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CHICO >> A subset of the community came out in force early Wednesday morning for the best seats in the house.
In this case, the "house" will be Laxson Auditorium or Harlen Adams Theatre at Chico State University.
Later in the year when most people buy tickets, they may buy tickets with a view of the back of these people's heads.
Buyers on opening day "know what they want to see and know where they want to sit," said Daran Goodsell, who works in marketing and publicity for the Chico Performances.
Performance fans show up in the wee hours of the morning, and in years past would form a line that followed the sidewalk down the block.
This year leaders of University Public Events decided to throw a ticket-buying party.
People still stood in a line before daylight.
However, about 7 a.m. they were given numbered tickets.
A lineup of local musicians was on hand to keep the crowd entertained and people could grab a snack at a food truck, mingle, or run an errand.
Ken Gall and Geoff Huber were ticket holders No. 11 and 12. Gall arrived at 4 a.m., and Huber two hours later.
Huber said it's worth it, because he picks a seat with a lot of leg room, preferably directly behind the section for people with wheelchairs.
Gall wanted to ensure great seats to see blues musician Buddy Guy, Storm Large and "Who's Live Anyway."
Walter Cramer arrived after 7 a.m. He was waiting for his number to be called, and listening to local singer/songwriter Kyle Williams, playing for the crowd.
Cramer's wife gave him a list of the shows the couple would see this year. While he waited, he chatted with his buddy Roy Cook; The two drove over from Bayliss for the early ticket sales.
Bulk sale discounts
Discounts are available for people who want to load up on shows throughout the year.
You can choose eight shows for a 15 percent discount, or a series of dance, classical music, jazz, world music or family shows for a 20 percent savings.
Stephen Cummins, director of University Public Events, said the series will give people some of the most popular offerings, and then a chance to see someone who is a crowd-pleaser but maybe not a household name.
As for the party this year, Cummins said it seemed to be a big hit. People mingled instead of standing in one place for hours.
"We thought, we have something special here," with the performances offered in town, "let's make it even more special by having a party."
For Cummins, the line-up in the program is also of his making. He took on the job last year, but by then the shows had already been booked by long-time events director Dan DeWayne.
He said his "flavor" of choice is "eclectic," and he tries to book for a variety of tastes.
His hope is to "introduce the community to new things," he said.
"Lone Bellow," which plays in October, is an example of an up-and-coming trio that in a few years will be at a "level that you won't be able to see them in Chico," Cummins said.
Of course, there are also the bigger names that will have front-row seats filled very soon, including Branford Marsalis, Garrison Keillor, Ruthie Foster, Buddy Guy and Paula Poundstone.
University President Paul Zingg was checking out the scene Wednesday morning. He was excited about the free history roundtable on World War I, Nov. 5. This year is the 100th anniversary of the Great War.
Other free events include Earplay, contemporary chamber music Feb. 27; student composers, Feb. 26; and Chico State concert and jazz bands, April 8, among others.
To view the brochure online: http://goo.gl/hHOVCl
Chico State students also perform in theatrical productions and musical performances including choral and symphony concerts, jazz and guitar.
More ticket sales
Twenty to 25 percent of tickets for the year will be sold during the first week or two, Goodsell said.
After the party Wednesday morning, a phone bank with 11 stations opened for people who wanted to buy blocks of tickets over the phone.
Individual ticket sales begin Aug. 4. The University Box Office is in Sierra Hall, at the corner of West Third and Chestnut streets, 898-6333, www.chicostatetickets.com.
Contact reporter Heather Hacking at 896-7758.
- VIDEO Judy Connors of Live Oak and her daughter Erin Pelfrey of Chico get tickets for Chico Performances.


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Lions and tigers and bears are the charismatic megafauna of the larger world. In the garden, the charismatic megafauna of the insect world are butterflies and dragonflies.
Spotting butterflies and dragonflies feels like a gift, but the more time I spend in the garden, the more I appreciate all insects.
Insects are the engines that make a garden ecosystem work. Their crucial roles include pollination, waste disposal and seed dispersal. I've observed that plant-eating insects often prey on the weakest plants, and beneficial insects keep the plant-eating insects in check. Birds are attracted to the insect buffet of a healthy garden.
If you're interested in creating or improving a garden that welcomes wildlife, find a copy of Nancy Bauer's new book, "The California Wildlife Habitat Garden: How to Attract Bees, Butterflies, Birds, and Other Animals" (UC Press, 2012).
Abundantly illustrated with color photos, the book has five chapters that focus on the basics of wildlife gardens, bird habitats, butterfly gardens, pond gardens and front-yard habitat gardens. Up to half of each chapter consists of one or more garden profiles that bring the art of habitat design down to earth, with details such as using sand-filled burlap bags to create steps in a pond.
Bauer relates the gardeners' stories of why they started their gardens, how they have changed over time, what successful elements they contain and what wildlife the gardeners have observed. An annotated plant list for each garden notes which ones are native and describes who visits them or how they're used.
If you've participated in native garden tours or seminars in the Bay Area, you may recognize some of the featured gardens and gardeners.
Sidebars sprinkled through the book cover special topics such as a screened treeway for house cats to observe birds, what makes a useful nest box for birds, sheet mulching to convert a lawn to a habitat garden and plant combinations for pots.
Although Pacific Chorus frogs are featured in the chapter on wildlife ponds, other amphibians and reptiles are mentioned only briefly. Notably, ticks that bite the Western Fence lizard "are purged of any Lyme disease bacteria hiding in their gut," Bauer writes, which may be why Lyme disease is less prevalent in the West.
This is a book about how to attract the wildlife you want, not about how to exclude the wildlife you don't want. Although Bauer mentions deer-resistant plants, she does not cover the topic in depth. Nor does she discuss gophers, squirrels, raccoons or roof rats, except to suggest container plantings to foil gophers. That's partly because of the mindset of some of the wildlife gardeners she interviews. For example, Kathy Biggs "bestows ownership of the pond to her wildlife," including fox families and raccoons, whom she calls "the great re-arrangers."
The final quarter of the book is devoted to 10 appendices with summaries of practical information, including natural gardening guidelines and resource lists (books and nurseries). The plant lists are annotated and recommend seasonal plants for hummingbirds, common California butterflies and their host plants, what to plant in hedgerows and under oaks, and top nectar and pollen plant families.
The book could be even more useful if its index covered more than plant names, but that won't stop me from recommending it.

subset: commoncrawl


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BP Comment Quick Links
|Strength of Schedule Report
October 10, 2012
Tater Trot Tracker
Division Series, Games 2 & 3
Tuesday's Trots
The Bay Area stayed alive in the 2012 playoffs on Tuesday night with a pair of low-scoring victories. The Giants beat the Reds with only three hits and a lot of help on the basepaths (especially a late error by Scott Rolen) while the A's bested Detroit by keeping them scoreless in a 2-0 game. Coco Crisp and Yoenis Cespedes both took away extra base hits from Prince Fielder in doing so.
Thankfully, we weren't shut out on the Tater Trot Tracker last night. Seth Smith made the game 2-0 with a home run over the center field wall in the fifth inning. He trotted home in 19.9 seconds. (video)
Seth Smith........19.9
Monday's Trots
The Orioles and Yankees played a tight game on Monday as Baltimore tried to avoid heading into New York down two games to none. They managed to scrape out the victory, but did so without hitting a home run. In St. Louis, on the other hand, balls were flying out like crazy. Ryan Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche provided some offense for Washington, but it was really the Cards and Carlos Beltran who owned the day. Beltran's two homers were a big reason St. Louis took the game 12-4. Daniel Descalso and Allen Craig also helped.
Allen Craig........23.42 Carlos Beltran #2..22.2 Adam LaRoche.......22.09 Ryan Zimmerman.....21.67 Carlos Beltran #1..21.5 Daniel Descalso....18.01
Click here for the ongoing 2012 Tater Trot Tracker Leaderboard. You can also follow @TaterTrotTrkr on Twitter for more up-to-the-minute trot times.
2 comments have been left for this article.
BP Comment Quick Links
Is it true that if a batter has two taters in the same game, the second trot will be generally be slower than the first?
Oct 10, 2012 13:02 PM
Larry Granillo
BP staff
Good question. I would say, just from what it seems, that the second home run is more likely to be slower than the first. There are certainly times when the second is quicker, or they come in at basically the same speed, but, overall, I'd expect it to be quicker.
Oct 10, 2012 13:11 PM
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text:
Chemotherapy Plus Bone Marrow Transplantation in Treating Patients With Metastatic Melanoma
The recruitment status of this study is unknown. The completion date has passed and the status has not been verified in more than two years.
Verified June 2002 by National Cancer Institute (NCI).
Recruitment status was: Active, not recruiting
Recruitment status was: Active, not recruiting
Feist-Weiller Cancer Center at Louisiana State University Health Sciences
Information provided by:
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: November 1, 1999
Last updated: February 6, 2009
Last verified: June 2002
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
No Study Results Posted on ClinicalTrials.gov for this Study
|Study Status:
|This study is ongoing, but not recruiting participants.
|Study Completion Date:
|No date given
|Primary Completion Date:
|No date given


