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The Washington County board of commissioners is again looking to Harrisburg to legislate changes in the property reassessment system, this time through a state Senate bill that would move the responsibility to the Department of Community and Economic Development.
They learned of the possible changes from state Rep. Jesse White, D-Cecil, who said the Senate bill would direct DCED to create both an operations manual and a statewide database for reporting property values to be used by counties when reassessing; develop and maintain statewide training programs for anyone working with the value of property during a reassessment; and require that methodology and calculations that determine the value of property statewide and in counties to be made public.
"No matter what happens, I will not be a cheerleader for reassessment," commission Chairman Larry Maggi said at a news conference Tuesday at the Courthouse Square office building, at which the commissioners announced that they are "reluctantly" seeking vendors to carry out the expensive reassessment. "We're at the edge of a cliff being pushed over."
Maggi and Commissioner Harlan Shober attended a meeting of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg and lobbied Monday for the passage of Senate Bill 66. Gov. Tom Corbett vetoed a bill in 2011 that singled out Washington County for an assessment moratorium, labeling it unconstitutional. Commission Vice Chairwoman Diana Irey Vaughan, the panel's lone Republican, has lobbied Corbett to sign Senate Bill 66 if it reaches his desk.
"The (current) system does not work," she said. "We've had study after study that have come out and said we need a new type of assessment system in Pennsylvania. We don't believe spending $8 million in taxpayer money is a good idea right now, especially when we have a Legislature that just several years ago finally really started looking at the reassessment formulas and tried to come up with a new plan.
"We have all lobbied the legislators and even the governor to allow Washington County to be the pilot project for a new reassessment system under DCED and we're hopeful that we will be able to use the new system."
Both she and Maggi said they'd rather see Washington County be the first county to reassess under a new system rather than the last to reassess the county's 118,000 parcels under the current system.
Nicholas Gerek, White's chief of staff, said S.B. 66 passed the state Senate 49-0 and was voted out of committee in the state House this month. Legislation requires three votes to pass the House, and Gerek said the second of those votes could occur as early as this week.
None of the commissioners attended the court proceeding a few hours earlier, where an attorney representing them in the property reassessment sought by the Washington and McGuffey school districts said the board is seeking proposals from firms that would be interested in conducting the countywide project.
Attorney Robert Grimm said the county is contacting vendors who submitted proposals in 2009, requesting proposals through its own website, and advertised Tuesday in the Westmoreland County-based Valley Independent, which circulates throughout the Mon Valley.
President Judge Debbie O'Dell Seneca asked why the county did not advertise in the Observer-Reporter, which she called "a recognized publication of general circulation in the county."
Grimm called advertising in the Valley Independent "less expensive than the Observer-Reporter" but did not provide any cost comparisons at the hearing.
Based on both publications' rate cards, the legal ad in the O-R would have cost $366 for two days, reaching 27,841 Washington County subscribers, while the county paid approximately $500 for three days in the Valley Independent, reaching 5,729 Washington County subscribers, said Tom Northrop, Observer-Reporter publisher.
As late as Friday, county officials said they had not made a decision on placing the ad, a significant step in the reassessment process.
Scott Fergus, county administrator, said the decision to advertise was made Monday. Both newspapers are considered publications of general circulation in Washington County.
"They waited for the very last day to advertise," said attorney Susan Key, who is representing the school districts. She noted that O'Dell Seneca ordered weeks ago for the commissioners to solicit proposals from reassessment firms.
The court concluded that for the past several years legislation on changing reassessments has been proposed, but nothing has been enacted. "The commissioners have admitted in this lawsuit that taxes are not uniform in Washington County," she said.
Rick Mancini, Washington School District director of district operations, said there is a shift in the tax burden from commercial properties to residential properties. Homeowners are paying a bigger and bigger share.
The county's last reassessment, completed in 1979, took effect in 1981.
The county and school districts have been in court since 2008, when O'Dell Seneca ordered that, barring a change in state law, she expected to see the commissioners undertake a property reassessment within their then-current terms of office, which expired Jan. 1, 2012.
The commissioners are also seeking what Maggi called a "lifeline" from the state Supreme Court, which has not yet decided if it will hear the county's appeal, filed in January.
The next Washington County court status conference, and the school district's request that the commissioners be held in contempt of court for failing to reassess property, has been scheduled for June 4.
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Seven candidates apply for open City Council seat
January 24, 2013
The four members of the South Lake Tahoe City Council will have plenty of people to choose from when possibly selecting someone to fill the seat of former Mayor Claire Fortier next week.
Kathay Lovell, Austin Sass, Bill Crawford, Scott Valentine, Howard Bittner, Brooke Laine and Bruce Grego have each applied for the nearly two-year appointment, according to information from City Clerk Susan Alessi.
The deadline for submitting applications for the appointment is Friday at 5 p.m. Applications for each candidate will be available on the city's website following the close of business Friday, according to an email from Alessi.
The council is scheduled to discuss and possibly select an appointee to the seat at a special meeting starting 9 a.m. Tuesday. The meeting will take place at Lake Tahoe Airport.

subset: commoncrawl


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Four-Season Tree Globe
This item is currently not available.
Additional Information
Handmade Glass Tree Globes in the Colors of the Seasons
- Colorful ornaments evoke the changing seasons
- Hanging works of art for your window or holiday tree
- Handmade using a traditional glass-blowing technique
- Choice of four seasons
- Sold individually
Reflecting nature's changing palette, each of these 2" hand-blown art glass orbs are made with a centuries-old technique that creates captivating tree-like strands in the interior. Each is a unique work of art. According to legend, hanging the globes in a window lures and traps evil spirits, bringing good fortune to those who display them. They're also sometimes called fairy orbs and witch balls. Choice of Winter, Spring, Summer or Autumn. Handmade in Canada by Kitras.
Product Details
- Hand-blown glass
- 2" in diameter
- Hanging ribbon not included
Reviewed by 5 customers
- Pretty And Light Catching
- Hangs funny
Best Uses
The tree design inside the globe is not balanced, causing the globe to hang irregularly. It's also smaller than I had expected.
I still like it, though.
- Was this a gift?:
- No
This was a gift to my daughter for her birthday. She loves it!
- Was this a gift?:
- Yes
- Original
Best Uses
- Light catcher
We mounted ours indoors in front of a sunny window. The colored glass catches the sun and throws it throughout the room.
- Unique
Best Uses
- Tree ornament
- Window decor
These well represent the four seasons of the year first on our tree as ornaments and through out the seasons on an ornament stand in our window.
I realize this is entirely my own fault, but when I read Four-Season tree globe I honestly thought that meant four to a package. These are beautiful, but I NEVER would have bought them at this price! And the six-inch globes are really too large for most Christmas trees.


