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Jake Young">
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
WARRENTON, Ga. -- Warren County Schools confirmed Tuesday morning that Marleau Blount has resigned as the high school's head football coach.
Superintendent Carole Jean Carey received Blount's letter of resignation on behalf of the Board of Education Friday, Aug. 19, before a team scrimmage.
Defensive Coordinator David Daniels has been promoted to the head coach position.
The problem stemmed from a few players on the team practicing without having a physical examination. Georgia High School Association rules require all athletes have a physical done before participating in any team activities.
The school reported the infraction to the state and Blount resigned.
Carey says the school will be fined for the violation, but the team will face no other disciplinary action.
Blount was 11-11 in his two seasons with the Screaming Devils, leading them to the first round of the playoffs each year. He is a lifelong resident of Warrenton and served as an assistant coach for 10 years before being named head coach in 2009.
Warren County opens its football season Friday at Glascock County.


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In this fascinating and popular workshop, learn to say what you mean when it matters most! Whether at work or home, how we say it is often more important than what we say. The words we choose, the tone of voice and our body language dramatically affect the way people respond to us. Become more confident in communicating by learning specific ways to: get cooperation without forcing your ideas, be positive yet direct with others, tactfully confront annoying behavior, and discover the 12 words that "push people's buttons." Yields 3 PDUs.
See our detailed course information including course content, learning objectives, and prerequisites.

subset: commoncrawl


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United Way of McPherson County is working to build a stronger community by addressing issues related to health, education and income. We believe conversations and intensive listening are the best ways to understand the real problems and move beyond short-term solutions. Community change can be accomplished through broad participation and collaboration. We encourage McPherson County residents to be involved with their community through giving, advocating and volunteering. By working together we can make a larger impact on the issues at hand.
I'm not a fan of dining at fast food restaurants as I try to avoid greasy foods and beef. Despite the fast food chains' efforts to provide healthy options with salads I am rarely satisfied with my choices, especially when the salad is mostly composed of iceberg lettuce and prepackaged salad dressing.
Recently several fast food restaurants have been offering veggie burgers. I often go with this option to avoid beef but still get an adequate amount of protein. However, I was curious if veggie burgers really are a healthy option so I did a little research.
Many people eat veggie burgers in an effort to cut saturated fat. Most veggie burgers contain from zero to 1 gram of saturated fat. Pretty impressive when compared to a regular-size hamburger, which contains 4-7 grams of saturated fat. The recommended daily limit of saturated fat is 15-25 grams.
However, I also learned veggie burgers made with soy may contain little soy protein. The name "veggie burger" tends to suggest they are made of vegetables and, if they are, the amount of processing the ingredients are exposed to tends to eliminate many of the essential nutrients. And some veggie burgers aren't even made with vegetables but consist of processed soy. You can say goodbye to the protein if processed soy is involved!
I also learned in addition to being highly processed, veggie burgers can have excessives amounts of sodium with some patties weighing in with over 400 milligrams of sodium per patty. That's not good news for those of us that are trying to avoid high blood pressure. Veggie burgers are also often held together with butter or oil. And wait, it gets worse! It has been reported some veggie burgers contain hexane, which is a compound is known to be harmful to humans. It's a by-product of gasoline refining and is used to separate whole soybeans into soy oil, protein and fiber.
Yikes! I'm thinking it's time to get into the kitchen and make my own veggie burgers.


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Enter spaghetti squash.
One large and one extra large spaghetti squash made their way home from work with hubby last week so we're going to call it quits with zucchini recipes for awhile and focus on spaghetti squash for now, then move on to the fall squash, butternut and acorn being my two favorites.
Let's talk a little bit about spaghetti squash, shall we? I'm just going to get this out in the open right away: It does not now nor did it ever taste like spaghetti. It's quite delicious, but for all those carb-conscious people trying to talk themselves into it tasting like pasta, you're crazy! It pairs well with traditional pasta sauces and gooey melted cheese, so you may possibly fool your taste buds a bit if you're just looking for something to transfer sauce and cheese to your mouth. But just because it strings like spaghetti, it tastes no more like spaghetti than mashed cauliflower tastes like mashed potatoes. (Geeze Mags, sounds like you're kinda opinionated on this issue!)
There are a variety of ways to cook spaghetti squash. I've microwaved them before with great success, but because I had my oven going this morning for another recipe, I just baked it along with that. I cut the squash in half and removed the seeds, then seasoned it a bit with salt and pepper and place the halves cut side down on a baking sheet that I'd sprayed with cooking spray. Into a 400 degree oven for 45-60 minutes, depending on the size of your squash.
1 3-4 pound spaghetti squash, cooked. Using fork, remove flesh from squash halves and place in a large bowl. Taste squash and season again with salt and pepper if needed. Discard shells.
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 bell pepper, seeded, diced
6 oz. mushrooms, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 box frozen spinach (5 oz) thawed, squeezed dry and chopped
4-5 sun dried tomatoes, finely diced
1 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper
4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
toasted bread crumbs or croutons for topping (I used rye bread cubes that I sprinkled with olive oil, then seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning, then toasted at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes)
Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion, red pepper flakes and bell pepper. Season with salt and pepper and saute until onion is softened, 5-6 minutes. Add mushrooms and continue cooking until mushrooms give up their liquid and start to brown, about another 5-6 minutes. Add garlic, spinach, and tomatoes and season with basil and salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes to combine flavors. Remove from heat. Add cream cheese, sour cream and parmesan cheese to skillet, stirring to melt cheeses and combine. Add skillet mixture to spaghetti squash and stir gently to combine. Transfer to casserole dish that's been sprayed with cooking spray.
Top with bread crumbs or croutons. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes.


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Best Western PLUS Roswell/Alpharetta
Roswell, GA 30076
Best Western PLUS, located in the heart of historic Roswell-a beautiful city with a family friendly atmosphere, has all the comforts of home - including a complimentary continental home-made waffle breakfast offered daily and free coffee in the lobby. After a busy day enjoy a dip in the outdoor pool. Exercise facility on-site. Guest rooms at this hotel are comfortably equipped with high-speed Internet access, cable television, coffee/tea maker and iron/ironing board. The friendly, well-trained staff is ready to implement special events. Meeting and banquet facilities are well-suited for weddings or large group meetings. Business travelers will appreciate our hotel's close proximity to corporate locations such as Kimberly-Clark, Siemens, Johnson Controls and Witness Systems. Our hotel is near shopping, theaters, cinemas, parks, and several restaurants. For friendly hospitality in Roswell, www.bestwestern.com and secure a guaranteed low rate today.
Info & Amenities
Hours of Operation
Sunday: All Day
Monday: All Day
Tuesday: All Day
Wednesday: All Day
Thursday: All Day
Friday: All Day
Saturday: All Day
Average Nightly Rate
Call for Rates
AAA, AARP, Military Discount
Facility Amenities
Complimentary Breakfast, Complimentary Parking, Free Parking, Laundry, Meeting Space Available, Outdoor Pool, Parking on Site
General Information
ADA-compliant, Family-friendly, Handicapped Accessible (Limited)
Group Amenities
Near Interstate Highway
Room Amenities
Hair Dryer, Iron/Ironing Board
Room Information
Number of Rooms (Total): 93


text:
USPS Undoes 200 Years of Democracy? JOEL TURNIPSEED · NOV 06 2007
Interesting piece in Mother Jones about the new rate hikes for periodicals passed this year. According to the article, weekly publications like The Nation and The National Review will face up to $500,000 a year in additional delivery costs. This is the sort of small, seemingly-trivial change that makes this past week's discussions here at kottke.org so urgent: when you look at how rapidly—and sometimes silently—things are changing, you really do need to step back sometimes and ask, "Have we really thought this through? Are we acting, and doing so urgently enough?" How significant is this rate hike? Try this:
Since the 1970s, all classes of mail have been required to cover the costs associated with their delivery, what's called attributable cost. But periodicals, as a class, get favorable treatment: They don't pay overhead, meaning that they don't foot the bill for the Postal Service's infrastructure, employees, and so on.
That's a tradition that goes back to the origins of the nation. The founding fathers saw the press as the lifeblood of democracy—only informed voters could compose a true democracy, they believed—and thus created a postal system that gave favorable rates to small periodicals. (George Washington actually supported mailing newspapers for free.) For 200 years, small periodicals and journals of opinion were given special treatment.


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Home ⋅
Address Labels - Personalized Return Address Labels ⋅
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Babies & Accessories ⋅
Princesses & Fairytales
"I just moved to Florida so I thought this would be perfect for sending mail home.. and it is! It's a way for me to share Florida with everyone back at home."
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Tiny Prints |
Terms of Use. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.


