ian had messy blond hair, sleepy-looking hazelnut-colored eyes, and totally gropeworthy stomach muscles.
'Wow,' Ali said in a too-loud voice. All heads turned to her. 'Melissa, you and Ian make the kuh-yoo-test couple. I've never told you, but I've always thought it. Don't you agree, Spence?'
Spencer blinked. 'Um,' she said quietly. Melissa stared at Ali for a second, perplexed, and then turned back to Ian. 'Can I talk to you outside?'
Ian downed his Corona as the girls watched. They only ever drank super-secretively from the bottles in their parents' liquor cabinets. He set the empty bottle down and offered them a parting grin as he followed Melissa outside.
'Adieu, ladies.' He winked before closing the door behind him.
Alison dusted her hands together. 'Another problem solved by Ali D. Are you going to thank me now, Spence?'
Spencer didn't answer. She was too busy looking out the barn's front window. Lightning bugs had begun to light up the purplish sky. Hanna walked over to the abandoned popcorn bowl and took a big handful. 'Ian's so hot. He's, like, hotter than Sean.'
Sean Ackard was one of the cutest guys in their grade and the subject of Hanna's constant fantasies.
'You know what I heard?' Ali asked, flopping down on the couch. 'Sean really likes girls who have good appetites.'
Hanna brightened. 'Really?'
'No.' Alison snorted.
Hanna slowly dropped the handful of popcorn back into the bowl.
'So, girls,' Ali said. 'I know the perfect thing we can do.'
'I hope we're not streaking again.' Emily giggled. They'd done that a month earlier – in the freezing frickin' cold – and although Hanna had refused to strip down to less than her undershirt and day-of-the-week panties, the rest of them had run through a nearby barren cornfield without a lick on.
'You loved that a little too much,' Ali murmured. The smile faded from Emily's lips. 'But no – I was leaving this for the last day of school. I learned how to hypnotize people.'
'Hypnotize?' Spencer repeated.
'Matt's sister taught me,' Ali answered, looking at the framed photos of Melissa and Ian on the mantel. Her boyfriend of the week, Matt, had the same sandy-colored hair as Ian.
'How do you do it?' Hanna asked.
'Sorry, she swore me to secrecy,' Ali said, turning back around. 'You want to see if it works?'
Aria frowned, taking a seat on a lavender floor pillow. 'I don't know . . .'
'Why not?' Ali's eyes flickered to a stuffed pig puppet that was peeking out of Aria's purple sweater-knit tote bag. Aria was always carrying around weird things – stuffed animals, random pages torn out of old novels, postcards of places she'd never visited.
'Doesn't hypnosis make you say stuff you don't want to say?' Aria asked.
'Is there something you can't tell us?' Ali responded. 'And why do you still bring that pig puppet everywhere?' She pointed at it.
Aria shrugged and pulled the stuffed pig out of her bag. 'My dad got me Pigtunia in Germany. She advises me on my love life.' She stuck her hand into the puppet.
'You're shoving your hand up its butt!' Ali squealed and Emily started to giggle. 'Besides, why do you want to carry around something your dad gave you?'
'It's not funny,' Aria snapped, whipping her head around to face Emily.
Everyone was quiet for a few seconds, and the girls looked blankly at one another. This had been happening a lot lately. Someone – usually Ali – mentioned something, and someone else got upset, but everyone was too shy to ask what in the world was going on.
Spencer broke the silence. 'Being hypnotized, um, does sound sort of sketch.'
'You don't know anything about it,' Alison said quickly. 'C'mon. I could do it to you all at once.'
Spencer picked at the waistband of her skirt. Emily blew air through her teeth. Aria and Hanna exchanged a look. Ali was always coming up with stuff for them to try – last summer, it was smoking dandelion seeds to see if they'd hallucinate, and this past fall they'd gone swimming in Pecks Pond, even though a dead body was once discovered there – but the thing was, they often didn't want to do the things that Alison made them do. They all loved Ali to death, but they sometimes hated her too – for bossing them around and for the spell she'd cast on them. Sometimes in Ali's presence, they didn't feel real, exactly. They felt kind of like dolls, with Ali arranging their every move. Each of them wished that, just once, she had the strength to tell Ali no.
'Puh-leeeeeze?' Ali asked. 'Emily, you want to do it, right?'
'Um . . .' Emily's voice quivered. 'Well . . .'
'I'll do it,' Hanna butted in.
'Me too,' Emily said quickly after.
Spencer and Aria reluctantly nodded. Satisfied, Alison shut off all the lights with a snap and lit several sweetly scented vanilla votive candles that were on the coffee table. Then she stood back and hummed.
'Okay, everyone, just relax,' she chanted, and the girls arranged themselves in a circle on the rug. 'Your heartbeat's slowing down. Think calm thoughts. I'm going to count down from one hundred, and as soon as I touch all of you, you'll be in my power.'
'Spooky.' Emily laughed shakily.
Alison began. 'One hundred . . . ninety-nine . . . ninetyeight . . .'
Twenty-two . . .
Eleven . . .
Five . . .
Four . . .
Three . . .
She touched Aria's forehead with the fleshiest part of her thumb. Spencer uncrossed her legs. Aria twitched her left foot.
'Two . . .' She slowly touched Hanna, then Emily, and then moved toward Spencer. 'One.'
Spencer's eyes sprang open before Alison could reach her. She jumped up and ran to the window.
'What're you doing?' Ali whispered. 'You're ruining the moment.'
'It's too dark in here.' Spencer reached up and opened the curtains.
'No.' Alison lowered her shoulders. 'It's got to be dark. That's how it works.'
'C'mon, no it doesn't.' The blind stuck; Spencer grunted to wrench it free.
'No. It does.'
Spencer put her hands on her hips. 'I want it lighter. Maybe everyone does.'
Alison looked at the others. They all still had their eyes closed.
Spencer put her hands on her hips. 'It doesn't always have to be the way you want it, you know.'
Alison barked out a laugh. 'Close them!'
Spencer rolled her eyes. 'God, take a pill.'
'You think I should take a pill?' Alison demanded.
Spencer and Alison stared at each other for a few moments. It was one of those ridiculous fights that could have been about who saw the new Lacoste polo dress at Neiman Marcus first or whether honey-colored highlights looked too brassy, but it was really about something else entirely. Something way bigger.
Finally, Spencer pointed at the door. 'Leave.'
'Fine.' Alison strode outside. 'Good!' But after a few seconds passed, Spencer followed her. The bluish evening air was still, and there weren't any lights on in her family's main house. It was quiet, too – even the crickets were quiet – and Spencer could hear herself breathing. 'Wait a second!' she cried after a moment, slamming the door behind her.
But Alison was gone. When she heard the door slam, Aria opened her eyes. 'Ali?' she called. 'Guys?' No answer.
She looked around. Hanna and Emily sat like lumps on the carpet, and the door was open. Aria moved out to the porch. No one was there. She tiptoed to the edge of Ali's property. The woods spread out in front of her and everything was silent.
'Ali?' she whispered. Nothing. 'Spencer?'
Inside, Hanna and Emily rubbed their eyes. 'I just had the weirdest dream,' Emily said. 'I mean, I guess it was a dream. It was really quick. Alison fell down this really deep well, and there were all these giant plants.'
'That was my dream too!' Hanna said.
'It was?' Emily asked.
Hanna nodded. 'Well, kind of. There was a big plant in it. And I think I saw Alison too. It might've been her shadow – but it was definitely her.'
'Whoa,' Emily whispered. They stared at each other, their eyes wide.
'Guys?' Aria stepped back through the door. She looked very pale.
'Are you okay?' Emily asked.
'Where's Alison?' Aria creased her forehead. 'And Spencer?'
'We don't know,' Hanna said.
Just then, Spencer burst back into the house. All the girls jumped. 'What?' she asked.
'Where's Ali?' Hanna asked quietly.
'I don't know,' Spencer whispered. 'I thought . . . I don't know.'
The girls fell silent. All they could hear were the tree branches sliding across the windows. It sounded like someone scraping her long fingernails against a plate.
'I think I want to go home,' Emily said.
The next morning, they still hadn't heard from Alison. The girls called one another to talk, a four-way call this time instead of five.
'Do you think she's mad at us?' Hanna asked. 'She seemed weird all night.'
'She's probably at Katy's,' Spencer said. Katy was one of Ali's field hockey friends.
'Or maybe she's with Tiffany – that girl from camp?' Aria offered.
'I'm sure she's somewhere having fun,' Emily said quietly.
One by one, they got calls from Mrs. DiLaurentis, asking if they'd heard from Ali. At first, the girls all covered for her. It was the unwritten rule: They'd covered for Emily when she snuck in after her 11 P.M. weekend curfew; they'd fudged the truth for Spencer when she borrowed Melissa's Ralph Lauren duffel coat and then accidentally left it on the seat of a SEPTA train; and so on. But as each one hung up with Mrs. DiLaurentis, a sour feeling swelled in her stomach. Something felt horribly wrong.
That afternoon, Mrs. DiLaurentis called again, this time in a panic. By that evening, the DiLaurentises had called the police, and the next morning there were cop cars and news vans camped out on the DiLaurentises' normally pristine front lawn. It was a local news channel's wet dream: a pretty rich girl, lost in one of the safest upper-class towns in the country.
Hanna called Emily after watching the first nightly Ali news report. 'Did the police interview you today?'
'Yeah,' Emily whispered.
'Me too. You didn't tell them about . . .' She paused.
'About The Jenna Thing, did you?'
'No!' Emily gasped. 'Why? Do you think they know something?'
'No . . . they couldn't,' Hanna whispered after a second. 'We're the only ones who know. The four of us . . . and Alison.'
The police questioned the girls – along with practically everybody from Rosewood, from Ali's second-grade gymnastics instructor to the guy who'd once sold her Marlboros at Wawa. It was the summer before eighth grade and the girls were supposed to be flirting with older boys at pool parties, eating corn on the cob in one another's backyards, and shopping all day at the King James Mall. Instead they were crying alone in their canopied beds or staring blankly at their photo-covered walls. Spencer went on a room-cleaning binge, reviewing what her fight with Ali had really been about, and thinking of things she knew about Ali that none of the others did. Hanna spent hours on her bedroom floor, hiding emptied Cheetos bags under her mattress. Emily couldn't stop obsessing over a letter she'd sent to Ali before she disappeared. Had Ali ever gotten it? Aria sat at her desk with Pigtunia. Slowly, the girls began calling one another less frequently. The same thoughts haunted all four of them, but there wasn't anything left to say to one another.
The summer turned into the school year, which turned into the next summer. Still no Ali. The police continued to search – but quietly. The media lost interest, heading off to obsess over a Center City triple homicide. Even the DiLaurentises moved out of Rosewood almost two and a half years after Alison disappeared. As for Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna, something shifted in them, too.
Now if they passed Ali's old street and glanced at her house, they didn't go into insta-cry mode. Instead, they started to feel something else.
Sure, Alison was Alison. She was the shoulder to cry on, the only one you'd ever want calling up your crush to find out how he felt about you, and the final word on whether your new jeans made your butt look big. But the girls were also afraid of her. Ali knew more about them than anyone else did, including the bad stuff they wanted to bury – just like a body. It was horrible to think Ali might be dead, but . . . if she was, at least their secrets were safe.
And they were. For three years, anyway.
Oranges, Peaches, and Limes, Oh My!
'Someone finally bought the DiLaurentises' old house,' Emily Fields's mother said.
It was Saturday afternoon, and Mrs. Fields sat at the kitchen table, bifocals perched on her nose, calmly doing her bills. Emily felt the Vanilla Coke she was drinking fizz up her nose.
'I think another girl your age moved in,' Mrs. Fields continued.
'I was going to drop off that basket today. Maybe you want to do it instead?' She pointed to the cellophaned monstrosity on the counter.