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It's true that you can create PowerPoint presentations without using Slide Masters or even knowing what they are, but they save so much time and effort that we think you'll be glad to know about them. In this week's webinar, we'll show you how to master the Slide Master–a built-in tool that controls the look of your PowerPoint presentation and keeps it consistent throughout.
Can't view this video? It's also available at Microsoft Showcase. Need a quick peek? See a 30-second trailer.
What you will learn at Tuesday's webinar:
- Stop cutting-and-pasting in PowerPoint
- What a Slide Master does
- Ways to edit Slide Masters
- Why open the Slide Master when you get a deck
References for this webinar:
- What is a slide master?
- Create a slide master
- Make changes to the slide master
- Copy and paste a slide master from one presentation to another
- Use multiple slide masters in one presentation
Go to http://aka.ms/offweb for more information on how to join the series live every Tuesday, or watch recordings of previous webinars.
–Doug Thomas


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On a Thursday morning in the summer of 2000, scientists at a US Forest Service research facility in Rhinelander, Wis. discovered their vehicles had been vandalized overnight and rings of bark had been removed—a fatal process called "girdling" —from a whole forest of trees involved in a long-term genetic experiment.
The environmentalist group Earth Liberation Front took credit for the damage "on behalf of native forests everywhere," but investigators were unable to tie physical evidence to individual subjects.
The case stayed closed for seven years, until two of the saboteurs—Ian Wallace and Daniel McGowan—were arrested on other ELF-related charges. Based on their "cooperation," according to Meredith Duchemin, assistant US attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, FBI agents arrested two more suspects, including Wallace's high school ex-girlfriend, Katherine Christianson.
Christianson committed the crime at age 19 in Wisconsin. She was 27 years old when the FBI arrested her in Santa Fe, where her parents live and she was a licensed massage therapist. She'll be 29 when she finishes her two-year sentence at the federal women's prison in southern Minnesota. Then she will share $450,000 in restitution with co-defendant and high school classmate Bryan Lefey, who is serving a three-year sentence.
"Frequently, these people, 10 or 20 years later, regret what they did…but there has to still be a penalty for it or else there's no deterrent value," Duchemin tells SFR.
Although Christianson and Lefey pleaded guilty to the charges in February, both are now appealing their cases. Prosecutors applied a "terrorism enhancement" to the charges, which extended the statute of limitation three years and expanded the sentencing guidelines.
Christianson and Lefey's cases illustrate an appalling trend in terrorism prosecution, according to Heidi Boghosian, executive director of the National Lawyers Guild, which provides legal support to political activists.
"What we're seeing is traditional forms of protest that have been effective in most of the important social movements over the last many decades now may be called terrorism," Boghosian tells SFR. "That's hugely frightening and the chilling effect is just as bad because it violates the First Amendment by frightening people into being afraid of action."
But Duchemin draws a line between ELF's actions and traditional civil disobedience.
"Traditional activist groups are really based on the environmental martyr concept, where you intentionally cross a line, you get arrested and, as you're going to jail, you garner sympathy for your cause," Duchemin says. "The goal of [ELF] is not sympathy for the cause, but to intimidate other people. They do it in the dead of night and take tremendous pains not to get caught."
Boghosian says the prosecution in this case may be less about justice and more about justifying the federal government's counter-terrorism programs. She points out that in 2005, the FBI announced animal rights and environmental groups were the country's "No. 1 domestic terrorism threat."
"This is a distraction," Boghosian says. "If they label environmental activists the No. 1 terrorism threat, then of course these prosecutions may make it seem like the government's actually accomplishing something in its intelligence efforts."
Boghosian says the Guild has seen a marked change in how aggressively the Department of Justice has pursued these cases over the last five years. She says prosecutors have begun using conspiracy charges and terrorism enhancements in order to elevate acts that should be treated as regular property crime.
"We've seen a rash of visits by the FBI to homes of friends and family, grand jury subpoenas and other really intimidating tactics," Boghosian says. "Knowing that your friend who you might've joined in an action with years ago might give up your name has a huge chilling effect."
The ELF cell began hatching the plot to attack the US Forest Service facility at a July 2000 meeting in Tennessee of Earth First!, a radical environmentalist group co-founded by New Mexico resident Dave Foreman in 1979 and often associated with ELF. Foreman tells SFR he left the organization in 1989 in part because it was moving toward the type of destructive activism becoming popular in animal rights and anarchist extremist circles.
Yet, from the beginning, Earth First! was inspired by author Edward Abbey's "monkey wrench" mischief. Foreman says he was "certainly" involved in civil disobedience and sabotage, but stayed away and cautioned others to stay away from arson or other dangerous types of vandalism.
"I find it unfortunate that it seems what happens is that young people have gotten sort of caught up in the spirit of things and they go off and do some things without really thinking it through," Foreman, who now runs Albuquerque-based The Rewilding Institute, says. "The friends they're with turn out not to be that trustworthy and, when they're caught and they're faced with a bad sentence, they rat on all of their friends and their friends end up getting worse sentences."
In her plea deal, Christianson offered to testify against Lefey before he, too, signed a plea agreement.
When contacted by SFR, Christianson's stepfather, Scott Bobbitt, says the case is personal, not political, and the family would not comment further. Her attorney, Mark Maciolek, did not return SFR's calls.
According to a sentencing memorandum filed in court, Christianson's relationship with Wallace predated his interest in environmental activism and she joined in the act "wanting to be part of her boyfriend's life, not wanting to lose him to the new world of exciting and interesting people that he found in the activist community."
By the time of her arrest, Christianson had "completely distanced herself" from ELF and "led a completely law-abiding life" since committing the crime in 2000, according to Duchemin. Meanwhile, Duchemin claims Lefey was still "really involved with individuals sympathetic to ELF and has remained sympathetic to ELF," which explains his harsher sentence.
Lefey's attorney, Reed Cornia, says the prosecution stretched the truth on Lefey's continuing involvement.
"Bryan's from Olympia, where there is strong sympathy towards a lot of this activity and he had a lot of friends that were associated with different groups, but Bryan himself hadn't been involved in this for a long time," Cornia says.
Lefey's case was further set back when environmentalist activists voiced their sympathy and willingness to help.
"These organizations who want to support people who are caught up in this often times hurt the people who have been charged with these crimes more than they help," Cornia says. "The government pulled up these websites and said, 'Hey, look here's his name; he's still involved with ELF or Earth First! because this website says to send letters to him.'"
One blog brought up during sentencing was midwestgreenscare.wordpress.com, a blog kept by the group Earth Warriors are OK! According to Minnesota-based EWOK! activist Thomas Addo, the "Rhinelander" prosecutions are part of the US government's "Green Scare," a political persecution of environmental and animal rights activists similar to that waged against socialists during the Cold War. Addo also says the government weakens its stance on terrorism by expanding it to include vandalism.
"I think there's a consensus in the United States, even in some of the more radical circles, even I would agree, that someone detonating a bomb inside a truck and blowing up a building and killing people is terrorism," Addo says. "I think by using the terrorism enhancement on somebody who basically engages in a non-violent action where nobody was hurt, what it does is delegitimize what real terrorism is."
But Duchemin says it's not the scale but the intent.
"The [ELF members] believe that legal means of protesting are not enough and you basically have to scare the public into doing what they want the public to do," Duchemin says. "We live in the greatest, most free country in the world and you have a right to protest anything you want on any given day and it should always be that way, but this really isn't about environmental protesting—it's about crime."
Web Extras:
Analyzing the court briefs
Full interview with Dave Foreman


