text: Putnam assessor's raises questioned By Kate White November 20, 2012 Story Share WINFIELD, W.Va. -- Putnam County commissioners expressed frustration Tuesday over raises that county Assessor Sherry Troyer Hayes gave employees in her office.Even though they admit what Hayes did was perfectly legal, commissioners said the move could be frowned upon by other county employees."Our challenge is to keep pay equitable," Commissioner Joe Haynes said. "When something like this is done it skews everything."The raises Hayes handed out ranged from 5 percent to nearly 8 percent and were in addition to the 1.25 percent pay raise county commissioners handed out at the beginning of the fiscal year.Commissioners have traditionally approved a 2.5 percent employee pay raise but scaled back this year because of a troubled economy.Brian Donat, county manager, said Hayes handed out about $36,000 in raises to her 19 employees.Hayes said in a telephone interview that she didn't do anything another department head wouldn't have done if they had the money. She also noted she still has about $15,000 left in her budget. Donat said it's unusual for department heads to use 100 percent of their budget. Hayes explained that she believed she could afford the raises after two women in her office retired, requiring others to take on additional responsibilities."I felt like since I had the money, everyone deserved a raise," she said. "To me it was a win-win situation."Commissioner Steve Andes warned that in the past when department heads have approved their own raises, commissioners would strip them of the annual raise they normally grant. Hayes said she and her employees understood that. Hayes recently won re-election against her former boss, D.W. "Peachie" Arthur, who served as assessor in Putnam from 1997 through 2008. During the campaign, Arthur accused Hayes of playing favorites after the 2008 election by handing out raises to employees who supported her election bid.Hayes denied the accusations.In other business, commissioners announced that work on a project to alleviate Hometown's flooding problem is complete and should solve the water problem for at least 20 years.Hometown is wedged between the Kanawha River and Little Guano Creek. Railroad tracks that sit several feet above ground level run through the town, placing most of the houses in a flood-prone bowl. The ditches along the tracks are filled with years of silt runoff. In 2010, commissioners approved a $12,000 cost-sharing agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers to help figure out what is causing the problem.The engineers determined the easiest and most cost effective temporary solution would be to simply clear the town's ditches and drains."I think we should draft letters [to residents] letting them know the project is completed and it's up to you to keep those ditch lines cleaned," Andes said.Commissioners have tried to persuade Hometown residents to form a homeowners' association or incorporate so they'd be eligible for grants and could mandate residents clean out ditches on their properties."I think it's a large aging population [in Hometown]," Haynes said. "It's a problem for many of them to take a shovel and get out and start cleaning out the ditch line."The corps study outlined a longer-term option, which is to redirect a channel near the northern edge of town to carry rainwater along W.Va. 62 and into Little Guano Creek. That option could cost the county nearly $500,000. "That's money we just don't have," Haynes said.Reach Kate White at email@example.com or 304-348-1723. Story Share Story Share Trending Now 1 Former State Police captain now chief in Winfield 2 New leaders begin to emerge for Marshall football 3 Derek Redd: Marshall thinks outside the cable box for broadcasts 4 Philanthropist Betty Schoenbaum of Shoney's fortune turns 100 5 Rod Run and Doo Wop brings classic cars, music to Boulevard for 12th year Driver going wrong way on I-81 in W.Va. killed Previous Story DHHR says employees' lawsuit should be dismissed Next Story


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Handcrafted Iron Scroll Wall Clock
- $ 41 48 41.48
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- Price includes shipping
About this itemEnliven any space with this uniquely decorative handcrafted wall clock!
Indian artisans produce handmade products with the finest natural fibers and materials, preserve the traditional and eco-friendly handicraft methods, preserve ancient art forms and encourage traditional arts and ways of life. Their work preserves beautiful art forms and provides a dignified social standing for the artisans. There is extensive use of brass, bronze, copper, iron and bell metal in India for ornaments, utensils, icons and figures of every kind. These objects are further embellished through punching, engraving, inlaying and enameling. By purchasing handmade products you are improving and enhancing the economic status of artisans, by creating livelihood opportunities through their traditional craft, and in their environment.
The handcrafted nature of this product will produce minor differences in design and sizing. Subtle variations will occur from piece to piece, adding to its unique qualities. Measurements may vary slightly.
Assembled Country
Assembled Size
16.75"H x 7.25"L x 2"W
Component Country

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Delete a Letter 3Language brain teasers are those that involve the English language. You need to think about and manipulate words and letters.
Each pair of definitions is for two words, where the second word is the first word with a letter deleted (example: brand & band). The length of the first word in each pair is provided, along with the position of the deleted letter to obtain the second word.
1) a ceasefire (5 letters) & (delete 4th letter) loyal or faithful
2) a very stupid person (5 letters) & (delete 3rd letter) a planetary satellite
3) to release or discharge (7 letters) & (delete 7th letter) hidden, covert, private
4) a marine polyp, a yellowish pink color (5 letters) & (delete 1st letter) spoken or uttered
Answer1) truce & true
2) moron & moon
3) secrete & secret
4) coral & oral
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text:
Angels hold on for Wilson after timely home runs
Defense, Frieri's heart-stopping five-out save rebuff late rally by A's
OAKLAND -- It took a critical over-slide from Yoenis Cespedes, a five-out save from Ernesto Frieri, several key defensive plays all over the field, a couple of well-timed homers, a necessary insurance run and lots and lots of pitches from C.J. Wilson, but the Angels actually won a game on Wednesday -- their first in six tries against the division-rival A's, and only the second of a trying seven-game road trip.
"You'd like them to come easier, but at this point, we'll take whatever we can get," Mark Trumbo said after a nail-biting 5-4 victory. "Hard-fought game. I think everybody here is dead tired. There was a lot of pitches, a lot of plays that transpired, but we had some luck go our way, and that was really fortunate."
Wilson pitched 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball in a 123-pitch outing, Trumbo homered in his third straight game, Mike Trout added a triple and a solo shot and Frieri -- pressed into action when Scott Downs exited the eighth with pain in his right rib cage -- kept a one-run lead intact by recording the last five outs.
But if not for the aggression of Cespedes, mixed with the hard turf of the O.co Coliseum, the Angels are probably feeling a lot different heading home.
Cespedes was hit by a pitch to lead off the ninth, then initially got to second safely on a steal attempt off Hank Conger. But the A's center fielder slid well past the bag, and Howie Kendrick kept the tag on him before he could retreat.
"He's aggressive and goes in with a lot of velocity," said A's manager Bob Melvin, whose club snapped a three-game winning streak to move to 16-13. "He had the bag stolen, obviously. He just slid past it."
And because he did, the Angels recorded a critical first out in a frame that saw Frieri walk two additional batters.
"That was a big one, to be honest with you," said Kendrick, who had two singles and a solo homer. "That changes the situation with a guy in scoring position right there, because the smallest thing can turn into a tie game."
Two days earlier, Frieri blew his chance at a four-out save by giving up a game-tying hit to Cespedes in the ninth -- 10 innings before the A's won the longest game in both clubs' histories. On Wednesday morning -- knowing the Angels' bullpen has four relievers on the disabled list and has hardly caught a break all year -- Frieri walked into Mike Scioscia's office with a clear message.
I've got two innings if you need it.
"We said, 'No, that's ridiculous,'" Scioscia recalled, "so we had him go 1 2/3 innings."
Frieri pretty much had to. Wilson left a short-handed bullpen with eight outs left, and Downs cut the Angels' lead from three to one by giving up a double to Luke Montz and a single to Adam Rosales.
When Frieri checked into the ninth, he had already thrown 15 pitches -- but nobody was going to warm up in the bullpen.
"I'm always down for whatever Scioscia needs," Frieri said shortly after getting pinch-hitter Eric Sogard to fly out in foul territory and end the game. "No matter what the situation, no matter what team, no matter what hitter, I'm going to be able to go out there and do my thing."
Wilson pitched into the seventh for the first time all year and brought his ERA down to 4.04 in a typical outing that saw him walk five batters, hit another and scatter six hits. The fact he even got that far, with 73 pitches under his belt after the third inning, was a feat in and of itself.
"I knew the way things were going with the bullpen I was going to have to throw a lot of pitches one way or the other," Wilson said. "It was frustrating because I feel like I made some really good pitches. Give credit where it's due. Those guys, if they got to two strikes, they fouled a lot of pitches. They took some close pitches they didn't really chase. That's a good baseball team. I'm just trying to stay on top of my game and not give in when the situation is tough."
Everything is tough for the Angels these days, even when they win. When they arrive in Southern California on Wednesday night -- for a four-game homestand against the Orioles, just before departing for another two-city trip -- they'll still have a litany of players on the disabled list and have no idea who will get outs in the bullpen on a given day.
But problems like those are always easier to deal with after victories.
"Every win is going to be big for us," Trout said. "We have good teams like the Oakland A's. They're grinding, they're playing 100 percent every pitch. You can't take anything away from them. When they're down, they just keep fighting and fighting and fighting. That's what we need to start doing."
Alden Gonzalez is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Gonzo and "The Show", and follow him on Twitter @Alden_Gonzalez. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion Reviews
MehPicked up a two-pack at Costco after I ran out of my previous moisturizer. I have heard good things about the Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion, my friend recommended this to me when I was on the hunt for a new moisturizer. When I first used it I was confused as to whether or not I could use this on my face, it doesn't say anywhere that it is a facial moisturizer, on the back it says "This everyday, li...read moreghtweight moisturizer is ideal for all over body hydration." I use it on my face anyway. The thing I don't like about this lotion is that it is very thick and takes a while to absorb into the skin. Personally, I like it when serums and moisturizers to absorb into the skin very quickly and leave little to no residue left on my skin. This lotion stays tacky, even hours after application. However, I suppose some people would like that aspect of this moisturizer. But this is the first lotion that I am able to use on my face and body, which is good considering that I have two 20 ounce bottles that is going to take me a while to use up. I use one pump for my face and neck, and around 4 pumps for my feet and legs, and two pumps for my arms. Probably won't repurchase, unless I run out and need to find a drugstore moisturizer in a pinch. — 2 years, 6 months agomihshelle | 182 reviews
This review is: Helpful | Not helpful | Inappropriate | 0 of 1 people said helpful
Great for very dry/sensitive skinThis lotion works really well, is non-irritating, and is VERY moisturizing. It has no fragrance either. I'm impressed. — 8 years, 11 months agoleo1999 | 678 reviews
This review is: Helpful | Not helpful | Inappropriate | 2 of 4 people said helpful
works well, too basichaving recently been at my moms and not having my regular face cream available i used some of the cetaphil lotion she had in her medicine cabinet. at first it seemed to not sink in, and was cloying, but after a few minutes it was entirely absorbed and my skin was smooth. later the dryness did come back [8+ hours of partying later] and i did peel a bit more than i do when i use other creams, but i ...read moredidnt break out and i did look decent, much more than if i had used nothing. so im sure if youre not too dry, and dont need a therapeutic regime, this would be a good way to moisturise all over and cut down on clutter. — 8 years, 5 months agocorizotti | 550 reviews
This review is: Helpful | Not helpful | Inappropriate | 2 of 4 people said helpful
This is one time I'm ignoring professional adviceMy dermatologist recommended this product, so I bought it. 3 days later I stopped using it. Combined with the Cetaphil cleanser, my skin started breaking out. It wasn't keeping my skin clean enough and felt like it was clogging my pores (which I know it's not supposed to do). Once I went back to Clinique, my skin improved tremendously. I don't often ignore my dermatologist's advice, but this is one product I won't be using again. — 9 years, 1 month agoitaliaca | 257 reviews
This review is: Helpful | Not helpful | Inappropriate | 2 of 7 people said helpful
great for very dry skinMy skin gets very dry, especially in the winter, I have heard that this lotion works wonders so I tried it and boy does it! I usually am reapplying lotion over and over throughout the day but with this I just use it after I shower and it lasts all day! Great product! — 7 years, 10 months agoKikikins625 | 457 reviews
This review is: Helpful | Not helpful | Inappropriate | 3 of 4 people said helpful
Is Good At Attracting Moisture To The Skin!This moisturizer is light but still offers a good deal hydration. I like that it is fragrance free. However, I also wish that it was oil-free too. — 9 years, 10 months agoReservechic | 269 reviews
meh...For me, this isn't really living up to the hype. I thought that being designed for sensitive skin it might help do away with the irritation bumps that I always have on my thighs, but no such luck. It does moisturize and feel nice at first, but after 12 hours or so my skin is flaky in areas, which does not happen with ANY other lotion I've used. I think I'll stick to the Aveeno fragrance free, it keeps me moisturized for longer, and this one really doesn't have any benefit over it. — 6 years, 3 months agoNotQuiteGlam | 190 reviews
A very very light moisturizerI would not reccomend this alone to anyone with dry skin. This product may be wonderful for your body though. It just doesn't do the trick for me with the dry skin on my face and especially around my eyes. I guess now that I'm over 25 though I can consider a separate eye cream, with this you'd have to. — 9 years, 10 months agomamacita11 | 234 reviews
This review is: Helpful | Not helpful | Inappropriate | 1 of 2 people said helpful
Did it againFor a very basic lotion, it does a good job. I apply it every night after my shower and after several uses, my skin felt noticeably softer. Using this combined with regular body exfoliation definitely helps to maintain soft and smooth skin. Some people may find it to be slightly tacky on the skin, like it hasn't fully absorbed, but since I apply it at night, it doesn't really bother me. There was ...read moreone night though, that my brother touched my neck and was like, "why are you sweating? Didn't you just have a shower?" So yeah.. tacky feeling lotion and a younger brother probably isn't the best pairing! My mistake with this lotion though was trying it on my face. What was I thinking?! For reference, I have oily, acne-prone and sensitive skin. My skin is also EXTREMELY prone to clogged pores. I thought that it'd be wonderful and so convenient if I could use the same inexpensive, simple moisturiser on my face and body. I tried it one night and the next morning awoke to skin that was oiler than usual and a couple of new spots on my cheek/chin area. The clarity of my skin didn't look too crash hot either. After testing it out a few more times on random nights just to be sure, I've concluded that even as a night cream, this is not good for oily skin, especially if it's acne-prone. However, depending on your skin type, some people will like it for face and body. My friend has dry, sensitive skin and this works great as an all-in-one moisturiser. I'm still rating this product highly because as a body lotion, it's very good and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants something inexpensive to use daily. — 4 years, 2 months agomelissuhh | 52 reviews
This review is: Helpful | Not helpful | Inappropriate | 2 of 2 people said helpful
Good basic to have aroundI have been using this product for years. I use it for a night cream when I want to give my skin a break. Occasionally I need a night where I hold off my multi product regime. This lotion feels really greasy and like it is never going to absorb when you first apply it. Then miraculously it sinks into your skin. I have never tried it in the daytime (no sunscreen). I also use this moisturizer ...read moreon my body if my skin is feeling irritated. I find that this moisturizer does a great job of calming my skin when it is "freaking out" for whatever reason. (Ahh the joys of sensitive skin!) It is fragrance free but does not smell bad, which sometimes fragrance free products seem to have a more pungent scent than perfumed ones. While there are not many bells and whistles with this moisturizer it is a great basic product to have on hand. — 3 years, 1 month agoemily0220 | 53 reviews
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My Reasons for Reporting This