text:
JR wrote:I recommend throwing and developing better form so that you know from experience why we suggest what we do.
While that's undoubtedly one way do it, very accomplished golfers can sometimes make horrible, HORRIBLE instructors because "ability to do something" doesn't translate to "ability to teach something" or even "ability to understand something." Not saying you fall into one of those groups, just that I believe you can know something without necessarily being able to do it (or else PGA Tour players would never have instructors) and vice versa.
JR wrote:One mistake i noticed from you was contradicting moving the disc in a straight line not being a key with Dan's rail as proof.
Not just Dan's rail. I've seen videos of other pros not moving the disc in a straight line (or reasonably straight line). I haven't thrown it out per se, but one guy doing it and not even really being close is a convincing case to remove it.
JR wrote:Dave Dunipace said that only the angles of the disc at the rip matter and the disc moves to where the thumb nail points at the rip. To get there all and i mean every player i can think of among top players move the disc in a straight line at least from the right pec position forward with a flat shot. So by the criteria you specified earlier: "Keys are absolute requirements and virtually absolute commonalities." that should become key once every developing player can be taught to avoid rounding.
No real final decision has been made, but Dan doesn't throw straight from the right pec, does he? He shortens two radii.
Bits about movement (it's too generic to be a Key) cut for the sake of brevity.
JR wrote:I am very wary of allowing people who know nothing about throwing being counted into "absolute commonalities" as a criterion for something to be a key.
Huh? Pro level disc golfers "know nothing about throwing"?
JR wrote:You have form improvements to be made including adding things you haven't exhibited in your videos yet. That is why i think you are trying to run before you're comfy with walking now.
It's not running. It's standing in place and drawing a map. If I can do focus on doing the things the best BH throwers have in common, I will get better. But I have to know what those things are first.
JR wrote:You mentioned dropping visual aiming for not being able to measure it and aiming at what and being focused.
I mentioned dropping it more because I'm not convinced that it's a nearly absolute commonality among the game's greatest. Some let their heads spin around and aren't looking at their targets. Just as in golf some golfers look at a dimple on the golf ball, some look at a spot in front of the golf ball, and some don't even really focus on anything when they're looking downward during their swing.
mikes919 wrote:I recall the 5SK coming up in conversation over on GolfWRX (i'm a regular lurker over there, occasional poster) and I get what you're trying to do here. The issue I see with disc golf is that the throwing motion among even the best players has a much wider variance than you see in golf.
That may be true. I still believe there are bound to be SOME underlying commonalities (Weight Forward, Controlled Disc Plane, and Controlled "Forces" or torques or whatever you want to call it to name three) seem to be there. And obviously to control the plane of the disc (wing and nose), that allows players to have some unique things. Climo's fork grip might mean he has to control nose angle slightly differently than Jenkins, but they both have to control nose angle and wing angle in the end.
mikes919 wrote:(although there was a fair amount of argument about key #1)
Those people don't have the data we have. Or they tried to apply it to drivers, where we allow the most freedom. But that's OT for here...
mikes919 wrote:For disc golf, throwing the equivalent of a cut or fade isn't as simple as making the same throw as a flat shot but adjusting your aim and disc plane. The throws for a big hyzer, anny, or roller might not even resemble the standard flat throw. Throws for distance are totally different from upshots. Then there's forehands, thumbers, and all kinds of trick shots that get played all the time and might break a few keys depending on the situation.
These are BH throw Keys only. Forehands and Thumbers are excluded for now.
And I don't know that I agree that they're quite as different as you think. You need to adjust your aim, clubface, path, and several other things when shaping the ball in golf. Never mind that Jim Furyk's swing doesn't really look all that similar to, well, anyone's but they still have 5 SK in common. And whether you're hitting a 75-yard wedge shot or a 300-yard drive, the 5SK still apply.
I think the three keys I mentioned just above apply to all BH throws in disc golf. Do you disagree with that? Is there ever a throw where you don't have your weight forward? How about a throw where you don't have to control the spin or lateral speed you put into the disc? How about a throw where controlling the nose and wing angles aren't important?
Now, if those are the ONLY three commonalities, then I'm with you and applying "Keys" to disc golf is a waste, because if it's just three things, then it's almost TOO simple or something. Know what I mean?
mikes919 wrote:I think everyone here would like to help but it's not as clear-cut as the golf swing because I think there are more variables involved. Not that I'm an expert on the golf swing-- I did a lot of work on my swing this year, took a couple lessons, went from a 21 hdcp to a 15 and still dropping... But to me it is a lot easier to break down the entire golf swing and see where you're going wrong, than to break down the entire disc golf throwing motion. Unless you are specifically trying to emulate someone else's exact throwing style.
You might be right. But whether it's stupidity or something else, I'll keep going with this until I'm as convinced as you are.
mikes919 wrote:Maybe the real keys to the disc golf throw are in the last second, as you're approaching the rip point. And a lot of that is simply about feel and repetition, just like achieving clubface control in ball golf. I guess I would be interested to hear how you go about teaching someone about key #5 in ball golf, because I might be thinking about it the wrong way. You obviously can't just say "control the clubface better". I find that controlling the clubface is mostly about achieving consistency in release, and I'm trying to find that by simple repetition. It's really the only way I've seen it happen in disc golf.
Clubface control begins with understanding the ball flight laws, includes (for instructors anyway) D-Plane knowledge, and for the student can be as simple as understanding that a good draw is hit with a clubface pointing right of the target at impact and vice versa for a fade (for righties) to making a grip change (because it makes it difficult for them to control the clubface easily) to all manner of things - the rates at which they roll their forearms can be changed by elbow locations, loading patterns, and a whole bunch of other things I won't get into here.
Yes, it's a lot more than saying "control the clubface." It's understanding the components that HELP control the clubface, implementing those so you can do it better, and understanding what makes the ball fly the way it does.
JR wrote:Would you say that there are more movements in a disc golf throw than in a golf swing?
No. There's more motion (because golfers are relatively stationary to their surroundings) but there's not more motion, no. The wrist in the disc golf throw only really flexes and extends. In golf both wrists cock, extend, flex, hinge, and roll. Ulnar deviation, palmar flexion, dorsiflexion, etc. Heck, the trail knee in a golf swing extends, flexes, and extends again, the last two happening from the top of the backswing and up to (and through) impact, a very short window of time. Etc.
JR wrote:The added complication of a more complex movement makes things different too because the brain processing power is woefully lacking.
We're going to have to agree to disagree that disc golf is "added complication." I couldn't disagree more. I think your lack of understanding of the golf swing is hurting your perspective here. I'm being careful not to have the same blind spot for any other sport.
JR wrote:iacas mentioned golf hit length. Carlsen measured the time from the plant to the rip to be 0.02 seconds. There are lots of things going on with the wrist movement that takes even less time.
I'm not sure what your point there is. The golf swing is complex. If you think it's simpler than a disc golf throw, we disagree. Hell, I've seen studies that talk about how jaw alignments affect your golf swing. The amount of anterior or posterior tilt in your pelvis (which changes several times throughout a golf swing, btw). And so on.
JR wrote:So does gripping tight at least in one time qualify?
Possibly. It could be measured. It's a commonality. I'm not sure it's achievable, though. Some disc golfers might never throw 400', so they might never be able to (or need to) grip the disc more firmly than they already do. What if a kid or a 60-year-old guy had perfect form and were as good a disc golfer as they could be given the speed they could physically muster at their maximums? They'd have all the Keys, but they might not be able to grip as strong as a pro. They're still an "expert player" though. So no, I'm inclined to say "not a Key."
In golf, a 60-year-old can have all 5 keys and they'll basically be as good a golfer as they can be. "Smacks the Shit out of the Golf Ball" is not a Key because 120 MPH clubhead speed is not achievable by all.
Something else might be a Key, and it might relate to the *appropriate* grip pressure. What about something like "Proper Release Timing" (those are first generation words, so the title could change drastically). By this I mean that regardless of whether you're Beto or Jenkins or Jussi or the 60-year-old guy who's awesome but just can't throw 400'... they all release at the moment of the disc's greatest speed, at the tangent point or the full hit point. None of them are experiencing slips on every throw.
That's achievable. It's a commonality (I think), and it's visibly measurable (especially overhead).
Just a thought.


text:
Some have wondered how the Cavs would be able to pay Saras if they went after Miami's Haslem too. Well, Haslem took less money and stayed in Miami thus the Cavs still have a ton of $$$ to throw at Saras, if they are serious...
Haslem Takes Less Money to Remain In Miami
13th July, 2005 - 5:43 am
Miami Herald - Udonis Haslem has decided to remain with the Miami Heat for less money than he could have earned elsewhere.
The Miami Heat and the free agent forward have agreed to a new five-year deal worth expected to be worth around $34 million.
"The Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly had been willing to offer Haslem a deal worth up to $10 million more than the Heat's offer, but Haslem was satisfied with the way the Heat handled the negotiations. The Heat met with Haslem's agent, Jason Levien, at midnight July 1, the earliest teams were allowed to meet with free agents."
''This is where Udonis wanted to be all along,'' Levien said late Tuesday. ``This is where his heart is.''
The team still hopes to address it's point guard situation with their Mid-Level Exception.
A few possibilities are Grizzlies guard Earl Watson and/or using that money to re-sign Damon Jones or Keyon Dooling. [READ]


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Lately, I've been having some success in quieting the mind. I seem to have discovered another layer of mental activity underlying the internal voice. Somehow or other I became aware that the mind usually exists in a "mood state" of one kind or another. This is something like a fish becoming aware that there is water.
These mood states are volitionally constructable, and can be destroyed by directing the attention to a new frame of mind. When this is done the old mood state vanishes, which suggests is is dependent on attention in some way. I have been experimenting with them, mostly outside of meditation. One of my favorites is one that arose spontaneously the other day - the mood state of a child, free of fear and responsibility, anticipating Christmas. It is a happy state.
I have also become aware of various afflictive states. These states are strongly biased towards disaster scenarios, anxiety, sadness, tiredness, cynicism and such. It is such a strange phenomenon - it's as if the mind was water and the mood states were variously shaped containers, and the mind took on the shape of whatever container it was poured into.
Does anyone else know what I'm talking about here? It seems to be a very useful bit of knowledge.


