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BOSTON - Security officers at Boston's federal courthouse forced the evacuation of the building Wednesday afternoon just after 3 p.m.
There is no word on what lead to the evacuation.
Attorney Francis DiMento says he was in a hearing when someone came over the loudspeaker and announced a "code red" and told everyone to get out in a hurry.
According to the Boston Globe, hundreds of people could be seen standing outside the building while Coast Guards and police boats were stationed in the water nearby. The courthouse is where a large group of media had gathered for an expected appearance by the suspect in the Marathon bombings. Investigators have since said they have made "significant progress" in the case, but no arrests have been made.
The courthouse has a day care attached and at least one crib was wheeled out. No additional information is being released.
For a short time Wednesday people were being evacuated from Brigham Hospital, where many of the bombing victims were taken. Officials say the partial evacuation was due to a report of a suspicious car in the area. People were allowed back into the building within 30 minutes of the evacuation.
Copyright 2013 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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"Game changer" is a term you hear often when people talk about how technology has changed their industry.
By Joan King, managing director, Loyalty, UniFocus
Historically, service-based industries such as retail and hospitality have utilized mystery shoppers to help them diagnose problems—since the importance of third-party observation is undeniable. However, mystery shops at times have been controversial because of the belief that they only represent "a snapshot in time" and because of disputed findings due to internal bias.
Other typical problems with stand-alone mystery shops are the infrequency of use and its inconsistency and misapplication, all of which may undermine the legitimacy of the outcomes and even lead to misdiagnosis. The Heathman Hotel in Kirkland, with the help of outside expertise from UniFocus, chose a more refined methodology; its approach utilized a quarterly mystery shop evaluation combined with an ongoing guest survey system.
The strategy was to first establish a baseline from guest survey satisfaction scores; this baseline then would be compared with quarterly mystery shop evaluations and analyzed.
To ensure survey response rates would be statistically high enough, The Heathman chose a system—GUESTScope—that was developed to obtain valid sample sizes, "bubble up" the most critical issues from guests, and generate monthly analytical reports. The other system it chose was SERVICEScope for mystery evaluations and designed to work alongside a guest feedback program. Both systems were created by UniFocus and are industry standards.
The Impact of Quarterly Mystery Shops on Guest Satisfaction
Once the systems were in place, and the hotel team began implementing actions based on the findings, The Heathman saw quantifiable improvement in guest satisfaction scores by 2 percent and a continuous pattern of higher scores after each mystery shop over the course of a 20-month period. There also has been an improvement in guests' intent to recommend the property to others.
The improvement in guest satisfaction scores is most noteworthy after corrective actions or targeted training has taken place to raise the level of service delivery. There is, therefore, a connection between guest survey and mystery shop results; they concurrently provide the tools to improve guest satisfaction and make sure results are always communicated to the team.
Communication with Staff is Key to Success
Sharing information from survey and mystery shop results with the line staff is the most important part of the process. It starts with the discussion of the most critical items in departmental meetings, a review of guest and mystery evaluator comments, and finally breaking down the data. Based upon those conversations, any deficiencies are identified and action items are created. During this time, outstanding performance among the team members also is recognized.
Nothing is off limits during this process. For example, from what is gleaned from the reports, policy or standards may be revised. And training is more targeted to ensure service delivery meets or exceeds the standards going forward.
As soon as everyone is finished with the 60- to 90 day cycle, the process begins all over again.
The Heathman Hotel has shown that by utilizing mystery shops more frequently and linking these results to guest satisfaction scores, it was able to get an exact read of what's really going on with its guests and staff. More importantly, it avoided the tendency to self-diagnose problems because of the internal bias and conflicts that may arise from stand-alone mystery shops.
The hotel's approach has yielded a consistent, short-term improvement in guest satisfaction scores after each mystery evaluation, due to management's intervention and utilization of the data. The combination of quarterly mystery shop evaluations with a scientifically designed guest survey system delivers quantifiable benefits.
When organizations make connections between satisfaction scores and research from impartial observations, they get a multidimensional point of view—enabling them to understand their customers better, see the service experience through their eyes, and know whether standards are in sync with the customer's expectations and perceptions.
Joan King is managing director, Loyalty, for Dallas, TX-based UniFocus, which provides results-driven solution technologies for the hospitality industry. Services include resource management,closed-loop feedback,performance measurement, operational efficiencyand business intelligence. For more information, visit www.unifocus.com. King can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com or by phone at 972.512.5169.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Australian sharemarket has fallen for the third consecutive week, following a surprise jump in local inflation and weak Chinese manufacturing data.
On Friday the ASX200 slipped 22.1 points, or 0.4 per cent to 5240.9. The broader All Ordinaries lost 21.2, or 0.4 per cent, to finish the day at 5254.3.
For the week, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 fell 65 points, or 1.2 per cent.
On Thursday, the HSBC-Markit Flash Purchasing Managers' Index, a survey of China's factories, fell to 49.6 for January, slipping under the key reading of 50 which indicates an expansion of the sector.
This came after data on Wednesday showed Australian consumer prices had jumped 0.8 per cent in the final quarter of last year, fanning talk of an interest rate rise later this year.
''The China data seems to be playing out with some volatility, that looks set to stay with us for another week or so, going into the Chinese New Year. That seems to have been a negative sentiment globally,'' Equity Trustees chief investment officer George Boubouras said.
However, one month's data was not indicative of an abrupt slowdown in China, Mr Boubouras said.
''The IMF is still quite comfortable with robust China growth around 7.5 per cent, and 7.3 per cent next year. We believe that sounds about right.''
Among the sectors, IT stocks were the worst performers for the week, dropping 3.5 per cent. Material finished 2 per cent lower, while consumer discretionary lost 1.9 per cent.
''Heading into reporting season for February this year, it is pretty clear the early signs are that discretionary retailers, right across the board, are not seeing the benefits[of an improving global economy], therefore the domestic economy will not be able to sustain high cash rates in the year ahead,'' Mr Boubouras said.
Industrials was the only sector the finish higher, rising 0.4 per cent.
Mixed corporate earnings from the United States also weighed on the local bourse. The Dow Jones Industrial Average particularly suffered with three consecutive days of losses up to Thursday.
''A lot of eyes are on the US reporting season, which although looks on the same of it, somewhat better than analysts are going for, I've been a bit underwhelmed by some of the results,'' BBY private client adviser Henry Jennings said.
Locally, Mr Jennings said he was expecting weak results for reporting season.
''This reporting season, I think we're going to see the word 'challenging' used quite extensively.''
One of the biggest movers this week, shares in The Reject Shop plummeted 31.6 per cent after the discount retailer reported comparable sales were flat in the final quarter of last year, despite opening 33 stores in the first half.
The result follows disappointing figures from Super Retail Group last week, which saw its stock fall 14 per cent.
Santos reported better-than-expected sales revenue, but doubts remain over the oil and gas producer's flagship Gladstone LNG project, with investors worried Santos may not have enough onshore gas to fill the processing capacity at GLNG. For the week, shares dropped 4.6 per cent to $13.85.
Shares in Insurance Australia Group finished the week 2.1 per cent lower at $5.60, after Australia's biggest general insurer warned of lower than expected revenue increases.
The company had previously advised a 5 per cent to 7 per cent rise in premiums, but lowered that to 3 per cent to 5 per cent, as increased competition forces premiums down.
Despite record production figures, BHP Billiton shares ended the week 2.2 per cent lower at $37.04. Iron ore production from the miner's Pilbara operations reached a record 98 million tonnes in the first half of last year.
Defying the general market trend, Newcrest shares gained for the week, rising 3.2 per cent to $9.48. Newcrest reported it had produced more than 1.2 million ounces of gold this year, and was continuing to lower its costs of production.


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Brad Keselowski is wasting no time silencing the critics' claims that his 2012 Cup Series Championship was a fluke. The young driver has quickly moved into the point-standing lead after the first four races in 2013.
Keselowski leads fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. by 9 points as the Series moves to the West Coast this weekend for the running of the Auto Club 400 in Fontana, CA.
Fontana has not been one of Keselowski's best tracks but the Penske Racing driver made a habit of turning bad tracks into wins last season and looks to be on the same track in 2013.
"Obviously, we're off to my best start ever," observed Keselowski on his fast 2013 start. "That's really cool. I'm happy for my team and all that stuff."
Keselowski is the only driver to finish in the top 5 in each of the first four races this season. If he can manage to duplicate that feat this week in Fontana, he will tie former champion Rusty Wallace, who set that mark in 1998. Ironically, Wallace was also driving the No. 2 Miller Ford - just like Keselowski.
"We can't keep our feet still," continued Keselowski on his drive for another championship. "We have to keep digging and push on our stuff, too. I think we got a pretty good feel on the 2 team."
Brad's best finish at Fontana was 18th in last year's race and he knows that he has to keep the intensity going. After all, there are 42 other drivers out there that want nothing more than to prevent him from winning a second title.
"We know that Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson are going to continue to make their cars better, observed Keselowski of his competition.
If Keselowski is to continue this hot start, he will need dedication and confidence and this young driver is not lacking in either of those categories. We'll find out how he does on Sunday.
Copyright 2012 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.


