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As the global business environment becomes riskier and riskier, the job of the corporate treasurer grows ever more complex. As companies nurture relationships with customers, suppliers, and employees in far-flung parts of the world, hedging currency risks becomes increasingly complicated. When volatility appears in global financial systems, mitigating interest rate risks and ensuring uninterrupted access to funding become more challenging. And as regulations on financial services and other industries continue to evolve around the globe, treasurers are tasked with staying abreast of a wide range of geopolitical developments that might affect their organization's cash flow.
For these reasons—and many more—successful treasurers are no longer content to do their jobs in the same way they did in the past. Winners of the 18th annual Alexander Hamilton Awards in the category Cash Management & Liquidity Optimization illustrated this point. And this year's winners in the category FX & Financial Risk Management, sponsored by Strategic Treasurer and Kyriba, take management of complex financial risks even further.
"In the last five to 10 years, the world has become a much more complex place," says Dennis Tosh, director of global trading for Ford Motor Company. "Not only because of the financial crisis, but also because of increased capital regulations and the impact that has on the liquidity and pricing of derivatives trading."
Prompted by concern over the rapid evolution of risks around the world, Tosh and his colleagues in Ford's treasury function engaged the company's global analytics team in developing a new system for monitoring the credit risk of the company's derivatives counterparties. The resulting tool is highly sophisticated. It helps filter out the background noise of the market and isolate the events that indicate truly significant changes in a specific counterparty's creditworthiness. The next iteration of the tool, which is currently in beta testing, takes risk monitoring even further—using this analysis of creditworthiness to recommend, on the fly, which counterparty would be the best choice for each new derivatives transaction.
Like Ford, Toyota Financial Services is navigating a landscape of evolving financial risks. As the global economy has rebounded, sales at Toyota Motor Company have grown dramatically, nearing 50 percent year-over-year for fiscal 2013. That puts pressure on the company's funding mechanisms, which fall within the bailiwick of Toyota Financial Services. To ensure that Toyota will continue to have access to funding as it grows, Toyota Financial Services has worked to diversify its funding sources and investor base. Last year it introduced a new type of structured notes to the market. Doing so required a great deal of cross-functional coordination.
The treasury function brought together representatives from the legal departments of both Toyota Financial Services and its prospective banking partners, accounting managers, risk managers, front-office groups, and the operating team. "We had the valuation team, together with the treasury systems team, start testing the value of certain structures," explains Sylvia Baharet, treasury strategy manager for Toyota Financial Services. "Once [a structure] was vetted and analyzed by all the different groups, we would show our parent company that all the stakeholders of the prospective note were confident with the structure and that there was enough demand for the product." As a result of these cross-functional efforts, Toyota Financial Services introduced new securities that have improved the company's counterparty diversification and helped ensure its ongoing access to capital.
The treasury team at Honeywell International also understands the importance of working closely with other functions—and with other companies. Jim Colby, assistant treasurer at Honeywell, encourages his staff to regularly venture outside their comfort zone. "There are a lot of projects in the company that involve different areas of finance that need someone to step up and take the lead," he says. "I always encourage my staff to take responsibility and become the go-to person."
That mind-set is one reason why Colby stepped up when he saw the prospective effects of the Dodd-Frank Act on derivatives end users. "There were unintended consequences of Dodd-Frank that needed to be addressed," he says. "Somebody had to do it, and it might as well be us." Colby collaborated with his company's government relations and legal staff. Although he wasn't initially comfortable with playing a high-profile role in national politics, he took his argument to Washington, D.C. He thinks the role he played in the Dodd-Frank debate reflects the evolving nature of the treasury function.
"In this day and age, as we're becoming more global, dealing in more emerging markets, facing more regulatory oversight—and dealing with constant changes in regulations and tax laws that are different in every country—there are a lot of things that go on outside of treasury operations that affect not only the company, but also the treasury function," Colby says. "The role of the treasurer is becoming broader by necessity. Everything's changing, and we need to step outside of what we've done in the past and be a resource that is much more strategic than ever before."
