text:
Hinckley 37By Pete McDonald
There are no second acts in American lives." This famous quote from author F. Scott Fitzgerald buzzed in my head as I arrived at Old Port Marina in North Palm Beach, Florida, ready to board Friendship, a new Hinckley Picnic Boat MKIII. The 37-footer, a redesign, represented a second act of sorts for Hinckley, which defined the category when it launched its original 36-foot picnic boat in 1994. Making major changes to a classic is a bold move, and before laying eyes on Friendship I had to wonder, was Fitzgerald right?
Hinckley would respond no. The company says that despite making its debut in the midst of this recession, the MKIII is its most successful new model ever. Hinckley based its changes not on whim, but on feedback from its customers and sales staff to improve the original picnic boat concept, presenting a final design that looks, handles, and performs better than the old one.
Still, I had to find out for myself. As I approached Friendship from the dock with Eric Champlin, senior sales director at Hinckley Yachts, she already commanded my full attention, with her teak trim, mirror-like blue gelcoat, and classic tumblehome. Yeah, she'd be right at home in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.
The MKIII certainly looks like the original, and she serves the same purpose, but in layout and design she is an entirely different animal. Start with the fact that the first picnic boat carried a single 315-hp engine. The latest version employs two: twin 300-mhp Volvo Penta D4 diesels. Owners had been asking for more horsepower, and Hinckley obliged on the old version to a point, running a single 435-hp diesel on some models.
The single-engine configuration meant the engine and waterjet had to be mounted along the centerline, and the boat needed a flatter running surface to climb onto and stay up on plane. Newer, lighter diesels are what allowed Hinckley to use twins and bring the total horsepower to 600.
My test boat's new hull design, by architect Michael Peters, deepened the V from 15 degrees of deadrise at the transom to 19 degrees. The new hull is dryer with better seakeeping abilities. "She's got the capabilities with the twin engines and more deadrise to be a more serious offshore boat," explains Champlin. Peters also added four inches to the LOA and 1'3" to the beam (36'11"x 11'3"). The extra engine and jet drive, combined with the larger build, increase the dry weight by 5,500 pounds.
Hopping onboard, the side-entry drop steps immediately caught my attention. They fold down from their recessed points in the teak coaming boards and line up with the teak grabrails on the hardtop so you have a handhold as you board. Friendship's optional teak decking gave her the air of a classic, as it did on the old models.
The twin Hamilton waterjets reside under the cockpit; an in-sole hatch provides access. The buckets and nozzles, which control direction, hide under the standard swim platform. That means there is no running gear underneath the hull, giving this 37-footer a skinny draft of just 2'1" (seven inches deeper than her predecessor), easing some of the worry associated with close-quarters boating.
The powerplants sit directly under the pilothouse with 110-gallon fuel tanks mounted outboard on either side. The original tanks held 83 gallons each, but extra fuel was needed to compensate for the added weight and horsepower and to keep the cruising range at more than 200 NM.
Walking up the single step into the pilothouse gave me an even greater appreciation of this latest incarnation. The first thing I noticed is how much you can actually see. For an enclosed helm it felt airy and open, no matter where I sat. Hinckley owners wanted the person at the helm to feel more connected to the outdoors, and the deeper V allowed the builder to raise the pilothouse without making the 37's lines too tall and boxy, giving passengers 6'5" headroom under the hardtop and a higher vantage point.
"We worked very hard on the sightlines so that not only the helmsman but all passengers have visibility from the pilothouse," says Champlin as we sit on opposing settees, a layout change from the L-shape lounge to port on the old models.
Another noticeable change is that the engines are completely below decks, rather than housed in an engine box. The single engine sat partly under the old L-lounge and extended aft into the cockpit, eating into open space. Now, engine access is through a small hatch in the deck to check the fuel filters and basics; the entire deck lifts on an electric hatch for service access.
Much of my test boat's open feel came from the overhead hatches and side windows that slide open with the push of a button. These power windows slide back and then inside the aft fixed piece, opening twice as wide as the earlier manually operated windows. The new glass sits on a durable stainless steel track, an upgrade from the previous aluminum frames.
Additional light shines down from the 32" x 32" Man Ship hatches overhead, which are more than twice the size of the old picnic boat's hatches. They, too, are power-actuated, with sturdy dual cylinders that hold them steady even when they're open underway. And when open, the hatches funnel fresh air directly to the captain and passenger in the standard Stidd pedestal seats. Each seat has its own hatch and window controls, plus separate air-conditioning vents in the inwales and controls on the dash if the fresh air isn't doing the job. It's like dual-zone climate control in a car.
I exited the voluminous pilothouse, took two steps down into the cabin, and noticed something else: I could stand up straight. The new design added four inches to the total cabin headroom, now 6'3". That's key for taking a shower in the head to starboard, for prepping a meal at the port-side galley, or for overnighting.
Both above and below decks, Friendship showed she's more evolved than her picnic predecessors, but she shares one constant with the rest of the Hinckley family—the JetStick control. I grew up as part of the Atari generation, so manipulating a joystick is nothing new. Nor is operating a boat with one, having experienced it firsthand with pod drives, inboards, and stern drives. But this was my first time using my fingertips to drive a jetboat. I had to clear my head of my previous jet-powered experiences—personal watercraft, flat-bottomed river skiffs, and flighty runabouts. The popular wisdom is that jet-powered boats have no steerage at slow speeds. At the helm of the Hinckley MKIII, that notion couldn't be more off base.
The Hamilton waterjets are nothing more than big water pumps connected to diesel engines. They pick up water at high volume, low pressure and discharge it at low volume, high pressure, creating thrust. Semi-circular buckets downstream of the jet nozzles move up and down for forward and reverse while the nozzles themselves pivot side to side to alter direction. The buckets are synched so they respond in unison when you move the joystick.
Hinckley's patented JetStick control has three modes: Docking Mode that adds the use of a hydraulic bow thruster for close quarters handling, Power Steer Mode that allows for total joystick control underway, and Helm Mode that provides for more conventional steering with the wheel.
Getting started, I had to disabuse myself of the need to grab the wheel and work the throttle levers in forward and reverse. To go reverse, you leave the throttle levers in forward and pull the joystick back. Once I got the hang of it, I realized that in close quarters the MKIII has a feature no other boat can match: brakes. Sure, prop boats will stop if you throw back the throttles, but the sensation is anything but smooth. With waterjets, the engines don't have gears—the buckets control forward and reverse, not the transmission. So the engines maintain smooth operation while the buckets change the flow direction.
The jets are so responsive in docking mode that I moved the joystick in reverse, and Friendship came to a near dead stop. I could spin her on her axis, crab sideways with the thruster, and hold position with almost no effort.
Underway, I had flashbacks to the classic Atari game "Tank Commander," navigating through a crowded Intracoastal Waterway at 20 knots with a slight twist of my fingers. The deeper V helped the boat track straight and execute lock-to-lock turns at wide-open with no blowout or slippage. We handled several large wakes from fast-moving sportfishermen; the only time we took spray on the windshield was when I hit a rolling three-footer head-on at WOT. I brought Friendship back to Old Port Marina in Helm Mode, getting a feel for how she steered with the wheel. She did just fine, tracking as straight as any prop boat I've driven.
In many ways the MKIII is exactly the same as the original Picnic Boat, built with the same SCRIMP Kevlar and Carbon composite hull with vinylester resin. But all the changes are for the better. No second acts? In this case, F. Scott Fitzgerald, you were dead wrong.
Hinckley (207) 244-5531. www.powerandmotoryacht.com/hinckley/.
This article originally appeared in the May 2010 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.


text:
Hi guys, I've been working in south Dakota quit abit this year and usually have 3 day weekends!
I was planning on purchasing a archery deer tag. I have a buddy that ranches around Isabel, sd, I would like to hunt that area
Does any one no cost for tags?
Non res archery deer?
Non res archery antelope?
Or am I to late to apply for non res tags?
I would appreciate any recommendations!
I would look into this I just don't have much time
Thanks every one and good luck this season!!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Comedian Joan Rivers remained on life support on Tuesday after being hospitalized in serious condition due to cardiac arrest, her daughter Melissa said.
Rivers, 81, was hospitalized in New York last week after she stopped breathing during outpatient surgery on her vocal cords at a Manhattan clinic.
"On behalf of my mother and our family, we are extremely grateful for all the love and support we've received. At this time, she does remain on life support," Melissa Rivers said in a statement.
She added that her mother would be overwhelmed by the kindness people have shown, and thanked everyone for keeping her mother in their prayers.
PHOTOS: Joan Rivers through the years
Rivers, an actress and stand-up comedian known for her acerbic brand of humor, has been at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan since Thursday.
The comedian, who once described herself as the "plastic surgery poster girl" and joked about her numerous procedures, stopped breathing after suffering cardiac arrest.
A representative for the comedian said media reports that her family was planning to sue the endoscopy clinic where she was treated were not true.
During her lengthy career, the husky-voiced, Brooklyn-born comedian won fame for her put-downs and was known for asking, "Can we talk?"
Rivers wanted to be an actress but got into comedy after writing sketches for television's "The Ed Sullivan Show." A career in stand-up followed. She later worked as a regular guest host for Johnny Carson on NBC's "The Tonight Show."
When she started her own late-night talk show in 1986, on the rival Fox network, it caused a falling-out with Carson that lasted until he died in 2005. Rivers' show was canceled after seven months.
Rivers also had an Emmy Award-winning daytime talk show, "The Joan Rivers Show," and later hosted "Fashion Police," commenting on the unfortunate red carpet choices of celebrities.
Rivers won Donald Trump's reality TV show "The Apprentice" in 2009 and starred in the reality TV program "Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?"
(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; Additional reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy in Los Angeles; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)