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Developments Thursday in a Millcraft Center court case against the City of Washington recalled a quote from Yogi Berra: "It ain't over 'til it's over."
In the course of several hours, it seemed the matter was over, but only time will tell. Mayor Brenda Davis was fuming about the turn of events.
This began when Millcraft Center LP was notified late last year that it had overpaid its taxes due to what the Washington County Tax Revenue Department called a "clerical error on land square footage calculation." City officials also referred to it as a surveyor's error.
The county notified Millcraft of the miscalculation, and the county and school district promptly issued refunds.
The valuation of the office building at 90 West Chestnut St. decreased by $24,079, and because Millcraft had overpaid the city for five years, 2007 through 2011, it wanted $42,583 plus interest and costs.
When mid-February arrived with no refund of property tax money from the city, the limited partnership went to court, filing a complaint in which it asked a judge to compel the city to refund the overpayment.
A sheriff's deputy hand-delivered a copy of the complaint to City Hall Feb. 19, and Millcraft's attorney, Greg Biernacki, filed a brief to explain his position.
Biernacki went to court Thursday morning and won a judgment against the city of $48,063, including interest and costs of bringing suit.
President Judge Debbie O'Dell Seneca noted along with her order that no representative of the city nor the solicitor appeared or filed a response to the suit.
Lane Turturice, city solicitor, was representing a defendant in a criminal case Thursday morning in Allegheny County court, and he learned of Biernacki's trip to Washington County court while in Pittsburgh and said he was "shocked."
Reached mid-afternoon, Turturice raised the possibility of going to court to have the judgment against the city opened, but then called back a few hours later to report a completely different development.
"In my professional legal opinion, the city owes the refund and has always owed the refund since the request was made a month and a half ago," Turturice said late Thursday afternoon.
"I have spoken to a majority of council and conveyed my opinion that the city take no further action on the case. They also agreed that the money is owed."
That necessitated a second call for comment to the mayor.
"Well, I can tell you that we have not had an executive session today," she said. "I don't know who his majority was.
"We need to know, why was the city in court with Millcraft this morning? The solicitor has some explaining to do."
Greg Biernacki, the attorney who represents Millcraft, also said late Thursday afternoon, "Yes, I feel they were notified. We sent the original complaint by way of a sheriff's deputy, and the mayor commented in an article in the Observer-Reporter.
We are satisfied, obviously, with the judge's determination, and we're happy to see the city has decided not to pursue this action any further."
Brian Walker, chief financial officer of Millcraft Center LP, said, "It shouldn't have even had to go to court. We shouldn't even be having this conversation. Denny Adams (city treasurer) cut a check, and city council has been sitting on it for 90 days. We pay our taxes, and if we overpay, we're due a refund and they have to pay it."
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I am a father and grandfather. I am appalled at the evil that has permeated our society. Senseless violence that takes any life, adults or children, cannot be tolerated.
This being said, I totally disagree with your Tuesday editorial, "No more excuses on gun control."
First, we citizens do not own assault weapons. They are look-alike rifles. Second, the shooters who commit these crimes stop when the police arrive. They know they are about to be stopped, so they take their own life. A man with a baseball bat or a knife, the results would have been the same.
The weapon is the means, not the cause.
The cause is covered by the First Amendment – violent music, gratuitous violence in movies and video games where murder is fun. These do not effect everyone, but they do effect those on the fringe. Liberals always attack the Second Amendment, but never the First Amendment.
This needs to change. You first take care of the cause, and the means will no longer matter.
Will banning videos and violent movies end the violence? No, but it will go a long way.
There are some questions that need to be answered: How do defenseless people defend themselves? Violent people will always have some type of weapon, whether a gun, bat or ax. How would citizens, armed with single shots or bolt actions, protect their rights against a corrupt government armed with fully automatic rifles?
Our founding fathers were exceptional people. They knew about oppressive governments. They were visionaries. That's the purpose of the Second Amendment, to protect the people.
Dave Vukmanic


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"Spiritual But Not Religious"
"I think in a way that kind of cliche 'spiritual but not religious,' which apparently is a thing more and more people say to describe themselves, is in a way an attempt to reconcile in some cases with science. In other words…if I say I believe in this highly anthropomorphic God, if I'm religious and too old-fashioned in a sense, or buy into specific claims of revelation, that might not sit well with the modern scientific intelligence."
—Robert Wright, author of The Evolution of God (February 2, 2010)
(graphic: Pew Research Center)
New research from the Pew Forum on Public Life reveals that a sizable slice of the Millenial population (people born after 1981) does not affiliate with a particular religious denomination or faith. We're aware that people of all ages are defining themselves under the expansive umbrella of "spiritual but not religious." We see this, in part, through the weekly listener emails that flow into our inbox.
Our contact form includes a question: "What faith tradition, if any, do you belong to?" Here are examples of some recent responses we've received:
- mindfulness
- none now
- I defy labels 😉
- Christian, Baptist… though I refer to myself as a "recovering evangelical" currently not affiliated
- atheist, with emerging theory of spirituality
- the teachings of Christ, the Buddha, and my dog, not necessarily in that order
As you can see, it's quite a spread. In his recent public conversation with Krista, Robert Wright provided some helpful insights about how this "spiritual but not religious" trend might relate to a concern with what he calls "modern scientific intelligence."
If you consider yourself "spiritual but not religious," can you help us understand what this term actually means to you? Does science have something to do with it? Is it primarily a youthful Millennial trend, as the Pew Forum report suggests? Are there other terms that you would add to the list above to describe yourself on this "spiritual but not religious" continuum?