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Inmate accused of throwing urine on Watauga County officers
Authorities say a Watauga County jail inmate is charged with throwing urine on three officers.
The Watauga Democrat reports that 38-year-old Tommie Joe Booher is charged with three felony counts of malicious conduct by a prisoner. Sheriff Len Hagaman says Booher threw urine on the officers as they attempted to quiet him down while making their rounds. Two were hit in the eyes and mouth. The third officer's uniform was hit.
Booher is set to appear in court next month on those charges.
According to the sheriff's office, Booher was in jail on charges of driving with a revoked license, driving with a fictitious tag and failure to register as a sex offender. He also is awaiting trial on charges of motor vehicle larceny and misdemeanor assault.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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An ugly political exercise of attempted personal destruction is playing out before us, juxtaposing a malignant assault on a highly-skilled professional diplomat and the tragic unwinding of an American hero.
Well before last month's presidential election, cable television's snarling darling Michelle Malkin and Fox News host Sean Hannity began a fresh anti-Obama hate campaign with charges that the administration was covering up alleged malfeasance surrounding the attacks on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which resulted in the deaths of Christopher Stephens, our ambassador to Libya, and three other Americans. Fox's obsession was conveniently adopted by a small group of demagogic Republican senators who are using it as an excuse to block the potential appointment of Susan Rice, our ambassador to the United Nations, to be Hillary Clinton's successor as Secretary of State.
Arizona's John McCain pledged to do everything in his power to deny confirmation. He was soon followed by North Carolina's Lindsey Graham and New Hampshire's Kelly Ayotte. Their complaints are based on interviews Rice gave on Sunday talk shows in mid-September, a few days after the assault on the consulate. Information at the time was conflicting. The answers she gave on those shows were wrong. But they were wrong because they were what the intelligence community gave her in a briefing before the shows. Rice is not a policymaker. Her job is to convey policy constructed by higher-ups.
McCain, who graduated 894 out of 899 at the U.S. Naval Academy, called Rice "incompetent," "unqualified" and "not very bright." On the contrary, here's Rice's competency, qualifications and intelligence: Cornell University economics professor; valedictorian at National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C.; a bachelor's degree in history at Stanford University on a Truman Scholarship; elected to Phi Bata Kappa; Rhodes Scholar; Ph.D. at New College, Oxford. Her dissertation was honored as the United Kingdom's most distinguished in international relations by the Chatham House-British International Studies Association. She was a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution where her special interests were global policy and transnational threats to security.
It's particularly painful to witness American hero McCain's decency unravel as he leads others in this uncharacteristic cowardly attack on another devoted American servant who's been doing her job right. Susan Rice's service as an American diplomat is as noble as is the service of an American who wears the military uniform.
On Nov. 18, McCain told "Face the Nation" that he might soften his opposition if Rice acknowledged that she had given wrong information, and might clear the nomination if she met with lawmakers.
Last Monday, Rice, at her request, met with these three critics in order to explain those September television comments and acknowledged that they were wrong. But McCain reneged. Rice's candor was met with derision. After their meeting, the three senators went to the microphones to state strongly that they were more intent on stalling or blocking her confirmation despite Rice's acknowledgment.
The senators' statements carried no specific charge of malfeasance or improper conduct by Rice. None. Instead, full of inferences, they demonstrate that the ambassador is being made a scapegoat and that their project is a political hatchet job.
Sen. Kent Conrad, an Intelligence Committee member, said Thursday, "what is very clear is the intelligence community has said with great clarity that the talking points she used were ... provided to her by the intelligence community of the United States ... after consultation with all of the agencies, and they were the unclassified talking points, which is precisely what any ambassador, any representative of the United States should use, not the classified talking points that might reveal things critically important to national security... (They) were ... prepared by a request from the House Intelligence Committee... It is entirely appropriate for the ambassador to rely on the intelligence community for what she says in public. What was said in a classified report would have been totally inappropriate for her to talk about."
Worse yet, with Maine's Sen. Susan Collins and Tennessee's Sen. Bob Corker having joined the small scapegoating chorus, McCain and Ayotte are now threatening to place a "hold" on any nomination for Secretary of State unless the administration provides the answers they want on the Benghazi attacks, the compromising of classified intelligence notwithstanding. Their machinations are pure political obstructionism that holds national security hostage at a critical time of Middle East instability. This nonsense needs to stop. President Obama should have his choice for Secretary of State confirmed, consistent with centuries-old congressional protocol.
- Michael Zucker is a resident of South Lake Tahoe and a stockbroker with Regal Securities. The views expressed in this column are his alone and do not represent those of Regal.


text: You listen to Alanis Morisette? God, you're such a Fag! I love it, though. This is completely retarded, but it made me laugh.SoCo makes me psychoAnd, bitter, like a limeZima gets me date-rapedWine makes me feel sublimeBud tends to make me giggleIt's fun to lose one's classBut, I do not like the jiggleThat it adds onto my assBacardi makes me swoonCaptain Morgan makes me singJager clouds my judgementTill I cannot see a thingTequilla makes me festiveIt also gets me hotWhen I start to feeling restiveIn the bushes, I will squatVodka knocks my rockerSweet gin unpins the sinnerJack Daniels makes me wrestle withAnd, sorely lose my dinnerBut, when I've had too much to drinkMy business becomes risque And, coffee makes me pleasantIf it's spiked with Irish whiskay If guns are made for shooting, then skulls are made to crack. You've never seen a better Faig than with a bullet in his back.


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The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed Ann Ravel -- the head of California's political watchdog agency, and a former Santa Clara County counsel -- to the Federal Election Commission.
Ravel, 64, who has chaired California's Fair Political Practices Commission since March 2011, has been an outspoken critic of money's influence over politics -- particularly the avalanche of cash unleashed by the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision.
President Barack Obama in June had nominated Ravel to fill a Democratic vacancy on the six-member bipartisan commission. Obama at the time also nominated Washington, D.C., attorney Lee Goodman to fill a Republican vacancy.
Both were confirmed by voice votes Monday; Ravel said she's honored by the Senate's unanimous support.
"I expect to stay at the FPPC for another month because I have some projects and other things I need to complete, and I also made a commitment to the governor to do so," she said.
After that, she'll stay with a friend who works for the Justice Department while she looks for an apartment of her own in Washington, D.C., she said, but she'll keep her Los Gatos home as well.
From 2009 to 2011, Ravel worked in the nation's capital as a deputy assistant attorney general for torts and consumer litigation in the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Division. She held the county counsel's post from 1998 to 2009. She holds a bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley and a law degree from UC's Hastings College of the Law.
Josh Richman covers politics. Contact him at 510-208-6428. Follow him at Twitter.com/josh_richman. Read the Political Blotter at IBAbuzz.com/politics.


text:
Share Photo
This Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013 photo, provided by Kalin Hill, of Houston, shows passengers with makeshift tents on the the deck of the Carnival Triumph cruise ship at sea in the Gulf of Mexico. The ship nearing Mobile Bay is without engine power and is being towed by tugboats. (AP Photo/Kalin Hill)


text:
|Northeast Central Judicial District,
Judgeship No. 5
124 S. 4th St.
P.O. Box 6347
Grand Forks, ND 58206-6347
Cases reviewed
Lawyer record
Born in 1958, Valley City, ND. B.S., University of North Dakota 1980. J.D. University of North Dakota 1983. Private practice in Grand Forks, ND, 1983-85. Assistant State's Attorney, Grand Forks County, 1985-1990. Elected Grand Forks County Judge 1990 and served in that capacity 1991-94. Elected District Judge in 1994, 1996, 2002, 2008 and 2014. Married: Husband, Paul. Two children.
Biographical Sketches of the North Dakota District Court Judges


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NEW: For a prettier blog interface, see the Wordpress version!
Headlines for Saturday:
|Study chapter 13 (mie1407f)
|LEGO judging
|Prepare quarterly financial report
1. Snow Ball was a ball =)
During one of my rest breaks, I managed to sit down next to what was probably the only other Emacs person in the room. How did I find out? Well, we started talking about courses, and then he asked me what programming languages I use, and I said Lisp, and he asked if that was the language used for Emacs, and I was like... whoa. =)
He then proceeded to tell me about his only gripe about Emacs - lack of on-the-fly spellchecking.
... and I of course proceeded to tell him about emacswiki.org and flyspell.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen. Even though I was dressed to the nines (black velvet floor-length gown with red satin ribbons/and paper roses), I was still a geek...
Awesome fun. Totally worth it. Met interesting people, too. =)
On Technorati: ghcommunity
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] .


text:
Mac Spaces
Mac Spaces Sync your files between your Macs. It is keeping important files up to date on all your Macs.
It is a simple solution for syncing all kinds of data from any kind of application for Mac Os X.
Required OS: 10.5
Tags: mac , file , desktop , sync , productivity
4 Opinions
epollux, sorry for the late answer.
We are working on next version of this software. It will be possible to duplicate and sync changes in iPhoto and Music Libraries.
Can it be used to duplicate an iPhoto and Music Library?
Kompile, iif you are getting errors you could contact me and I will provide a solution for you problem.
This doesn't even work on my Mac.


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Parcells, Sapp, Carter among 7 Hall inductees
Published: Saturday, February 2, 2013 at 5:00 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, February 2, 2013 at 5:17 p.m.
NEW ORLEANS — Coach Bill Parcells, Warren Sapp, Cris Carter, Jonathan Ogden and Larry Allen have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The class of 2013 also includes a pair of senior selections, Curley Culp and Dave Robinson. The announcement was made Saturday in New Orleans, a day before the Super Bowl.
Five players were eliminated in the final vote: Jerome Bettis, Charles Haley, Andre Reed, Michael Strahan and Aeneas Williams. Earlier Saturday, the selection committee eliminated Tim Brown, Kevin Greene, Will Shields and former owners Edward DeBartolo Jr. and Art Modell.
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.


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The commission issued a permit last October for the proposed mine, which would be operated by Reed Minerals of Jasper. Foes of the project want the commission to reconsider and say letters must be received by the end of January.
CORDOVA, Ala. (AP) -- Opponents of a proposed new coal strip mine in Cordova are urging citizens to join them in writing letters to state regulators.
Reports say citizens and student activists were gathering Saturday at nearby Dovertown Freewill Baptist Church. They were urging residents to show up and write letters opposing the mine project to be sent to the Alabama Surface Mining Commission.
The Black Warrior Riverkeeper environmental group has filed a petition seeking to designate some areas of the Black Warrior River's Mulberry fork as unsuitable for mining.


