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Why an EJB Query Language?
The specification for Enterprise Java Beans 1.1 doesn't offer a standard way to define queries for finder methods in entity beans with container-managed persistence (CMP). So EJB container providers have defined their own query syntax for the finder methods of entity beans. For example, BEA's WebLogic Application Server v. 5.1 defines a query language called WLQL.
Because of this, developers have to redefine queries for the finder methods whenever an application is moved from one vendor's application server to another's. Obviously, this makes applications built using CMP less portable.
What's more, EJB 1.1 offered no standard way to define a query for an entity bean with CMP to navigate with other entity beans in a variety of code contexts, relationships, or associations. There was no proper mechanism to define queries to navigate from one entity bean to its dependent classes and the member variables of those dependent classes.
EJB 2.0 deals with these shortcomings by defining the EJB Query Language. EJB QL is based on the SQL-92 specification for defining various finder and select methods of entity beans with CMP. The EJB QL query string consists of three clauses: SELECT, FROM, and WHERE. Among other things, EJB QL offers a standard way to define relationships between entity beans and dependent classes by introducing abstract schema types and relationships in the deployment descriptor. EJB QL also defines queries for navigation using abstract schema names and relationships.
The following syntax is the basic format of the EJB QL query:
EJB QL ::= select_clause from_clause [ where_clause]
The SELECT clause was an optional clause in the earlier EJB 2.0 proposed final draft (released on 23rd October, 2000). In the final draft released on 24th April 2001, the SELECT clause is made mandatory.
The EJB QL must always contain SELECT and FROM clauses. The WHERE clause is optional (see sidebar). The FROM clause provides declarations for the identification variables based on abstract schema name, for navigating through the schema. The SELECT clause uses these identification variables to define the return type of the query, and the WHERE clause defines the conditional query.
The query for EJB QL is defined in the deployment descriptor using the
<query> tag as shown below:
You specify the name of the finder or select method in
<method-name> and the parameters in
<method-param>. The
<result-type-mapping> indicates the return type, and can contain either Local (the default) or Remote values. The query string is in the
<ejb-ql> tag.
I will give a brief description of the finder and select methods since these methods use EJB QL to define the queries. EJB 2.0 defines the finder and select methods for entity beans. The select method is a new addition to the specification.
Finder Methods: Finder methods get either a single or a collection of entity bean instances from the persistence store through a relational database. These methods define the home interface(s) of an entity bean. Hence, they are exposed to the client. A home interface can either be a Remote Home interface,
EJBHome, or a Local Home interface,
EJBLocalHome. The return type of the finder method defined in the remote home interface is either the entity bean's remote interface or a collection of objects implementing the entity bean's remote interface. The return type of the finder method defined in the local home interface is either the entity bean's local interface or a collection of objects implementing the entity bean's local interface. For example:
// Remote Home Interface
public interface OrderHome extends javax.ejb.EJBHome {
public Order findByPrimaryKey(int orderId) throws FinderException,RemoteException;
public Order findByBiggestOrder() throws FinderException,RemoteException;
public java.util.Collection findAllOrders(String supplierName) throws FinderException,RemoteException;
// Local Home Interface
public interface OrderHome extends javax.ejb.EJBLocalHome {
public Order findByPrimaryKey(int orderId) throws FinderException;
public Order findBiggestOrder() throws FinderException;
public java.util.Collection findAllOrders(String supplierName) throws FinderException;
Share your experiences with this new database-driven component architecture for Java.
Select Methods: Select methods exist in the entity bean as a special type of query method. They are not declared in the home interface; therefore, they are not exposed to the client. The finder methods are not useful to access
cmp-field, or any remote interface instance defined in
cmr-field. Using select methods, an entity bean returns an instance of
cmp-field type, or the remote interfaces represented by the
Select methods are usually two types.
public abstract class OrderBean implements javax.ejb.EntityBean {
public abstract java.util.Collection ejbSelectAllOrderedProducts(Date date)
throws FinderException;
public abstract java.util.Collection ejbSelectAllOrderedProductsInEntity(Date date)
throws FinderException;
ejbSelect<METHOD> is not associated with a particular instance of the entity bean. So in the above example, the
ejbSelectAllOrderProducts returns a collection of all products associated with all orders. Therefore, the
ejbSelect<METHOD>InEntity is specific to the entity instance executed. The above
ejbSelectAllOrderProductsInEntity returns all of the products associated with that instance of
Here the Order example explains each clause in detail. The relationship between
ProductEJB and
AddressEJB are shown in the following diagram:
The relationships, as defined in the deployment descriptor, are shown below:
ONE-TO-MANY: Order LineItem
ONE-TO-MANY unidirectional relationship:
Product is not aware of its relationship with LineItem
<!-- since Product does not know about LineItem there is no cmr field in Product for accessing Lineitem -->
The FROM clause defines the domain of the query by declaring the identification variables. Identification variables cannot be declared in the SELECT and WHERE clauses. Instead, the SELECT and WHERE clauses can use only those identification variables defined in the FROM clause. You can define multiple identification variables in the FROM clause.
An identification variable's name should not be the same as
SELECT, FROM, WHERE, DISTINCT, OBJECT, NULL, TRUE, FALSE, NOT, AND, OR, BETWEEN, LIKE, IN, AS, UNKNOWN, EMPTY, MEMBER, OF and IS.
Any valid identifier may be used as an identification variable, though there are few restrictions (see sidebar). Identification variables are case insensitive.
The identification variable declaration consists of either a range variable declaration or a collection member declaration. Next, we will look at a simple query string which uses both the range and collection variable declarations from the FROM clause.
For example, to select all orders containing Floppy Drive products, the query is:
SELECT OBJECT(o) FROM Order o, IN (o.lineItems) li
WHERE li.product.product_type='Floppy Drive'
Here the FROM clause declares the identifier "
o" as a range variable and "
li" as a collection member variable. A range variable declares the abstract schema type, which uses the reserved identifier, AS.
A declared collection member variable uses the following:
The range variable "
o" designates the abstract schema type, Order. Similarly, the identification variables: "
li" is the abstract schema type,
LineItem, and
li.product is the abstract schema type, Product. The expression
li.product.product_type in the WHERE clause is a java.lang.String type. Since all clauses are evaluated from left to right in EJB QL, the identification variable "
li" utilizes the results of the navigation on "
The identifier OBJECT in the SELECT clause is required, because the OBJECT operator must qualify all stand-alone identification variables in the SELECT clause.
You may also declare a range variable using the optional identifier, AS. Therefore, the FROM clause in the above query becomes:
FROM Order AS o, IN (o.lineItems) li
Also, you may define more than one range variable in the FROM clause. For example:
FROM Order AS o, IN (o.lineItems) li, Product p
The WHERE clause defines conditional expressions to select objects or values that satisfy the expression.
For example, a WHERE clause follows:
Where_clause ::= WHERE conditional_expression
All of the identification variables in a WHERE clause in EJB QL must be declared from a FROM clause. You may also pass input parameters for the finder and select methods. The input parameters are only in the WHERE clause of a query.
Input parameters are designated by a question mark (
?) prefix, followed by a one-based index of the parameter in the method declaration (i.e.,
public abstract class OrderBean implements javax.ejb.EntityBean {
public abstract java.util.Collection ejbSelectLineItems(int quantity)
throws FinderException;
public abstract java.util.Collection ejbSelectAllProducts(String product_type, double price)
throws FinderException;
For example, the select method query for selecting Line Items (
method-a) is:
SELECT OBJECT (o) FROM Order AS o IN (o.lineItems) li
WHERE li.quantity = ?1
Similarly, the select method query for choosing all products based on name and price is:
SELECT OBJECT (o) FROM Order AS o IN(o.lineItems) li
WHERE li.product.product_type=?1 AND li.product.price=?2
The query for
method-a is in the following deployment descriptor:
Method to find order specified no of lineItems</description>
SELECT OBJECT (o) FROM Order AS o IN (o.lineItems) li
WHERE li.quantity = ?1
In the same way, you may define the WHERE clause with input parameters.
The number of distinct input parameters in an EJB QL query must be the same as the number of input parameters for the finder and select methods. It is not required to use all of the input parameters for the finder or select methods in a query, though.
You can also pass an input parameter that corresponds to a particular
EJBObject or
EJBLocalObject. Containers map these input parameters to the abstract-schema-type values.
Next, I will show the various comparison operators available for use with the WHERE clause. In addition to the navigation operator (.) in the queries above, EJB QL supports the fundamental arithmetic operators (i.e., unary, multiplication and division, addition and subtraction), comparison operators (i.e., =, >, >=, <,<=, <>) and logical operators (i.e., NOT,OR, AND).
You can also use the comparison operators BETWEEN or NOT BETWEEN in a query. For example, the query to select all Line Items with a quanitity between 100 and 200 is shown here:
SELECT OBJECT (li) FROM lineItems AS li
WHERE li.quantity BETWEEN 100 and 200
Using comparison operators >= and <=, the WHERE clause is now in the following expression:
li.quantity >= 100 AND li.quantity <= 200
The following query selects all Line Items with a quantity less than 100 or more than 200:
SELECT OBJECT (li) FROM lineItems AS li
WHERE li.quantity NOT BETWEEN 100 and 200
SELECT OBJECT (li) FROM lineItems AS li
WHERE li.quantity < 100 AND li.quantity > 200
EJB QL also supports the IN and LIKE expressions. For example, to select the address(es) of an office in various cities, the query expression of the WHERE clause is:
address.city IN ('San Jose', 'New York', 'Florida')
The expression results are true for Florida and false for Texas.
Usage of NOT IN is just the opposite of the above:
address.city NOT IN ('San Jose', 'New York', 'Florida')
Here, the expression results are true for Texas and false for Florida.
An IN expression must contain at least one string-literal in the comma-separated string literal list. You use the comparison operator [NOT] LIKE in the WHERE clause to select a particular value.
The syntax of the LIKE expression is below:
single_valued_path_expression [NOT] LIKE pattern-value [ESCAPE escape-character]
single_valued_path_expression must result in a String value. You use any string literal in the
pattern-value. An underscore (
_) represents any single character and a percent (
%) any sequence of characters, including an empty sequence. The
escape-character is a single character string literal, and is for escaping the special meaning of underscore and percent characters in
For example, the following query selects all employees whose names start with CHRIS:
SELECT OBJECT (emp) FROM employee as emp
WHERE emp.name LIKE 'CHRIS%'
And to select all employees whose names don't start with CHRIS, use the following:
SELECT OBJECT (emp) FROM employee as emp
WHERE emp.name NOT LIKE 'CHRIS%'
If the value of
emp.name in the above expression is NULL, then the value of the expression is unknown. To avoid this, check whether a
single_valued_path_expression is NULL by using the IS NULL operator. The following expression returns true when an employee's name is a NULL value.
emp.name IS NULL
EJB QL also provides the IS EMPTY comparison operator to check whether a collection object of a query string return type contains empty values. EJB QL provides the MEMBER [OF] identifier to check whether the value of a
single_valued_path expression is a member of collection designated by the
collection_valued_path expression.
The only identifiers that use a collection valued path expression are the comparison expressions: IS [NOT] EMPTY and [NOT] MEMBER [OF]. Note that in EJB QL queries, any comparison or arithmetic operations with a NULL value or an unknown value always yields an unknown value. Path expressions with NULL values during evaluation return NULL values.
The SELECT clause denotes the result of the query. The SELECT clause syntax is below, in BNF format:
SELECT [DISTINCT] {single_valued_path_expression | OBJECT (identification_variable)
DISTINCT works in the same way as SQL in selecting unique values from the query result.
You may also restrict the return type to contain only unique values by declaring
java.util.Set as the return type for the finder or select methods. Since
java.util.Set doesn't allow duplicate values, whenever the return type is
java.util.Set, the container internally applies DISTINCT to the query. Therefore, it is not required to explicitly use the DISTINCT identifier in the query string. But when the return type is a
java.util.Collection, then it requires an explicit DISTINCT identifier in the query expression to get unique values.
The SELECT clause determines the type of values returned by a query. For example, to get all orders, the query is:
SELECT OBJECT(o) FROM order o
Here, the order is the abstract-schema-name for OrderEJB.
Similarly, to get all products that are associated with a line item:
SELECT li.product FROM Order As o, IN(o.lineItems) li
These line items are the
cmr-field name of
Now, we see the following query, to get all line items related to an Order:
SELECT o.lineItems FROM Order As o
Looking carefully, the above query doesn't work, because the return type of the query is not a single-valued expression. The earlier query to get all products associated with line items works fine. This is because the relationship between line item and product is one-to-one, whereas the relationship between order and line items is one-to-many. The single valued path expression is the
single_valued_cmr_field, which is a
cmr-field name in one-to-one or many-to-one relationship. Since the relationship between order and line is one-to-many, the result yields a
collection_valued_path_expression type.
Therefore, the SELECT clause must be specified to return a single valued expression. The SELECT clause of a query defined for a finder method must always correspond to the abstract schema type of entity bean for which the finder method is defined. The SELECT clause of a query defined for a select method returns abstract schema types of other entity beans, as well as the values for
Now, you will see some queries of select methods whose return type is that of
cmp-field. To select the names of all products that have been ordered:
SELECT DISTICT li.product.name FROM order o, IN (o.lineItems) li
Here, order is the abstract-type-name of
lineItems and
products are
cmr-field names.
name is the
cmp-field name defined for the entity bean
EJB QL also provides built-in functions for performing simple operations on objects of String class and primitive types. Specifically, EJB QL provides the following built-in functions:
String Functions:
CONCAT (String, String) - This function returns the concatenated string value.
SUBSTRING (String, start, length) - This function returns the substring of the original string.
LOCATE (String, String [, start]) This function returns
LENGTH (String) This function returns the length of the string passed as parameter.
Arithmetic Functions:
EJB QL provides a standard way to define queries for entity beans in a portable way. An entity bean with EJB QL defined for its finder and select methods may be portable across any EJB container that adheres to the EJB 2.0 specification container managed persistence.
An EJB Container parses and validates EJB QL queries before entity beans are deployed, since EJB QL uses abstract schema types and
cmr-fields to navigate across entity beans.
Some of the useful features of SQL are not yet provided by EJB QL. For example, the ORDER BY identifier, which becomes very handy as the application becomes large and complex, is not yet supported in EJB QL. Some of the application servers may provide these features, but usage of the same may limit portability across application servers.
Date and time values should be passed as millisecond value using Java primitive type, long.
Related Reading
Enterprise JavaBeans, 3rd Edition
EJB QL does not support fixed decimal comparison in arithmetic expressions.
String and Boolean comparison is restricted to = and <>. However, the built-in functions(CONCAT, SUBSTRING, etc.) can be used to perform other operations on String.
EJB QL does not support comments.
The addition of EJB QL to the new EJB 2.0 specification justifies the distributed component architecture as the standard way of defining queries. EJB QL allows applications to be more portable. I believe future versions of EJB QL may provide support for more built-in functions, as well as other SQL features like ORDER BY. In the EJB 2.0 specification, the data model for CMP does not currently support inheritance; therefore, you cannot compare objects or value classes of different types. This may be addressed in future versions of EJB QL.
Jeelani B. Shaik is a senior Java software engineer at Infinity Markets in Santa Clara, Calif.
Return to ONJava.com.
Copyright © 2009 O'Reilly Media, Inc.