'God, Mom, no,' Emily replied. Since she'd retired from teaching elementary school last year, Emily's mom had become the unofficial Rosewood, Pennsylvania, Welcome Wagon lady. She assembled a million random things – dried fruit, those flat rubber thingies you use to get jars open, ceramic chickens (Emily's mom was chicken-obsessed), a guide to Rosewood inns, whatever – into a big wicker welcome basket. She was a prototypical suburban mom, minus the SUV. She thought they were ostentatious and gas-guzzling, so she drove an oh-so-practical Volvo wagon instead.
Mrs. Fields stood and ran her fingers through Emily's chlorine-damaged hair. 'Would it upset you too much to go there, sweetie? Maybe I should send Carolyn?'
Emily glanced at her sister Carolyn, who was a year older and lounging comfortably on the La-Z-Boy in the den watching Dr. Phil. Emily shook her head. 'No, it's fine. I'll do it.'
Sure, Emily whined sometimes and occasionally rolled her eyes. But the truth was, if her mom asked, Emily would do whatever she was supposed to do. She was a nearly straight-A, four-time state champion butterflyer and hyper-obedient daughter. Following rules and requests came easily to her. Plus, deep down she kind of wanted a reason to see Alison's house again. While it seemed the rest of Rosewood had started to move on from Ali's disappearance three years, two months, and twelve days ago, Emily hadn't. Even now, she couldn't glance at her seventh-grade yearbook without wanting to curl up in a ball. Sometimes on rainy days, Emily still reread Ali's old notes, which she stored in a shell-top Adidas shoe box under her bed. She even kept a pair of Citizens corduroys Ali had let her borrow on a wooden hanger in her closet, even though they were now way too small on her. She'd spent the last few lonely years in Rosewood longing for another friend like Ali, but that probably wasn't going to happen. She hadn't been a perfect friend, but for all her flaws, Ali was pretty tough to replace.
Emily straightened up and grabbed the Volvo's keys from the hook next to the phone. 'I'll be back in a little while,' she called as she closed the front door behind her.
The first thing she saw when she pulled up to Alison's old Victorian home at the top of the leafy street was a huge pile of trash on the curb and a big sign marked, FREE! Squinting, she realized that some of it was Alison's stuff – she recognized Ali's old, overstuffed white corduroy bedroom chair. The DiLaurentises had moved away almost nine months ago. Apparently they'd left some things behind.
She parked behind a giant Bekins moving van and got out of the Volvo. 'Whoa,' she whispered, trying to keep her bottom lip from trembling. Under the chair, there were several piles of grimy books. Emily reached down and looked at the spines. The Red Badge of Courage. The Prince and the Pauper. She remembered reading them in Mr. Pierce's seventh-grade English class, talking about symbolism, metaphors, and denouement. There were more books underneath, including some that just looked like old notebooks.
Boxes sat next to the books; they were marked ALISON'S CLOTHES and ALISON'S OLD PAPERS. Peeking out of a crate was a blue and red ribbon. Emily pulled at it a little. It was a sixth-grade swimming medal she'd left at Alison's house one day when they'd made up a game called Olympian Sex Goddesses.
'You want that?'
Emily shot up. She faced a tall, skinny girl with tawny-colored skin and wild, black-brown curly hair. The girl wore a yellow tank top whose strap had slid off her shoulder to reveal an orange and green bra strap. Emily wasn't certain, but she thought she had the same bra at home. It was from Victoria's Secret and had little oranges, peaches, and limes all over the, er, boob parts. The swimming medal slid out of her hands and clattered to the ground.
'Um, no,' she said, scrambling to pick it up.
'You can take any of it. See the sign?'
'No, really, it's okay.'
The girl stuck out her hand. 'Maya St. Germain. Just moved here.'
'I . . .' Emily's words clogged up in her throat. 'I'm Emily,' she finally managed, taking Maya's hand and shaking it. It felt really formal to shake a girl's hand – Emily wasn't sure she'd ever done that before. She felt a little fuzzy. Maybe she hadn't eaten enough Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast? Maya gestured to the stuff on the ground. 'Can you believe all this crap was in my new room? I had to move it all out myself. It sucked.'
'Yeah, this all belonged to Alison,' Emily practically whispered.
Maya stooped down to inspect some of the paperbacks. She shoved her tank top strap back onto her shoulder. 'Is she a friend of yours?'
Emily paused. Is? Maybe Maya hadn't heard about Ali's disappearance?
'Um, she was. A long time ago. Along with a bunch of other girls who live around here,' Emily explained, leaving out the part about the kidnapping or murder or whatever might have happened that she couldn't bear to imagine. 'In seventh grade. I'm going into eleventh now at Rosewood Day.' School started after this weekend. So did fall swim practice, which meant three hours of lap swimming daily. Emily didn't even want to think about it.
'I'm going to Rosewood too!' Maya grinned. She sank down on Alison's old corduroy chair, and the springs squeaked. 'All my parents talked about on the flight here was how lucky I am to have gotten into Rosewood and how different it will be from my school in California. Like, I bet you guys don't have Mexican food, right? Or, like, really good Mexican food, like Cali-Mexican food. We used to have it in our cafeteria and mmm, it was so good. I'm going to have to get used to Taco Bell. Their gorditas make me want to vomit.'
'Oh.' Emily smiled. This girl sure talked a lot. 'Yeah, the food kind of sucks.'
Maya sprang up from the chair. 'This might be a weird question since I just met you, but would you mind helping me carry the rest of these boxes up to my room?' She motioned to a few Crate & Barrel boxes sitting at the base of the truck. Emily's eyes widened. Go into Alison's old room? But it would be totally rude if she refused, wouldn't it?
'Um, sure,' she said shakily.
The foyer still smelled like Dove soap and potpourri – just as it had when the DiLaurentises lived here. Emily paused at the door and waited for Maya to give her instructions, even though she knew she could find Ali's old room at the end of the upstairs hall blindfolded. Moving boxes were everywhere, and two spindly Italian greyhounds yapped from behind a gate in the kitchen.
'Ignore them,' Maya said, climbing the stairs to her room and shoving the door open with her terry-covered hip.
Wow, it looks the same, Emily thought as she entered the bedroom. But the thing was, it didn't: Maya had put her queen-size bed in a different corner, she had a huge, flatscreen computer monitor on her desk, and she'd put up posters everywhere, covering Alison's old flowered wallpaper. But something felt the same, as if Alison's presence was still floating here. Emily felt woozy and leaned against the wall for support.
'Put it anywhere,' Maya said. Emily rallied herself to stand, set her box down at the foot of the bed, and looked around.
'I like your posters,' she said. They were mostly of bands: M.I.A., Black Eyed Peas, Gwen Stefani in a cheerleading uniform.
'I love Gwen,' she added.
'Yeah,' Maya said. 'My boyfriend's totally obsessed with her. His name's Justin. He's from San Fran, where I'm from.'
'Oh. I've got a boyfriend too,' Emily said. 'His name's Ben.'
'Yeah?' Maya sat down on her bed. 'What's he like?' Emily tried to conjure up Ben, her boyfriend of four months. She'd seen him two days ago – they'd watched the Doom DVD at her house. Emily's mom was in the other room, of course, randomly popping in, asking if they needed anything. They'd been good friends for a while, on the same year-round swim teams. All their teammates told them they should go out, so they did. 'He's cool.'
'So why aren't you friends with the girl who lived here anymore?' Maya asked.
Emily pushed her reddish-blond hair behind her ears. Wow. So Maya really didn't know about Alison. If Emily started talking about Ali, though, she might start crying –which would be weird. She hardly knew this Maya girl.
'I grew apart from all my old seventh-grade friends. Everyone changed a lot, I guess.'
That was an understatement. Of Emily's other best friends, Spencer had become a more exaggerated version of her already hyper-perfect self; Aria's family had suddenly moved to Iceland the fall after Ali went missing; and dorky-but-lovable Hanna had become totally undorky and unlovable and was now a total bitch. Hanna and her now best friend, Mona Vanderwaal, had completely transformed themselves the summer between eighth and ninth grade.
Emily's mom had recently seen Hanna going into Wawa, the local convenience store, and told Emily that Hanna looked 'sluttier than that Paris Hilton girl.' Emily had never heard her mom use the word slutty.
'I know how growing apart is,' Maya said, bouncing up and down on her bed as she sat. 'Like my boyfriend? He's so scared I'm going to ditch him now that we're on different coasts. He's such a big baby.'
'My boyfriend and I are on the swim team, so we see each other all the time,' Emily replied, looking for a place to sit down too. Maybe too much of the time, she thought.
'You swim?' Maya asked. She looked Emily up and down, which made Emily feel a little weird. 'I bet you're really good. You totally have the shoulders.'
'Oh, I don't know.' Emily blushed and leaned against Maya's white wooden desk.
'You do!' Maya smiled. 'But . . . if you're a big jock, does that mean you'd kill me if I smoked a little weed?'
'What, right now?' Emily's eyes widened. 'What about your parents?'
'They're at the grocery store. And my brother – he's here somewhere, but he won't care.' Maya reached under her mattress for an Altoids tin. She hefted up the window, which was right next to her bed, pulled out a joint, and lit it. The smoke curled into the yard and made a hazy cloud around a large oak tree.
Maya brought the joint back inside. 'Want a hit?'
Emily had never tried pot in her entire life – she always thought her parents would somehow know, like by smelling her hair or forcing her to pee in a cup or something. But as Maya pulled the joint gracefully from her cherry-frosted lips, it looked sexy. Emily wanted to look sexy like that too.
'Um, okay.' Emily slid closer to Maya and took the joint from her. Their hands brushed and their eyes met. Maya's were green and a little yellow, like a cat's. Emily's hand trembled. She felt nervous, but she put the joint to her mouth and took a tiny drag, like she was sipping Vanilla Coke through a straw.
But it didn't taste like Vanilla Coke. It felt like she'd just inhaled a whole jar of rotten spices. She hacked an old man-ish cough.
'Whoa,' Maya said, taking back the joint. 'First time?'
Emily couldn't breathe and just shook her head, gasping. She wheezed some more, trying to get air into her chest. Finally she could feel air hitting her lungs again. As Maya turned her arm, Emily saw a long, white scar running lengthwise down her wrist. Whoa. It looked a little like an albino snake on her tan skin. God, she was probably high already. Suddenly there was a loud clank. Emily jumped. Then she heard the clank again.
'What is that?' she wheezed. Maya took another drag and shook her head. 'The workers. We're here for one day and my parents have already started on the renovations.' She grinned. 'You just totally freaked, like you thought the cops were coming. You been busted before?'
'No!' Emily burst out laughing; it was such a ridiculous thought.
Maya smiled and exhaled.
'I should go,' Emily rasped.
Maya's face fell. 'Why?'
Emily shuffled off the bed. 'I told my mom I'd only stop over for a minute. But I'll see you in school Tuesday.'
'Cool,' Maya said. 'Maybe you could show me around?'
Emily smiled. 'Sure.'
Maya grinned and waved good-bye with three fingers. 'You know how to find your way out?'
'I think so.' Emily took one more look around Ali's – er, Maya's – room, and then stomped down the all-too-familiar stairs. It wasn't until Emily shook her head out in the open air, passed all of Alison's old stuff on the curb, and climbed back into her parents' car, that she saw the Welcome Wagon basket on the backseat. Screw it, she thought, wedging the basket between Alison's old chair and her boxes of books. Who needs a guide to Rosewood's inns, anyway? Maya already lives here.
And Emily was suddenly glad she did.