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USA, 2007, 84 Minute Running Time
Genre/Subjects: Comedy, DocumentaryLanguage: English
In 1982, "Gamer of the Century" Billy Mitchell managed to score 874,300 points on the arcade classic Donkey Kong, a record many thought would never be broken. In 2003, 35-year-old family man Steve Wiebe, after losing his job at Boeing, found solace in Donkey Kong, surpassing Billy's record with a thought-to-be-impossible 1,000,000 points. Steve and Billy then engaged in a cross-country duel to see who could set the high score and become The King of Kong. Along the way, both men learned valuable lessons about what it means to be a father, a husband and a true champion.
DIRECTOR: Seth Gordon
Producer: Ed CunninghamEditor: Jim Bruce, J. Clay WheelMusic: Craig RicheyPrincipal Cast: Steve Wiebe, Billy Mitchell, Walter Day, Steve SandersUS Distributor: Picturehouse
Official Film Website
CLICK IMAGE for the Member Newsletter
CLICK IMAGE to submit to the Denver Film Festival. Withoutabox logos are trademarks of Withoutabox, a DBA of IMDb.com Inc. or its affiliates.
CLICK IMAGE to Renew or JoinMembership Updates and Sign Up
CLICK IMAGE for Information
CLICK IMAGE for more information
Site powered by: Luminate