text:
Tuberculosis treatment in children
The latest evidence-based dosing recommendations replace previous recommendations which were deemed to provide inadequate therapeutic levels. Available products on the market do not cover the new dosages, but can be used as an interim measure until appropriate products are developed.
Make medicines child size
Improving child health is a global priority. Access to simple, affordable medicines could prevent or treat the conditions which cause more than 8.1 million deaths of children under five each year.
WHO assists countries in improving access to and use of safe and appropriate medicines for children. Through advocacy we aim to raise awareness of the need for safe, effective and appropriate medicines for children. Working in partnerships, we endeavour to improve regulatory and licensing procedures and advance research and development. We publish information and guidelines to support policy makers and health-care workers in providing the right medicines to children.
Country work on better medicines for children
India, Ghana and The United Republic of Tanzania have been implementing the Better Medicines for Children project with the objective of improving access to and use of appropriate medicines for children.
WHO Model List of Essential Medicines for Children
The last meeting of the Expert Committee on Selection and Use of Medicine took place in Geneva, Switzerland in 20-24 April 2015. Updates were made to the Model List of Essential Medicines for Children.
Children's medicines: A situational analysis (2011)
pdf, 513kb
Communications Quick Planning Guide
pdf, 451kb
Revised Expression of Interest (EOI) for manufacturers for TB medicines
Guidelines for treating paediatric tuberculosis were revised in 2010, creating a need for revised formats of medicines. An expression of interest has been issued by the WHO Prequalification of Medicines. Please refer to the PQP site for more information.
- Priority Medicines for Maternal and Child Health: A Global Survey of National Essential Medicines Lists
Editor's choice
Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
20 Avenue Appia
CH-1211 Geneva 27


text:
Three Legged Pig's Eddie House is a Green Renovation of an Edwardian Era Home in...
Photo by Mark Andrew Boyer
We toured the Eddie House this weekend as part of AIA SF's 10th annual San Francisco Living: Homes Tours, and came away impressed with Three Legged Pig's handiwork. The living and dining rooms flow comfortably into the kitchen.
Read more >


text:
This is a year when I want to save myself for the most important tournaments coming up now – the French, Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open. That's when I want to have extra energy. It was part of my scheduling that I knew maybe I wouldn't win a tournament early on.
- Roger Federer on his goals for the rest of the 2008 season
Why can't other ballers take this approach?
(image via Getty)


text:
That's what I was thinking, groove the bushing, drill and tap it for the greas fitting, drill a hole to fit it, and have the bushing and grease fitting screw together and 'sandwich' the steel of the swingarm.On a less intensive path, couldn't you just make urethane bushing instead of bronze? Gotta be easier to shape and less play but not none, doesn't transmit all the stress to the swingarm. Of course, they need to be lubed too or they stick and squeak. Rubber is more forgiving.Scott
My estimation would be that if they are plastic, they are already something like polyurethane, and I doubt that any real improvement would be found with bronze.It might just be best to leave them as they are.
Molybdenum disulphide filled Nylon 6/6 http://www.mcmaster.com/#nylon/=7sqjejor 6/12 http://www.mcmaster.com/#nylon/=7sqlfu
Any other way of reducing side ways or X movement of swing arm?
Tom , I recently sorted a 55 frame out for another british bullatier (dan ford), the frame was old and the paint was tired after having it chemicly cleaned , you can see all the braizing on it?I then got it proffesdsionally painted for himthe earlier UK bikes used a bronze bush settup at the back with pleanty of grease nipples , I replaced the shaft as it was a bit "dull" , what a nice setup!enfield thought proper in those days , the outer large nuts were made in such a way that a screw was placed in the frame and locked the nuts , the quality of the frame inc the headstock , made the indian frame look like a "photocopy" read from a distance ,,,
Page created in 0.101 seconds with 36 queries.


text:
Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - The Atlanta Falcons got their revenge, and made
quite a statement as well in doing so. Matt Ryan threw three touchdown passes,
including a pair to Julio Jones, and the Falcons dealt the New York Giants
their first regular-season shutout in 16 years with an authoritative 34-0
victory at the Georgia Dome. Atlanta (12-2) got its payback for a 24-2
throttling by the Giants during last season's NFC Wild Card Playoffs behind a
near-flawless performance from Ryan, with the standout quarterback completing
a sharp 23-of-28 passes for 270 yards without a turnover. The Falcons' defense
did its part as well, intercepting New York's Eli Manning twice in the first
half and stopping the Giants on downs three times over the course of the game.
Manning managed just 161 yards on an off-target 14-of-26 efficiency as New
York (8-6) was held scoreless in a non-playoff setting for the first time
since a 24-0 setback at Philadelphia on Dec. 1, 1996. Jones ended with 74
yards on six catches and Tony Gonzalez added a touchdown grab for the NFC
South champion Falcons, who can clinch a first-round playoff bye if San
Francisco loses to New England on Sunday night. The result could be
considerably more costly for the Giants, now 2-4 over their last six outings.
New York would relinquish its one-game lead over Dallas and Washington in the
NFC East if either the Cowboys or Redskins win their Week 15 matchups.
Final Score: Denver 34, Baltimore 17
Baltimore, MD (Sports Network) - The Denver Broncos hadn't beaten the Ravens
in Baltimore in their last five tries. But that was before they had Peyton
Manning. Manning tossed a touchdown pass, Knowshon Moreno ran for a score and
the surging Broncos won their ninth straight game with a 34-17 thumping of the
Ravens. Manning, who has won each of his past nine starts against Baltimore,
including two playoff meetings, threw for 204 yards on 17-of-28 efficiency for
Denver (11-3), which is in the midst of its longest winning streak since the
1998 squad won their first 13 contests en route to the team's second
consecutive Super Bowl. Moreno carried the ball 22 times for 118 yards, Eric
Decker caught eight passes for 133 yards and a score and Chris Harris returned
an interception 98 yards for a touchdown in the triumph. Following last
Sunday's 31-28 overtime setback to the Washington Redskins, the Ravens fired
offensive coordinator Cam Cameron a day later and elevated quarterbacks coach
and one of Manning's mentors, Jim Caldwell, to the post. The offense, though,
didn't get the jolt it was looking for. Baltimore (9-5), which has lost three
straight contests, registered three-and- outs on each of its first five
possessions and didn't record its initial first down until Bernard Pierce
broke off a 14-yard run on a 2nd-and-6 at the 8:12 mark of the second quarter.
Joe Flacco was 20-of-40 for 254 yards with two touchdowns and an interception
in defeat.
Final Score: Green Bay 21, Chicago 13
Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - James Jones caught three touchdown passes from
Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers wrapped up the NFC North with a 21-13
win over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday. Aaron Rodgers finished
the game 23-for-36 for 291 yards for the Packers (10-4), who have won three
straight and eight of their last nine to roll to their second straight
division crown. Kicker Mason Crosby continued to struggle for Green Bay,
missing both of his field goal attempts as he is now just 9-for-18 in his past
seven games. Randall Cobb had six catches for 115 yards in the game. Jay
Cutler passed for just 135 yards on 12-of-21 attempts with a touchdown and an
interception for the Bears (8-6), who have lost three straight games and five
of six to see their division title hopes end and have their postseason chances
placed in jeopardy.
Final Score: Washington 38, Cleveland 21
Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - After leading the Redskins to a come-from-
behind win last weekend, rookie Kirk Cousins once again stepped up for
Washington in a big way. Starting in place of injured quarterback Robert
Griffin III, Cousins threw for 329 yards and two touchdowns in his first NFL
start to help the Redskins claim a 38-21 victory over the Cleveland Browns
and a share of first place in the NFC East. Winners of five straight for
the first time since 2005, the Redskins (8-6) find themselves tied for the
division lead with the New York Giants, who were blown out, 34-0, on Sunday
against the Falcons in Atlanta. Leonard Hankerson hauled in both of
Cousins' TD passes, and while Alfred Morris was held under the century
mark for the first time in four games, he did rush for 87 yards and two
touchdowns on 27 carries in the win. Trent Richardson ran for two scores to
set a new franchise record for rookie rushing touchdowns in a season, but
only amassed 28 yards on 11 carries as Cleveland (5-9) was denied a chance
at its first four-game winning streak since 2009. Brandon Weeden threw for
244 yards and a touchdown, but added two second-half interceptions. He
completed 21-of-35 passes in the setback.
Final Score: Houston 29, Indianapolis 17
Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Matt Schaub threw a touchdown pass to Andre
Johnson, Arian Foster gained 165 yards on 27 carries and the Houston Texans
shook off a humbling beatdown at New England with a division-clinching 29-17
win over the Indianapolis Colts at Reliant Stadium. Schaub ended with 261
yards on 23-of-31 efficiency for the Texans (12-2), who rebounded from Monday
night's 42-14 loss to capture their second straight AFC South title. Johnson
made 11 catches for 151 yards. Indianapolis rookie Andrew Luck had two
touchdown passes, but was held to 186 yards on a season-low 13 completions in
27 attempts. The Colts (9-5) had won seven of their last eight games. However,
the seven victories had come against teams that entered Week 15 with a
combined 29-62 record. The one loss in that span came against New England in
similar fashion to Sunday's setback, a 59-24 blowout on Nov. 18.
Final Score: Miami 24, Jacksonville 3
Miami, FL (Sports Network) - The Miami Dolphins must be happy with their
quarterback decision. Rookie Ryan Tannehill threw a pair of touchdown
passes and former Miami starter Chad Henne struggled in his return to
Sun Life Stadium, as the Dolphins earned a 24-3 victory over the
Jacksonville Jaguars. Henne spent the previous four seasons in Miami and
had a record of 13-18 as the Dolphins' starting quarterback, including 0-4
last year before a shoulder injury ended his campaign in October. He left
as a free agent to sign with Jacksonville in March and the Dolphins
selected Tannehill with the eighth overall pick in the draft. Tannehill won
the job in a training camp battle with Matt Moore and has led the Dolphins
(6-8) to as many wins as they had all of last year. On Sunday he completed
22-of-28 passes for 220 yards without an interception and also ran for 52
yards on eight carries. Reggie Bush added 104 yards on the ground for Miami,
which dominated for most of the second half and scored the game's final 24
points. The Dolphin defense also stopped the Jaguars three times on fourth
down inside Miami territory. Henne took over as the Jacksonville starter when
Blaine Gabbert went down for the season in mid-November. He connected on
18-of-34 throws for 221 yards Sunday in defeat. The Jaguars (2-12) have
dropped three in a row and are one loss away from having the worst season
in franchise history, surpassing the 4-12 mark in the club's 1995 expansion
Final Score: New Orleans 41, Tampa Bay 0
New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - After two less-than-stellar performances,
Drew Brees looked like a two-time NFL Offensive Player of the Year once again.
Brees completed 26-of-39 passes for 307 yards and four touchdowns to lead the
New Orleans Saints to a 41-0 drubbing of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
Lance Moore, Joe Morgan, David Thomas and Darren Sproles each caught a
touchdown pass for the Saints (6-8), who put the brakes on a three-game losing
streak. Jabari Greer had two interceptions in the win. Josh Freeman struggled,
completing 26-of-47 passes for 279 yards, four interceptions and a lost
fumble. Doug Martin, who was second in the league in yards from scrimmage
entering the game, picked up just 35 yards combined for the Buccaneers (6-8),
losers of four straight.
Final Score: Minnesota 36, St. Louis 22
St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Adrian Peterson ran for 212 yards --
including an 82-yard touchdown -- on 24 carries on Sunday, as the Minnesota
Vikings dropped the St. Louis Rams, 36-22, on Sunday at Edward Jones Dome.
Peterson has 1,812 rushing yards this season and still has a shot at reaching
Eric Dickerson's NFL record of 2,105 rushing yards in a single season, as he
sits just 294 yards short of eclipsing the mark with two games to play.
Christian Ponder threw for 131 yards on 17-of-24 passing and ran for a
touchdown, while Blair Walsh kicked five field goals for the Vikings (8-6),
who have won two straight and thrust themselves into the playoff picture,
moving into a second-place tie in the NFC North with the Chicago Bears, who
lost to Green Bay. Jerome Simpson led the receiving corps with four catches
and 27 yards, and Everson Griffen added a 29-yard pick-six for the Vikings.
Sam Bradford threw for 377 yards and three touchdowns on 35-of-55 passing,
while Stephen Jackson ran for 73 yards on 13 carries. Jackson became the 27th
player in NFL history to reach the 10,000 rushing yard plateau with a 9-yard
dash in the third quarter, but it wasn't enough for the Rams (6-7-1), who had
a three-game winning streak snapped. Danny Amendola, Lance Kendricks and Brian
Quick caught touchdown passes in the setback.
Thursday, December 13th
Final Score: Cincinnati 34, Philadelphia 13
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - It took a second-half resurgence, but the
Cincinnati Bengals kept their hopes of a second straight playoff appearance
alive on Thursday night. The Bengals scored 24 unanswered points in the second
half off four Philadelphia turnovers, as Cincinnati's defense stifled the
mistake-prone Philadelphia Eagles in a 34-13 triumph at Lincoln Financial
Field. BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown on 25
carries, while Andy Dalton threw for 127 yards and a score on 13-of-27 passing
and also rushed for a touchdown in the victory. Defensive tackle Wallace
Gilberry added a 25-yard fumble return touchdown for the Bengals (8-6), who
have won five of six and trail the Baltimore Ravens by just one game for the
AFC North division lead after they were trounced by the Denver Broncos, 34-17,
on Sunday. Cincinnati travels to Pittsburgh next Sunday to take on the
Steelers. Eagles rookie quarterback Nick Foles finished 16-of-33 passing for
182 yards with a touchdown pass, an interception and a fumble, while fellow
rookie Bryce Brown rushed for just 34 yards on 16 carries in the setback.
Jeremy Maclin hauled in four passes for a game-high 73 yards for the Eagles
(4-10), who snapped an eight-game losing streak last weekend with a last-
second triumph in Tampa Bay.
The Sports Network