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What you need
- beach towel (or picnic blanket)
- 2 metres of ribbon or thin rope
- essential beach or picnic items
Step 1: Make sure you've got your towel, or picnic blanket, and something to tie it up with.
Step 2: Fold your towel in half lengthways, and then fold in half widthways so the ends are together.
Step 3: Place your essential items on top in the middle of the towel or blanket. Essentials can be things like a hat, swimmers, thongs, sunscreen or snacks.
Step 4: From the folded end, have your child roll up the towel.
Step 5: Tie the rope or ribbon around one end of the towel roll, before tying into a bow. Now keep pulling one loop of the bow through so there is just one loop. Pull tightly.
Step 6: Take the long end of the rope and wrap it around the other end of the towel. Tie it once.
Step 7: Pull this tie really tight and place the swag on the child's back diagonally with the loop side on the bottom near their hip and the longer rope over their shoulder.
Step 8: Thread the longer length of ribbon through the loop near the hip.
Step 9: Tie into a bow so your child can easily pull on the lengths to undo and take off their swag. Bonza! Your little swagman or swaggirl is now ready for the beach, picnic, or Australia Day.
This craft was created by Belinda Graham, who blogs at The Happy Home Blog.


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Cigars Across America: U.S. Cigar Makers
An intense August heat blows in through the narrow doorway of a dimly lit, hallway-shaped store in Union City, New Jersey. A few yellowing posters look as if they are melting into the stucco walls behind them. The air inside is thick with the aroma of cured tobacco and recently smoked cigars. On a tabletop blackened by oily wrapper leaf and scarred by thousands of tiny knife cuts, an old man's hands move with precise regularity, rolling a narrow, long panetela cigar while he talks with a fellow roller.
At the front of the store, a customer patiently leans on the wobbly, glass-fronted display case. Eventually a middle-aged woman gets up from her chair where she has been banding cigars and shows the customer a cigar-shape chart. No words are exchanged--they don't speak the same language--but the man points to the panetela cigar in the photo and holds up four fingers. "Quatro?" the woman asks. The customer nods, but when she pokes a hand into the case to grab four dried-out panetelas, the man says, "No, no!" and points wildly at the rolling table where three bundles of hour-old panetelas are resting. She slowly relents and retrieves four cigars from one of the bundles. The man hands the woman $4 and some change and lights up in a cloud of strong, rich smoke, which follows him out onto the boiling sidewalk.
At one time, a transaction like the one described above was common in large and small-town America. In 1905 there were 80,000 cigar-manufacturing businesses in the United States. Most of these were small drugstore-type shops where families sat and rolled cigars and sold them immediately.
Today, though buying a newly rolled cigar isn't as easy as it used to be, handmade, long-filler cigars can be purchased for about $1 each on certain streets in a few American cities. And the experience of smoking what was just rolled in front of you is something every cigar aficionado should try.
Finding a chinchal (a Cuban term meaning "sweatshop," though the connotation is less derogatory in the world of cigars) is only half the battle. In each city, the history of the cigar business invariably dictates both the kind and quality of cigars being made today. In three markets--Miami; Union City, New Jersey; and Tampa, Florida--the local production of cigars also is determined by the availability of tobacco, the vitality of the local smokers' market and the primary difficulty: hiring and keeping skilled cigar makers. But this is nothing new. As one roller put it, making cigars "is a life's work." That work is different in each city and, accordingly, in each chinchal, and the cigars reflect a distinctive character of place.
The hand-rolled cigar industry in Miami existed in one form or another for at least 100 years prior to the Revolution in Cuba. But it was Castro's rise to power that provided the impetus for making cigars in Miami. Beyond easy access to Central and South American tobacco, the South Florida location has given Miami first crack at fleeing Cuban cigar makers--still considered to be the most talented in the world.
As more Cubans left their homeland bound for Miami's Little Havana, the once dormant section of town became a dynamic center of economic and social vitality. The new arrivals smoked more cigars per capita than any other group of Americans and also preferred freshly rolled product. Those factors drove chinchal-production levels up.
The new arrivals also demanded something similar to what they had smoked back home: a strong, fast-burning cigar. Many of the blends commonly found in Miami's chinchal-produced cigars replicate that style, and explain the popularity of short-filler cigars, which are cheaper and pack a lot of smoke because they burn much faster.
Makers in Miami claim to use Dominican seed tobacco as filler, a Mexican binder and either Ecuador-grown Sumatra seed wrapper or Connecticut shade grown in the United States. These two blends, which are similar in almost every Miami chinchal, result in a relatively strong smoke, with some pleasant spiciness. However, most cigars made here lack a certain body in the smoke. In a cigar that hasn't been aged and cured for very long and in which the tobaccos have not had time to marry, nothing, it seems, can replace the sharp pungency of Honduran tobacco.
It should be noted that the chinchales listed below are a small sampling of what can be found in Miami. There are several more, some of them even well known to many cigar smokers. However, these owners were suspicious of the publicity or any possible critique and refused interviews or visits.
Antelo Cigars in Little Havana is owned by Arnaldo Laurencio, who speaks a smattering of English. His immediate, excitable love of the business gives Antelo an amicable feeling missing in other chinchales. Equally rare, Antelo makes several different blends for its cigars. And Antelo employs about 15 rollers, the most, next to El Credito (La Gloria Cubana and El Rico Habano) in Miami. The rollers sit four to a row, each rolling table connected to the next. Seen from behind, the workers' hands are a blur in the otherwise sedate one-room shop. They roll and talk quietly to one another in Spanish.
Berta Davila, a spirited woman in her mid-50s, sits toward the back of the room, separating wrapper leaves according to color, removing the center stem once the leaves are categorized. The leaves are then bundled in sets of 52. The two extra leaves (cigars are usually bundled in sets of 50 or 25) are added "in case a wrapper is broken or the cigar maker wants to smoke one," according to Laurencio. (Rollers are each entitled to three cigars at the end of the day, and they may smoke all day while working.)
There is a strong feeling of community at Antelo. The workers are old friends and even in silence they seem at ease with one another. Still, most of the workers at Antelo echo a common sentiment heard in Little Havana: "If Castro fell, the next day we'd go running back." In this case, the speaker is Antonio Concepcion, a roller in his mid-50s who was forced to leave a pregnant wife in Cuba "for political reasons."
Concepcion is quick to say that he has grown to like the perks of making cigars in America: "I like the air-conditioning in the U.S." This is one of the advantages to rolling cigars in a First World country. Yet in Honduras, the Dominican Republic and at one time in Cuba, cigar rollers were respected craftsmen, and even today their wage can support a family. But in Miami, at places like Antelo where the art is appreciated, the pay only supplements retirement funds or Social Security benefits. It is not a job for the young, not even for the children of these rollers. Most here, like Petra Hurtado, are happy that her children don't smoke or make cigars. Hurtado's son is a policeman, and she clearly has no regrets that the family tradition will die with her.
On the other side of Little Havana, only a five-minute drive away, is El Canelo ("the cockfighter"). It is a small shop, employing four to six rollers, depending on the pace of business. Perhaps the most dignified of all rollers to be found in Miami (also one of the more skillful makers of panetelas) is Adolfo Cuevas, who works here. Cuevas came to Miami when he was 48. A judge in Havana, Cuevas was forced to make a fresh start. He returned to the job of rolling cigars, which is how he worked his way through law school. Now 78, Cuevas augments retirement income by rolling at El Canelo, and his panetelas have the tightly rolled appearance of Cohiba Lanceros.
Cuevas' boss, Orlando Rodriguez, the owner of El Canelo, is a quiet salesman. He will show you the humidor, but he doesn't force anything on you. And he is relaxed about his Cuban heritage, too. "Even if Castro fell, at my age, what am I going to do in Cuba?" Rodriguez did say he would use Cuban tobacco if it ever becomes available. Clearly, however, he doesn't need to change his blend. Rodriguez claims that almost all his customers are "Americans" (not Cuban-Americans), and he seems very content with the job he is doing. For a mere $17 for 25 panetelas, it is not hard to see why business is humming.
Across the street from El Pub, a diner that has become an institution in Little Havana, it is hot and sticky in the bright, tidy shop of Moore & Bode. Despite the lack of air-conditioning, the reserved and very serene Sharon Moore Bode seems undaunted by the heat. But she is used to defying expectations. An enigma in the cigar business, Bode is not only a woman, but a Caucasian with a limited understanding of Spanish. Her entrée into the business has as much to do with her husband, Roberto Bode, a Cuban-born exile, as her own artistic longings. According to Sharon Moore Bode, "art is the No. 1 reason for being in the business."
Moore & Bode cigars are truly works of art, especially the small and large pyramids, 5 1/2 and 7 1/2 inches long, respectively. They also are pricier than cigars made at other chinchales. Bode, again acting very American and untraditional, justifies the high prices by saying that her rollers are paid more than those at other shops. "The bottom line is that other rollers in Miami are paid about $200 per 1,000 cigars, while we pay about $650 per 1,000."
Bode claims that the industry is dying in the United States because rollers are underpaid. "The owner eats out of the same rice bowl as the cigar maker," she says, and she "abhors" a quota system where each roller is required to make a certain number of cigars for a fixed price. Bode pays by the hour, a very unusual practice in the old world of cigar making.
Despite her husband's desire that she take up the mainstream career of stockbroker, Bode runs the shop, buys the tobacco and is unabashedly proud to turn some heads in the business. "We import our own leaf. I stand in line at customs with my little daughter, Margarite. I'm a little lady among all the guys. I wait my turn and select my own leaves." But Bode denies any grand pretense: "We are not a mass-produced cigar--we never desire to be." Still, Bode will not reveal the secret of her blend, which she guards with the same quiet but firm politeness she most certainly uses when buying tobacco.
Chavelo is nothing like Moore & Bode. Large, dimly lit, with an old patriarch, Mariano Martinez, in charge, it is a typical chinchal. Despite the modest production capacity of the place (800 cigars a day), there is a walk-in humidor, and Chavelo is more modern than it appears. Mario Martinez, the owner's son, has created slick brochures that advertise 800-numbers and invite customers to use credit cards.
Mario Martinez is unassuming. A tall man in his mid-30s, he dutifully stands by and translates his father's Spanish. Mario explains that the elder Martinez began Chavelo in Cuba in 1955, but finally left in 1972 with his wife and son--and not a shred of his original business. Despite his father's uphill struggle to make something in the United States, Mario is uninterested in taking over. "I could maintain the business," Mario acknowledges, "but there's experience I don't have. I can't buy that from my father. That, only time can give you."
Gazing across the Hudson River from Pier 78 in Manhattan, the heart of Union City, New Jersey, is not visible, but a few relics of once grandiose summer homes are outlined on top of the cliffs. A brief ferry ride can alter this first impression. Once on the bustling streets of Union City, the community is vibrant, relatively young and has the same nuances of any ethnic American neighborhood. It has a proud cigar history, too.
Unlike Miami, much of the Cuban population came to Union City long before Castro. These new Americans arrived in the '20s and '30s at the behest of American cigar manufacturers. Labor prices skyrocketed in Cuba because of unionization. To maintain profits, major corporations like American Tobacco shifted operations onshore to places like Trenton, New Jersey, and Union City--beating the unions while still importing cured tobacco from Cuba (which was taxed at 10 percent rather than the exorbitant 100 percent rate on finished cigars). A few decades later, labor prices at home would escalate, and major manufacturers would shift their operations back to the Caribbean; but the Cuban community in New Jersey stayed behind to make cigars for its own consumption--and occasional outsiders.
La Isla ("the Island") is a cigar factory that looks more like a one-chair barbershop. There is an almost bare counter display--something like the way state stores looked in television images from the former Soviet Union--and to the left, three rollers sit so close they literally touch shoulders as they make cigars and talk quietly. They gaze at their gringo guests with a bit of wariness.
In the back, a bathroom doubles as a makeshift kitchen, with an ancient, two-burner stovetop keeping the morning coffee warm. The presses and molds used to hold and shape finished cigars look as old as the burners, and Berto Ale, the owner of La Isla, says he cannot remember when they were purchased, but he speculates that they have been around since 1970. At the front on the unadorned counter, three old Partagas boxes hold whatever the three rollers produce daily. However, if you look through the glass and don't see what you want, don't be shy. Persistence pays at La Isla. If you like what you see on the rollers' table, ask for it. If your Spanish is rusty, point.
Berto Ale has owned the business for eight years. At 58, he is relatively young for this segment of the cigar industry, which is dominated by 70-year-old men. Still, his wife Elsie, who runs the outlet store in Manhattan (May Rosa) laments that both stores will be gone in a few years. "My children don't want to have anything to do with the business, and even if we sell the store, the new owners wouldn't be able to find workers."