Following are the stories of the Alexander Hamilton Award-winning initiatives through which the treasury teams at Toyota, Honeywell, and Ford stretched the definition of their responsibilities, collaborating with other corporate functions to provide even greater value to their organization.
(To access an archived version of the Treasury & Risk webcast in which this year's winners describe their projects, click here.)
Continuous Innovation in Funding Tools
As the North American economy climbed out of recession over the past few years, the auto industry experienced a dramatic rebound. One major automaker, Toyota, saw its U.S. sales volume increase by 47.1 percent in fiscal 2013 over fiscal 2012. This has increased the company's need for access to funding—a challenge that falls to Toyota Financial Services, the captive finance arm of Toyota Motor Company. "Since the early 2000s, Toyota Financial Services has more than doubled in size," says Ted Zarrabi, director of balance sheet strategy for Toyota Financial Services. "As a growing company we look to address our funding needs across a variety of diverse markets and investors."
Toyota Financial Services issues a good deal of commercial paper and floating-rate bonds tied to the three-month LIBOR, but the combination of ongoing growth and incoming regulations led the captive to look for alternative sources of funding. "To ensure that we'll have continuous access to funds, we want to diversify across multiple sectors and across a broad array of different kinds of investors," Zarrabi says. "The diversification strategy must be a two-pronged approach: financial instruments and investors. Both are equally important and provide benefits to both the company and the investors."
As it considered its options, Toyota Financial Services looked to an instrument class that it suspended use of during the financial crisis: structured notes. "Before the crisis, Toyota was a strong issuer of structured notes," says Sylvia Baharet, treasury strategy manager for Toyota Financial Services. "Then the market just went away. But in 2013, we saw the opportunity to come back to the market. We wanted to pick structures that would be simple enough to make investors feel comfortable and that would have enough volume in the market to make them worthwhile. We saw this as a great opportunity to serve a different type of investor."
Toyota Financial Services already used derivatives to hedge its interest rate and foreign exchange risk. Starting in 2013, the company established a policy that requires it to post full collateral—100 percent of exposure—for every derivatives trade it engages in, and to update the calculation of required collateral on a daily basis. "Our treasury systems function, together with our valuation and risk management teams, deployed a robust companywide platform that consists of technology and experienced valuation professionals to perform the calculations supporting all our daily collateral exchanges," Baharet says. "Now we have zero-threshold CSAs [credit support annexes] with all of our counterparties. This has reduced our counterparty risk. It's also reduced the credit charges associated with our derivatives trades; because we're running only 24 hours' worth of risk, our counterparties are very willing to extend their lines of credit out the curve."
The daily-exchange, zero-threshold CSAs are an accomplishment in which Toyota Financial Services takes pride. "Most multinational banks have been doing daily collateral for a long time, and new regulations are pushing smaller institutions in this direction as well," Zarrabi says. "Creating this daily collateral exchange is our way of being in line with the broader banking market. A lot of captives struggle with that, and we believe we were the first to accomplish that feat."
Because the company was already successfully using daily collateral exchanges in the derivatives trades it uses for risk management, the treasury team knew it would be able to leverage the same capabilities if it rolled out structured notes to fund its parent's growth. Nevertheless, the team faced a number of challenges. They evaluated their banking relationships, their distribution channels, and market demand, looking for structure types that would simultaneously meet internal funding needs and prove suitable for retail and institutional investors.
The treasury team formed working groups with representatives from all the different functions that the structured notes would impact. Legal teams from both Toyota Financial Services and its prospective banking partners reviewed prospectuses and underwriting agreements. Accounting managers helped figure out the impact the notes would have on the balance sheet, and the operating team was involved because they have to be comfortable with booking and reviewing the trades. The risk management team participated, determining the potential interest-rate and counterparty risks. And front-office groups were involved because their knowledge and contacts are crucial to building relationships with the banks that issue structured notes.