text:
Create your free personal fundraising account now
Sign in below to manage your personal, memorial or tribute fundraising page.
If you are trying to access your myNAMI account, discussion groups or NAMI 360, please sign in at www.nami.org/logon.
If you are a microsite administrator, you may also sign in below.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact webmaster.


text:
Novak Djokovic was spotted working some different kind of balls during a practice session at Indian Wells.
The defending champ shook off some rust during his 7-5, 6-4 defeat of Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello and will be looking to get his game in second gear when he faces Tommy Haas for a spot in the fourth round.
I guess some practice is in order. Just make it shirtless next time Nole. Pretty please?
Monday, March 16, 2009
PHOTO OP: Nole flashes treasure trail for Indian Wells fans
Labels: Novak Djokovic, photo op, practice, tennis
10 comments:
See, this is the Nole i like to see. The fun loving type. Not the "me against the world" angry Nole. This guy just needs to mature a bit and he'll see its all about the tennis and nothing else.ReplyDelete
Nole's such a tease...ReplyDelete
SarooQ: I couldn't agree more.
- AnonymousMarch 16, 2009 at 10:30 AM
lol last picture,ReplyDelete
Jipsy is reallly hot, cute and nerdy (looking) hahahahahah! and Nole looks like he's touching himslef on the last pic?! lolReplyDelete
So true guys. In fact, none of the Serbs are happy and smiley anymore on court. I wouldn't even blame the results - I think if they actually found the fun in their games again and weren't so hard on themselves they'd find their mojo again.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMarch 16, 2009 at 8:36 PM
i love the last pic there, cheery serbs, aw :)ReplyDelete
"Novak Djokovic was spotted working some different kind of balls during a practice session at Indian Wells."ReplyDelete
I was SO thinking something else before I scrolled down to the football pic. 0:-)
HAHA the treasure trail kinda leads in the... er... wrong direction.
But hey, beggars can't be choosers I guess. :P
sonja: HA - that story will be featured on the new tennisperv.com site!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMarch 17, 2009 at 9:29 AM
Nole is great when he's happy and smiling and just being himself. SarooQ is right about the angry part, it's not fun to watch him like that.ReplyDelete
No booty call for Novak? -is disappointed and suicidal now-
- AnonymousSeptember 26, 2009 at 4:40 PM
Actually I find angry Nole very entertaining to watch, am I the only one? He looks so sexy when he's angry... hmmm. But of course I want him happy and winning everything! Gorgeous guy, no other quite like him. Do you think he can be cloned?ReplyDelete


text:
The multi-tool powerhouse with all-locking blades
This beefed-up multi-tool is ideal for those with larger hands or for big jobs. Built with new, stronger jaws to deliver more squeezing force with less effort, helping you maintain a firm grip. Constructed from stainless steel. Overall length: 4-1/2" closed; 7" open. Includes a leather carrying case. Backed by Leatherman's 25-year warranty.
Components include: Regular and needlenose pliers; wire cutters; saw; serrated knife; clip-point knife; scissors; small bit driver; large flat-blade screwdrivers; can opener; bottle opener; diamond file blade; and an awl with thread loop.
2016 Master Catalog: Page 611


text:
Hidden Dragon Crouching Tiger
|Release Date: December 08, 2000
|Running Time: 120 mins.
|MPAA Rating: PG 13
|Box Office: $128,067,808.00
|Genre: Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Foreign, Period, Romance
Chow Yun-Fat
Michelle Yeoh
Zhang Ziyi
Ang Lee
All Cast & Crew >>
Summary:Legendary martial artist Li Mu Bai is tracking the murderer of his master. The poised and self-assured Li can handle anything -- except his feelings for lithe, pantherish Yu Shu Lien. Jen Yu, the tremulous and spoiled daughter of the Province's governor, is also fascinated by Shu Lien's glamorous life: that a woman can have so many adventures and such freedom is marvelous to her. Though the refined Jen is soon to be married off into respectability, she harbors a sinister plan. By night she transforms into a masked and cunning thief, out to steal the Green Destiny, an invincible blade once wielded by Li. At the same time, Li embarks on his own quest to recover the missing sword, possibly the ... Full Summary >>


