text:
Distinctive salsa band based in Cali, Colombia. Leader, musical director, arranger and producer, Jairo Varela.
Profile by John Child (
Grupo Niche
Leader, musical director, arranger and producer Jairo Varela (
9 Dec. '49, Quibdó, Chocó, Colombia) also shares lead vocals, sings in chorus, plays güiro (scraper) and writes the songs. Deejay Tomek encapsulated his stature in one sentence: "Niche
Jairo Varela, a man whose work is so original and brilliant that even his errors of judgment are intriguing." He shared arrengement chores with Alexis Lozano early '80s, then band's sole trombonist; later albums almost entirely arranged by Varela (being musically untutored, his dazzling concepts are transcribed by others). "Jairo Varela really has no music or writing skills. However, as evidenced by his success, he does have a cunning nose for what works for his band," comments Bogotá-based Puerto Rican keyboardist Israel Tanenbaum, who worked as a prod., engineer and pianist for Varela's now defunct Niche Disco label and co-prod. and co-arr. seven albums by the Niche spin-off band Orquesta Guayacán between '87 and '97.
The band's mid-'80s lineup incl. pairs of trumpets, trombones, sax/flute, tres, piano, bass, timbales, conga, bongo, güiro, maracas, two lead singers and three-strong chorus; Varela dropped sax/ flute '87 and tres '88; often added third 'bone and trumpet '88-00. Their matchless and exciting brand of salsa sometimes incl. infl. of soca on their pleasingly under-produced early LPs, giving them the feel of live performance; from the late '80s the various manifestations of Niche became increasingly sophisticated.
Niche's LPs incl. debut
Al Pasito
'79 on Discos Daro. The follow-up
Querer Es Poder
'81 on Codiscos featured a trio of lead singers: Alvaro del Castillo, Omer "Tuto" Jiménez and Alexis's cousin La Coco Lozano. Tuto and La Coco departed. Oscar Alberto Abueta came in to share lead vocals with del Castillo on
Preparate Grupo Niche Vol. 2
'82 on Codiscos; then left and relocated to Miami for a while; his most notable work there was on Hernán Gutiérrez's modern classic
Con Sacrificio
'84 on Martínez Records, also featuring lead vocals from Panamanian Gabino Pampini and Cuban Israel "Kantor" Sardiñas (ex-Los Van Van).
Tuto returned to replace Abueta on '83's
on Niche Records (aka
Directo Desde New York
on Codiscos), made in NYC. After
, Alexis Lozano split, forming
Orquesta Guayacán
in Bogotá with singer Ricardo "Richie" Valdés. Tuto departed again, later appearing on the '87 and '88 releases by La Cali Charanga on Codiscos/ Sonotone. Del Castillo left to record a string of LPs with his own band, incl.
Al Puerto
Bueno Y Más!
Que Se Aguante El Mundo
Alvaro del Castillo
'85-92. "The greatest hit of that era, "Buenaventura y Caney" (from
Querer Es Poder
'81), sung by Alvaro del Castillo, became a classic in Colombia," remarks Tanenbaum. "Alexis Lozano brought me in to work on an album for Alvaro released in 1989 by FM Discos in Colombia. Alexis and I also produced an album for Tuto Jiménez released by FM Discos in about 1990/91."
Niche continued with
No Hay Quinto Malo
'84 on Codiscos (containing their anthem "Cali Pachanguero"), made in Colombia, regarded by some as their best, and
Se Pasó!
'85 on New York Latin Records (aka
on Codiscos) made in NYC. Moncho Santana, who sang lead vocals on the '84 and '85 albums, then departed to record with Grupo Star (
Grupo Star de Colombia
'87 on Combo, also featuring NYC salsa luminaries Johnny Rivera on lead vocals and Sergio George on piano) and Manuel Bravo's Orquesta Palenque (
Salsa Felina
'88 on Bravo! Records) before making a trio of solo albums on Combo:
Aquí Estoy!
From Cali With Love
Sabor & Sentimiento
'90-3. "Grupo Star was based in Medellín," recalls Tanenbaum. "It was owned by a guy called Aroldo Molina Molinares. He wanted to hire me as the band director when the previous one, Sergio George, quit after working with him for a year or so. However he never had an opportunity to make a formal offer. The day I flew in to Medellín for the meeting, I was received by him at an appliance store he owned and operated in town. He offered to send me to his house with his driver, so I could rest while he ran some errands, and said he would be home by seven in the evening. I said I would be glad to accompany him so we could speak along the way, and perhaps I could make the evening flight to Bogotá. But he insisted in expressing his hospitality, so I accepted. By midnight he had not shown up, and the place was pretty busy and everyone was on edge. At 6:00 a.m. I left for the airport not having met with Mr Molina. He and his driver were found dead in the car three weeks later, murdered by the Cartel on the day of our meeting."
Puerto Rican sonero Tito Gómez (he worked previously with Sonora Ponceña, La Terrifica, Ray Barretto, Tito Valentín, La Amistad, Rubby Haddock and as a solo artist - see the Descarga Journal Archives for a detailed discographic profile by John Child) joined Niche as co-lead singer on
Me Huele A Matrimonio
'86 on Zeida Codiscos in Colombia.
Grupo Niche con Cuerdas
("with strings") '86 on Faisán, had more production and orchestration; it worked very well, incl. two new tracks and new versions (perhaps remixes) of songs from
, done in Puerto Rico. Ex-Dimensión Latina mus. dir., arr. and trombonist César Monge "Albóndiga" was recruited to transcribe and perform on the highly recommended 2-disc album of remakes of earlier hits:
Historia Musical
'87 on Combo; after which most of the personnel walked-out on Varela (they alleged because of his financial meanness) to become Orquesta Internacional Los Niches, making their UK debut '88 with Santana providing lead vocals. "This is hearsay, but the story goes on to claim that Varela abandoned them at the hotel without paying the bill and they almost couldn't get out," adds Tanenbaum. Los Niches' albums incl.
Tocando Madera
Salsa Por Siempre
Algo Diferente
Salsa De Hit
Grandes Exitos
Gómez and Monge remained with the virtually new Niche on the customarily inventive
Tapando El Hueco
'88 on Clave/ Codiscos. The Miami recorded album featured veteran Cuban bassist Israel López "Cachao" and marked the recording debut of multi-talented Colombian Diego Galé with the band. After handling mus. dir. of Grupo Caneo's debut
'89 on Codiscos/ Sonotone, Galé organised his own band, Grupo Galé, whose releases incl.
(with Gabino Pampini guesting),
Nuestra Salsa
A Conciencia
Sin Apariencias
Dominando La Salsa
Grandes Hits
En Su Sitio
10 Años
Con El Mismo Swing
'89-00, all on Codiscos. In addition to sessioning extensively, Galé has acted as mus. dir. on various productions, incl.
Heavy Salsa
'98 on Fuentes (aka
Al Son Los Cueros!!!
on Fuentes/ Musica Latina) by La Sonora Carruseles, Quinto Mayor's
Salsa Con Golpe
'00 on Codiscos and La Son Charanga's
Salsa Y Charanga
'00 on Exclusivo, all highly recommended.
Prolific session musician Morist Jiménez, who played trombone on Niche's '88 album, performed all three 'bone parts and co-dir. with Varela on
Sutil Y Contundente
'89, their first on CBS (subsequently Sony). Gómez and newcomer Javier Vásquez provided lead vocals. Niche (feat. Jiménez and Gómez) made their UK debut Oct. '89; Gómez departed to resume his solo career, releasing
Un Nuevo Horizonte
Recogiendo Frutos
Quién Lo Iba A Decir?
'91-00, all on MP.
Guayacán founder member Richie Valdés joined Charlie Cardona (also making his debut) and Vásquez in the trio of lead vocalists on the magnificently wistful and orchestrally elegant
Cielo De Tambores
'90, made in Varela's own Niche Professional Studios in Cali. Varela delegated two charts to Sergio George, a great admirer of the band. Valdés left to pursue a solo career, leaving Vásquez and Cardona as co-lead singers on
Llegando Al 100%
'91, which saw the return of Alberto Barros (
30 Nov. '57, Barranquilla, Colombia) on trombone; Barros performed and assisted with transcription chores on Niche's '85 and '86 LPs, he directed Los Titanes '82-93 (making his UK debut with them Dec. '90), directed Grupo Star's
Grupo Star de Colombia
'87 on Combo and
Brindis de Amor
'89 on Codiscos, has sessioned and arranged widely, and made his solo debut with
El Titan de la Salsa
'95 on RMM/ Sony. Live recordings of the Niche hits "Cali Aji" and "Sin Sentimientos" (originally from
Cielo De Tambores
'90) were incl. on the concert album
16th Salsa Festival Live From Madison Square Garden
'91 on RMM/ Sony.
Niche celebrated its 12th anniversary with the 2-disc
12 Años
'93 incl. a new tune and 15 redeveloped Varela classics, achieving the overall sense of an integral work, rather than the feel of a compilation. "This album was about two years in the making," recalls Tanenbaum. "I was producing in Jairo's studio at the time, for his label Niche Disco, which quickly disappeared. I recorded the piano on a couple of tunes. I never saw the album, so I don't know if my piano remains or not, or even if the cuts survived Jairo's unpredictable wrath. He once enabled the record buttons on all the tracks of a completely finished song and erased it because it wasn't "exactly" what he wanted! They say madness is a sign of genius."
Personnel on
Un Alto En El Camino
'93 incl. ex-La Crítica and Oscar D'León bassist Daniel Silva on bass and singing coro; Barros played 'bone parts, supplied arrangements and assisted Varela with studio direction. Varela added Willie García, who sang on most tracks, to his team of lead vocalists (Cardona, Vásquez and Carlos Guerrero) on
Huellas Del Pasado
'95. Richie Valdés reappeared to sing coro vocals on
Un Alto En El Camino
Huellas Del Pasado
before rejoining Guayacán. Niche returned to perform in London July '95, but disappointingly without the important authenticating presence of Varela.
Rhythmically diverse
'95 saw Cardona replaced by singer Alvaro Granobles and marked the third successive appearance of José Aguirre, who in addition to playing trumpet '93-5 (all three parts on
Huellas Del Pasado
, first and third parts on
), received credits for co-arr. '93, co-mus. dir./ harmonisation on
Huellas Del Pasado
, transcription and harmonisation on
. Former and current Niche members sessioned on acclaimed
Herencia Africana
'96 by Paris-based Yuri Buenaventura (
June '67, Buenaventura, Colombia; singer/ composer).
García, Vásquez and Beto Caicedo were the trio of lead vocalists on
A Prueba De Fuego
'97 with co-prod., co-arr., transcription/ harmonisation and all three trumpet parts by Aguirre. Vocalist and güiro/ maracas player Guerrero departed after
A Prueba De Fuego
to share lead vocals on Grupo Galé's
En Su Sitio
10 Años
Con El Mismo Swing
'98-00; he also recorded the solo project
on Codiscos. Paula Andrea replaced Caicedo on Niche's Sony finale
Señales De Humo
'98 with singer Wichy Camacho guesting and Aguirre preforming similar tasks to before.
Meanwhile Charlie Cardona launched a solo career '98 with
Mi Propia Aventura
, supervised by Sergio George, followed by
El Amor Todo Lo Puede
'99, both on WEA Latina; he was also featured in
The Sir George Collection
'98, a live recording on WEA Latina. Varela produced
Jairo Varela Presenta Alma del Barrio
'98 on Graba Music/ Niche Disco featuring the gloriously husky vocals of Kike Harvey.
García and Vásquez were rejoined by Caicedo and Granobles for Niche's 20th anniversary release
A Golpe De Folklore
'99 on the Miami based PPM label; Gómez guested in the coro. The album is regarded as a particular triumph for Alberto Barros, who co-arr., handled studio prod. and played first trombone. Niche switched to EMI Colombia for
'00, which uncharacteristically departed from Varela originals to cover Cuban classics such as Beny Moré's "Santa Isabel de las Lajas", "Bonito y Sabroso" and "Mata Siguaraya" and La Sonora Matancera's "Cañonazo". García, Vásquez, Caicedo and Granobles again provided lead vocals.
Niche won the coveted Congo de Oro prize in the Festival of Orchestras at Barranquilla Carnival '90, '91, '93, '95 and '97. Between '85 and '97 their albums attracted 10 gold discs and five platinum discs, incl. double platinum discs for
Llegando Al 100%
A Prueba De Fuego
. Various "best of" compilations are available.
Many thanks to Israel Tanenbaum for his feedback and input.
-This is a significantly revised version of one of over 130 Latin music entries written by John Child (
) for
The Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music
, 2nd Edition, edit. Donald Clarke; Penguin Books; 1998; 1524 pages; US$22.95, UK£16.99.
They are published on the Descarga website by kind permission of Mr. Donald Clarke.
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text:
Aaron J. Cozen, 19, and his passenger, Zachary A. Riley, 19, both of Hannibal, suffered minor injuries in a truck accident at 2 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, in rural Ralls County.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Cozen went to Hannibal Regional Hospital, and Riley was to seek his own medical treatment.
Officers reported Cozen was driving a 1999 Ford F150 on U.S. 61 one mile south of Hannibal, when he swerved to avoid a deer on the highway.
The truck went off the road and hit an embankment. Cozen was not wearing a seat belt, and it was unknown if Riley was using a safety device.
Location, ST | website.com