text:
Y-Time: Breathe Easier With Exercise
Amy O'Connor is on oxygen, but that doesn't stop her from working out.
Amy's at the Watertown YMCA three times a week and she says exercising is helping her breathe better.
She used to get lung infections a couple times of year, but hasn't had any in the two years she's been working out.
Click on the picture to hear her story.
For information, call or visit any of the YMCA's locations:
- Downtown, 315-782-3100
Or visit www.watertownymca.org.
Most Popular
Saturday, December 10, 2016, Watertown, NY

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Polly Wanna Contract?
Ok then, here ya go! The Phillies have signed Placido Polanco to play 3rd base after the Tigers declined to offer him salary arbitration. Because he was not offered arbitration, this means the Phillies do not have to give up a draft pick. The deal is for 3 years, 18 million dollars, plus an option for a 4th year.
Phillies fans should be thrilled to see Polly back in the red pinstripes; he is a career .303 hitter and rarely strikes out, a stat which would be a huge help to this lineup which tends to whiff more than most teams. Polanco played second base for the Tigers, but has played 322 games at third in his career as well. The Phillies actually signed him as a third baseman originally in 2002.
Back in June of 2005, the Phillies traded Polanco to the Tigers after Chase Utley won the position at second base. Fans screamed for Polanco to stay and to be placed at third base instead of David Bell, but the Phillies sent him packing, a move which I have always felt was a huge mistake. So, the Phillies have not only signed an amazing player today, but they also righted the wrong of 2005.
In exchange for Polanco in 2005, the Phillies got right-hander Ugueth Urbina and infielder Ramon Martinez. To give you an idea of how that worked out, the following off-season in 2005, Urbina was arrested on attempted murder charges for attacking 5 farm workers at his Venezuela home with a machete and he also tried to light them on fire. He is currently serving a 14-year prison sentence. Great pick up, Phils! I wonder if we can get him back when he is released? Nothing wrong with a little entertainment… ;o)
Polanco is back and I think this is an outstanding move for the Phillies! Welcome back, Polly! We missed ya!
More Arbitration News
The Phillies did not offer arbitration to any of their free agents, not even Chan Ho Park. He may still be back, but it looks like the Phillies did want to be tied down monetarily. While this gives them greater freedom to sign players at lower costs, it also means other teams can now sign them.
Ticket Price Revisited
Thank you to everyone for their feedback on my last blog regarding the ticket price increases. There were a few revelations in those comments. For instance, Rich of Fightin' Phillies reports that parking has also gone up from $11 to $15 and if the price continues to rise, he will not be renewing his season ticket plan in 2011.
The BILF Reporter says the ticket price increase did not upset her parents too much, but it also appears that partial plan holders are losing a playoff game opportunity. In 2009, the partial season ticket holders were guaranteed at least 3 games; for 2010, it has been knocked down to 2 games. Another comparison is that in 2008, partial plan holders not only got the 3 games, but they were also given "second chance" opportunities for up to 3 additional games when there were tickets leftover. So, it is basically going from 6 possible games to 2 in a matter of only 2 years, while prices continue to rise.
Add together the parking increase, ticket increase, lost playoff game and some partial season ticket holders getting their seats bumped backwards, this is a recipe for some very disgruntled fans. If anyone from the Phillies is listening, they may want to rethink this strategy. Imagine what is going to happen here; they will lose their loyal fans as season ticket holders, gain bandwagon fans and then, when they stop winning, who will be left in the seats? There are fewer and fewer reasons to buy or renew your season tickets. Where is the incentive when each year, we pay more and get less?
And yes, I understand the Phillies are more reasonably priced that say, the Yankees. And if you've got money, you are probably not concerned. But people on a budget are used to paying a certain amount for a particular level of service; they will resent the changes. All of these teams, not just the Phillies, should be more sensitive to what their fans expect and deserve. Of course, this is just my opinion :O)
Speaking of fan appreciation, GM Ruben Amaro Jr. left an automated message on my voice mail today, thanking me and all the fans for our great support. Say it with flowers, say it with a phone call….or, how about saying it with better seats and lower prices? Just an idea…
Polanco photo by Jenn
*Read more about the Phillies at my other home page, Phightin' Phils Phorum in the My Team Rivals network*
15 Comments
Polanco looks like a great addition to the Phillies. I hope he does well, and it's a relief to see he won't be terrorizing (with his bat) Toronto pitching anymore when the Tigers visit (well, save for the annual Phillies interleague matchup).
Welcome back Polanco. I hope he can really play third. I know he's been great at second.
What a story about Urbina. Makes Brett Myers look like a choir boy.
I don't think the Polonco signing is all that good really. We let him go a few years ago now, and now he's 34 years old. He delivered less homeruns and rbi's than Feliz in '09 – is this a trend or is it just a fluke? Yes, he doesn't strike out very often, only 46 times on average. The lack of offensive production in RBI's last season worries me, this is when a lot of players start to decline in their skills at this age.
My Phillies invoice mentions that Phillies 'partial season ticket holders' will have the opportunity to purchase a 'minimum of 2 games' not that you can only purchase 2 games. This means to me that you don't have to buy the three ticket package as they offered last year, but I would like a clarification on this from the Phillies on what exactly they mean by this. I am also upset that I have tickets in the first level, but my playoff tickets were all in the upper decks in areas I wouldn't sit normally, but someone with an upper deck cheaper plan can get 'lucky' and draw seats in the playoffs in the first level. That is wrong, you should sit in the level that you have your tickets in.
The parking is making me boil though, so I don't know. I live in Jersey so you have to take everything into consideration. Parking, tolls, gas, and everything else to come up with the 'real' cost of your plan. The Phillies have a winning ballclub now, they won't suffer to draw fans now but a few years from now they could be like Baltimore and sour the fans and have a stadium that is half full or less. Time will tell, but I have noticed that even at last year's playoffs the team did go all out for the fans, even the Fan Appreciation day seemed like real hokie prizes at times, they used to give away many trips, and other things but now that they are making more money they are actually giving away less.
I hope Polanco is an improvement over Feliz for 2010 – I have to imagine simply putting the ball in play more frequently has to be a step up – the way the Phillies lineup strikes out so frequently is appalling sometimes!
Never had the bucks in the budget to be a season-ticket holder, full or partial. I think the price increase is the unfortunate byproduct of success – management assumes people will be willing to pay more and more to see a winner. Just like the price for Baseball 101 goes up every year, and still it sells out. They'll keep raising the prices as long as they can. But I don't like it.
Rants, Raves, and Random Thoughts
I think the Polanco signing gave the "Hot Corner" and instant offensive makeover.
Sure Polanco might not have played the corner since his utility days, but he is a experienced infielder with a great glove, so it is a great upside move by Ruben Amaro Jr and the Phillie staff.
The non-tender to Park kind of got me thinking they might just try and sign him to a lower offer than his arbitration. He did a great job doing whatever they needed in 2009, and you would think that would be rewarded by the team.
I guess we shall see soon enough.
Rays Renegade
It will be interesting to see, after a Gold Glove season at second base, if he can adapt back to third.
December 2, 2009 is a day I'm sure my Detroit Tigers are going regret for years to come. Congratulations Philly, you've got yourself the most underrated talent in the league. Polly is perhaps one of the most dependable players in the game anymore. There's not a lot of flash or home run power however there is an innate ability to put the ball in play and move runners along. Our loss is certainly your gain. I suppose I need to consider myself a Phillies fan by way of Detroit now. Congratulations Polly you deserve to be on a proven winner.
Signing Polanco makes you guys have the most stacked team in baseball. You have Howard at first, who has top class power. Utley at second, who is probably the best second baseman in the league. Rollins at short, who gives opposing pitchers and catchers nightmares as he nabs base after base. Polanco at third now, one of the best defensive infielders around (Let's see how he adapts to the Hot Corner) and a real solid hitter who has past experience in Philly. Werth in right, who has power and can hit with the best of em; Victorino in center, with blazing speed and a lot of hits, Ibanez in left, a veteran who adds a bit of power to the lineup, and Carlos Ruiz behind the plate, who is a solid, above average catcher. No team can compete with a lineup like that, not even my Yankees😦. Add to that a pitching staff with Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, and Jamie Moyer, and you have World Series Champions 2010.
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interessante ansicht. nicht der übliche einheitsbrei, wie ich finde.
あり目立っするバンドルについて調べるこれ。また、| オプション機能 良い | 必ず一定 ポイント要因では私はあなたが作られたと仮定します。
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Turtles and leeches
July 16, 2014 —
While walking at Shohola Recreation Area in Pike County, PA recently, I came upon an Eastern painted turtle crossing a dirt road. I bent down for a closer look and noticed that she was sporting a leech brooch on her plastron, just below her neck. She certainly couldn't observe the unattractive adornment, and I decided to relieve her of this parasite.
After prying the leech off with a stick, a second leech was revealed underneath. Removing that one as well, a third, much smaller leech writhed in the same vicinity. Three leeches lighter, the turtle continued on her way, no doubt relieved to be free of my ministrations.
Leeches are segmented parasitic worms that feed on the blood of turtles, fish, frogs and some mammals. In our region, they have a particular affinity for painted turtles and snapping turtles and are one of the reasons not (!) to bring a wild turtle home, particularly if you already own domestic turtles.
Leeches are vectors for parasites that are easily transmitted to other turtles. A brief Internet search revealed that folks sometimes make this mistake and wind up plying turtle forums for advice on what to do when the leeches begin to appear in their turtle tanks.
Like earthworms, leeches are hermaphrodites, with each having both female and male reproductive organs. They also have two suckers, one at each end, with which they attach to their host and commence feeding.
In days gone by, leeches were used medically to remove blood from humans. Thankfully, this practice has largely ceased.


text:
Mr. Zapata was born Sept. 7, 1932, in Mathis to Ramon and Irena (Ramirez) Zapata. He married Enriqueta Leal and was a butcher by profession. He was a member of St. George Catholic Church in George West.
Survivors include his wife, Enriqueta Zapata of George West; three daughters, Gloria (Johnny) Molina of Beeville and Adelita (Ted) Yunis and Marta (Arturo) Gutierrez, both of George West; four sons, Mario (Karen) Zapata of Justin, Joe Luis (Mary) Zapata and Erasmo (Brenda) Zapata, both of George West and Thomas Enrique (Debra) Zapata of Beeville; 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren; six sisters, Genoveva Ariaga of Bastrop, May Guerrero of Pasadena, Calif., Natalia Castaneda and Rosa Zapata, both of George West, Bernadette Castaneda of Victoria, and Rebecca Gamboa of San Antonio; and three brothers, Eugenio Zapata of Carrizo, Richard Zapata of George West and David Zapata of Sherman.
Visitation was held from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, at Galloway & Sons Funeral Home chapel in George West and from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at St. George Catholic Church. A rosary was recited there that evening at 7 o'clock.
The funeral Mass was celebrated at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 11, at the church with Rev. Ryszard Zielinski officiating. Burial followed in George West Cemetery.
Pallbearers were Roland Gayton, Bobby Kinchloe, Albert Cisneros, Joe Luis Zapata Jr., Warren Reyna and Consuelo Zapata.
Honorary pallbearer was Christopher Zapata.
Galloway & Sons Funeral Home, Three Rivers