Bringing together the perspectives of all these different functions enabled the treasury team to overcome two substantial challenges: first, the fact that corporate investment policy excludes some types of structured notes, and second, ensuring that the valuations team could effectively value the derivatives in the notes. "We had the valuations team, together with the treasury systems team, start testing the value of certain structures," Baharet explains. "They would take a hypothetical trade and give it to a third party to value, then compare that with our internal valuation. They'd do that multiple times to make sure the internal systems could value the note effectively and that every single calculation was within their comfort zone. Once it was vetted and analyzed by all the different groups, we would show our parent company that all the stakeholders of the prospective note were confident with the structure and that there was enough demand for the product so that it would provide adequate counterparty diversification and enable us to raise money in different markets to meet Toyota's funding needs."
The treasury team settled on two types of structured notes. Step-up callable notes are bonds for which the coupon steps up incrementally just after each call date passes. Toyota Financial Services issued notes that step up after the first year, the second year, or the fifth year if not called. Then, to hedge against interest-rate risk, Toyota uses a three-month floating-rate LIBOR interest-rate swap. "The result is that our only exposure is to three-month LIBOR," Baharet says. The company also issued floating-rate bonds with a cap. The capped floaters and step-up callable notes, which Toyota Financial Services issued over a one-year period, had a total notional value of $750 million.
The most obvious benefit of the issuance is that the company saved $29 million compared with a benchmark seven-year bond. "If we're able to issue close to $1 billion in structured notes, rather than doing another three-year, five-year, or 10-year unsecured deal, we gain a substantial cost savings and can operate more efficiently in both markets," Zarrabi says. "The structured notes are generally cheaper than bonds in the markets we typically issue in. On top of that, we avoid over-saturating the market, which could raise the cost of issuing our usual securities." One more benefit of the structured note program: "For people who want credit exposure to Toyota, it gives them a vehicle to buy that," Baharet says. "As a company, Toyota Financial Services will keep on finding different ways to diversify funding."
Venturing Outside the Treasury Comfort Zone
When they heard about how the Dodd-Frank Act might affect their organization, most corporate treasurers and finance managers ducked their heads down and fretted. Not Jim Colby. The assistant treasurer of Honeywell International, Colby joined treasurers from a handful of other prominent companies in making his case to the powers that be. He testified before both the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture. He also met repeatedly with U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and House and Senate staff members. The fact that politics was outside his comfort zone did not slow him down.
"I got involved in the debate for two reasons," Colby says. "First, I wanted to better understand the rule-making process and to be connected to the people who were shaping the legislation and regulations. The legislation and regulations are very complicated, so it was important to Honeywell to be aware of the latest thinking on interpretations. And the second reason is that there were unintended consequences of Dodd-Frank that needed to be addressed. Somebody had to do it, and it might as well be us."
Honeywell uses derivatives to mitigate risks in subsidiaries located around the globe. "Ninety-five percent of our derivatives transactions with banks are executed by the parent company," Colby says. "We have a small commodities-hedging program. We use interest rate swaps to manage the interest rate risk on the parent company's debt. And for approximately 300 wholly-owned affiliates from around the world, we net their foreign exchange [FX] exposures by currency pair and trade the net exposures with banks. So the parent company enters into transactions with the subsidiaries to hedge those exposures and we hedge the net amount externally." As a result of this process, Honeywell reduces its external FX hedges by 75 percent, but it engages in tens of thousands of intercompany transactions each year.
Although the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) requires the company to report daily on a large proportion of those intercompany transactions, starting to report daily to the CFTC on the remaining transactions would have been expensive. "Every time you have to report these transactions, it takes manpower and resources and IT spending," Colby says. "If we wanted to avoid the intercompany transactions and have our subsidiaries trade directly with banks, not only would we be reducing the efficiency of our risk management activities, but we would be creating more risk in the financial system." Honeywell participated in the successful effort to gain no-action relief for internal trades. "The CFTC no-action relief saved us quite a bit of money and freed up time that we could spend productively on other issues," Colby says.