subset: commoncrawl


text:
In this short episode (download here), we play clips from our time at the Mojo St. Loco event in St. Louis this past weekend. We are not set up to do mobile recording so we apologize in advance for the audio quality.
Hope these short clips give you an idea of just how truly awesome social runs are – especially Mojo Loco series events. The Mojo St. Loco event was truly a blast- we recommend that you make it a point to participate any kind of social run (if not a mojo loco series) at least once. You'll be glad you did.
Thank you to all of you that came out to St. Louis and helped make this event fun!
Until next time, leave feedback on iTunes, email questions and comments to feedback [at] GeeksInRunningShoes [dot] com or just 'like us' on facebook! Also follow us on Twitter, Jason (@guttocutwl) and Ray (@adeyemiking).


text:
Treveon Graham scored 22 points, including a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds to play, and No. 14 VCU beat No. 25 Virginia 59-56 on Tuesday night in front a sellout crowd at John Paul Jones Arena.
The Rams (2-0) trailed for almost all of the final 10 minutes until Graham's steal and baseline jumper gave them a 56-55 lead with 1:18 left.
Malcolm Brogdon then hit just the second of two free throws with 9.7 seconds left for the Cavaliers (1-1), tying the game before the Rams called time out and set up the final play.
Rob Brandenburg brought the ball up, went around a screen and fired a pass back to Graham, who shot from the left side of the arc and swished it through for just the sixth 3-pointer of the game.
Joe Harris led Virginia with 18 points, but he missed two free throws with 3:58 to play and Virginia trying to extend a 53-49 lead. The Cavaliers scored just three points in the last 4:57.
With Harris leading the way, the Cavaliers used an 11-2 run to take command, and threatened to put the game away. But Graham scored twice from in close, and followed a jumper by Brogdon with a free throw.
The Rams still trailed 55-49 until Juvonte Reddic's putback stuff with 2:44 to play sparked a 7-0 run. Jordan Burgess made a 3-pointer from the right corner, and Graham then stole a wraparound pass from Justin Anderson and drove for a baseline 6-footer with 1:18 remaining, giving the Rams the 56-55 lead.
The Rams won despite missing 9 of 15 free throws and shooting 41 percent (24 of 58) from the field.
Virginia shot just 57.6 percent at the line (19 of 33) and 39 percent from the field (18 of 46).
The meeting was the first between the schools since 1998, and was highly anticipated. It drew the first sellout to the 14,593-seat arena for a non-conference game since 2007, and it was loud.
The entire first half was played at Virginia's pace, and the Rams led most of the way by driving to the basket and either drawing fouls or making shots from close in. Virginia made only three field goals in the first 13 minutes, but used a late 10-0 run to lead 26-24 at halftime.
The Rams had 15 fouls at the half, and had seven players with two each.
Virginia had 12 fouls, and four players with two apiece.


text:
- Home
- Books & More
- Events & Activities
- Learning
- Research Resources
- About the Library
- Giving
- Kids
- Teens
Teen Night
Friday, May 3, 2013
5:00pm @ Sugar Creek Branch
Be creative. Be loud. Be here! The Sugar Creek Library stays open late for Teens only on the first Friday of every month. Come and hang out – play on the computers, watch a movie, or just meet up with friends. Food and noise allowed!


text:
LIVERMORE -- On a day when voters statewide approved a tax increase designed to spare further cuts to public education, Livermore residents tapped an incumbent and reached to its past to help lead the school district.
Thomas McLaughlin, 81, who served on the board from 2000-08, received the most votes of the four candidates seeking two seats on the five-member Livermore school board.
McLaughlin had finished third in the race for two seats in 2008, losing to Stewart Gary and Chuck Rogge.
But, on Nov. 6, McLaughlin was the highest vote-getter. Incumbent Rogge, 60, came in a very close second, followed by appointed incumbent Belia Martinez and David Jonas.
"My son called and woke me up at midnight to let me know," said McLaughlin. "I want to work for the betterment of kids and for good programs for all kids."
Districts across the state could have faced billions of dollars in cuts had Proposition 30, which raised income and sales taxes, not passed. Livermore could have lost to $4.6 million in funding.
Despite Proposition 30's passage, McLaughlin and Rogge said the budget will still be an issue for the district, which has cut nearly $34 million out of its $106 million budget over the past four years.
"A lot of people don't understand that we won't get more money, it (Proposition 30) will just stabilize what we have now," said Rogge. "It is good for schools, but the system is still broken, and we need to get some meaningful legislation for school funds."
Rogge and McLaughlin said that charter school issues will be the immediate focus of the board. Tri-Valley Learning Corp. had its petition to open a third school in Livermore denied by the board Oct. 16, and its renewal for one of its remaining schools will be voted on by the board before the end of the year.
An aging infrastructure and the 2015 expiration of Measure M, a $138-a-year parcel tax, are also expected to be issues the board will deal with over the next four years.
"I am happy to re-elected, and there won't be as tough of times if the proposition hadn't gone through," Rogge said. "That is one problem we won't have to deal with, but we still have to get kids educated."


text:
Insulated Pistol Grip Nozzle
Handles hot water up to 160°F
This insulated nozzle can handle hot water with a max temperature of
160°F and a max pressure up to 100 psi. Additional features include a
die-cast metal body and stem retainer, glass-filled nylon handle, brass
stem and nut, adjustable spray pattern and a handle lock for continuous
watering. Fits 3/4" garden hose fittings. Imported.


text:
Kohler K-2241-1-47
Almond Memoirs Stately 17" Drop In Bathroom Sink with 1 Hole Drilled and Overflow
Item # bci163924 | Model # K-2241-1-47 | Memoirs Stately Collection
Limited time only
Questions about Kohler K-2241-1-47?
Contact us for advice or more details. Our product specialists are here to help.
This product has additional required/recommended options. To configure, add to your cart.
P Trap Recommended
Product Features:
- Rectangular basin gives a classically clean look to your bathroom countertop
- Covered under Kohler's limited lifetime sink warranty
- Constructed from vitreous china providing a classic look and feel
- Inspiration drawn from traditional furniture and architectural elements
- Crisp, clean lines evoke the splendor of fine antiques
- Drop in installation delivers a clean appearance to your existing bathroom design
- Center drain location provides optimal draining capability
- Equipped with overflow drain - works in tandem with the primary to prevent an overflow or spillage
- All hardware needed for installation included
Product Technologies / Benefits:
- Drop In Sinks: A rim or lip sits on the counter while the basin rests below. Ideal for remodeling, these sinks can be easily retrofitted to an existing counter.
Product Specifications:
- Overall Length: 22-3/4" (measured from the left outer rim to the right outer rim)
- Overall Width: 18" (measured from the back outer rim to the front outer rim)
- Height: 8-3/4" (measured from the bottom of sink to the top of the rim)
- Basin Width: 10" (measured from the back inner rim to the front inner rim)
- Basin Length: 17" (measured from the left inner rim to the right inner rim)
- Basin Depth: 5" (measured from the center of basin to the rim)
- Installation Type: Drop in
- Number of Faucet Holes: 1
- Drain Outlet Connection: 1-3/4"
- K-2241-1: This model
- K-2241-4: 4" faucet center version of this model
Additional Kohler Links
This Kohler item can also be referenced by the following color/finish specific model #:
- Kohler K-2241-1-47
- Kohler K-2241-1-96
- Kohler K-2241-1-S1*
Biscuit Satin
- Kohler K-2241-1-7
- Kohler K-2241-1-K4
- Kohler K-2241-1-NY
- Kohler K-2241-1-W2*
Earthen White
- Kohler K-2241-1-95
Ice Grey
- Kohler K-2241-1-55*
Innocent Blush
- Kohler K-2241-1-33
Mexican Sand
- Kohler K-2241-1-52*
- Kohler K-2241-1-G9
- Kohler K-2241-1-71*
Seafoam Green
- Kohler K-2241-1-6*
- Kohler K-2241-1-Y2*
- Kohler K-2241-1-NG*
Tea Green
- Kohler K-2241-1-58
Thunder Grey
- Kohler K-2241-1-97*
- Kohler K-2241-1-0
- Kohler K-2241-1-S2*
White Satin
- Kohler K-2241-1-45*
Wild Rose
*Discontinued model or finish
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Our knowledgeable product specialists work to bring you the best prices on every product and provide unmatched customer service. Your satisfaction is our highest priority!
Manufacturer Resources
Installation Resource Center
Whether you are installing the product yourself or hiring a professional, our installation Resource Center has everything you need to get your project done. Visit the Installation Resource Center to get started.