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Discover This ExhibitWednesday, November 21st, 2012
We asked everyone who works in Bailey/Howe—from the ground floor to the third floor—to tell us about their favorite person, place or thing in this building. Their answers are this exhibit. From old-school media equipment that's still in use to books about Bigfoot, we invite you to "Discover This." (And us in the process.)


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Data security
iCloud secures your information by encrypting it when it's sent over the Internet, storing it in an encrypted format when kept on a server, and using secure tokens for authentication. This means that your information is protected from unauthorized access both in transit and when it's stored in iCloud. iCloud uses a minimum of 128-bit AES encryption—the same level of security employed by major financial institutions—and never provides encryption keys to any third parties.
Security and iCloud features
This table summarizes how iCloud secures your data when you use up to date operating systems and software.
|In transit
|On server
|A minimum of 128-bit AES encryption
|iCloud Drive
|Find My iPhone
|Find My Friends
|iCloud Keychain
iCloud Keychain uses 256-bit AES encryption to store and transmit passwords and credit card information. It also uses elliptic curve asymmetric cryptography and key wrapping.
|All sessions at iCloud.com are encrypted with TLS 1.2. Any data accessed via iCloud.com is encrypted on server as indicated in this table.
|Back to My Mac
|Back to My Mac does not store data on iCloud. Data retrieved from other computers is encrypted with TLS 1.2 while in transit.
All traffic between your devices and iCloud Mail is encrypted with TLS 1.2. Consistent with standard industry practice, iCloud does not encrypt data stored on IMAP mail servers. All Apple email clients support optional S/MIME encryption.
*Encryption is available only when you use the latest iOS or macOS and upgrade your Notes app.
Use of secure tokens for authentication
When you access iCloud services with Apple's built-in apps (for example, Mail, Contacts, and Calendar apps on iOS or macOS), authentication is handled using a secure token. Using secure tokens eliminates the need to store your iCloud password on devices and computers. Even if you choose to use a third-party application to access your iCloud data, your username and password are sent over an encrypted TLS 1.2 connection.
Strong passwords
When you create an Apple ID to use with iCloud, your password must have a minimum of 8 characters, a number, an uppercase letter, and a lowercase letter. Learn more about creating a strong password.
Two-factor authentication
Apple recommends that you turn on two-factor authentication for your Apple ID. With two-factor authentication, your account can only be accessed on devices you trust, like your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. So when you want to sign in with your Apple ID on a new device for the first time, you need to provide two pieces of information—your password and the six-digit verification code that's automatically displayed on your trusted devices.
Two-step verification
If two-factor authentication isn't available for your account, Apple also offers an older security enhancement called two-step verification. Two-step verification requires you to verify your identity using a four-digit code sent to one of your devices before you can make changes to your Apple ID account information, sign in to iCloud, or make an iTunes, App, or iBooks Store purchase from a new device.
Apple has a company-wide commitment to your privacy. Our Privacy Policy covers how we collect, use, disclose, transfer, and store your information.
In addition to adhering to the Apple Privacy Policy, Apple designs iCloud features with your privacy in mind. For example:
Find My iPhone
- You must set up Find My iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch in iOS Settings before your device can be located.
- You must set up Find My Mac in System Preferences before your Mac can be located.
- Location data is sent from your device only when you request its location—it isn't transmitted or recorded at any other time.
- Last known device location data is stored on Apple's servers in an encrypted format for 24 hours and then permanently deleted.
- Lost Mode data is stored on the device that is in Lost Mode and retrieved on-demand by you only.
- You are automatically signed out of the Find My iPhone app (on device or on the web) after 15 minutes of inactivity.
- Remote Lock allows you to lock a device's screen to prevent others from accessing your data.
- Remote Wipe lets you permanently and securely erase your data from a device.
- If you're using Family Sharing, sharing your device's location with family members is optional. You will not share your device's location by default.
Location Sharing
- With iCloud, you can share your location with friends and family using the Find My Friends app or the Messages app in iOS 8 and later.
- For someone to see your location, you must first give that person explicit permission.
- Your location is sent from your device only when a friend requests to see your location or if you choose to send your current location within a message—it is not transmitted or recorded at any other time.
- There is a single switch you can use to hide from all of your friends at any time. You can turn off the option from these settings:
- Settings > Privacy > Location Services > Share My Location
- Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Share My Location
- If you're using iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings > iCloud > Share My Location
- Last known location data is stored on Apple's servers in an encrypted format for only two hours, and then permanently deleted.
- If you use Family Sharing, sharing your location with family members is optional. You won't share your location by default.
- You can share your location with friends and see your friends on a map if you download the optional and free Find My Friends app from the App Store.
iCloud Keychain
- iCloud Keychain encryption keys are created on your devices, and Apple can't access those keys. Only encrypted keychain data passes through Apple's servers, and Apple can't access any of the key materials that could be used to decrypt that data.
- Apple can't see or access the contents of your iCloud Keychain.
- Only trusted devices that you approve can access your iCloud Keychain.
- Advanced settings allow you to choose an iCloud Security Code longer than four digits or have your device generate one for you.
- You can choose to disable keychain recovery, which means that iCloud Keychain is kept up to date across your approved devices, but the encrypted data is not stored with Apple and cannot be recovered if all of your devices are lost.
- You can delete unwanted photos from iCloud Photo Library or My Photo Stream at any time.
- You can delete unwanted photos and videos from your shared albums at any time.
- You can remove subscribers from shared albums that you created at any time.
- If you're using Family Sharing, you are automatically added to an iCloud Photo Sharing album with your family members. However, you're in control of what photos, videos, and comments you want to share. Nothing is shared automatically or by default.


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Abasing [one party], exalting [the other] (Surat al-Waqi'a, 56:3)
Everyone can see, think, and draw conclusions from what they think. For instance, our body's flawless functioning indicates an intricate design. Considering the wisdom inherent in this design's details will make one realize that someone must have planned, designed, and created all of these intricacies.
This process holds true for those who use their faculties. However, other people pay no heed whatsoever to the incidents they encounter. Unfortunately, this second group represents the majority. As we said earlier, they are born, grow up, lead an ordinary life, and then die. However, Allah praises those who think and learn, and humiliates those who do not. As the Qur'an states:
Those who remember Allah, standing, sitting, and lying on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and Earth: "Our Lord, You have not created this for nothing. Glory be to You! So safeguard us from the punishment of the Fire. Our Lord, those You cast into the Fire You have indeed disgraced. The wrongdoers will have no helpers." (Surah Al 'Imran, 3:191-192)
Allah exalts those people who think and take heed. True servants of Allah, they are distinguished from all others. Those who do not think and do not use the faculties with which Allah has blessed them, on the other hand, lead a simple life like that of the animals, for they seek only to meet their physical needs. Allah debases such people, for they choose this animal-like life by refusing to exercise their conscience and think. The Qur'an describes them in the following terms:
2009-08-18 23:14:34
The likeness of those who are unbelievers is that of someone who yells out to something that cannot hear—it is nothing but a cry and a call. Deaf, dumb, and blind. They do not use their intellect. (Surat al-Baqara, 2:171)