A few blocks from the heavily trafficked streets of downtown Union City, Boquilla Cigar looks abandoned. Inside, that feeling doesn't change much. Composed of little more than a countertop, four walls and a three-dimensional plastic relief of the Last Supper, a healthy skepticism about the quality of the product seems in order. But after speaking with the very genial owner, José Suarez, and his tiny staff, the expectations grow. Suarez was a former employee of Rolando Reyes Sr. (see Cuba Aliados, below) in Cuba and learned to roll cigars in his factory.
Now, some 25 years later, Suarez is making cigars to compete with the cheap, short-filler bundle cigars sold in every drugstore in Union City. He uses the same blend for each size: filler from Honduras or the Dominican Republic, binder from Brazil or Mexico and Mexican wrapper because, according to Suarez, "it is the strongest," and the locals like strong cigars. Suarez says most of his clients are older, and most like a soberano or Churchill size. They also like the price; 25 soberanos, 7 1/2 by 52 ring gauge, go for a very modest $30.
Having a look around Aliados is a look into the future, or would-be future, of every chinchal in the United States. Cigars are no longer made here, they are manufactured in Honduras, with a "showpiece" roller who comes in occasionally yet adds little to the massive stock of Aliados cigars. Still, the enticing aroma of spicy tobacco permeates the walls of the upstairs room of this cigar store, and in a shed out back 20,000 cigars are aging. Most of what is sold here are Cuba Aliados, which explains the smell; these Honduran-made cigars are very fresh and the aroma is much stronger for that reason.
Rolando Reyes Jr. runs the shop in Union City while his father oversees the operation in Honduras. According to the younger Reyes, his father began working in the cigar business when he was 17, as an unpaid apprentice for Cuba Aliados, an obscure Cuban brand made in Sancti-Spiritus, a city about 200 miles southeast of Havana. After seven years of unpaid work, Reyes earned the respect of the old woman who owned Aliados. She gave him the rights to the brand when she became ill, and Reyes eventually moved the company to Havana. "He had a hard time making cigars there," says the younger Reyes. Eventually though, Partagas, Por Larrañaga, El Rey del Mundo, and H. Upmann began to buy cigars from Reyes and labal them with their own brands. Business was booming.
And despite the rise of the Castro regime, Reyes managed to keep his business until 1968. "All the Cubans in Cuba kept on saying the same thing: 'He'll fall next year'." When the Cuban government took over "they took everything--even the chairs," says the younger Reyes, his voice shaded with bitterness.
When the elder Reyes moved to the United States, he chose to raise his family in Union City. "My uncle lent my dad $500 to start his business in 1970. My father had one, two, three cigar makers at the most here. My father was working in the day in the store and at night in a knitting factory."
But the elder Reyes encountered the same problems all present-day owners have. "We started making the cigars here in 1974. We didn't have enough cigars for the customers because we couldn't get enough makers. So we moved. First to the D.R. and then to Miami. In Miami, we went in 1979. We opened, and we had a lot of cigar makers. But we still didn't have enough cigars being made," recounts the younger Reyes.
To keep up with demand, Cuba Aliados went to Honduras in 1988 and solved their labor problems for good. "Face it. In Honduras there are cigar makers who are younger; there's always people learning because you can make good money on it." And Reyes says it is simply easier to make cigars where the tobacco is grown. His customers keep coming back. "I still have the same customers I had 15 years ago. Even if they move away, they send for the cigars from there."
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - After getting in trouble in her last election, Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter has paid $2,000 in campaign funds to her criminal attorney and another $2,000 to the attorney who handled her Florida Elections Commission violation case.
The payments were made to Miami lawyer Ben Keuhne, who is representing her in a wide-ranging criminal investigation being conducted by the State Attorney's Office, and the law firm of Tallahassee attorney Mark Herron, who represented Ritter in a recent Florida Elections Commission case.
Lawyer Brenda Chalifour, who filed the previous elections complaint, said authorities should determine if those payments were legitimate to the campaign or a way to pay her outside attorneys. She noted that Ritter is a lawyer herself.
"The law is clear and a member of the Bar can read that statute and decipher what it says," Chalifour said. "It's not that tough and if you have questions you can ask the elections commissions."
Veteran Broward elections official Mary Cooney told me she couldn't remember any other candidate paying lawyers for legal services from campaign accounts.
Ritter said she hired the attorneys as a result of the previous elections case, which initially involved 28 violations and was settled last year. "After what I went through last time, it would have been foolish of me to not hire election lawyers to make sure there were no mistakes," she wrote in an email to Local 10.
Kuehne, who represents former Broward Teachers Union president Pat Santeramo in his corruption case, is known best as a criminal attorney, but he said he routinely gives campaign law advice.
"I have many clients who engage my election law services for campaigns," he said. "The legal specialty I provide is of great assistance to my clients."
When I asked him to name other politicians that paid him from their campaigns, he refused to do so.
The State Attorney's Office corruption investigation into Ritter has been ongoing for months.
Copyright 2012 by Post Newsweek. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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SummerFest free events
• Annual outdoor concert: "SummerFest Under the Stars" (at La Jolla Cove/Scripps Park)
7:30 p.m. July 31: Cho-Liang Lin with SummerFest artists and the San Diego Youth Symphony's International Youth Symphony
• Coaching workshops (at La Jolla Riford Library)
10 to 11 a.m. and 11 a.m. to noon, Aug. 1-3, 6-10, 14-17, 20, 21: SummerFest artists coach the festival's two Fellowship Ensembles:
the Newbury Trio (pianist Henry Kramer, violinist Arianna Warsaw-Fan and cellist Meta Weiss) and the Amphion String Quartet (violinists Katie Hyun and David Southorn, cellist Mihai Marica and violist Wei-Yang "Andy" Lin).
• Open rehearsals (at MCASD Sherwood Auditorium)
2:50 to 4:15 p.m. Aug. 9; 10:20 a.m. to noon Aug. 11; 2:50 to 4:30 p.m. Aug. 13; 3:50 to 5 p.m. Aug. 16; 12:50 to 2 p.m. Aug. 18 (at St. James-by-the-Sea); 1:20 to 2:30 Aug. 20: musicians prepare works that will be performed in the evening programs.
• Encounters (at Athenaeum Art & Music Library)
12:30 to 2 p.m. Aug. 9 (composers' forum), Aug. 16 (Schubert lecture by musicologist Susan Youens), Aug. 23 (panel with Cho-Liang Lin, Philippe Quint, Andrew Wan and Arianna Warsaw-Fan on "Forging a concert career")
• Special screening (at MCASD Sherwood Auditorium)
7:30 p.m. Aug. 23: West Coast premiere of David Grubin's "Downtown Express" (SummerFest violinist Philippe Quint, who stars in the film, will give an introduction).
La Jolla Music Society SummerFest 2012
When: Free pre-festival concert at 7:30 July 31; festival officially opens Aug. 3 and continues through Aug. 24
Where: La Jolla Cove/Scripps Park (free concert); MCASD Sherwood Auditorium, 700 Prospect St.; St. James-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, 743 Prospect St.; La Jolla Playhouse, UC San Diego
Admission: $45-$75
Phone: (858) 459-3728
First of all, forget everything you know, or think you know, about classical music.
At SummerFest, there won't be a tuxedo in sight, the musicians will range in age from teenagers to seniors (you may think you're at a family reunion), the atmosphere is intimate, and the music, well, that's the best part.
"With SummerFest, I get to explore all sorts of music, especially this year," said director Cho-Liang Lin.
Lin has programmed works ranging from Gabriel Kahane's pop songs to Brahms' piano trios, a jazz set by Branford Marsalis to a comedy routine by Igudesman & Joo, Tan Dun's "Water Passion after St. Matthew" to Telemann's Suite in A Minor for alto recorder and strings.
It's all here in arguably the most wide-ranging annual summer festival the La Jolla Music Society has ever presented.
"It's a microcosm of my outlook," said Lin last week, speaking from Taipei, Taiwan, where he's directing the Cross-Strait Youth Orchestra (it comprises 80 Chinese and Taiwanese musicians ages 15 to 24).
And Lin, one of the world's most celebrated violinists, isn't someone to plan a party and then stand back and see how the guests interact. As has been his practice since he took over the highly regarded festival in 2000, he'll be in the thick of it, playing on six of the 15 programs, whether in the spotlight in the Brahms Piano Trios or in the second violin section in the SummerFest finale.
"It's just incredibly satisfying," Lin said. "I get to be the instigator, but I also have the joy of playing, and listening to, all this music."
While the primary, evening programs feature some of the most respected names in classical music, whether Lin, pianist Jeffrey Kahane or conductor Kent Nagano, part of the pleasure of the festival is seeing and hearing the younger "Fellowship" musicians — this year the members of the Amphion String Quartet and the Newbury Trio. They play nearly every day in free, open-to-the-public coaching sessions, but they also perform in some of the regular programs, often showing their seniors a thing or two about making music.
You can forget about classical musicians sitting like statues, nearly motionless, seemingly lost in their own world (not that there's anything wrong with that). There's a new generation, perhaps two new generations, of classical musicians — performers like Felix Fan and Augustin Hadelich, to name just two who will be in evidence in the festival — who are intent on showing their humanity as much as their virtuosity.
Once you connect with that human element, you may even forget you are listening to classical music.
You might even remember that music is just music.
SummerFest concert schedule
Aug. 3: Opening night: "A Romantic Promenade"
Aug. 4: Tan Dun's "Water Passion After St. Matthew" (at La Jolla Playhouse)
Aug. 5: Baroque Masterworks (at St. James by-the-Sea)
Aug. 7: Schubert I: "A Journey Through Time"
Aug. 8: An Evening With Branford Marsalis
Aug. 10: Commissions & Premieres (new works by Gabriel Kahane, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Aaron Jay Kernis and Marc-André Dalbavie)
Aug. 12: Tokyo String Quartet
Aug. 14: Schubert II: "Soiree Musicale"
Aug. 15: An Evening With Igudesman & Joo: "A Little Nightmare Music"
Aug. 17: Beethoven: "The Other Masterpieces"
Aug. 18: "Viva Tango!" An Evening With Pablo Ziegler
Aug. 19: "A Family Affair" (with harpist Deborah Hoffman, violist Toby Hoffman, cellist Gary Hoffman and SummerFest artists)
Aug. 21: Schubert III: "Freunde und Freude"
Aug. 22: The Complete Brahms Trios (with violinist Cho-Liang Lin, cellist Gary Hoffman and pianist Jon Kimura Parker)
Aug. 24: SummerFest Finale (with Kent Nagano conducting the SummerFest Chamber Orchestra)
Except for the Aug. 4 "Water Passion" (at La Jolla Playhouse) and the Aug. 5 baroque program (at St. James by-the-Sea), all concerts are at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego's Sherwood Auditorium, 700 Prospect St., La Jolla. Weekday and Saturday concerts are at 7:30 p.m. (pre-concert "preludes" at 6:30). Sunday concerts are at 3 p.m. ("preludes" at 2 p.m.). Single tickets are $45-$75. (858) 459-3728 or
My SummerFest favorites (if you want a sure thing, buy a recording; otherwise, here are five especially promising programs):
Aug. 4 (7:30 p.m.): Tan Dun's "Water Passion After St. Matthew" (La Jolla Playhouse's Mandell Weiss Theatre)
With the San Diego Master Chorale and SummerFest musicians, Tan Dun conducting
Tan Dun, an Oscar winner (for the score to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") and the composer of the YouTube Symphony, wrote this acclaimed, 90-minute multimedia work in 2000 in celebration of the 250th anniversary of Bach's death. It's arguably the largest production SummerFest has presented, collaborating with the Master Chorale and the La Jolla Playhouse for the first time. (Look for a conversation with Tan Dun in Sunday's Arts + Culture section.)
Aug. 5 (3 p.m.): Baroque Masterworks (St. James by-the-Sea)
With recorder player Michala Petri, harpsichordist Anthony Newman, violinist Augustin Hadelich and SummerFest musicians.
Petri may not be a household name, but she's the undisputed superstar of the recorder, that simple wooden flute whose humble, plastic relatives have charmed generations of children and adults. She'll be performing concertos by Telemann, Sammartini and Vivaldi. Hadelich, who made a strong impression in last year's SummerFest and on this year's San Diego Symphony Masterworks series, will play Bach's heavenly Partita No. 3 for solo violin.
Aug. 7 (7:30 p.m.): Schubert I: "A Journey Through Time" (MCASD Sherwood Auditorium)
Vocalist/pianist/composer Gabriel Kahane, pianist Jeffrey Kahane and the Tokyo String Quartet
Father Jeffrey will play some Schubert, and then son Gabriel, the rare contemporary composer who can easily and un-self-consciously move back and forth between pop and so-called classical music, will sing one of his own songs. Schubert-Kahane-Schubert-Kahane. Then the superb Tokyo Quartet wraps things up with Schubert's String Quartet No. 15 in G Major.
Aug. 10 (7:30 p.m.): Commissions & Premieres (MCASD Sherwood Auditorium)
New works by Gabriel Kahane, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Aaron Jay Kernis and Marc-André Dalbavie with the Calder Quartet, the Amphion String Quartet and SummerFest musicians
You could argue that SummerFest puts contemporary music in a ghetto by isolating much of its 21st-century offerings on a single program. Or, you could revel in the burst of creativity that is inevitably part of what has become an annual contemporary ritual. You live in the 21st century, you drive a 21st-century car, you inevitably deal with a 21st-century visual language — why not open yourself up to 21st-century classical music as well?
Aug. 24 (7:30 p.m.): SummerFest Finale (MCASD Sherwood Auditorium)
Kent Nagano conducts the SummerFest Chamber Orchestra
The highly esteemed Nagano, who rarely conducts in San Diego, has built a career based on two primary elements: integrity and musicianship. He'll bring both to performances of three standards: Rossini's "Barber of Seville" Overture, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 (with Mari Kodama) and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 ("Italian"). And there's more: SummerFest music director Cho-Liang "Jimmy" Lin persuaded Nagano to include Maurer's Sinfonia Concertante for Four Violins (with violinists Lin, Michelle Kim, Philippe Quint and Andrew Wan) on the program. Maurer is one of those second-level 19th-century composers who has been passed over by history, but not by Lin. Look for Lin and his colleagues to have a blast with this slightly over-the-top work.Copyright © 2017, The San Diego Union-Tribune