Then there was the issue of margin. Although FX forwards and swaps are not subject to Dodd-Frank margin requirements, Honeywell faced the prospect of having to post collateral for all the interest-rate and non-deliverable forward (NDF) FX derivatives the company uses to mitigate daily business risks. Colby estimates that Honeywell has approximately $2 billion of hedging contracts that would be defined as swaps under Dodd-Frank. Applying a 3 percent initial margin and a 10 percent variation margin to that amount would require about $250 million in margin to be posted. "That's almost 25 percent of our annual capex budget," Colby says. "That's real money that would be sitting in a margin account not being productively employed in the economy, and on top of that we'd have to set aside liquidity in order to meet potential future margin calls."
In fact, as Colby cited in his testimony to the House and Senate Committees, a survey by the Coalition for Derivatives End Users estimates that a 3 percent margin requirement could reduce capital spending among S&P 500 companies alone by up to $6.7 billion and could cost 100,000 to 130,000 jobs. "Cash deposited in a margin account cannot be productively deployed in our businesses and therefore detracts from Honeywell's financial performance and ability to promote economic growth and protect American jobs," Colby told the Senators and House members.
The debate on margin requirements has yet to be settled, but decision-makers are listening to Colby and the other treasurers who stepped up to represent corporate end users of derivatives. "Because we understood how the laws were going to impact what we do on a daily basis much better than a lobbyist or government relations specialist, we were in a position to influence the debate in Washington," Colby says.
In fact, treasury is in a unique position to influence broader conversations within the company as well. "Everything that happens to the company, all the cash flow, all the investments, have to be financed by treasury. We deal with all the external financing issues, external investors, and ratings agencies, but we also deal with internal company finance issues. We understand the businesses, and we have a good underpinning in financial theory and fundamentals. That gives us a unique view of what's going on, and it gives us a unique seat at the table."
For many corporate treasurers, that seat may be intimidating because it's outside of the traditional realm of responsibility for treasury. "A lot of people avoided getting involved in the discussion about the potential impact of Dodd-Frank on derivatives end users," Colby says. "They weren't comfortable going to Washington and testifying and possibly being quoted in the press."
Colby acknowledges that he was fortunate to get buy-in for his participation from the senior management at Honeywell. "Our management team understands how important it is to have a voice in Washington," he says. "When they found out that we might potentially have to post hundreds of millions of dollars in a margin account—money that we would otherwise be using to run the business—we received quick support for this initiative. There are companies where it might be more difficult to get support, but you also have to be willing to ask. You have to understand the facts of the situation, translate that into hard numbers, and get out in front of it. And, of course, it always helps for treasury to have a good relationship with government relations and legal." In fact, Colby encourages his staff to get involved in projects that may not seem, at first blush, to fall within the scope of their role. "There are a lot of projects in the company that involve different areas of finance that need someone to step up and take the lead," he says. "I always encourage my staff to step up and take responsibility and become the go-to person."
Stepping outside the box of traditional treasury activities may be uncomfortable at first, but Colby believes it's necessary. "In this day and age," he says, "as we're becoming more global, dealing in more emerging markets, facing more regulatory oversight—and dealing with constant changes in regulations and tax laws that are different in every country—there are a lot of things that go on outside of treasury operations that affect not only the company, but also the treasury function. The role of the treasurer is becoming broader by necessity. Everything's changing, and we need to step outside of what we've done in the past and be a resource that is much more strategic than ever before."
Counterparty Risk Management as an Art—and a Science
Like Honeywell and Toyota Financial Services, Ford Motor Company uses derivatives to mitigate risks. It uses interest rate swaps, mostly fixed-rate swaps with tenors of five years or less, to hedge the interest rate risk inherent in the balance sheet of Ford Credit Services. It uses short-term FX swaps and FX forwards to reduce the uncertainty of cash flows among business units around the world. And it uses derivatives to hedge some of the commodity exposures experienced by the auto manufacturing business.