text:
BUSINESS BUZZ: Life at Home; Englewood chamber honors
Published: Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 at 8:34 p.m.
Life at Home gets accreditation
A Life At Home-Home Health Care has been awarded accreditation from the Community Health Accreditation Program under the CHAP Private Duty Standards of Excellence.
A Life At Home provides nonmedical, in-home services to patients and their families in Manatee County and surrounding areas.
Englewood chamber honors its own
The Englewood Cape Haze Area Chamber of Commerce announced its Excellence in Business award winners:
Not for profit, Englewood Rotary Club; Spirit Award, Irene Slattery, Florida Shores Bank; Best Daytime Restaurant, Bay Pointe Grill; Best Evening Restaurant, Farlow's on the Water; New Business/New Management, Cape Haze Marina; Excellence in Business, one to five employees, All About You Salon and Day Spa; Excellence in Business, six to 25 employees, Lemon Bay Funeral Home; Excellence in Business, 26 and more employees, Sterling House of Englewood; Excellence in Business Award of the Year, Keller Williams Realty of Englewood.
This story appeared in print on page D2
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


text:
Federal regulators extend time frame for critical inspection of Parkland Memorial Hospital to add element of surprise
Federal regulators are giving themselves an extra four months to perform a surprise do-or-die inspection of Parkland Memorial Hospital.
Under the original safety oversight agreement with the public hospital, struck in late 2011, Parkland was supposed to undergo such a survey some time before April 30, 2013.
It could still happen any day now. But regulators recently realized that not enough time was built into the agreement to allow for the element of surprise, said David Wright, deputy regional administrator for the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
"We need that final act [inspection] of the process to be shrouded in mystery so we have the most accurate view of the progress possible," he said. Extending the time frame to late August makes it much more difficult for Parkland to predict when the survey will occur.
Parkland stands to lose hundreds of millions in annual federal funds vital to its survival if it doesn't pass the survey, which could take up to two weeks to complete, CMS has warned.
Last week, I reported that Parkland has implemented 471 of 499 safety mandates. But the hospital is still grappling with correcting many problems such as unsanitary conditions, inconsistent doctor coverage for psychiatric patients and delays in efficiently moving patients through the hospital. The federal overseers said Parkland isn't yet ready for an inspection.
Parkland is the largest hospital in the nation ever to operate under the oversight of federally installed safety monitors. That program is still highly experimental, and modifications to the agreement have to be made along the way to preserve the intent and integrity of the process, Wright said.
"Everyone is better served, including the community, to make sure we have enough time to go in and do a thorough investigation,'' Wright said.
Parkland officials, who signed off on the agreement modification Tuesday, released a statement this morning saying, "The amendment allows CMS the element of surprise for its survey which is appropriate …Parkland should be ready for that level of scrutiny on any day at any hour."
You can follow me or our investigative reporting team on Twitter. We're also on Facebook.


text:
Legislation aimed at requiring annual child abuse reporting training for school employees passed through a state education committee on Wednesday.
Sparked by two years of this newspaper's reports on school employees failing to properly report child abuse, Assembly Bill 1432 would change state law from "strongly encouraging" training to "requiring annual training," including yearly proof of such education.
In his introductory remarks at the Sacramento hearing, Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Burbank, who introduced the legislation, praised the articles and editorials that helped create the bill.
"We owe a debt of gratitude to the Bay Area News Group especially," he said. "Their coverage really helped the process."
Numerous groups spoke in favor of the bill at the hearing, including a child abuse prevention agency, the state superintendent's office, a school insurance company advocate and the California Teacher's Association.
Assembly Education Committee members focused on two issues with the bill: Would there be any punishment to a district or to employees if someone did not receive training within the first six months of the school year, and what would the training entail?
"We won't make it onerous," Gatto told committee members, "it needs to have teeth, though."
Gatto said while the bill does not specify what penalties would fall onto an individual or district if compliance was not met, both would open themselves to liability if they didn't follow a standard of care statute.
The Department of Education would create the training standards and local districts would decide whether to allow teachers to train online, or through their own district or an outside agency," Gatto said.
The bill now moves to the Assembly Public Safety Committee.
Contact Matthias Gafni at 925-952-5026. Follow him at Twitter.com/mgafni.


text:
direct via plan #:
or advanced search »
browse house plans:
Orientations are noted with the thumbnails to the right.
Passive solar design refers to the use of the sun's energy to heat and cool the living spaces in a home, utilizing the southern exposure to allow the sun to enter the home during the winter and warm it's interior.
The bay at the dining room is cantilevered. The footprint is 18' wide, but the actual structure is 20' including the bay. See also plan 1317B for a 2 1/2 bath version, and plan 1302B for a 4 bedroom version.
© 2016 Rick Thompson Architect
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text:
Amanda Smith
Executive Producer
Contact email@example.com
My television news career began in Colorado Springs. I started working here at KRDO NewsChannel 13 in 1997. I worked as an Assignment Editor/Associate Producer and was in charge of finding and assigning stories to reporters and photographers. A few months later, I was promoted to the evening producer and soon after that, I was promoted again to produce the 10:00 p.m. newscast. During that time, I covered many breaking news events like the Columbine High School shooting.
I grew in my career at KRDO NewsChannel 13 until 2000. It was then that I moved to Denver, where I spent 7 years working to better my producing skills in a large market. My experiences in Denver gave me the skills to help make KRDO NewsChannel 13 be the best station it can be. As an Executive Producer, I have the opportunity to share what I learned in a large market with everyone I work with.
Working as a producer, I oversee the entire newscast. Producers are in charge of putting the stories in order, assigning anchors to read the stories, writing the scripts the anchors read, approving reporter scripts, designing graphic elements and timing out the newscast. We truly are the gatekeepers of the news.
I graduated from Colorado State University in 1996 with a BA in Journalism & Technical Communications. In 2003, I received my Master's in Communications Management from CSU.


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I'm a male, 47, and a fit 6' 185 lbs. Been running for years and never experienced what I am going through right now. I had a difficult time with taking CIPRO--killed my achilles tendons and knee joints. Had to take about 6 months off my regular routine and cut mileage down to next to nothing! Since then I just haven't been able to get my wind back. I was doing 30+ miles per week with long runs of 8 to 10 miles. Now I struggle with 2! Has anyone heard of long-term negative effects of antibiotics? It's been nearly 18 months since I took the stuff! Could the meds have also killed my wind? Please help!!!!
I know cipro can cause problems with some connective tissue but I have not heard of problems with wind. How long since you re-started running? Of course, after 6 months off you are basically starting over.
Thanks for the reply. I never stopped running, just had a major reduction in my routine and mileage. I guess I just don't want to accept that the down time had such a dramatic effect on my wind. Recovery isn't what it used to be...I'm pushing 50 and in denial! At least I'm back on the road.
That class of antibiotics, fluroquinolones, (I think that's the spelling), has some bad side effects. I took a couple doses for diverticulitis a few years ago and refused to ever take it again. Dr denied there were any serious side effects from that medication. That was back before FDA put out warnings. I believe it has some cardiac affect possible so maybe that's part of it. Hope things get better, that's some scary stuff.
I might recommend looking up some "holistic" Dr.'s in your area (for future), (still a real MD, but one that focuses on more natural cures 1st before turning to hardcore antibiotics). I think any medication can have "some" sort of effect and regular MD's just prescribe things like candy sometimes (not all, but I tell ya there is a good percentage out there that want to hand meds out and operate on people that don't need it just to make a buck .... I've had it happen to me multiple times). I personally also just came off an injury, and I'm in my 40's, and I do agree it is like starting all over, in addition to the fact that the older we get I think it takes us a little longer to get our endurance (or "wind") back. I'm certainly not a doctor or professional in any of those areas. But just thought I'd share the recommendation, and share my recent experience of trying to get my personal "wind" back Another item is antibiotics can effect your eating and diet as well and may deplete certain nutrients, or may have affected your red or white blood count, or affected certain organs. I'm working with an endurance nutritionist while I'm building my endurance back and that has also helped a lot! Maybe talk to a more holistic doctor about what you're experiencing. They may be able to get you back on the right track.
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I was given this... did it for a couple days until I read some of the side affects... stopped and got something else. I read this stuff can be bad for tendons where they could tear. Caution I had read about the drug was any type of pain while running, stop immediately! Work slowly back up to it.
ACTIVE is the leader in online event registrations from 5k running races and marathons to softball leagues and local events. ACTIVE also makes it easy to learn and prepare for all the things you love to do with expert resources, training plans and fitness calculators.


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About Us
UW Oshkosh Graduate Studies provides you with the foundation to advance in your current career or embark on a new one.
With more than 30 graduate programs from the sciences to education and business to nursing, achieve your personal and professional goals with a UW Oshkosh master's or doctorate degree. All graduate programs are regionally accredited and many are also professionally accredited.
In addition to a wide-array of program options, the University provides award-winning faculty who are active in their respective fields and dedicated to your success.