text:
- Filed Under
Erin Zach, Marissa Maugeri and Kourtney Kunichika each had a goal and an assist as RIT defeated Penn State 4-0 in a College Hockey America game on Saturday.
The Tigers, who outshot the Nittany Lions 45-20, broke the game open with three second-period goals. Kim Schlattman opened the scoring with a goal 2 minutes, 8 seconds into the period.
Jess Paton finished with two assists and Laura Chamberlain made 20 saves for her second shutout of the season and 12th of her career. ...

subset: commoncrawl


text:
home > motorcycle insurance > states > kentucky
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If you're under the age of 21, you must wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle in the Bluegrass State. Regardless of age, however, helmets are always a smart accessory. Fact is, over half of the fatal motorcycle accidents in Kentucky involve non-helmeted bikers. Clearly, the path to safer riding begins by cushioning your cranium.
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Motorcycle insurance policies underwritten by Esurance are available only in certain states. Coverage and discount availability varies by state and/or individual risk situation. Motorcycle insurance quotes, in states where Esurance motorcycle insurance is not available, are provided by Answer Financial, Inc. Motorcycle insurance quotes are not available in D.C. Esurance does not underwrite, provide customer service, or pay claims for any motorcycle policies sold by Answer Financial.


text:
Class 4A baseball: Bountiful gets its own storybook ending
Orem • It took Bountiful 19 straight wins to end a 26-year state baseball championship drought, but on Friday the Braves hoisted the trophy behind the efforts of Parker Depasquale and Ryan Curtis.
Bountiful defeated Spanish Fork 6-4, and spoiled a storybook ending to the brilliant coaching career of the Dons' Jim "Shoe" Nelson.
"It's kind of surreal, but I told my guys after we ran the table in region that we were only going to play five games and that's it," Bountiful coach Clark Stringfellow said. "Five games and we're going to be done with this, and those guys I can't say enough. I just have a special group of seniors."
The Dons were on Depasquale's fastball early, as they took a 2-0 lead in the opening frame before the pitcher adjusted accordingly.
"I talked to the coaches and my catcher, Mason [Jones], and we just decided to [throw] junk the rest of the game," Depasquale said.
He would go on to throw a complete game, giving up only three hits and two runs after the first inning.
"His arm's going to hang tonight, but it doesn't matter now. It's over," Stringfellow said.
Ryan Curtis led the Braves at the plate with four RBIs, three of Bountiful's seven hits, and he delivered a towering blast down the right-field line that nearly hit the I-15 on-ramp.
"I'm just glad it was fair," said Curtis, who had a similar hit called just foul the day before. Stringfellow was to the point when talking about his star center fielder: "In my opinion, he's the best player in the state of Utah, hands down," he said.
Curtis' shot gave Depasquale a two-run cushion for the last two innings.
"It's a great feeling just going out there; I knew I was going to shut them down," Depasquale said. "I had the confidence, and it just happened."
So it did in the seventh inning, with three up and three down zero drama. The Braves rushed to mound with no question of who the best team was in 4A baseball.
Meanwhile, Nelson who is Utah's all-time leader in prep baseball wins said he will hang up his cleats and not look back.
"This team has been special," Nelson said. "It's my last son's senior year, so I've grown up with these guys and I have absolutely no regrets."
In his eyes, this season was never about him.
"I'm just proud of our kids. It's about the kids. That's the biggest thing this last season is; I didn't want it to be about me. I wanted it to be about our players, and it was and they did a great job. I'm proud of them."
Nelson and his staff of more than 20 years will walk away with six state titles and countless lives touched over the years.
"There's no better coach in the state of Utah than Shoe," said Stringfellow.
Bountiful 6, Spanish Fork 4
R Bountiful's Parker Depasquale gets the win after pitching 8 innings in 2 days.
• After a celebratory dowsing, Braves coach Clark Stringfellow is congratulated by his mentor, Phil Olsen, who coached Bountiful's last championship squad.
• Spanish Fork coach Jim "Shoe" Nelson finishes his career with 573 wins and a .758 winning percentage.