text:
House Ethics Committee
The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, often known simply as the Ethics Committee, is one of the committees of the United States House of Representatives.
- Rules, 109th Congress, adopted May 4, 2005.
- Ethics Manual, 102nd Congress, 2nd Session (1992).
- Ethics Committee Jurisdiction.
|Members of the
House Ethics Committee,
111th Congress
- 1 Previous committee membership
- 2 Past rulings
- 3 Committee history
- 4 Articles and Resources
- 5 Contact
Previous committee membership
110th Congress (2007-2008)
|Members of the
House Ethics Committee,
110th Congress
109th Congress (2005-2006)
|Members of the
House Committee on Energy and Commerce,
109th Congress
- William V. O'Reilly, Chief Counsel/Staff Director[1]
- Kenneth E. Kellner, Acting Chief Counsel
- Ed Cassidy, Assistant to the Chairman
- Mary Colleen McCarty, Assistant to the Ranking Minority Member
Source: House Ethics Committee Members.
Investigations in the 109th Congress
- William Jefferson[2]
- Subcommittee Chair: Melissa Hart
- Ranking Minority Member: Stephanie Tubbs Jones
- Subcommittee Members: Tom Latham and Adam Schiff
- Bob Ney[3]
- Subcommittee Chair: Lamar Smith
- Ranking Subcommittee Member: Gene Green
- Subcommittee Members: Marsha Blackburn and Xavier Becerra
- If the Committee becomes aware "of facts supporting more formal investigation of one or more Members, officers or employees, we intend to take all appropriate steps under Committee rules, including recommending the establishment of one or more investigative subcommittees."[4]
- Mark Foley and House Leadership[5][6]
- Subcommittee Chair: Doc Hastings
- Ranking Subcommittee Member: Howard Berman
- Subcommittee Members: Judy Biggert and Stephanie Tubbs Jones
- See Congresspedia page on members of Congress under investigation
Past rulings
- On September 5, 1996 the Congressional Accountability Project filed a complaint against then-Majority Whip Tom DeLay alleging that he "improperly linked campaign contributions to official action and improper political favors for" his brother, a registered lobbyist.[7] The complaint was dismissed and the committee sent a letter to Rep. DeLay advising him not to create an impression that he would trade actions for campaign contributions.
- On December 17, 1997 an Investigative Subcommittee was formed to determine what action would be taken against Rep. Jay Kim (D-Calif.) after he pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor campaign finance violations by accepting illegal corporate and foreign contributions. The subcommittee adopted a six count Statement of Alleged Violation (SAV) and "recommended no further action due to impending loss of jurisdiction". The committee unanimously adopted the resolution; Kim was defeated in the 1998 Democratic primary election.[8]
- On September 5, 1996 the Congressional Accountability Project filed a complaint against Rep. Bud Shuster (R-Penn.), then-Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, alleging that he broke the law in his dealings with his former chief of staff-turned-transportation lobbyist Ann Eppard.[9] An Investigative Subcommittee was created but it suspended its activity at the behest of the Department of Justice as they tried Eppard on related charges in Boston. Eppard pleaded guilty to receiving illegal compensation from lobbyist Vernon Clark while she was Shuster's chief of staff. After resuming their inquiry the Ethics Committee ultimately voted to sanction Shuster for "serious official misconduct" for accepting improper gifts from Eppard, allowing her to advise and appear before him in the year after she left his office, and for having congressional employees work for his campaign to the "apparent detriment" of their work in his congressional office.[10]
- On June 11, 1999 an Investigative Subcommittee, headed by Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), launched an inquiry into whether Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.) received bribes from Foutanga Sissoko, a West African businessman convicted of trying to bribe a customs agent.[11] The investigation was prompted by stories in the St. Petersburg Times. While Sissoko served his four-month prison sentence Brown wrote two letters to then-Attorney General Janet Reno on behalf of Sissoko and lobbied both foreign diplomats and fellow members of Congress. During this period Brown's daughter received a $50,000 Lexus from Sissoko's and Brown stayed at a Miami condo owned by Sissoko. The Subcommittee ultimately ruled that it did not have enough evidence -- mainly due to the key witness being outside of their subpoena jurisdiction -- to come to a conclusion and instead stated that Brown used "poor judgment" and created an "appearance of impropriety".[12]
- On September 22, 1999 an Investigative Subcommittee, headed by Rep. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), began an inquiry into allegations that Rep. Earl Hilliard (D-Ala.) gave improper loans from his campaign committee, payments his campaign committee made to nonprofits and companies tied to Hilliard, and for failure to comply with federal financial disclosure laws. The Subcommittee brought a three-count SAV against Hilliard who ultimately admitted to the wrongdoing.[13] In 2001 the Committee voted unanimously to rebuke Hilliard for the three separate campaign finance violations.[14] Hilliard was defeated for reelection in the 2002 Democratic primary.
- On July 16, 2001 Rep. Peter Deustch (D-Fla.) filed an ethics complaint[15] against Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) alleging that Buyer "violated the law and ethics rules by using a congressional committee for political purposes during the Florida presidential election recount." Buyer, chairman of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel, had requested information from the Pentagon on how to contact military personnel who had their ballots rejected in the 2000 election. On August 2, the Committee dismissed the complaint explaining that they found no evidence that Buyer had provided information on military absentee voting to anyone for political purposes.[16]
- On April 17, 2002 an Investigative Subcommittee was established to examine the case of Rep. Jim Traficant (D-Ohio). Six days earlier Traficant was found guilty of conspiracy to violate federal bribery and gratuity laws, receiving illegal gratuity, obstruction of justice, defrauding the government, racketeering, and tax evasion. The Subcommittee quickly adopted a 10 count SAV[17], held an adjudication hearing[18], and found Traficant guilty of nine out of ten violations[19]. The Committee recommended Traficant's immediate expulsion from the House. The House voted 420-1 to expel Traficant. Traficant was later sentenced to 7¼ years in prison.
- On March 17, 2004 an Investigative Subcommittee, headed by Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.), was formed to investigate allegations that members of the Republican House Majority had engaged in vote buying by offering financial support for the congressional candidacy of Rep. Nick Smith's (R-Mich.) son if Rep. Smith voted in favor of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. The Committee ultimately voted unanimously to admonish three members[20]: then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) for offering "to endorse Representative Smith's son in exchange for Representative Smith's vote in favor of the Medicare bill"; Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) for making a "statement to Representative Smith on the House floor during the vote on the Medicare legislation that referenced the congressional candidacy of Representative Smith's son"; and Rep. Smith for making public statements that his son's campaign was offered $100,000 and "an endorsement or financial support … from the National Republican Congressional Committee in exchange for voting in favor of the Medicare Prescription Drug Act" and for failing to "fully cooperate" with the investigation.[21]
- On June 15, 2004 Rep. Chris Bell (D-Texas) filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee alleging three violations of the law and/or House ethics rules. The three allegations were that then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) solicited and received campaign contributions from Westar Energy "in return for legislative assistance on the energy bill"; that Rep. DeLay used a leadership political action committee, TRMPAC, to funnel illegal corporate funds to Texas state campaigns; and that contacts made by DeLay's staff with "the Federal Aviation Administration and the Justice Department in May 2003 regarding absent Texas state legislators constituted an effort to use federal resources in a political issue and hence were improper under Committee guidance on contacts with federal agencies." The Committee found that the initial Westar complaints did not merit investigation DeLay's actions in relation to an energy company fundraiser uncovered in the process of the Committee's work deserves admonishment. The second complaint was deferred by the Committee on the grounds that Texas authorities are already conducting an investigation into the matter. The Committee also ruled that the contacts made by DeLay's staff to the Justice Department were not improper, however the contacts made to the FAA did indeed raise concerns of violations of ethics codes. The Committee issued their second admonishment of DeLay for these contacts. In total the Committee issued two letters of admonishment to DeLay and dismissed two complaints while deferring on another.[22][23]
- On September 21, 2006, the committee cleared Jeffrey Shockey, deputy chief of staff to Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-Ca.) for the House Appropriations Committee, of any wrongdoing in accepting a $2 million dollar buyout his previous employer, a prominent lobbying firm. [24]
- On December 29, 2006 the committee ruled that Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) must "take a number of additional, significant steps to ensure that his office complies with all rules and standards regarding campaign and personal work by congressional staff." Conyers was accused of using his congressional staff, in violation of House rules, for personal and campaign uses. Conyers agreed to take further measures to stop these violations and prevent future violations.[25]
- The committee concluded its long-standing investigation into Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) by ruling that he had violated the spirit of the House rules when he leaked information about the investigation into then-Speaker Newt Gingrich and when he disseminated to the press an illegally intercepted telephone call. No action was taken against Rep. McDermott.[26]
- On January 3, 2007 the committee ruled that both Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fl.) and former-Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) violated House rules by accepting travel from an outside source despite the travel being "recreational in nature". Both Feeney and Weldon were ordered to pay out of their own pockets for the travel. The committee's ability to extract money from a former Member, such as Weldon, is a subject of debate. Meanwhile, Feeney has agreed to repay the cost of the trip.[27][28][29]
Committee history
Under investigation, Mollohan steps down
On April 21, 2006, Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) stepped down from his post as ranking Democrat on the committee amid accusations that he used his seat on the House Appropriations Committee to funnel money into the hands of business partners, thereby increasing his personal wealth. He was replaced as head of the Ethics Committee by Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), a twelve-term House veteran not serving on the panel at the time of Mollohan's resignation. As of June 2006, Mollohan is one of several members of Congress under investigation. [30]
The investigation of Tom DeLay, the Republican purge of the committee, and subsequent rule changes
The investigation of Tom DeLay
In 2004, the Ethics Committee, under the chairmanship of Rep. Joel Hefley (R-Colo.), investigated accusations of misconduct by then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Several of the most serious complaints had been lodged by freshman Rep. Chris Bell (D-Texas), who had been defeated in his bid for re-election in the Democratic primary after his district had been altered by a DeLay-backed redistricting. Sen. Joe Lieberman had previously called for an investigation into DeLay's use of influence in attempting to involve federal agencies in the search for Democratic Texan lawmakers. Lieberman accused him and his Republican associates of trying to enlist:
- Three Federal Aviation Administration offices (in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Fort Worth, Texas and Washington, D.C.)
- Four Federal Bureau of Investigation offices (in Dallas, Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas, Austin, Texas and Ardmore, Oklahoma)
- Two United States Marshal offices (in the Western and Northern Districts of Texas)
- The United States Attorney's office in San Antonio, Texas
- The Office of Legislative Affairs at the United States Department of Justice
- The Air and Marine Interdiction Coordination Center (in Riverside, California) [31]
The committee did issue a statement of alleged violation charging DeLay with breaking any official House rules, but it did admonish him for three incidents which the committee said could lead to the perception of impropriety in Congress:
- DeLay asking the FAA to track an airplane carrying Democratic state legislators from Texas who were opposing Delay's planned redistricting.
- DeLay hosted a political fundraiser attended by energy lobbyists immediately before a planned vote on an energy bill.
- Delay promised to support the candidacy of the son of retiring-Rep. Nick Smith to replace his father in exchange for the elder Smith voting with DeLay on a Medicare Bill. [32]
In a letter to DeLay, the committee stated that: "In view of the number of instances to date in which the committee has found it necessary to comment on conduct in which you have engaged, it is clearly necessary for you to temper your future actions to assure that you are in full compliance at all times with the applicable House rules and standards of conduct." [33]
While the actual functional ramifications of the committee's admonishment of DeLay were few, DeLay and his allies were furious with the Republican chairman and members. Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) was quoted as saying that he was "very confused about why Republicans would sign an admonishment." The committee had, however, released a forty-four page factual report to accompany the admonishment. Chairman Hefly (R-Colo.) stated that he had been attacked and threatened by members of his own party over his unwillingness to curtail the DeLay investigation.[34]
Republican purge of the committee
Many Republicans had immediately voiced their displeasure with Rep. Hefley and the Ethics Committee after their admonishment DeLay in October 2004. [35] When Congress reconvened in 2005, Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) replaced Hefly as committee chairman, citing House Rules 10.(5)(a)(3)(C) and 10.(5)(a)(3)(D). In his place Hastert installed Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.). Hastings was known to be a staunch ally of Hastert and the Republican leadership and had received money from DeLay's PAC.[36] Hefly had anticipated the move, stating that he did not expect to retain the chairmanship given his role in the DeLay admonishment. [37] He was quoted as saying that there was a "bad perception out there that there was a purge in the committee and that people were put in that would protect our side of the aisle better than I did." [38]
Hastert also replaced two other members of the panel: Reps. Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.) and Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio). Both members had supported Hefley in the committees unamimous rebuke of DeLay and other matters.[39] While Hefley had possibly served the maximum amount of time on the Ethics Committee allowable by House rules (there was a debate at the time over the interpretation of the rule), neither Hulshof nor LaTourette had served more than two terms. [40] The rules state that a member may not serve on the committee more than three of five congressional terms if he or she is not the chairman or ranking member for the fourth term. [41] To replace the three Republicans removed from the committee, Hastert appointed Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), Tom Cole (R-Okla.), and Melissa Hart (R-Pa.). All three had voted for the ethics rule change which would have allowed Tom DeLay to remain majority leader if indicted. Smith and Cole had also donated thousands of dollars to DeLay's legal defense fund. [42] According to Common Cause, both Hulshof and LaTourette had voted against the rule change despite each having received nearly $15,000 from DeLay's political action committee.[43] Democrats and watchdog groups were critical of these appointments, but Hastert stood behind his decisions and Smith, Cole, and Hart all took their places on the committee when it finally convened for business in July of 2005 after the resolution of a dispute over committee rules.[44][45][46]
The purge of the committee was not limited to congressional members. Upon assuming the chairmanship, Hastings fired staff director and chief counsel John Vargo and chief spokesperson Paul Lewis, both longterm members of the panel. Hastings attempted to replace Vargo with Ed Cassidy, the chief of staff of his personal office. Democrats declared that this was another act aimed punishing the committee for rebuking DeLay. Republicans responded by charging Ranking Member Mollohan with political gamesmanship for bringing the committee to a halt. Former Chairman Hefley, however, entered into the Congressional Record a statement defending Mollohan saying that "If I had been the ranking member and the majority party unilaterally fired the senior committee staff in contradiction to rules which say both the majority and minority must agree, I would have had to react, just as Representative Mollohan did," and that "If I had been the ranking member and the majority party tried to put a partisan chief of staff in as the staff director for the ethics committee, in contradiction to the standards of a nonpartisan staff, I would have had to react, just as Representative Mollohan did." The staffing issue was the last to be resolved before the committee reconvened in July. [47][48][49]
Rule changes
In 2004, as DeLay was facing an impending indictment in Texas (see below), House Republicans voted to change an internal rule requiring members of the House leadership to step down if indicted. By the beginning of 2005, however, they had rescinded the rule change.
- See the main Congresspedia article on the DeLay rule change.
After retreating from the internal rule change and backing off a plan to eliminate the ability of the House Ethics Committee to issue the kind of chastisements over actions that fell short of breaking the law or House rules (as in DeLay's case), Republicans did push through several changes to the regulations governing the ethics committee at the beginning of the 109th Congress without Democratic support. On January 4, 2005, the House voted 220-195, (220 Republicans voting for it, 194 Democrats and 1 Independent voting against it), to issue the new ethics rules.[1] Claiming that the concept of the presumption of innocence was being infringed upon, they voted that a majority of the members of the committee must vote for the conduction of an investigation in order for one to be launched. Because the ethics committee is split evenly between Republicans and Democrats, this change effectively meant that either party could kill an investigation. Previously, if the committee remained deadlocked for forty-five days, an investigation was automatically triggered. A second rule change allowed multiple witnesses to be prepared for their testimony by the same lawyer, a move that had been previously discouraged to prevent collaboration between witnesses. A third required the committee to inform the subject of its inquiries that they were being investigated and allow them to contest the official letter that normally gives such notice before it is sent out as part of the public record.[2]
House Democrats vigorously protested the new rules and their unilateral imposition. Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.V.), the ranking Democrat on the committee at the time, stated that with the new changes "we might as well not have an ethics committee." [50] This suggestion became a reality throughout the first part of 2005. Rather than run the committee under the new rules, Democrats refused to participate and thus allow the body to constitute itself. This became increasingly problematic as more and more possible cases for investigation came to light. [51] At the end of April, Republicans agreed to roll back all three of the contentious rule changes, but it was not until June 30 that the two sides reached an agreement over staffing acceptable to both sides and the committee was able to be reconstituted. [52] [53]
The committee, along with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, passed guidelines in February 2007 that would define the limited travel for members of Congress funded by lobbyists. The new restrictions would still allow travel for one-day trips, with the possible exception for a second night's stay (depending on other factors such as distance or other "exceptional circumstances.") The new rules also require that the member of Congress fill out a "private sponsor certification form" and file it at least 30 days in advance. [54] However, on May 2, 2007, the committee reopened the issue for exemptions. It passed, with unanimous consent, measures that would exempt Congressional pilots who use private aircraft to shuttle around their often vast rural districts. [3]
The Ethics Committee requested a $6.1 million budget for the 110th Congress. If approved by the House Committee on House Administration it would mark a 43% increase from the previous Congress, and a doubling of the 108th's Committee budget. [55]
Articles and Resources
Wikipedia also has an article on House Ethics Committee. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.
Re Thomas D. DeLay and Doc Hastings
Primary documents and evidence
- Lieberman: Federal Authority Misused by Texas Republicans.
- DeLay testimony to the Committee on Resources, April 12, 2000, in which he argues against restrictions on oil exploration.
- Investigation of Certain Allegations Related to Voting on the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, Report of the Committee of Standards of Official Conduct, September 30, 2004. 72-page pdf file.
- Statement of the Committee regarding disposition of the complaint filed against Representative Tom DeLay, October 6, 2004. Cover for documents.
- Links to copies of indictments and evidence
- Analysis of alleged flaws in first indictment
- Letter of Admonishment: October 6, 2004.
- Charles Babington, "Delay Draws Third Rebuke," Washington Post, October 7, 2004.
- Alexander Bolton, "Hefley: 'I was threatened' Ethics committee's actions against DeLay trigger angry response from Republicans," The Hill, October 13, 2004.
- "Appointments of Rep. Doc Hastings and Other DeLay Allies to House Ethics Committee Deals Final Blow to Ethics in Congress," Public Citizen, February 2, 2005.
- Richard Simon, "DeLay Critic Removed From Ethics Committee. Doc Hastings Replaces Joel Hefley, Who Had Rebuked the Majority Leader Three Times," Los Angeles Times (Common Dreams), February 3, 2005.
- Alexander Bolton, "Hastert takes a broom to ethics panel," The Hill, February 3, 2005.
- Statement of Mark Glaze, Director of the Government Ethics Program at the Campaign Legal Center, on Ethics Chairman Doc Hastings' Decision to Remove Professional Ethics Panel Staffers, Campaign Legal Center, February 16, 2005.
- Mike Allen, "House Ethics Panel in Gridlock," Washington Post, March 11, 2006.
- "Hart picked for hot seat. House member would head DeLay ethics inquiry; Democrats blocking GOP plan," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 21, 2005.
- Gail Russell Chaddock, "House ethics panel lapses at an awkward time," Christian Science Monitor, April 27, 2006.
- Larry Margasak, "House ethics panel ends impasse; DeLay investigation now possible," Associated Press (from Boston.com), July 1, 2005.
- "GOP May Bring Back Ethics Rules," CBS News/Associated Press, April 27, 2005.
- Larry Margasak, "House Votes to Reverse GOP Ethics Rules," Associated Press (ABC News), April 27, 2005.
- "House Flip-Flops On Ethics Rules," CBS News/Associated Press, April 28, 2005.
- Alicia Mundy, "Hastings says ethics panel won't investigate DeLay" Seattle Times, October 6, 2006.
- "DNC Calls on Ethics Committee Republicans to Recuse Themselves From DeLay Investigation," Truth and Trust, April 28, 2005.
- Jeffrey Birnbaum, "West Virginia Democrat is Scrutinized," Washington Post, May 15, 2006.
- John Bresnahan and Paul Kane, "Ethics Committee Clears Shockey Buyout," Roll Call, September 21, 2006.
- Susan Crabtree, "Travel rules eased in new guidelines," The Hill, February 21, 2007.
- Susan Davis, "House Ethics Seeks 43% Boost," Roll Call, February 26, 2007.
Re Mark Foley, Dennis Hastert, Tom Reynolds, John Shimkus, Rodney Alexander
- "Ethics Panel Mulls Foley Probe. Hastert's Job On Line; New Reports Of Foley Drinking Outside Page Dorms," Associated Press/CBS News, October 4, 2006.
- Larry Margask, "Ethics Panel Launches Foley Case Probe," Washington Post, October 5, 2006.
- Robert Weissman, "Remember Joel Hefley! The House Ethics Committee Sham," The Huffington Post, October 9, 2006.
- Also see what links here.
- ↑ "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 6," Office of the Clerk, January 4, 2005.
- ↑ "GovTrack page on H.R. 5," GovTrack.
- ↑ Matthew Murray, "Rule Change Allows Congressional Pilots to Fly Again," Roll Call, May 3, 2007.