The combination of these transactions exposes Ford to counterparty risk with about 20 different financial institutions in a variety of countries. After the financial crisis of 2008, the company re-evaluated its practices for gauging and mitigating counterparty risk in its derivatives trades. "We were monitoring our counterparties using market metrics like movement in equity price or CDS [credit default swap] spreads," says Dennis Tosh, director of global trading for Ford. "When we saw outsized movements with a counterparty, we'd try to find news stories and drill down. But this method made it difficult to filter out the background noise." For example, if a group of banks experienced a dramatic swing in a metric like equity price, Ford may not have been able to easily determine whether the swing resulted from an idiosyncratic issue with those particular banks, or whether it was the result of larger macroeconomic forces that were affecting all financial services firms.
"In the last five to 10 years, the world has become a much more complex place—not only because of the financial crisis, but also because of increased capital regulations and the impact that has on the liquidity and pricing of derivatives trades," Tosh says. "The treasury team recognized the opportunity to improve our process for monitoring counterparty risk. We asked ourselves, 'Who in the company would be in a good position to help us?' And the obvious answer was the global analytics team."
The global analytics team is involved in a wide range of analytical functions within Ford, ranging from business modeling to activities such as optimization of lease residuals and exploration of the correlation between used-car prices and new-car sales. Treasury had worked with the group on projects in the past, and Tosh knew some of the individuals on the team. "We knew that these folks could really help us in taking our monitoring process to a new level," he says. "We pulled together a cross-functional team, bringing in the experts in the global analytics area. We described our business needs and had some of them sit in on our monitoring meetings to really see how our legacy process worked. They came back to us with a proposal, which we discussed and then vetted through senior leadership."
Together, treasury and global analytics staff developed a project plan that divided the initiative into three phases. First, they constructed what Tosh calls an "early warning radar," a hierarchical set of risk indicators that are forward-looking. "We're looking at some of the usual metrics—things like change in equity price, bid-to-offer spread, daily trading volume, CDS spreads," Tosh says. "We developed a hierarchy that we can drill down into. This data is automatically downloaded every day and fed into our model."
The second phase of the project involved development of a framework that pulls all this data into a Monte Carlo simulation to calculate the credit valuation adjustment (CVA)—the market value of counterparty credit risk—at a trade, counterparty, and portfolio level. "We look at risk from a portfolio perspective to understand how the different types of risk we have with a counterparty correlate with each other," Tosh says. "For example, how does exposure on a long euro-sterling cross-currency swap correlate to a 10-year U.S. interest-rate swap?
"Our statistical analyses help us understand what the markets are telling us about how big our exposure actually is," Tosh adds. "We can look at whether there are issues with a particular country, which was very important during the European debt crisis. We can also determine whether there are issues with respect to a specific, individual bank. The ability to hone in on a specific counterparty and see whether the market is signaling a problem with that institution is the real value-add of the statistical evaluation process." The CVA calculations analyze all of the 48 interest rate curves, 18 currencies, and seven commodities that Ford hedges, across all the counterparties Ford works with for each type of trade.
Ford treasury also established a process for escalating any problems that the model indicates with a specific institution. Every day at 5 o'clock, senior representatives from the treasury leadership team, treasury operations, risk management, and trading meet to jointly review a matrix of issues that the model has highlighted. "We look at the number of sigma, or standard deviations, that an indicator has moved from its statistical mean, and we look at the number of consecutive days in which it's moved," Tosh says. "If all of a sudden we have a move that's five sigma or more, that's a pretty clear indication that something is going on with that counterparty, and we will escalate that issue to the corporate treasurer on the same day. If we have a smaller move, such as a two-sigma move, we'd have to see that for several days in a row before we would escalate it to the treasurer. But there are other levels of movement that result in an issue being escalated to a lower level of management."
Even when there's an issue with a metric, Ford might not stop working with the counterparty. "We are a very relationship-oriented company," Tosh says. "The relationships we have with our credit-line banks are extremely important. What this tool is intended to do is to drive a conversation through which we evaluate our options for reacting to the information. We have a predefined playbook that drives the conversation, and then that conversation is conducted in the context of the overall relationship with the institution, as well as a more senior assessment of how large we think the near-term clear and present danger is."