text:
Jessie Mills
- Filed Under
Jessie Mills has been in jail since 1985, when he was arrested on charges of forcible rape and armed robbery of a Winn Parish woman. This week, Mills pleaded guilty to the offenses in a plea bargain that guarantees Mills will be ineligible for parole until 2030.
Mills received a 40-year sentence for forcible rape and 60 years for armed robbery. The sentences will run concurrently. Mills will receive credit for time served.
Winn District Attorney Chris Nevils, who, along with veteran sex-crimes prosecutor Hugo Holland, negotiated the plea, called Mills "one of the most vicious criminals in ...


text:
Wayne Ens
A Look In The Mirror
Im frustrated and annoyed with many of the managers in radio. We manage the most powerful and persuasive medium in the world and we dont use it to market ourselves! When was the last time you heard anything on a newscast about new research outlining radios role in the new media landscape?
Let me answer: Probably never!
And yet, the news of our strength is often important enough for other media to report.
Look at this excerpt from a recent article in USA Today:" The digital revolution may not be as revolutionary as believed according to a Nielsen 360 Music Study that found listeners more in tune with friends' tips and radio, than blogs and social networking. Results indicate that the airwaves remain a dominant influence; 43% discover music most often through radio, while 13% are alerted to new tunes and acts via friends and relatives and 8% by watching YouTube."
If this kind of news is important enough for other media to publish, shouldnt it be important enough for the benefactors of this news, radio, to publish?
And I seldom see or hear any ads on the air about the power of radio advertising.
Yet daily, Ill pass signs and billboards that say something like, " You just proved signs work." I guess its because the outdoor folks have avails and were sold out.
If you search most station websites, you wouldnt believe they sell advertising. Most sites have nothing about advertising, how to use our media, or even who to contact if you want to advertise.
Our SoundADvice marketing tips and our "Winning in the New Media Economy" advertiser seminars are successfully building stations brands and increasing sales in more than 100 markets across North America and the Caribbean, yet hundreds more stations dont use these proven marketing tools.
Ive actually had radio sales managers tell me, "We cant budget for branding or advertiser education. We need immediate, measurable results that branding cant give us."
Then they claim "accountability" by "measuring" and taking credit for a package blitz to known radio advertisers who were already going to buy radio anyway. Seldom do they actually convert non-advertisers to radio.
Based upon what I hear, or should I say, dont hear, on the radio about radio around the country, I can only surmise were all happy with the old system of churning through untrained rookie radio reps as our only means of marketing radio and new business development.
The irony is, there are a few stations around the continent that actually do brand and market themselves very successfully. And even though they face increased competition, they do experience growth, and more importantly, maintain profit margins that would be the envy of almost any other business category.
The catch words in marketing today seem to be "accountable" and "measureable."
Consolidation has caused many companies to be measured at the stock market. The stock market often "measures" performance by EBITDA, (Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization), a yardstick that can make a business look good in the short term, even if sales suck. But somewhere down the road, that measure cant continue as the never-ending spiral of cost cutting and sales declines spins out of control.
In our business, the only sustainable "measure" is annual sales and profit margins. Annual sales are a combination of renewal increases and new business development, and sustainable margins can be as much a function of rate integrity as cost control. Its that simple.
And as for "accountable"? Thats what mirrors are for!
If you want to increase your local-direct sales in 2013 and beyond, contact Wayne Ens , of ENS Media Inc. at firstname.lastname@example.com.
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text:
The parking plan's lump sum payment is being reduced to $85 million, down from $92 million, and the city could be on the hook for $14 million to $15 million to build a garage, according an Oct. 9 memo from City Manager Milton Dohoney to council members and the mayor.
Dohoney wrote that the Greater Cincinnati Port Authority, which is leasing Cincinnati's parking meters, lots and garages under the 30-plus-year deal, reduced its lump sum payment because of rising interest rates and its decision to reduce parking meter enforcement hours outside of Over-the-Rhine and the Cincinnati Business District.
Under the reviewed deal, the Port Authority also handed the responsibility of building a garage at Seventh and Sycamore streets to the city of Cincinnati. Dohoney recommends using the parking plan's upfront payment to fund the garage, which will cost between $14 million and $15 million, according to city spokesperson Meg Olberding.
If City Council approves the allocation, the upfront funds would be effectively left at $70 million to $71 million.
The city still estimates it will get at least $3 million in annual installments from the lease.
Supporters of the parking plan claim it's necessary to fully leverage Cincinnati's parking assets to fund development projects and help balance the operating budget.
The plan also requires private operators, which will be hired by the Port Authority, to upgrade Cincinnati's parking assets. The upgrades should allow parking meters to accept remote payments through smartphones, among other new features.
Critics claim the plan gives up too much local control over the city's parking assets. They say the city and Port Authority could easily be pressured by private operators to hike parking rates far beyond the 3-percent-a-year increase currently called for under the plan.
The plan has also been mired in controversy, notably because the city administration withheld a consultant's memo from the public and council members that claimed the plan is a bad deal for the city. The city administration says the memo was based on outdated information, but opponents still criticized the lack of transparency behind the deal.
Dohoney wrote in the Oct. 9 memo that the Port Authority's board plans to meet on Oct. 19 to finalize contracts with private operators. If all goes as planned, the Port Authority estimates the new parking system will be in place by April 2014.
Hamilton County Judge Robert Winkler announced today that he will be extending the restraining order on the city's parking plan until April 3, potentially delaying any ruling on the city's plan to lease its parking assets to the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority for another two weeks.
Winkler's office told CityBeat that the judge has been focusing on a murder case, and the delay will give him more time to review the details of the parking plan's case before giving a ruling. The delay does not necessarily mean a ruling is delayed until April 3, and it's possible Winkler could rule within the next two weeks, according to his office.
Meg Olberding, city spokesperson, says the city is approaching a "pressure point" with the latest delay.
"We respect the court's right to do that (the extension), and know that every day that we cannot make the parking deal happen is a day that we are closer to having to lay people off," she says.
Olberding says the city is so far unsure what the exact effect of the delay will be. The city has repeatedly warned that extending the legal conflict for too long will force the city to make cuts to balance the budget for fiscal year 2014, which begins July 1.
City Council passed the parking plan in a 5-4 vote on March 6, but the plan was almost immediately held up by a temporary restraining order from Winkler after he received a lawsuit from Curt Hartman, an attorney who represents the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST), on behalf of local activists who oppose the plan and argue it should be subject to referendum.
The legal dispute is centered around City Council's use of emergency clauses, which remove a 30-day waiting period on approved legislation, and the city claims they also remove the possibility of referendum.
In a hearing presided by Winkler on March 15, Hartman argued the city charter's definition of emergency clauses is ambiguous, and legal precedent supports siding with voters' right to referendum when there is ambiguity.
Terry Nestor, who represented the city, said legal precedent requires the city to defer to state law as long as state law is not contradicted in the city charter.
Cincinnati's city charter does not specify whether emergency legislation is subject to referendum, but state law explicitly says it's not.
Opponents of the parking plan say they're concerned the plan will give up too much control over the city's parking meters, which they say could lead to skyrocketing parking rates.
The city says rates are set at 3 percent or inflation, but the rates can change with a unanimous vote from a special committee, approval from the city manager and a final nod from the Port Authority. The special committee would comprise of four people appointed by the Port Authority and one appointed by the city manager.
The city is pursuing the parking plan to help balance the city's deficit for the next two fiscal years and enable economic development projects, including the construction of a downtown grocery store ("Parking Stimulus," issue of Feb. 27).
The city of Cincinnati and opponents of the parking plan met in court today to debate whether laws passed with emergency clauses are subject to referendum — a crucial legal issue as the city attempts to speed ahead with plans to lease the city's parking assets to the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority to help balance the deficit and foster economic development.
After hearing extensive legal arguments
from both sides, Judge Robert Winkler, who presided over the hearings, said
a decision is unlikely today.
Curt Hartman, who represented opponents of the parking plan, argued the city charter's definition of emergency clauses is ambiguous, and legal precedent supports siding with voters' right to referendum when there is ambiguity.
Terry Nestor, who represented the city, said legal
precedent requires the city to defer to state law as long as state law
is not contradicted in the city charter.
Cincinnati's city charter does not specify whether emergency legislation is subject to referendum, but state law explicitly says emergency laws are not subject to referendum.
Meg Olberding, city spokesperson, previously told CityBeat that if the parking plan is held up for too long in legal battles, the city will have to carry out spending cuts before July to balance the budget in time for the 2014 fiscal year.
Emergency clauses remove a 30-day waiting period on approved legislation, and the city claims they also remove the possibility of referendum.
City Council approved the parking plan in a 5-4 vote on March 6 before attaching an emergency clause to the law in a 6-3 vote. But the law was quickly put on hold by a temporary restraining order from Winkler after a lawsuit was filed in favor of subjecting the plan to referendum.
Opponents of the parking plan say they're concerned the plan will cede too much control over the city's parking meters, which they say could lead to skyrocketing parking rates.
The city says rates are set at 3 percent or inflation, but the rate can change with a unanimous vote from a special committee, approval from the city manager and a final nod from the Port Authority. The special committee would comprise of four people appointed by the Port Authority and one appointed by the city manager.
The city is pursuing the parking plan to help balance the city's deficit for the next two fiscal years and enable economic development projects ("Parking Stimulus," issue of Feb. 27).
Cincinnati is officially leasing its parking meters, lots and garages to the Greater Cincinnati Port Authority. The agency announced today that it had signed a lease agreement with the city, putting an end to a four-day controversy over whether the Port would sign the lease to begin with.
The Port will now move forward with establishing contracts with the four private companies it will use to operate and upgrade the city's parking assets.
What remains unclear is whether the Port actually worked out the problems that supposedly delayed the lease's signing. The Cincinnati Enquirer originally reported that the Port wouldn't sign the lease until it got a financial guarantee from the city that the local government would not cut future funds to the agency.
City Council had considered cutting $100,000 out of $700,000 in annual funds to the Port as part of broader cuts to outside agencies in the fiscal year 2014 budget, but the cut to the Port was ultimately eliminated.
Port spokesperson Gail Paul said she doesn't know whether the issue is under review, but she pointed out the agreement isn't supposed to address future funding concerns and only sets the terms of the parking lease.