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Teaford's contract sold to Korean team
DETROIT -- Left-handed pitcher Everett Teaford is going to give Korea a try.
The Royals announced on Sunday that Teaford's contract has been sold to the LG Twins of the Korean Baseball Organization. He had been in the Major League clubhouse until March 14, when he was reassigned to the Minor League camp.
"They had approached me in the offseason, and I didn't feel like I was ready to make that jump," Teaford said. "And then they came back again in Spring Training and, obviously, a lot had happened since the end of November to this point. I just felt it was a good opportunity. I'll get to start over there, and I decided to take them up on it."
Teaford, 29, pitched in parts of the last three seasons for Kansas City as a reliever and occasional starter, compiling a 3-5 record and 4.25 ERA in 45 games (eight starts). Last year, he played in just one game for KC, but for Triple-A Omaha, he was in 31 games (14 starts) and had a 4-6 record and 3.49 ERA.
Hailing from Alpharetta, Ga., Teaford spent his entire eight-year pro career with the Royals after being drafted in the 12th round in 2006 out of Georgia Southern.
Pitching for Double-A Northwest Arkansas in 2010, Teaford led the Texas League in victories with a 14-3 record. In 2008, he won the Mike Sweeney Award as the player who best represents the organization on and off the field.
"I'd been with them for eight years and they had a lot of young guys coming up," Teaford said. "And I was excited to get the opportunity to start all the time and not necessarily bounce back and forth -- and maybe get the opportunity to come back next year and show what I can do over here after a full year of starting, because I really haven't had that in about five years."
The team he's joining, the LG Twins, finished second last season.
"It honestly is a once-in-a-lifetime deal," Teaford said. "There are only nine teams over there -- and they're only allowed three foreign players -- so you figure that's just 27. I'm lucky they chose me."
Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
I'll preface this by saying I would only accept this deal if we signed Eric Gordon.
IND Receives:
Josh McRoberts
2012 1st
LAL Receives:
David West
Danny Granger
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I'll preface this by saying I would only accept this deal if we signed Eric Gordon.
IND Receives:
Pau Gasol
Josh McRoberts
2012 1st
LAL Receives:
David West
Danny Granger
We can probably get Gasol without trading Granger. (Hill+West+pick or Collison+West+Pick could do it)
Either way, not sure we should do it. Huge contract.
"Josh Smith Re-building the city of Detroit one brick at a time"Originally Posted by Piston PrinceThis quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
No thanks Gasol is just a pussified version of West and Declining
Gasol now is better than West ever was or will ever be. Mike Brown's terrible offense, Kobe's tendency to jack up shots, and the fact that the Lakers ran into a buzzsaw last year in the playoffs really make Gasol a great value right now if we picked him up. I agree that a trade centered around West/Hill might do it... especially considering LA would only trade him if they were going to get some salary relief. West/Collison/pick might even do it. The Lakers are going to have their backs against the wall with the new Repeater Tax clause.
Sign me up! I'd love to enter next season with a core of PG24, Granger, Gasol and Hibbert. A decent distributor could turn the team into a powerhouse.
Gasol is basically untradable because of his huge contract.... The Pacers cannot afford him and is on the decline.......
Oh, please, not McBrick again.... He is the most overrated Pacer of all time (Granger is a close second)......
Granger is far from ovverrated on this board. People know his flaws very well.
Gasol would probably come here and sulk because of the lack of "culture".
Besides, Lil Wayne wants to trade Gasol for West. Sandman say NO-AH (and I don't mean the Geico reject in Chicago)!
"Nobody wants to play against Tyler Hansbrough NO BODY!" ~ Frank Vogel
"And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen. "
I dont want to trade half the team for a declining downgrade.
"What you do is so loud, I can't hear what you say" -Andrew LuckJunior at the University of Louisville
"If you turn the other cheek, I'm gonna hit you in the other cheek, too" -Charles Barkley
"Ego is edging greatness out" -Rick Pitino
Greenfield-Central High School Alum '14
Follow me on Twitter @steagles1
1000th post - 4/16/12 2000th post - 6/24/12 3000th post - 3/8/13