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From 2010 through 2012, Kashmir by Led Zeppelin was noticeably absent from the speakers at Citizens Bank Park for a good chunk of games.
Chase Utley had missed a combined 185 games in the three seasons prior to 2013. The majority of that time missed was due to chondromalacia patellae in his knees. Utley was diagnosed with a chronic knee problem that left him averaging just .263 from 2010-2012 with a combined 38 home runs.
To put that in perspective, Utley had a hitting average of .302 with a combined 86 home runs from 2007-2009. It looked like the man who tied Reggie Jackson for the most home runs in a World Series in 2009, was nearing the end of his career as a star second baseman and face of the Philadelphia Phillies franchise.
However, Utley had a resurgence of sorts in 2013. For the first time since 2010 Utley was the starting second baseman for the Phillies on opening day. After tweaking his offseason program Utley claimed his knee problems were a thing of the past and that he was healthy. He managed to prove that by playing 131 games in 2013 his most since 2009.
The total number of games played wasn't the only thing up for Utley in 2013, as his batting average of .284 was his highest since 2008. Utley also put up his highest isolated power average since 2009 with .191. The Phillies offense struggled mightily in 2013 and Utley was one of the few players on the team who was able to create runs.
Utley's wRC+ (Weighted Runs Created) was 126 which was the highest on the team and 26% above the league average. One could tell just by watching Utley play that he looked healthier and more effective. With that said, there is no denying that despite the improvement, Utley he was no longer the same all-star caliber second baseman that he'd been from 2005-2010, especially on defense.
The one part of Chase's game that has rapidly declined is his defense. Utley's 17 errors last season were his most since 2006. The 2013 season marked the first time in Utley's career where he had a dWAR in the negatives, at -0.2. Prior to this past season Utley had never had a dWAR below 1.0 aside from 2003 when he played in his first 43 games as a pro. It's going to be difficult for the Phillies to be successful moving forward with suspect defensive play from Utley. It remains to be seen if this is an area of Utley's game that can be recovered.
On August 7th, Utley signed a two-year contract extension worth $27 million. However, the contract can max out at five years and $75 million due to certain vesting options. If Utley can stay healthy he will get paid. If he doesn't, 2015 could be his last season in a Phillies uniform.
It's clear the Phillies need Utley (and some others) to stay healthy to be a playoff team again. He may never put up all-star numbers again, but the Phillies offense can be successful if he puts up similar numbers to 2013.
It was clear that he was able to use his knees more to drive the ball when batting, always a great sign for an aging hitter. The power that had been painfully missing from him the previous few years seemed to return. Most importantly, Utley's presence and work ethic in the clubhouse is something the Phillies front office and fans alike cherish. Utley can still produce, especially offensively at a position where getting offense is difficult.
Grade B+:
A lot of this grade has to do with Utley remaining healthy for the majority of the season. On top of that he was one of the few Phillies who were productive at the plate for an entire season. The questions that loom as we approach 2014 is if he can remain healthy and improve defensively. Those questions remain unanswered, however, Utley's 2013 showed that he is back. Phillies fans would love to hear Kashmir blasting through the Citizens Bank Park speakers for all 81 home games in 2014.
15 Comments
Well done article Martin. I had stated in the previous thread about Rollins slow decline in his play at SS, in how it affects the pitching with balls going through blah blah. Like Rollins, Chase should have been let go to be a FA. Personally I think Chase can still produce close to what he once was offensively but as you stated his errors was a concern. I don't know if it was just a fluke or if it was a trend starting. He didn't seem to be lacking in his lateral movement. And I don't know if a majority of his errors were throwing. (it seemed like it) or if the first basemen's lack of fielding was the cause.
I say Chase should have been allowed to go the FA route simply cause we have a guy ready to play second in Cesar Hernandez. Is he a chase Utley? No! But if he can produce the numbers he put up in AAA he'll be fine. The rebuilding has to start. I don't think with all the health and aging issues that the Phillies will finish at best no higher than 3rd. There are simply too many question marks as there was last year.
Chase is one of my all time favorite players. His approach and knowledge and just flat out heads up play, hustle and base running is a tribute of a special player. He would be missed. But it's time to move on. We could trade him to a contender mid season when we're out of it and get something of value but I don't know if Rubes the guy to handle this. We have replacement players coming up. Let them play as these other core guys got the chance. Did we know the core guys were going to become the player they did? Not really but they got the chance. Carlos is another one. Love the guy but hey! It's time to rebuild. You don't do that with signing aging players who will not get any better, only worse.
If Howard falters, then I would put Utley at first base. Highly touted Hernandez could play second base. I hope health is NOT an issue once the season starts
In that case I would rather have Ruf and Utley in the lineup than Hernandez and Utley.
Schmenk, Point well taken – plus Ruf's power output. No contest.
Of course, both perform best in the infield but that's another issue.
vs. Left .295 .286 .581
vs. Right .368 . 354 .722
vs. Left .309 .348 .657
vs. Right .363 .500 .863
Martin, you started by referring to Fangraphs stats with wRC+ (rightly, as that's the best single hitting metric), but for some reason switched to baseball reference for fielding stats.
Sticking to FG and UZR, which I think is the better fielding metric, shows that Utley was still above average in 2013. In fact, out of 19 qualifying second basemen, Utley had the 8th best UZR/150 (UZR per 150 games).
If I believed in miracles, Utley's return to form would be at the top of my list of probables, his higher error rate, notwithstanding.
Chase was one of the few bright spots on this team.
Another bright spot (IMO) was Jake Diekman and at the very moment it appeared nothing good would come out of the bullpen no matter how many arms were paraded through it..
It's hard not to include Dom Brown on that positive list even though I still have misgivings as a future multi-tool player. Still, not many players can have the 1/3rd season he enjoyed (with two interruptive injuries) and still finish with 27 home runs and a team-leading 83 RBIs.
I'd also be remiss by not acknowledging Ben Revere's improved performance before his unfortunate foot injury – although I'm still waiting for him to hit a ball to the wall on a dribbler – or throw the ball to the infield on a dribbler.
Kudos go to Darin Ruf for trying his darndest to improve in a position he's not naturally suited for – and for just being a survivor despite management's apparent indifference to his continued existence. Like Revere the kid is likable and trying.
And kudos to MiniMart for playing on a professional baseball team, a profession he's not naturally suited for. A shoutout to the Pittsburgh Pirates is also due here.
I'd also be remiss if I didn't congratulate every fan in this city for being lucky enough to have called Roy Halladay a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Okay, those are my saccharine comments for the month. Any more and you'll all go into diabetic shock.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled bitchfest.
Nice list. I would add Cliff Lee's excellent season.
That's the problem when I try to do "shout outs" to me boys.
Always leave a big one off the list.
The one I missed, Cliff Lee, belongs near the top.
Thanks for mentioning the major oversight.
Apologies to Cliff who I now get to give special thanks too.
It's very refreshing to read something positive on this site. Personally, I don't give a hoot if all the usual nay-sayers DO go into diabetic shock.
Thanks George,
Often guilty of being one of those naysayers myself, an occasional reality check is needed to reestablish the facts and maybe cleanse the soul a bit – but remember above all else, why I'm a baseball fan.
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Chase utley is one of my all time favorite players, love watching him play the game with his hard-nosed all out style…
One of the all time greats
Too generous grade. Considering Utley abysmal defense, B- or C would be more accurate.
If by "abysmal" you mean above average, and by "too generous" you mean about right, than I agree.
He was the 2nd best second baseman in the NL (behind only Carpenter). B+ isn't generous at all.
Other than errors, Utley was among the top 10 second basemen in baseball in pretty much every important category and I believe the errors were an anomaly based on still not recovering full motion post knee injuries. He had a long haul just to walk normally again yet alone run. I'd give him a D- on errors (I can't give him an F because the errors were not from lack of talent), but he gets an A for his bat work and base-running smarts and an A+++ for pure unadulterated guts.
Weighted final score: B++
The man never ceases to amaze me.
He doesn't even flinch when he gets hit in the back by a 95 mph fastball.
Unbelievable that he's not playing from a wheelchair considering his knee issues.
He's just… well… unbelievable!


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Undergraduate commencement is Sunday, May 12
Ohio Northern University will celebrate its 2013 Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony in the Sports Center on Sunday, May 12, at 2 p.m. in the Sports Center. About 550 students will be awarded degrees.
Robert Manning, Mars Exploration Program chief engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., will address the graduating students as the guest speaker and receive an honorary degree from the University. Oscar J. and Judith D. (Jacobs) Mifsud also will receive honorary degrees.
Courtney Hetrick, graduating electrical engineering major from Frazeysburg, Ohio, will serve as the student speaker.
Doors to the ONU Sports Center will open on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. for the commencement ceremony. Guests should arrive by 1 p.m. The musical prelude will begin at 1:30 p.m., followed by the procession of faculty and students.
Since 2004, Manning has been responsible for ensuring the success of current and future missions to Mars. In early 2008, he was named the chief engineer for the Mars Science Laboratory mission that successfully landed the rover Curiosity on the Martian surface in August 2012. The mission's science goals include the investigation of the Martian climate and geology and the assessment of whether the rover's landing site inside Gale Crater has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. Prior to these roles, Manning led the spacecraft systems engineering team for the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) project, which landed the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity on the surface of Mars in early 2004.
Judith Mifsud graduated from ONU in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science in elementary education. She retired after teaching at the elementary level for 24 years. Currently, she is active in community-based service such as Interfaith Care Givers and PJs from Grandma Inc., a nonprofit organization she founded. Judith Mifsud has been an active alumna for ONU by serving on the national steering committee for ONU's capital campaign, The Campaign for Ohio Northern University's Tomorrow. She established the Judith D. (Jacobs) Mifsud Endowed Scholarship Fund to benefit students pursuing a degree in education at ONU. She is currently active in ONU's GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade) program, a giving society for young alumni. In 2009, her past and current contributions were recognized when she received ONU's Distinguished Alumni Award.
Oscar Mifsud, who graduated from ONU with a Bachelor of Science in business administration in 1972, is the president and CEO of the Mifsud Group LLC, a private investment and management company, and the former president, CEO and owner of SMR Aerospace. Oscar Mifsud has generously offered his time to ONU. He has served on the ONU Board of Trustees since 2000 and, in 2007, was named vice chair of the board and a member of its executive committee. He also is a member of the board's finance, investment and trusteeship committees. In the University's recently completed and highly successful capital campaign, which raised more than $110 million, Oscar Mifsud served as national campaign chair. He established the Oscar J. Mifsud Leadership Scholarship Fund for the Dicke College of Business Administration. He received the University's Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009, the College of Business Administration's Outstanding Service Award in 2012, and the College of Business Administration's Pinnacle Award in 2013.
Together, the Mifsuds established the Mifsud Family Foundation, which provides a focus on health, education and welfare of children and families. The two also established the Oscar J. and Judith D. Mifsud Endowment at Ohio Northern University, ONU's Pay It Forward program, and the Ohio Northern Senior Send Off program.
In addition to the commencement ceremony, a commencement chapel service will be held in the English Chapel on Saturday, May 11, at 7:30 p.m. The Raabe College of Pharmacy's hooding ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 12, at 10 a.m. in the ONU Sports Center.