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NEW: For a prettier blog interface, see the Wordpress version!
Headlines for Wednesday:
chipotle bbq ribs
|Schedule driving lessons for Friday
|Give Alvin money
|Michal - Sonar
|Catch up with IBM blogs
|Get DriveFit code
1. Paperwork hassles: 16:11
This is more complicated than I thought.
The post-graduate work permit I am getting is most definitely not an entry document, which means that if I step out of Canada, I'm going to need to apply at an embassy for a temporary resident visa to get back in. If I had applied for a work permit outside Canada, then the visa would be automatic, but I don't have the time.
I can apply for a temporary resident visa outside Canada. However, this involves mailing my passport off. Which I'm going to have to do anyway, so I might as well do it as soon as I've cleared the requirements for my post-graduate work permit. Buffalo, NY is reasonably fast - 43% of cases in 2 days or less.
I can apply for permanent residency through the consulate in Buffalo. However, the process takes a while. Buffalo will only respond to status checks after 18 months. Manila is even worse: "Applications can be expected to be reviewed only 48 months (four years) from the date we acknowledge receipt of a complete file."
Other people have done it. I have to find them. Sometimes I'm tempted to just throw my hands up in the air and take the easy way out. I can build a life in the Philippines. It will be a pretty good one. It might even be easier. I can't fully explain my reasons for wanting to explore to build this life bridging Canada and the US, but I *want* to have that kind of life, so let's make that happen.
So here's what I need to sort out:
- Post-graduate work permit: that's the first thing I need
- Temporary resident visa: good to have
- Permanent residency application: as soon as the ink dries on my IBM onboarding papers
- Renewal of work permit (two years)
- US visa: good to have
Okay. I can do this.
Random Emacs symbol: strokes-describe-stroke - Command: Displays the command which STROKE maps to, reading STROKE interactively.
2. Okay, I can solve that: 19:45
I think I can deal with the temporary resident visa through mail.
Now the only thing I need to figure out is whether it's damn-the-cost-we're-flying-home, or whether we can find something that works out better...
Random Emacs symbol: bbdb-legal-zip-codes - Variable: List of regexps that match legal zip codes.
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I'd love to hear about any questions, comments, suggestions or links that you might have. Your comments will not be posted on this website immediately, but will be e-mailed to me first. You can use this form to get in touch with me, or e-mail me at [email protected] .


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—The Wayne County Builders Association (WCBA) will be hosting a special building contest for children during the annual Wallyfest this year.
The contest is a great opportunity for young people to have some fun, use their imagination in building a structure using LEGO® bricks and win fantastic prizes.
This special event is sponsored by JRG Advisors and will be held on Sunday, Aug. 25 starting at 9:30 a.m. at the Wallenpaupack High School on Route 6 in Hawley. There is a registration fee of $15 per child and children must pre-register for the contest since space is limited to 40 contestants.
The contest will include two age groups: 5 to 8 year olds and 9 to 12 year olds. Prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place.
"This is a popular event that fills up quickly!" says Laurie Lourie, Chief Executive Officer of the Wayne County Builders Association. "Parents are encouraged to pre-register their children early."
Registration forms are available by calling the WCBA office at 570-226-4941. Entries will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.
For more information, contact the Wayne County Builders Association at 570-226-4941.
LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this activity.
Location, ST | website.com


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I am trying to dig through the code and find the section for where streaming out to to the device (Sony Bravia in this case) is. I am suspecting a bandwidth limitation somewhere. Can anyone give me a pointer?
If I play a 720p video very busy scenes will stutter. The buffer is full, CPU usage is low, and the network interface is not saturated, or even close to it. If I pause for just a second it seems the buffer in the TV is re-filled and it plays fine for a few more seconds and then begins to stutter again.
Perhaps I am looking in the wrong direction though... I would expect, during busy scenes (often large outdoor scenes with lots of texture) to see network utilization increase to something closer to what the network itself is able to handle or at least what is necessary to keep the TV supplied with what it needs.
Interestingly if I set PMS to scale the video down to 800x-1 or so, the stuttering decreases, network usage average decreases correspondingly, but when the stuttering starts I do not see usage reach the average when not scaling the video. Or in other words, while stuttering scaled down the network usage is significantly lower than stuttering while not scaled. Regular streaming not scaled will average higher bandwidth than scaled does while stuttering. I would think the network usage should approach the not scaled usage before stuttering begins.
And one last thing: The PMS.sh as of the latest SVN checkout I did (Revision 710) still has what I assume to be a bug. It has been there since I started using PMS a year or more ago. When starting the JVM at the very bottom:
exec "$JAVA" $JAVA_OPTS -Xmx768M -Xss16M -Dfile.encoding=U....
I think -Xss16M should be -Xms16M to set the initial heap size to 16M as opposed to setting the thread stack size to 16M. Maybe some people need a 16M thread stack size, but it has caused problems for me.
- Code: Select all
< exec "$JAVA" $JAVA_OPTS -Xmx768M -Xss16M -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true -classpath "$PMS_JARS" net.pms.PMS "$@"
> exec "$JAVA" $JAVA_OPTS -Xmx768M -Xms16M -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true -classpath "$PMS_JARS" net.pms.PMS "$@"


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- Forza Azzurri!
- Currently Unavailable
Daniele De Rossi was on Italy's 2006 World Cup winning squad and it was his penalty shot that helped Italy bring home the trophy. A fan favorite, De Rossi is able to open up the field and take those long range shots. Show your love for Daniele De Rossi in his official Italy away jersey.
Show some support for Italy when you're wearing this Italia Away Jersey from PUMA. This jersey uses USP moisture management technology to keep you cool and dry when the game is heating up. The Italian team badge is applied over the left chest and the PUMA cat logo is applied over the right as well as on both sleeves.
100% polyester. Imported.
Lamentamos que todavia no hay descripción en español para este producto.


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Business After Hours Monday
The September meeting of Business After Hours will be hosted by Ideal By Design Weight Loss Center, located in the former Hotel Hunt building. The event will begin at 5 p.m.
Meander to begin in Granite
The ninth annual Meander Upper Minnesota River Arts Crawl will begin Friday, Oct. 5. Two performances of the play "Granite Falls: A Meandering River Walk," will be held at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The audience will follow the actors as they walk, tell stories and sing songs, starting from the KK Berge building in the middle of Granite Falls main street.
Location, ST | website.com