In testing the model before rolling it out, Ford treasury used it to analyze data from 2008. "Hindsight is always 20/20, but this model did send some very clear signals that something was wrong at Lehman Brothers in the weeks before it filed bankruptcy," Tosh says. "Ford had an important relationship with Lehman, so I can't say for sure that we would have cut them off if we'd seen this, but we certainly would have been better prepared for their implosion. This test made clear that the model provides a tremendous benefit in terms of insight into the nature of the risks we're taking."
The third phase of the project, which is still in beta testing, leverages the automated CVA calculations generated in the second phase to recommend the optimal counterparty for each new trade, considering portfolio-level CVA and possible returns. "For each trade, it quickly models and tells us what the change will be in the counterparty's CVA as a result of that trade," Tosh says. "Is it risk-reducing? Is it risk-increasing? How many units of incremental risk would we get with Counterparty A vs. with Counterparty B, given the amount of portfolio risk we currently have with each institution? The beauty is that we're able to make these kind of calculations on the fly." Ford hasn't finalized a trade-decision process that takes into account this information, but the tool's recommendation "would be one very important factor, but still one among a variety of factors, that someone would evaluate in deciding which institution to award a specific trade," he adds.
Tosh gives much of the credit for Ford's statistical modeling tool to the global analytics team. "They have unique skills," he says. "They understand the business issues we're trying to address—and that isn't always the case when you're working with people with high quantitative skills. Our global analytics team is also very, very good at explaining the science in layman's terms. In order to effectively use this tool, and to get management comfortable with it, we needed to very clearly understand the principles involved and why the tool's creators chose the approach they chose. They did a very good job of explaining that in terms businesspeople were able to grasp."
Ultimately, though, this project was driven by Ford's visionary treasury team. "We saw these process improvements as critical to improving risk management at Ford," Tosh says. "The treasury leadership team prioritized and championed the project, and made sure that the channels of communication were wide open between treasury and global analytics. The resulting tool is easy to use, easy to understand, and it generates immediate value to our risk management process. We're very proud that we spearheaded this project."


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Joyce Glogovsky, Janesville, WI (1938-2014)
November 14, 1938 - May 3, 2014
Joyce Glogovsky, 76, was born on November 14, 1938 in Waukegan, Illinois. She passed into eternal life on May 3, 2014. Joyce graduated from Waukegan Township High School in 1956. Upon graduation, she attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1960. During her time at Marquette she was a member of Phi Chi Theta. She worked as a buyer for Gimbels in Milwaukee, and Manchester in Madison. In 1968, she entered the graduate program at the University of Wisconsin and received a Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction in 1970. During her attendance at the University of Wisconsin she was a member of Pi Lambda Theta. Upon graduation, Joyce became an elementary school educator in Janesville, Wisconsin, where she taught for 30 years, and retired in January of 2000.
Joyce was a loving and caring person who devoted her life to education, adventure and faith. Joyce enjoyed being an avid reader, devoted Packer fan and world traveler with many friends and family members. She also loved the theatre and classic movies. She was a member of St. John Vianney in Janesville, National Retired Teachers Association, Janesville Area Retired Teachers Wisconsin, Retired Educators Association, Friends of Hedberg Public Library, Friends of Rotary Garden, AARP, and University of Wisconsin Alumni Association.
Joyce was predeceased by her parents, Michael Glogovsky and Mary Macaitis and brothers, Richard M. Glogovsky and Robert (Maxine O'Connor) Glogovsky. She is survived by numerous cousins, friends, and two special godchildren Mark and Lauren Glogovsky.
Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 am on Saturday, May 10, 2014, at ST. JOHN VIANNEY ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, with Msgr. Don Heiar presiding. Friends may call on Saturday from 10:00 am until the time of Mass at St. John Vianney Roman Catholic Church. Interment will be in Ascension Cemetery in Libertyville, Illinois. Memorials are preferred to the American Cancer Society. SCHNEIDER APFEL SCHNEIDER & SCHNEIDER FUNERAL HOME AND CREMATORY is assisting the family. For online obituary and registry: www.schneiderfuneraldirectors.com
Last updated: 10:19 am Sunday, May 4, 2014

subset: commoncrawl


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Eat Well, Give Well farm market buying program called a success
JANESVILLE—Skelly's Farm Market was getting requests from nonprofits to register for its�Eat Well, Give Well program right up until the end of the farmers market season.