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The RuffNeck Select Fixed Height Basketball Goal offers exceptional durability at a price that meets any budget.The RuffNeck is a "Fixed Height" pole system constructed of 4 1/2" O.D. galvanized schedule 40 tubing. The direct rim mount design allows the rim to be mounted through the backboard and into the post, eliminating backboard stress. The backboard is further supported by two tubular braces fixed to the neck of the post. Our unique "nose-cone" backboard mounting design makes backboard installation simple.First Team offers a wide variety of basketball backboard & rim styles on the RuffNeck system, allowing you to select the perfect RuffNeck package for your application.Every RuffNeck Fixed Height Basketball Goal package comes with a 20-Year Limited Warranty.
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Your source for quality basketball goals, volleyball equipment, soccer goals, football goal posts, portable bleachers, lacrosse goals, wall padding and more. First Team Sports Inc., located in Hutchinson, KS, manufactures a complete line of indoor and outdoor sports equipment including adjustable basketball goals, portable basketball goals, volleyball posts, portable soccer goals, tip n roll bleachers and football goals.
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With all of the publicity caused by the president's recent speech, my mind turns to a picture created in the late 1940s or very early '50s.
I was born and raised in a small mining town called Hill Station. From the ages of 12 to 15, we played baseball from sun up to sun down, weather permitting. Like most older people, I fondly look back on those memories.
But there were other activities that were common summer occurrences. I can picture two youngsters, about 10 years old, walking down the streets of Hills, as we called it, with .22 rifles slung across their backs.
One was toting a Mossberg 46 M, the other a Remington 514. Their destination was the nearby slate dump.
Here they would shoot rats or tin cans with the inexpensive .22 shorts they had purchased at the local grocery store.
As they walked through the town, adults would wave from the porch and if the rare car passed, the driver would wave or on occasion stop and advise the two young men to be careful.
While not as common an activity as the ball games, it was such a regular sight that it was little more than two youngsters staying out of trouble and doing a bit of shooting.
Later, we would advance – yes, one of those youngsters was me – and ride to the garbage dump near Hendersonville. It is now the location of Southpointe.
We would shoot rats there. Sometimes, we would be joined by a local constable, Ed Coen, and his friend, Bob Mack. Instead of toting a .22, Coen would be shooting a .30-06, and we would just be in awe of the power and damage done by this high powered deer rifle.
I guess it would be safe to say times were different.
As I reflect on this, I also remember my father's shotgun leaning in a corner of the closet with his .22 rifle. Didn't every father own a shotgun?
I don't remember ever touching it without his permission, or for that matter, ever considering doing so. Many people today would have a stroke when seeing a shotgun leaning in the corner. I ask myself, and think it is a pertinent question: when and why did things change?
While seemingly unrelated, but yet a sign of then and now, doors were seldom locked and neighbor took care of neighbor.
When did we move from seeing two boys with rifles as normal, to the feelings of today, and does anyone care enough to look beyond the veneer surface to hopefully find the truth and cause?
I interviewed only two people about this subject. One is a school teacher, and she blames much of the problem on children going home to an empty house. She says there is little parental guidance today and few youngsters are taught responsibility for their actions.
Blame everyone and everything when caught in a wrongful act.
Someone drowns, the river is to blame, never the reckless behavior. In my youth, when punished by a teacher, the last thing you wanted to happen was for a parent to find out. That would mean another punishment. Now the parent is likely to blame the teacher for their child's wrongdoing.
In the '50s, you went to school in jeans, but they were clean, and you hid your shirt tail and definitely didn't show your underwear, let alone your rear end.
The other person thought bad things were just as common back then, but was less publicized. Common criues didn't make the papers or the radio.
He might have a point, which only points to the complexity of the problem of violence in society. Perhaps the people blaming an inanimate object, the gun, for the problem is in fact adding to the problem by distracting us from seeking real solutions.
Less than three percent of all murders are committed by a rifle or shotgun, yet these are the things we blame. It's a Band-Aid approach at best, and places the blame where it doesn't belong. It's an easy cop out. Finding the real cause of the problem might be more complicated and harder to find and accept.
Those two boys walked through town with their .22s and didn't shoot anyone. The adults who saw them did not fear them. Just think, we even bought our own ammunition.
Did you know that the sale and ownership of firearms already involves thousands of laws?
Did you know that the sale of automatic firearms has been controlled since 1934?
Did you know that Utah allows teachers and students to possess firearms on campus without ever having an incident?
Did you know that murder by firearms dropped significantly from 2006 to 2010?
George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.
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Three Washington men were arrested Friday night when members of the Washington County Drug Task Force and other agencies served a warrant at a bar on North Main Street.
Dante Moore, 43, Jamar Terry, 32, and Paul Nathan Johnson III, 32, were taken into custody on arrest warrants when investigators served the warrant at Ernie's Freestyle, 88 N. Main St., Washington, about 11 p.m.
"Over the past year-and-a-half, we have made a number of controlled buys in and around the bar of cocaine and heroin," said Rick Gluth, task force director. "We got the search warrant for the bar from a common pleas judge and served it."
The three men were wanted on warrants on charges filed for selling drugs to either informants or undercover detectives earlier this year in the area. Gluth said the three men were either in or near the bar when they were taken into custody Friday night.
Gluth said suspected heroin, cocaine and marijuana were also confiscated. The drugs were either on patrons or located inside the bar. More arrests are pending after detectives review the evidence as well as video surveillance from inside the bar.
Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone said his office had been getting complaints about the bar and the area around it, prompting the task force investigation. The owners of the bar voluntarily agreed to close the establishment.
The state police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement also took part in the warrant service based on their own investigation of the establishment. In a release issued early Saturday, the LCE indicated it is continuing its nuisance bar investigation with the assistance of the DA's office. A Washington code enforcement officer also discovered several building code violations, according to the LCE.
Also assisting were Washington and state state police and Washington County adult probation.
All three men were arraigned before District Judge Gary Havelka on drug charges and placed in Washington County jail on $20,000 bond.
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Criminal mischief: A storage compartment door was pried open on a Lewis Tree Service truck while it was parked in the fenced area of the Allegheny Power Co. substation near Southpointe Boulevard, township police said. An officer on patrol noticed a man standing near the truck at 6:42 p.m. Sunday, and when the man noticed the officer, he turned and ran through an opening in the fence. The man ran toward Southpointe Boulevard across the north ramp to Interstate 79, police said. The officer followed the man through the woods and down a hill below I-79, police said. Officers from Peters and North Strabane townships and Canonsburg assisted in the foot chase. The man could not be located after he was seen entering a waiting car on I-79, police said. Lewis Tree Service of New York was notified about the criminal mischief, as was Allegheny Power Co. concerning the hole in the fence.
DUI charge: Ryan Staley of Pittsburgh was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol following an incident at 1:15 a.m. Saturday in which he was driving in the wrong lane eastbound on Millers Run Road, directly in the path of a westbound police patrol car, township police said. Staley, 30, was confused and was unable to locate his vehicle information, police said. He failed a field-sobriety test and was taken to the police station for a breath test that registered his blood-alcohol content at 0.335 percent, more than four times the legal limit of 0.08 percent, police said.
Card stolen: Britny D. Shandor of 76 Seik Road told Chartiers police Friday that her food stamp access card and a cup of change were stolen from her sister's car while it was parked at 667 N. Main St.
Items stolen: Greg Melone of 730 Western Ave. told Chartiers police Wednesday a Kindle, Galaxy tablet and laptop computer were stolen from his home.
DUI, paraphernalia charges: Jessica Paige Sheehy, 22, of 118 Dupont Drive, McDonald, was charged by McDonald police with DUI of alochol and a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and traffic violations stemming from a March 24 traffic stop on East Barr Street. Police said her BAC was almost double the 0.08 percent limit presumed for intoxication. She also was taken to Canonsburg General Hospital, where blood was drawn. Police said she had a suspected marijuana pipe in her vehicle.
Burglary arrest: Roman A. Martin, 23, of 1133 Prospect Ave., Charleroi, is charged by Charleroi Regional police with burglary, criminal trespass, theft and receiving stolen property, court records show. Police apprehended him late Monday on Seventh Street because he fit the description of a suspect who had just walked into the 439 Highland Ave. residence of Brad and Laura Vargo, only to flee when he was met by one of the residents, police stated in the affidavit. While in custody, he allegedly confessed to stealing $700 and gift cards valued at $2,800 from Brad Vargo's vehicle while it was parked unattended outside his residence Feb. 8, the record shows. Martin is in the Washington County jail on $70,000 bond set by District Judge Larry Hopkins.
Gun, medication stolen: Christopher Wilson of New Salem told Southwest Regional police Monday a 9mm pistol, medication and an MP3 player were stolen from his vehicle while it was parked at the Mitchell Power Station, Union. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 724-929-8484.
Windows broken: City police reported that two windows were broken on the Pathways building at 655 Jefferson Ave. between 5 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Monday.
Criminal mischief: Marc Zavallo of 706 1/2 Ewing St., Washington, reported that the rear window on his 1999 Chevrolet van was broken Sunday night or Monday morning.
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Members of the Quilting Daily community can upload and share images and patterns of their quilt projects here. A few things to remember when submitting your project:
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Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Happy Quilting!