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By David Irvin
A little extra effort each day helped Zach Gillooly repeat Saturday as the regional spelling bee.
The next stop for the 13-year-old Yucca Junior High student on the spelling bee circuit is Washington, D.C., where he will compete at the national level.
"There's a lot of competition there (in Washington)," he said. "The kids from the bigger metropolitan areas have to fight through a lot more competition to get there," said Gillooly, who was eliminated in the second round at last year's national tournament
The Clovis Community College Town Hall was comfortably filled with head-nodding mothers and fathers as the 2005 regional spelling bee sponsored by Freedom Newspapers of New Mexico got under way. But with the end of every round, more students were dismissed from the stage and more parents would scuttle out.
Competitors came from Des Moines, Portales, Floyd, Grady, Texico, Melrose, Logan and Clovis. In order to survive, spellers had to negotiate words that included "brocade," "agronomy," "mallard," "conscription," "gerrymander" and "gullet."
It only took four rounds to narrow down the field from about 30 students to six.
Evangelina Castro of Logan Municipal Schools placed second at Saturday's competition. She estimated spending less than five hours in total preparing for the competition.
"I'm surprised I got this far," the 13-year-old said.
Gillooly and Castro squared off against each other in the final head-to-head round. Castro faltered first, misspelling "metronome." But Gillooly failed to take advantage and also misspelled the word.
When Castro slipped on "crochet," Gillooly took control. First he verified the French origin of the word and spelled it right. He brought home the victory by nailing "excruciating."
Patrick Gillooly said the whole spelling-bee season really worked on his son last year.
"He was so burnt out from last year, that he didn't study at all until he received the Paideia book in January, and he hit it hard from then on," the father said. Leading up to the school and regional competitions, his son was studying about 1 1/2 hours per day.
Muleshoe's Stephanie Stancell, who took third place, said she and her parents prepared for about 24 hours leading up to the event.
"My parents, they wanted me to get to Washington, and everybody did, but I'm not that competitive about getting first place," she said. Stancell was representing Clovis Area Home Educators on Saturday, a group made up of home-schooled children.
Ladona Clayton, Clovis schools assistant superintendent for instruction, said these spelling bees help students learn on a number of levels.
"I believe the general purpose is to refine our students' language skills, it enhances their communication, but also their writing ability," she said. "They learn a lot about the English language, and they also learn what it's like to compete, to set a goal and meet the goal, and be very self disciplined to get to this level."


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The Mitchell Shield is a pre-season tournament for female players across a variety of levels of Football including Association, Club and Rep Teams, through to Metropolitan and Country Association based teams.
The tournament is staged by Western NSW Football & FNSW on behalf of the Bathurst District Soccer Association and held annually in late February/early March at the Proctor Park playing fields in Bathurst.
WHEN: 21/22 March 2015


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Big stage, this is Notre Dame. Notre Dame, this is big stage.
You two have met before, right?
Let's hope that you don't part ways for another generation after Monday's lopsided BCS title game.
On the biggest stage in college football, Notre Dame had a chance to return to greatness in the national championship game against Alabama. But by missing tackle after tackle (after tackle after tackle), the Fighting Irish missed a golden opportunity to prove they belonged.
The final score was every bit as one-sided as the matchup: Alabama 42, Notre Dame 14.
That's too bad.
Because college football is better off when Notre Dame is a legitimate title contender. The sport is much more exciting when the squad from South Bend, Ind., can stand up to the studs of the Southeastern Conference.
In the run-up to kickoff Monday, I was foolish enough to think Notre Dame would provide Alabama with a great challenge, if not a stunning upset. You know, great defense, luck of the Irish, and so on.
Then a harsh reality arrived faster than an alarm clock at 4 a.m.
On the game's opening series, Alabama sliced through the middle of the top-ranked Irish defense with a five-play, 82-yard touchdown drive in less than 3 minutes. It got worse before it got better.
Just kidding. It never got better.
Imagine how much fun a hard-fought game could have been between the sport's Nos. 1 and 2 teams. Imagine Notre Dame trailing by a point or two and lining up for a potential game-winning drive.
At this point, all we can do is imagine.
Those who despise the Irish will have plenty of chances to take their shots in the coming days. They were outplayed and outcoached in every phase of the game – except punting, maybe.
But admit it: Even if you hate Notre Dame, you'd prefer that they matter.
No team in college football is more polarizing.
The Irish are like a political party or a favorite brand of toothpaste (wait, you don't get fired up about toothpaste?). College football fans tend to love the Irish or hate the Irish with no space in between.
Yet after the mid-1990s, it became harder to love (or hate) a so-so Irish team. Apathy crept in.
For nearly 20 years, Notre Dame watched at home like the rest of us while teams mostly from the southeast and the west coast battled for championships. The most recent team from the Midwest to win a title was the 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes – it now has been a decade and counting.
Before kickoff Monday, I reflected on my first and only trip to see Notre Dame play.
It was 1995, less than two years after Notre Dame's narrow loss in the NCAA championship game. The Irish were hosting Navy as part of the schools' storied rivalry.
Before kickoff, the stadium's public-address announcer told us the wind-chill factor: 7 degrees.
Everyone in the stands went crazy. Then again, they were crazy.
The next three-plus hours were mostly a blur. Players crunched into each other. The band blasted the fight song. Students raised each other in the air for push-ups after every Irish touchdown.
In the second half, Notre Dame quarterback Ron Powlus broke his arm. The Irish won without him.
Everybody went home happy.
That memory is almost two decades old.
Against Alabama, the Irish had an opportunity to play like champions once again. This wasn't a Knute Rockne speech in black and white or an old VHS game tape starring Tony Rice and Tim Brown.
This was Notre Dame football in the 21st century. This was Manti Te'o on your 1080p LCD screen.
And they blew it. Big time.
• Write to Northwest Herald sportswriter Tom Musick at firstname.lastname@example.com or follow him on Twitter at @tcmusick.


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The Forgiveness of Sins
Those whom God forgives are forgiven indeed. He does not actually forget what we have done, but He no longer holds our wickedness against us when we trust in Christ. Through the blood of Christ, He sees us as righteous ...Read More
Our Righteous Advocate
Even now, Jesus is pleading with the Father in our behalf, interceding for us that we might be forgiven, purified, and strengthened for holiness. To be sure, we work out our salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12–13), but we ...Read More
Dead and Buried with Christ
Our old Adamic nature has been mortally wounded, but it refuses to stay buried. Having a new nature in Christ, we must put sin to death when it rises up. This means that we must resist temptation and repent when ...Read More
Exposing the Darkness
Matthew Henry comments, "We must witness against the sins of others, and endeavor to convince them of their sinfulness in our words; but especially by the holiness of our lives." Our holy living has consequences not only for our own ...Read More
Children of Light
The fruit of light listed in today's passage — goodness, righteousness, and truth — are examples of what Paul elsewhere refers to as the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–24). These things, along with qualities including love, joy, patience, and ...Read More
The Deception of Empty Words
There are men and women struggling with sexual sin in all of our congregations. They want to please God and are seeking to mortify the flesh, and we should do all that we can to help them. This means creating ...Read More
The Temperament of the Heart
Putting sins of the tongue to death requires more than just the cessation of slander, as important as that is. More fundamentally, there needs to be a mortification of the ungodly anger and malice that so easily well up within ...Read More
Grieving the Holy Spirit
Just as we experience the joy of restoration upon repentance, so we make amends for grieving the Spirit when we turn from our sin and seek to do His will. When we sense a distance in our relationship to God, ...Read More
Anger, Sin, and the Devil
If sinful anger can give the Devil a foothold in our churches and in our relationships with friends and family, then defusing anger is an essential part of spiritual warfare. Insofar as it depends on us, we must strive to ...Read More
Speaking the Truth
Martin Luther purportedly said, "Peace if possible, but truth at any rate." We cannot lie to others about the depth of our sin or the sin of others even if we know lies will maintain "peace" between different parties. We ...Read More


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Honolulu police stood by, just in case there was trouble from groups who have been at odds with the city.
Earlier in the morning, workers cleared tents and signs from an area previously taken over by the Occupy demonstrators who have argued for free speech rights.
But Wednesday, the city moved to take the park back.
"This is the people's park for everyone, not anyone to take over but it's for everyone in this community," said Mayor Kirk Caldwell.
City officials planned an event to mark "Restoration Day," an event that used to be celebrated regularly.
It marks a bit of Hawaiian history lost to many who pass it by every day.
One hundred seventy years ago, a Union Jack flew over the area marking the end of a five-month seizure of the Hawaiian Kingdom by a British officer only to be restored -- thanks to Rear Admiral Richard Thomas.
"The privy council established the first park in the Hawaiian islands, a new concept and named it Thomas Square after Admiral Richard Thomas," said University of Hawaii professor Puakea Nogelmeier.
The ceremony went off uninterrupted and the Hawaiian Flag flew overhead.
Demonstrators were free to parade a sign around the park perimeter.
The city has spent money to improve the park and has begun to focus on its future.
One idea is to expand the park, which would mean extending the green space over what's now the Blaisdell Concert Hall.
The plan is something the Hawaii Community Development Authority has pitched.
It's suggested it as a way for the city to redevelopment aging Blaisdell complex. possibly partnering with the private sector to build a super-skycraper up 700 feet tall.
"At the end of the day we will reach out to the community and see what we can see to works and move the Blaisdell into the next 50 years and as part of that is how do we incorporate this park," said the mayor.
The expected growth of an extra 30,000 residents -- and rail will put pressure on green space and so the ideas about enhancing area parks are likely no coincidence.