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Senior Associate Dean Bhaskar Chakravorti interviews Professor Pat Schena, Senior Fellow at the Center for Emerging Markets and Adjunct Assistant Professor
Bhaskar Chakravorti: Will sovereign wealth funds tilt the balance of global power?
Pat Schena: The short answer is, no. I don't believe sovereign wealth funds will tilt the balance of power. However – and I think this is the more critical point and why it's necessary to put sovereign wealth funds in the proper context – the forces that give rise to sovereign wealth funds have, in fact, begun to influence the balance of power in a global context. I think of sovereign wealth funds as organizational constructs that have certain purposes. There are funds that are targeted for development, of course. There are those designed to affect trans-generational wealth transfers, and those designed to enable economic stability as a result of changes in global production forces. And certainly, there are resource-based funds designed to transform physical wealth into financial wealth.
I want to talk more about the factors that give rise to sovereign wealth funds. Think about, for example, the mobilization of capital for rapid economic growth. Many governments are focused on not only promoting economic growth, but also sustainability. Think about shifts in demographics, in both the scale of populations, but also, importantly, the distribution of populations in places like China and India. We know the prospects for economic growth in India over the next 20 to 30 years are very different compared to those in a country like Japan where the demographic distribution is very different. There is a conscious effort to leverage shifts in capital flows and momentum for economic development into a degree of political power globally, whether they are in the form of blocks or even as individual entities. Those global economic forces are tilting or, as I like to say, reorienting – and the pun is absolutely intended – the balance of power.
So where do sovereign wealth funds play in that? In some ways they're facilitators, because they're enablers. They allow governments to use the capital that flows in – whether that is in the form of foreign exchange reserves, through sales of state assets, or natural resources – in ways that result in a degree of sustainability for that model. There has been a very rapid pickup in the pace of the introduction of new funds. These have been primarily among emerging market countries and they are of a variety of shades. Temasek in Singapore is a strategic development fund that has been around for 20 years. It has been quite successful in the privatization of state assets in Singapore, and is functioning now as a large global private equity investor. On the other hand, the government of Vietnam established in 2006 is something that's very similar in style, structure, orientation and mandate.
BC: You modified the question in your response by saying that sovereign wealth funds are facilitators as opposed to directly causing the tilting of power. But if the facilitator is armed with billions of dollars, then do you actually step outside the bounds of being a pure facilitator? After all with economic power comes political power. Historically, political power was created by military power. And now the question is, instead of armaments, if I'm bringing investable dollars, does that actually play the role that nuclear warheads used to play in an earlier geopolitical era?
PS: I would address it in this way. We had been struggling in the immediate post-financial crisis with concerns about sovereign wealth funds being nontransparent and investing globally for political or strategic purposes. I'm not going to argue that this outlook is not warranted, but I think we've begun increasingly to step away from that as a focal point.
Now, there are wealth funds that invest simply for domestic purposes. Mumtalakat, for example, in Bahrain is right now very domestically focused, as is Khazanah in Malaysia. Then again, there are funds, about whom, when combined with a perceived motivation of using sovereign wealth for strategic purposes - such as in China – there have been those suspicions. So again, I don't think it's the wealth fund itself that is driving the tilt. I think if a government looks to position the wealth fund as one of several arrows in its quiver, then conceivably it could and would use it in that respect.
There's an increased focus on global governance of wealth funds through the introduction of the Santiago principles, for example. It begs the question of whether sovereign wealth funds will begin to take on the stature of a central bank. Some are subsidiaries of central banks, and interestingly enough, some of them are embedded within central banks. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority doesn't have a separately-defined wealth fund, but it has an excess reserve fund that is managed by the Monetary Authority.
Central banks have become increasingly independent of governments, but with the objective of trying to promote specific government economic outcomes like economic stability. I think it begs the question from a governmental standpoint: What is the mandate of a sovereign wealth fund? If a government's objective is to create jobs domestically and promote economic stability, a fund might hire the best financial technocrats and focus them on that mandate. So the question is whether governments seek to use them, either directly or indirectly, for strategic purposes.
This is linked to another question you are considering: Are the U.S. and Europe are becoming the new BRICs?. In the context of sovereign wealth funds, this comes back to the idea of motivation. In 2008, France, and then more recently Italy, announced they were setting up funds. In this one sense, it feels like European governments are starting to draw from the emerging market playbook. In the past there were other ways for governments to stimulate economic growth. Here they are now, using this construct to influence specific economic outcomes namely to protect and promote domestic industry.
Interestingly, the mandate for each of them – and we'll take this in good faith – is not only to protect, but to actually encourage good governance, productive efficiency, and operational excellence in order that domestic firms be globally competitive and strengthen the base of the local economy. A second goal is also to ensure they are not the targets of foreign acquisition and result in a loss of national control.
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BC: I think you agree that there is a potential for the funds to be an instrument in the shift of balance of power – even though they are not the instigator, but they are facilitating such shifts.
PS: In two ways, I would agree. The first is that if funds succeed in their base missions for example to enable the diversification of foreign exchange or the sustainability of economic development, they're supporting the growth agenda of their economies. They are strengthening the economic foundations that ultimately are the real sources of power. To the extent that they're succeeding in that mission, I would agree they can change the power dynamic.
Now, let's also think about it in the way you want to talk about it, which is in a geopolitical sense. Can they be effectively used as tools to influence shifts in geostrategic balance? I think the possibility is there. Why? Because you have a means by which to take wealth and, based on a concerted strategy, influence very specific geopolitical outcomes. And so the potential is there to do that with an institution staffed by technocrats that have the financial wherewithal and the engineering skills to execute.
BC: Is there enough money concentrated in the funds to do that?
PS: Excellent point. Many funds are in fact well-diversified and also intermediated through managers. You seek to invest globally, but don't have the skills or the base knowledge to invest across countries in local currencies. You hire the best local managers and give them a certain degree of investment discretion. Under such circumstances it's difficult to have a significant politico-strategic impact. It leaves you to otherwise consider the impact of direct investments. Empirically we could study volumes and flows. However, even in the case of CIC, for example, those numbers are relatively small.
So at the moment, I do not believe that the volumes are enough to tilt the balance of power.
BC: How does that work if the fund manager has a political mandate and a financial strategy? Do they actually face a bit of a tension in terms of the framework that they have to use to make the investments?
PS: Absolutely. When you think about the ways that many funds are structured, they will have at the highest level a CEO or chairman, who is often a political appointee. That is quite true in Singapore, for example. Below that level, there are technocrats. Therein lays the struggle. Professional staff members come from the financial industry and are incented based on financial considerations. A political requirement to do a deal, even though there are sound financial reasons not to, would inevitably present real challenges and lead to organizational tensions as the senior leadership serves two masters.
BC: Can these funds potentially be an instrument for diplomacy? I know it's not explicitly out there in terms of the fund charters. But why shouldn't the administrators of these funds and the authorities that back them think about the funds as instruments for putting the chess pieces in play to have leverage in international negotiations? These could be negotiations that historically have involved diplomats sitting across the table from each other. So if I am a diplomat, for instance, and I know that it's my money that's building your highways, then I have some additional leverage over you.
PS: It's a good point. What I come back to is: Why is it that the sovereign wealth fund is making the difference? For example, consider the financing of railways in China at the turn of the 19th century. They were largely financed, as you probably are aware, by foreign investment, because there were many significant challenges to mobilizing domestic capital. That could be analogous to a sovereign wealth fund making a direct investment. Ultimately this was about very large inflows of capital, and it was the power of the capital itself that allowed those foreign investors to gain concessions, like extraterritorial rights. Even without the institution itself, there was a degree of direct influence. We can find many more examples where the influence of that capital base has had ramifications diplomatically and politically, like China's alignment with Western Europe during World War I.
One of the questions I continue to challenge myself with is: Where is the base of the power? Is it in the structure, i.e. the institution? Or is it in what gives life to the institution itself? Take, for example, a fund like Norway's, which arguably is very transparent. The Norwegian government perhaps is not motivated to exploit that structure. It is invested in a portfolio that's broadly diversified, and there are third party managers in between. It's very difficult, then, to draw a link between Norwegian capital flowing into the U.S. and this being a function of the Norwegian fund directly. So there are cases where a fund invests, but one cannot trace a direct connection; then there are cases where that connection is obvious, such as the fund investments in U.S. financial institutions during the recent crisis.
This brings us to another question: Do we need to be discerning of these institutions as, in fact, an extension of the state? And the short answer to that is, absolutely, of course we do. Think about these funds as state-owned entities. Can we devise, through international law or international organization, some mechanism to allow them to grow, but yet ensure that geopolitical externalities don't ultimately become disruptive? Can we do this as we would have treaties to control armaments, for example? How do we address the externalities that would be otherwise associated with the funds? Here the debate around global governance associated with sovereign wealth funds is, I think, well-placed.
If we think about how the funds have reacted over the last several years to initiatives like the Santiago Principles, there's some hope. Increasingly, the funds themselves – despite being cajoled by the IMF and others – seem to be developing independent structures, including potentially a secretariat for the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds. This would create permanency and perhaps more widespread transparency.
BC: Transparency is of one of the more contentious aspects of sovereign wealth funds. Despite the progress, they continue to be rather opaque institutions. What's your prognosis over the long term? Are these going to be institutions that follow a reasonably acceptable set of principles and guidelines that publish financials in a way that the international community will feel comfortable with?
PS: I think inevitably there will be a degree of differentiation. I don't see an international forum saying, "We're going to lay down the law with respect to transparency." There must be a consensus among funds, an opting in. Certainly what we see today is a broad disparity. Part of the challenge, as with any other large institutional investor, there's a certain degree of transparency that may be beyond what is commercially prudent.
Also what is really required from a transparency standpoint? Is it detail around portfolio accounting information or is it detail around financial accounting information? There is a significant difference. There's probably no practical reason to withhold financial accounting information. To a very large extent, not only government sponsors, but also the general populace should have that information. At the portfolio level, the managers of the funds might very well argue that they could be placed at a competitive disadvantage, and therefore the beneficiaries could be at a competitive disadvantage if they are completely open as to investment strategy.
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Council on Emerging Market Enterprises (CEME)
Planet eBiz
Fletcher Network of Sovereign Wealth and Global Capital (SovereigNET)
Sustainable and Inclusive Business Activities (SIBA)


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Howdy all,
I've been using PMS for about 3 years with great success. I recently purchased a Sony KDL46HX850 and I'm trying to get the server to work with the TV's streaming capability. The TV can see the server and the files, however when I try to play a video the system just hangs at a black screen. I have to exit. My thought it that there is something weird in the decoding of the file. This happens regardless of the format (mp4, mkv, avi, and etc.)
Any ideas on how I can resolve this problem?


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Amanda Mulsow is on the clock. She has about 10 days to help her daughter's father find a place to live. Air Force Tech Sergeant Ben Hill is coming home from Afghanistan and needs a home to rent.
"He's working at least 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. So when he does find homes it's important that we act quickly," Muslow says.
Hill found what he thought was the perfect place on real estate website Trulia. It featured a beautiful 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in Derby with nearly 1800 square feet and a lake view. All for $1000 a month.
Acting on his behalf, Mulsow answered the ad.
"I got this sketchy very form email response back about how he was in Africa and the lawyer was out of the country and just all these red flags started going off."
FactFinder 12 stopped by the address listed for rent. It's actually a home for sale. Agent Debby Purvis says it's not for rent and the owner is still living inside.
Real estate broker JP Weigand & Sons says similar scams have been around on Craigslist for a long time, but finding them on a reputable site like Trulia is new.
"He found this one and absolutely loved it and it was too good to be true," says Mulsow.
Fortunately, she didn't lose any money or give out any personal information. She hopes you don't either.