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The most badass game ever. Involves 2 milk crates separated at a distance of about a youth soccer field, with a ball such as one used in kickball in the middle of the field. The crates have a hula hoop or some other circular object surrounding them. If anyone from either team is inside that hoop for more than one or two seconds, then they are served with a penalty. This rule basically just prevents people from sitting on the crate or otherwise being a douchebag. The object of the game is to get the ball in the other crate. The game starts with the two teams running towards the ball in the center from their crates, and gameplay continues from there. Gameplay never stops until the end of the game (normally when everyone decides to quit, but you can set a scoring limit). Since the field is divided in half, each team has half the field. If you have the ball, and you go into the other team's half, then if they tag you you have to freeze and throw the ball to someone else. If you are tagged on your side of the field, then nothing happens, and if you are tagged when you dont have the ball on the other side of the field, then nothing happens. Your team scores a point if you manage to get the ball inside the enemy team's crate. The ball can be dribbled, kicked, throw, ran with, etc. There are no rules as to how you can tag a person, either. Tackling is acceptable, as is a feminine slap on the back. There have been many good wrestling matches in the middle of a crateball game.
Generally, teams of about 4-10 work best.
Generally, teams of about 4-10 work best.
by Justin April 11, 2005
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A game similar to tennis that is played with Milk Crates instead of tennis racket. There is no net or boundaries, and the ball is passed back and forth between the players freeform. Invented by students at WPI in 2001, Crateball is a sport mostly used to observe the confused reactions of people walking by.
Look for users.wpi.edu/~jeffs/crateball/ on archive.org to see an archive of the original crateball rules.
Look for users.wpi.edu/~jeffs/crateball/ on archive.org to see an archive of the original crateball rules.
by Jeff Simpson October 13, 2005
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Igal Hecht's show, Muzika, has returned for a second season, bringing a new batch of Israeli music to North American ears.
The weekly program, which airs both in Canada and the United States, introduces Israeli musicians from all genres. The show includes interviews with the artists and performances.
"It doesn't pretend to be anything else but a straightforward biography show about Israeli musicians, celebrating Israeli culture and music," said Hecht, the Israeli-born creator of the show.
New in the 26-episode second season is a spotlight on the English music scene in Israel. To fit with this theme, Hecht said he likes to ask the musicians why they decided to sing in English.
"I asked them and they all hate that question," he said. "What I could gauge is the fact that they want to break out internationally."
Although the musicians love Israel, and they want to continue performing in Israel, singing in English allows them to reach broader audiences. One example is Ninette, who won the first season of Kokhav Nolad, based on the British reality show Pop Idol. She wants to break out of the Israeli market, Hecht said, but understands she can't do it if she's only singing in Hebrew.
"The world is a very small place. You can become very famous from a musical perspective, if you're good and if it catches on," he said, for example, through the use of YouTube. "[These artists are] talented, they have something to say, and they have a unique sound."
Apart from dreams of world stardom, many of today's young Israelis are heavily influenced by English music from Britain and the United States, which might make them want to incorporate that into their own music.
Filming this season was a bit different from the last, Hecht said. The first time, Hecht and his cameraman, Lior Cohen, visited the artists in their homes to record the interviews. But this season, they were under much tighter time constraints, so they rented a studio, and only went off-site for three or four locations, he said.
"It didn't have the intimacy factor of going to someone's living room and having them play for us," he said, "but we still had great moments."
Hecht said one of his favourite parts of the show is the moment he meets the musician, especially when it's one of the artist he listened to when he was growing up. Israeli singer Arik Sinai stands out for him.
"He came in with these yellow puffy pants," Hecht said. "He just came on, and said, 'Hey guys.' He had this raspy voice. 'Can I have a cigarette before we start?'"
Although Hecht has become known for his documentaries focusing on the politics of Israel, he said he wanted people to know that there's much more to the country than just its politics.
"Muzika came and forced me to focus just on culture as opposed to politics," he said. "Muzika is just about music – celebrating Israeli musicians, and celebrating Israeli music of all genres."
Hecht emphasized that Muzika is not just a show for Jewish people. It doesn't focus on gossip, nor does it try to change the world, he said. It's strictly a show meant to entertain.
"If people want to have a break and enjoy good music half an hour a week, this is the show for them," he said. "If people enjoy good music, they'll enjoy the show."
Muzika airs Sundays at 6:30 p.m. on CTS.


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A Nemacolin man was jailed Friday after assaulting his girlfriend, Felicia Crystal Walters, 26, and then telling police he was trying to kill her.
Police arrested James Matthew Eaton Baldwin, 32, of 110 Bliss Ave., and charged him with a felony count of aggravated assault, which carries up to a 10-year prison sentence if convicted. Baldwin also was charged with terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.
Cumberland Township police officer Bryan Smith located Baldwin walking along Stage Coach Road and Baldwin allegedly told Smith that he knew it was wrong but he needed to kill Walters so she would not hurt him or the kids anymore.
According to the criminal complaint, Baldwin then told Smith he had gotten on top of Walters while she was sleeping and used a knife to cut her throat. Smith said Baldwin then asked him if Walters was still alive.
According to the complaint, Baldwin told Smith his only regret was "killing the kids." Baldwin clarified that he did not physically harm the children but he had killed them emotionally and told Smith they would never be the same.
Smith said he found Walters at the Bliss Avenue address with blood on her neck and chest area and a puncture type wound to her neck. According to the complaint, Walters told Smith that Baldwin had climbed on top of her with the knife and said he was going to kill her. She said she pleaded with him not to, but he cut her on the right side of her neck, got off of her and left the residence.
An 8-inch serrated knife allegedly used by Baldwin to cut Walters was found on the kitchen counter of the home and taken into evidence, according to Smith. Walters told him she had placed the knife there after Baldwin left. Walters was taken to Southwest Regional Medical Center for treatment.
Baldwin was arraigned at 9 a.m. Friday by Greene County Magisterial District Judge Lee Watson. Bail was set at $100,000 straight cash and Baldwin remains in custody at the Greene County jail. His preliminary hearing before Watson is set for 2 p.m. Feb. 25.
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Want to break into the marijuana business? You too can learn how to grow it, cook it, distribute it and, best of all, it's 100 percent legal.
If Canntechs were to advertise on late-night television, that might be the pitch. As early as next month, the new company plans to offer training courses on New Mexico's medical cannabis laws and its emerging marijuana industry.
The basic-level class—which includes cultivation, cooking and New Mexico-specific legal issues—will cost $324.75 plus tax, according to the curriculum posted online at canntechs.com.
In late December, the New Mexico Department of Health passed a series of rules that allow nonprofits to apply for licenses to grow and distribute pot to card-carrying medical cannabis patients.
Canntechs is a for-profit company and won't be handling marijuana directly. Instead, Canntechs will serve as an all-purpose consulting and education firm, which will train the workers to fill jobs in growhouses and dispensaries, help patients register for the state program and help nonprofits craft their license applications.
To help train workers, Canntechs will offer "cannabis technician" certification. Although the certification isn't recognized by any state, Canntechs senior partner Brett Bratcher says the firm hopes it will eventually become the national standard.
"There are still a lot of smarmy, cheesy, tongue-in-cheek jokes and the old Cheech and Chong stereotypes [about medical cannabis], and that's really not what this industry or this program is about," Bratcher tells SFR. "The only way the general public is going to take us seriously is if we take a fairly stringent approach to it."
Bratcher says his interest in medical cannabis derives from his career in hospice care and from having a close relative diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
A DOH spokesman tells SFR the department is unable to comment on the company.
Canntechs also is in the process of establishing operations in Colorado, Nevada and Rhode Island. In New Mexico, it is advertising jobs for a nurse and a physician, who will help patients with eligible conditions apply for their cannabis cards.
Bratcher says Canntechs' doctors will not "prescribe" marijuana to patients but, when appropriate, will "recommend" the patient for the program, usually with the consent of the patient's primary care physician.
"What we're doing is saying, 'This person has a chronic condition and, if they want to register with the state to carry a card, I endorse that,'" Bratcher says. "That's what the physician is doing and that is what we're teaching them to do."
Bratcher says the charge for the service could run as high as $160, with a sliding scale for indigent patients.
Since SFR began reporting on the medical marijuana program, several patients suffering from eligible conditions have written to SFR asking where they can find a doctor to prescribe marijuana to them. The DOH has approved 14 eligible conditions for cannabis treatment and hospice patients may also qualify.
"I have been googling since [my doctor] refused to sign my application for the Medical Cannabis program a week ago," Susan, a 64-year-old glaucoma patient, wrote to SFR via email on July 15. "My glaucoma eye drops irritate my eyes and when I have a 'social occasion' I quit the drops for two days…It is not good for the pressure to go up and down, so I think cannabis is worth a try."
To date, the DOH has rejected 26 patients from the medical cannabis program. There are 418 patients actively enrolled in it, although only 75 are currently licensed to grow marijuana for themselves. Currently, Santa Fe Institute for Natural Medicine is the state's only licensed nonprofit cannabis producer, but it can only serve a maximum of 85 patients due to the state's restrictions on numbers of plants.
This means that more than 250 patients must rely on the black market for their medication.
The Department of Health is evaluating 14 other applications, but the process is moving slowly. According to documents obtained through a public records request, a lawyer for one nonprofit applicant (the name was redacted) filed a complaint in April after three months had passed without a response from the DOH.
The attorney, Patricia Monaghan, tells SFR that the DOH has since responded and the nonprofit is "moving forward."
One major sticking point for potential nonprofit producers is the requirements placed on board membership. Before being approved, a nonprofit must have at least three certified patients serving on its board. Since the DOH will not release the patients' names, the nonprofits have turned to Craigslist, the cannabis.com message board and newspapers such as the Alibi in Albuquerque.
According to the DOH, no nonprofit applications have been denied. However, at least one nonprofit called it quits due to the cumbersome application process.
Bratcher says that's where Canntechs can help.
"We want to literally set up the nonprofit organization, help them get the 501c3 status, get the board of directors together," Bratcher says. "I'd really rather see three top-flight dispensaries doing a good job than 10 half-baked dispensaries—no pun intended—10 slipshod dispensaries out there doing a crummy job."
Scott O'Rourke, who is putting together an application for Medical Growing Green, a dispensary he hopes to establish in Eddy County, says he would consider using Canntechs.
"If there was something already in place [like that] it would take a lot less time, a lot less money," O'Rourke tells SFR.
In the meantime, O'Rourke's lawyer is piecing together elements from applications already filed and modifying them to meet O'Rourke's plan, which is to deliver product statewide.
SFR has been publishing nonprofit medical marijuana applications online since May and has posted six new documents this week at SFReeper.com. These documents, requested by SFR under public information laws, are heavily redacted by the Department of Health to conceal the names of the nonprofits, their locations and their executives.
DOH cites public policy and personal privacy concerns under rules written for the program as justification for the redacted information. SFR believes these redactions are a violation of the Inspection of Public Records Act and has filed a complaint with the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General.
Want to break into the marijuana business? You too can learn how to grow it, cook it, distribute it and, best of all, it's 100 percent legal.