text:
By Helena Rodriguez: Freedom Newspapers
I thought it was going to take another funeral to get our familia together again, but low and behold, my sister's wedding in Vegas this weekend is becoming an unplanned Rodriguez-Madrid family reunion.
My sister Becky and her fiancée, Billy, are tying the knot in Vegas this weekend — Las Vegas, N.M, that is. Actually, it's not really even in Vegas, New Mexico. The life sentencing hearing, I mean the wedding vow exchange, will take place in San Miguel. But everyone knows the main event of any traditional Mexican wedding extravaganza or pachanga, is the dinner and dance, which will take place on the famous Las Vegas strip of New Mexico.
Festivities will not stop until after midnight.
Just like funerals, weddings generally become family reunions. But over the past five years, our extremely large, extended clan has drifted off into little tribes. In fact, the last time most of us were together was when my Uncle Hymie died in 2001.
So sad to say, I thought it was going to require another funeral before we got together again, especially given the fact that more people these days are choosing not to marry or remarry.
With this in mind, and also given the great distance between some of us, I really didn't think some of my tios and tias would be coming.
We were certainly overdue for a family reunion, but it looked like it was going to be a small wedding, by our standards anyway, until my tias Paula and Vanessa of Dallas and my Uncle Paul of Arkansas announced they were coming.
I know they were especially coming to see my mom whom they haven't seen in about a year, which happened to be when they all met in Santa Rosa for the funeral of a family friend, Herbert Anaya. But I also think it was a close call we had, a big scare last week, that prompted some of my relatives to RSVP at the last minute.
Last week, my mom went to see a doctor who informed her that she had blockage in her heart; her heart was only functioning at about 45 percent.
Within a few days she was in Lubbock undergoing outpatient surgery. But when they inserted a small camera device in her, the doctor in Lubbock could not find any blockage whatsoever. Call it a machine malfunction, which gave an improper reading or call it nothing short of a miracle, which is what I call it. Lots of people were praying.
As you could imagine though, this close call really put things into perspective and reminded us how unpredictable life is. I think that prompted other family members to find a way to get off work.
I have to admit I wasn't looking forward to the wedding at first. The timing was bad and I complained about the inconvenience and expense. My daughter is in the wedding party. But when Uncle Paul called and said he was bringing his family and stopping in Amarillo along the way to bring Uncle Phillip, I started looking forward to hearing those wedding bells ring. In fact, I decided to go a day earlier than planned.
We even decided to pay a little more than what we were comfortable with to get hotel rooms in the same place as my tios and tias.
Mom said it would be worth it and we finally sold dad on the idea by saying there was no telling when we would get a chance to get together like this again.
She's right. Although sooner or later we would have gotten together again, I'm just glad it's going to be sooner. And I'm glad our upcoming reunion will not be to mourn another loss; it will be to celebrate a new addition to our family.
Helena Rodriguez is a columnist for Freedom Newspapers of New Mexico. She can be reached at: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Many developers are eagerly awaiting the 2.6 Linux kernel. The feature freeze has passed, with a code freeze planned for January and final release slated for the second quarter of 2003. There is considerable excitement about anticipated enhancements, especially regarding scalability and performance.
However, some developers may first notice what doesn't work anymore. Some techniques and APIs have been removed, and existing device drivers and modular plugins may no longer work. At the same time, it will take some time to take advantage of new features and to find replacements for old ones.
Some deprecated techniques, such as task queues, have finally been eliminated. Other facilities, including in-kernel Web acceleration, have been supplanted by newer advances. Other changes, notably banishing the system call table from the list of exported symbols available to modules, have flowed more from philosophical and licensing issues than from technical considerations.
The Linux kernel has a monolithic architecture; it is one big program. All
parts of the kernel are visible to each other unless their scope has been
explicitly limited. Arguments are passed on the stack, as in any other
C program. At the same time, Linux makes extensive use of modules: facilities that may be loaded and unloaded dynamically. (These are often, but not always
device drivers.) Modules can only see explicitly exported symbols (functions,
variables, etc.). Unless the kernel or a previously loaded module includes
the statement
EXPORT_SYMBOL(foobar);, the module cannot refer to
Extensive modularization does not render the kernel any less monolithic. The critical difference between monolithic and microkernels stems from how components communicate with each other. As long as the Linux kernel prefers function calls to message passing, its basic structure will remain monolithic.
The system call table is a vector containing the addresses of the functions executed whenever a system call is made from user space. When invoking a system call, the kernel receives the number of the call, the number of arguments, and the arguments themselves. It uses the call number as an offset into the table and places the arguments in the registers; they're not passed on the stack. Then it jumps to the appropriate address to execute the system call.
Exporting the system call table allows modules to substitute system calls
with replacements of their own devising. To replace the basic kernel
read() system call requires a simple code fragment:
extern int sys_call_table[];
read_save = sys_call_table[NR_read];
sys_call_table[NR_read] = read_sub;
read_sub() has been defined somewhere in the module and
the pointer to the original system call has been saved so that it can be
restored upon module unloading:
sys_call_table[NR_read] = read_save;
So what is wrong with this technique?
Related Reading
Understanding the Linux Kernel
On the practical side, it is easy to incur race conditions, especially on multi-processor systems where the replacement happens while an application is using the system call. Various locking techniques can offer some protection, but the details are non-trivial. However, the abolition of this method is not primarily due to practical difficulties.
Some system calls penetrate deep into kernel's heart. Binary-only modules, where the source is not available under a GPL-compatible license, have enjoyed the use of this technique. Exported symbols have been visible to all modules.
The rules governing binary modules and GPL violations have always been fuzzy. Some argue that it is permissible for any such module to restrict itself to exported symbols. Others maintain it depends on whether or not the module fiddles with core kernel facilities. The line between central and peripheral matters has always been very gray.
To sharpen this delineation, the 2.4.10 version of
modutils, which handles
loading and unloading of modules, introduced module licenses. In addition, the
EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL macro, introduced in the 2.4.11 kernel, created
two classes of exported symbols. Only modules with an acceptable open-source
license can have access to symbols exported under the GPL. All previously
exported symbols were grand fathered in.
This led to some loud arguments. Perhaps if the macro had been called
EXPORT_SYMBOL_INTERNAL, it would have shown an intent of
differentiating between modules implementing central and peripheral kernel
facilities, rather than making a choice based on the kernel programmer's
licensing philosophy.
Choosing to use
EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(sys_call_table) would have
satisfied many objections. Instead, the more draconian choice of embargoing all
export of the system call table occurred. Red Hat did this in the patched
2.4.18 kernel shipped with Red Hat Linux 8.0, and Linus Torvalds did the same
in the 2.5.41 development kernel. As a result, a module can no longer replace
a system call through the simple code above. Its replacement adds support to
register new system calls dynamically. This feature may continue to grow.
Most observers foresee a tightening of the limits on binary modules. This may very well break some rather expensive commercial Linux products, but that doesn't seem to bother most kernel developers. Reminding the purveyors of binary modules that they continue to operate at the pleasure of the Linux kernel developers and their open-source licenses is seen to be a necessary (even enjoyable) task. It has probably always been true that the only way to protect investment in Linux deployment of drivers and other kernel facilities (not applications) is to go open source, even if that is difficult for commercial enterprises to absorb. Recent developments seem to re-emphasize this.
The kernel often has to defer some tasks, scheduling them for later execution, though often as soon as possible. Commonly this is in interrupt service routines, where work is often divided between a "top half" and a "bottom half."
A typical top half stores incoming data and primes a device to be ready for new interrupts as quickly as possible. Other interrupts may even be disabled during this process, which highlights the necessity of quick execution. The bottom half performs less time-critical processing, such as filtering, copying to user space, etc. This helps increase device throughput.
Ancient kernels used a fixed set of 32 bottom half queues. These were superceded by the use of task queues, several of which were maintained by the kernel. Others could be created for specific purposes.
The task queue implementation has inherent limitations, and its use has been deprecated throughout the 2.4 series. For one thing, only one task queue could run at a time systemwide. For another, most task queues ran out of process context, which made it impossible for them to sleep. It also exposed them to all the other vulnerabilities of code running at "interrupt time."
The 2.4 kernel introduced tasklets as a partial replacement. Multiple tasklets of different types can run simultaneously. Tasklets always run on the CPU that scheduled them, which minimizes cache thrashing and, since it serializes things, simplifies re-entrancy problems and race conditions. However, tasklets still run in an interrupt-like context.
In the 2.5 kernel, task queues were gradually minimized and written out of existence. A new replacement called work queues took their place. Tasks are still placed on queues, but they run in process context, which permits sleeping. Unlike task queues, each work queue is tied to a set of threads, one per CPU, so a sleeping task doesn't block other work. One can also specify a minimum time period before the task is performed.
As a wrinkle, only GPL-licensed modules will be able to create their own work queues. Other modules will have to live with a default work queue maintained by the kernel.
Web servers often dish up static file content, and each request requires at least two system calls and context switches. The 2.4 kernel included the khttpd in-kernel Web accelerator to handle such requests directly within the kernel. More complicated requests and requests with questionable security were passed off to the external Web server, such as Apache.
khttpd could raise the number of handled requests by a factor of two-to-five, a later kernel patch called TUX (also known as the Red Hat Content Accelerator)
by Ingo Molnar of Red Hat, achieved much higher speeds and included more
advanced features. TUX can coordinate with kernel and user space modules and
daemons that provide dynamic content. It also provides caching and can send a
mixture of dynamically generated data. Pre-generated objects also can be sent.
TUX uses zero-copy networking, can run its own CGI engine, and can be used as
an ftp server.
As a result
khttpd became less popular and less maintained. Many developers
assumed TUX would take its place in the 2.6 kernel.
At the same time, important advances in user-space Web servers have helped them to reach performance levels previously available only to in-kernel Web accelerators. For example, the x15 server from Chromium uses a small pool of threads (4-8 per CPU) to control all network connections and network and disk I/O. Real time signals notify the server whenever data appears on a socket or when output is possible on the connection; no polling ever occurs. x15 avoids launching a thread for each connection and also benefits from zero-copy networking and other kernel enhancements. Dan Kegel has written an excellent summary of some of the issues involved in what he calls the C10K problem.
Many developers had been unhappy about pushing Web services into the kernel, feeling it was a slippery slope. Why not absorb all sorts of user-space facilities inside the kernel? Returning these features to user-space is thus quite welcome. TUX can also be applied as a patch and is available on all Red Hat systems.
The three issues we have highlighted are likely to affect a considerable number of users. Other worthy changes include:
kdev_t, which encodes device major and minor numbers, has
morphed from what was effectively a 16-bit quantity into a structure.
Eventually the structure will contain more device-specific information. The
major and minor bit fields should expand to a total of 32 bits, which will
permit more devices to be registered uniquely.
The API for block drivers has undergone a significant overhaul as part of the major enhancement of I/O operations.
The remaining
pcibios functions have been exterminated.
kiobuf, kiovec mechanism of pinning down user pages to
permit direct access has been replaced by the
Kernel building and its interface have been reworked. The old Tcl/Tk
graphical interface to
xconfig has been replaced with a prettier
and more functional GUI based on the QT graphical libraries.
Housecleaning is almost an obsession in Linux: features which have grown old or weak are euthanized, good ideas which no one ever used are obliterated, and sometimes mistakes are surgically removed before they grow out of control. This helps keep the kernel lean and understandable. Its growth in size is probably entirely due to new hardware devices and architectures, rather than new general features. Perhaps other deprecated features are yet to be removed before the new kernel debuts.
Jerry Cooperstein is a senior consultant and Linux training specialist at Axian Inc., in Beaverton Oregon, and lives in Corvallis, Oregon.
Return to the Linux DevCenter.
Copyright © 2009 O'Reilly Media, Inc.