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SAN FRANCISCO -- As the Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers counterpunched past midnight into Wednesday morning at AT&T Park, Hector Sanchez's mother sat in a car in the player's parking lot for three hours, eager for the game to end. The backup catcher's daughter was waiting too, for a famous father who needed to drive her to school in the morning.
Sanchez will make that drive on little sleep, but he'll do it as a clubhouse hero after a walk-off single that gave the Giants a 3-2 win at AT&T Park and finally sent the players and coaches home, along with any fans who might have had class in the morning.
"Unbelievable," Sanchez said, shaking his head. "My daughter is still going to school, though."
Sanchez's single off Brandon League brought Brandon Crawford racing home at 12:14 a.m. It was the fourth career walk-off hit for Sanchez, who has just 159 big league games under his belt.
"He's such a confident kid," manager Bruce Bochy said. "He's a little cocky, but yet humble. He wants to be up there in tight situations. This kid is not afraid. He wants to play and be up there with men on base, and he usually winds up having good at-bats."
The Giants didn't have many of them for the previous five hours. They were 2 for 13 with runners on base — including 0 for 5 with the bases loaded — and left 16 runners on base. In the ninth inning, Brandon Belt doubled off Kenley Jansen to bring Angel Pagan home as the tying run -- but Belt was stranded as Pablo Sandoval struck out and Hunter Pence flied out. The Giants left the bases loaded in the 10th, with Pagan popping up and Belt flying out against a Dodgers side that at one point brought outfielder Andre Ethier up to the dirt as a fifth infielder.
Crawford and Sanchez finally ended the drama in the 12th. The shortstop, who had a walk-off homer Sunday, reached on a one-out single. Sanchez had come in on a double-switch that sent Buster Posey to the bench for the night, and he knew struggling Dodgers right-hander Brandon League would try to get him with sinkers.
"I was thinking about going back up the middle of the field," Sanchez said.
His liner glanced off second baseman Justin Turner's glove as Crawford headed home and then turned for Sanchez. As is the tradition, Sanchez took a beating, with Belt jabbing his backside with a few well-placed knees.
"Nobody else was there," Belt said, shrugging. "He fell down. That's what he gets ..."
Sanchez was happy to take another walk-off wallop.
"I was worried about those guys -- they kill you when you get a walk-off," he said. "But those are probably the only punches that don't hurt."
The drama came hours after Tim Lincecum put forth his best effort of the season. Even as his overall numbers plummeted the past two seasons, Lincecum could always summon his old form when the rival Los Angeles Dodgers filled the opposing dugout. Lincecum had a 5.18 ERA in 2012, but it was just 2.63 against the Dodgers. He had a 4.37 ERA last year but a 3.47 mark against the division champions.
Lincecum retired six of the first seven Dodgers he faced Tuesday, but he was living dangerously, going to a 2-0 count on three of them. He fell behind 3-0 to former teammate Juan Uribe and, after two called strikes, hung a slider that Uribe smacked 20 rows up the left field bleachers.
The homer was the fifth allowed by Lincecum in his first 12 innings of the season, but he bounced back for his most impressive stretch of 2014. Lincecum struck out the side in the third on just 12 pitches. After loading the bases with one out in the fourth, he struck out Uribe and catcher Tim Federowicz.
In five innings, Lincecum gave up just the one run on five hits. He struck out five and walked none, and through three starts has 17 strikeouts to just one walk. The starting rotation's two Tims, Lincecum and Hudson, have combined for 33 strikeouts and one walk this season.
"I'm just staying aggressive in the zone," Lincecum said. "I thin I'm trying to attack the zone a little more and guys are being aggressive off me, so I'm trying to work off that a little more."
Dodgers starter Josh Beckett struggled with his command, but he managed to keep the Giants off the board through five innings despite twice loading the bases. The Giants broke through for a run in the sixth, but that was one of few blemishes for either bullpen. Seven Giants relievers gave up just one run over seven innings.
"It was a well-pitched game on both sides," Bochy said. "We left a lot of runners stranded, but our pen did such a good job. You've got to keep fighting and that's what they did."
The win gave Bochy a chance for a rare feat. When the Giants take the field later Wednesday, they'll have a shot at giving their manager two victories on his 59th birthday. He celebrated the occasion in style, 14 minutes after the clock struck zero.
"That's a big win," Lincecum said, smiling. "Especially when you're winning in the morning."
Wilson, who pitched for the Giants for seven years, made just two appearances this season for Los Angeles before going on the disabled list with nerve irritation in his right elbow. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Wilson "had a lot of late life" on his pitches during rehab appearances.
The appearance at AT&T Park was Wilson's first since he caused a post-game scene last Sept. 26. After a Giants win that night, Wilson stormed over to the seats alongside the home dugout and confronted team president and CEO Larry Baer, demanding his 2012 World Series ring. Team officials had tried for months to set up an exchange, only to be rebuffed by Wilson.
"He's still having his real good days and then days when we have to back off a little bit," Bochy said of Scutaro, who has been working out at the club facility in Scottsdale while trying to find a fix for persistent back pain.
For more on the Giants, see Alex Pavlovic's Giants Extra blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/Giants. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/AlexPavlovic.
L.A. Dodgers
(Paul Maholm 0-1) at Giants
(Ryan Vogelsong 0-0), 7:15 p.m.
NBC Bay Area
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bounce-back performance
After two rough outings to start the season, Giants starter Tim Lincecum was more like his Cy Young self Tuesday against the Dodgers. Here are Lincecum's three 2014 outings:
Date Dec. IP H ER R BB SO
Tuesday ND 5 5 1 1 0 5
April 9 L 4 7 7 7 1 5
April 3 ND 6 8 4 4 0 7


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|Length Overall
|24' 5''
7.44 m
|Dry Weight
4,800 lbs.
2,177 kgs
8' 6''
2.59 m
|Tested Weight
.69 m
|Weight Capacity
|Draft Up
|Person Capacity
|Draft Down
|Fuel Capacity
78 gal.
|Air Draft
|Water Capacity
|Length on Trailer
|Max Headroom
|Height on Trailer
|Bridge Clearance
|Trailer Weight
|Total Package Weight (Trailer,Boat & Engine)
|Prices, features, designs, and equipment are subject to change. Please see your local dealer or visit the builder's website for the latest information available on this boat model.
|Std. Power
|Monsoon 410-hp 409/L96 6.0L CAT
|Tested Power
|Currently no test numbers
|Opt. Power
Monsoon 450-hp 427/LS3 6.2L CAT
Monsoon 555-hp 572/LSA 6.2L non CAT
Monsoon 410-hp 409/L96 6.0L CAT with chrome package
Mission Statement
The Malibu Wakesetter 24 MXZ was created to serve as the new flagship of the builder's popular pickle-forked MXZ line. She's built off the foundation of the 22, which was released last year at Surf Expo, and is designed to create wakes with features that appeal to professional level surfers and boarders.
She doesn't have to be going for max wakes all the time. In cruise mode, the 24 MXZ cuts cleanly through the water with her performance hull.
Her keel mounted fins help ensure that the 24 MXZ will track straight and true even when the end of the towline is pulling from side to side.
Notable Features
The Malibu Wakesetter 24 MXZ is designed for serious wakeboarders and surfers with a lot of friends. Some of what make her a standout are:
• Surf Gate. This is a hull attachment that is completely controlled by the touch screen. It allows adjustment of two, large tabs at the stern of the boat not -- in a traditional horizontal plane but in a vertical plane. Activating the port "gate" causes the starboard wave to clean up for Wake Surfing; the reverse is true for activation of the starboard gate. The 24 MXZ was designed to attack every on-the-water activity imaginable, and thanks to the optional Surf Gate, the time to switch between them is significantly reduced. This allows more time to focus on the watersports, rather than the setup.
The vertical "gates" of the "Surf Gate" system eliminates the need to shift internal ballast when switching from a port to starboard wake.
• MaliView Dash with Malibu Touch Command. Easy to operate touch screen controls allow the operator to take command of everything from cruise, presets, media, lights, ballast… basically everything from stem to stern. Bluetooth technology even allows you to control audio and write presets from your smart phone.
• Power Wedge Wake Foil. To create a larger wake simply put more of the boat in the water. The power wedge does this with the push of a button and then save that favorite spot on a preset. Activate the auto wedge setting and realize fuel savings and faster time to plane. Quicker times to plane and lower bow rise means less RPM needed to pull rider on the water.
The "Power Wedge" is Malibu's patented wave maker.
• Wakeview flip up seating. This allows more people to be facing aft towards the end of the towline and lessens the need for playing musical chairs to find the best seat in the house when a crowd is onboard and wants to watch the show astern.
• Rear prep bench. This, combined with the water level swim platform creates the perfect staging area for putting boards on.
The swim platform on the Wakesetter 24 MXZ is long and low to make putting the boards on easy and comfortable. Not the port "gate".
• 1,450-lbs (658 kg) of hard-tank ballast. Increase the size of the wake by increasing the ballast in the boat to get her lower in the water. The ballast (up to 173 gallons) is all controlled by the MaliView dash with all settings saved as presets.
With Malibu's pickle-fork bow, the wide beam is carried further forward allowing for more room in the bow area.
The performance dash of the 24 MXZ is reminiscent of a high-end sports car.
No worries about filling up the racks on the tower as there's plenty of storage to go around on the 24 MXZ.
Clearly Malibu has positioned itself as a company that continually challenges itself and strives to upgrade its products. While it would have been easy enough to sit on the accolades received from the immensely popular 22 MXZ, that's just not the Malibu way. The new, optional "Surf Gate" wake system is a clever innovative device that seems to create a high, clean wake for both wakeboarding and wakesurfing.
Finally, because the Malibu 24 MXZ is an inboard boat she is safe for boarders riding close to the transom.
|Marine Electronics
|Dripless Shaft Seals
|Washdown: Raw Water
|Exterior Features
|Carpet: Cockpit
|Swim Ladder
|Swim Platform
|Tower: Watersports
|Transom Shower
|Bimini Top
= Standard = Optional
|Warranties change from time to time. While BoatTEST.com has tried to ensure the most up-to-date warranty offered by each builder, it does not guarantee the accuracies of the information presented below. Please check with the boat builder or your local dealer before you buy any boat.
Full Warranty Information on this brand coming soon!


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Hard Drive Size Options:
The WJ-HD616 16-Channel H.264 Digital Disk Recorder from Panasonic features HDMI and Full HD display support. It uses H.264 compression along with Panasonic's UniPhier system to deliver high-quality signal output along with high compression encoding simultaneously. It has a maximum storage capacity of 3TB. Additionally, it also supports SD5Link (Super Dynamic 5 Link) and i-VMD (intelligent-Video Motion Detection) alarm, which provides disk saving and easy search.
- 16 analog video inputs including 8 Panasonic coaxial camera control inputs and 4 audio inputs
- Recording frame rate of 240 ips (Field) and 120 ips (Frame)
- Live / playback monitor output (HDMI, BNC) and live monitor output (HDMI, BNC)
- Two HDMI interfaces supporting dual 1080i (1,920 x 1,080) display
- Real-time frame rate of up to 960 ips (16-channel) on two monitors
- Supports 4 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 12 / 16 split screen display modes
- SD5Link (Super Dynamic 5 Link) capability with i-VMD (intelligent Video Motion Detection) alarm provides disk saving and easy search
- SD5Link (Super Dynamic 5 Link) capability with i-VMD (intelligent Video Motion Detection) alarm provides disk saving and easy search
- Equipped with 4 HDD slots accessible from front panel
- DVD drive (sold separately) and SD/SDHC memory card slot for easy archival of data
Found a lower price? Complete this simple form:
See any errors on this page? Let us know.