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What if the Montreal Screwjob never happened?
by, 10-29-2012 at 01:16 PM (11112 Views)
Alternate Universe 5
9th November 1997. Survivor Series. One of the most talked about and discussed wrestling matches ever. Bret Hart had signed a contract to work with company rival WCW. The problem for the McMahons and WWF was that Bret was the champion. To make things a little more difficult was that while he had a PPV title defense against Shawn Michaels, who would be (and was) an adequate person to take the title off him, Bret and Shawn had backstage personal and political issues. In short, Hart wasn't prepared to drop the title to Michaels in Canada.Vince got a little worried; he didn't want the champion of his company, leaving to his rival without having been beaten for the title. It would make his top tier championship look bad and it would be a nightmare if he appeared on Nitro with the WWF championship. So the plan was for to Shawn to beat Bret in the main event by submission and win the title which was what happened. It's just they didn't tell Bret thats what they were going to do. And when they did it, Bret was pissed. He left on bad terms and Bulldog and Neidhart went to WCW with him.
Its been well talked about and discussed over the years and usually ends in many heated words. The conversation usually goes around in circles if you ever view it in various forums.
"Bret had creative control. He had a say how he had to lose"
"He should have dropped the belt if he was going"
"Shawn was a dick and did shit like this all the time"
"2 wrongs don't make a right, he should have done his job and lost"
(and return to top and repeat til the end of time)
But what if there was a solution? What if they didn't have to trick Bret into losing the title? And what would happen to those involved down the line?
What if the Montreal Screw Job never happened?
Quite a big 'what if.' First, to make it really work, we need to come up with an alterative Survivor Series 97 ending. After the bad blood between Hart and Michaels then it might be a but much to expect Hart to do the job on home soil to a man who he geninally didn't like. The plan (as far as Bret was aware) was that Survivor Series would end on a double DQ. The next night on RAW he would vacant the title with a farewell speech. While Shawn did that a year and a half earlier and Edge would do it over a decade later, neither of these men were leaving for a rival company which was beating WWF in the ratings.
But perhaps it would be ok, if they went along with the double DQ Survivor Series ending and on RAW the next day while making his farewell speech, he was interrupted and challenged to an impromptu match? One of the names mentioned in the debates and pieces of news that have come out over the years was that of Ken Shamrock. Shamrock later down the line would be a Intercontential and tag team champion as well as winning the 1998 King of the Ring. So for the sake of the set up lets say, the MSJ never happened and the next night on RAW, Ken Shamrock after challenging Bret to a final match, became the WWF champion. What happens to everyone?
Bret Hart - Bret Hart goes to WCW were he has a (compared to his WWF stint) relatively disappointing and underused career. Even when he came to WCW in the wake of the MSJ, they failed to really capatilise on him and so its fair to say things would be much the same if the screwjob never happened. Although he wouldn't have gotten the reputation he has over the years of a bitter man. And since he wouldn't be holding a grudge against the WWF and Vince, he may have returned when his contract with WCW ran out (although he was released slightly before the end due to the injury he received from Goldberg).
Of course, if Owen still gets involved with his Blue Blazer storyline and has the tradigic accident at Over the Edge, then this may still sour his relationship with the WWF and wrestling. However, without the initial screwjob, then prehaps Bret will forgive alot easier.
The Wrestling with Shadows documentary that was being filmed at the time, would be nowhere near as big as it became now that the excitment of the MSJ never happened.
Shawn Michaels - Despite not winning the title at Survivor Series, Shawn would challenge the new WWF champion Ken Shamrock at the next PPV, the December In Your House. This is were he will take the championship (by dastardly cheating means) from Shamrock who is merely a transitional champion. Shawn will continue his run as normal, handing the Euro title to HHH, continuing his feud with the Undertaker at the Rumble and finally ending up at Wrestlemania 14, dropping the title to Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart and the British Bulldog - After the screwjob, the Bulldog asked for his release and went to WCW with Jim Neidhart. Without the screwjob, there's be no need for both of them to leave. Neidhart would probably fill out the bottom of the wrestling cards, jobbing to new talent before quietly being released. Owen and the Bulldog would possibly reform their tag team partnership and continue to do well in the tag team division with feuds with the New Age Outlaws and the returned Legion of Doom.
The sad thing is, without going to WCW, Bulldog would not have received the injury he did at Fall Brawl 98. It was this injury (where he landed badly on a trap door in the ring) which damaged Bulldogs back and led to his problems with painkillers. Bulldog died of a heart attack aged only 39 in May 2002 although it may have been down to years of steroid abuse.
Ravishing Rick Rude - After the MSJ Rick Rude, outraged with what happened to Bret, left WWF for WCW. Since Rude was not on a fixed contract with WWF he was able to do this quite easily. Without the MSJ, Rude would not have the desire to leave and so would remain helping out DX. When DX expands to include the New Age Outlaws and X-pac, Rude may look a little like an odd man out despite being a non wrestling member so would probably slip away from the group over time.
Sadly Rude died of heart attack in April of 1999.
Vince McMahon - The 'Mr McMahon' character is often said to have his roots at the MSJ. And they also say it was the Mr McMahon character that worked against anti authority hero Steve Austin in the storyline that saved the WWF.
However if you look back, the Mr McMahon character was well on the way to being created before the 1997 Survivor Series. Granted it may have given the character an extra kick jump but it was on Raw on 22 September that Steve Austin first gave McMahon a stone cold stunner. The first of many. By that point, everyone knew that Vince was not just a simple commentator but rather the big boss who, in kayfabe, was not impressed with Stone Cold's actions. With the continuing rise of Steve Austin's character and popularity, it was inevitable that this would antagonize the boss when Austin becomes champion at Wrestlemania 14, and so the Austin/McMahon saga was bound to happen regardless what happened at Montreal.
In Conclusion...
For such a massive talked about event, the MSJ probably didn't change the wrestling landscape much at all. It wouldn't have much impact on the Monday night wars and WCW would still be bought out when it did. We wouldn't see the booking of so many of the copycat screwjob match finishes and Bret may not have been as bitter as he became for so long. Vince wouldn't get the 'You screwed Bret' chants but the Mr McMahon character would still be there to give Steve Austin hell and provide us with some of the most amazing wrestling TV.
So what if Steve Austin never came to WWF....? Hmmmmmm?
edit - Just want to give a quick shout and thanks to the responces the Alternative Universes have being recieving- much thanks!
Have a safe Halloween and just to let you know on Halloween and the day after, my second novella 'PREY FOR THE VAMPIRE'. is free! so check it out on Amazon. All the best,