In return for the lease, the city is getting a $92 million lump sum and at least $3 million in annual payments, according to city estimates. The city plans to use that money to pay down future budget deficits and fund development projects, including the I-71/MLK Interchange.
Critics argue the lease gives up too much control over the city's parking assets and will ultimately hurt downtown and neighborhoods by raising parking meter rates and expanding meter operation hours.
Update (1:35 p.m.): Added a comment from Port Authority spokesperson Gail Paul.
Councilman Chris Seelbach says Mayor Mark Mallory and other city officials are wrong to claim Plan B, which would lay off 189 cops and 80 firefighters and make other cuts to city services, is the only solution to the city's budget deficit if the parking plan isn't implemented.
Seelbach and Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld called for a special City Council session on April 4 to get the city administration to answer questions about alternatives to laying off cops or firefighters.
Seelbach, who opposes the parking plan, has pointed to casino revenue and cuts in programs ranked poorly by the city's priority-driven budgeting process as two potential alternatives to eliminating at least 269 public safety positions.
"We spent $100,000 on the priority-based budget process to give the public and a diverse cross-section of the entire city input on what the Council and the city should be spending money on," Seelbach says. "We should be using those results when deciding where we should make cuts."
In the midst of the parking plan debate, Seelbach proposed Plan S, which would redirect $7.5 million in casino revenue to help balance the deficit, cut $5 million based on the results of the city's priority-driven budgeting process and put two charter amendments on the ballot that, if approved, would include up to a $10-per-month trash fee and increase the city's admissions tax by 2 percent.
At a press conference on March 28, Mayor Mark Mallory implied the plan is unworkable because it relies on November ballot initiatives. "We don't have until November," he said.
But Seelbach says City Council could pass a stub budget that would sustain the city financially until the ballot measures are voted on. If both the measures are rejected, City Council would then be required to make further adjustments to balance the budget.
Even without the ballot initiatives, Seelbach's suggestions for casino revenue and cuts based on the priority-driven budgeting process could be approved by City Council to avoid at least two-thirds of the $18.1 million in public safety cuts outlined by Dohoney's Plan B memo. Seelbach says further cuts could be made through the budget-driven priority process if necessary.
"It worries me that these threats of 344 layoffs is just an attempt to sell the parking plan," he says. "Every option should be on the table."
Meg Olberding, city spokesperson, previously told CityBeat that City Council could choose its own cuts and use other revenue, including casino revenue, to balance the budget.
"Council can use whatever revenue sources they want," she said. "That's why the memo … says we can either use this plan or another plan."
In the 2013 mayoral race, the threat of laying off cops
and firefighters has played a prominent role in the parking plan debate.
Democratic mayoral candidate John Cranley has repeatedly said the
threats are "the boy crying wolf." On Friday, he proposed his own budget plan that he says would avoid layoffs, but critics say Cranley's casino revenue estimates ignore recent trends.
Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls, another Democratic candidate for mayor, said the city will have to lay off cops and firefighters if the parking plan doesn't go into effect, echoing earlier comments she made in a blog post Sunday.
On March 6, City Council passed a plan that would lease the city's parking assets to the Port of Greater Development Authority to help balance the budget for the next two fiscal years and fund development projects, including a downtown grocery store ("Parking Stimulus," issue of Feb. 27). But the plan is being held up by a referendum effort after a ruling from Judge Robert Winkler on March 28.
Cincinnati's plan to lease parking assets to the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority remains on hold as a lawsuit arguing the law should be subject to referendum works through the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court. The legal dispute is focused on City Council's use of the emergency clause, which eliminates a 30-day waiting period on implementing laws and takes away the possibility of a referendum. Emergency clauses are routinely deployed in City Council, but opponents of the parking plan say that doesn't make them right.
Whether the parking deal does go through or not, the Tower Place Mall renovations will be carried out. The city originally included the renovations as part of the plan, but Meg Olberding, city spokesperson, told The Cincinnati Enquirer that the city is planning on selling the the property to a subsidiary of JDL Warm Construction for an undisclosed sum, and the company will then pay an estimated $5 million for the redevelopment.
Gov. John Kasich's plan to expand the sales tax to fund tax cuts is being heavily criticized by some members of the business community, but Rep. Ron Amstutz, chairman of the Ohio House Finance & Appropriations Committee, says he is looking into ways to save the proposal. Kasich's plan would expand the application of the sales tax to include more services, including cable TV and admission to sport events, but it would lower the sales tax rate from 5.5 percent to 5 percent and carry out 20-percent across-the-board income tax cuts. CityBeat wrote about Kasich's budget proposal in further detail here.
As part of Kasich's education plans, the state's school voucher program is expanding to help students meet a Third Grade Reading Guarantee, which requires third-graders pass a test in reading proficiency before they can move onto fourth grade. Supporters argue the voucher program provides more choice and control for parents, but opponents say the state should not be paying for private educations. A previous Policy Matters Ohio report found expanded school choice through more vouchers can have negative effects on education, including worse results for students and teachers.
State Auditor Dave Yost is pushing for a full audit of JobsOhio, the publicly funded private, nonprofit agency, but Republican state legislators are joining Kasich in opposition. The opposing Republicans say the state auditor can track any public funds used for JobsOhio, but they say the agency is allowed to keep its private funds under wraps. Kasich says he plans to replace the Ohio Department of Development, which can be fully audited by the state auditor at any time, with JobsOhio.
The Ohio Department of Education apparently knew or should have known of ongoing data scrubbing in schools as early as 2008, according to The Toledo Blade. Emails acquired by The Blade show officials analyzed and discussed data reports that year after media reports detailed how urban districts excluded thousands of test scores on state report cards.
Supporters of the Anna Louise Inn gathered Friday in celebration of International Women's Day and to stand against Western & Southern's repeated efforts to run the Inn out of the neighborhood.
The U.S. Census Bureau says Cincinnati commutes are much shorter than the national average, with only 2.9 percent of Cincinnatians spending more than 60 minutes one-way during their commute, as compared to the 8.1 percent national average.
The Cincinnati Enquirer unveiled its new tabloid format today. Ben Kaufman says it looks nice and arrived on time.
The Killers are coming to the Horseshoe Casino.
A new study says results from fMRI scans are unintentionally distorted and inaccurate — to the point that some studies on the human brain that use fMRI results may be seriously questionable.
By the time a new mayor and City Council candidates take office in December, the city will have laid out roughly half a mile of track and spent or contractually obligated at least $117 million for the streetcar project. The contractual obligations mean it could cost more to cancel the project than to finish it, which will cost the city an estimated total of $88 million after deducting $45 million in federal grants. Still, mayoral candidate John Cranley and several council candidates insist they will try to cancel the project upon taking office. Check out CityBeat's full in-depth story here.
The parking plan's upfront payment has been reduced to $85 million, down from $92 million, and the city, as opposed to the Greater Cincinnati Port Authority, could be on the hook for $14 million to $15 million to build a garage at Seventh and Sycamore streets, according to an Oct. 9 memo from City Manager Milton Dohoney. The city manager claims the lump sum payment dropped as a result of rising interest rates and the Port Authority's decision to relax parking meter hours outside Over-the-Rhine and the Cincinnati Business District. The parking plan leases Cincinnati's parking meters, lots and garages to the Port Authority, which plans to hire private companies to operate the assets. CityBeat covered the plan in greater detail here and the controversy surrounding it here.
Gov. John Kasich is considering using an executive order to expand the state's Medicaid program with federal funds. The executive order would expand eligibility for the government-run health insurance program so it includes anyone up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or nearly $15,900 in annual income for an individual. Kasich would then on Oct. 21 ask Ohio's seven-member legislative-spending oversight panel to approve federal funds for the expansion. Kasich, a Republican, has aggressively pursued the Medicaid expansion, which the federal government promises under Obamacare to completely fund through 2016 then phase down and indefinitely hold its payments at 90 percent of the expansion's total costs. But Republican legislators claim the federal government might not be able sustain the payments, even though the federal government has met its payments for the much larger overall Medicaid program since it was created in 1965.
At its final full session before the November election, City Council approved nearly $854,000 in tax credits for Pure Romance to bring the company to downtown Cincinnati for at least 20 years. Councilman Charlie Winburn, the lone Republican on council, was the only one to vote against the tax incentives. The city administration estimates the deal will lead to at least 126 new high-paying jobs in downtown Cincinnati over three years and nearly $2.6 million in net tax revenue over two decades. Gov. John Kasich's administration was originally supposed to provide some tax incentives to the company, but it ultimately reneged after supposedly deciding that the company isn't part of an industry the state typically supports. Critics say Kasich's administration is just too "prudish" to support a company that includes sex toys in its product lineup.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio yesterday announced it's suing Ohio over anti-abortion restrictions passed in the 2014-2015 state budget. The ACLU claims the restrictions are unrelated to the budget and therefore violate the Ohio Constitution's "single subject" rule, which requires each individual law keep to a single subject to avoid complexity and hidden language. CityBeat covered the state budget in further detail here.
Hamilton County Administrator Christian Sigman says he's monitoring the impact of the federal government shutdown with some concerns. "I'm more concerned if this goes more than four weeks or so, when we start talking about reimbursement programs for our larger social programs such as food stamps and cash assistance to the needy and those types of things. We just don't have the money to front that type of thing," he said. CityBeat covered the shutdown in further detail here.
Hamilton County's government shrunk by more than one-third in the past decade.
City Council yesterday passed a resolution condemning State Sen. Bill Seitz's attempts to weaken Ohio's renewable energy and efficiency mandates. A study from Ohio State University and Ohio Advanced Energy Economy found Ohioans will spend $3.65 billion more on their electricity bills over the next 12 years if the mandates are repealed. CityBeat covered the attempts to repeal the mandates in further detail here and the national conservative groups behind the calls to repeal here.
Early voting turnout is so far "anemic," according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Ohio has the No. 12 worst tax environment among states, according to a report from the Tax Foundation. The rank is unchanged from the previous year's report.
A central Ohio school might ban Halloween.
Bill Nye explains Jupiter's big red spot:
Early voting for the 2013 City Council and mayoral elections is now underway. Find your voting location here. Normal voting hours will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., although some days will be extended.