text:
NMCA's Nostalgia Super StockWritten by on May 1, 2001 Who Says You Can't Go Back Again?
Mopar Muscle's focus has been, and will always be, the era of Chrysler's ground-pounding machines of the 1960s and '70s. These were the cars that gave true meaning to the words "performance era." While some may argue that the Pentastar troops lacked innovative styling in the earliest days of the Max Wedge, there was no denying that when the flag came down, the horsepower told the story. Indeed, while Pontiac's GTO and Ford's Mustang may have gotten kinder accolades in the automotive press, no one ever denied that when it came to blistering tires and reaching the finish line first, these cars had no equal.
Even today, Chrysler's barely-streetable packages rule the upper echelons of the quarter-mile. Only the advent of recently-"discovered" Chevrolet Camaro and Corvette combinations have allowed anything but Mopars to run in the upper realms of the Stock and Super Stock divisions. To field a class-legal car in NHRA, and, to a lesser extent, IHRA, requires that the owner spend a great deal of money. Due to the attention to detail needed to find even miniscule amounts of horsepower, thousands upon thousands of dollars can be spent on finding the right set of heads or carburetors, and blueprinting that equipment to the most exact tolerances is a given. Once at the track, especially in Super Stock, the Max Wedge or Hemi racer may find himself or herself up against a late-model car whose scienced-out replacement suspension and digital engine controls give the newer vehicle inherent advantages. It isn't futile to race older cars in these classes, it's just not as fun as it used to be.
The advent of the National Muscle Car Association and other venues brought another racing option to owners of classics '60s-era package cars. This was through a new division known as Nostalgia Super Stock. Unlike the rules in traditional class racing, where vehicles are classed by combination, cars in the NSS division run off of set time indexes. For example, NSS/A is run off of a 10.00 index, with no breakout allowed. Therefore, it's no longer as critical to be able to run optimum times as it is to run consistent times. To keep qualifying level between packages, positions in the field are based on reaction time rather than elapsed time. The breakout rule remains in effect even for heads-up battles; if you run quicker than the index, you're out (unless the guy in the other lane was even quicker).
Moreover, the rules allow you to move around in the division as needed. For example, if you find that the car is having a hard time running NSS/B, the sanctioning body allows moving down (or up, if that's the case) even after qualifying has begun. In fact, as long as the tower is aware of your change, you can change anytime until the end of Saturday's final session.
In terms of combinations, the rules are fairly straightforward. The body must be one that was created between 1959 and 1969 by an American manufacturer. For Chrysler products, that includes Hemi and wedge motors in A-Bodies and B-Bodies, so long as the car was available from the factory with that particular engine. Hood scoops replicate original equipment, no high-tech monster scoops, while any fiberglass must exactly replace the stock steel panels. Engines are required to run gasoline (AFX machines can run methanol) and can displace as many cubic inches as you wish, so long as the engine is configured like the era-correct OE equipment (in other words, no Pro Stock motors). Weight has no minimum, while safety requirements identical to NHRA's make up the bulk of the remaining regulations. While single four-barrel combinations are allowed, multiple carbs are the norm.
The end result is a field of cars much closer to what would have raced each other in the heyday of the factory supercar. It is not all Mopars; Ford Thunderbolts, 409 Chevys, Super Duty Pontiacs and even AMXs create the picture, but, just as in the old days, the Mopars are by far the most abundant. A handful are factory-built Max Wedge and Hemi machines, while the remainder are well-done clones. This is beneficial for a number of reasons, but the most important is that the drivers can really drive these cars. This means wheelstands plus up-to-date rollcages and engine plates that don't harm a relic from the past.
The NMCA is an organization devoted to street-car performance. The evolution of the upper divisions has made some entries closer to IHRA Pro Modifieds than boulevard bruisers, but most of the nostalgia entries could be street driven if needed (just like the factory packages from the old days could). At the season-ending NMCA World Finals in Atlanta, we had a chance to catch up with some of the players in the Nostalgia Super Stock ranks. Here are a few of them.
More Photos From This Article View Slideshow
While many of the cars are clones of the classics, here is Jim Gilford at the wheel of a beautiful '64 Hemi Savoy, using the car as intended.Cars like Joe Ewing's '63 Dodge help make this a unique class. When was the last time you saw somebody thrashing away with a '63 Polara?Bob Wilsher's Louisiana-based '65 Plymouth proved it doesn't need to be high-tech to get off the ground. Here in Atlanta, his cloned A990 Belvedere left hard and reached for the stars, not once, but twice.


text:
Manchester Barstool
Please Select Size: Counter Height(40.5" H)
Please Select Color:
- Overview
Beautifully upholstered in Italian leather or our soft everydaysuede™, the Manchester brings distinguished style and supreme comfort to the bar. The deep seat cushion and gently pitched back are trimmed in antique-bronze nailheads, and the solid wood is finished by hand in a dark espresso.
- Counter Height: 23" wide x 23" deep x 40.5" high; seat height 24"
- Bar Height: 23" wide x 23" deep x 46.5" high; seat height 31"
- Expertly crafted of kiln-dried hardwood and finished by hand.
- Espresso stained frame.
- Full Grain, Full Aniline Dyed leather. Aniline-dyed leather will lighten and soften with both use and time and develop a rich, burnished patina.
- Leather is a natural product. Variations in color and texture are inherent to each hide; no two pieces are exactly alike.
- For all fabric choices (including Performance Fabrics), information and care, see: Fabric Guide.
- View our Furniture Brochure.
- Counter Height: 23" wide x 23" deep x 40.5" high; seat height 24"
- Dimensions & Care
- Espresso-stained chairs are crafted of rubber wood; Brushed-Oak-finished chair is crafted of ash.
- Crafted with a kiln-dried hardwood frame with corner blocking for structural integrity.
- Overall: 23" wide x 23" deep x 40.5" high
- Seat: 18" wide at front, 17.5" wide at back x 16" deep x 24" high
- Backrest:18" wide x 17.5" high x 4" thick
- Footrest: 8" high
- Distance Between Legs: 15" at front and back; 14" at sides
- Maximum Weight Capacity: 200 pounds
- Weight: 17 pounds
- Overall: 23" wide x 23" deep x 46.5" high
- Seat: 18" wide at front, 17.5" wide at back x 16" deep x 31" high
- Backrest:18" wide x 17.5" high x 4" thick
- Footrest: 12" high
- Distance Between Legs: 15" at front and back; 14" at sides
- Maximum Weight Capacity: 200 pounds
- Weight: 19 pounds
Counter Height
Bar Height
Care & Composition
View complete Care & Cleaning Instructions
View the composition and care of each of our upholstery fabrics
- Shipping & Return Info
This is a general shipping item.
Shipping Information
Return Policy
At Pottery Barn, we take great pride in the quality and craftsmanship of our products. Attention to design, materials, safety and construction is our priority. We carefully inspect your order prior to shipment. Upon receipt, please inspect your purchase and notify us of any damage; we will arrange for a prompt replacement. If, within 7 days for Quick Ship upholstery and 30 days for all other products, you are dissatisfied for any reason, you may return your purchase for a refund of the merchandise value.
We cannot accept returns on monogrammed, personalized, made to order items, or on items damaged through normal wear and tear. We also cannot accept returns of final-sale items which are identified by a price which ends in .99.
For returns of items purchased from your Pottery Barn registry, we will gladly provide a refund or exchange for the merchandise within 90 days of your event or within 90 days of purchase, whichever date is later.
You may return merchandise through the mail for a refund or replacement. For detailed procedures for returning items through the mail, please contact Customer Service at 1.888.779.5176, 7 days a week, 5:00am - 9:00pm (PT).