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I'm exhausted. For three days I have battled, like Hemingway's Old Man battling the fish. Like Jacob wrestling the angel for a blessing, which he did obtain at the price of limping the remainder of his life. Like Rocky Balboa facing Apollo Creed (the second time, when he won).
I've been battling an evil like no other. It's not the new massively multiplayer online game "Star Wars: The Old Republic," but a multiple-subnet Active Directory and Exchange deployment for database availability group (DAG) high-availability configuration.
[ Also on InfoWorld: J. Peter Bruzzese figures Hyper-V in Windows 8 Server could finally beat VMware. | Read the InfoWorld Test Center's take on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V in the virtualization shoot-out. | Stay abreast of key Microsoft technologies in our Technology: Microsoft newsletter. ]
In wanting to truly grasp the nuances of a DAG failover across sites, I needed to build a lab that exceeds all others I've worked with. Typically when you consult, you walk into an existing setup with connectivity in place, or if you are building from the ground up, you might hire folks to handle all the wiring and hardware side for connectivity. But if you've ever tried to build a dual-site lab with multiple subnets, you could find yourself struggling simply because your lab may not have the same-quality hardware you expect in a real world deployment.
I was working with two Dell servers (a T310 with two NICs) and a T110 (with a single NIC) setup with Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V. I had two addressing schemes in play -- 192.168.1.x and 10.x.x.x -- to illustrate the distinction between the two networks. I had all my 192-address servers on one Hyper-V box and all my 10-address servers on the other Hyper-V box. It was time to get these two communicating with each other and with the Internet.
I grabbed a couple of basic $50 home routers and started setting up the subnets. The problem is that home routers are simply four-port switches that have a single WAN connection out to the Internet. They don't actually route anything, and it's impossible to have two subnets with Internet access through these devices. I was stuck.
Typically in a business deployment, I'd go with a Cisco business router to resolve this problem, but here I was forced to look at solutions, both old and new, to make things work. I also had the twist of working with Hyper-V, which sets up virtual networks that are a bit funky compared to the VMware counterpart. I needed additional brainstorming help, so I contacted two colleagues at TrainSignal, David Davis (a noted vExpert) and Ed Liberman (a technical speaker and network infrastructure guru), to see what they recommended. I also consulted a great article to better understand basic networking, Hyper-V, and virtual switches to help me master the concepts.


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Edmonds man shot by two police officers in Bothell had displayed a weapon out window
The Edmonds man who police officers shot and injured last Friday after a slow-speed pursuit that ended in Bothell had displayed a weapon out his truck's window.
Robert A. Marvin, 68, who was allegedly suicidal, remains in Harborview Medical Center where he is expected to survive injuries sustained during the incident, police said.
The officers involved in the shooting are a 22-year veteran of the Edmonds Police Department and a sergeant from Mountlake Terrace Police Department with 16 years of experience. Both are currently on administrative leave during the investigation.
Multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Bothell Police Department, were involved in an almost six-mile pursuit of Marvin after his wife reported he was suicidal and left their Edmonds home with a weapon on Oct. 26.
When Marvin refused to stop, police used a spike strip to flatten the passenger side tires on his GMC Sierra. Shortly thereafter, the GMC stopped in the 16700 block of 96th Ave. N.E. in front of Wayne Public Golf Course in Bothell where Marvin refused to get out of the vehicle and he displayed a weapon out the window. Shots were fired and Marvin was struck several times. Although still in Harborview Medical Center, Marvin was booked into King County Jail on Oct. 30 on second-degree assault charges.
A SMART investigation was initiated as Snohomish County law enforcement officers were involved in the incident and their respective agencies requested the team investigate.
If anyone witnessed or has information about the incident, please contact the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office tip line at 425-388-3845.


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A bushfire that destroyed homes in southern Tasmania is still causing concern for authorities as temperatures again heat up.
Areas around Hobart are predicted to reach above 30C on Thursday, with hot and dry conditions forecast for most of south eastern Australia.
Fire crews have spent the past week backburning and building containment lines around several major bushfires across the state, especially the Forcett fire that tore through areas east of Hobart almost two weeks ago.
More than 130 homes and buildings were lost at Dunalley and the Tasman Peninsula on January 4, when southern Tasmania experienced its hottest day on record.
Tasmania Fire Service spokesman John Holloway said fire conditions for Thursday were not likely to be as bad as initially predicted.
"We were expecting to have much more dangerous weather, but it is still quite hot," he told AAP.
"The wind is in a different direction, so we've got a bit of a reprieve, but we're still asking people to keep vigilant."
However, Mr Holloway said the Forcett blaze, which is not yet fully contained, could again cause problems.
"People around Eaglehawk Neck and Doo Town are the ones we are most concerned about but that risk appears to be reducing a little," he said.
The state's Bushfire Recovery Taskforce held its first formal meeting on Wednesday, after the state and federal governments announced grants for the massive clean-up and rebuild.
Up to $25,000 will be available to eligible small businesses, not-for-profit organisations and primary producers in the Sorell, Tasman and Glamorgan-Spring Bay local government areas.
Energy supplier Aurora said around 500 customers remained without power in Tasmania's southeast as a result of the January 4 fires.
The Insurance Council of Australia says insured private losses from the fires have reached $69 million.


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HOUSTON - A man charged in connection with the death of a missing woman appeared before a judge Monday, on the same day officials positively identified a body as that of Amber Elkins.
James David Clarke, 31, was charged with murdering Amber Elkins, 20. She was last seen alive on July 24, and her vehicle was found abandoned on Homestead Road on Tuesday.
Harris County sheriff's deputies said a significant amount of blood was inside Elkins' vehicle, and the front passenger window was broken.
Texas EquuSearch volunteers searched an area along Gene Campbell Road near F.M. 1314 in Montgomery County Sunday after getting information about cellphone towers. They found a woman's body in a wooded area at 3:30 p.m. The Harris County Sheriff's Office positively identified the body as Elkins on Monday afternoon. The cause of death was ruled a homicide.
"It was dumped in an isolated area," Texas EquuSearch founder Tim Miller said.
During Clarke's arraignment, prosecutors said Clarke shot Elkins in the head in her vehicle, stuffed her body in a duffel bag, put the duffel bag into his pickup truck and then dumped her body.
Prosecutors said Clarke told two women, including one of his ex-girlfriends, that he killed Elkins.
Elkins' family said she had been dating Clarke for about a month.
Elkins had a 9-month-old daughter with Frank Ferrata. He said that they lived together in Midway, Texas, but she moved back to Humble about a month ago.
Clarke's bond was set at $250,000. The judge ruled that if Clarke bonds out, he may not have any contact with Elkins' family, he may not leave Harris County and he must surrender his passport. Prosecutors said a witness told them that Clarke had planned to flee to the Bahamas.
Clarke has a criminal history that includes 15 convictions on charges of robbery, car theft, assault, trespassing, evading officers and drug possession over a nine-year period. He has been out of jail for four months. Officials said Clarke appeared in court in February on a charge of assaulting another woman. In that case, Clarke was accused of smashing a car window and the shards of glass cut the victim. Clarke served a month and a half in jail and was released in March.
"Finally, it looks like his criminal career has caught up with him because the violence appeared to be escalating," said Andy Kahan with HPD's Victim Services Unit. "It looked like he was a train wreck ready to happen."
Elkins' family members said they did not know of Clarke's criminal past and met him only once.
"When the family and I were discussing his prior history, they were pretty stunned and shocked," Kahan said.
Elkins' mom, Shani Kilpatrick, said her daughter would never go a day without letting someone know where she was. Kilpatrick said her phone rang at 3:30 a.m. July 24, but she missed the call because she was sleeping. When she woke up later that morning, she realized it was her daughter, so she called her back.
"I called her back and a guy answered, I asked where Amber was and he hung up." said Kilpatrick. "She would only call me at 3:30 in the morning if something was wrong. That's why I know something was wrong."
Kilpatrick later said that the man to whom she talked was Clarke.
Anyone with information regarding Elkins' case is asked to call the HCSO Homicide Unit at 713-967-5810, or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
A memorial fund has been set up to help with funeral expenses. Donations can be made at any Woodforest Bank and should be listed as "on behalf of Amber Elkins."
Copyright 2011 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Jones School Leadership
The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and Rice University were recognized by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) as having the most Outstanding Specialty Entrepreneurship Program at the 2009 National Conference held on January 10, 2009 in Los Angeles. The award was based on the Rice Alliance's activities and courses in technology entrepreneurship. The Rice Alliance, the flagship entrepreneurship center at Rice University, is a strategic alliance among three schools at Rice University: the Jones Graduate School of Management, the Brown School of Engineering, and the Wiess School of Natural Sciences. The conference was attended by more than 500 members of USASBE, the largest university entrepreneurship organization in the country. Its Entrepreneurship Education National Awards are premier national awards for entrepreneurship educators. The Rice Alliance presented their technology entrepreneurship programs to a national panel of judges at the conference and was chosen over nearly a dozen schools in this category. Three finalists were selected to present to the judges at the conference including the Rice Alliance from Rice University. The Rice Alliance highlighted several aspects of its program:
This was the first year that Rice University had submitted an entry for a USASBE award. Past winners in this category include Stanford, Georgia Tech, and Purdue. This recognition comes on the heels of being named the #16 Best Graduate Entrepreneurship program in the U.S. by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine in 2008 and named as "Houston's Greatest Economic Development Ally" by the Greater Houston Partnership (GHP). The GHP will recognize the Rice Alliance for its role in supporting the creation of technology companies in the region at the GHP annual "Houston's Greatest" gala banquet on Tuesday, January 27. For more information about the Rice Alliance: www.alliance.rice.edu or 713-348-3443.