text:
The Research Registry for Neonatal Lupus
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
|Neonatal Lupus Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Sjogren's Syndrome Congenital Heart Block
|Other: No intervention; observational
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Observational Model: Cohort
Time Perspective: Prospective
|Official Title:
|The Research Registry for Neonatal Lupus
- means of curing and/or preventing neonatal lupus [ Time Frame: ongoing ]means of curing and/or preventing neonatal lupus
- identification of pathogenesis of neonatal lupus [ Time Frame: ongoing ]identification of pathogenesis of neonatal lupus
Biospecimen Retention: Samples With DNA
|Estimated Enrollment:
|Study Start Date:
|September 1994
|Estimated Study Completion Date:
|January 2020
|Estimated Primary Completion Date:
|January 2020 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Assigned Interventions
human beings
human beings of all sexes, ages, and health statuses
Other: No intervention; observational
Other Name: The study is observational
Detailed Description:
Neonatal lupus is a disease seen in babies born to mothers who have antibodies to SSA/Ro and/or SSB/La proteins. The mother may have systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjogren's syndrome, or be otherwise healthy. Heart block and a characteristic skin rash are the primary manifestations of neonatal lupus.
The Research Registry for Neonatal Lupus was initiated in 1994 to help basic scientists and clinicians better understand the cause of neonatal lupus and discover a cure. The Research Registry is a central repository of patient information, sera, and DNA. The Registry provides blood samples (kept anonymous) to scientists studying neonatal lupus. Information from the registry forms the basis of family counseling and tracks important data such as recurrence rates in subsequent pregnancies and the effects of treatments. The Research Registry also serves as an educational resource for women who are eager to learn about this disease.
Women with a child affected by neonatal lupus may enroll in the Registry. Women can be self referred or referred by their doctors. Siblings of women with a child affected by neonatal lupus, fathers and maternal grandparents of children with neonatal lupus, and unaffected siblings of a child with neonatal lupus are also invited to participate in this study. All information on the mother and her family is confidential; only nonidentifying information will be provided to researchers. Women interested in the registry will be sent articles and educational materials about neonatal lupus, a consent form for the Registry, and an enrollment questionnaire. Participants will be asked to sign a medical records release form. Participants will also be asked to donate a blood sample for antibody testing and DNA isolation.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|Child, Adult, Senior
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
|Sampling Method:
|Non-Probability Sample
Inclusion Criteria:
- Mother with antibodies to SSA/Ro, SSB/La, or ribonucleoproteins (RNP) OR Child of mother with such antibodies who has neonatal lupus (congenital heart block, transient skin rash, and/or hepatic or hematologic manifestations) OR Father of neonatal lupus-affected child OR Maternal grandparents of neonatal lupus-affected child OR Maternal aunts and uncles of neonatal lupus-affected OR Unaffected siblings of neonatal lupus-affected child
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00074373
|Contact: Zoey Smith
|Contact: Jill Buyon, M.D.
|United States, New York
|Jill P. Buyon, MD
|New York, New York, United States, 10016
|Contact: Zoey Smith 212-263-0743 firstname.lastname@example.com
|Contact: Jill Buyon, M.D. 212-263-0746 firstname.lastname@example.com
|Principal Investigator: Jill P. Buyon, MD
|Study Director:
|Jill P. Buyon, MD
|NYU Medical Center, NYU School of Medicine
Additional Information:
|Responsible Party:
|New York University School of Medicine
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT00074373 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|December 11, 2003
|Last Updated:
|October 17, 2016
Keywords provided by New York University School of Medicine:
Anti-SSA/Ro Antibodies
Anti-SSB/La Antibodies
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic
Sjogren's Syndrome
Heart Block
Connective Tissue Diseases
Autoimmune Diseases
Immune System Diseases
Arthritis, Rheumatoid
Joint Diseases
Musculoskeletal Diseases
Rheumatic Diseases
Salivary Gland Diseases
Mouth Diseases
Stomatognathic Diseases
Dry Eye Syndromes
Lacrimal Apparatus Diseases
Eye Diseases
Arrhythmias, Cardiac
Heart Diseases
Cardiovascular Diseases
Pathologic Processes
Immunologic Factors
Physiological Effects of Drugs
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017


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NYU Stern EEX Entrepreneurship Summit 2013
NYU Stern EEX
Friday, April 5, 2013 from 12:30 PM to 7:30 PM (PDT)
Who's Going
San Francisco, California
London, United Kingdom
Florence, Italy
Event Details
Join us for our Annual NYU Stern EEX Entrepreneurship Summit!
We are taking an entirely new approach to how conferences work and arranging a series of "mini-treks" throughout the city, allowing Stern to truly leverage its location and allowing attendees to visit firms including Warby Parker, ZocDoc, Foursquare, Betaworks, OpenSky, RebelMouse, Bitly, Fab.com, SinglePlatform, Sailthru and Iconic Hand Rolls!
Choose one (1) of the four (4) Crawls that we've curated for you and get out of the building to explore!
EEX Summit Startup Crawl Tickets include admission to the Keynote and Networking Happy Hour with all of the companies.
Event Details:
12:30 - 1:00pm - Registration (NYU Stern)
1:00 - 2:00pm - Opening Keynote Address - Michael Wolf (Founder and Managing Partner of Activate Inc., Former President and COO of MTV, Mentor to Mark Zuckerberg)
2:00 - 5:45pm - Startup Crawl throughout the City
6:00 - 7:30pm - Networking Happy Hour with all the companies - open bar and appetizers (Back at NYU Stern)
We are more than excited to have you!
Here's the map http://goo.gl/maps/8XeX3
Sponsored by Herrick, Feinstein LLP
Betaworks - build companies like bitly, Chartbeat and SocialFlow.
Bit.ly allows users to shorten, share, and track links (URLs). Reducing the URL length makes sharing easier
Iconic Hand Rolls, serving great sushi that's quick and affordable
ZocDoc improves access to healthcare
RebelMouse takes your social presence across the major networks and organizes it into beautiful, dynamic and social site
Single Platform - world's largest online provider of restaurant menus and local business storefronts, enables local businesses to publish information like their products, services, menus, photos, and prices
Warby Parker - boutique quality, classcially crafted eyewear at a revolutionary price point
Herrick Feinstein LLP will help you understand the economics behind key legal decisions for startups
OpenSky - social shopping marketplace that helps people discover, buy and share unique goods that match their individual taste.
Fab.com - help people better their lives with design.
Sailthru - technology company that specializes in digital brand experiences and communications.
Foursquare - geographical location based social network that incorporates gaming elements
When & Where
NYU Stern
44 West 4th Street
New York,
Friday, April 5, 2013 from 12:30 PM to 7:30 PM (PDT)
Add to my calendar