text:
Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) got six F's, one D and two C's in the 2012-2013 school report card released today by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE).
The school district got an F for state test results, closing gaps related to income, race, culture and disabilities, progress among gifted students, progress among students with disabilities and both categories for graduation rates, which measure how many students graduated within four or five years.
CPS also got a D for progress among students who started out in the bottom fifth for achievement, and it got a C for progress among all student groups and how many students passed state tests.
The grades come with a big caveat: CPS is still being investigated for scrubbing data, which could be favorably skewing the school district's results.
This is the first year ODE is using the new A-F grading system, which is more stringent than how schools were previously scored. No school district earned straight A's this year, according to StateImpact Ohio.
Because the system is new, some of the categories that schools are graded on are missing and will be added in the next few years. Specifically, the report card won't measure overall results for the district, test scores, gap closing, K-3 literacy, progress, graduation rates and preparation for college and careers until 2015.
Under the old system, CPS dropped from "effective," which made it the best-rated urban school district in Ohio for the 2010-2011 school year, to "continuous improvement" for 2011-2012. Those results are also under review based on data-scrubbing investigations.
CPS has recently gained national recognition in The Huffington Post and The New York Times for its community learning centers, which turn schools into hubs that can be used by locals for resources ranging from education to dental care.
In November 2012, Cincinnati voters approved a levy renewal for CPS in a 65-35 percent vote, which kept local property taxes roughly $253 higher on a $100,000 home.
The official website for the school report cards can be found here, but it's been having technical problems for most of the day.
State Rep. John Becker, a Cincinnati Republican, is pushing to expand the death penalty to include some sex-related crimes. His proposal, made Friday, would allow the state to consider execution in cases of rape, sexual battery and improper sexual contact if the suspect has a previous sex crime conviction and there are aggravating circumstances. Becker says he was inspired to propose the death penalty expansion after hearing about three Cleveland women who were kidnapped, held and raped for years by Ariel Castro before they escaped in May. But Castro, who was convicted earlier this month, wouldn't have been eligible for the death penalty under Becker's plan because he didn't have a previous sex crime conviction.
Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) officials are developing a 10-year plan for the school district, following in the footsteps of the Columbus and Cleveland systems and their unique plans. The school district is asking for more community support and $29 million from the state to, among other plans, boost its community learning center initiative, a nationally recognized program that turns schools into community hubs with extra services such as dental care and college preparation; expand early education, which is often heralded as one of the best economic investments; and provide more options through charter schools, which have generally performed worse than public schools but provide more choices for students. Unlike the other big city systems, CPS has posted decent academic ratings in the past few years, so the changes might not be as drastic or require legislative involvement.The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County was found to be the busiest central library in the country for the second year in a row by a report from the Public Library Association. Overall, the report found the Cincinnati system is the seventh busiest public library system in the country and second busiest in Ohio right after Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland.
The Over-the-Rhine Foundation will use an $8,000 grant from the Ohio Development Services Agency and Ohio Historic Preservation Office to help revitalize approximately 13 buildings in the neighborhood. The grant will allow the Over-the-Rhine Foundation to research and apply for federal designation on the National Register of Historic Places, which would unlock more tax credits for the buildings and area. The rest of the money for the project will come from private funds. "Exciting things are happening in Over-the-Rhine," said David Goodman, director of the Ohio Development Services Agency, in a statement. "Helping the neighborhood receive this historic designation will allow the continued revitalization of this growing community."With a state ban lifted, Ohio is getting more online schools for the first time in eight years. Three e-schools were approved to open this fall, and five more could be approved this year. The moratorium on new e-schools was held until the state approved e-school standards, which were drafted by the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, an association funded in part by e-schools, and include no mention of proper budgeting or attendance tracking. A CityBeat look at e-schools last year found e-schools generally perform much worse but get more state funding than traditional public schools.
Five Miami University students helped install a wheelchair-accessible swing in Hanover Township.
Ohio gas prices are rising but still below the national average.
Ohio is among 24 states asking the Federal Aviation Administration to allow drone manufacturers to test unmanned flying vehicles within state borders.
The Western & Southern Open had record attendance this year, with nearly 200,000 people turning up.
A 12-year-old electronics prodigy and teacher is working on a plan to revamp the U.S. education system to make it more fun.
New York City mayoral candidates see Cincinnati Public Schools' (CPS) community learning centers as a model for their city's schools. The centers bring members of the community, including dental clinics, mental health therapists and mentors from local banks and churches, to a school hub to keep students engaged after traditional classroom hours end. But an analysis from The New York Times also finds that progress has been fairly modest, with some schools in the district still struggling and graduation and attendance rates showing little sign of improvement. Still, CPS officials argue the initiative has helped mitigate the effects of poverty and hunger in the classroom. CityBeat covered CPS and its community learning centers back in October here.
The city of Cincinnati could take control of the Emery Theatre following a legal dispute between the Requiem Project, a nonprofit seeking to renovate the theater, and the University of Cincinnati, Emery Center Apartments Limited Partnership and the Emery Center Corporation, the group of leasers and owners trying to push Requiem out of the building. Requiem stated in a letter Friday that it would approve of the city taking over the building, a possibility currently being analyzed by Cincinnati's legal team. CityBeat first covered the Emery Theater situation in further detail here.
SoMoLend, the local startup and city partner that connects small businesses seeking loans and lenders, is being accused of fraud by the state of Ohio. The charges could force the high-profile business to shut down; for the time being, it's not giving out any loans in the state. In December, the city of Cincinnati teamed up with SoMoLend in a partnership that was meant to land local small businesses and startups much-needed loans through crowdfunding.
Ohio will spend $6.2 million this fiscal year to combat gambling addictions. With casinos, racinos and gambling generally expanding in Ohio, the state government is directing more money to county mental health and addiction boards to ensure problem gamblers are treated.
The two officers who were on the clock when death row inmate Billy Slagle hung himself have been put on paid administrative leave while the Ohio prisons department investigates what happened. Slagle was convicted of murder and sentenced to death — a punishment the Ohio Parole Board and Gov. John Kasich upheld in July despite pleas from a county prosecutor — but he hung himself days before he was supposed to be executed. CityBeat covered Slagle's case in further detail here.
Attorney General Mike DeWine is asking Ohioans to be cautious of unsolicited phone calls offering medical alert devices.
Cincinnati's Horseshoe Casino accidentally awarded two $1 million prizes on Saturday night. It turns out the casino gave a $1 million check to the wrong Kevin Lewis, so it decided to keep course with the original check and give another $1 million to the Lewis the check was originally intended for.
Cursive might get kicked from the classroom.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is directing federal prosecutors to minimize the use of mandatory minimum drug sentences. The change will mostly benefit drug offenders with no ties to large-scale organizations, gangs or cartels and no history of violence.
Ohio gas prices dropped this week and remain below the national average.
Actual headline: "Video shows thief stealing cigarettes."
Check out Kings Island's new roller coaster: Banshee.
Sanjay Gupta, neurosurgeon and CNN's medical respondent, is now down with marijuana.
The audit reviewed Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy's (CCPA) records for fiscal year 2010, finding Stephanie Millard, the school's former treasurer, was overpaid by $8,307. At the same time, founder and ex-superintendent Lisa Hamm used the school credit card for $8,495 in payments to the Cincinnati Bengals, Benihana Japanese Steakhouse, Wahoo Zip Lines, Omaha Steaks and Dixie Stampede.
"These two officials saw no boundaries in how they used taxpayer dollars," State Auditor Dave Yost said in a statement. "With each audit, we find more of the same: total disregard for the trust placed in them."
CCPA responded to the audit by stating it has terminated the credit card and replaced it with two debit cards, which supposedly have controls in place to require approval and keep track of who's using the cards and for what.
The school is also reviewing contracts for the next school year to ensure no further overpayments are made, on top of requiring payments be board-approved.
In March, the school fired Hamm and Millard, and the two former school officials were indicted on 26 counts of theft in office. Their attorney, Mike Allen, claims the school board approved the spending, which could mean the women didn't break any laws.
In June, another special audit found CCPA had inappropriately spent $520,000 for various unnecessary expenditures, including bonuses, Christmas gifts, Nutrisystem weight loss products and Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber concerts.
CCPA enrolls nearly 1,200 students for kindergarten through 12th grade, with more than 95 percent coming from low-income households, according to Ohio's school report card data. The Ohio Department of Education gave the school's K-12 building in the West End a "D" and its K-6 building in Madisonville a "B" for the 2011-2012 school year.
The school is set to receive roughly $6 million in state dollars in 2014, up 3 percent from the year before. That follows the funding trend for Ohio's charter schools, which are generally receiving more state money in the recently approved two-year state budget.
Following approval from the Republican-controlled General Assembly earlier in the week, Gov. John Kasich last night signed a $62 billion two-year state budget that makes sweeping changes to taxes and takes numerous anti-abortion measures. On the tax front, Policy Matters Ohio previously criticized the mix of income tax cuts and property and sales tax hikes for favoring the wealthy. Meanwhile, abortion-rights advocates say the budget will hurt women by limiting access to abortion, while Republicans say they're trying to protect the "sanctity of human life."
The budget also makes changes to the school funding formula that increases funding to schools by $700 million, but the funding is still $515 million less than Ohio schools got in 2009. Stephen Dyer, former Democratic state representative and education policy fellow at left-leaning think tank Innovation Ohio, says Republican legislators should have spent less time on tax reform and more on education. Although Dyer acknowledges the final education plan is more equitable than Kasich's original proposal, he argues equity doesn't matter much when schools are still underfunded.
One policy that didn't make it into the final state budget: the Medicaid expansion. Kasich strongly backed the expansion throughout the budget process, but Republican concerns about federal funding ultimately won out and kept the Medicaid expansion from the final version of the budget. Col Owens, co-convener of the Southwest Ohio Medicaid Expansion Coalition, says the expansion's absence is irresponsible, but he's optimistic it will be passed in a stand-alone bill later on. Owens and other supporters of the expansion argue it will help insure hundreds of thousands of Ohioans and save the state money by placing more of the funding burden on the federal government.
One beneficiary of the state budget: low-rated charter schools.
Democratic State Sen. Nina Turner today announced her candidacy for Ohio secretary of state — a position she will attempt to take from Republican Jon Husted. Turner is a vocal critic of Republicans' voting policies, which she says suppress voters, particularly minorities and low-income Ohioans.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine on Friday released the first Human Trafficking Statistics Report, which his office plans to release on an annual basis to continue spotlighting Ohio's trafficking problem. Law enforcement identified 38 human trafficking victims in the last year, but that's only a fraction of the estimated thousands of Ohioans, particularly youth and those "at risk," who are reportedly trafficked and abused each year.
The Cincinnati Park Board won the National/Facility Park Design Award for Smale Riverfront Park. The award from the National Recreation and Park Association recognizes the park's design, the inclusiveness of the design process and how the board met the local community's needs for the park. This is just another major national award for The Banks; earlier in the year, the project won the American Planning Association's 2013 National Planning Excellence Award for Implementation.
Some Republicans are not taking last week's U.S. Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage well: State Rep. John Becker, a Republican from Clermont County, now says polygamy is inevitable.
Cincinnati is currently looking for a new police chief, and it already has 13 applications.
Ohio gas prices are down again this week.
Kasich says he's not interested in running for president in 2016.
Apparently, the unmanned Voyager 1 spacecraft entered a scientifically funky region last summer.
Here is an explanation of what happens when stars collide.
Compared to the previous budget, the two-year state budget passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly Thursday increased school funding by $700 million. But the funding is still $515 million less than Ohio schools received in 2009.
The result: Cincinnati Public Schools will receive $15 million less in state funding than it did in 2009, joining three in four school districts who have a net loss to funding between 2009 and 2015.
Still, Republicans are calling the funding boost the largest increase to education spending in more than 10 years.
"No school district in the state of Ohio will receive less funding than current levels," says Michael Dittoe, spokesperson for Ohio House Republicans. "Eighty percent of Ohio's students … are in one of the school districts that is receiving an increase."
Stephen Dyer, former Democratic state representative and education policy fellow at left-leaning think tank Innovation Ohio, says the claim is dishonest because it ignores longer-term trends in funding.
"It's like they cut off both of your legs, give you back one of them and say, 'You should thank us,'" he says.
Republicans defend the cuts by citing an $8 billion deficit in 2011, which had to be eliminated under state law. Some of the cuts from that previous budget directly impacted school funding, but the decreases also eliminated subsidies that previously benefited schools, such as tangible personal property reimbursements.
Dyer says the state budget situation has changed since then. Instead of focusing on tax cuts, he argues state legislators should have prioritized education funding.
Another problem, according to Dyer, is how the increased funding is distributed. Although Dyer acknowledges the plan is more equitable than the governor's original proposal, he says some of the most impoverished schools districts, particularly the poor and rural, will get the smallest increases.
Even if there was full equity, Dyer claims there's not enough money going into education as a result of years of cuts. To illustrate his point, he gives an example: "If I'm going to go see Superman with three of my friends and it costs $10 each to get in, I've got $36 and I give everybody $9, none of us are getting in. Even though I perfectly distributed the money equally, … the fact is none of us are getting in."
The budget's tax changes could also impact future local funding to schools. As part of the changes, the state will not subsidize 12.5 percent of future property tax levies — something the state does for current levies. For local taxpayers, that means new school levies will be 12.5 percent more expensive.
That, Dyer argues, will make it more difficult to pass future school levies, and that could force schools to ask for less money if they want levies to get voter approval.
"The legislature and legislators are doing a real disservice to people to tell everybody that they're getting an increase and no one is getting cut," Dyer says. "They need to be honest with people."
The budget also increases funding to "school choice" options, including the addition of 2,000 vouchers for private schooling that will be available to kindergarten students in households making less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
Republicans argue the vouchers give lower-income children access to schools and options in education that would otherwise be unavailable to them.
But a January report from Policy Matters Ohio found the extra mobility enabled by school choice options hurts student performance and strains teachers and staff by forcing them to more often accommodate new students.
The $62 billion state budget for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 passed the Republican-controlled General Assembly on Thursday. It's expected Kasich will sign it this weekend.Check out all of CityBeat's state budget coverage:
In a party line 23-10 vote today, the Republican-controlled Ohio Senate approved a $61 billion budget plan for fiscal years
2014 and 2015 that takes multiple measures against legal
abortions, aims to cut taxes for small businesses and partly restores education funding cut in the previous 2012-2013 budget.
The budget plan gives a large amount of attention to
social issues, particularly abortion. Most recently, the Ohio Senate added an amendment that could be used by the director of the Ohio Department of Health to close down abortion clinics.
The amendment bans abortion clinics from establishing transfer agreements with public hospitals, forcing the clinics to make such agreements with private hospitals,
which are often religious and could refuse to deal with abortion clinics. Under the amendment, if the clinics can't reach a transfer agreement, the state health director is given the power to shut them down.
Abortion rights groups claim the amendment will likely be used to shut down abortion clinics or force them to dissolve their abortion services.
The bill also makes changes to family services funding that effectively defund Planned Parenthood, a family planning services provider that is often criticized by conservatives for offering abortion services, even though it does so exclusively through private donations.
The bill also redirects some federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds to crisis pregnancy centers, which effectively act as the anti-abortion alternative to comprehensive family planning service providers like Planned Parenthood.
The changes continue a conservative push on social issues that began in the Ohio House budget ("The Chastity Bunch," issue of April 24).
Supporters praise the bill for "protecting life" and promoting "chastity" and "abstinence," but critics are pushing back.
"Today the Ohio Senate turned its back on the health care needs of Ohio's women and paved the way for family planning centers and abortion clinics to be closed across the state. If Gov. (John) Kasich doesn't remove these provisions from the budget, the unintended pregnancy rate will rise, cancer will go undetected and women who need abortion care will not have safe, legal facilities to turn to in some communities," said Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, in a statement. "This budget will put the lives of thousands of Ohio women at risk if Gov. Kasich fails to line-item veto these dangerous measures."The Ohio Senate plan also scraps Ohio House plans to cut income taxes for all Ohioans by 7 percent and instead aims to cut taxes for small businesses by 50 percent.
Republicans claim the tax cut will help small businesses, which they call the state's "job creators." But conservative and liberal groups have criticized the plan.
In an analysis, Policy Matters Ohio, a left-leaning policy think tank, claimed the tax cut will inadvertently benefit "affluent passive investors" and "partners in law firms and other partnerships."
Given that, Zach Schiller, research director at Policy Matters, says the plan will do little for Ohio's economy.
"The fastest growing small businesses are not making money because they're investing heavily in their operations — in marketing, research and sales," Schiller says. "So if they're making anything, they're investing it by and large in the business, so they're not likely to be able to benefit very much from this."
He adds, "Meanwhile, you're going to have passive investors who have no role in adding employees and partners in law firms, architecture firms, accounting firms and other kinds of professional organizations who will personally benefit from this in a way that I think is unlikely to generate more employment."
Instead of focusing on tax cuts, Schiller argues the state should be increasing direct investments, particularly in education and human services.
The conservative Tax Foundation echoed some of Schiller's criticisms in a blog post.
"This is bad policy, and many supporters are errantly pushing it under the guise of putting more money in the hands of 'job-creators.' But this is based on a flawed understanding of what creates jobs," wrote Scott Drenkard of the Tax Foundation. "The businesses that actually create jobs are not small businesses or big businesses; they are businesses that are growing. And that type of business is virtually impossible to target with a tax incentive."
The budget plan restores about $717 million in education funding, but that's not enough to outweigh the $1.8 billion in education funding that was cut in the 2012-2013 budget, which Kasich and the Republican-controlled legislature approved in 2011.
The education funding increases will disproportionately favor the state's property-wealthiest districts — effectively giving the biggest funding increases to school districts that can already afford to raise more money by leveraging high local property values.
Stephen Dyer, an education policy fellow at the left-leaning Innovation Ohio, captured the disproportionate funding increases in chart form in a blog post:
The chart shows only 15 percent of funding increases will go to the property-poorest one-third of school districts, while a vast majority of the increases will go to the property-wealthiest one-third.
Health care advocates were also disappointed to see the Ohio Senate pass on a federally funded Medicaid expansion, which would allow anyone at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level — $15,856 for a single-person household and $32,499 for a family of four — to enroll in the government-backed health care program.
Kasich proposed expanding Medicaid in his original budget plan ("Smoke and Mirrors," issue of Feb. 20), but Ohio legislators are skeptical of the expansion's consequences.
As part of the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), the Medicaid expansion would be fully financed by the federal government for the first three years. After that, federal payments would be phased down to capture 90 percent of the expansion, where federal funding would permanently remain.
Republican legislators, backed by Republican State Treasurer Josh Mandel, are skeptical the federal government can afford the expansion. There's no historical precedent for the federal government failing to meet its obligations to Medicaid, but Republican legislators argue there's also no historical precedent for the federal government backing such large Medicaid expansions across the nation.
A Health Policy Institute of Ohio study found the Medicaid expansion would save the state $1.8 billion and insure nearly half a million Ohioans over the next decade.
The budget also fails to restore local government funding cuts that have been carried out during Kasich's time in office. In comparison to fiscal years 2010 and 2011, local governments are receiving about 50 percent less aid from the state, leading to $22.2 million less funds for Cincinnati on an annual basis ("Enemy of the State," issue of March 20).
When asked to explain the various cuts to education and local government funding in the 2012-2013 budget, Kasich spokesperson Rob Nichols told CityBeat in September 2012, "The reality is we walked into an $8 billion budget deficit. … We had to fix that."
The Ohio legislature and Kasich must agree on a budget plan in time for a June 30 deadline.
Got questions for CityBeat about, well, anything? Submit them here, and we'll try to get back to you in our first Answers Issue.Also, take our texting while driving survey here.
With a $3.2 billion price tag and 15- to 20-year time scale, Cincinnati's plan to retrofit and replace its sewers is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the city's history, but the program is experiencing hurdles as the city and county clash over how to reward contracts and whether the government should have a say in training employees. Cincinnati recently passed and modified a "responsible bidder" law that sets rules for apprenticeship programs and a fund for pre-apprenticeship programs, which Councilman Chris Seelbach says help promote local jobs and job training. But critics, backed by county officials and business organizations, say the law puts too much of a burden on contractors.
The Ohio Senate budget bill would restore $717 million in education funding, but it wouldn't be enough to overcome $1.8 billion in education funding cuts carried out in the last biennium budget. The funding increase also disproportionately favors the wealthy, with the property-poorest one-third of school districts getting 15 percent of the funding increases and the top one-third getting the vast majority. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill today.
Libertarian mayoral candidate Jim Berns didn't hand out "free marijuana plants" at a campaign event Wednesday, instead admitting to multiple media outlets that he was misleading the public to raise awareness of his campaign and marijuana legalization platform. Berns handed out tomato plants instead, which look similar to marijuana plants.
Commentary: "JobsOhio: Something to Hide, Something to Fear?"
With 8-0 support from City Council, Mayor Mark Mallory appointed Stan Chesley to the city's Human Relations Commission yesterday. Chesley retired from practicing law after he was disbarred in Kentucky for allegedly keeping millions of dollars that should have gone to clients involved in a lawsuit about phen-fen, a diet drug. Mallory and Chesley have worked together in the past, particularly to raise money for the city's swimming pools.
Ohio lawmakers are considering two laws that would tighten rules about who can carry guns in schools and encourage religious education. The changes related to guns would involve local law enforcement in deciding who can carry guns, but it would also allow schools to conceal the names of who can carry a firearm and protect those individuals from liability for accidents unless there was "reckless and wanton conduct." The changes for religious education would allow public high schools to give credit to students who take religious courses outside of school.
Ohio senators scrapped a plan that would have raised vehicle registration fees.
Ohio gas prices jumped above $4 this week.
NASA is building an intergalactic GPS.
Sleep-deprived men are apparently really bad at judging who wants to sleep with them.
The Ohio Senate's budget plan for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 would restore about $717 million in education funding, but the gains wouldn't be enough to outweigh $1.8 billion in education cuts from the 2012-2013 budget, which was approved by the Republican-controlled Ohio legislature and signed into law by Gov. John Kasich in 2011.
The bill would also favor the state's property-wealthiest districts, which can already raise more money for local schools by leveraging their massive local property values.
About 85 percent of the wealthiest school districts will get funding increases, while 40 percent of the poorest rural districts receive no increases, according to Stephen Dyer, a former Democratic state representative and an education policy fellow at Innovation Ohio.
Dyer put the regressive breakdown in chart form in a blog post:
The chart shows the bottom one-third of school districts only get about 15 percent of the increases, while the top one-third are getting a vast majority of the increases.
Still, Dyer points out that the budget is increasing funding for urban, high-poverty areas, while rural areas are generally getting the smallest increases.
The budget would also include $250 million in one-time money for the Straight A Fund, which is supposed to entice innovation at schools around the state. When the program was first proposed in Kasich's budget plan, the Kasich administration asked for $300 million.
Even with the Straight A Fund, the funding increases wouldn't be enough to overcome $1.8 billion in cuts in the last biennium budget, which is a previous estimate from progressive think tanks Policy Matters Ohio and Innovation Ohio that includes tax reimbursements for tangible personal property and public utility property, federal stimulus funds and state aid to schools.
Many school districts have coped with the cuts through local tax levies, which Innovation Ohio previously compared to a $1.1 billion tax increase across the state.
In 2012, Cincinnati Public Schools was one of the many school districts to successfully pass a levy after dealing with years of cuts from multiple levels of government ("Battered But Not Broken," issue of Oct. 3).
The changes proposed by the Ohio legislature are the latest in a chain of attempts to reform the state's school funding formula, which has a history of legal and political problems.
Between 1997 and 2002, the Ohio Supreme Court issued four decisions that found the state's school funding formula unconstitutional because it relied too much on property taxes and failed to provide "a thorough and efficient system of common schools."
But 16 years later, critics argue the system still relies too much on property taxes. According to them, the reliance on property taxes drives inequality because property-wealthy areas can more easily leverage their high property values to fund good schools, while property-poor areas are generally left behind.
Kasich attempted to address the issues with his own rework of the education funding formula, but the rework was dismissed by the Ohio House and Senate — a victory for critics who deemed Kasich's plan regressive ("Smoke and Mirrors," issue of Feb. 20).
The Ohio legislature and Kasich must approve a budget plan by June 30.
City Council's Budget and Finance Committee is set to discuss the plan to close the streetcar budget gap today, which was proposed by City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. on April 30. The plan borrows funding from various capital funding sources, including a temporary reallocation of Music Hall funds and money from infrastructure projects surrounding the Horseshoe Casino. None of the funding pulled can be used to balance the city's $35 million operating budget deficit, which is leading to cop and firefighter layoffs, because of limits established in state law between capital budgets and operating budgets.
A group of bipartisan Ohio legislators proposed bills in the Ohio House and Ohio Senate that would change the state's anti-discrimination law to cover gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities. The measures would add "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to the state's anti-discrimination law, joining 21 other states and the District of Columbia, which already have similar laws.The bills have to be approved by the Republican-controlled General Assembly and Republican Gov. John Kasich to become law.
Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) is making changes to prevent attendance data scrubbing following an audit in February
that criticized CPS for the practice. The school district says internal
investigations found no employees intentionally scrubbed data, but the
changes being made should help prevent further problems in the future. The
state auditor's February report seemed to blame state policy over
individual school districts for the findings. Attendance data scrubbing
can make schools look much better in state reports, which could lead to
increased funds or less regulatory scrutiny from the state.
An audit revealed that the IRS targeted tea party groups that were critical of government and attempted to educate people on the U.S. Constitution. The extra scrutiny originated at a Cincinnati field office.
Most Ohio public university presidents are paid more than the nationwide median salary for the job.
The two brothers of the Cleveland man accused of holding three women captive for about a decade say they have no sympathy for him. One of them called his brother a "monster."
Ohio gas prices are down this week.
A new study found people can better calm themselves down by watching their brains on scanners. Participants learned how to control activity in a certain brain region after just two sessions.
Watch a Canadian astronaut perform David Bowie's "Space Oddity" in space:


text:
SIKESTON, MO (NBC) -- An openly gay Missouri teenager has won the right to attend high school prom with his boyfriend after threatening legal action, the district superintendent said Friday.
Stacy Dawson, a 17-year-old senior at Scott County Central High School in Sikeston, Mo., had been told last year that he couldn't bring his boyfriend due to a line in the school's handbook that said "students will be permitted to invite one guest, girls invite boys and boys invite girls."
When Dawson questioned the policy, he was told by a school administrator that the school board would not consider revising it, according to The Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit civil rights organization representing Dawson. So on Thursday -- Valentine's Day -- Dawson had The Southern Poverty Law Center send a letter to Scott County Central High and the school district threatening legal action.
One day later, the district had good news for Dawson: They were removing the offending line from their handbook, and said the line was never meant to be exclusive in the first place.
"I found out why the stipulation in the student handbook was originally put in there, and it's rather innocent, to be honest," Alvin McFerren, Scott County Central School District superintendent, said. "This was during a time 10-15 years ago that the previous administration was having issues with some of the students trying to come in on either the single rate or the couple rate. They implemented that to make sure they couldn't circumvent the rates that students were supposed to pay as they entered into our dances."
McFerren said Dawson will be allowed to go to prom with his boyfriend.
"It was never intended to be a discriminatory thing," he said. "We want an educational environment for all of our kids and we're not ever going to discriminate as to whether or not the board has the policy and we don't do that based on sexual orientation. Period."
McFerren said he felt the community, which has just over 360 students in the entire district, would take the change well.
"We are a family," McFerren said. "We're such a small school that I don't feel as if there will be any negative reactions whatsoever. It was never intended to be a policy that would create any controversy in the first place."
In its letter, the law center alleged that under a 1969 Supreme Court decision -- Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District -- Dawson's school could not legally censor his right to free expression, including the right to express himself by taking a same-sex date. The Tinker ruling declared that students don't "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gates."
The letter also cited a more recent case out of Mississippi, where a girl sued her high school over a ban on same-sex couples at the prom in 2010. Constance McMillen ultimately won the case against Itawamba County Agricultural High School after a federal judge ruled that the school district violated her constitutional rights to freedom of speech by not allowing her to wear a tuxedo and bring her girlfriend to the prom.
Prom is scheduled for April 20. Dawson's lawyer said his family and classmates were supportive of him in his quest to go.
"Stacy is such a brave and lovely young man," Alesdair Ittelson, a staff attorney at the law center, said. "He encountered this problem, did his research, came to us and said, 'I really want to do something about this,' and we're so proud and honored to be able to fight for his rights in this matter. He has a supportive family and he believes that the other kids at his school want him to be able to attend the prom with his boyfriend."
(NBC News)