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Organize your favourite listings
Sign up to keep track of your favourite spaces and revisit them later.
Contact Matt or Mark for more information about this suite.
Professionally owned and managed A' class building conveniently located at Leslie Street and Sixteenth Avenue in Richmond Hill.Excellent access to Highways 404, 407 and Highway 7.


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Lakers Beat Timberwolves 106-101
The Timberwolves rallied from down 18 points to take a 4th quarter lead but lose 106-101 Sunday night at Target Center. Kevin Love led the Wolves with 33 points and 9 rebounds and Michael Beasley added 18 points for Minnesota. Martell Webster chipped in 10 points and Brad Miller made his Timberwolves debut and had 3 points in 8 minutes for the Wolves.


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Button up. The temperature's dropping and the third storm of the week has arrived. At 4:45 p.m., a line of moisture extended from the Inland Empire through San Diego County to Tijuana. The wind has gusted to 22 mph at North Island and Imperial Beach, 35 mph in Ramona and 18 mph in Escondido. And the gusts could grow stronger this evening.
The system will drop from one-tenth to one-third of an inch of rain at and near the coast and about a half-inch in the mountains, says the National Weather Service. It's also possible that up to three inches of rain will fall in the mountains above the 4,000 to 4,500 foot level. Winds could gust to 40 mph in the Cuyamaca Mountains. Wind-whipped waves will hit the 3' to 5' range Saturday in South County and 3' to 4' range in North County. Occasionally larger sets are possible, and waves will reach 10 feet in the offshore waters, south and west of San Clemente Island, forecasters say. A small craft advisory is in effect.
Traffic ... NWS weather radar ... Latest wind speeds ... Solspot.com surf forecasts ... Countywide weather webcam network ...
Today's highs will be in the upper 50s at the coast, and the 40s and 50s inland. The high will reach 57 early Sunday afternoon, when the Chargers host the Raiders in the Futility Bowl at Qualcomm. If you're head to Mt. Soledad to take in the view, wear a jacket. It was 52 degrees at 9:10 a.m. Saturday and winds were gusting 9 mph out of the east. Soledad weather station.
Sunday's forecast highs : San Diego, 57; Julian, 43 (with a chance of snow); Escondido, 57; Ramona, 52; Oceanside, 59; Imperial Beach, 57; La Mesa, 57; Alpine, 48; El Cajon, 57; Ranchita, 46; Fallbrook, 55; La Jolla, 61.
The weather service says it has moderate to high confidence in this forecast. Which is sort of existential, when you think about it.
Facebook : You'll find regular weather and surf updates on the U-T's Facebook page . And lots of pretty pictures. Some from readers.
It could be worse : Boston is expecting 8'' of heavy, wet snow today .
Precip update : Since the rainy season began on July 1, San Diego's Lindbergh Field has recorded 3'' of rain, which is 0.12'' below normal. Last year had this time, the airport had recorded 4.57'' for the season, to date.
Looking back : On this date in 2004, says the weather service, "A storm wind of 58 mph was measured at Lindbergh Field from the south, the strongest December wind on record."
Death Valley Daze : The New York Times reports today that Death Valley, California is now officially the hottest place on Earth.


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Buy Your Tickets to the 2014 Evansville Outdoor Expo Today!
Sportsmen, mark your calendars! The 1st Annual Evansville Outdoor Expo is set for Saturday, July 19th & Sunday, July 20th, 2014 at the Old National Events Plaza – The Centre! The event will feature exhibitors, demonstrations, giveaways, special guest appearances and a show by the high-flying Fetch-N-Fish team! You don't want to miss a minute of the action at the 2014 Evansville Outdoor Expo!
Tickets area available for purchase at the following rate:
1 – Day $10
2 – Day $15


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Test passes if the text in the title of the window is the same as that in the reference graphic.
Assertion: [Exploratory test] When Unicode directional control characters surround the text in the text element, text runs in the window title location appear in the correct order.
Result summary & related tests
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With just days to go before New York's health insurance exchange opens, residents can learn more about the Affordable Care Act at seminars scheduled in Greenburgh and Suffern.
The first is scheduled at 6:30 p.m., Sept. 26 at the Suffern Library. It will include a description of the health insurance exchange for individuals and small businesses, how to enroll, what health plan options are available and accessing available support and financial assistance
Speakers will include Alice Yaker, director of community outreach, New York State of Health, New York State Department of Health, Nancy Haggerty, Rockland Department of Health and Andrew Lehto of Hudson River HealthCare.
For more information, contact the Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee at 845-624-4601 or email Rose Gabriel-Leandre: email@example.com.
On Oct. 1 – the day the state's health insurance exchange opens – Westchester for Change, a volunteer organization, is presenting a community forum entitled "The Affordable Care Act & You."
It will be held at 7 p.m. at Greenburgh Town Hall, 177 Hillside Ave.
Presenters include Timothy Foley, political director for the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU and Pat Esposito, director of Westchester Seniors Speaking Out. The forum will be moderated by Elizabeth Saenger, co-organizer of Westchester for Change.
Admission is free. Register for the forum in advance at https://affordablecareactandyou.eventbrite.com to ensure seating. For more information, call Linda Grassia: (914) 707-1119.


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Sugar Daddies
The Spencer Series
by Marlayna James
About the Book
With the volatile relationship with her father, her mother's frail health, a broken engagement and a desire to be her own person, Mercy is tempted to make some changes.
That's when a friend dares her to sign up on a "sugar daddy" website. Date rich powerful men and get paid for it. What could be easier? With a fake name and a fake past, can Mercy keep it all straight while her alias falls head over heels for a delicious, Aurick?
The last thing on Aurick's mind was to complicate his life. He had been very successful in several industries and had made himself a powerful man. He could have anything he wanted, except Ms. Richards.
Tired, frustrated, and left wanting, Aurick sets out to possess her. Using money, property, gifts and any other means possible but still she eludes him until a twist of fate gives her no other options but to take him up on his offer.
Worked into an unconventional
relationship by unforeseen circumstances,
will it be business or pleasure?
Perhaps bit of both.
The Spencer Series follows generations of friend's and family through their intricate love lives. Read the books as a stand alone novel or in numerical order. Cupid's arrow strikes it's new victim in the end of one book and that love story is the subject of the next. Never lose your favorite couples to 'The End', because you will see their relationships flurish and in some cases, diminish through the other novels in this series.
About the Creator
"If one person reads this novel, feels an emotional connection and gets excited to find out how it ends. That's all that matters." - Marlayna James
Log in or create an account to post a comment.


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Alamo Heights' 'Tin Man' comes down
Updated 12:48 am, Tuesday, January 29, 2013
An 84-year-old Alamo Heights water tower that many residents called iconic was taken down piece by piece on Monday.
The city of Alamo Heights ordered the dismantling of the 131-foot-high tower, affectionately nicknamed "The Tin Man" by locals, declaring it outdated, not compatible with its water system and too expensive to maintain.
City officials also said consultants couldn't incorporate the old water tower into plans for a new municipal complex.
Crews began taking apart the water tower at dawn Monday.
"It's an icon in the city," former City Councilman Stan McCormick said.
News Channel
Another former councilman, Bill Kiel, lives across Broadway from City Hall. He walked to tower site with a camcorder to tape some of the dismantling.
"I live virtually in the shadow of The Tin Man. Pam (Kiel's wife) and I see it from our porch swing every afternoon," Kiel said.
"Many in the community loved it so much that we originally made it a central piece of the new facility design. Unfortunately, 85 years had taken its toll, and The Tin Man was no longer safe."
Susan Lewis moved into Alamo Heights when she was young. Now a volunteer with Alamo Heights Presbyterian Church across from City Hall, Lewis said she was amazed by the speed and efficiency with which the crew from Michigan-based Iseler Demolition worked.
"The tower's always been there. This morning I saw the crane, and remember that today is the day it was coming down," she said Monday.
"So I had to snap a picture at 9 o'clock, and now it's almost gone, and it's noon."
Mayor Louis Cooper said some parts of the structure will be saved for the sake of nostalgia, but most parts will be given to the contractor as partial payment in the form of scrap iron.