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USC school board to vote on changes to graduation requirements
Upper St. Clair School Board is expected to vote March 11 on recommended changes to graduation requirements that are necessitated by the elimination of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exams and their replacement with Keystone Exams.
Eloise Stoehr, supervisor of pupil personnel services, and Louis Angelo, associate principal of the high school, presented proposed changes to the board on Feb. 25.
The proposal for the 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 school years would effect students currently in ninth, 10th and 11th grades, according to Stoehr.
With the demise of the PSSA tests, the recommendation is to change the graduation requirements to now include achieving a level of proficiency on three Keystone Exams. The exams would be given in the subjects of Algebra I, Biology and English Literature.
Stoehr said the exam is offered by the state in May, July/August, and December.
Under the proposal, USC students would take the exams in May of the year that they completed study of the subject in that particular exam.
Stoehr said that would typically have the Algebra I Keystone Exam being taken in May of the eighth grade year, the Biology Exam in May of the ninth grade year and the English Literature Exam in May of the 10th grade year.
She said the proposal would have any student not achieving a score demonstrating proficiency in a subject re-take the test at the next time it was offered during the school year. For example, a test that was not passed in May would be retaken in December, rather than in the summer.
Before taking the test for a second time, Stoehr said students will be expected to participate in a web-based remediation program in that subject.
She said that while current requirements limit to two the number of times a student may take the PSSA test in order to pass it, students could be permitted to re-take the Keystone Exams whenever it is offered until the end of their 11th grade year. However, the proposal is to continue to limit it to two times.
Stoehr said the proposal is to allow students to graduate without gaining proficiency in a Keystone Exam subject after the second attempt if the student has completed the 45 credits that are currently required for graduation.
The proposal exempts current 11th graders from having to take any of the exams a second time, since they still do not have their scores from their initial test in December, and there would not be sufficient time for remediation before a May test.
School board member Harry Kunselman asked what the remediation costs the district.
Angelo said remediation cost the district about $1,000 this year, when only math and English were tested for in the PSSA.
Biology has been added as a subject for the Keystone Exams, and for the next few years some students will be taking the exams in some cases years after they studied that particular subject.
Stoehr said for that reason, the district is likely to have to offer more remediation than in the past – at least for the next few years. Therefore, the costs are not yet known.


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1 Santa Fe Baking Co.
504 W. Cordova Road
Is it true residual Wi-Fi waves are going to fry the brains of every living person within their range? It doesn't seem to have affected the employees of the Santa Fe Baking Co., and it certainly hasn't hurt the company's popularity. Indeed, the Baking Co. would probably be a worthy destination even if there wasn't any food at all. The secret, as much as it can be called a secret, is to make the Wi-Fi connection fast and reliable to keep up with demand. "We make sure that we have the highest meg line available, and upgrade as years go by," owner Eric Struck says. With the Baking Co.'s current 8-meg line, even the most demanding keyboard commando should have no qualms. Just think: fast, free internet and one of Santa Fe Baking Co.'s great breakfast burritos…it's a match made in heaven. (Alex Roberts)
2 Java Joe's, 2801 Rodeo Road, 505-795-7005
604 N. Guadalupe St., 505-74-5282
3 Aztec Café, 317 Aztec St., 505-820-0025
1 Santa Fe Baking Co.


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County Regional Transit Gross Receipts Tax Question
SFR Pick: Approve
Santa Fe County voters are being asked to approve a 0.125 percent tax increase for the operation and capital-improvement costs for the North Central Regional Transit District.
Santa Fe County Commissioner Jack Sullivan recently argued the tax is unfair and regressive [Oct. 15: "The $80 million question"]. Sullivan makes some decent points and, certainly, we'd be the last to argue that the political and financial conditions that brought us to this point are perfect. But we'd also be strapped to envision any alternative scenarios to this proposal that would be perfect or completed in any way timely. This is the plan as it stands now, and it has taken a lot of work and political will to get this far. Supporting regional transit has long been a goal of both citizens and their representatives, and it's time to move forward.
Santa Fe County and New Mexico Bonds
There are six bond questions on the ballot for Santa Fe County, totaling approximately $35 million worth of projects. These bonds won't raise property taxes because the county is retiring old bonds.
There also are four general state bonds totalling $223 million. If all four pass, it is estimated that property taxes, over the next decade, will rise by an average of $15.61 per $100,000 of assets.
Assuming the apocalypse isn't imminent, we will still need roads and libraries and senior centers, so we approve all the bonding measures on this year's ballot, which break down as follows:
County Bonds
SFR Pick: Approve All
No. 1: $3.5 million for the county's Open Space and Trails Program to acquire and develop the river corridor along approximately eight miles of the Santa Fe River from Camino Alire to NM 599.
No. 2: $15.5 million for six road improvement projects on Agua Fria Street, South Meadows, County Roads 42 and 84, Caja del Rio and Avenida Vista Grande in Eldorado.
No. 3: $5 million for fire safety improvements, including a new fire station in Rancho Viejo and a firefighter training academy in Stanley.
No. 4: $8 million for regional water projects.
No. 5: $1.5 million for waste transfer station needs.
No. 6: $1.5 million to construct a new building for the Santa Fe County Agricultural Extension Program at the Santa Fe County Fairgrounds.
General Bonds
SFR Pick: Approve All
Bond Question A: Approximately $14 million for senior citizens center construction and improvements statewide, including numerous ones in Santa Fe County.
Bond Question B: Approximately $11 million for libraries statewide, including approximately $500,000 in Santa Fe.
Bond Question C: Approximately $57 million for cancer treatment and other health facilities.
Bond Question D: Approximately $140 million for capital improvement, and acquisitions for higher health and special school facilities, including $4.2 million for a technology center at Santa Fe Community College, $3 million for New Mexico School for the Deaf, and $500,000 for a science/technology, art and culture center at the Institute of American Indian Arts.
County Regional Transit Gross Receipts Tax Question