text:
In response to rkarp's comment:
In response to Quagmire3's comment:
I was just watching a Family Guy episode one night that was centered Quagmire, and he had me laughing so hard I said what the heck.
Not surprised
lol!! At least I have an avatar Rkrap!!! you tool your avatar would probably be some doggie doo! LOL


text:
For all its economic challenges it is good
to see
But I had a great time work wise too, a rare opportunity to focus again on the ITIL material, a reminder of some parts I had all but forgotten – including some it seems I wrote myself. Most important though was the chance to talk with the others on the course, getting an insight again into how this stuff works in the real world – the delegates all being part of our managed service accounts and delivering real service management to real customers on a day-to-day basis.
I guess I need that reminder now and again:
writing, talking – even thinking – about things is good and important stuff,
but if we lose sight and touch with actually doing the things we talk about
then inevitably we will get that writing and thinking and planning wrong. I was
lucky enough to visit some real service management workers the week before
also. That was in
So - a couple of weeks of good lessons for me, and I hope for my students also. I had a good reminder of the need to keep real, to encourage reality above ideals. I learned not to presume how a place will be, nor to be too concerned if it looks a little different to begin with. Despite appearances, service management issues have more in common than you might think – across counties, cultures and industries – which gives us all a large community of colleagues to discuss matters with and to exchange ideas and conversation. I guess that is what we look to organisations like itSMF to facilitate in the widest sense: service management craic.
Anyway – I am looking forward to keeping in touch with service management reality – through talking to and working with people in real service management jobs, be that through training, conference discussion or more directly. We all need that good mix of ideas and practicality.
[1] Go ask an Irish friend if you don't know the word: you will know the concept because good conversation and pleasure in good company is not an Irish preserve, although they are especially good at it – and one of the few to have coined a word for it.


text:
I am getting an SSL Error when trying to log into my Zimbra mail via Chrome. It is telling me that instead of reaching my account I reached a server identifying itself as mail7.homesteadmail.com and that it could be caused by a misconfiguration in the server or something more serious and I shouldn't proceed. I attempted to get in via Explorer and got a Certificate error.
I have already cleared my dns by running the command ipconfig /flushdns. We've had this problem with facebook and google redirecting or getting this SSL error, so I tried the same resolution with no success. I also cleared my cookies, browsing history, etc. And I restarted my computer. No success.
Also, my business partner (in another geographic location and using another router, service, and Explorer) is getting the same exact thing. Did we get hacked? Any ideas?