Being one of the first to discover a critical memo put Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld at the center of an ongoing drama regarding the city's plans to lease its parking meters, lots and garages to the Greater Cincinnati Port Authority. The memo criticized the financial details of the lease, but it was kept from the Port, City Council and the public for nearly a month. Ever since the controversial parking plan passed City Council and was upheld in court, concerned citizens, business leaders and critics like Sittenfeld have been calling on the city and Port to rework or halt the deal. So far, the city and Port have stuck to their support. The city will get a $92 million lump sum and at least $3 million a year from the lease, which it currently plans to use to help balance city budgets and fund development projects, such as the I-71/MLK Interchange.
The latest state budget secured more cuts to city and county governments, putting local governments at a $1.5 billion shortfall in the next two years compared to 2010 and 2011, according to a new report from progressive think tank Policy Matters Ohio. Republican Gov. John Kasich and Republican legislators slashed local government funding in 2011 to help fix an $8 billion budget hole. But the latest state budget, which Kasich signed into law in June, was awash in extra revenues because of Ohio's economic recovery — so much so that legislators passed $2.7 billion in tax cuts. For Cincinnati, the original cuts cost the city more than $22 million in revenue.
The Brent Spence Bridge was bumped up in a federal funding priority list through a successful amendment from Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican. The amendment prioritized $500 million for obsolete and structurally unsound bridges, but it's so far unclear how much of the money will go to the Brent Spence Bridge project, which state officials estimate will cost $2.7 billion. Currently, Ohio and Kentucky officials plan to pay for the bridge project by enacting tolls.
Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls, who's running for mayor this year, is calling on the city manager to produce a plan that would structurally balance Cincinnati's operating budget by 2016. "To build on the momentum Cincinnati is now experiencing, we must set a course now for a fiscally sustainable future," Qualls said in a statement. "That's why I'm urging that we have a plan to reach structural balance by 2016, restore reserves and increase the city's pension contribution, minimize using the parking lease payment to restore budget cuts and continue to invest in neighborhoods and jobs to grow revenue." The announcement comes more than one week after Moody's, the credit rating agency, downgraded Cincinnati's bond rating and criticized the city for its exposure to unsustainable pension liabilities and reliance on one-time sources to fix budget gaps.
Ex-Councilman John Cranley, who's also running for mayor, is rolling out his jobs plan today. The initiative will provide a job training program for individuals facing long-term unemployment or underemployment, which the Cranley campaign estimates will result in 379 individuals per year obtaining full-time, permanent jobs. The program will be mainly paid for by pulling funds from the city's Office of Environmental Quality, Department of Finance, travel and the state lobbyist. "My deepest conviction is that there is dignity in work. I believe all able-bodied adults should work and be self-sufficient. And I believe society has an obligation to ensure the opportunity to work exists," Cranley said in a statement.
On Second Thought: "Facts vs. Perceptions in Trayvon Martin Coverage."
Police yesterday shot and killed Roger Ramundo, an allegedly armed Clifton resident. Officers had been called to the area of Clifton and Ludlow avenues by a mental health provider, who said there was a person with mental health issues armed with a gun, according to interim Cincinnati Police Chief Paul Humphries. Police said they tried to first subdue Ramundo with Tasers during an ensuing struggle, but they were unsuccessful and the man pulled out his gun and fired a shot. That's when one officer fired two shots that hit Ramundo, who was then taken to University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Gov. Kasich isn't providing clemency to a Cleveland killer who stabbed his victim 17 times, overruling a rare plea for mercy from prosecutors but siding with a majority of the state parole board. Billy Slagle will be executed on Aug. 7.
Ohio will take a hands-off approach
to promoting Obamacare, even though outreach will be crucial for the controversial
health care law. President Barack Obama's administration estimates it
will have to enroll millions of young adults into health care plans to turn the law into a success.
Meanwhile, Hamilton County is investigating if Obamacare could result in lower property taxes by allowing the county to shift costs to the federal government.
A Cincinnati money manager is being accused of running an "elaborate Ponzi scheme" that cost investors "tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars," according to a July 20 complaint filed in the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.
The average price of a flight from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport dropped, but the airport is still the second-most expensive in the nation.
CityBeat gave Internet cat-celebrity Lil Bub an in-depth look in this week's issue. Find it online here.
Want to maximize your tan? Here is how close you could get to the sun and survive.
In a letter to the city solicitor, a conservative organization is threatening more legal action to stop the city's plans to lease its parking meters, lots and garages to the Greater Cincinnati Port Authority. The Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST) claims the city manager exceeded his authority when he made two "significant and material" changes to the lease agreement after City Council approved the deal in March. If the city solicitor doesn't take up the legal challenge, COAST could sue the city by itself. Supporters of the parking lease argue it's necessary to fund development projects in the city and modernize the city's parking services, but opponents say it gives up too much control over the city's parking meters, lots and garages and will hurt businesses downtown.
The Business Courier reports that a critical parking memo was supposed to provide a "strike point" for negotiations between the Port Authority and Xerox, which will manage the city's parking meters under a lease agreement. But the city administration didn't begin sharing the June 20 memo with anyone else, including the Port Authority, until July 12, after council members and media outlets began asking the city administration about it. The memo suggested the city is getting a bad deal from the parking lease agreement and overpaying Xerox. Port and city officials argue the memo relied on outdated information and made technical errors.
Mayor Mark Mallory will today join fellow streetcar supporters at Rhinegeist Brewery to discuss the streetcar project's latest news and future. The city on July 15 set an opening date of Sept. 15, 2016 after finalizing a construction contract with Messer Construction, Prus Construction and Delta Railroad, which was made possible after City Council closed a $17.4 million budget gap in June. CityBeat recently debunked some of the misrepresentations surrounding the streetcar project here.
Commentary: "Zimmerman Reactions Overlook Broader Racial Issues in America."
Public access media organization Media Bridges is shutting down following city and state funding cuts. The organization's demise is a great loss to producers like Rufus Johnson, who used its resources for years. The city picked up Media Bridges' funding after the state eliminated a fund that was provided by Time Warner Cable, but even the local funding was fully cut in the budget passed in May. City officials have justified the cuts by pointing to citizen surveys that ranked Media Bridges poorly in terms of budgetary importance, but a CityBeat analysis found the surveys were skewed against the low-income Cincinnatians that benefit the most from public access programs like Media Bridges.
State Rep. Peter Beck, a Republican from Mason, is facing multiple felony charges related to securities fraud. A lawsuit filed in Hamilton County by investors alleges that money invested at the request of Beck and others was used for personal gain — specifically, Beck's campaign — instead of a business investment as originally intended. Beck has been in power since 2009, and his current term is set to expire in 2014.
A former poll worker was sentenced to five years for voter fraud after she voted twice for herself and three times for her sister, who's been in a coma since 2003.
The driver who last August accidentally hit and killed a local cyclist is awaiting his sentence. Local bike advocacy groups are asking courts to give the maximum penalty to the driver, who's facing at most six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
The local housing market is rapidly recovering in a continuing good sign for the economy, with single-family home permits up 48 percent in June compared to the year before, according to the Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati.
Cincinnati Reds games are No. 3 for local TV ratings in all of Major League Baseball, behind only the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals.
Xavier University is laying off 31 employees and cutting 20 currently vacant positions.
A Miami University student is getting an astronaut scholarship, making him one of 28 students nationwide to receive the honor.
Entrepreneur says Cincinnati is an "unexpected hub for tech startups."
A new self-aiming rifle would outshoot human snipers.
Popular Science has a guide for arguing against anti-vaccine crazies here.
With the backing of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, law enforcement around the state have been secretly using facial recognition software for the past two months that scans driver's licenses and mug shots to identify crime suspects. In emails and documents obtained by The Cincinnati Enquirer, DeWine and other state officials apparently couldn't agree whether the program is in beta testing or full launch and when they should tell the public about it. The program went live without the attorney general's initial approval and many protocols that protect Ohioans' security and privacy, raising concerns about whether law enforcement have been able to abuse the new tool.
The Greater Cincinnati Port Authority on Friday acknowledged it will ramp up enforcement and tickets once it takes over Cincinnati's parking meters, lots and garages, but it claimed the move is meant to encourage people to pay up, not raise revenue that will make the parking lease more profitable for the Port or the private operators it's hiring. The Port also said it had taken steps to make the parking lease a better deal for locals, including a reduction in operation hours in neighborhoods and some downtown areas. The city is leasing its parking assets to the Port for a one-time injection of revenue and annual installments that are supposed to go to development projects that will grow the city's tax base. But opponents of the lease say it will take away too much control of the city's parking services and hurt businesses and residents by raising parking rates and hours.
Vacant buildings at the corner of Henry and Race streets will be demolished today to make room for a maintenance facility for Cincinnati's streetcars — just the latest sign the project is moving forward. Mayor Mark Mallory, Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls and John Deatrick, streetcar project executive director, will attend the demolition and a press event preceding it, which will take place at 1 p.m.
A new video from the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) shows how bad traffic will get if the Brent Spence Bridge isn't replaced. In the video, OKI claims the current state of the bridge is dangerous and damages the economy. The bridge project is currently estimated at $2.5 billion. At least part of that sum will be paid with tolling if state officials get their way.
Qualls and Cincinnati Public Schools Superintendent Mary Ronan will today discuss a district-wide travel plan that intends to provide safe routes for students walking and biking to school. The plan, which would use Ohio Department of Transportation funds, makes improvements to crosswalks and pedestrian crossing signals, among other changes. Qualls' office says the plan is timely as CPS today begins its first week back to school.
Cuts in all levels of government, which Republican state officials call "right-sizing," might be hindering Ohio's economic recovery. Only California, New York and Florida have cut more public jobs than Ohio. At the same time, Ohio's job growth over the past year has stagnated at 0.7 percent. The state has cut local government funding by half since Kasich took office, as CityBeat covered in further detail here.
Ohio gas prices once again increased this week, but they still remain below the national average.
The USS Cincinnati, a Cold War era submarine, is coming to the city. Some locals have been working on getting the submarine's sail installed along the riverfront as a memorial.
NASA put up a video explaining how it would land on an asteroid.