text:
A small Christmas tree twinkles brightly in the living room of Ladine Jones' tiny apartment in Seaside.
There aren't any gift-wrapped packages underneath — the gift-giving season at her home seems likely to be a modest one — but the mother and grandmother isn't worried about that.
"As long as we're all together, that's what matters," she says happily. "I'm not worried about Christmas at all."
Not worrying ... that's a blessing she hasn't experienced for a while. Only weeks ago, Jones was unsure she would have a roof over her head for the holidays. She had abruptly lost her longtime job as a manager of a fast-food restaurant. Her savings evaporated quickly, but rent and utility bills kept coming. That's how life is.
When the second eviction notice arrived, her restful nights went away.
"You're constantly worrying, 'How am I going to get through this? How am I going to pay for the apartment? How can I afford the insurance? How can I make ends meet?'" she says. "As a parent, we don't put that burden on our kids, so they don't really see the stress we go through on an everyday basis."
Friends loaned her money. Ladine's grandmother, hardly a rich woman, did what she could, too. But when pressures and debts became overwhelming, she sought help from the Salvation Army.
"When you get to the point where you have no alternative, and there's no other door to open, you have to ask," she says. "That's hard to do, but the treatment I received from the people at the Salvation Army was red carpet. They listened to me. They helped me with food. They gave me assistance with my PG&E bill and my rent."
Jones pauses to choke back tears when she recalls the judgment-free kindness she received there, and the assistance that has helped her keep her world from falling apart.
"The experienced has changed me. I'm a lot more humble," she says. "When I wake up in the morning, I'm thankful that The Man Upstairs gave me such a great blessing."
The Christmas holidays promise another blessing for Jones and her family. It will be a time to share with her firstborn, 27-year-old Gary, who has given her three grandchildren. Middle child Unique, 24, is headed home, too, aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, following her second deployment to Iraq. And her youngest, Frank, age 19, shares the apartment with her.
A lot of homeless people frequented the fast-food restaurant Ladine once managed, and she always felt bad when she was instructed to ask them to move on.
"Sometimes I'd buy them a burger or something so they could hang out a little while longer. A lot of them had nowhere else to go," she says. "The day I walked into the Salvation Army, it seemed like 99 percent of the homeless people I saw there were people I recognized, people I knew from the restaurant.
"I was hungry, myself, and the Salvation Army offered me something to eat," she recalls, tearing up again. "I think that's the moment it really hit home that this can happen to anybody."
Operation Christmas Cheer
Operation Christmas Cheer is sponsored by The Herald, the Salvation Army and 1st Capital Bank to help local families that find themselves in need this time of year.
Operation Christmas Cheer has raised more than $2 million, which has been distributed to needy Monterey County families and individuals over the holidays.
So far this year nearly $47,000 has been raised. That includes a $20,000 Packard Foundation matching grant.
The money helps families who have come to the Salvation Army for support. Applications are screened and contributions will go directly to assist Salvation Army clients on the Monterey Peninsula and in the Salinas Valley.
This month, The Herald is profiling several families needing help this year.
A special feature of the Operation Christmas Cheer campaign is that contributors can have a brief personalized holiday message published in the newspaper by using a coupon printed each day in The Herald or by printing it from The Herald's website.
Dennis Taylor can be reached at 646-4344 or email@example.com.
Christmas Cheer donations Attributed gifts with message ·Mara and Bob Perkins: Peace — $2,000 Attributed gifts without message · Dr Peter G. and Hilary Brewer — $50 Anonymous gifts with message ·Totoro, Manju, Max, you are always in my heart — $500
·Mardy Love: From my grandchildren — David, Brian, Steven, Alex, Ben, Natalie, Will, Nick & Brandon — $1,000
·Marina Motorsports, Inc: Wheels in Motion for Community Benefit — $1,000
·Michael Amodt: In memory of Len & Betsy Amodt — $2000
·Sandra DeLay: God Bless the inspirational transformation of Erica Snow and David Tate — $150
·Nathan and Kevin Cortopassi: In loving memory of Nonie, Nono and Nonna — $100
·Mary Fry: In loving memory of my dear Jerry — $100
·Brenda Morrison: In memory of Wendy a loving daughter and friend to everyone — $100
·Nettie Porter & Children: In loving memory of Paul Porter — $100
·Vikki Logan and Frank Verga: In memory of Frank Verga and Tamara Verga — $100
·Vikki Logan and Frank Verga: In memory of Bill and Bernice Baldwin — $100
·Michael McMillan: Thank you for helping others. It really matters — $75
·John and Diane Parks: Merry Christmas and hopes that 2013 is a good one for all — $50
·Lula Taylor and Family: Happy Holidays and thank God for the Salvation Army & other charities — $250
· Kappa Master Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi — $25
·The Hall and Sumner families want to share the Christmas Spirit — $250
·Wishing you a blessed Christmas — $200
·In gratitude for Pete, Samantha and "Sprig" — $100
·God Bless You — $100
·Honoring those who serve — $507
·God Bless America! — $40
·May this be of some help — God Bless — $30
Christmas Cheer donations
Attributed gifts with message
·Mara and Bob Perkins: Peace — $2,000
Attributed gifts without message
· Dr Peter G. and Hilary Brewer — $50
Anonymous gifts with message
·Totoro, Manju, Max, you are always in my heart — $500


text: Consumers can visit West Coast Chevron ExtraMile locations for chances to win thousands of instant prizes. Chevron ExtraMile has launched a new Battleship Commander Instant Win Game in support of Universal Pictures' upcoming Battleship. Now through June 30, each visitor to participating ExtraMile locations in California, Oregon and Washington can request a game card with


text:
This is the last of three posts covering news in the historicity-of-Jesus debate (for the first see Thallus et Alius and for the second see Notable Books). Here I will discuss two significant developments in the Jesus historicity/mythicism debate, and one more tangentially related.
The biggest news is that the renowned biblical historian and New Testament expert Thomas Brodie (author of The Birthing of the New Testament [2004] and Director of the Dominican Biblical Centre, in affiliation with the University of Limerick, Ireland) has just come out as a Jesus mythicist. He has a new book that explicitly argues that Jesus never historically existed: Thomas Brodie, Beyond the Quest for the Historical Jesus: A Memoir of a Discovery (published by the respected academic press Sheffield-Phoenix). This is a huge development. His conclusion: "it is already possible and necessary to draw a conclusion: it is that, bluntly, Jesus did not exist as a historical individual." Certainly I will review this book as soon as I receive a copy and get through it.
At the same time, Philip Davies, Emeritus Professor of Biblical Studies at the University of Sheffield, England, published an article with the online journal The Bible and Interpretation, entitled "Did Jesus Exist?," in response to Bart Ehrman's book of the same title (which my more avid readers will know I tore up as a total hack job) and the opposing view represented in Thompson & Verenna's Is This Not the Carpenter? and the subsequent mistreatment of Thompson over this. Davies affirms that he believes in the historicity of Jesus. But he is alarmed by Ehrman's rhetoric and his implied threats against the professions of anyone who would dare question the historicity of Jesus, and the treatment of Thompson in particular (most chilling given how all this had happened to Thompson before, in the most appalling way: see my next news item below).
Davies writes:
Ehrman's response to Thompson's The Mythic Past shows (if it needed to be shown), not that the matter is beyond dispute, but that the whole idea of raising this question needs to be attacked, ad hominem, as something outrageous. This is precisely the tactic [the Old Testament] anti-minimalists tried twenty years ago: their targets were 'amateurs', 'incompetent', and could be ignored. The 'amateurs' are now all retired professors, while virtually everyone else in the field has become minimalist (if in most cases grudgingly and tacitly). So, as the saying goes, déjà vu all over again.
And then concludes:
I don't think, however, that in another 20 years there will be a consensus that Jesus did not exist, or even possibly didn't exist, but a recognition that his existence is not entirely certain would nudge Jesus scholarship towards academic respectability.
Davies defends Thompson's work on this matter, and argues the whole debate should be taken seriously and not condemned as the work of amateurs. He acknowledges that in fact the evidence for historicity is rather weak and extremely problematic, and not at all cut-and-dried, and in no way warrants the kind of rhetoric coming from the likes of Ehrman. He says, in fact, that admitting it's possible Jesus didn't exist is the only way the field can maintain academic respectability.
This is almost as huge a development, as Philip Davies is a renowned scholar and (now emeritus) professor specializing in Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls (author of Behind the Essenes: History and Ideology in the Dead Sea Scrolls [1987] and Scribes and Schools: The Canonization of the Hebrew Scriptures [1998]). It is a major turn of events for someone like him to admit that doubting the historicity of Jesus is respectable, and that the rhetoric coming out against it from the likes of Ehrman is an appalling redux of the same nonsense minimalists suffered through in the 70s, high on hyperbole and dogmatism, low in humility, and more concerned with attacking the qualifications of its advocates than actually interacting honestly with their arguments. Amen.
Combine this with Brodie's defection to mythicism, alongside Thompson's, and (like Thompson's) the publicly professed "historicity agnosticism" of Arthur Droge, professor of early Christianity at UCSD, and Kurt Noll, associate professor of religion at Brandon University, and Ehrman's argument that only amateurs and outsiders take the Jesus Myth theory seriously is now in the dust. There is still, certainly, a litany of crank and amateur mythicist nonsense. But there is also a serious case to be made, by serious and well-qualified scholars. And they need to be paid attention to, not dismissed and mistreated, their arguments straw manned or ignored.
Lastly, Thomas Verenna also just published an article for The Bible and Interpretation, "On Academic Integrity and the Future of Biblical Studies in Confessional Institutions" (October 2012), discussing a recent blowup in the academic community over the attempt to censor (indeed, to materially punish) a noted scholar of biblical antiquity (Christopher Rollston) merely because he made a well-reasoned and well-researched argument that some of his colleagues didn't like–namely, that the Bible marginalizes women in a way that is not an admirable "biblical value" we should want to follow (a shocking notion, apparently, to some of his Christian peers). His article makes many progressive statements about the struggle for women's equality as well as very interesting scholarly observations about the Biblical text: see Christopher Rollston, "The Marginalization of Women: A Biblical Value We Don't Like to Talk About," Huffington Post (8/31/2012).
So here we have a poignant current event touching on institutional sexism (a problem of recent interest here) and academic freedom (the latter of relevance to the historicity debate). Thomas Verenna gives more than just this latest example of the use of the ad baculum fallacy by religious academic institutions to keep scholars in line. It's deplorable. We certainly don't want secular scholars using the same tactic. For further links and discussion on the Rollston affair, see Verenna's blog [here] and [here].
It's also worth reading Thomas Thompson's past account of how vicious the deployment of this fallacy was in the 1970s against his work establishing the ahistoricity of the biblical patriarchs (which is just one step away from Jesus mythicism), exhibiting a good series of examples of how scholars across the board can try to destroy your career (tactics that every scholar knows can be used against them now if they should admit to the ahistoricity of Jesus, for example, which can explain why so few have weighed in on the debate publicly–in fact I would take good note of every detail of his story, for example how even institutions can be punished for supporting an unpopular scholar, and thus can be intimidated against hiring them: the same could be done again). And yet now (as Davies pointed out) Thompson's view is more or less mainstream (just read The Bible Unearthed). Jesus Mythicism could one day follow in the same footsteps. But maybe not for lack of attempts to prevent it. Let's see.