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Obama, Biden announce $600M for job grantsBy DARLENE SUPERVILLE
the associated press | April 17,2014ap photo
President Barack Obama is introduced by Vice President Joe Biden as he arrives at the Community College of Allegheny County West Hills Center in Oakdale, Pa., Wednesday. The visit was to promote the administrations Opportunity for All program to train the work force for careers in fields with a growing demand.OAKDALE, Pa. Emphasizing skills training as key to a growing middle class, President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced $600 million in competitive grants to spur creation of targeted training and apprenticeship programs to help people land good-paying jobs.
When it comes to training our workers, not all of todays good jobs require a four-year college degree, Obama said. But I promise you, theres not a job out there thats going to pay a lot if you dont have some specialized training.
With the economy recovering and unemployment still stubbornly high at 6.7 percent, Obama portrayed skills training as critical to maintaining the U.S. competitive edge in a global economy that has rapidly changing technology and competition from countries like China.
Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, who traveled aboard Air Force One with Obama, said businesses spend $400 billion a year to train their workers. She said a goal of the new programs is to encourage employers to make that training available to others.
Obama announced two programs, the larger of which will put nearly $500 million toward a job-training competition run by the Labor Department and designed to encourage community colleges, employers and industry to work together to create training programs for the jobs employers need to fill. Applications were to be available starting Wednesday and due by July 7.
The program is part of an existing competitive grant program for community colleges that train dislocated workers for jobs.
A priority will be placed on partnerships that include national entities, such as industry associations, that pledge to help design and institute programs that give job seekers a credential that will be accepted by employers across a particular industry.
Under the second program, scheduled to begin in the fall, the Labor Department will put an additional $100 million in grants toward rewarding partnerships that expand apprenticeship programs.
This competition will focus, in part, on partnerships that create programs in high-growth fields, such as information technology, health care and advanced manufacturing, as well as programs that provide college credit or industry-wide skills certification.
Obama said learn-on-the-job apprentice programs should be expanded because 9 out of 10 apprentices end up in jobs that pay average starting salaries of above $50,000 a year.
Obama said jobs know no borders in a 21st century global economy where companies can lure the best-educated and most highly skilled workers from anywhere in the world. He said countries like Germany, China and India know this and are working every day to out-educate our kids so they can out-compete our businesses.
Americas got a choice to make. We can do nothing, which is the strategy that some folks in Washington seem to have, he said, in a clear jab at Congress. Or we can do what weve always done best. We pull together, we fight back and we win.
Obama was joined for the announcement by Vice President Joe Biden, a Pennsylvania native who was born in Scranton. Biden flew up ahead of Obama and was in place to greet him on the airport tarmac after Air Force One landed in Pittsburgh.
Neither program requires approval by Congress because the money has already been authorized for spending. In response to stiff resistance to his agenda from Republican lawmakers, Obama has made it a goal this year to take smaller steps on his own, without support from Congress, to benefit the economy, workers and others, and Wednesdays announcements fit that script.MORE IN Wire NewsCHARLESTON, S.C. Full Story
WASHINGTON — John Glenn, whose 1962 flight as the first U.S. Full StorySALISBURY, N.C. Full Story
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The Larry Coker Show to begin on Monday night
SAN ANTONIO — Roadrunners fans are invited to come out for fun, food and, most importantly, football on Monday, Aug. 27, when the second season of The Larry Coker Show begins on Ticket 760 from StoneWerks Big Rock Grille at The Rim (5807 Worth Parkway).
All the fun gets underway at 7 p.m. and it will last for an hour. UTSA play-by-play announcer Andy Everett will be the show's host. Fans are encouraged to submit questions for Coach Coker during the show via email to firstname.lastname@example.com or by calling the show's hotline at (210) 736-9760.
After next week, the show will take place on Wednesday nights with the exception of Tuesday, Sept. 11, throughout out the fall.
UTSA welcomes back 46 letterwinners and a total of 21 starters (10 offense/9 defense/2 kickers) from last season's inaugural squad that won four contests.
The Roadrunners open their second year of play on Thursday, Aug. 30, at South Alabama, while the team's home opener will be played nine days later against Texas A&M-Commerce at the Alamodome.
UTSA enjoyed a banner inaugural season in 2011 that saw it set NCAA start-up program records for first-game (56,743) and average home (35,521) attendance.