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If you know how to use GREP you love it, if not then you always keep wondering what the fuss is all about. This post is about what the fuss is all about.
I'll also try and give you some examples, in context of InDesign, and point to to some excellent resources that passionate users have created that make GREP easier to understand. The first few topics are general to Regular Expressions, because I think it makes sense to understand the basics. Let's start at the beginning.
A bit of history
A regular expression, also referred to as regex or regexp, is a concise and flexible method for matching strings of text, such as particular characters, words, or patterns of characters. A regular expression is written in a formal language that can be interpreted by a regular expression processor, a program that either serves as a parser generator or examines text and identifies parts that match the provided specification.
grep is a command line text search utility originally written for Unix. The name comes from the "ed" editor command, g/re/p (global / regular expression / print). The
grep command searches files or standard input globally for lines matching a given regular expression, and prints them to the program's standard output.
Regular Expressions quickly became, and still remain, the fastest way to manipulate huge amounts of text. Regular Expression support in PERL popularized the use, and combined with CGI made the web dynamic.
In most software, InDesign included, you can search using Wildcards and Regular Expressions (grep). A wildcard character can be used to substitute for any other character or characters in a string. Regular Expressions are like wildcards on steroids! They can make you experience, joy, pain, frustration, and exhilaration, and some emotions that you didn't even know existed. But, believe me, it's worth it!
A Regular Expression that works is a piece of art. Sometimes you want to put it up on the wall.
– Vikrant Rai, circa 2011.
Why would you use Regular Expressions
A regular expression describes a set of strings. They are usually used to define a set, without having to list all elements. More simply put: to find (replace) text, when you don't exactly know what to find. Let me try and explain:
You need to find and replace all the dates in your document, but you're not sure where, what, and in what format the dates might be. Regular expressions make most sense in situation such as these.
- \d{1,2}\/\d{1,2}\/\d{4}
Looks for strings that will match the pattern [2 digits] / [2 digits] / [4 digits]. (dd/mm/yyyy or mm/dd/yyyy)
- (0|1|2|3)[0-9][./-](0|1)[1-9][-/.](19|20)\d\d
Finds valid dates in the dd/mm/ yyyy format.
Use GREP in InDesign
Before you can harness the power of grep in InDesign, you'll need to write a regular expression. I found a few resources that help me in writing regular expressions.
- What the Grep! by Theunis de Jong (aka Jongware), is a script to help you understand regular expressions. Give this script a RegEx and it tells you what the RegEx means. Especially useful to document the RegEx or understand a regex written by someone else.
- Grep Query Manager by Peter Kahrel
Articles and Cheat sheets
- Grep In InDesign by Peter Kahrel, and published by O'Reilly Media is a useful resource.
- Regular Expression Cheat Sheet by David Child. Though this is not aimed at InDesign, it is still an excellent resource. In fact I have a copy stuck on my desk.
- InDesign Secrets videocast
- GREP resources on IndesignSecrets
- Regex Tester is an online utility that I use to help write, rewrite, and rewrite Regular Expressions.
Give regular expressions and GREP a test drive. and let me know what you think.
-Added links to a few more resources.


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Reader comments
Free Wallpaper Friday: Overstuffed Edition
Unfortunately from her perspective, I don't think she'd find this post funny; but when my thumb hit my phone to open this post up, I almost dropped my phone 'cause I cracked up!
Keep up the great work on this blog Kent, it's the best iPhone blog around!
I want to know the same as Tony G. oh and I like the candy cane wallpaper :)
Hey thanks for the great iPhone reading material!
I'll definitely be watching this blog.
Dr Adam
Wheres the new material!??!?!?! I'm a huge fan of this blog, and lately it seems there has been nothing new !!
this site needs an enema
that picture is starting to fuse itself into my brain
this site is deflating... someone needs to blow it.
we need a wiki or ability to submit stories like digg
Is there a way to download those images directly from iPhone's Safari and set it as a wallpaper?
If you aren't going to update this site then just quit it. Here's another site I found that's good if you want. Hans, Norway.
Say, "Hans from Norway", did Scandinavia relocate to Lake Michigan? Your IP address orginates from Chicago, which coincidentally or not is where the site you promote comes from. Next time use your real identity, Scott Kleinberg.
I forgot to mention I'm a trans-continental ninja hakor, TCNH for short.. Now I'm in Japan (not jailbreaking my iphone) but by the time this comment hits the wire, my ip address will be somewhere in Kentucky.
Please see my extra-sassy blog for more info.
I'm leaving.
Hey... she's kinda cute.
Anyway, the following site is pretty cool, but users have a Voyager bias. I submitted some pretty obvious iPhone-only questions ("Which phone has pinch-technology?") and people still voted Voyager. Joke. Help!
There ae certainly already some very strange apple iphone wallpapers out there :S
Wow what an image. I guess you caught my eye, but my stomach is turning too!
Funny....every time I come to your site it never ceases to amuse me and turn my stomach at the same time. That is too funny.


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"Game changer" is a term you hear often when people talk about how technology has changed their industry.
By THOMAS A. FREESE
If the intangible nature of perceived value is sometimes difficult for customers to quantify, try putting a fence around the notion of trust. Let me pose this question: Who is it that you trust? I bet it's not some cold caller on the telephone who's offering a fantastic deal chosen "just for you!" Cold callers are ostensibly trying to offer you an ideal solution, yet they don't even know you. It's important to realize that prospective customers may be just as reticent to engage in an open-ended dialogue when meeting a salesperson for the first time.
There's no doubt that our business culture has grown increasingly cautious toward vendors, especially those with whom we don't already have an existing relationship. Thus, it stands to reason that being disappointed by one vendor's actions could very easily erode a customer's faith in the system, making it that much more difficult for the next salesperson who wants to build a strong business relationship. Our cultural skepticism has evolved to the point where I recently saw a bumper sticker in a church parking lot that read, "Trust in God, but lock your car!"
Understanding the dynamics of how mutual trust is created is particularly important for salespeople because trust serves as the foundation for building solid relationships, whether personal or professional. If someone is not willing to trust you, then it is unlikely that any attempts you make at offering potential solutions will succeed. In fact, without some level of trust, or at least the benefit of the doubt, your conversation with new prospects may never even begin. Trust is also a critical element in maintaining existing relationships. At the point where someone decides they can no longer trust you, the relationship will abruptly come to an end.
Trust has different looks
Once we agree that trust is the foundation of every relationship, it's important to note that trust comes in different forms. In terms of interpersonal relations, trust can officially be defined as having a firm reliance on the integrity, ability or character of a person or things. For example, I trust my wife implicitly and my two daughters most of the time. I also trust that our clients will pay their invoices on time. I even trust that there will be a rental car waiting for me when I arrive at my next destination, provided I booked a reservation.
Although the sentiment conveyed by the word trust is context dependent, the actual emotion of trusting someone is a highly intangible concept. Trust is not something that you can distribute to a prospective customer.
What are the chances that customers will trust the very next salesperson that walks through their door? To date, I haven't discovered any magic button that can be pushed to cause someone to instantaneously trust you. Some customers might be willing to give a sales professional some initial leeway, but let's not confuse common courtesy with an inherent level of trust. Trust is a long-term human emotion that grows out of the confidence one has developed from successive encounters, where the other person's expectations were either met or exceeded.
Contrary to what you might think, trust is not a good strategic target for salespeople to aim at when interacting with potential customers. Just as you wouldn't wholeheartedly trust someone after spending a few minutes with them during a job interview, it's impossible to cause new prospects to implicitly trust you after a single telephone call. Instead, sellers are better served in today's business environment by focusing their efforts on the concept of building credibility.
While it can take some time to earn someone's trust, a savvy salesperson with the right approach can begin to establish credibility with prospective customers almost immediately. Fortunately, the concepts of credibility and trust are closely interrelated. As you earn more credibility with customers over time, they will absolutely begin to trust you.
The key is to have a repeatable method that enables you to establish as much credibility as possible early in your sales conversations. Essentially, you want to gain maximum "traction" with potential customers when forging new relationships. Earning credibility quickly gives you an opportunity to convey more value throughout the sales process and ultimately gain an unfair advantage over the competition.
Thomas A. Freese is the founder and president of QBS Research, Inc. and the author of five books, including "Sell Yourself First," which was published last year by Portfolio/Penguin. This is an excerpt from that book.