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VistaJet put itself back in full-blown growth mode yesterday, placing a major order with Bombardier for 18 jets in a move that will take its fleet to more than 50 aircraft. The $383 million deal signed here at EBACE includes 12 Globals and Challengers and six Learjet 60 XRs. Deliveries should begin next year.
Thomas Flohr, founder and chairman of VistaJet, said his company's current order backlog is valued at $1.3 billion. On order are 10 Global 6000s, six Challenger 605s, 11 Learjet 85s and six Learjet 60 XRs. VistaJet operates only Bombardier aircraft and prior to the financial crisis had been working toward a high-volume business plan that would see its fleet rise above 100 aircraft. Between this month and November, it is due to take three more of the previously ordered Challengers and a pair of Global Express jets.
Flohr pointed out 75 percent of the operator's flights now originate from or go to "fast-growth markets," such as Brazil, Russia, India, Nigeria, China and the Middle East, instead of 25 percent four years ago. Hence, the need for ultra-long-range, fast jets. "With the Global 6000, you can fly from London to Abuja, Nigeria, and back on the same day," he said. Most international flights are in the five- to nine-hour bracket, he added. [The Global 6000 is the renamed Global XRS featuring the Global Vision cockpit.–Ed.]
While 2011 is "off to a good start," Flohr said 2010 saw a 25-percent increase in revenues over the previous year. He added some 20,000 passengers traveled aboard VistaJet aircraft last year. He said this is the result of a strategy "centered on [the passenger's] actual requirements, rather than a perceived desire for abstract ownership."
VistaJet offers various contract options, including 100-hour and 200-hour programs with guaranteed availability and a fixed hourly rate. "We take the asset risk," Flohr insisted. The company also offers conventional on-demand charter flights. The Swiss-based operator aims to keep a fleet of young aircraft, with an average age of less than two years and no individual aircraft more than three years old.
"The first quarter of this year has been blockbuster for us," Flohr told AIN. "The world crisis is far behind and we are fully booked and flying longer ranges. Focusing on the top of the market has paid off." Since around October of last year, VistaJet has seen flight bookings increase by as much as 30 to 40 percent.
According to Flohr, charter rates at the top end of the market are returning to pre-crisis levels. "But our success is due to a combination of top-quality service and rates, and the fact that we can provide guaranteed availability," he said. "We now see the market being polarized between fractional ownership and us. What the rest [that is, traditional charter operators] are doing is a completely different business model."


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The Food Animal and Reproduction Medicine (FARM) Club at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine used their veterinary knowledge, passion, community connections, as well as their dancing and singing skills to win the BCF Technology University Competition, a national competition for veterinary student organizations. The students were proud when their dedication, teamwork, enthusiasm, and community involvement led them to win the BCF Technology Easi-Scan Ultrasound Machine, a new handheld digital ultrasound machine to be used in their food animal medicine studies.
In February, the FARM Club students entered a national competition through a company called BCF Technology for veterinary medicine university organizations to win a new ultrasound machine and a technical training course. The competition judged their creativity, veterinary knowledge, and desire for a new ultrasound machine.
The contest began with a photo, to show the veterinary students enthusiasm for veterinary medicine, and 15 veterinary student organizations from across the country entered the competition. Each organization also submitted a professional technical article on one of several suggested topics. The articles were judged by a veterinary panel.
The panel scored the articles and narrowed down the competition to the top 6 universities, as well as 2 "wild cards." These 8 university organizations created a video entry for the competition, to be voted on by the general public. The FARM Club at UC Davis was one of the top 6 entries and created a music video, a spoof on the popular song "California Girls" by Katy Perry. The FARM Club danced, sang, and interacted with cows during their version, "COW-lifornia Girls."
"We had a lot of fun creating the music video, and hope everyone had just as much fun watching it!" said FARM Club Publicity Commissioner, second year veterinary student Michelle Sanborn."We were proud to able to reach a wide network of closely connected people that love to support local California student organizations." The FARM Club created a strong marketing campaign, and their video was by far the most popular video.
The FARM Club at UC Davis was able to generate about 2,000 votes for their video, out of a total of 6,000 votes for the 8 university entries. The FARM Club was the only student organization from California, and was supported by a variety of organizations such as the California Beef Council, the California Veterinary Medical Association, and California 4-H. The video and several students in the club were featured on the CBS13 Sacramento Evening News as well as a morning talk show, Good Day Sacramento. "We were honored by the community that came together to support UC Davis veterinary students," said FARM Club Co-President Elect, second year veterinary student Rachael Lyons.
The new handheld digital ultrasound machine worth over $10,000 won by the FARM Club is going to provide an invaluable experience to students for years to come. The FARM Club plans on using it during wet labs which take place on the weekends or after school. It is most often used in bovine medicine for pregnancy diagnosis, but can be used to diagnose other conditions as well.
Ultrasound education is very important to veterinary students, and receiving access to a machine like this early in a student's veterinary education can make a big difference. "We will get immediate exposure to the ultrasound to practice learning, so by the time we get into clinics our fourth year, we can be really proficient with it," said FARM Club Co-President Elect, second year veterinary student Christy Copeland.
"I am very proud of their achievement and enthusiasm. They did an excellent job in representing our University and we are very proud of them," said Dr. Anita Varga, FARM Club faculty advisor and clinician at the UC Davis Livestock Medicine and Surgery Service. The UC Davis FARM Club exists to provide extracurricular learning and networking opportunities for students interested in production medicine. It is a student-run organization for veterinary students interested in food animal medicine. Their website has the mission statement "We believe in providing utmost care for animals, while working to ensure a healthy, wholesome and safe food supply to benefit the world. We have the unique responsibility to bring sound scientific evidence to our future clients and to educate the consuming public about the food they eat." This mission begins in school and continues throughout their careers as food animal veterinary practitioners.
For more information about the FARM Club at UC Davis, or to watch their video entry, please visit the FARM Club at UC Davis website or Facebook page. Additional background about the BCF University Competition can be found on the BCF Technology website.
Source: Michelle Sanborn, FARM Club Publicity Commissioner and second year veterinary student at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine


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Members of a church in St. Bonifacious gave five couples a Valentine they won't forget – a free wedding worth at least $1,500.
Pastor John Braland of the Freshwater Community Church came up with the idea after realizing many couples want to get married but can't afford the expense of the wedding.
So he, his staff and volunteers removed all the barriers by providing at no charge: the wedding license, the space, the photographer, the music, the printed program, the reception and even the wedding cake.
Over the "Wedding Weekend" of Feb. 8-10, Pastor Braland married a couple on Friday night and four brides and grooms on Saturday in separate ceremonies to the delight of many guests. The five were picked out of those who responded to an appeal on Facebook.
On Sunday of Valentine week, 14 couples renewed their wedding vows. The church supplied 19 sheet cakes for all the couples.
Braland explains the reasoning of offering free weddings. Marriage is the bedrock of society. Married couples build better families, and better families make better communities.
So you are wondering — what's the catch?
There is none. The couples do not have to be members of the church. In fact, they don't even have to be Christians.
They did have to attend premarital counseling as part of a "Happily Ever After Marriage" series, to make sure they were ready for marriage.
"We said if you say 'I do,' we say 'We do,' " he said.
Pastor Braland figures that, including a reception, the church is saving each couple up to $2,000.
The 900 members of the church are paying the bills, because they believe this is one way to build better families and a better community.
Pastor Braland has been getting positive reaction to the free weddings since the story by Todd Moen broke in the Waconia Patriot newspaper.
The pastor probably would offer free weddings again on a smaller scale.
This is an idea other churches should try, Braland agreed.
What about those who make a living selling wedding services to married couples?
The pastor figures there are enough weddings to go around, saying these won't make a dent in the wedding market.
Vanessa Martinson, the church office manager who coordinated the wedding weekend, said, "We want to be a church that gives something and reaches out and helps the community."
With all the sad news lately, she said, it's nice to have a good-news story that helps people.
Come to think about it, that's the real message of Valentine's Day.
Don Heinzman, an ECM columnist and former editor of the Elk River Star News, can be reached at [email protected] or facebook.com/sunthisweek. Columns reflect the opinion of the author.


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Tri-Fold Brochure, Portrait
Avery Blank Templates Microsoft Word
Perfect for designing your own brochure or pamphlet from scratch
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Reviewed by 1 customer
This review is from AVERY Tri-Fold Brochure, Portrait:
I downloaded it and it looks like any other standard page. No lines showing me where the folds are so i can place things properly. I need those lines! I can always delete them before printing. But I was hoping to have them provided for - correctly spaced, etc..... This was a waste of a download.