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Farm Bill
/ National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI): Fiscal Year 2013
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USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service supports the voluntary actions of farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to improve water quality. Through the water quality focused efforts, eligible producers will invest in voluntary conservation practices to help provide cleaner water for their neighbors and communities. Using funds from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, NRCS will provide financial and technical assistance to producers for implementing conservation practices such as riparian buffers, conservation tillage, irrigation water management, soil moisture monitoring in selected watershed locations.
NRCS will accept applications for the NWQI on a continuous basis, batch funding dates for 2013 will be April 19 and May 17.
Contact Salem NRCS Service Center at: (503) 399-5741
The project objective is to use a watershed-wide approach to reduce or eliminate polluted irrigation return flow, improve water use efficiency, and reduce evaporative, and seepage losses of irrigation water. This will lead to cleaner water flowing into the Malheur River from the Willow Creek drainage. Specifically, the project will provide assistance in transitioning at least 12,000 acres of flood/furrow-irrigated pasture and row crop fields to more efficient irrigation systems, decrease demand from Beulah Reservoir, decrease bacterial contamination and decrease sediment and phosphorous loads entering Willow Creek and subsequently the Malheur River.
Contact Ontario NRCS Service Center at: (541) 889-9689
This project will work with producers to use Scientific Irrigation Scheduling to conserve irrigation water from surface and groundwater sources, increase energy efficiency, and improve water quality within the project area. Resources will be provided to assist producers in conservation planning, assessment of irrigation systems, and monitoring activities to conserve resources and help meet state regulatory water quality requirements in the Fifteen Mile Creek Watershed.
Contact the Dalles NRCS Service Center at: (541) 298-8559
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The following document requires Adobe Reader.
NWQI Fact Sheet (PDF, 1.00 MB)
Loren Unruh
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The Ocampa or Ocampans are a humanoid species who live on the planet Ocampa in the Delta Quadrant. Their early history is shrouded in mystery but their own legends tell of a time when they were capable of great mental feats. (VOY: "Cold Fire", "Shattered")
History Edit
Some five hundred generations before the 2370s, Nacene explorers from another galaxy inadvertently damaged the atmosphere of the planet Ocampa so badly that all nucleogenic particles were lost, thus rendering the atmosphere incapable of producing rain. The planet rapidly became a desert. The Nacene left two of their kind behind to "honor the debt that could never be repaid" to the Ocampa. The male Nacene, known as the Caretaker to the Ocampa, led the endangered species through tunnels into a vast underground city constructed especially for them. The Caretaker provided them with food, entertainment, water from subterranean sources, and power from the Caretaker's array nearby in space. The Nacene then sealed the Ocampa in, using a force barrier. The Ocampa ruling Elders were subsequently charged with discovering the wishes of the Caretaker, who had become almost a deity to the Ocampan populace. The Ocampa remained in this state for five hundred generations.
By 2371, a dissident movement had developed among the younger generations of Ocampa. They moved out of the city and began to provide for themselves. They were fascinated by ancient stories stating that the Ocampa had once had extraordinary mental capacities. The Elders claimed that the stories were apocryphal, but the dissidents believed these mental powers had only become dormant after centuries of dependence on the Caretaker. In that same year, their reliance on the Caretaker was forcibly ended by the entity's death and the destruction of the array. They had enough energy in the city's reserves to last until 2376 – then they would be forced to return to the planet's surface. (VOY: "Caretaker")
In 2072, the female Nacene, called Suspiria by the Ocampa, decided to leave her mate to seek out "more interesting places." She took several hundred Ocampa with her. Under Suspiria's guidance, these Ocampa developed their mental talents and created technology capable of increasing their natural life spans. Sadly, they also lost some of the Ocampa's native kindness, becoming arrogant and dangerous.
Their encounter with the USS Voyager in 2372 did not end well. (VOY: "Cold Fire")
Physiology Edit
The Ocampa are humanoid and resemble Humans except for a few folds of skin around their ears. They are born without the ear folds, which grow when the infants grow older. They age very rapidly, resulting in an average life span of only nine years. Consequently, they develop and learn extremely quickly. Most of their growth takes place in the first six months, and by one year old, they have reached a young adult stage. They remain in this stage for several years.
Between the ages of four and five, female Ocampa enter the elogium, the time of sexual maturation. During the elogium, a mitral sac forms on the back of the female. The sac accommodates a developing child (or children), and it is from the sac that the child will be born, as its mother stands upright.
Ocampan babies come out of the mitral sac feet first and with an evident navel, suggesting that an umbilical cord detatches from the abdomen during or shortly before birth. (VOY: "Before and After")
The ipasaphor, a sticky yellow substance, appears on the female's hands for the six-day mating bond. Once the ipasaphor has appeared, mating must commence within fifty-two hours. (VOY: "Elogium", "Before and After")
Having remained young-looking for a number of years, they reach middle age sometime around their seventh year. Again, their aging seems to stop, only to rapidly increase near their ninth year with the onset of the morilogium. At this stage of life, the Ocampa move from middle-age to extreme old-age in the space of a few weeks, becoming confused and amnesiac before dying. (VOY: "Before and After")
It is interesting to note that the rapid development and aging is a dominant trait. It is found in half- and even quarter-Ocampa. (VOY: "Before and After")
Ocampa have a body temperature of around sixteen to seventeen degrees Celsius. (VOY: "Before and After")
The Ocampa on Suspiria's array could reach the age of twenty years, with the use of technology to prolong their lives. (VOY: "Cold Fire")
Mental abilities Edit
All Ocampa appear to be natural telepaths, able to communicate with members of their species and those of other species, as well. Among the more unusual mental abilities exhibited by the Ocampa were eidetic memory, precognition, telekinesis of varying strength, and the ability to sense and manipulate the subatomic level of matter. Tanis, an Ocampa living on Suspiria's array, demonstrated to Kes that she could control the life-force in living things, causing them to grow or die as she wished. Tanis also told Kes that the Ocampa could join Suspiria in a subspace layer called Exosia, which he described as a realm of pure thought.
In early 2374, Kes experienced a rapid and uncontrollable blossoming of her mental abilities. Her body and everything around her, including Voyager, began to destabilize at the subatomic level. Kes left the ship and allowed this process to complete itself, apparently evolving into a being of pure energy. She could then move objects through space without need of conventional propulsion, and later exhibited the ability to travel through time.
Culture Edit
The Ocampa believe in an immortal soul, called the comra. They bury their dead, believing that the comra will move on to the afterlife. (VOY: "Emanations")
People Edit
- See: List of Ocampa
- See: Unnamed Ocampa
Appendices Edit
References Edit
- "Caretaker"
- "Projections"
- "Elogium"
- "Cold Fire"
- "Before and After"
- "The Gift"
- "Fury"
Background Edit
The first material evidence of the Ocampa is the note of a single word, "Androgynous", which was part of a couple of brief notes on Star Trek: Voyager's early development that were written on 30 July 1993. By 3 August 1993, it was still undecided if the species was to have genders or be androgynous, though a lifespan of seven years had been postulated for the species and the aliens had been nicknamed "Mayfly", since their short lifespan would be in common with the insect of the same name. (A Vision of the Future - Star Trek: Voyager, pp. 175, 176-177 & 199) The aliens' ultimate lifespan of "only about nine years" and the fact that they have genders were chosen on or had been chosen by 17 August 1993, when another series of notes described the female main character from this species (i.e. Kes) as a "delicate creature" and suggested, "We might want to endow her with some kind of special, super-human ability." (A Vision of the Future - Star Trek: Voyager, p. 189) There was, in fact, a continuing discussion about giving her one or more types of psychic ability, which culminated in parapsychological research being carried out by Zayra Cabot and Joan Pearce Research Associates. (A Vision of the Future - Star Trek: Voyager, p. 199) On 21 September 1993, the producers received the research report from Joan Pearce. Following examination of the possibilities presented in the document, the producers finally decided to initially imbue the female Mayfly with some measure of telepathic ability and to then see how stories developed from that point onwards. (A Vision of the Future - Star Trek: Voyager, p. 206) The species had been named Ocampa by the end of that month, at which point the name appeared in the first draft of the series writers' bible. (A Vision of the Future - Star Trek: Voyager, p. 208)
Apocrypha Edit
In the String Theory trilogy, The Doctor was sent into Ocampa's distant past by a Nacene who wanted The Doctor to prevent the birth of a Nacene/Ocampa hybrid that it perceived as a threat. During this visit, it was revealed that Ocampa sometimes receive residual memories from ancestors after they are born, their short lifespan making such a detail a valuable bonus. Kes, it would appear, is one such Ocampa, and it is revealed that she has told all she remembers to The Doctor prior to her departure from the ship. It was also shown that, in the past, Ocampa was a planet on a level similar to Earth in the Middle Ages, with a nobility-style system, but with certain military generals possessing powerful telepathic abilities.
To explain how the Ocampan population could be maintained despite each female only giving birth once, the Star Trek: Myriad Universes novella "Places of Exile" (in Infinity's Prism) suggests that twin and triplet births are common among Ocampa. In the acknowledgments, author Christopher L. Bennett credits Bernd Schneider's Ex Astris Scientia website for the idea.
External link Edit
- Ocampa at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works


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Brandon will head Madison business group
Former alderman also involved in business development
A former City of Madison alderman and small business owner is being named to the top post at the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce.
Zach Brandon, 39, was chosen after a national search for candidates to replace Jennifer Alexander, who is retiring after nine years.
"Zach is this type of leader -- the right leader, with the right experience at the right time," said David Stark, chamber board chair and president of Stark Company Realtors. "He understands and shares our passion for economic development and a strong business voice."
Brandon located a business in downtown Madison in 1998 and served three terms as a city alderman. He also served as deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Commerce under Gov. Jim Doyle and was most recently head of the Wisconsin Angel Network.
"Greater Madison is more than the name of our region. It must be our collective goal: A greater Madison." Brandon said. "This region, its businesses and its workers are second to none, and the chamber will be energetic in telling our story domestically and internationally."
Copyright 2012 by Channel 3000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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The Last Word In Business
By editor • Aug 13, 2012
Originally published on August 13, 2012 4:26 am
Researchers used economic principles to predict which countries would win the most medals at the London Olympic Games. The study was 95 percent accurate for the 2008 games. And this time around, it was 97.7 percent accurate.


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~ Johann Feneberg, German Jesuit; upon having his leg amputated below the knee (without anesthetic) after an accident


text:
A sewer system's clarifier is usually a circular tank with paddles that stir the sewer inside the tank. The paddles separate or break up solids so they settle to the bottom (sludge).
LNV engineer Jose DeLeon said the city's old clarifier broke down. He said the city could pursue fixing the old one or put the new clarifier online.
The new one was initially due to be online in a couple of weeks.
DeLeon said the inspector from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said the old clarifier was acting as a bypass now and the process was passing raw sewer onto the dry creek area.
DeLeon said TCEQ has been notified that the new clarifier will go online Wednesday, April 2.
He said torque testing was done and circuitry would be tested, as well as a pump test was planned Wednesday before the new clarifier was to be put into effect.
Councilman Dale Skrobarcek asked if the old clarifier was reparable.
DeLeon said the old clarifier was reparable at about one-third the original cost. However, it would take the bidding process and time.
"We will conduct a full evaluation of the old system to see how it can be used," Deleon said.
The TCEQ could levy fines, but DeLeon said the inspector was happy the city acted quickly to remedy the problem.
The old clarifier was offline for 24 hours prior to the emergency meeting.
Mayor Joey Heard said a vacuum truck will be taken to the contaminated area for clean up by Friday.
"This was not an illegal break down. This was an accidental break down," Heard said.


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January 14, 1997: Though the brightest supernova in four centuries lit up the southern sky almost exactly 10 years ago on Feb. 23, 1987, astronomers have waited a decade for the ballooning fireball to become large enough ? about one-sixth of a light-year ? to be resolved from Earth's orbit with the Hubble telescope.
Hubble's sharp "eyes" have resolved a dumbbell-shaped structure ? one-tenth of a light-year long ? that consists of two blobs of debris expanding apart at nearly 6 million mph from each other. This Hubble picture shows the supernova, designated 1987A, and its neighborhood. The four frames follow the evolution of the supernova debris.See the rest:
Credit: Chun Shing Jason Pun (NASA/GSFC), Robert P. Kirshner (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), and NASA