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Meira Russ will discuss the Juvenile Court Mental Health Advocacy Project
(J-MHAP) which addresses pervasive barriers to mental health care access faced
by juvenile court-involved youth. By the beginning of 2015, the J-MHAP will
implement a pilot mental health advocacy program integrated into two juvenile
courts in Essex and Middlesex Counties. The pilot program will be capable of
replication across the Massachusetts juvenile court system, and potentially in
courts across the nation. We are partnering with the Chief Justice of the
Massachusetts Juvenile Court and other agencies and organizations intimately
familiar with the juvenile court system. Atty. Russ will discuss HLA's work as
Mental Health GALs over the last several years and will provide an update on the
pilot project development.
Meira J. Russ, Esq.Health Law Advocates Inc., Boston
Samuel W. Leadholm, Esq.Commonwealth of Massachusetts-Dept of Public Health, Boston
Juvenile & Child Welfare Law Section
MBA On Demand System Requirements
here to review On Demand system requirements and an On Demand
product demonstration. Click
here for information on how to access your purchased On Demand
If you have questions regarding On Demand products or how to use
the software, contact Senior Programs Manager Marc A. D'Antonio,
Esq. at (617) 338-0646 or [email mdantonio].
Click here to view an MBA On Demand Orientation


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First the news. As I tweeted earlier, Brandon Prust will play, though I can't imagine he'll be very attractive with that eye. Jeremy Williams may also play, in place of Todd White. Same lineup otherwise. Tortorella wouldn't say whether Williams will play on the power play, where he excelled in Hartford.
Lundqvist is in goal for second of back to backs.
John Tortorella:
On his concern going into the game.
On which penalties in Boston he considered "stupid."
"Staal, Dubinsky. Take your pick. You can talk about penalties and what you think a penalty is or isn't. We have to start understanding as a team what we feel is going to be called in this league as a stick foul. Not whether you agree with it or not. It's what is being called in this league. And we have to adhere to that.
On what Staal could have done.
"Stick on puck. It's something we talk about all the time. I'm sure it's been, and has been, a point of emphasis with the league as far as stick fouls. It's to the point where, you lift your stick off the ice, they're looking to make a call. We have to understand that. If you take your stick off the ice and it's parallel in any way, they're looking to make a call and we have to understand that as a club. You may not agree with it, but that's what it is."
On Prust.
"His eye's opened up. No (restrictions) at all. We were a little concerned after the game, but he had a good night, it opened up, I just talked to him and he's ready to play."
On Todd White coming out.
"To be fair, I've got to figure out what I'm going to do with Todd White. I don't have him in a spot that I'm certainly given him a chance to show … I don't know what he is as a player. And I think, when you put him in spots and put him in different situations that really isn't fair for him to show me. I don't think he has a ton of confidence in his play and I have a bit to do with that, as far as spots I've put him in and how I spotted him in certain areas. I'm concerned about the speed. I've talked to him about that. But again, I don't think I've given him a fair shake.
"But we bring a kid up here that could add some offense, may play a bit on the power play, and I want to look at him. I've been very honest with Todd about that. He understands it. We'll talk next week and try to figure how we can give him a better opportunity, if we can."
Williams, he said, was brought up because of the Prust injury.
"We asked for the best (forward) down there. We spoke to Kenny (Gernander) … he was the one, so we brought him right up because we weren't sure what was going to happen with Prust. But he's here and simply I'd like to see him play."


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DETROIT - Belleville High School is the latest school in Michigan to cancel classes this week due to potential threats of violence against students.
In a letter posted to the Van Buren Public Schools website, the superintendent writes there will be no class Friday at the high school because of "numerous rumors circulating about potential threats of violence against students. Additional rumors regarding the Mayan calendar and the end of the world have also surfaced."
Read: Van Buren superintendent's letter
The superintendent says only the high school will be closed because all "rumors are only high school based."
View: Complete list of school closings
"Unfortunately, these rumors have created a major distraction in student learning, causing anxiety amongst the student body at Belleville High School," the superintendent wrote.
The superintendent says the rumors have been proven to be false, but they are canceling class anyway.
There will be increased security and police presence at the rest of the Van Buren Public Schools remaining open on Friday.
Several schools end week early due to potential threats
Read more: Schools close due to potential threats, end of world rumors
A 16-year-old Fraser High School student could be charged for making a gun threat that resulted in his arrest.
Police said the teen made comments about the end of the world coming on Friday and that he was going to shoot people. His fellow students reported it to the principal, who sent him home.
The teen was later arrested.
Monroe Schools also cancelled school for Friday, starting Christmas break a day early.
Students attending school in Genessee and Lapeer counties started their break early as well.
Copyright 2012 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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SHERIFF Hutton beat visitors Tadcaster Magnets by four wickets in Hunters York & District Senior Cricket League division two north.
Nick Schofield hit an unbeaten 71 out of Sheriff's winning 107-6. Earlier, Joel Wilford had taken 4-25 as Magnets made a modest 106.
Dringhouses had the better of a draw at St Helen's Road, where their 145-7 was beyond the reach of Harrogate, who replied with 124-8. Leading the way for the hosts was Chris Storey with 37, while George Wilson was unbeaten on 36. In response, Rob Stanworth made 39 and George Owram 31, but Chris Evans took 3-24.
Osbaldwick gained a good three-wicket win at home to Ripon, whose 198-8 looked to be a challenging total. Alex Rippon grabbed 4-29.
The hosts' response was fronted by Rich Carew with 62 and Jonny Rawsthorne with 30.
Pocklington batted first when they entertained Duncombe Park and made a reasonable 188 thanks to Neil Readman's 48 and a good 63 from Andy Anderson.
Andy Medd took 3-35 for Park, who were powered to victory by Brian Leckenby, who hit 92 and Paul Wilkie, with 34.
Hovingham closed on 112-9 at Thirsk, who had earlier made 146-8. Home batting honours were claimed by the Cook brothers with Mark making 27 and John 35. Rich Bowling took 5-26.
There were 407 runs scored at Clifton Park as Woodhouse Grange II beat York III by two wickets.
Ben Horseman made 54 for the hosts and Sheraz Kasi 59 in a York total of 203-8. Scott Shepherd took 3-50 for Grange and then followed with 33. Ryan Waite took 3-35.
In division two south, Patrington racked up their second victory when they won by six wickets at Thorp Arch. S Gawthorpe hit 63 in a total of 160-9, with Danny Collinson taking 5-30 for the visitors.
Marc Pollard made 40 and Ian Buss 43 to clinch victory.
Londesborough Park held out for a draw at Acomb, whose 208-5 was followed by Park's 178-9.
Acomb's Alex Topham hit 53, Andy Burton 46 and Matt Williamson as unbeaten 31, while Park's response hinged on Charlie Rook's 79.
Clifton Alliance II totalled 220-9 to get the better of visiting Hornsea, who were toppled for 204. Clifton's Nick Hindle was in good form in making 92 while Mark Phillips weighed in with 52.
The combined efforts of C Lennox (3-45), Ryan Partington (3-15) and Francis Hawthorne (3-22) then stole the day.
Sheriff Hutton Bridge II were nine-wicket winners over Woodhouse Grange III in division three north.
Grange were whipped out for just 72 as Nick Scaling (3-16) and Dan Cass (3-3) did the damage. Josh Cocrill then hit 34 before being the only home batsman to fall, leaving Steve Crowder with 25 not out as Bridge maintained their 100 per cent record.
Knocks of 56 from Ed Smith and 48 by John Beevers helped Londesborough Park to 177-8 against York, whose Graham Mackfall had 5-24. York held out for a draw at 88-9.
Rob Steele made 80 and S Dixon 45 as Huby posted 206 against Drax. Dan Grainger's 5-29 then rolled Drax over for 140.
At Stillington, Sessay posted 167-5 with Mark Jackson making 59 and John Flintoff 37. When the hosts replied, Jackson took 3-8 as they were dismissed for 85.
In division three south, Goole held Stamford Bridge to 120-9 and then romped to a nine-wicket win with Neil Webster making 46 not out and Al Gibbons 50.
Pickering hosted New Earswick and posted a target of 184-7 thanks to Charlie Marwood's 43. Having taken 2-30, Andy Freeman then made an unbeaten 48 for Earswick in a total of 141-7.
John Reynolds, with 5-33 and 28, and Chris Lowen, with 54, eased Civil Service to a four-wicket win over Selby .
Mike Gibson hit 76 and Keith Towndrow 63 not out as Cawood reached 243-6 against neighbouring Drax in division four west. Drax were then scuttled for only 75 as J Pullein followed his 33 with 4-14.
Rowntrees & Huntington beat Thorp Arch & Boston Spa by 54 runs, Jack Aveyard (5-17) and Pete Edmondson (3-19) having TABS all out for 126 chasing 180-8.
Dave Wilson made 37 for Dunnington at Tadcaster but home bowler John Wetherhill took 4-19 to have the visitors out for 78. Matt Hunt's 30 helped Magnet win by six wickets.
Ed Noble made 110 not out and Pete Atkinson 100 not out as Bolton powered to 242-2 against Woodhouse Grange IV. Woodhouse were then whistled out for 19.
Phil Northing stole the show at Civil Service when he made 55 not out and then took 3-34 as his side had the better of a draw with Osbaldwick in division four central.
Sheriff Hutton's Mick Bradley took 6-20 in a 137-run win at Duncombe Park.
Huby beat Stillington by two wickets despite Tim Jarvis' 68 and Jason Dale's 39 in Stillington's 131-4.