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11 animals on the verge of extinction
August 22, 2016, 5:03 p.m. by Shea Gunther
We've displaced animals with our buildings and roads, introduced invasive species to wreak havoc on local habitats, and mercilessly hunted down game for sport, food, medicine or reality television.
7 monuments, cities and world treasures we could lose to rising sea levels
May 27, 2016, 1:31 p.m. by Shea Gunther
These are just a sample of the things we could lose if temperatures rise 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the next 200 years.
8 lakes and rivers that are drying up
May 20, 2016, 10:19 a.m. by Shea Gunther
In the face of warming temperatures and the increased demand placed on supply by human needs, some of the world's largest lakes, rivers and seas are dwindling away.
Dam goats scale dam rocks in search of salt
May 10, 2016, 4:55 p.m. by Shea Gunther
Mountain goats have no problem applying their gravity defying climbing skills to manmade structures like hydro-electric dams if it means finding a good salt lick.
7 snowstorms that crippled the East Coast
January 25, 2016, 11:44 a.m. by Shea Gunther
They make for winter wonderlands, but snowstorms can be dangerous and disruptive events. We take a look at storms that hit the East Coast hard.
8 of the coldest places in the world to live
January 8, 2016, 5:01 p.m. by Shea Gunther
Winter is here and it seems like a good time to look at some of the insanely cold places that people actually call home. Here are seven of the coldest places in the world to live.
Ultimate Frisbee one step closer to Olympics
August 6, 2015, 12:14 p.m. by Shea Gunther
Fans of this fast-paced sport know it's only a matter of time before the world gets hooked.
Thanks bro! 9 videos of humans giving animals a helping hand
April 17, 2015, 12:50 p.m. by Shea Gunther
These endearing videos show people helping cats, dogs, whales and a squirrel out of bad situations.
Slow-motion camera slows kitties WAY down
April 13, 2015, 11:24 a.m. by Shea Gunther
See what happens when you put a bunch of frisky felines in front of a slow-motion video camera.
17 surprisingly real animals
April 7, 2015, 5:53 p.m. by Shea Gunther
No, we aren't playing tricks on you — these animals exist.
NYU student creates magical gel that halts bleeding
March 9, 2015, 11:41 a.m. by Shea Gunther
VetiGel could be the next big thing. It's easy to apply, stops bleeding instantly and speeds healing.
Judge says banned service dog can go back to school
March 4, 2015, 10:41 a.m. by Shea Gunther
The 7-year-old boy with cerebral palsy and his service dog, Stevie, can attend school together after a judge stepped into the fray in Broward County.


text:
create & play DivX videos
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6 Opinions
It's a 32-bit binary, requiring System Preferences to be run in 32-bit mode (in Snow Leopard). This is probably why AppFresh is misreporting it
Version 6.7.2 of DivX comes with DivX Player 2.2. This is one of the many examples in which AppFresh is confused.
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Click once on the application's icon and then do "File - Get Info" from the Finder menu. (The version is not available for all applications here.)
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text:
Sherree Burruss
Sports Reporter
POSTED: 01:44 PM CDT Mar 21, 2013 UPDATED: 06:57 PM CDT Mar 20, 2014
Contact firstname.lastname@example.com
Sherree Burruss joined the ABC 17 News team as a Reporter in January 2012.
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She hopes to inform viewers in central Missouri of the latest news in their communities and help keep families safe.
You can connect with Sherree by following her on Twitter and Facebook.


text:
- May 9:
- Daniel Borenstein: In major shift, Contra Costa pension system to investigate past spiking cases
- Aug 9:
- Daniel Borenstein: False payroll reporting used to boost doctors' salaries, pensions
- Jul 26:
- Daniel Borenstein: On-call pension spike provides huge boost to retirement pay
- Jan 10:
- Daniel Borenstein: Short-term contract, long-term gain
- Aug 9:
- Daniel Borenstein: Fire board aided chief's pension spike
- May 2:
- Daniel Borenstein: Guide to bad pension policy
A Contra Costa judge plans to uphold most of a new state law designed to end pension spiking practices in which workers boost their retirement pay by as much as 15 percent.
In a tentative ruling, Judge David Flinn concludes public employees, when calculating their pensions, were never entitled to count as income compensation received at termination for unused leave time.
Employee groups in Contra Costa, Alameda and Merced counties challenged the law, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2012. They claim it undermines past promises to workers and pension board practices.
Flinn, ruling in all three cases, said those promises were not binding because they were illegal to begin with. All the new law did, he said, was reaffirm past state law and court rulings the pension boards had ignored.
Although his ruling is not final, Flinn said in court Friday that he will not make substantive changes. Once the ruling takes effect, which won't be before April 25, employees will have 60 days to retire without its limitations.
The decision primarily affects Contra Costa employees hired before 2011 and Alameda County workers hired before 2013. Labor groups opposing the law and the state Attorney General's Office, which is defending it, will appeal.
The judge won't apply his ruling to people already collecting pensions. The effect on retirees was not challenged in the case, so that issue will remain unaddressed.
The case stems from reports in this column dating back five years. If upheld, Flinn's decision would have the biggest impact in Contra Costa. Alameda County would see less change because its previous rules were not as egregious.
The new state law affects 20 county-level retirement plans operating under different statutes than the California Public Employees' Retirement System, the nations' largest pension plan, which is unaffected by the case.
Public pensions are usually calculated based on a formula that includes employees' top year or top three years of income. At issue is counting in that income compensation for unused leave time, especially vacation.
The legality of that was first publicly called into question in this column in 2009 as part of an examination of the $284,000 starting pension for retired San Ramon Valley fire Chief Craig Bowen.
It turned out that the Contra Costa County Employees' Retirement Association had been counting payments for unused vacation when calculating all pensions, despite its attorney's 1997 advice that the practice was impermissible.
In 2009, with a spotlight on Contra Costa pension spiking, an attorney for the fire district and a new one for the retirement association, also opined that the practice violated law and court rulings. In response, the retirement association ended the practice for new employees, but continued allowing the spiking for workers hired before 2011.
In 2012, as state lawmakers passed pension law changes, this column exposed a loophole that would have legalized such spiking for all 20 county-level pension systems. In reaction, lawmakers rushed through corrective legislation reaffirming past law and court rulings. That bill sparked the current litigation.
Flinn's ruling addresses three practices involving unused leave:
One-time payments at termination for unused leave. Flinn ruled that counting such payments in pension calculations is illegal, and always has been. This, the most significant part of the ruling, will affect most Contra Costa and Alameda County workers.
Annual payments for sale of unused vacation. Alameda County employees and most management workers in Contra Costa can annually cash out unused vacation. Flinn and both sides in the litigation agree such payments for up to a year's worth of vacation time may legally be counted in pension calculations.
Annual sale of unused vacation time in excess of that earned in a year. Flinn ruled that counting such payments in pension calculations is illegal. But, under a legal fairness principle, the judge allowed it to continue because employees had been led to believe they were entitled to it. Employees of the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District are among a small group who will benefit from this.
While there will still be lengthy appeals, the ruling recognizes what some have been saying for years: The spiking was never legal to begin with.
Daniel Borenstein is a staff columnist and editorial writer. Reach him at 925-943-8248 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BorensteinDan.