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It's no secret that MLL players have lots of things going on off the field, whether it's coaching NCAA lacrosse, working full time at camps and clinics, or working a day job like teaching or banking. Since graduating from Middlebury College, Cannons midfielder Mike Stone has fallen into the latter category, spending time as a restaurant manager and a sports apparel rep. Now, he's taken a leap and created his own socially-responsible business: an online start-up that allows people to easily donate needed goods to their favorite non-profits.
After months of planning and testing,
GivingSomeThing.com is up and running and goods are being purchased and shipped daily. Check out the website now, like the
GivingSomeThing Facebook page to stay up to date on new non-profit partners, and start giving!
Here, Stone answers a few questions about his new venture.
What inspired you to start this company?
My roommate, Dave Campbell, is on the board of Lacrosse the Nations (LTN), a nonprofit that unifies the lacrosse community to sustainably improve education and health while creating hope and opportunity for children in need. Most of their fundraising efforts go to pay for the goods they need for their mission, such as lacrosse related products and a Flip cam to videotape the kids. Dave and the other board members at LTN had discussed finding a way to allow donors to buy products directly for their organization. When Dave came back from the meeting we talked about the potential of a service that could allow donors to give real goods to nonprofits, as there are many nonprofits with material needs who could benefit from that type of donation. Since this kind of service didn't already exist, we decided to build it.
How many different charities are there to choose from?
Right now there are 8 nonprofits on GivingSomeThing. That number will be increasing daily, and we hope to include nonprofits throughout the country. If you know anyone who works for a nonprofit, we'd be happy to speak with them!
Why would people use this website over other ways to give to non-profits?
GivingSomeThing is unique in that every donation results in the literal packaging and shipping of the goods purchased. There are other sites allow donors to support nonprofits online, but no site can provide the same amount of transparency in the donation process as GivingSomeThing. Another unique feature is that there is no cost to nonprofits to use the service, and there is no markup on the price of the goods for the donor, meaning 100% of donated money goes to purchasing and shipping the goods. We get a referral fee from our online retailer, and this percentage comes from the retailers profits, not as a markup on the price of the goods.
What does the tree in your logo represent?
The tree on our site represents giving, like the tree in Shel Silverstein's
The Giving Tree, and we try to incorporate it into our site as much as possible. We use leaves to represent gifts, and those logos are prominent on the site.
Is this the first time you are working for yourself? What is it like?
This is my first time working for myself. I love it, but it is very hard work. Many people think that working for yourself makes things easy, but there is actually a lot of motivation to work hard, as success is a more direct result of individual effort. It is great knowing that my hard work not only benefits GivingSomeThing, but benefits many others in need through our partner nonprofits.
Cannons Foundation


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I knew I'd like this recipe after I loved the Twice-Baked Sweet Potato Cups with Sour Cream, Chipotle, and Lime for a Thanksgiving side dish, and I completely swooned over these Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes with Feta and Sumac. I gobbled one down as soon as I had taken photos, and then the next day I couldn't wait to eat the second one for lunch. And for this easy recipe the sweet potatoes are simply baked, then the flesh is scooped out and mixed with Feta that's been marinating in a little olive oil and some spices. You could serve this as a side dish or as a meatless main dish, and if you're really watching carbs, have half of a sweet potato with a lower-carb main dish.
The idea of combining sweet potatoes with Feta came from a recipe in Crazy Water Pickled Lemons: Enchanting Dishes from the Middle East, Mediterranean and North Africa, a charming cookbook that was sent to me by my blogging friend Lydia. The recipe in the book had the feta just piled on top of the split sweet potato and it included cilantro and Kalamata olives on top (which I left off this time, but will probably try.) If you like sweet potatoes and Feta, you're going to love them together.
Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes with Feta and Sumac
(Makes two sweet potatoes, but can easily be doubled or tripled. Recipe adapted from Crazy Water Pickled Lemons: Enchanting Dishes from the Middle East, Mediterranean and North Africa.)
2 small orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (often called yams or sweet yams in U.S. grocery stores)
2 oz. crumbled Feta (or slightly more if you're feeling indulgent)
pinch of ground fennel seed
pinch of ground coriander
1/2 tsp. finely minced garlic
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp. olive oil
ground Sumac for serving (optional, but good; you could substitute a little bit of smoked paprika)
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Nutritional Information?
More Tasty Ways to Cook Sweet Potatoes:
Spicy Sweet Potato Fries ~ Kalyn's Kitchen
Sweet Potatoes with Blue Cheese and Bacon ~ Family Fresh Cooking
Roasted Sweet with Red Onions, Rosemary, and Parmesan ~ Kalyn's Kitchen


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Dozens of farmers and gardeners from California and across the West Coast harvested their heaviest and prettiest pumpkins for the 40th Annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay Oct. 14.
Spectators gathered around a large stage where pumpkins were hoisted onto the official scale for weign-in. A grand prize of $25,000 was offered for any grower that delivered a world record breaking pumpkin. Although the record was not broken this year, Gary Miller of Napa, California won the top prize for the largest pumpkin at the competition with a weight of 1,985 pounds.
Los Altos resident Suzanne Kasso's pumpkin weighed in at 488-pounds at the 40th Annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay Oct. 14. Although her pumpkin didn't tip the scale as the largest one – the winning pumpkin weighed 1,985 pounds – her gourd snagged second place in the contest's Most Beautiful Pumpkin category. Her husband, Chris Kasso, won third in the category with his 686-pounder.
Los Altos Hills resident Vince Zunino joined the Kassos on the pedestal with his 200-pound pumpkin, which won first place and $500 in the same category.
In a homecoming celebration Oct. 14 , students at Covington School had a chance to admire the Kassos' pumpkins. Watch for the Town Crier's Oct. 23 issue for a full story on the Kasso family's pumpkin-growing prowess.
Photos by Ellie Van Houtte/Town Crier
Local residents participate in Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-off - Photos by Ellie Van Houtte/Town Crier


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An elder statesman in Houston, Petit called up
HOUSTON -- It's not that Gregorio Petit is old. It's just that he's been in an Astros organization that's played the youngest lineup in the Majors this season.
The Astros called up the 29-year-old on Friday to play in place of Marwin Gonzalez at shortstop. Gonzalez has a sore right hamstring keeping him out of the Astros' lineup, so Petit, who hasn't played a Major League game since 2009, got the callup from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Petit had surgery on his right ACL in 2011, making him appreciate of his third career callup in a different way than his first two. After hitting .297 with 10 homers and 43 RBIs for Oklahoma City this season, Petit got his chance.
"When you're young, you're waiting for that shot, and you know at one point you might get it," Petit said. "Then age goes by, time goes by, I'm not 21 anymore, not 22 anymore, and I got knee surgery. I missed a year, and after that, I just decided to enjoy the game even more and take advantage of every opportunity."
The Astros optioned reliever Anthony Bass to Oklahoma City and moved reliever Matt Albers to the 60-day disabled list to make room on the 40-man roster for Petit. Albers has not thrown for the Astros since April 21 due to right shoulder tendinitis.
Gonzalez left Wednesday's game in the seventh inning with a sore hamstring and he started and played most of Thursday's game, but the Astros kept him out of the lineup Friday in a precautionary move to ensure he doesn't hurt the hamstring any worse.
"With Marwin, it's not something that has hindered him from being able to play day to day," manager Bo Porter said. "It's just that you're afraid that if you continue, he may end up blowing it, and now you're looking at least 15 days, if not more. Bringing in an extra guy to kind of give us a leeway and give him a couple days here and there. We feel like he's not in any jeopardy of missing 15 days."
Mike Vernon 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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The elite linebacker announces his decision on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. at Carver High School in Montgomery. Hamilton's finalists are Alabama, Auburn and Tennessee. The Rivals experts give their prediction.
Mike Farrell, National Recruiting Analyst, Rivals.com: "Prediction is Alabama. I really like him as a player, he has SEC size for a linebacker, very thick and strong even though he's not the tallest linebacker in the world. Quick twitch despite his excellent size and moves very well laterally. I love the way he closes and he showed at our RCS in Birmingham that he can run and is very athletic. He's a great get for whoever he picks, can play middle or even outside in certain schemes."
Kynon Codrington, Southeast Recruiting Analyst, Rivals.com: "I feel Bama lands him. I think he is a tremendous inside backer. Similar build to Reuben Foster with great tackling instincts and tackling ability."
Andrew Bone, AlabamaVarsity.com/TideSports.com: "I've felt like it has been Alabama for a while. He took two recent trips to Auburn last week after a visit to Tuscalosoa. I don't think much has changed. Hamilton was very impressive at the Rivals Camp presented by Under Armour in Hoover. He is a very physical linebacker who loves to compete. His highlight film will remind you of Reuben Foster, but he doesn't like the comparison. He wants to make his own name which he has.
Shaun Dion Hamilton profile