text:
Video: Jill Kelley asks for 'diplomatic protection' from media
Video: Who is Jill Kelley's husband?
TAMPA - Jill Kelley, the socialite whose complaint to the FBI began the unraveling of the David Petraeus affair, was known for her parties for members of the military in Tampa.
But unless you held the rank of general or admiral, you weren't likely on the guest list, according to one retired senior officer who didn't want his name published.
"A colonel is about as low as she'd go," said the officer, who served at the U.S. military's Central Command (CENTCOM) in Tampa and knows the players in the Petraeus scandal.
Nearly all lines in the increasingly tangled scandal involving Petraeus lead back to Kelley, whose complaint about anonymous, threatening e-mails triggered the FBI investigation that led to the former general's downfall as director of the CIA. And now Kelley is the center of an investigation of the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan over possible "inappropriate communications" between the two.
Tuesday, Kelley's pass to go on MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, home to CENTCOM, was revoked because of the investigation. Called a "Friends of MacDill" pass that allows easier access to the base, the first one was issued to Kelley in November 2010 after she submitted information, including her Social Security number, for a background check.
Over the last few days Kelley has called police several times, trying to invoke purported "diplomatic protection" to keep the media and public away from her Tampa home -- even though she has no official title or standing.
"You know, I don't know if by any chance, because I'm an honorary consul general, so I have inviolability, so they should not be able to cross my property. I don't know if you want to get diplomatic protection involved as well," Kelley told a 911 dispatcher, who agreed to pass the information along to police.
In three other calls to police on Monday, a caller identified herself as Jill Kelley and reported trespassers on her property.
"They're trying to push the door open; they won't leave," she says in one call.
"Are you sure you don't know who these people are?" the dispatcher asks.
"I do not know who they are, no," she responds.
Foreign Policy reports that the 37-year-old Kelley is an "honorary consul" to South Korea -- a title described as symbolic, with no official responsibilities.
According to the senior officer, Kelley and her husband, Scott, provided a sort of venue where high-ranking members of the military could be entertained.
At one party, held on the front lawn adjacent to bustling Bayshore Blvd., foreign officers outnumbered U.S. military about 10 to 1 as they mingled with the mayor and other local dignitaries, he said. There was a band, speakers and cocktails. The French and Italian officers seemed to enjoy themselves greatly, he said.
"The opportunity to rub shoulders just doesn't happen on the base," he said.
Much of the entertaining was done with her surgeon husband, Scott, at their bayside home a few miles from base.
On Wednesday gauzy cream-colored curtains covered the windows at the stately Georgian waterfront mansion.
Jill Kelley's Mercedes S500 with its honorary consul license plate remained parked in the three-car carriage house beside a Volvo 880 while media camped in the alley behind the house.
Peeling paint and well-worn wooden rocking chairs on the porch of the 6-bedroom, 4 ½-bath house in the posh North Hyde Park neighborhood gave an air of neglect in an area where most of the homes are meticulously landscaped. The Kelley's purchased the 1923 brick house in 2004 for $1.5 million.
About six months ago, Jill Kelley became a volunteer for the International Council of the Tampa Bay Region, president Gary Springer said. She was introduced to the group by another volunteer, he said.
The council, one of 92 around the United States, partners with the State Department to coordinate professional exchanges with visitors from other countries as part of the International Visitor Leadership Program, Springer said.
Young and mid-career professionals and leaders spend three weeks in the United States "to basically have encounters with Americans to see how we live, work, learn and play," Springer said. "Many have never had any contact with Americans at all. It's part of the public diplomacy program of the United States."
The Council in the Tampa Bay region manages hundreds of volunteers in nine counties, he said. The volunteers help host professional programming, cultural activities, social outings and home hospitality, he said.
Kelley has hosted "a couple of groups," Springer said.
"She's a delightful host," he said. "She's been a wonderful volunteer for the organization."
Kelley, who has not spoken with reporters, leaves the house occasionally, but otherwise appears to be growing increasingly wary of the firestorm that she touched off.
Sunday night, she and her husband released a statement saying that they have been friends with Petraeus and his family for over five years.
"We respect his and his family's privacy and want the same for us and our three children," the statement said.
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Kelley tried in the summer to get the FBI to drop the investigation she triggered after it began churning up personal information.
The newspaper, quoting unidentified people familiar with the case, said Kelley, a fixture in Tampa's social and military community, developed "misgivings" after friends urged her to drop the matter, saying it would only cause bigger problems.
In the end, the probe led to Paula Broadwell, Petraeus' biographer and the source of the original threatening e-mails. That, in turn, uncovered Broadwell's extramarital affair with Petraeus, who was forced to resign last week as CIA director.
Broadwell, who was kept largely out of sight since the scandal broke, was spotted -- and photographed -- at her brother's home in Washington, D.C. , on Tuesday.
It has also led to a Pentagon investigation of what a Pentagon official called possible "inappropriate" e-mail exchanges between Kelley and Gen. John Allen, commander of allied forces in Afghanistan.
Allen's nomination to become the next commander of U.S. European Command as well as the NATO supreme allied commander in Europe was put on hold this week at the request of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta
A senior U.S. official told the Associated Press that other senior U.S. officials who read the e-mails determined that the exchanges between Allen and Kelley were not sexually explicit or seductive but included pet names such as "sweetheart" or "dear."
The official said that while much of the communication - including some from Allen to Kelley - is relatively innocuous, some could be construed as unprofessional and would cause a reasonable person to take notice.
Allen, 58, has been allowed to stay in his job as commander of the Afghan War and provide a leading voice in White House discussions on how many troops will remain in Afghanistan - and for what purposes - after the U.S.-led combat operation ends in 2014.
The FBI decided to turn over the Allen information to the military once the bureau recognized it contained no evidence of a federal crime, according to a federal law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter on the record and demanded anonymity. Adultery, however, is a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Allen worked to save his imperiled career. He told Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that he is innocent of misconduct, according to Col. David Lapan, Dempsey's spokesman.
At a news conference Wednesday in Perth, Australia, Panetta said, "No one should leap to any conclusions," and said he is fully confident in Allen's ability to continue to lead in Afghanistan. He added that putting a hold on Allen's European Command nomination was the "prudent" thing to do.
USA Today/WTSP


text:
BOSTON (AP) - Sports championships aren't rare in Boston anymore, and security officials are drawing on what went right - and wrong - during recent victory celebrations as the Red Sox look to claim another title.
The Red Sox return to Fenway Park on Wednesday needing one win in against the St. Louis Cardinals to win their third World Series since 2004.
Meanwhile, police are also dealing with a visit by President Obama, who'll be in town hours earlier Wednesday to discuss his health care reform.
City officials are confident both events will go smoothly. But they're tightening traffic restrictions, increasing police presence and asking the public to keep any Red Sox victory celebrations safe.
Boston Police Superintendent-in-chief Daniel Linsky said police will be engaging with the public and working to keep the crowd spread out and manageable.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


text:
Retaining the award-winning sound of the original M9, the second generation earphones combine enhanced yet controlled bass, airy and extended treble, and clarity that accentuates fine details in your music. The remarkable, dynamic sound brings your tracks to life and makes higher-quality music files shine. The second generation M9P utilizes a redesigned inline remote unit that incorporates a microphone, remote button, and universal volume control.
Take calls and control media on compatible phones, tablets, iPods, and computers and adjust the volume on any device conveniently with the universal volume control. Metal housings with color accents, a tangle-free two-tone flat cable, and curved lines look amazing both in-hand and in-ear for a refined and elegant style. The angled covers improve flexibility, allowing the earphones to fit more ears securely and comfortably. The snug in-ear fit and multiple included ear tips help achieve the best seal for your ears, blocking out external noise and preventing others from hearing your music. This reduces interruptions and allows you to listen at lower volumes, protecting your hearing and improving sound quality.
Product Details
Product Dimensions: 0.5in. x 1in. x 0.5in.; 0.3oz
Shipping Weight: 1lb
Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
Item model number: EP-M9PG2-GM-MEE


text:
The only advice I think I can give for the height is actually to edit the grid. The weight of the lines is kinda high. Seeing as this is in PS I'm not sure whats the equivalent to layer modes but is there a way to manipulate the opacity so that in blends in a little better and not cover up the actual map? I'm assuming you used bump mapping for the hill?
I'm assuming it's the clients request to have the title on the map? Kinda covers a lot of it and I find unnecessary.


text:
Future Cyclone Captures Third National Prep Title
FARGO, N.D. - Iowa State signee Renaldo Rodriguez-Spencer took home the third national title of his young career, yesterday, at the United States Junior Greco Nationals. The annual tournament showcases top prep talent from around the nation.
Rodriguez-Spencer competed at the 145-pound weight class, dominating the competition with seven tech falls in as many matches. The Cheektowga, New York, native opened competition with a 14-4 victory before going on a four-match tear in which he held opponents scoreless, winning the subsequent matches by scores of 10-0, 11-0, 10-0 and 10-0.
In his semifinal match, Rodriguez-Spencer took on Larry Early, an Illinois high-school product. Rodriguez-Spencer dismissed Early in a 12-2 victory to earn a spot in the national final against Sir Romeo Howard, another Illinois prep standout.
The future Cyclone pulled off a superduck in the championship bout, scoring major points against Howard. Rodriguez-Spencer attributes his big-move capability to his speed, a talent he looks to showcase next season for the Cardinal and Gold.
As stated above, Rodriguez-Spencer went 7-0 at the tournament, winning each match by tech fall and outscoring opponents by a cumulative score of 83-11.
Rodriguez-Spencer has developed a flair for the dramatic, winning the 2013 NHSCA national championship in a come-from-behind victory that became an internet sensation thanks to a title-winning flying squirrel move.