text:
Washington Program
Student Responsibilities
Now that you have been accepted to the Washington Program, we consider you a Washington, D.C., professional employee. Congratulations! The next few months will be crucial in preparing to work, study, and live in Washington and we ask that you cooperate fully in this preparation. Your cooperation is important because a great deal needs to be done in a short period of time. Our expectations are that you will attend all your classes in Claremont this semester and respond promptly to our email correspondence with you. The expectation is you will attend all required meetings without receiving reminders from our office. Our assumption is that if you cannot organize your time to satisfactorily complete this preparation, you are not ready for a semester in our nation's capital. Lastly, remember we are here to help you, so do not hesitate to call on us.
The requirements related to this preparation include:
- Attending the Orientation meeting. We will discuss finding an internship and housing.
- Attending the dinner with program alumni.
- Attending the Final Update meeting to finalize your leaving campus.
- Submitting a list of organizations with which you would like to intern.
- Submitting by the deadline these required forms: Insurance Authorization, Intern Clearance, Information Release, Health Form, Transcript Release, Emergency Contact and Housing (CMC only). CMC students please give the housing form to Lyn Hughes in the Dean of Students office. Pitzer, Pomona, Scripps, and HMC students must inquire with their deans of housing to make arrangements for housing.
- Submit an updated copy of your résumé if requested in your acceptance letter.
- Revise your greeting message on your cellphone and change your privacy settings on Facebook. Ensure that prospective employers will be impressed with you when they telephone or check your Facebook page.
- Actively pursue an internship. This entails making follow-up calls to Washington to check on the status of your application(s), maintaining regular contact with Dr. Spalding, and responding to all emails.
- Get to know the group of students going to D.C.
- Actively seek housing in D.C.
- Achieve a minimum of 9.0 GPA in four courses the semester prior to attending the program.


text:
- Jul 20:
- Oakland protests leave many weary, looking for safer alternatives
- Comic-Con 2013: Jamie Foxx stands with Trayvon Martin's mom 'forever'
- Oakland: Trayvon Martin verdict spurs students, families to action
- Across US, people rally for 'Justice for Trayvon'
- Jul 17:
- Poole: Trayvon Martin case demands commentary from sports figures
- Criminal charges filed against 3 Oakland protesters in Monday's demonstration
- Jul 16:
- Public Forum: The slaying of Trayvon Martin, its aftermath and how media images impact perception
- Oakland's Youth Radio station suffers vandalism, continues focus on Zimmerman verdict
- George Zimmerman verdict is topic of Cal State East Bay gathering
- Stevie Wonder won't sing in Florida after Zimmerman verdict
- Oakland mops up after third day of protests
- Jul 15:
- Demonstrators take over freeway on third night of protests in Oakland
- Oakland: At least two people injured during hours-long protest; freeway briefly shut down
- Oakland merchants, mayor decry damage from weekend's protests
- Tammerlin Drummond: Zimmerman verdict shows insanity of Florida gun laws
- Chat transcript:: Zimmerman verdict sparks anger, property destruction in Oakland
- Mercury News editorial: Zimmerman trial struck chord with deep resonance
- Oakland: Downtown cleanup underway after weekend protests
- Jul 14:
- Acquittal in Trayvon Martin case prompts protests, debate
- Zimmerman acquittal hits Oakland hard
- Hayward: Woman allegedly attacks 73-year-old musician on stage after song dedicated to Trayvon Martin
- Oakland: More demonstrations planned as property owners clean up after overnight protest
- Obama calls for calm after Zimmerman acquittal in Martin case
- George Zimmerman verdict: More protests planned for Sunday
- Zimmerman, cleared in Trayvon Martin death, faces outrage
- Rallies against Zimmerman verdict being held in US
- Jul 13:
- Antioch police chief writes lengthy message on Zimmerman verdict
- George Zimmerman trial timeline: How the case unfolded
- Zimmerman, Martin families react on Twitter
- Quotes and reaction to Zimmerman verdict
- George Zimmerman found not guilty in death of Trayvon Martin
- Zimmerman cleared in shooting of Trayvon Martin
- No arrests after Saturday night vandalism in downtown Oakland
NEW YORK/MIAMI — Trayvon Martin's parents joined celebrities and hundreds of protesters on Saturday in rallies across the country to express anger over the acquittal of the man who shot and killed the unarmed black teenager.
Singing the civil rights protest song "We Shall Overcome," a crowd gathered around Trayvon's father, Tracy Martin, in Miami exactly one week after a Seminole County jury in central Florida acquitted George Zimmerman of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the incident, where the 17-year-old Martin was shot through the heart.
In New York, about 200 people cheered as rapper Jay-Z and his wife, singer Beyonce, took the stage where the victim's mother, was expected to speak later. Some hoisted signs reading "Boycott Florida" and many wore T-shirts with a photo image of Martin wearing a hooded sweatshirt.
"I've got four beautiful daughters. I want them to look forward rather than behind their backs," said Harlem resident Maria Lopez, 31, who attended the rally with her children.
Visible above the neckline of her Trayvon T-shirt was a tattoo of a packet of Skittles, the candy the teen was carrying on a walk back from the store when he was shot dead by the neighborhood watchman.
The protests, outside federal court buildings and police headquarters, were organized by the Reverend Al Sharpton, the veteran civil rights activist, days before President Barack Obama spoke extensively about the Martin case and highlighted its racial undertones.
Sharpton has said protests were planned for more than 100 cities nationwide and organizers have voiced hopes they will be peaceful, with no further outbreaks of the violence that led to arrests in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area earlier this week.
Speaking at the White House on Friday, Obama also cautioned against violence, as he urged all Americans to try to understand the Martin case from the perspective of African-Americans.
"There is a history of racial disparities in the application of our criminal laws," the president said.
"A lot of African-American boys are painted with a broad brush," he said. "If a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario ... both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different."
Zimmerman remained free for more than six weeks after killing Martin because police in Sanford, Florida, accepted that he had acted in self-defense. That ignited protests and cries of injustice across the United States as the case shone a spotlight on issues such as race, profiling and vigilantism.
Sharpton will lead one rally outside New York police headquarters on Saturday along with Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton. He has said he hopes that continued public pressure will force the Justice Department to bring a civil rights case against Zimmerman.
A planned demonstration in Miami, near the home where the 17-year-old Martin lived, was due to be led by his father.
Federal prosecutors have said they were pursuing an investigation into whether Zimmerman, who is part Hispanic, violated civil rights laws. But lawyers with expertise in civil rights have said they think new charges are unlikely.
Public comments from one of the six jurors, citing Florida's Stand Your Ground law as a factor in reaching her conclusion that Zimmerman acted in self-defense, has stepped up pressure on the state's Republican-dominated legislature to repeal or change the law.
According to the instructions given to the jury, Zimmerman had "no duty to retreat and right to stand his ground and meet force with force, including deadly force, if he reasonably believed it was necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself."
Though the Stand Your Ground law was not specifically cited as part of the defense mounted by Zimmerman's lawyers, the jury instructions paving the way for his acquittal came from the 2005 statute.
Florida Governor Rick Scott met with sit-in demonstrators outside his office in the Florida capital Tallahassee on Thursday. He said he supports the Stand Your Ground law and has no intention of convening a special legislative session to change it.
But Obama suggested that was the wrong course of action.
"I think it would be useful for us to examine some state and local laws to see if they are designed in such a way that they may encourage the kinds of altercations and confrontations and tragedies that we saw in the Florida case," he said.


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ENGS 33: Solid Mechanics
After a brief review of the concepts of rigid body statics, the field equations describing the static behavior of deformable elastic solids are developed. The stress and strain tensors are introduced and utilized in the development. Exact and approximate solutions of the field equations are used in the study of common loading cases, including tension/compression, bending, torsion, pressure, and combinations of these.
In the laboratory phase of the course, various methods of experimental solid mechanics are introduced. Some of these methods are used in a project in which the deformation and stress in an actual load system are determined and compared with theoretical predictions. The course includes a series of computer exercises designed to enhance the student's understanding of the principles of solid mechanics.
Image Gallery
Solid Mechanics Structure Competition 2015: Dartmouth engineering students built bridges for their "Solid Mechanics" class and test the strength of their designs. Professor Douglas Van Citters discusses learning solid mechanics and the mechanical behavior of materials from an applied standpoint.
Solid Mechanics Structure Competition 2013: Students built crane structures for their ENGS 33 class and tested the strength of their designs.
Solid Mechanics Bridge Competition 2013: Engineering students in ENGS 33 test the predicted strength of their designs in this bridge crushing contest. Winners' prize is a Swiss Army knife.
Solid Mechanics Bridge Competition 2011: Students in the course ENGS 33 test how well they predicted the strength of their bridge designs.
Solid Mechanics Bridge Competition 2010: For a Solid Mechanics course, students construct and then test the limits of their bridges in this competition. Watch as 24 bridges are crushed in 30 seconds...
Solid Mechanics Bridge Competition 2009: Students compete for the strongest bridge for a Solid Mechanics course.