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New groups of farmland owners are slowly edging into agricultural production, and they will require agricultural consultants to offer services using new business approaches.
Taking a futuristic view of how agricultural customers are changing and the issues that have to be addressed in finances and farm policy were major topics talked about by David Kohl, Ph.D., agricultural economist, and John Blanchfield, with the American Bankers Association, during the American Society of Agricultural Consultants annual meeting in Washington, D.C., at the end of October.
Kohl sees a change from ownership by little old ladies who outlived their husbands. He sees a group of technologically savvy businessmen and businesswomen taking direct responsibility for farming operations, and these will be entrepreneurial owners. They could easily be heirs who have been successful in non-agricultural businesses and decided to return to manage farming operations using their strong business knowledge to have a different focus than a traditional commodity grain farmer or livestock producer.
Kohl is a professor emeritus from the Agricultural & Applied Economics Department of Virginia Tech University. He is a futurist economist always looking ahead using the past as proof of trends. He also is part owner of an organic dairy that distributes products in southeast coastal states. He can be seen as similar in some ways to the group of ag entrepreneurs the described in his presentation.
The ag entrepreneurs he described will be business savvy on how to obtain startup working capital, and these landowners will be looking to expand. "They are going to farm multiple counties, multiple states and sometimes multiple countries," Kohl said.
The business enterprises will often be multiple family entities, but also include non-relatives as investors because the business concepts will be capital intensive and require investment money. Some of the enterprises will own businesses other than production agriculture. They could own a John Deere dealership as well as a hotel franchise, Kohl contends.
These non-agricultural professionals who step into farming in a big way will be what Kohl calls "energetic lifelong learners." They are persons who keep looking for opportunity and "thinking young" and are progressive whether they are 50 years old, 60 years old or even older. Without a doubt, they will use the latest technology.
"One of the things, you need to do as consultants is put together teams to provide solutions with these customers. This is definitely what is coming at you with the 270,000 [largest U.S. farms]," Kohl said.
Consulting teams will need to be confidants for these entrepreneurs and sometimes try to slow them down. Kohl contends, "They will need to slow down, and they don't want to slow down. These folks will be very vulnerable in the next agricultural downturn."
The idea of interdisciplinary teams as one-stop shops to work with farmers of all sizes was a topic addressed on more than one occasion during the ASAC meeting. It was first discussed in relation to working with livestock operations such as hog producers and dairies. The team approach with professionals of various responsibilities and skills working together also came up for crop production
by consultants working in California, with all its regulatory guidelines, and nationally as ag retailers move toward providing a full-spectrum of services, including financial consulting.
Kohl contends that consultants, providing whatever services, will need to use all their psychological skills in dealing with the new groups of landowners coming into agriculture. There are several emotions that are and will be common with new landowners, and number one is greed.
"I will tell you that greed is alive and well. This grain price super cycle that we've had since about the year 2000 has shown us greed," he said. A consultant can be the one working with the landowner to "bring objectivity into the greed."
Another significant emotion is anxiety, and Kohl sees this as a good emotion. "What you've got to do as a consultant is relate to these people, lay out scenarios, show objectivity and share with them some of the potential risks. Anxiety is one emotion as consultants you can build upon," he said.
Prior to Kohl, Blanchfield noted the farming operations that must be the focus of ag consulting. Using the latest Department of Agriculture numbers, he noted there are 1,344,000 small farms whose operators report they are retired or they had a major occupation other than farming. There also are about 577,000 intermediate farms, or those with sales less than $250,000 but report farming as their major occupation.
And finally there are the approximate 270,000 farms with sales greater than $250,000. Blanchfield pointed out that these 270,000 farms account for 80 percent of the U.S. farm production and owe approximately 60 percent of all farm debt.
Blanchfield, who is chairman of the ABA Center for Agricultural and Rural Banking, said Farmers Home Administration spends a lot of time working with intermediate size farms. Also, the 577,000 are good customers of rural banks. "They are not real interest-rate sensitive.
What they want to know the most is 'can I get the loan.'
And yes, they can. They don't ask for much," Blanchfield explained. Basically all the agricultural companies in the U.S. are putting the most effort into chasing the 270,000 to be customers. "Isn't that incredible how consolidated this industry has become," he said.
"The scale of these farm deals has gotten so big," Blanchfield noted. "Rural banks are going to be hard pressed to finance an operation that needs $100 million. That is a real challenge to our business model of local deposits and lending to local businesses."
These big operations are playing in a global market to earn return on their investment. As Kohl said, "We've got to think globally and bring it down locally."
To go along with his global sound bite, he said, "You are talking about big data in your businesses as consultants. Your key is to take this mound of data and do something with it. We are drowning in data and starved for organized information."
He also noted, "Any time an asset crashes, you'll have six years of corrections. It is called six years of economic whitewater." He used the stock market crash of 2007 and the stock market improvement in 2013 as an example. He also said the farm real estate crash of 1981 resulted in a comeback in 1987.
"You basically have to help your client through whitewaters. All six years are not going to be bad years, but it usually takes about six years. And if they have to sell assets during that downturn, they will be discounted 10, 20 or even 40 percent; it was 38 percent on average during the farm crisis with it being higher in some sections of the country and lower in other sections.
Blanchfield talked about near-term "pain makers" other than what Kohl mentioned. In short, some of the pain makers that farmers and the ag industry should expect include: conservation compliance to qualify for crop insurance, interest rates rising and farmers and ranchers having trouble paying half the interest that people paid in the 1970s, the Washington farm lobby being less able to push through legislation supportive of ag, the lack of an economic safety net for farmers when a crisis hits, and farm real estate prices hitting a wall as commodity grain prices drop to half of their recent peaks.
"While you are consulting with your clients, whether you are an agronomist, accountant or crop insurance rep or whatever, just ask them the question, 'What are you doing to hedge your interest rate risk?,'" Blanchfield recommended.
He concluded by saying, "As consultants, your job is to look at sickness, to put together information of patterns and non-patterns and be able to provide your client with information that is factual, true and actionable."


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Photo Flash: First Look at GLEE's 'Swan Song' Episode!
On this week's episode of GLEE titled 'Swan Song,' As New Directions regroups after Sectionals, Finn ponders his future with the club. Meanwhile, Rachel prepares for the NYADA Winter Showcase, and Kurt gets his shot at redemption with a second audition. Check out photos from the episode below!
GLEE is a musical comedy about a group of eager and ambitious students who strive to outshine their singing competition to win Nationals while navigating the cruel halls of McKinley High. Since its debut,GLEE has become a bona fide cultural phenomenon, received prestigious honors including the Golden Globe and Peabody Award and singlehandedly made glee clubs cool again.
In addition to the regular cast, GLEE has featured guest appearances by a wide range of talented performers, including Gwyneth Paltrow (who won the 2011 Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series), Carol Burnett, Kathy Griffin, Cheyenne Jackson, John Stamos, Britney Spears, Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Molly Shannon, Olivia Newton-John and Neil Patrick Harris, who won a 2010 Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on the show.


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The boss of the new, enlarged ambulance service serving Wiltshire believes it will lead to improved performance for patients.
Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS) merged with South Western Ambulance Service Foundation Trust on Friday.
The new ambulance service, called South Western, will serve a resident population of more than 5.3 million plus an estimated annual influx of 17.5 million tourists.
It covers Wiltshire, Avon, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The head office is in Exeter and the merger took 14 months to conclude.
Ken Wenman, chief executive of South Western, said: "Since South Western has been working with GWAS we have moved from GWAS being one of the poorest-performing ambulance trusts to last week being the best in the country on response times for life-threatening calls. We have spent a lot of time looking at how we deploy our ambulance resources and sending the right resources to incidents."
The service employs about 4,000 people and Mr Wenman said all staff from GWAS had transferred under their same terms and conditions.
He said the jobs of clinical frontline staff were protected but about 20 posts would be lost in administration and management. Consultation with affected staff has started and will take five months.
Jenner House, on Langley Industrial Estate, Chippenham, which is the headquarters of GWAS, will close in December and staff will relocate to other offices.
He said there were no plans to close ambulance stations and in fact a new ambulance station will be built to replace the one at Malmesbury Road, Chippenham.
Mr Wenman said the benefits of merging the two ambulance services included economies of scale to obtain better value in buying medical equipment and ambulances. As a foundation trust, South Western will be able to use surplus money to reinvest in services.
The new ambulance service will have to make savings ordered by the Department of Health of £10m a year.
The Wiltshire emergency control room at Wiltshire Police's headquarters in Devizes will close in March, saving £700,000 a year, and 999 calls will be answered at its control room at Bristol.
Although the GWAS name will disappear, Mr Wenman said the only replacement signage will be at the 34 ambulance stations in the GWAS area, which will cost £4,500.
He said changing the name on ambulances and other things would not take place for several years as the total cost of this would be £260,000.
Jo Fowles, secretary of the GWAS branch of Unison, said the union cautiously supported the merger.
She said the change was unlikely to affect the service to the public but many staff would be worried that their jobs were at risk.