text:
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text:
Peters Township Public Library hosts tasty fundraiser
More than 20 local restaurants and eateries will participate in the 12th annual Taste of the Township from 7-11 p.m. April 19 at the Valley Brook Country Club to benefit the Peters Township Public Library.
Money raised will be used primarily to fund programs for children, young adults and adults.
"The library is like a gathering place in the municipality," said Pier Lee, library director. "Programs get a lot of people in the library, but some of the programs cost money."
Last year, 20,846 children took part in 737 programs geared for the younger librarygoers. One hundred forty-five programs were offered for young adults and 1,734 took part. In the adult range, 5,196 attended 240 different programs.
Money raised at Taste of the Township will be used to help the library reach its goal to meet current library trends, including enhancing existing technology and purchasing new non-fiction and research materials, as well as adding to the book fund for the purchase of new literature.
Lee said with new technology, some patrons download information from home or other locations, and readers have no need to physically enter the library building.
However, the Peters library is an active location. In 2012, there were 195,074 visitors who actually walked through the doors, and the total circulation for the year reached 345,862. The library offers free access to computers and last year, 23,968 library patrons used the computers.
All of that, and more, is funded by tickets sales to Taste of the Township. Tickets are $50 and may be purchased at the library circulation desk using cash or a check made out to TOT Friends of the Library.
At the event, more than 20 restaurants, including Arlecchino Ristorante, Atria's Restaurant and Tavern, Bella Sera, Dinner Tyme, Edible Arrangements, Franco's Trattoria, Juniper Grill, Merante Brothers Market, Texas Roadhouse and several Asian-style restaurants in the township, will provide samplings.
Music will be provided by Lucarelli Jazz and there will be a Chinese auction and items for silent bidding.
On sale at the event will be the library's new R.E.A.D. Cookbook, which stands for recipes, enticing and delicious and features 225 recipes submitted by the library board, library staff, members of Friends of the Library and library volunteers. The cost is $10 and proceeds also benefit the library. All donations are tax deductible.
For additional information, call the library at 724-941-9430.


text:
Welcome to the newly redesigned Observer-Reporter website!
After months of planning and development, we present an updated online version of your hometown newspaper. We will continue to deliver the latest news, and much more. The new user-friendly site features more local photos, more local stories and more local videos.
Plus, readers again have the opportunity to post comments to stories after registering. Registering is easy and can be done one of two ways: via Facebook or by providing your email address. Just click on the word "Register" at the top of the home page and fill in the requested information. That's it!
Our new home page is designed to give readers a quick snapshot of the day's top headlines in news, sports and opinion sections. And be sure to check out "Spotlight," where we will showcase one of the website's daily photo or news highlights.
Among other new features is a multimedia page where we share our staff's photos as well as those submitted by readers for the popular "Take Us Along" and "Hot Shot" series.
Our sports section has expanded, as well, with pages dedicated to high school, college and professional sports, as well as one containing exclusively Steelers news.
So come on in, look around, and reacquaint yourself with a more reader-friendly Observer-Reporter.com. Check back often, as we continue to refresh throughout the day.
And thanks for reading!
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text:
Andy Retucci has seen the needle and the damage it's done to the sport he loves.
That's why when Retucci decided to be a competitor in the World Natural Powerlifitng Federation, he selected it because it's a nonsteroid organization that requires drug testing for its placewinners.
"Steroids are scary," said Retucci, who is a senior accountant in charge of production at the Meyersdale plant for Bayer Corp. "I've seen young kids use them to get big, and it's not going to last. The only way to retain true strength is to do it without steroids."
The 54-year-old Retucci, a Houston resident, won the state, national and world powerlifting titles in his age division, 50-54, last year in the WNPF.
And he did so after taking a nearly two-decade break from a full competition schedule.
"I missed it," said Retucci. "Now, I think I will keep going until I can't walk. I just can't get away from it."
So much so that his vacation trips must include a nearby gym.
Retucci, whose arms are as thick as most individual's thighs, won the multiple-repetition part of the event by bench pressing 241 pounds 31 times. He won the single-lift contest with a weight of 460 pounds.
Retucci began lifting at age 14 with one of his high school friends, Jeff Connors, who is the son of former Beth-Center and Ringgold football coach Bill Connors, and Mike Perozzi. They used the back porch of Perozzi's home to store and use their weights.
From the beginning, Retucci made a decision not to use steroids, which were easily available and especially widespread in the lifting world.
"We used to work out in a gym in Vestaburg," he said. "I saw people shoot things in their (behinds). A friend of mine had a (behind) that looked like a pin cushion. It turned his skin this yellow color. Later on, I heard he had a heart attack."
Retucci's weightlifting helped him become a stronger athlete, which is why he began in the first place. He played linebacker on the football team at Beth-Center and wrestled at 167 pounds.
"I was a decent wrestler," he said. "I was a guard and linebacker on the football team. Our '75 team was the only WPIAL champions in the school's history."
Retucci lifted well into his 20s and competed with varying degrees of success but stopped when his schedule got to be too burdensome. Much of his time was taken up working on his degree at California University, which he finished in 1992.
"I got out of competitive lifting but continued to train five days a week," said Retucci, who works out at Alexander's Athletic Club in Canonsburg. "I rarely miss a workout now, even if my scheduled workout falls on a holiday."
He decided to compete again when he turned 40 and chose the World Natural Powerlifting Federation because he wanted to be sure everyone was on the same level as him: free of any enhancements.
In 2010, Retucci entered the Pennsylvania State Tournament and took first place in the bench for reps and bench for weight divisions. He set the state record in the 50-54 age division by lifting 220 pounds 29 times.
The WNPF is different from some weightlifting competitions in that a competitor chooses a weight class that corresponds to that lifter's weight. For example: If a lifter's weight falls into the 220 class, he must do his reps at 220 pounds.
The bench for weight competition has no limitation. It's as much as you can lift in one try.
"I'm older now," Retucci said. "But I'm not that much weaker."
He entered the national tournament, which was held in July, and set a record for his division with 31 reps at 242 pounds and a 460-pound single effort.
In November, Retucci took first place in the world competition, which included lifters from 16 countries, and won both divisions.
You have to be strong to compete in the world tournament because the trophies are about two-foot tall and weigh about 50 pounds.
Retucci plans to compete in this year's national tournament but will skip the worlds, set for Brazil in the fall.
"When I qualified for nationals and the worlds, I got tested," said Retucci. "I like competing on an even plane. I never did steroids in my life. I'll be 55 this year, and I don't have any health problems. I plan to keep on going as long as I can."
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text:
SAINTS climbed back to the top of the Championship after demolishing Derby 4-0 at St Mary's today.
Goals from Jos Hooiveld, Aaron Martin, Adam Lallana and Tadanari Lee lifted them above West Ham, who are not in action this weekend.
Saints are now two points clear of the Hammers at the head of the table, although they have played twice more than Sam Allardyce's side.
Nigel Adkins' men also lead third-placed Reading by five points, with the Royals holding one game in hand on them.
And Saints received an extra boost today, as fourth-placed Cardiff slipped up 3-0 at Ipswich.
The Sports Pink is now available to read online. The latest edition goes live every Saturday night.
Click the front page for more information!