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August 30, 2016
Join us in the KKCO 11 News studio with a live interview from New York for some great tips on how to reduce allergy symptoms.
Click Here to access the online Public Inspection File
Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or email@example.com.


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DALLAS (October 1, 2012)--Gov. Rick Perry Monday formally pitched a proposal for a four-year tuition freeze for incoming college freshmen and renewed his call for bachelor's degrees that cost as little as $10,000.
Perry outlined proposals for the upcoming legislative session Monday at a high school in Dallas.
He also proposed tying 10 percent of an institution's state funding to the number of graduates.
The governor's office says less than 30 percent of students at four-year schools graduate in four years.
The governor also renewed his call for more transparency so families will know the full cost of a delayed graduation.
"More and more young Texans of all backgrounds are thinking of college as a vital component of their personal success and they're taking active steps to get themselves there," Perry said.
"Implementing these measures will meet the growing demand for higher education in a way that provides encouragement for students to complete their degree in a timely fashion and with financial certainty," he said.
Perry's call for a four-year tuition freeze has the support of educational leaders, including University of Texas at Austin President Bill Powers.
The governor's office says nine institutions have implemented the $10,000 degree program.


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That's Julie with her Schwinn Cream. She was on Martha Stewart one time, and she loves bicycle style.
Uploaded by Dmitry Gudkov | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.
That's Julie with her Schwinn Cream. She was on Martha Stewart one time, and she loves bicycle style.
Uploaded by Dmitry Gudkov | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.
I've often wished I could think of a way to tell motorists what I'm thinking, but I hadn't really come up with the idea of doing a custom jersey to do it. The cyclists over at ShareTheDamnRoad.com did it for me. Now the question is–which one do I buy?
My introduction to the sport and the bike – before urban, fixed, or cargo – was with Lemond and Fignon. Hinault, Merckx, Indurain, Mussewu, and Rominger.
Photo: unknown
That's when the sport seemed far away in Europe and otherworldly to someone that rode his Fisher Paragon in the Eastern Washington shrub steppe desert. Theirs were names told in stories of epic heroism on roads in France. I studied them, watched grainy videos recorded from Satellite TV and learned to ride road. Fell of rollers in the back of a bike shop, read Eddie B's eat horse-meat book, and was thrilled to get even an hour of Tour coverage on ABC with ridiculous commentary from Adrian Karsten.
Like other mountain bikers, I wanted to get faster by spending more time on the road. This was when the American sport of mountain bike racing was getting overrun by World Cup-class Europeans who were fitter, thinner, and faster. Everyone was turning to road and riding bikes like the carbon-tubed Epic Allez or picture-perfect painted Colnagos, and fishing-lure-green Treks.
The story of a coke-can shimmed Aero Bar, invented by a Triathlete, WWII vet in Idaho was marvelous. Later came the Americanization of the Sport with Lance Armstrong.
What a rich history and dark side this sport has had in the 20 odd years I've been into it.
Fignon was many things, a complex character, a true Frenchman and a champion. He blamed his cancer on the dope he took and maybe his death will signal a turning point in this decades-old battle with the two speeds in the peloton. I expect other old pros are wondering about what they did to their bodies. Time for them to come clean too.
Photo: Sirotti via Cyclingnews
RIP Laurent. Today you're trending on Twitter. I'll remember you for the wins, the 8 seconds, and the courage it took for you to tell us you doped.
In another time, you were Young and Carefree.
Photo uploaded by BeWePa.
The gadget and design blogs posted on Redfish Creative's Bicycle Speedometer concept over the weekend and whether or not the idea actually goes into production, it demontrates how the electronic accessories market hasn't caught up to the urban aesthetic.
Image: Redfish
Leather, stainless, automotive style dials with click counters to replace the boring LEDs we use now? Sure and we'd welcome that because what we're using is based on late 90s designs from Avocet, Cateye et al. Sure we've got power, heart rate, and more but the bicycle computer is essentially the same.
Photo: Wikipedia
Extend that to lights and a family of products that would match your bespoke bike and maybe you're onto something. What have we seen in updated accessories with a modern design aesthetic besides:
If not the Porsche design studio style, could go to a Steampunky Home Depot DIY vibe with galvanized pipe and PVC or use your phone that talks to a sensor.
What would a redesigned bicycle computer look like to you?
Wait how did we miss this bike in the history of Aero?
Photo: The Inertial Gallery
We've seen this Davidson, the Kirk Precision, and fairings to the max Hutch, but not this wedged wonder.


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How it works
With REEF Polling, instructors can present with anything, utilize a floating toolbar, view a participant list, and send images of questions to student devices. Students respond to polling questions with any device, receive correct and incorrect answers, and can review session history as a study guide outside of class. REEF Polling is also a hybrid product, allowing students in the same classroom to use their smartphone, tablet, laptop or an i>clicker remote.
Students simply use their smart devices to answer questions during class. It is inexpensive, easy to use, keeps students engaged and provides valuable feedback to both the instructor and the student regarding areas of confusion.
- Leslie Hendrix
University of South Carolina, Columbia
I wanted to utilize active learning smart technology to optimize lecture delivery and enhance student understanding of concepts in real-time. REEF Polling gave students the ability to use their own device which increased the speed and ease of adoption.
- Ben Predmore
University of South Florida, Tampa


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- May 6:
- Warriors fire Mark Jackson
- Thompson: Warriors tempt fate by firing Jackson
- Kawakami: Now pressure squarely on Joe Lacob, Bob Myers
- Kawakami: Mark Jackson discusses firing, his future and the Warriors'
- Thompson: Mark Jackson talks, post-firing
- Thompson: Jackson, Lacob personality clash was too much for Warriors
- Warriors fire coach Mark Jackson
- Kawakami: Mark Jackson's fate to be determined soon
The Warriors just announced the firing of Mark Jackson.
Here's a statement from co-owner Joe Lacob:
"Mark Jackson has had a big impact on the improvement of our team and the success that we've had over the last couple of years
"Nonetheless, we must make some difficult decisions in our day-to-day operations of the club and this would certainly qualify as one of those examples. We wish Mark the best of luck in his future endeavors and thank him for his contributions over the last three years."
What happens next? GM Bob Myers is slated to discuss the firing and all end-season topics later this afternoon.
Then the Warriors will go about a search for a new head coach, which I was told earlier today would be thorough and probably not superfast.
One source agreed that TNT broadcaster Steve Kerr's name has come up, mostly because he has ties to Joe and Kirk Lacob from years back, and because Warriors management believes Kerr would run a much more fluid offense than Jackson's.
But the source cautioned that the Warriors might not want to hire back-to-back coaches with no experience on the sidelines and that Kerr is probably headed to the Knicks, anyway.
Other names I've heard on a probable Warriors shortlist:
Obviously MUCH MORE TO COME ...
Read Tim Kawakami's Talking Points blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami. Contact him at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Definición de vulture en inglés:
1A large bird of prey with the head and neck more or less bare of feathers, feeding chiefly on carrion and reputed to gather with others in anticipation of the death of a sick or injured animal or person.
- Order Accipitriformes: the Old World vultures (family Accipitridae, especially Gyps and Aegypius) and the New World vultures (with the condors in the family Cathartidae).
Oraciones de ejemplo
- The prime minister had a bald head at the end of a vulture's neck, and a dragging lid over one eye.
- We come across vultures, at least a dozen of them, feeding on the remains of a young wild camel.
- Scenes such as this where a group of vultures gather are becoming more rare in many places of Africa.
2A contemptible person who preys on or exploits others: the press are vultures [as modifier]: rock musicians are set upon by vulture managers
Más ejemplos en oraciones
- What was wrong with the system that was in place before all these vulture companies came along?
- After my arrest the vultures who gathered, waiting for my carcass, weren't just after me.
- We made our way through the vultures answering a bare minimum of questions and sped away from the hospital.
- Oraciones de ejemplo
- After the Duke's death, Wallis felt particularly vulnerable to Lord Louis' seemingly vulturine behavior.
- Members of the genus Gypohierax are small vulturine eagles, having long and broad wings, and a short, rounded tail.
- The vulturine guineafowl finds seeds, leaves and insects by scratching the ground with its feet.
vulturish adjetivo
- Oraciones de ejemplo
- I should say I 'related' to it I guess - enjoying other people's tales of woe sounds so vulturish, doesn't it?
- I hate to be too vulturish, but if you've been stalling about ordering your Casita you may have a really long wait if you delay too long.
- Still, their resemblance to us helps 'Interview' hit home, giving it a touch of relevance as it holds a mirror to the public's mutually vulturish relationship with celebrities.
vulturous adjetivo
- Oraciones de ejemplo
- Newspapers' duty is, ultimately, to the many, not the few, and there is no way to conduct a news business without seeming, especially to certain people related to what's being reported, callous or even vulturous.
- Alas, vulturous Christmas shoppers had already picked brutally over the carcass of the shelves, and the choice was slim.
- I came because you've given into my vulturous elder children when I didn't think you would.
Late Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French vultur, from Latin vulturius.
Palabras que riman con vultureculture
For editors and proofreaders
Saltos de línea: vul|ture
Definición de vulture en:
¿Qué te llama la atención de esta palabra o frase?
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Muy popular en Reino Unido
Muy popular en Australia
= de moda