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Man stabbed to death at his home
A 37-year-old King City man was fatally stabbed at his home early Tuesday, police said.
Officers found the victim about 6:40 a.m. after they were dispatched to a possible battery report. The man suffered several stab wounds and was pronounced dead at Mee Memorial Hospital.
Police didn't release the name of the victim.
Police Capt. Bruce Miller said the man had been raking leaves in the 500 block of Bassett Street when he went into a building attached to the residence.
The attacker apparently confronted him there. The victim's wife heard a commotion and she went outside, and the assailant pushed by her and ran off.
Police said the victim had no gang connections, and the motive for the homicide wasn't determined.
Armed robberies nearly simultaneous
Salinas police had their hands full with two nearly simultaneous armed robberies about 6:45 p.m. Tuesday.
The first robbery occurred at La Vina Market, 2165 N. Main St., when two armed men with guns "pretty much terrorized the people inside ... pointing guns and screaming" for money, police Cmdr. Dan Perez said. They fled with an undisclosed amount of money from the cashier.
One robber ran into the nearby Shop and Save to hide, but came out after police surrounded the business, Perez said.
Two other people, possibly accomplices, were arrested at North Main Street near East Bolivar Street, he said. The California Highway Patrol assisted in this case.
Meanwhile, police received a call of a robbery at Radio Shack at 612 E. Boronda Road. The robber, armed with a knife, demanded money from the cashier and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Because police were "all tapped out" dealing with the other robbery, Perez said, the Monterey County Sheriff's Office assisted.
Four arrested in string of robberies
A gas station robbery in King City led to the arrest of four people in connection with a string of robberies in the Gilroy and Morgan Hill areas, King City police said.
A gunman robbed the AM/PM station at 1302 Broadway Circle about 2:40 a.m. Tuesday, then fled in a vehicle. Cameras in the area captured images of the suspect and the vehicle, which was spotted by California Highway Patrol officers in San Luis Obispo County, police said.
Three men and a 17-year-old boy in the vehicle were arrested, and one of the occupants was identified as the AM/PM robber, police said. Evidence found in the vehicle linked all four suspects to robberies in Gilroy and Morgan Hill, police said.
The suspects, all from the San Francisco Bay Area, were booked into Monterey County Jail and juvenile hall on charges of robbery and criminal conspiracy.
Three arrested in check fraud probe
Three people have been arrested as part of a check fraud investigation, Salinas police said Tuesday.
The investigation began after Rabobank and Bank of America reported fraudulent checks were passed by different people. Police said several people were involved in the operation.
Arrested in the ongoing investigation were Hope Misner Ramirez, 44, Debra Tello Acosta, 37, and Amanda Mairose, 27, police said. All three were booked into Monterey County Jail on charges of check fraud.
Mairose, who was arrested early Tuesday, also faces charges of burglary and possession of stolen property, police said.


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Marketing Information
Powered by Insight, Symantec Endpoint Protection is the fastest, most powerful endpoint protection security solution you can buy. Symantec Endpoint Protection provides state-of-the-art defense against all types of attacks for both physical and virtual systems. Seamlessly integrating the essential security tools you need into a single, high performance agent with a single management console, Symantec Endpoint Protection provides leading protection without slowing you down.
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|Symantec Corporation
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|Endpoint Protection v.12.1
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|Endpoint Protection v.12.1
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|5 User
This product is shipped only within Canada and Warranty valid for Canada only.
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Padres waiting to make decision on Grandal
PHOENIX -- Don't be surprised to see catcher Yasmani Grandal join the team on Tuesday in Seattle when he completes his suspension for violating Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.
Last November, Grandal was suspended for the first 50 games of the 2013 season after testing positive for testosterone. He's been playing with Triple-A Tucson since May 18.
"We're going to see what happens this weekend and see what happens [Sunday], and then get together to make a decision," Padres manager Bud Black said. "Nothing is imminent and nothing is etched in stone, but it's a high probability."
Grandal went 3-for-5 Saturday against Sacramento and is hitting .313 with three doubles and two RBIs in his first eight games at Triple-A. He has also struck out 10 times in his first 32 at-bats.
Acquired as part of the trade with Cincinnati for Mat Latos, Grandal hit .297 with eight home runs and 36 RBIs in 60 games after being called up last season on June 1.
It's unclear if Grandal would have been ready for the season if he had not been suspended because of the two inflamed tendons on his left side that have plagued him since the end of last season.
Jesse Sanchez is a national reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @JesseSanchezMLB. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Mets offense shut down by stellar Padres pitching
Wheeler allows four runs on six hits over just five innings
NEW YORK -- As Chris Young walked slowly and knowingly back to the Mets' dugout in the ninth inning Saturday evening, the sentiment from the Citi Field crowd was unmistakable. Boos rained down on Young, who had just struck out for the fourth time in as many trips to the plate in New York's 5-0 loss to the Padres, and he was the scapegoat for another hapless offensive effort from the Mets.
The boos grew louder as the game went on, and maybe no one heard them as clearly as Young himself.
"[He felt] just like anybody else would feel," Young said, subdued but even-keel. "You're out there busting your butt, trying to do your best. As a player, that's all you can do. You really can't control anything else.
"There's a lot of negative energy coming my way. I have to be a professional and continue to keep pushing and playing hard for this team. You hope that some of them can turn that negative energy into positive energy to support us and to help us fight through this."
Saturday's loss brought Young's struggles to new depths. His average is down to .196, OPS to .596 and strikeout rate to one in every five at-bats. Young is still getting regular playing time, too, with Juan Lagares and Eric Young, Jr. both on the disabled list.
Those aren't exactly the results Young or the organization expected when the outfielder signed a one-year, $7.25 million contract last winter.
"Chris has worked hard at trying to do some things, and I can tell you he's very disappointed after hitting the ball hard [Friday] night," manager Terry Collins said. "[Young is] trying to make an impact, trying to get himself back going again. I'm sure he's real frustrated."
Young was the lone target of crowd's explicit displeasure, but he certainly wasn't the only Met complicit in the loss. New York struck out a combined 13 times -- nearly half of its total outs -- and recorded two hits. One was Ruben Tejada's infield single to lead off the home half of the first, the second was Lucas Duda's bloop to shallow left field that barely fell in fair territory in the ninth. For 8 1/3 innings in between, the Mets were held hitless.
Collins credited Padres rookie right-hander Jesse Hahn for much of that. In just his second Major League start, Hahn tossed six scoreless while allowing one hit and three walks. Five of his seven strikeouts came on swings and misses on his vicious curveball.
"He pitched really well, made some critical pitches," San Diego manager Bud Black said. "He had a good curveball, the fastball had tremendous movement. It was cutting, it was running, it was sinking."
The Mets helped Hahn out by squandering two prime scoring opportunities in the first four innings. In the first, Duda lined out with runners on the corners and two outs. Three frames later, the Mets put their first two batters on before Hahn struck out the side, including Matt den Dekker with the bases loaded.
The team finished 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.
"The way they threw the ball mixed in with some poor at-bats, they were able to throw up a lot of zeroes," said David Wright, who is mired in a 5-for-44 (.114) slump since the start of June.
The opposite was true of the Padres' offense, which plated three two-out runs. Mets right-hander Zack Wheeler turned in his second sub-par outing in a row, allowing four runs on six hits and three walks.
The turning point came in the first inning. With two outs, Smith singled and Chase Headley walked. Yonder Alonso doubled to plate the former, and the latter scored on Wheeler's wild pitch. San Diego tacked on a run in the third when Everth Cabrera -- who singled and stole second -- scored on Headley's single, then another in the fourth on Hahn's looper to right.
The Padres' five runs were as many as they had scored in their previous three games combined.
"It's not fun," Wheeler said. "I'm leaving it up a little bit, and the sinker's not working for me. I didn't have a comfortable rhythm out there today. So I didn't do very well."
The Mets will try to take the rubber game Sunday afternoon, and a victory would give them their first series win in four tries this month.
"It was just one of those days where we had a couple of chances early and the strikeouts come back to bite us," Collins said. "They bit us again today."
Tim Healey is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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FOX Business: Capitalism Lives Here
Continue Reading Below
Sliding shares of teach heavyweight IBM knocked the Dow into the red, while the broader markets treaded water.
Today's Markets
As of 3:15 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 28.2 points, or 0.17%, to 16386, the S&P 500 gained 2.1 points, or 0.12%, to 1846 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 18.8 points, or 0.45%, to 4245.
With earnings season in full swing, corporate news stole Wall Street's focus on Wednesday. IBM (IBM) and United Technologies (UTX) both revealed better-than-expected quarterly profits, but disappointing sales sent shares sliding. Both companies have price points north of $100, meaning moves in their shares will have an outsize impact on the Dow.
Texas Instruments (TXN), the chipmaker, also came under pressure amid concerns about current-quarter profits. Meanwhile, Coach (COH) tumbled after the high-end apparel maker reported a bigger-than-expected fall in sales.
Continue Reading Below
Elsewhere in corporate news, VMware (VMW) said it would buy AirWatch for $1.54 billion.
There aren't any economic releases scheduled until the end of the week.
In commodities, U.S. crude oil futures climbed 62 cents, or 0.66%, to $94.99 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline rose 0.32% to $2.629 a gallon. Gold dipped 40 cents, or 0.03%, to $1,242 a troy ounce.