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November 30, 2015
The annual program gives 100 kids, 100 dollars to spend in Wal-Mart.
The FOP, Wal-Mart, and DHHR work together to give these kids a special Christmas.
And you can see just how much they enjoy it by the huge smiles on their faces as their parents and helpful escort let them loose down the toy aisles of Wal-Mart.
FOP president Chris Morehead says the program is just as fun for all the officers.
"The main goal of the Fraternal Order of Police and its officers is to always protect and serve the community. And I can't think of a nobler cause at Christmas time than making sure that the kids in our community have a good Christmas, and also they interact with us and learn that we're here to help them in any way that we can." says Morehead.
Each officer donates their time for the day and Morehead says most come back every year.
Click Here to access the online Public Inspection File
Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or firstname.lastname@example.com.


text: Botched execution could renew 'cruel' challenges Share this story email Share this story «Previous 6 of 9 Photos Next » Read the story « » Executions Cruel and Unusual FILE - In this Jan. 17, 2014, file photo, Missie McGuire, left, listens to her husband, Dennis McGuire, at a news conference where they announced their planned lawsuit against the state over the unusually slow execution of his father, also named Dennis McGuire, in Dayton, Ohio. The state said Tuesday, April 29, 2014, that it is boosting the amount of the two-drug combo of a sedative and painkiller "to allay any remaining concerns" after the last execution, when Dennis McGuire made repeated snorting-like gasps as he died. (AP Photo/Kantele Franko, File)


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This Lost Map Changed How We Saw the World
In 1815 William Smith drew a map of the United Kingdom which transformed the scientific landscape: It laid the foundations for modern geology, and identified natural resources which would beget the Industrial Revolution. But up until last year, this first-edition copy was considered to be lost forever. »


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Narrow your search
Droids are selling like hotcakes, Google TV's not, and we're moving! All that and more on this week's Android Atlas Weekly
The wraps are pull off Google's Wallet and Offers services, but should consumers be excited? The guys discuss the pros and cons Android rooting, locked bootloaders, and DRM, which triggers a friendly shouting match. As always there are plenty of upcoming and rumored phones on the horizon to drool over. And on this special 50th show, Antuan finally admits that he was wrong about something... a lot of things actually. All of that and more on this episode of Android Atlas Weekly.
One of Android's best selling points is that it's open-source and relatively easy to customize. Check out these videos showing you how to gain root access, how to flash a custom ROM, and how to restore the device back to factory settings.
You have to get root access to do deep-level customizations that will make your phone truly your own. We show you how to do it.


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Grilled Steak With Blue Cheese Potatoes
- Prep:
- Total Time:
- Servings: 4
Source: Dinner at Home, 2009
- 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary, plus sprigs for garnish
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1 3/4 pounds skirt steak
- 1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes
- Coarse salt
- 3 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
Preheat grill to high. Stir garlic, rosemary, Worcestershire sauce, and oil in a nonreactive dish; season with pepper. Place steak in dish, cutting to fit if necessary; coat both sides with marinade. Marinate, turning once, 15 minutes, or up to overnight in the refrigerator.
Cover potatoes with cold water in a medium saucepan; add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer until just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain; let cool slightly. Slice potatoes in half, and brush lightly with oil; season with salt and pepper.
Grill steak, turning once, to desired doneness, 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Set aside. Meanwhile, grill potatoes, turning once, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Immediately sprinkle with cheese. Thinly slice steak against grain. Divide steak and potatoes among 4 plates. Serve, garnished with rosemary sprigs.
Reviews (5)
smd1227 15 Jan, 2010
My husband doesn't like blue cheese so I used Boursin instead. Excellent!!!
elin_beckmann 7 Oct, 2008
The marinade is delicious, definately recommend this. Easy to make too.
JMSmomof3 14 Jul, 2008
Excellent! And very easy to make. Great for having friends over as you can do most of the work ahead of time and just put it on the grill for 5 mnutes when you are ready to eat!
radioflyermq 11 Jul, 2008
This is very, very good.
fairycake 25 May, 2008
Sensational ! I used fresh rosemary from the garden and the aroma was heavenly !


text:
- Filed Under
The question of whether to partially surrender in the drug war and legalize marijuana is a difficult one. As "laboratories of democracy" the states that have legalized are worth observing closely to learn more.
The questions I have for marijuana enthusiasts go beyond legalization: Why, if marijuana is such an ideal drug, does demand for harder drugs exist? Why is pot a "gateway" drug, rather than an end in itself exclusively? What is it about abusing any substance that leaves one unfulfilled and left searching for ... something else?
Mike Streb
Iowa City


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I think most intelligent buyers, and face it, that is Apples target market, realize that there is an infinite supply but the price is always the same. There are no bargains, no haggling, no wait for it to go on sale that every other vendor resorts to. You want it, you buy it. That is all there is to it. It is hardly ever really sold out. You might have to order online and wait two weeks but intelligent people are usually patient people, even those who insist on waiting in queue at the Apple store.
Bingo! Especially the part I bolded.
Again, it really isn't that complicated:
The only marketing strategy Apple needs is to make "insanely great" products!
The rest, as they say, will take care of itself.