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Since the foundation of the McCracken County Humane Society in 1951, our mission has been to facilitate and advocate for the humane treatment and welfare of all animals. We vow to educate against animal cruelty and the prevention of overpopulation and confront inhumane practices.
Our purpose at this humane society is to establish and maintain a facility that promotes and provides a healthy, safe living environment for unwanted but adoptable, owner surrender animals. With the generous help of shelter employees and volunteers that selflessly give their time, we commit that these animals are treated as our own and are given the love and attention that they deserve until we are able to place them with a person/persons that can give them a suitable permanent loving home.
The animals that are in our care are walked, exercised, groomed, socialized and provided health care. We do not euthanize simply for lack of space or have any time limited policy for determining animal euthanization.
We believe in celebrating pets and in providing health, well-being and meaningful social change for any animal that needs a home. We strive to be a well-organized, efficient humane society "home" for all of those in need.
For our dog, their adoption range from $150-$300. Some of our dogs who have been here a long time are discounted to $100 and down. This covers their spay/neuter, microchip, heartworm test and monthly prevention, parvo boosters, deworming, rabies vaccine, flea/tick treatment, and grooming/bathing.
On the recommendation of our vets we do all of these things along with treating of heartworm positive animals, mange, and any other conditions that arise. This is all done at our veterinarian's clinic.
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Dynamite fishing
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MATHEW COPENHAGEN works as a freelance journalist, travelling all around the world to report on the more oddball stories that define our world. It was a slow news day.
Blast fishing, better known by its misleading misnomer "dynamite fishing", is the practice of using explosives to kill large groups of fish for easy collection.[1] Although widely controversial, this practice has been done by countless thousands of fishermen across the world. Blast fishing has existed since the early 20th century, before World War I. Blast fishing, other than being highly dangerous, also results in the needless death of fishes and the destruction of fragile coral reef environments. Despite this, many people still use explosives to fish to support themselves or their families. Today, we get a small yet vital glimpse into the lives of some former blast fishers and people who have been affected by this practice, and hopefully better understand a personal view of this serious issue.
edit "Cletus"
I met "Cletus", a 47 year old former dynamite fisher while researching the environmental effects of blast fishing across the world. He agreed to be interviewed under the condition that his anonymity would be secure. To ensure this, his name has been replaced with a pseudonym, specific location names have been redacted and other people's names replaced with nondescript aliases. Before the interview began, he led me to his modest cottage home, located several miles from a moderately sized city in the American South. He greeted me with some reservation and offered to serve me tea: I respectfully declined. "Cletus" is a man of modest tastes and modest proportions, but his face speaks of decades of hardships and trials. Now he works as a welder, fabricating metal parts for a shipping company. We performed the interview in his small yet tidy living room.
Cletus: It's a pleasure to speak to you, Mr...
Mathew: Copenhagen; pronounced København, please.
Cletus: Right, so... down to business then?
Mathew: Yes, yes. My bad. Tell us how you came to be a dynamite fisher. Was it all of sudden in your youth, or was it gradual, like pouring Mornay sauce on pasta?
Cletus: I'm not sure if this is part of the interview process, but what?
Mathew: Sorry. My apologies. Just ignore the last sentence.
Cletus: M'kay. My father, whose name, FERNANDO, was passed throughout the generations, taught me how to fish "efficiently", as he would call it in his thick southern drawl. We lived in a dirty backwoods west of [REDACTED], and barely anyone made a living there doing anything but fishing. We were but poor folk living off the bounty of the land, but my pa never did see the use in waiting hours on end to catch a fish. Mind you, we had to make a living off this, not some sort of summer retreat for rich folk. Killing the fishes quick and grabbing them by the handful was a lot more profitable, but we were still dirt poor. I am grateful that in my later years I've gained this beautiful house, a beautiful wife and two disgusting demon spawns of children, but back then, all I had was a shanty old house to call our own. I lived with twelve other brothers and sisters.
Mathew: Twelve?
Cletus: Well, only nine after that malaria outbreak, but other than that, my life seemed swell.
Mathew: That must have been painful for you.
Cletus: It's okay. Don't worry about any trauma I could've got from that, I was three when they died. It hit my pa badly though, loved and cared for the three like they actually were his kin. I was six when my pa taught me to make my first improvised bomb. He did know how to make stuff go boom. Poor man.
Mathew: So... tell me about your father? And any other relatives you have, too? A mother perhaps, or a sick lovechild of some incestuous affair?
Cletus: I don't feel I am at liberty to disperse of any confidential information you're trying to fish out of me, the police already—
Mathew: Again, I am truly sorry. I just relapsed for a while. Tell me about your positive experiences with your father.
Cletus: Oh, I don't know. Talked about him so much already; it brings back some bad memories. You wouldn't mind if I talked about my childhood instead? And what does this have to do with dynamite fishing, anyway?
Mathew: It would be more than fine of you to talk about how you grew up. My news crew and I are all about exposing the personal parts of issues that affect our world. Issues that — ahem — "explore the interconnecting interactions of the people that live in our world. Issues that bring to light the plight of the common man." I rehearsed that all day. Sounds dramatic, no?
Cletus: Yes. Very much so. Now can I talk about my childhood?
Mathew: Of course. Of course. Take your time.
Cletus: Well... it all started when I was born. The circumstances that befallen my birth were very poor, and the doctor lady that visited us couldn't save my mama. Sadness was so much after her death, it hurt my pa bad. That dull ache that perches itself in one's chest and grows and grows till it's a part of you, that affected him his whole life, you know? Except it was less like an organ that contributes to the whole of the bodily function, and more like a parasite. Living under that pain, knowing I was the cause of my pa's hurt, it hurt me as well. I was still too young to understand completely, but I knew I caused that dull ache inside him. The family of ours, of which I was the fourteenth, was very poor to begin with. Other side of the rail tracks and everything. But after that dull ache-bug that got my pa inside started sucking on his view of the path of his life, he tried to flush it away with gallons of liquor. It got so bad that he started hitting himself with shards of glass and contacting ancient voodoo spirits, as my older brother RICKY thought he was, but after much consternation, he settled down eventually. No, we did not strike our fortunes rich and move to [REDACTED], but he tried to stay clean of the bottle. Eventually, he got to be a fisherman again, as were his ancestry before him, and made a very small income. And that's where the explosives came to play.
Mathew: So you were weighed down by your mother's death, which your father secretly blamed you for. How did that make you feel as a growing young child?
Cletus: Now, I thought we were talking about blast fishing here, at least partially, instead of going on about my life. I tried to keep my soliloquy here focused, instead of talking about mundane stuff like swimming and vandalizing neighbor's property, stuff like that that tends to be in dull people's autobiographies. I know your time is not nearly as important as mine, Mr Copenhagen, but shouldn't we be sticking to the, uh... subject at hand?
Mathew: How about you talk about your childhood, but only the parts that pertain to dynamite fishing?
Cletus: That seems like a reasonable compromise. Alright now, as I was saying, this part of my life was when explosives came to play. My father had begun using explosives to stun the trouts and mackerels that swam in the shores of the mighty [REDACTED], and was making a respectable income from the selling of these drop dead fishies. Mind you, "respectable" for us meant more than two nickels and a piece of lint stuck between one's toenails. Now onto the subject of my childhood, as it pertains to the blasting of fishes: all nine of us, as this was after that horrible horrible tragedy, had to pitch in in the family business of dynamite fishing. As I have said before, my father taught me, along with my other brothers and sisters, to make some makeshift bombs. Must've been mighty strange, attempting to teach a young boy the ways of bomb producing, but I didn't mind. Another thing that was mighty strange was how we called it dynamite fishing, which is a misnomer if I've ever seen one. Formula we used was Ammonium nitrate, which was found in fertilizer, diesel fuel and a special secret ingredient of my father's creation which I can't say; I am honor — and law — bound not to tell it. It's quite difficult to make a fertilizer bomb, since the ratios have to be just center in some golden proportion, or it won't go boom. I sure as flaming hell don't consider anyone having a normal childhood when the only parental bonding they got was their pa teaching them how to make an IED, but I remained happy and mostly mentally stable. After the business of bomb making was done, we would lob it at any large body of water and then rake in some floating scaly gold. We did this for years to the point that it was a steady routine of living in life. Dynamite fishing for me was as part of living as was breathing, talking or scavenging food from overflowing refuse.
Mathew: What made you stop?
Cletus: In the interest of remaining informative and letting a deep sorrow out of my heart, I shall tell.
Mathew: So, it was traumatic?
Cletus: Do you think seeing your pa's head get detached from his body at mach speed and propel itself towards your window as traumatic?
Mathew: I... would think so?
Cletus: 'Cus that's what the neighbors said. In reality, the tragedy that had befallen my father was not nearly as fantastical, the townsfolk are known for their embellishing of deaths and other curious gossip topics. It was merely a fuse in a boat that had fired prematurely. It went as well as expected. Coroner said that his face just got burned all over and that he was still alive when he tipped over the boat and drowned. I was at town with my siblings selling the fish we had caught yesterday when the incident happened. Came back home to see his waterlogged corpse drifting by the shore of the lake. I would describe to you the look of his face if not for the horrific burns.
Mathew: Sorry for your loss. It must be hard living with that memory everyday. How do you cope?
Cletus: Naw, that was thirty five years ago. I was twelve when it happened, and since then I have had an ample amount of time to cope and mourn. After the bomb incident, I was put under custody of the great state of [REDACTED]. I heard that my brother ROBERT escaped before the authorities could get him, and became an outlaw, but the rest of were us put in an orphanage and eventually adopted by this Bohemian couple from the North. Still, after all that's happened to me, I can still see the shimmering of that fine lake, and how the water would rise up like a great big mushroom when exploded and spray us all with fresh water and fishy entrails. In retrospect, my childhood wasn't the best a young Southern boy could have, but I lived to tell you about it. And praises to the Lord, that is enough.
Mathew: It's been a pleasure speaking to you, Mr. Cletus. I'd love to talk to you more, but I have to go: flight's in about an hour.
Cletus: That's a very to-the-point way of ending an interview, but I don't mind. Pleasure speaking to you too. You take care now.