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A look at the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings after Sunday's crash-marred Good Sam 500 at Talladega Superspeedway and heading into the fifth Chase race this week at Charlotte Motor Speedway:
1. Brad Keselowski
Position: Leader
Performance at Talladega: Keselowski was a contender to win, but more important, he was lucky. While the rest of the Chase contenders were caught up in the big last-lap crash, Keselowski survived it and drove away for a seventh-place finish.
Outlook: Keselowski gained nine points on Jimmie Johnson and seven on Denny Hamlin, his top two challengers. He doesn't have a comfortable lead, but the pressure is clearly on his pursuers. Keselowski doesn't have a great record at Charlotte, but he finished fifth in the Coca-Cola 600 there in May.
2. Jimmie Johnson
Position: -14
Performance at Talladega: Johnson ran at the rear of the field most of the race to avoid the big crash. Then he wound up getting in it anyway. Johnson realized his worst fears, finishing 17th and losing ground to Keselowski.
Outlook: It could have been a lot worse. Fourteen points is not an insurmountable deficit. One slip-up by Keselowski, and Johnson will be all over him. He can't afford any more bad luck, though. No one is better at Charlotte than Johnson, who has six career wins there and has finished in the top 10 in 14 of his 22 races there for an average finish of 11.8.
3. Denny Hamlin
Position: -23
Performance at Talladega: Hamlin rode around at the rear of the field for almost the entire race. It worked—sort of. Hamlin was still caught up in the big crash, but he survived to finish 14th and minimize the damage and his loss in the standings.
Outlook: Hamlin is strong at the rest of the tracks on the Chase schedule and is happy to be able to control his own destiny, as he says. He can make up ground quickly if Keselowski slips. Hamlin doesn't have a great overall record at Charlotte—seven top-10s in 14 races—but he has been good there in the last several races, scoring four straight top-10s, including second in May.
4. Kasey Kahne
Position: -36
Performance at Talladega: Kahne, the polesitter, also was in the mix at Talladega before getting swept into the last-lap crash. Though he finished 12th, he still lost ground to Keselowski.
Outlook: At 36 points behind, Kahne needs a few big races and some luck to catch up. Other than Johnson, his teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, Kahne is the driver to beat at Charlotte. In 17 races there, he has four wins, seven top-fives and nine top-10s. He won the Coca-Cola 600 there in May and finished fourth in this race last year.
5. Clint Bowyer
Position: -40
Performance at Talladega: Bowyer was looking to gain big ground in the Chase at Talladega, and did all he could. He was battling for the win when he got taken out in the crash.
Outlook: The crash hurt Bowyer perhaps more than anyone. He trailed Keselowski by 25 points entering Talladega; now he trails by 40. He will need some luck to catch up. Charlotte is one of Bowyer's worst tracks. He has just three top-10s in 13 races there and has struggled in his last four races.
6. Jeff Gordon
Position: -42
Performance at Talladega: Gordon continued his hot streak, finishing second for the fourth time in the past six races. He was charging toward the front when the wreck broke out.
Outlook: Despite another strong finish, he still is in a big hole thanks to his 35th-place finish in the Chase opener. He's got three straight top-fives, but is gaining little ground on the leader. He needs Keselowski to falter to have a chance. Gordon has been great at Charlotte most of his career—five wins, 21 top-10s—but not recently. He has just two top-10s in his last six races there. He finished sixth in May.
7. Tony Stewart
Position: -46
Performance at Talladega: Stewart left Talladega with a torn-up racecar and a bruised ego. He caused the last-lap, 24-car crash while battling for the lead and took a wild ride in the process. He finished 22nd.
Outlook: The only thing hurt worse than Stewart's car and pride was his championship hopes. The defending champ lost 14 more points in the Chase and now needs some big breaks to climb back into the race. Stewart has had an up-and-down career at Charlotte. He has one win there (2003) but has just 12 top-10s in 27 races and has struggled in recent years with just one top-10 in his last nine races. He finished 25th there in May.
8. Martin Truex Jr.
Position: -48
Performance at Talladega: Truex was rarely seen during the wild race—until he, too, was caught up in the last-lap crash. He survived to finish 13th but it did nothing to help his Chase hopes.
Outlook: Truex has been decent in the Chase with two top-10s and three top-13 finishes, but he keeps falling further behind. He'll need a miracle—like another big crash he manages to avoid—to become a contender. Truex has stunk at Charlotte most of his career. He has just two top-10 finishes in 14 races and has finished 15th or worse in four of his last five.
T9. Greg Biffle
Position: -49
Performance at Talladega: Biffle ran near the front and was a contender to win, but he also got knocked around in the last-lap crash. He recovered quickly, however, to finish sixth.
Outlook: Despite a good finish, Biffle gained just two points on Keselowski and still is reeling from a terrible start to the Chase. Despite his prowess on 1.5-mile tracks, Biffle has never won at Charlotte and doesn't have a great record there—just seven top-10s. He did finish fourth in May there, however.
T9. Kevin Harvick
Position: -49
Performance at Talladega: Like practically everyone else on this list, Harvick was a contender to win until getting taken out in the big crash. He finished 11th, but it did nothing to help him in the Chase.
Outlook: Harvick not only is too far behind to contend, he hasn't run well enough on unrestricted tracks to be a factor. Charlotte used to be one of his worse tracks, but he has figured it out recently, scoring four straight top-10 finishes, including a win last year.
11. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Position: -51
Performance at Talladega: Earnhardt led early, suffered a speeding penalty, rallied and was headed for the lead again when he got swept into the crash. He was hoping to gain some big ground in the Chase at Talladega. Instead, his title hopes are close to being over.
Outlook: Earnhardt has run well at most tracks this year, but not well enough to make up a 51-point deficit. He must hope for the best finish he can get at this point. Though it's his home turf, Earnhardt has never run that well at Charlotte. He has just 11 top-10 finishes in 26 races there and just two in his last eight races. He finished sixth in May.
12. Matt Kenseth
Position: -62
Performance at Talladega: After getting off to a horrible start in the Chase, Kenseth gained 10 points with his win on Sunday. Unfortunately, he's still too far behind to be a factor.
Outlook: Barring a total collapse by the big three, Kenseth is just racing for wins at this point in his final season with Roush Fenway Racing. Though it's unlikely to do him any good in the standings, Kenseth could win again at Charlotte. He has two wins and a good record there, including a victory in this race last year.


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Hydra April 2005 Tour
The Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart and Particle, a pioneering electronic/jam-rock band, have come together to form HYDRA. The new group will launch a 14-date tour, debuting their new sound nationwide, beginning April 7 in Santa Cruz, Calif. and ending on April 24 in Washington, DC
More info about HYDRA...
Mickey Hart is best known for his nearly three decades as an integral part of an extraordinary expedition into the soul and spirit of music, disguised as the rock and roll band the Grateful Dead. As half of the percussion tandem known as the Rhythm Devils, Mickey transcended the conventions of rock drumming. The extended polyrhythmic excursions were highlights of Grateful Dead shows, introducing the band's audience to an ever-growing arsenal of percussion instruments from around the world.
Since forming in the fall of 2000, Particle has enjoyed a transcendental rise on the national music scene. Their trademark 'funktronic' sounds combine elements of electronica, funk, and high powered rock and roll. Particle's momentum has been unprecedented since their introduction to the live music world nearly five years ago. With the recent release of their debut studio record "Launchpad", which was named one of the Top Ten Records of 2004 by the Associated Press, the band is poised to reach new heights. Their most recent accomplishments include tours of Europe and Japan, as well as shows at Austin City Limits, Bonnaroo and Burning Man Music Festivals.
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Wayne Eller's feet are likely going to be sore come Saturday, but that ache will remind him of the act he accomplished for a family in need.
Eller, the executive director of East Central Minnesota Habitat for Humanity, which serves five counties including Chisago and Isanti, set out Monday from his office in Cambridge on a 100-plus mile walk to Duluth in order to raise money for Crystal Powell and her family.
The Powell's Willow River home was destroyed by floods in June, and the family of six have been living in a small apartment with Crystal's father ever since.
Eller said Habitat was already building a home in Willow River near the Powell's house when the floods hit.
"We had gotten to know her and him when we were tearing down a garbage lot," Eller said.
Right away after the flood, Eller said he and the others in the Habitat crew wanted to help the Powells, but there were a number of challenges facing them.
First, the Powells had to qualify for a Habitat home, which requires a family to pay a no-interest loan on the home and donate 265 hours of their time to help build the house.
The Powells qualified, but there were still more obstacles to getting the house built—the water damaged home needed to be torn down, the lot needed to be raised above the flood line and money had to be raised to pay for the materials to construct a new home.
The local fire department stepped in and agreed to burn down the house as a training exercise, and the office of Minnesota Sen. Al Franken caught wind of the initiative and found a trucking firm to bring in the material needed to raise the lot above flood level.
Only raising the money to purchase the building materials is left, and that's where Eller comes in.
He's printed information about the Powell's predicament on 4,000 flyers, which he plans to hand out to as many people as he can during his journey.
So far, Eller has raised about $3,400 for the project.
To make construction of the home come to fruition, Eller said he needs to collect about $60,000.
Eller said the Powells are good, hardworking people.
He noted that when the flood waters were starting to fill up their home, Crystal rushed to get as many belongings out of the house as possible, and in the process dislodged screws from her recently-broken ankle.
She dealt with the pain and went to work the next day.
"That compelling story of what a hard worker she was just touched my heart so deeply," Eller said. "I thought, 'This person will do nothing but succeed with a habitat for humanity home.'"
Those who would like to make a tax-deductible donation, which will be used to purchase materials to build the Powells a new house, can do so by mailing checks to P.O. Box 529, Cambridge, Mn. 55008. For more information, contact Wayne Eller, executive director of East Central Minnesota Habitat for Humanity, at 763-689-0288 or [email protected]
People can also read more about Eller's "Walk the Walk" journey at www.ecmhabitat.com.


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As the sixth and final season of the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2014 reaches the homestretch, FIFA.com checked in with defending champion Bruce Grannec to get his thoughts on the main event in June – The FIWC 2014 Grand Final in Rio de Janeiro!
"There'll be 20 players, and all of them have a chance to win it," says Bruce, "Our level is pretty close to be honest, and you'll need that special something else, something more than just skill to reach the final."
While his name is often uttered when asking finalists about their tournament favourites, Bruce rejects the idea. "You have to watch everyone," he says, "If you reach the Grand Final it is not a coincidence, it's because you are simply good enough."
As a veteran of four Grand Finals, and having experienced the highs and lows of the tournament, the Frenchman believes there is a defining quality a player must have to win the largest gaming tournament in the world. "Experience is the most important thing in this tournament," he says. "You need to stay fully focused even when things are not moving in your direction. Then you need to have a little bit of luck, just like in any competitive sport."
While his fellow 19 Grand Finalists had to run the qualification gauntlet for the FIWC 2014, Bruce enjoys an automatic seat in Rio as the reigning champion, something he considers both a blessing and a curse. "When you take a look at what it takes to qualify for a Grand Final, it's obviously great to be automatically seeded," he says. "It's exciting to be the defending champion, but it's also very stressful. To keep the title, you have to fight twice as hard against a lot of good players that are hungry to win it for the first time."
Barcelona, Dubai, Madrid and now Rio de Janeiro, The Frenchman's virtual skills have taken him to some unforgettable FIWC destinations, not to mention two VIP visits to the FIFA Ballon d'Or. But the allure of Brazil shines brightest for Bruce. "Brazil will be my fifth Grand Final and for sure the most exciting one," he says. "To know that I'm going to compete in Brazil, a country where football is like a religion, and during a world cup… It's just unbelievable to be honest."
While the finalists will be focused on the virtual tournament with it's massive grand prize - USD 20,000 and a trip to the next FIFA Ballon d'Or - there is the welcome distraction of attending a World Cup match in Rio. It's something Bruce relishes. "For any fan out there, it's a dream to be able to watch a World Cup game. Now make that dream come true in Rio de Janeiro, it's something that I'll probably tell my future kids about everyday of my life!" Said Grannec in a rare moment of visible excitement.
Even Bruce - a player with such an ice-cool composure that he is nicknamed 'The Machine' - can't contain his excitement for the chance to experience the coming together of the real and virtual FIFA World Cup in Brazil. "It's not everyday that you get to travel to the other side of the world, never mind during a World Cup," he says, "I want to enjoy the experience as much as possible."
It's not too late to enter. Sign up for the FIWC 2014 now and try your luck in our Season 6 Community Qualifier and Country Challenge for a chance to be in Brazil! You can follow the FIFA Interactive World Cup on Facebook and @FIWC on twitter for all the latest news from the largest gaming tournament in the world!