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Submit News
With Better Camera and Hardware, Galaxy S IV Looks to Put iPhone on the Ropes
Jason Mick
March 13, 2013 1:16 PM
Recipient E-mail
Sender E-mail
(Source: Mirror)
Apple may be in trouble as Samsung's flagship smartphones storms into the U.S. market
March 14 -- mark tomorrow night on your calendars. That's when Samsung Electronics Comp., Ltd. (
), the world's largest smartphone maker, will
unleash its flagship smartphone
: the Galaxy S IV.
I. Galaxy S IV is Samsung's First Launch Held in America
Over the last two years Samsung has built a healthy lead in unit sales over archrival Apple, Inc.'s (
) iPhone. And it's
used attack ads
-- borrowing
a page from Apple's own playbook
-- to slowly chip away at Apple's "cool factor".
Apple, for its part, has suffered from a less aggressive path of hardware development. While analyst still praise its App Store and developer ecosystem as the best in the industry, Apple's GUI as of iOS 6 looked
increasingly long in the tooth
, and the jump to a larger screen size was derided by Android fans
as a "me too" move
And yet Apple's supporters have plenty to crow about. The company still has the strongest brand -- even if it has weakened somewhat amid the Samsung storm. And Apple is
more profitable
than any other phonemaker, making approximately twice the profit that
Samsung makes
per quarter.
But analysts believe that for all Apple's success, it may be in trouble when Samsung launches the Galaxy S IV.
The latest Galaxy phone is set to be unveiled at the Radio City Music Hall. Capturing the carnival-esque vibe
Apple once held
during the
iPhone launches of the Steve Jobs era
, Samsung's blockbuster launch will be broadcast live in Times Square. A simultaneous launch event will be held in London, the largest city in the European Union.
The launch of the Samsung Galaxy S IV will be broadcast live tomorrow night in New York City's Times Square. [Image Source: Global Torusim]
The New York City event will be held just blocks away from one of Apple's busiest stores -- a gesture that has certainly not gone unnoticed. Chung Chang Won, an analyst at South Korea's Nomura Holdings Inc. calls the launch a landmark event for a surging Samsung,
commenting to
, "The upcoming event in New York has big implications because it's Apple's home ground. This is the first time Samsung has launched its Galaxy S phone in the U.S."
Past Galaxy smartphone launches
have typically been held at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain,
at the IFA tradeshow in Berlin, Germany
, or in South Korea.
II. Spec Sheet: an iPhone Slayer
Samsung is anticipated to serve up more than just hollow-hype. It's expected to bring a much faster processor and a larger screen size. Here's what
we know so far
about the device:
5.0-inch 1080p display
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
1.9GHz Qualcomm, Inc. (QCOM) Snapdragon 600 processor (U.S.)
2GHz quad-core Samsung Exynos 5450 processor (international) [
16/32/64GB storage options
Removable SD card slot (up to 64GB)
13MP rear-facing camera w/ "Orb" technology for compressed panorama shots
2MP front-facing camera w/ "eye scrolling" technology
4G LTE support
Multi-purpose / Dedicated camera button
Bluetooth 4.0
3100 mAh battery
Plastic shell body
The U.S. processor (a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon), the 5-inch screen, and the new camera have all been confirmed by top U.S. news outlet
, which is owned by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.
[Image Source: Sammy Hub]
Perhaps the biggest "wow" feature could be the eye-tracking technology, which will use the front-facing camera to track the users eyes allowing them to visually scroll through articles.
First reported
The New York Times
, the hands-free feature has been reportedly in the works for a long time and has been perfected to be very fluid.
's sources dispute that full-fledged eye-tracking will appear in the GSIV, but says that simplified versions of the technology may appear in the device. For example, if you look away from the screen, the phone may automatically pause the video you're watching.
The new spec appear to be well ahead of the iPhone 5 -- which only packs a 8MP rear camera with a (reportedly) smaller sensor, a 4-inch screen, and a slower dual-core CPU.
III. "Cooling Off" Apple May be Forced to Change Strategy
Park Hyun, an analyst at Seoul, South Korea-based Tong Yang Securities says that Apple will be unlikely to be able to muster its response (the iPhone 5S) until late this year. He says that is bad news for Apple, whose once hot phone is seeing slowing sales. He comments, "[The iPhone 5's] popularity has clearly cooled off."
Jan Dawson, chief analyst at the New York City office of London-based telecommunications consulting firm Ovum, says Apple's best hope to stay competitive may be to try to release different versions of the iPhone. She comments, "There's been a drumbeat of rumors about Apple working on more than one version of the iPhone. The thinking is, if Apple does several devices it would help dampen the singular effect of having only one phone a year."
Apple may be forced to launch a variety of iPhones to keep up.
But one must wonder if copycatting Android's approach of a broad range of phones will do more harm than good for Apple. Apple's app ecosystem has benefitted from a homogenous screen size/resolution for each smartphone release; likewise its marketing has always focused on the simplicity of its phone offering -- there has always been only one iPhone.
Ultimately, though Apple may be forced to try to reinvent the wheel, as it sees Samsung stealing its thunder. With over
$100B USD in the bank
, and an incredibly strong brand it's far too early to count the Cupertino, Calif. phonemaker out. But the GSIV launch is certainly serving notice that Samsung has Apple pressed up against the ropes and is hitting it hard, in its home turf.
"If you can find a PS3 anywhere in North America that's been on shelves for more than five minutes, I'll give you 1,200 bucks for it." -- SCEA President Jack Tretton
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AVELLA – Fate may have put Cross Creek Township neighbors Joe and Joey Gagliani and Bill Clouston on the same stretch of a West Virginia road last month.
And thanks to the quick actions of the Gaglianis, Clouston is home recovering from back injuries after his pickup truck crashed and caught fire.
Joe Gagliani is a 42-year veteran of the Avella Volunteer Fire Department and his son, who turned 17 Wednesday, has been a junior firefighter for two years. Clouston, an iron worker, lives about a mile from the Gaglianis.
The three later learned they also had been at the same convenience store moments before the Jan. 26 crash.
Clouston said he had gone to Weirton, W.Va., to get a haircut. Then he stopped at Sheetz for gasoline before heading home. The Gaglianis also stopped at Sheetz, grabbing a bite to eat, after running an errand in Weirton.
"We must have been about two minutes behind him," Gagliani said of his neighbor. Joe and Joey Gagliani were driving on Eldersville Road, in Colliers, W.Va., about a mile from the state line, when they saw smoke coming from the side of the road.
"We came over a knob and noticed something burning," said the elder Gagliani. "Then we saw tire tracks in the snow and saw the truck over the hill head-on into a tree. As soon as we stopped, the back of the truck burst into flames. A lady was screaming that someone was still in there."
While Gagliani ran over the hill, Joey called 911. The call first went to the Washington County dispatch center and had to be transferred to dispatchers in Brooke County, W.Va. After explaining the situation, Joey ran over the hill and started throwing snow on the fire in an effort to put it out.
Meanwhile, Gagliani started beating on the window of the truck cab as the inside filled with smoke. He was yelling at the driver, trying to get him to open the door. Gagliani said it appeared the driver's foot was on the accelerator as the back wheels of the truck continued to spin.
"I didn't know it was Bill," Gagliani said. "The truck was screaming at a high RPM. With four inches of snow on the ground, I couldn't find a rock to break the window."
Another man came running up. He had a bar that they used to break the small window in the cab.
"I tried reaching my arm in to unlock the door and the smoke was not helping. The way the truck was up against the tree we couldn't get to the passenger side," Gagliani said. "I kept yelling at the man inside the truck to unlock the door or give me his keys. Joey kept screaming the truck was going to blow."
Joey, a junior at Avella High School, said the truck's tire had shredded and he was concerned that with the way the engine was racing, it was going to blow up. He said the rear passenger side tire was slightly off the ground against a fence post.
"The driver started to come to as some of the smoke cleared," he added. "When he looked at me, I realized it was Bill. He tried to work his hand over to the door."
Firefighters from Beech Bottom Volunteer Fire Department arrived, along with firefighters from Hooverson Heights. Firefighters used a Hurst tool to pop open the door. Weather prevented Clouston from being flown to a Pittsburgh hospital so he was taken by ambulance to Weirton Medical Center, where he spent five days being treated for a back injury.
"It was scary. As a firefighter, you are used to having the tools you need but we had nothing," Gagliani said. "My heart felt better when I heard the sirens."
Clouston is not sure whether he fell asleep at the wheel or if he blacked out. He said he could hear someone yelling outside the truck, but did not realize it was Gagliani. When he returned home from the hospital, he called the Gaglianis to thank them.
The air bags on Clouston's Ford F-150 did not deploy, although the truck crashed head-on into the tree.
"I was wearing my seat belt," Clouston said. "I always wear it and I always will now."
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