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Alicia Costa weds Joseph Riggi III
Alicia Costa and Joseph Riggi III were married June 2 in La Costa Azzurra in Milford, by Donald Donahue, justice of the peace. A reception followed at La Costa Azzurra.
The bride is the daughter of Anne Costa and the late Gary Costa of Waterbury, and the granddaughter of the late Roy and Mary Costa and the late Andrew and Rita Gambardella.
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Tara Reid had a fling with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady more than a decade ago.
That sound you hear is Gisele Bundchen taking her fifth shower today.
According to TMZ, the 38-year-old "American Pie" actress confirmed Thursday what has long been rumored: She and Brady hooked up back in 2002, before she became the walking calamity she is today.
"Have kissed. He's pretty good looking," she coyly replied Thursday, when asked about Brady on Australian radio KIIS 1065's Kyle and Jackie O's breakfast show.
The admission came during the "60 Seconds of Kiss" segment, during which the hosts fired a series of famous names at Reid, who had to reveal whether she had or wanted to kiss them.
Reid, who is in Australia filming the horror movie "Charlie's Farm," also admitted to making out with Australian Bra Boy gang member Koby Abberton.
I don't speak Australian, so I don't know what that means
But she denied kissing "American Pie" co-star Jason Biggs.
Brady, 36, is married to Brazilian supermodel Bundchen, with whom he has two children -- while Reid, 38, is currently with musician Erez Eisen.
Contact Tony Hicks at Facebook.com/BayAreaNewsGroup.TonyHicks or Twitter.com/insertfoot.


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Estelle King Wilson, 98
Published: Sunday, January 6, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, January 5, 2013 at 4:17 p.m.
HENDERSONVILLE - Estelle King Wilson, 98, of Hendersonville passed away Thursday, January 3, 2013.
She was the daughter of the late Joseph G. King and Callie R. McCall King. She was also preceded in death by her loving husband of 65 years, W.P. "Bill" Wilson, who passed away in 2000; a daughter, Joan Wilson Green; and a brother, Reginald King.
Mrs. Wilson graduated from Edneyville High School and was a member of the Hendersonville United Methodist Church. She was a homemaker.
She is survived by her daughter, Mikki Stephens; five grandchildren; twelve great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.
A graveside service will be held at 2 PM Wednesday, January 9, 2013 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. The Reverend Sam McLamb will officiate.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Four Seasons Compassion for Life, 571 S. Allen Road, Flat Rock, NC 28731, or to the donor's favorite charity.
To sign the online register book, please visit www.shulerfuneralhome.com. Shuler Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.
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.


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I just did a fresh install of Windows 7 on a very old ThinkPad, was going to dedicate the laptop to streaming media to my HTPC and other devices on my home network.
When I launch PMS, under Status I get "No renderers were found" with the red X. How do I fix this?
Debug file attached. Thanks.


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- Jul 5:
- BART service resumes; August strike threat remains
- BART to resume service, no deal reached with union
- Jul 4:
- BART strike ends; trains to begin running Friday afternoon
- Jul 3:
- BART strike talks stretch toward holiday
- BART strike hits Day 3 as overnight negotiations yield no deal; talks to resume this afternoon
- Negotiations ongoing, but BART strike likely to continue Wednesday
- Jul 2:
- BART strike talks resume as attention turns to Fourth of July travel
- Data Center: Current and projected average BART wages
- Director says his team must hold the line in BART negotiations
- BART strike: San Francisco garages raising rates over parking crunch
- With no BART, 4th of July plans shift
- BART strike: What can be done to get trains running?
- Contra Costa Times editorial: Overlap of AC Transit, BART contract expirations leaves East Bay vulnerable
- With BART on strike, A's encourage fans to carpool to games against Cubs
- BART strike: Labor talks set to resume after 36-hour break since shutdown
- Jul 1:
- BART strike leaves commuters weary, wiser for Day 2
- BART strike costing Bay Area economy more than $73 million a day
- Herhold: Time and geography will shape the BART strike
- BART strike a moneymaker for ride-sharing services and taxi apps
- Contra Costa Times editorial: Striking BART workers out of touch with financial reality.
- The Great BART Strike Race of 2013: A recap
- BART strike: Commute chaos rages on as strike begins with no end in sight
- Bart Strike Raw Video: What commuters have to say about transit strike
- Jerry Brown's office asks that BART talks continue
- Jun 30:
- Bay Area commuters scramble for alternatives on Day 1 of BART strike
- BART strike: With a day left, labor talks fail again Saturday but pay proposal doubled
- Roadshow: Getting ready for BART-ageddon
- Jun 29:
- BART strike: Guide to getting around the Bay Area during shutdown
- Jun 28:
- BART riders worry strike could make travel miserable
Thanks to an extraordinarily generous vacation policy, a select group of BART's white-collar employees have stockpiled a combined seven decades' worth of unused time off -- literally like money in a bank that can be cashed in for fat retirement windfalls.
The costly perk isn't getting much scrutiny as commuters sweat a potential strike and management and blue-collar unions slug it out at the bargaining table. That's because this little-known benefit isn't available to the vast majority of BART workers who are threatening to cripple the Bay Area's commute over their pay and benefits. It's reserved for BART's top-level employees like former general manager Dorothy Dugger.
The same "vacation bank" that allowed her to stay on the payroll for almost two years after she resigned has permitted hundreds of other BART managers and nonunion employees to rack up a combined 69 years -- that's right, years -- of unused vacation and holiday now worth about $7.8 million, an analysis by this newspaper reveals. One veteran engineer has more than 970 vacation days himself in the bank.
And it gets even sweeter for employees like Dugger, because BART lets them continue to accrue benefits -- and even more vacation -- while burning off unused time off after they quit.
Labor relations specialist Wilbur Wong's last day of work was March 21, 2011, but he banked so much time off -- 5,000 hours -- that he won't stop getting BART checks until the end of this year. Records show Wong was paid $98,000 last year, all for unused time off.
"You can't make this up," said Thomas Schatz, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Citizens Against Government Waste. BART's policy "is certainly unusual. I've never heard of it before. It's costly to taxpayers and transit users to give employees such lavish benefits.''
Dugger's $558,000 windfall came to light earlier this month in this newspaper's analysis of BART's 2012 payroll that showed she was still the agency's highest-paid employee -- despite being forced to resign in May 2011. She stayed home -- but on the payroll -- continuing to draw benefits, management bonuses and vacation that added about another $100,000 to her pay.
At the time, BART officials said they didn't know the scope of the problem. The newspaper obtained more documents under the Public Records Act to find Dugger was far from alone in banking time off: 290 BART employees, mostly nonunion and engineers and managers, have a combined 135,000 hours of vacation and holiday time banked -- or 3,600 weeks off under the agency's 371/2-hour workweek.
Management should look "close to home" for cost-cutting measures like eliminating terminal leave before cutting pay and benefits of "front-line workers," said Leah Berlanga, a spokeswoman for the Service Employees International Union, which represents the agency's maintenance workers.
Currently, 25 BART employees have more than 1,400 hours vacation and holiday time set aside -- more than 37 weeks each, data shows.
With more than 7,300 hours ¿of unused time off squirreled away during a 44-year career, no one is more illustrative of the generous vacation and holiday policies than 81-year-old engineer Robert Fickes.
He started at BART before the trains even started running, and he's sitting on a payday of more than $472,000 when he retires -- but that's only if he decides to take a lump-sum check on his last day of work.
If Fickes chooses, instead, to stay on the rail agencies books, it will take nearly four years to burn down all his accumulated vacation. And by remaining on the payroll, he'd rack up about 25 more weeks of vacation and holidays worth about $62,500, payroll data shows.
All ¿BART employees receive generous time-off benefits. Those who have worked at the agency for more than 19 years get six weeks of vacation a year, and every employee gets 13 holidays off.
The workers eligible to bank unused time off are allowed to stockpile five holidays a year and all unused vacation. The vacation banks have no caps, so longtime employees can continue to add unused time off year after year. When they finally cash it out, employees are paid at their last rate of pay, which is typically their highest.
BART President Tom Radulovich of San Francisco said the numbers show a need to both limit time-off accruals and to stop letting employees stay on the payroll to slowly burn off their unused vacation after they leave BART instead of taking a lump-sum payment. He also said it's time to find a reasonable cap on how much time employees can bank.
"It would make a lot more sense," he said.
The agency's General Manager Grace Crunican was not available for an interview this week because of union contract negotiations. She told this newspaper's editorial board earlier this month that allowing managers to bank time off for future paydays was an incentive to inspire hard work and innovation.
Thursday, Crunican's spokeswoman, Alicia Trost, said in a statement that the general manager "will be taking a look into BART's terminal leave program to get an understanding of (its) scope and impacts."
Fickes declined to be interviewed. Trost described him as a legend in the agency for his work ethic, and that he told her that he doesn't enjoy travel or time away from work, where one of his recent projects was installing new fare gates at stations.
Workers like Wong and Fickes violated no policies and aren't to blame, Trost said.
But critics like Schatz said BART riders and taxpayers should be appalled by the policy. "If this was something that members of Congress got,'' he said, "there would be total outrage."
Reach investigative reporter Thomas Peele at email@example.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/thomas_peele


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Wornall House Summer Camp Sampler
Friday Night Family Fun
Friday, April 5, 2013
6:30pm @ Plaza Branch
Get a sample of Wornall House's upcoming summer camp! Immerse your children in 19th century activities that are sure to inspire a love of history.
Learn about the Pony Express, Native American history, and how to make your own butter.
Activities will be led by Wornall House staff and volunteers. Recommended for ages 6-12.