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My dad often used the phrase "college teaches you how to learn." I don't know where he got it from, or if it was his own invention. All I know is that it made no sense in high school. I would question it because it essentially made college useless. Every high school kid knows how to learn, right? No, absolutely not. All of them think they do; I was no different.
I came to Oglethorpe thinking I had it all figured out: career, dreams, and how to reach both of them. I was going to be a hugely successful sports/entertainment attorney. I was going to make tons and tons of money. I was going to have it all. From Oglethorpe, I learned none of that was what I wanted. I don't care about money that much, I don't care about having a hugely successful name that strikes fear in the hearts of sports franchises and movie producers. I just want to learn.
Oglethorpe has been designed in such a way that questioning your self is unavoidable. Just look at the first year of Core. "Narratives of Self"?What else could that be other than an examination of your being and values? Just when you think you figured out the problems from that course, you have "Human Nature and the Social Order". Another puzzle for yourself that you must answer: what values do you hold, where do you stand in society, and what do you want from society? After this, you're thrown another curveball, being forced to reexamine these practices and decisions in "Historical Perspectives."
All of this, hopefully, allows you to look at yourself and question the pit of your beliefs. Maybe you have to find new ones, maybe the ones you held before Oglethorpe are reinforced; either way, you're a better person for it. You have gained a system of beliefs that you hold concretely, and there are very few things more comforting than knowing you stand for beliefs that have been stripped down to their very core, and you found them agreeable.
Perhaps this type of examination of Oglethorpe only exists in the mind of a philosophy major. Perhaps I examined this the way I did because of the professors that I have. Dr. Belcher showed me that your beliefs are basically worthless if you don't know why you stand for them. Dr. Carton taught me that nobody is the same, and there are so many different internal processes that make up a person that understanding them all is impossible. From Dr. Smith I learned everybody does things their own way. We don't know why some things are done the way they are, but the fact that they are done in such a way might tell us more about that person or those people than if they had done it the "normal" way. Numerous other professors here taught me other things, but these are the ones I hold in the highest regard.
The most important thing to notice about the things I learned is that none of them are classes. I didn't take a "reasons why your beliefs might be wrong class" or a class on "things that people did in history that we don't understand" because they don't exist. Sometimes, the most important thing to learn from a class isn't the subject of the class at all. This takes some work, but the work and payoff will be well worth it. Your experience will undoubtedly be different. You will have different classes, different professors, and different friends. This difference will make you examine things in your own way, and that leads to a different experience for everybody. This means Oglethorpe has done its job.
In hindsight, I want to leave the readers of this with a few suggestions. First, don't live your life thinking you know what you want because that is what your parents want for you, or because you saw it on TV. If you really want to be this idea you have in your head, no amount of reexamining will change your mind. If you end up changing your mind, it means you're growing, learning. Have an open mind, it will do wonders for you. Second, take Oglethorpe for what it is. The classes can be frustrating and, believe me, I hate Petrel Points* as much as the next guy, but I love Oglethorpe. The community, professors, faculty, and students will always hold a special place in my heart. If you come here expecting perks of a large university, don't expect to be satisfied. Take the small school atmosphere and embrace it. Develop relationships with your professors; and gain close friends; you won't regret it. The third suggestion is to just listen to people. You can't learn if you don't. Listen to professors; they are wildly intelligent and are here only because of the students. They honestly have your best interests at heart. If they suggest you think about something or reexamine something, do it. They care and know best.
And above all else, just learn.
*All first-year students are required to accrue a total of 12 Petrel Points during their first academic year by participating in three areas of campus life: arts, education and ideas; civic engagement; and campus leadership and citizenship.
Printed in the Stormy Petrel student newspaper, Dec. 1, 2011, and reprinted in the Carillon magazine, Winter 2011.


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To provide care, protection, and assistance to animals who are mistreated, injured, abandoned, or otherwise in need.
To minimize animal overpopulation through low-cost spay/neuter clinics.
To create community awareness and gain support of animal needs through educational efforts.
Cat Adoption days and location: Peaceable Kingdom, Inc.1049 MacArthur Road, Whitehall. Sunday-Thursday 11a to 1p; Friday 5-7p or other times available by appointment.
All of our kittens reside in foster homes. Each weekend, you can meet our kittens at PetSmart in Whitehall. Adoptions are held on most Saturdays from 10am-2pm. Please view our website to confirm adoption day and hours.
FOR CATS ...Please review the Feline Adoption Application (below) for adult cats before committing to an adoption. If you wish, you may print and fill out the form and bring it with you to adoption day.
Click here for our a Feline Adoption Application.
FOR KITTENS ...Potential adopters will need to complete a Kitten Application and provide proof of vaccinations and spay/neuter for other animals living in the home. Renter must also provide a copy of their rental agreement showing pet allowance.The adoption fee is $90 for a DSH kitten, $125 for a DLH, and $150 for specialty and purebred kittens. All kittens are spayed/neutered, flea treated, wormed, leukemia tested, micro-chipped and are up to date on shots.
Click here to submit a kitten application online.
This online application is for kittens ONLY.
Thank You!
Your message has been sent to Peaceable Kingdom Shelter.
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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J. Guthrie passed away way to soon. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.
This is a very sad deal. I only met J. a couple of times but he seemed to be a stand up guy. 37 is way too young to turn it in. Rest In Peace. -G
N. Guy Eastman
Eastmans' Hunting Journals
I've heard good things about him. Good to see ya on here Guy!
"Only two people have died for You and I, The American Soldier died for Our Freedom & Jesus Christ Died for Our Souls!" I thank GOD for them! GOD BLESS AMERICA!
NRA Life Member
how? or is it if they don't say you know how?
sorry to the loved ones left behind, god bless you all.


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After solid April, Peralta on a tear in May
DETROIT -- Just as Jhonny Peralta is notorious for slow starts in April, his career splits in May show a big turnaround in May. His month so far, though, is less like a turnaround than a tear.
After Peralta's surprisingly strong April, batting .292 (28-for-96) with two homers and 12 RBIs, he entered Saturday batting 12-for-28 in May. Add in three walks, and he has reached base safely in nearly half of his plate appearances so far this month. He's 14-for-36 during a nine-game hitting streak that dates back to April 29.
The irony of it is that he admittedly hates cold weather and doesn't usually play well in it. He hit through the April freeze, but the warmup with his bat has been much more sudden than the warming of the weather.
"I think my body's kind of used to it now," Peralta said. "I don't know how to explain it, but it's been good."
Manager Jim Leyland said Peralta has been more of an overall hitter this year, rather than pulling everything.
"I think he's using the whole field a little bit better than he did last year," Leyland said. "He's not as pull-happy, although he is a pull hitter. He's getting some hits to right field."
That said, he pulled two doubles to left on Friday night against Indians starter Corey Kluber.
"I think I've been handling the inside pitch better than in other years," Peralta said.
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Oregon man among those killed in Algerian hostage standoff
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) One of the American hostages killed in the siege at a natural gas complex in Algeria was planning to retire soon to his family's cabin in a tiny, former gold-mining town in northeastern Oregon so he could spend more time hunting, fishing, snowmobiling and visiting family, friends said Tuesday.
A petroleum engineer who felt safe working at the remote outpost in the Sahara, Gordon Lee Rowan, 58, had spent Christmas in California with one of his two sons, and then drove from Sumpter the first week in January to fly out of Boise, Idaho, for another monthlong shift at the gas field, said friends Toni Thompson and Myron Woodley.
"The biggest thing is just the senselessness of it, and the fact he was so close to being able to retire and kind of start his life again," after the death of his wife 3 1/2 years ago, said Thompson, the retired city recorder of Sumpter and a longtime friend of the Rowan family.
"He'd got a new ATV and a snowmobile. He was looking forward to being able to use those in the appropriate seasons. He was getting started again to fish and hunt with his brother (Jerry Rowan of Sumpter). Just looking forward to a lot of things."
The State Department said Rowan was one of three Americans killed in the hostage standoff last week at the Ain Amenas field in the Sahara. An official said Rowan was one of two hostages that militants wanted to exchange for prominent terror suspects jailed in the United States.
Rowan graduated from high school in Ontario, Ore., in 1973, and served in the Army, Thompson said.
He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1985 with a bachelor of science in petroleum engineering, said spokeswoman Catherine F. Bishop.
He worked on oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and the South China Sea as well as Algeria, Thompson and Woodley said.
Woodley said Rowan was involved in fracking old wells at the Sahara site to get more oil and gas out of them.
"He didn't take his retirement like he intended to," said Woodley. "He told them he would come back 'til the end of this year, or 'til he finished that new job he was on."
His wife and mother died within days of each other about 3 1/2 years ago, and about a year ago, Rowan moved from Mesa, Ariz., back to Oregon, taking over his family's A-frame cabin in Sumpter, a town of about 200 people in the Elkhorn Mountains, they said. He had put a new roof on it and was remodeling the interior.
A photo on Facebook shows him standing outside the cabin holding a huge icicle.
Sumpter was settled during the Gold Rush in the 1860s. The story goes that it was named for Fort Sumter, S.C., where the first shots of the Civil War were fired, after someone found a rock as round as a cannonball. There is no traffic light. The school shut down long ago and is now used as a community center. There is a motel, three restaurants, and a gas station. Every summer, big flea markets draw thousands of visitors.
When Rowan was home, City Recorder Julie McKinney would know it by the wood smoke curling out of his chimney.
"Everybody knew Gordon," she said.
Rowan would regularly stop by the Miner's Exchange tavern for a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and to talk with longtime friends, said Woodley, who owns the tavern and a gold mine still operating outside town.
"I was all the time telling him, 'You know, that's not good,'" the security situation in Algeria, Woodley said. "He always said, 'No, it's all secure.' That's all he ever said."