text:
Spencer T. Lowe, M.D.
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Please note, if you are an HMO/POS health plan member and pick a primary care physician in who is a member of the Mills-Peninsula Division of PAMF, your specialty care, laboratory and radiology services will be provided by physicians in the Mills-Peninsula network. This network includes specialist physicians in Daly City, San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame, Foster City, and San Mateo area.
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text:
Thought putting together a dinner party is hard work? It doesn't have to be. Get inspired by planning an entertaining evening that fits your style! Check out these three dinner party ideas, tips and template themes to help you get organized and ready to entertain in no time. No muss, no fuss…just an evening full of fun, food, family and friends!
Simply elegant
In-laws coming to visit? Or setting up a formal dinner for forty? Here's a sure-fire way to make a good impression, no matter who's coming to dinner. Welcome each of your guests to their spot at the dinner table with a personalized place setting.
PLACE SETTING TIP: Once you print out the guests' names on these fall-themed place cards, give the cards some props! One way is to place cards inside miniature picture frames. Or you can also use tiny pumpkins by cutting a small slit on top to insert each card. Another idea is to attach a card to a party favor such as a small box of chocolates or dinner mints with a matching gift label, and place at each place setting.
Comfy casual
Hosting a dinner party with the emphasis on "party"? Even if your get-together involves paper napkins instead of cloth ones, these cute, coordinated templates can help you set a new standard in entertaining!
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The thing about dinner parties is they don't have to be complicated. Just focus on making sure your guests have a good time, and the little things will come together along the way. Looking for invitation ideas? Check out Notes They'll Be Thankful For.


text:
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/1/2013 (1684 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The Winnipeg Jets are reaching out to a few good men from their affiliate in Newfoundland.
Robin Short of The St. John's Telegram is reporting the Jets will call up four players for training camp, expected to open Sunday after the ratification process of the new collective-bargaining agreement is completed.
Heading west to Winnipeg will be defencemen Zach Redmond and Paul Postma and forwards Spencer Machacek and Maxime Macenauer. Alex Burmistrov, who hadn't played for St. John's since before Christmas after suffering an 'upper-body' injury, will also be back with the Jets.
Derek Meech, also a defenceman, is nursing a groin injury and will likely also be coming to the big club when he gets clearance from the IceCaps' medical staff.
Those departures would mean St. John's would lose five of its six leading scorers -- Machacek (eight goals, 10 assists) and Postma (7G, 11A) are tied with Jason Jaffray for the team's scoring lead, followed closely by Redmond (8G 9A), Meech (3G 14A) and Macenauer (7G 8A). To make matters worse, goaltender Mark Dekanich was injured in practice this week.
As a result, the IceCaps have called up goalie Chris Carozzi from the Ontario Reign of the ECHL while signing forward Josh Lunden and defenceman Richard Petiot to professional tryout contracts.
Twitter: @WFPEdTait


text: The RIAA is an organization that is completely against file sharing and p2p (peer to peer) music networks that allowed users to illegally download music. So these protect the rights of musicians in the stop of music piracy, ain't that great? Oh, I forgot to mention that the RIAA's President made $3.2 million dollars in 2009. From an expose on P2Pnet, President Cary Sherman was awarded a 240% increase in his 1.3 million salary from 2008. You would think that $1.3 million was more than enough, but apparently it wasn't.


text:
I have plans to cook up some of steves memphis ribs, but have a little problem. I don't think my gold c is big enough for the 4 sides of ribs to call it inderict cooking. I thought about the rib baskets they sell but i am a tightwad and hate to spend money on somerthing i could make myself.
OK enough babbeling on,.. If I welded some rebar in the shape of one of those rib baskets would it effect the taste of the meat touching the metal? Will I die after eating the ribs cooked on such a device? Long story short. Is it safe to eat of steel? Thanks for any advise.


text:
I seem to be plagued with the problem of it taking forever to start the charcoal in my water smoker. Usually I use Kingsford charcoal, drown in with lighting fluid and then light it.
There's the big flair of fire, which burns off quickly and then more often then not seems to go out and I have to play firebug by adding more fluid (YES, I know that's not the most sane thing to do, but I haven't scorched myself yet!).
I am using a brinkman smoker. One of the ones that is verticle, and has a rounded top.
Also, when I finally do get the stuff lit, it seems like it takes forever to get the heat up to the IDEAL range on the gauge, and more often then not it doesn't get hot enough and it takes forever to cook the food.


text:
Last night, politicians, government officials and a smattering of journalists gathered in the ornate surrounds of the Scotland Office to hear Jean Chrétien, the former Canadian PM, give his view on referendums.
Chrétien knows more than most world leaders about what it is like to try and stop nationalists in one part of the country from seceding – he won two referendums against Quebec separatists.
And in case coalition officials were beginning to feel comfortable with the convincing lead held by the pro-union side in the Scottish independence debate, Chrétien had a rather ominous message. Read more


text:
SHAREHOLDERS have lodged a protest vote against the running of Fortescue Metals, with a sharp increase in the number of votes lodged against the company's remuneration report at Wednesday's annual meeting.
But despite a five-fold increase from the year before in the number of votes opposing the remuneration report, executives of the iron ore miner escaped without a formal ''strike'' being registered against the company.
The meeting came on the same day Fortescue development manager Peter Meurs said the company may have been too ambitious with its growth plans.
Fortescue has boasted of its aggressive plan to almost triple exports to 155 million tonnes a year, but that plan almost unravelled in September when the benchmark iron ore price slumped to levels that threatened the company's heavy debt load.
Speaking at a Fairfax Media event in Perth, Mr Meurs conceded those ambitions may have stretched too far, as evidenced by the decision to halt work on one aspect of the expansion plan.
"I think we probably jumped the gun with our expansion," he said.
"We now have a very lean organisation. And we're happy with it … We're not happy some of our great people aren't with us, however."
Mr Meurs predicted iron ore prices would remain steady at current levels of about $US120 a tonne - high enough to let the halted part of the expansion, the Kings project, restart within two months.
Fortescue's neighbour in the Pilbara, Hancock Prospecting, was also conceding that its growth and export plans had proved too ambitious. Spokesman Tad Watroba confirmed speculation the company's Roy Hill iron ore project would start in 2015 rather than 2014, and said $7 billion in funding was being pursued.
BHP's new boss of iron ore also spoke at the Fairfax Media event, saying there remained opportunities to bring down payments to contractors and suppliers.
One iron ore miner poised to deliver on a promise is Gindalbie Metals, which is tipped to produce its first magnetite later this week.
Gindalbie has announced the completion of a long-awaited $250 million debt facility from Chinese banks, which will ensure it has funds to complete its first stage of growth towards exporting 8 million tonnes a year. Gindalbie will front shareholders on Friday in Western Australia.