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More than 30% of the one million heart attack victims in the United States each year die before seeking medical attention. Although widespread education campaigns describe the warning signs of a heart attack, the average time from the onset of symptoms to arrival at the hospital has remained at 3 hours for more than 10 years. In their upcoming Ergonomics in Design article, "'This is your heart speaking. Call 911,'" authors Mary Carol Day and Christopher Young study the benefits of the AngelMed Guardian®, an implantable medical device currently undergoing clinical trials that alerts users about a potential heart attack through a combination of vibrations, audible tones, and visual warnings.
What makes the device distinctive is this combination of alert modes. Although vibrotactile (vibrating) alarms are sometimes used to warn medical personnel in operating rooms or ICUs of an emergency, very little research has focused on their potential as a self-monitoring device for patients. Auditory alarms are provided with selected implantable heart defibrillators, but research indicates that some patients - particularly the elderly - are unable to hear the alarms.
"A vibrotactile alarm provided by the implanted device has two major advantages," says Day. "First, the implanted device can't be left behind like a portable device. Second, a vibrotactile alarm from the implanted device is more likely to be felt than an auditory alarm is to be heard because, for example, the patient may be wearing heavy clothing, has hearing loss, or is in a noisy environment."
The device offers two levels of alarm urgency: A high-priority alarm indicates that the patient may be having a heart attack and should call 911, and a low-priority alarms indicates that a condition has been detected that requires a doctor visit within 48 hours. The alarms are provided by an implanted medical device, similar in size to a pacemaker, that is placed in the upper left chest, plus an external device, similar to a pager, that emits an auditory alarm and flashes a red or yellow warning light.
In a series of studies with older adults designed to test the device's design and user-friendliness, participants were able to tell the difference between the low-priority and high-priority vibration patterns and respond appropriately. They also reported that they liked the vibrating alarms and the redundancy of the auditory, visual, and vibrotactile warnings.
"If the Guardian is approved for sale by the FDA," continues Day, "it might be extended in ways that will change the way the patient interacts with the system as a whole. This would require more research and simulated-use studies to refine and validate the new interactions between the patient and the system."
For a full copy of the article, contact HFES Communications Director Lois Smith (email@example.com, 310/394-1811).
* * *
The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society is the world's largest nonprofit individual-member, multidisciplinary scientific association for human factors/ergonomics professionals, with more than 4,600 members globally. HFES members include psychologists and other scientists, designers, and engineers, all of whom have a common interest in designing systems and equipment to be safe and effective for the people who operate and maintain them. Watch science news stories about other HF/E topics at the HFES Web site. "Human Factors and Ergonomics: People-Friendly Design Through Science and Engineering"
Plan to attend the HFES 56th Annual Meeting, October 22-26: https://www.hfes.org//Web/HFESMeetings/2012annualmeeting.html
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New Vision Players to Present NEXT TO NORMAL at Luna Stage, 5/25 - 6/3
New Vision Players, Inc, an up-and-coming theater Production Company located in Paramus, New Jersey, will be producing the Broadway hit NEXT TO NORMAL at the end of this month. As the New Vision Players' inaugural performance, NEXT TO NORMAL is bound to be a powerful production that solidifies the fledgling company in the New Jersey theater scene.
The New Vision Players' production of NEXT TO NORMAL will play at Luna Stage in West Orange, New Jersey running from May 25th through June 3rd with 10 performances.
About Next to Normal:
The Broadway hit NEXT TO NORMAL won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2010, just the eighth musical ever to receive such an honor. Through the use of rock music, the show examines a mother's battle with bipolar schizophrenia and its effects on the rest of the family. Regardless of age or personal history, this show has the potential to touch every audience member. It is an emotional journey that explores a familial pattern of relationships which allows every viewer to relate personally.
New Vision Players, Inc. is the brain child of Michael Haber and Amanda Villafuerte. The two co-founders honed their craft both onstage and behind the scenes since a young age. They have now been working together for years in the theatrical realm. Haber and Villafuerte first met at the University of Delware, where they developed a tremendous friendship and excellent working rapport. This director/stage manager tandem has produced dozens of shows together while never losing sight of the ultimate goal: to create a professional product while maintaining an enjoyable and fulfilling rehearsal process.
The duo found that while there were theater companies available that produced professional-quality work and there were theater companies available that provided a fun experience for the cast and crew, there weren't many options for a company that encompassed both aspects of the process. From this determination to build a space where actors, crew, and musicians could rehearse, grow, laugh, and ultimately develop a top-notch quality show, New Vision Players, Inc. was born.
The cast of their current production of NEXT TO NORMAL can attest to this vision being met. Karen Mascolo, the oldest cast member at 28 years old, is one of two actresses portraying the lead role of Diana. According to Mascolo: "Mike Haber challenges me each rehearsal to go outside my comfort zone and actually feel the emotions my character is experiencing throughout the show. I often have to remind myself to shut Diana off when I leave rehearsal. It has been incredible to work with such a talented group of artists. This production will touch every audience member in so many ways."
The cast's youngest member at 17 years old, Alyssa McGraw, has also found working with New Vision Players, Inc. to be a rewarding yet fun experience. McGraw says: "I have never experienced anything as powerful or rewarding as playing Natalie in New Vision Players' production of Next to Normal. It has been so wonderful working with sucha talented cast and production staff on this project. The rehearsal process has been so fulfilling and we are beyond excited to get this show into the theater!"
Learn more about New Vision Players, Inc. at www.newvisionplayers.com
Ten performances. Two amazing casts. One incredible show.
New Vision Players' production of Next to Normal is double-cast with ten performers each performing in five of the ten performances.
Performing on May 26th at 2pm and 8pm, May 31st at 8pm, June 1st at 8pm, and June 3rd at 2pm:
Ben Simons as Dan
Cara Selick as Diana
Alyssa McGraw as Natalie
Justin Long as Gabe
Jon Lee as Henry
Corey Chichizola as Dr. Madden
Performing on May 25th at 8pm, May 27th at 2pm, May 30th at 8pm, and June 2nd at 2pm and 8pm:
Ben Simons as Dan
Karen Mascolo as Diana
Morgan Assante as Natalie
Kevin Hack as Gabe
Anthony Crouchelli as Henry
Corey Chichizola as Dr. Madden
Michael Haber- Director
David Maglione- Musical Director
Amanda Villafuerte- Stage Manager
Chris Bediones-Production Manager/Assistant Stage Manager
Ariana Trahanas- Assistant Stage Managers
Laura Iacometta- Props Mistress
Christa Lewandowski- Costume Designer
May 25, 26, 30, 31; June 1, 2 at 8 PM, May 26, 27; June 2, 3 at 2 PM
Luna Stage, 555 Valley Road, West Orange, New Jersey


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Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation on Wednesday urged President Obama and Congress to come up with a plan to avoid the "fiscal cliff" by Thanksgiving, saying uncertainty over the pending combination of tax hikes and spending cuts threatens consumer confidence during the holiday shopping season that begins on Black Friday.
"Although most economists have focused on the impact to the economy in 2013, more immediate economic consequences could occur over the next few weeks if consumers lose confidence in the ability of policymakers to work together to solve tough problems," NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said. "Any disruption to consumer confidence and spending during this season could prompt a crisis for retailers and the millions of U.S. jobs the industry supports."
Rather than setting New Year's Eve as its deadline, Washington needs to act quickly to set in place a framework for resolving this situation, preferably before Thanksgiving, said Shay.
Shay's comments came in a letter sent Wednesday to the president and all members of the House and Senate. Shay explained in the letter that many retailers make a quarter or more of their annual sales during the November-December holiday season. NRF is forecasting that holiday sales will increase 4.1% to $586.1 billion this year.


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Untangling Durable Goods and GDP
Two government reports released this week provided contrary data concerning the state of the economy. On Jan. 28, the Census Bureau released the "Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturer's Shipments, Inventories and Orders, December 2012."
Two days later, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) issued the "Gross Domestic Product: Fourth Quarter and Annual 2012 (Advance Estimate)."...402 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.
There's no substitute for a trading floor to get great ideas, so Jim Cramer created a better one at Real Money and blogs there exclusively. We then added legendary hedge fund manager, Doug Kass, with his exclusive Daily Diary and best investing ideas. Staffed with more than 4 dozen investing pros, money managers, journalists and analysts, Real Money Pro gives you a flood of opinions, analysis and actionable trading advice found nowhere else, and allows you to interact directly with each expert.
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Domestic Short Hair
Tabby (spotted)
Look us up on FaceBook :
Animal Welfare Society of Kerr County
Adoptions are subject to approval and there is a 24-48 hour-waiting period after an application is submitted.
Adoption Fees
Cats and Kittens - $25
Dogs 1yr and older - $50-75
Puppies under 1yr - $75-90
Purebred adoption fees vary
Thank You!
Your message has been sent to Animal Welfare Society Of Kerr County.
You'll receive a copy, too, at to help you keep track of which pets you've inquired about, and which shelters and rescues you've emailed.
NOTE: Some shelters have physical locations you can visit; some of these shelters may only have pets for a limited time, so please do not wait for a reply—just go visit the shelter! Other organizations are rescue groups run by busy volunteers who may take a while to reply. You can find information about the shelter or rescue group caring for this pet, and their adoption procedures, on the pet's details page on Adopt-a-Pet.com.


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PLEN- Unlocking Nonprofits: Innovations and Careers
11/12/2013 to 01/31/2014 -
STUDENTS ONLY! College women will learn from professional women who work in nonprofit advocacy, direct service, policy, research, and fundraising in this two day seminar in Washington D.C.
Applications due on January 31, 2014. Program Dates: March 7-8, 2014.
For More Information or an application, please contact firstname.lastname@example.com or 412-365-1878
Registration and Directions
Fee : For cost information contact the PCWP.
Location : Braun Hall
Event Contact Information
Annie Guadagnino


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The Lighting Solution since 1919! A long history, family pride and the commitment to delivering quality, innovative residential, commercial and architectural lighting solutions makes Sea Gull Lighting a leading brand of lighting today. Sea Gull Lighting's reputation is made on customer satisfaction, and the company takes pride in all that they do – from their product design and engineering teams, assuring the latest in technology and trends, to an extensive, worldwide distribution network.
Sea Gull is proud to be a part of your lighting solution. A glow of light; a mood is set, a task is completed, a child listens to a story, a sense of comfort and safety. Lighting, at home, at work and at play; it enhances our lives and complements our sense of style. From traditional fixtures in polished brass, to hand painted finishes and ice crystal accents to low voltage contemporary track and pendant lighting - explore the possibilities! Sea Gull Lighting... for the best part of your day!
Also see Sea Gull Outdoor for outdoor and landscape light fixtures.


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Posted 6 years ago
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OK you Danish Modern Mid Century furniture experts...Let's see if you can come up with solid evidence to identify and value this 50 year old bedroom set!
Please contact me ASAP at email@example.com or 801.768.0708 (Utah) to help me identify this awesome Danish Modern Mid Century Solid Black Walnut 4-pc. Bedroom Set (circa 1960) I just inherited from my father who recently passed away. I have 2 nightstands, a long dresser (pictured in two of the attached photos), and a chest-on-chest dresser with no stamped manufacturer name on any part of the furniture. My parents special-ordered it just prior to getting married in in New Jersey in 1963.
I can tell it's very high quality (probably not found in current furniture manufacturing these days.) because of the dove-tail drawer construction, solid 1-inch thick black walnut (a very expensive type of wood) exterior surfaces, curved solid legs, etc.
I'm wondering if it's a Vladimir Kagan design, but I'm not sure. What do you think? I'd love to hear from you...