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Judge tosses Saints fan's lawsuit over bounty probe
Saints ticket holder claimed 'mental suffering'
A federal judge has dismissed a class-action lawsuit that a New Orleans Saints' season-ticket holder filed against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell over the league's bounty investigation.
In her ruling Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Helen "Ginger" Berrigan rejected the notion that Saints' ticket holders are the only ones who could have experienced "mental suffering" from the team's disappointing season. Berrigan said "that agony has been much more widely felt by the Who Dat Nation."
Saints ticket holder David James Mancina sued the NFL and Goodell in October, seeking more than $5 million in damages. The suit claimed the NFL's sanctions against the team over its alleged system of offering cash bonuses to Saints players for big hits punished innocent ticket holders more than anyone else.
Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Lisa Rae Spraker, age 46, of Northport, Ala died Oct. 15, 2012 at Vaughan Regional Medical Center in Selma, Ala. Services and burial will take place in Ridgecrest at a later date.
She was preceded in death by her infant son, Casey Allen Spraker, her sister, Gina Sue West and her grandparents, Merle and Gloria Paschke.
Survivors include her son, Kyle Lee Spraker and her parents, Sharron and Loren Horn of Northport, Ala; her aunt, Karen Lienhard and cousins, Roy and Carrie Lienhard of Lancaster and her step-brother, Michael Horn of Tampa, Fla.
Please visit http://www.lawrencebrownservice.com to make online condolences to the family.
Location, ST | website.com


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WACO, Texas -- Cal did nearly everything it needed to in order to spring the upset against Baylor on Monday night.
The seventh-seeded Golden Bears all but matched the No. 2 seed Lady Bears in shooting and rebounding for most of the game, but they just had no answer for Baylor All-American Odyssey Sims.
The senior guard scored 11 of her game-high 27 points during a 13-2 run in the second half, and Cal's season came to an end on Baylor's home floor with a 75-56 loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
"We wanted to play until somebody beat us, and Baylor did that tonight," Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. "It was a heck of a battle. I was really proud of the way our players competed. I'm going to leave here really proud of our seniors. They had the most successful run in the history of Cal basketball."
Cal's backcourt tandem of Afure Jemerigbe and Brittany Boyd kept their team in the contest with 17 and 15 points, respectively, but the Golden Bears, a Final Four team last year, were outscored 44-28 in the paint.
Boyd was often gimpy and grimacing but played all but the final 46 seconds despite dealing with a right ankle injury. She also had seven assists, three steals and a blocked shot.
Reshanda Gray battled foul trouble the entire way and managed only two points in 24 minutes. She sat out the last 81/2 minutes of the first half with two fouls, then picked up two more within a minute before finally fouling out with 1:20 to go.
Gennifer Brandon gave Cal (22-10) a lift with nine points and a game-best 15 rebounds, but she and fellow posts Gray and Courtney Range combined to make only 7 of their 22 shots.
"We got a lot of good inside looks," Gottlieb said. "A lot didn't go down. Maybe we didn't get to the free-throw line when we expected to.
"We still were aggressive and assertive in the paint, both off the dribble and to the post. It just didn't produce the same amount of points it normally does. That's a huge difference, because we rely on that."
Despite the Golden Bears' struggles underneath the basket, they trailed by only three with 10 minutes to go.
That's when Sims took over.
She made a layup and a floater to extend Baylor's advantage to seven, then finished the spurt with seven straight points, including a 3-pointer from NBA range to make it a 66-52 advantage with 4:31 remaining.
Cal couldn't keep up, making only one field goal over the game's final 8:27.
Sims, the Big 12's top player, also had eight rebounds and six assists for Baylor (31-4). Nina Davis, the league's top freshman, had 13 points and six rebounds. Niya Johnson had 11 assists.
The final score belied how close the game was for much of the way, particularly in the first half.
The lead changed hands with seemingly every basket and 17 times in all before halftime, and neither team ever led by more than four.
Baylor got a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left in the first half to grab the 34-33 lead at intermission.
Next up for Baylor is Kentucky (26-8) in the Notre Dame Regional semifinals Saturday in South Bend, Ind.
That will be a rematch of the highest-scoring Division I women's game ever. The Wildcats won 133-130 in four overtimes the first weekend of December at the Dallas Cowboys' NFL stadium, which will host the men's Final Four. Sims scored 47 points before being one of seven Lady Bears to foul out of that game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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OAKLAND -- Ellen Lynch's passion is fixing feral cats. Her burden is keeping them fed.
Lynch is a leading volunteer in the movement to humanely reduce feral cat populations, having trapped, neutered and released more than 1,800 cats. Over time -- and occasionally against her better judgment -- she also has become one of the most prolific cat feeders in Oakland, nourishing 24 colonies of neutered cats that span from Chinatown out past the Oakland coliseum.
Feeding so many cats is an expensive three-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week job that takes Lynch, a 57-year-old real estate agent, through some of Oakland's roughest neighborhoods. Because most of the cats only come out at night, that's when she drives around town with two giant bags of dry food, a case of wet food, two jugs of water and a couple cans of dog food, just in case she encounters a lost dog along the way.
"There is a chore element to it," she said. "Sometimes it's just depressing."
But it also can be satisfying and joyful even though most of 100 or so cats she feeds won't let her touch them.
Lynch dedicates nearly all her free time to needy felines. Three days a week she traps unfixed homeless cats called to her attention from various sources including Alameda County Vector Control Services. She brings the cats to a clinic for surgery. Then, for the roughly two-thirds of cats not tame enough for adoption, she returns them to their territory.
Lynch can't provide a lifetime of free food to all the untamed cats she traps, but every night she makes the rounds to those colonies that she has committed to feeding.
The cats have learned to recognize the sound of Lynch's small truck. As it chugs toward a colony, furry faces appear from behind bushes and under parked cars. The cats trot to the feeding location, their tails pointed high in the air.
At one colony that she reluctantly took on two years ago near 77th Avenue, the cats were pretty much fur and bone. "You can see they're not starving now," she said.
There is no reliable estimate on how many homeless cats there are in Oakland or how many of them are being fed or left to scrounge for themselves. Without regular feedings, the cats struggle to scrape together enough nourishment, Lynch said. "It's hard for more than a few to make it in one location if they're not getting fed."
Many of the feeders like Lynch are members of the trap-neuter-release movement that has worked to stop the growth of feral cat colonies while keeping the cats out of shelter euthanasia rooms.
Retired Oakland police Sgt. Dave Cronin, who until recently was interim director of Oakland's animal shelter, says the city gets fewer complaints about feral cats and that Lynch and other leading volunteers deserve the credit. "I think if she didn't do what she does, we would have a lot more feral cats living horrible, horrible lives," he said.
Lynch, a member of the nonprofit Fix Our Ferals, still considers herself "a trapper," even though she now spends more time feeding. She doesn't pull punches with feeders who don't get neighborhood cats fixed. "They're creating population growth," she said. "We want zero population growth."
Lynch's foray into feeding is partly connected to her job. As a real estate agent, especially during the foreclosure crisis, Lynch would find out when people were forced from their homes and had to leave their cats behind. About five years ago, she also agreed to take on several East Oakland colonies from a feeder that wasn't neutering the cats. When Lynch decides to help an untended cat colony, she first gets the cats neutered and then talks to neighbors. Sometimes she can recruit nearby residents to feed the cats that aren't well socialized enough to be adopted out of shelters. If Lynch thinks the cats might be in danger, she works to quickly ferry them to barn and winery rescue programs outside the city.
Lynch, who lives near Lake Merritt, said she has rarely had reason to feel unsafe during her nightly trips through East Oakland. One man told Lynch he was going to "pop her," as she tended to a colony, but he apologized the next day.
"We joke and call ourselves crazy cat ladies, but people don't treat us that way," she said. "They say, 'thank you for helping.' It distresses people to see hungry cats."
William Melgar, who lives near a feeding location along Foothill Boulevard, said there were a lot of hungry, sick cats around before Lynch started caring for them. "Now the cat issue has gotten a lot better," he said.
Lynch feeds the colonies and also works to socialize the cats, some of whom were once pets but have become too traumatized to trust people. If the cats become open to being handled, she'll take them to Oakland Animal Services or to cat fostering groups for adoption.
Cat Town, a foster network that takes in cats that can't handle life at the Oakland shelter, gets nearly one-third of its cats through Lynch. "I did a (ride-along) with her," the group's president and founder Ann Dunn said. "I was so overwhelmed just to think about her doing that every day. It's unbelievable."
Lynch would like to cut back on feeding. The food costs her several hundred dollars a month, although an Oakland nonprofit called Hungry Kitty gives her some food free of charge. Also, the daily grind puts a major dent in her social life.
"I do have a job, and I do have a personal life, not much of one, but I'd like to get back to that," she said.
These days, Lynch finds herself driving past scrawny cats she doesn't have the time or energy to add to her route and ignoring some of the calls for help that get posted to the Fix Our Ferals Listserv. She almost didn't take on her latest colony, the victims of a foreclosure around 79th Avenue, but the cats were in too bad of shape to be ignored.
"I was really mad at myself," she said. "I was like, 'You cannot take on another colony. Stop it.'"
After getting those cats fixed and fed, Lynch noticed a new cat in the area with a severely infected tail that was practically decomposing. When she and a friend trapped it to take it to a veterinarian, they realized the cat was tame and got it adopted to a home in Benicia.
"As much as I curse that colony, I feel like I really saved that cat's life," Lynch said. "I'm doing more than I want to do, but I do feel a tremendous sense of satisfaction in seeing the cats and knowing that they're eating. When I think about them out there hungry every day, it's too much for me."
To donate to Hungry Kitty, the nonprofit that provides food to select high-volume cat feeders, go to www.hungrykitty.org.
Contact Matthew Artz at 510-208-6435.