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Match stats - Leicester City 2 Bristol City 0: Standing ovation for Nigel Pearson's men
Posted: October 08, 2012|
After their barnstorming victory at Huddersfield Town earlier in the week, City boss Nigel Pearson stuck with the same starting line-up.
All eyes were on French winger Anthony Knockaert to see if he could replicate his match-winning performance from the victory at the John Smith's Stadium.
1 min: Early chance for the visitors as Adomah crosses for Sam Baldock but his header is straight at Kasper Schmiechel. Could have been a disastrous start for City.
4 mins: Danny Drinkwater plays in Lloyd Dyer behind the Robins back four and his low cross just evades Jamie Vardy.
6 mins: Knockaert is picked out superbly by Drinkwater. He cuts inside off the right flank and his clever through ball finds David Nugent but Tom Heaton saves with his feet. Knockaert is already showing glimpses of his crowd-pleasing qualities.
8 mins: Dyer shows great skill to skip past Louis Carey inside the area and he tests Heaton at his near post, but the keeper palms it behind for a corner.
14 mins: Knockaert is fouled 20 yards out and then bends the free-kick around the wall for Heaton to touch it around his near post at full stretch.
19 mins: What a miss by Nugent. Andy King does well to pick up the ball 25 yards out and plays in Vardy, who elects to pass instead of shoot. He tees up Knockaert who picks out Nugent with teasing cross but the striker heads over from close range.
20 mins: Goal (1-0) Nugent makes amends instantly by out-muscling Liam Fontaine and slips the ball past Heaton into the far corner. Vardy did well to play-in his strike partner.
29 mins: Morgan shows his strength to snuff out danger as Baldock and Cole Skuse combine. City have taken their foot off the gas a little and the visitors are getting into the game.
36 mins: Knockaert tries a long-range effort but it is comfortable for Heaton.
37 mins: Quick break for City and Knockaert tees up Vardy but again he elects to pass instead of shooting in a good position. Nugent scuffs his shot.
45+1 mins: A great first 30 minutes by City but they lose some momentum towards the end of the half.
HALF-TIME: City 1 Bristol City 0
46 mins: Ritchie De Laet comes on for Paul Konchesky at the start of the second half.
51 mins: Ben Marshall on for Vardy. Knockaert moves central behind Nugent.
52 mins: The ball falls for King inside the area and he drags his shot just wide.
58 mins: City break away with Nugent, who plays in Knockaert. He takes a touch and that allows Richard Foster to get in a block. City still have not found the rhythm they possessed at the start of the game but still look the more likely to add to their tally.
61 mins: Sean St Ledger goes down in a heap with a hamstring injury, to further reduce City's defensive options.
63 mins: Zak Whitbread comes on for St Ledger.
68 mins: Drinkwater plays-in Knockaert, who runs at the Bristol defence and tees up Dyer. However, his fellow winger can't get his shot away. Knockaert is still the one likely to unlock this Robins defence.
72 mins: A warning for City as Fontaine heads just wide from a corner.
73 mins: GOAL (2-0) Great work from King to get to the by-line and send over an enticing cross, which is begging to be put away and Foster does just that, in his own net, under pressure from Nugent.
85 mins: Whitbread gives it away to Davies on the halfway line and the Bristol substitute tries to chip Schmeichel from long range but harmlessly over-hits his shot.
86 mins: Marshall crosses from the by-line for Dyer but his shot is blocked.
90+4 mins: Nugent robs Skuse and races towards goal before teeing up Knockaert. He steps inside the last defender and tries to curl it around Heaton, but the Robins keeper makes a great save. That would have been a wonderful way to round off what had been a wonderful afternoon for City.
FINAL WHISTLE: City's fifth consecutive victory has sent them to the top of the Championship for a few hours at least. Pearson's men are given a standing ovation. Pearson and Craig Shakespeare wait to shake every player's hand as they walk off the pitch.
FULL-TIME: City 2 Bristol City 0


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|What Is Wireless-N?
|Q: What is Wireless-N (draft 802.11n)?
A: Wireless-N draft 802.11n version 1.0A: The 802.11n standard will be the next generation of high-speed Wi-Fi, capable of delivering the range and capacity to support today's most bandwidth-hungry applications, like streaming HD (High Definition) video, voice and music. Currently approved for 1.0 draft status by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) Task Group-N committee, final 802.11n specification is expected to be approved in 2008.
|Q: How does Wireless-N work?
A: Wireless-N uses multiple technologies such as MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output), which utilizes multiple radios to transmit and receive at the same time to maximize wireless networking performance. While MIMO itself is not a standard, it is the underlying technology behind the throughput increase in 802.11n. These multiple radios transmit multiple streams of data called "spatial streams." The higher the number of spatial streams, the higher the throughput. Numerous streams of content can move over the same channel at the same time, multiplying the capacity of each channel. Wireless-N can further double the capacity by optionally using two 20MHz channels. With smart antenna technology, strong, weak and reflected signals are combined into one data stream for maximum range--virtually eliminating dead spots throughout your home or office.
|Q: What can I do with Wireless-N?
A: The Wireless-N gigabit router (WRT310N) and Wireless-N broadband router (WRT160N) delivers enough speed, range and reliability to support streaming HD video while simultaneously listening to your digital music collection, making Internet VoIP (Voice over IP) phone calls, and playing multiplayer online games when used with the Linksys Wireless-N laptop adapter (WPC300N). Wireless network performance can reach speeds faster than wired Ethernet speeds.*
* Actual data throughput will vary. Network conditions and environmental factors lower actual data throughput rate
|Q: Is 802.11n compatible with my existing networking devices?
A: Yes. 802.11n is required to be backward compatible and interoperable with 802.11b/g devices.
|Q: Is Wireless-N secure?
A: Yes. Linksys Wireless-N products use today's most robust security methods like WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption along with SPI/NAT firewalls to keep your network safe and data protected from unauthorized access.
The Wireless-N standard has the speed, range and capacity to support today's most bandwidth-hungry applications.


text:
Getting a new computer for Christmas? Don't throw your old one in the trash! A South Florida non-profit will recycle your electronics for you.
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text:
NanoPoint's value has already been demonstrated on early metal layers, where line-edge roughness (LER) on dense pattern had previously limited the ability to detect tiny yield-killing defects inline at advanced nodes.
"Our customers are highly motivated to continue to extend optical inline defect inspection beyond the 20nm node," said Keith Wells , vice president and general manager of the Wafer Inspection (WIN) Division at KLA-Tencor. "They want the speed and baseline preservation that only optical inspection can provide—and our challenge is to design equipment that can discover defects whose size is further and further below the inspection wavelength. In the past we have offered various improvements to the light source, optics and other subsystems, but NanoPoint addresses the issue from a new angle. Based on customer feedback, I believe that NanoPoint is a breakthrough technology with the potential for applicability across a broad range of layers and process modules."
NanoPoint focuses the resources of the optical inspection system on critical patterns, as identified either by circuit designers or by known defect sites. During chip development, NanoPoint can reveal the need for mask re-design within hours, potentially accelerating the identification and resolution of design issues from months to days. During volume production, NanoPoint can selectively track defectivity within critical patterns—allowing process monitoring with sensitivity and speed far beyond the industry's experience to date.
Backed by several new patents, the NanoPoint technology is a product of KLA-Tencor's commitment to long-term R&D, within both the WIN Division and KT Labs, the research arm of the office of the Chief Technology Officer, Ben Tsai , Ph.D. Multiple NanoPoint systems have been installed at leading logic, foundry and memory chip manufacturers in North America, Europe and Asia. To learn more about the NanoPoint technology, please visit KLA-Tencor's 2900 Series product web page.
Source: http://www.kla-tencor.com/
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