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- No Trolling/Spamming. You will represent us, you will have bearing.
- No Cheating! Hacking or use of Scripts is not tolerated.
- We will help any of our members in need.
- We will not attack our own members
- We will treat everyone with respect. Have tact.
- No double-posting
Violators of these rules will be delt with accordingly.
Must meet the following:
- Level 38+ or recommended by a member (Other Req. still apply)
- Active player (In game and forums)
- Have a decent base for TH level
- Always willing to improve
- Work with other members, we are a team
If you find that you meet the requirements and still wish to join, copy and paste the application below and fill in the blanks.
Exalted Crusaders Application:
Current level:
Picture of Yard[Optional]:
Daily Activity[In hours]:
Status [Jumper, Empire Builder, MR1, or?]:
Alliance History/References/Other Information:
After you post your application on the forum, any members can use there allotted votes to vote yes or no to an applicant. These votes will be considered when a senior ranking member or leader accepts/rejects an applicant, if the votes do not exceed 20 for/against the applicant. However members ranked co-leader and above can refuse any member regardless of the number of positive votes they receive.
Using correct grammer, punctuation, spelling, and attitude look great and can tremendously help your application, and get you accepted. Alternatively, it can lower you're chances significantly if you do not attain any of these qualities.
For Crusader Members ONLY. Billet application: [Note. Officer ranks and above do not rate any extra votes from billets. There rank already includes these requirements for the most part.]
Billet Requested:
Reason (Why do you want it?):
What have you done to earn it?:
Everyone can vote. You will rate more votes as you progress up through our alliance. You can be promoted to gain billets that entitle you to leadership roles in the alliance at earlier stages and ultimately can progress you through to higher tiers of our rankings.
Rankings List
Has many responsibilities, from getting to know members, monitoring other alliance's status, managing wars, keeping up with the BYM community and this thread. It is an administrative position that only the most active and dedicated players will achieve.
Assists the leader and helps manage the alliance. Has access to most aspects of the administrative part of our alliance. Members in this position are very experienced players with a lot to offer younger members. They uphold leadership traits and keep a leaders mindset at all times.
Officers are experienced players in the game. They are active on the forums and helpful to other members. Members in this position have the ability to vote on anything happening inside the alliance and are seen as model players outside of it.
These players are experienced members who have proven to be above what is expected of them as Members. They are active on the forums, have more voting ability and power, and helpful to the community outside of our alliance.
Standard rank for members that have been accepted into the alliance, are helpful, work well, and actively know what is going on in the alliance.
A Member accepted under condition's only meeting the minimum requirements. Must be willing to improve and accept constructive criticism. Members at this rank that are active generally are promoted quickly.
A applicant that shows promise but doesn't meet the requirements. Typically invited by a member to join the alliance. Held at this level till he/she meets the requirements.
Billet: job; position; appointment.
Our members who hold one of these additional jobs have more responsibilities in the alliance. Currently we only have billets available for our members. Along with these extra responsibilities these members also gain more votes along with having a more prominent role in the alliance than casual members.
This addition was created to keep members that wish to be promoted involved with the alliance with a specific title or specialty that isn't expected of them at lower ranks. A Billet can be held by any member that can meet the requirements of said billet.
(Officer and above rank from a billet they acquire.)
These members are part of a lower tier administrative position of the alliance. They are helpful to the Leader/Co-leaders more than anything.
- Very active and monitors the Forums
- Keeps track of Alliance events
- Chatzy Administrator
- Keeps track of Members on waiting list.
- Always trying to Improve the alliance with ideas, events, creating new additions, and various other ways.
These members are experienced war fighters and can effectively dispatch large empires and could probably level an ultra with 19 tactically inserted pokeys (without hacking). Good source of information and considered veterans on attacking, defending, jumping, and yard design.
- They are experienced Jumpers.
- Very knowledgeable of BYM game-play/tactics.
- Epic yard design.
- Involved with the BYM community, forums, chatzy, public chat. Very Helpful members.
- Just plain enjoy jumping and fighting!
These members are responsible for all our our allies and members in the same map as them. They are set as the Leader of our TEC controlled maps or settlements. It is there job to pass on information to there senior members and keep the map under our control.
- Designated leader of a certain map.
- Aware of known enemies or potential threats in there map.
- Responsible for recruitment, member status, and dominating there TEC controlled map.


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DETROIT -- Rugged forward Brent Burns will sit out Monday night's game against the Detroit Red Wings after taking a hit to the mouth in Saturday night's win over the Calgary Flames.
Burns' absence means that prospect Freddie Hamilton will play in his first NHL game and be on a line with Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl.
The injury to Burns aggravated an area that has been sore since a stray goalie stick knocked out several teeth in the Oct. 12 game against the Ottawa Senators.
"He got hit in the teeth — well, he doesn't have teeth so I guess in the gums -- the other night and they're bothering him right now," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "He'll be out tonight and hopefully he's ready to go when we get to Boston."
Hamilton, 21, was on San Jose's opening day NHL roster, but was sent to Worcester before the Sharks' first game two nights later. He acknowledged some disappointment in that development, but said he was excited about the opportunity tonight.
"There's definitely been a lot of ups-and-downs this year," Hamilton said. "I'm just trying to keep my emotions pretty even. It was tough but it's a good learning experience and in the end I think it'll just make me stronger."
Hamilton, who has one goal in two games with Worcester, is the older brother of Boston Bruins defenseman Dougie Hamilton.
"I think it's been a little tough for him — being the little brother and making it in the NHL first," Freddie Hamilton said. "I've been proud watching him and I think he feels the same about me now."
McLellan said there wouldn't be any special one-on-one sessions with Hamilton before the game.
"There's enough stress right now on a young man coming up right now and playing his first game. We don't want to over-burden him with tactics or anything like that," McLellan said. "He knows how to play. He's familiar with our group."


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SAN MATEO -- Ten years after GoPro began selling small, durable cameras for athletes to record their tricks and daring feats, the company has been embraced by a loyal following of extreme sports athletes and adventure seekers who have helped it become one of the most successful and beloved consumer gadget companies in years.
This week it's striving to earn the embrace of Wall Street as it prepares for its initial public offering, but may find it tougher to get investors as excited as its loyal fans.
With profit of more than $117 million for the past three years, GoPro will begin trading on the Nasdaq this week, becoming one of the rare tech companies to go public with profits. The San Mateo company is expected to price its shares Wednesday evening and sell its stock to the public Thursday, offering 17.8 million shares and potentially raising $491.3 million. The IPO is expected to give the entire company a market value of up to $3 billion.
But GoPro's IPO yanks the company out of the warm waters of customer fanfare and into the stormy public market, where it will face pressure every quarter to please investors. Selling cameras and accessories won't cut it much longer; Francis Gaskins, director of research at Equities.com, says GoPro's rate of revenue growth -- 125 percent in 2012 and 87 percent last year -- won't continue. Already, sales have been shaky, with GoPro reporting a 7.6 percent decline in revenue in the first quarter to $235.7 million; profit for the first quarter dropped 52 percent to about $11 million.
Instead of relying on slumping camera sales, GoPro must figure out a way to make money from all of the nail-biting video people are capturing on their cameras, analysts say.
"The long-term viability of the company depends on their ability to become a content platform," said Chris Chute, research director of the global imaging practice at market research firm IDC. "Because in hardware, you either diversify or you get acquired."
GoPro, which declined to make anyone available for interviews or respond to written questions, signaled in its IPO filings that's what it plans. It has already partnered with Microsoft for a channel on Xbox and launched its own channel on Virgin America flights, but said it won't make any revenue from those partnerships this year.
Already, GoPro is a story of transformation -- of the Woodman family, who, led by Bay Area surfer Nicholas and funded by his father, created an empire; of the consumer hardware industry, which has pivoted from complex gadgets with fine-print instruction manuals to easy-to-use gear branded with sex appeal and adrenaline; and of outdoor adventure and extreme sports, which have, through millions of GoPro videos shared on Facebook and YouTube, become a widely shared experience. You no longer have to strap skis to your back and hike through waist-deep snow to get a glimpse of the back country on a great powder day, or jump out of a plane to grasp the rush of sky diving. There are 6,000 such videos uploaded everyday from GoPro camera to YouTube.
Because GoPros can go places smartphones cannot, the device has turned many sports that had been solitary adventures into social events, posted on Facebook or shared with family.
"It gives a purpose to my surfing when I'm out there for a long day," said Redwood City surfer Luke Kilpatrick, 33. "It's a way of reconnecting with everyone else when I'm doing something on my own."
For some, the high-definition, wide-angle videos offer the sweetest memory. Andy Radowick, 52, of Santa Clara, is saving his GoPro videos of his adventures hang-gliding, scuba diving, skiing and kayaking for his golden years.
"I don't want to be one of those people when I get to be 70 or 80 years old (where) I can't find movies and pictures of old friends I shared the experiences with," he said. "When I want to relive an experience, I can just turn on my computer."
GoPros lack the sleek features and pretty colors consumers have come to expect in a gadget industry dominated by glittery iPhones, but founder and CEO Nick Woodman, a longtime surfer, wasn't focused on pretty. He first conceived GoPro as a strap to tether film cameras to surfers' wrists more than a decade ago, and in 2009 launched the company's first HD model. So far it has sold 8.5 million cameras.
Largely a family operation -- Nicholas is the CEO and his wife and sisters work for the company -- GoPro was funded mostly by Nicholas's father, Dean, a prominent Silicon Valley investment banker, along with cash from Nicholas and his mother, according to media reports. GoPro chose not to raise venture funding until 2011, and in 2012 a $200 million investment from Foxconn, the Chinese contract manufacturer, gave the company a value of more than a billion dollars. The company in 2012 left its roots in Half Moon Bay -- a vibrant surfing community -- to be closer to Silicon Valley tech in San Mateo.
By selling cameras at affordable prices -- $200 to $400 -- and distributing to big-box retailers such as Walmart and Best Buy, GoPro has found customers outside the extreme sports community. Parents record their children's soccer games, and cyclists in San Francisco use the cameras to document accidents and determine who was at fault.
But as a public company aiming to become a full-fledged media corporation with channels in every home or on every computer, GoPro has a long way to go, analysts say.
"When you think of GoPro you think of athletics, you think of sports, you think of adrenaline, you think of crazy BMX biker jumps," said Whitney Fishman Zember, senior director of innovation and consumer technology at media firm MEC. "They have to continue growing their fan base (and) finding new ways to get into people's lives and into people's homes."
Contact Heather Somerville at 510-208-6413. Follow her at Twitter.com/heathersomervil.
Founded: 2004
CEO/Founder: Nicholas Woodman
Headquarters: San Mateo (formerly Half Moon Bay)
HD cameras sold: 8.5 million
U.S. market share: 45 percent; ranks No. 1 on NPD list of best-selling camcorders for 2013
Full-year revenue: 2011, $234.2 million; 2012, $526 million; 2013, $985.7 million
Profit: Q1 2013, $23 million; Q1 2014, $11 million
YouTube channel: 530 million views, 2 million subscribers


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- Currently Unavailable
Extreme low-profile design. Poron XRD foam in critical impact locations for maximum protection. Removable shoulder caps and bicep pads for a completely customizable shoulder pad. New lightweight materials keep the pads from weighing you down on the field. New pad shapes increase flexibility and maximize range of motion. Hard plastic section in shoulder caps increase protection without adding unnecessary bulk.


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- Engineered for excellence
- Currently Unavailable
Designed to deliver maximum performance.
UPPER: Supple kangaroo for a soft, comfortable fit. Ventilated mesh tongue for breathability.
MIDSOLE: Cushioned midsole with SoLyte technology for added comfort and stability.
OUTSOLE: The PU outsole uses the HG10mm heel gradient that offers more speed in your step with less stress on the leg. The gradient revolutionizes the game by helping reduce over-use injuries while increasing speed and performance.Designed for more contact area, more grip and fast release for change of direction on firm, natural surfaces.
WEIGHT: 9 oz.
Lamentamos que todavia no hay descripción en español para este producto.