"A church in Beloit wanted 50 cards Sept. 20, but with only two weeks left (in the program's first season) we got back to them, apologized, and told them we thought it was best to get signed up right away next year," said program coordinator Jen Skelly.
Eat Well, Give Well�was introduced to the community this past spring to encourage buying fresh produce from Skelly's South Hayner Road store, farmers market or roadside stands. In doing so, Skelly's donated 10 percent of each purchase to a charity chosen by the customer.
Participants could register at eatwellgivewell.com and select a nonprofit organization to support. Individuals and businesses could sign up. If a favorite nonprofit was not listed, Skelly's contacted the organization and asked them to participate.
People who signed up received reward cards to show when they bought produce at any Skelly's Farm Market location. Each month, Skelly's added up each participant's purchases and issued donations to the chosen nonprofit.
Top earners through�Eat Well, Give Well were St. Paul's Lutheran Church School and Day Care, followed by Mercy Health System's House of Mercy, HealthNet of Rock County, Friends of Noah and St. William Knights of Columbus.
The plan for the program was to conclude the season at the end of September when Skelly's pulls its stands from local farmers markets and roadsides. The plan worked out.
Over the winter the program will be tweaked a bit. It will kick off again in 2014 in conjunction with the strawberry season. As it did this year, it will end again in September, Skelly said.
"We definitely will continue the program next year," she said.
Skelly summed up the first season of the program as "a really big success."
"Some people stopped (at Skelly's Farm Market) every other day. Having that (Eat Well, Give Well) card and wanting to give money to their organization was motivation to stop (by our market). So the program did what we wanted it to do," she said.
More than 250 participants and 35 of the 45 nonprofits that signed up earned dollars, Skelly said.
"Some (nonprofits) signed up, but none of their fans made purchases with their participant cards. So that was a little disappointing," she said.
Skelly wouldn't release the total dollars raised for these three-dozen nonprofits but said some received as little as a couple dollars while others received more than $50.
"That doesn't seem like a whole lot, but with 30-plus nonprofits and 250-some people 10 percent of each of those purchases provided a lot of people support,'' she said.
Skelly's has a tradition of giving back and encouraging healthy eating while supporting the community.
Eat Well, Give Well�did that.
"It's everyone helping everyone else," Skelly said.


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Lo Brusc: Varietal Honey at Its Best
In the early 90s, Ihsan and Valerie were invited by one of our customers to stay at a lovely château in Provence while on a food sourcing trip. Located near the town of Abt, about halfway between Toulouse and the Atlantic Ocean, the surroundings were picturesque and, as Ihsan recalls, "breathtaking." The villa served as a wonderful base from which to explore the region and led to some of Ihsan and Valerie's earliest finds – ones that have stood the test of time – like Durand chocolates and miellerie: Lo Brusc.
Generally, the terrain in Provence is pretty flat with a few gorges here and there. However, as you move further east, you get closer and closer to the Alps. The Lo Brusc shop is located in Saorge, France, in Haute-Provence, close to the French/Italian border. The day they visited Saorge for the first time, Ihsan recalls the approach as, "a series of hair-pin turns up what appeared to be a mountain with a mesa-like top." The very old town was situated at the top and Lo Brusc was positioned at the beginning of a tiny little side street – a wooden sign with a bee hive on it was dangling out front.
During their visit, Ihsan and Valerie met Brigitte – Pierre, her husband was out tending to the hives. They had lunch and sampled honeys. This was Ihsan and Valerie's first introduction to monovarietal honey. Monovarietal or single varietal honeys – where the bees are harvesting predominantly one type of blossom – are more common nowadays but twenty years ago, they were quite rare. It was certainly the first time that either Ihsan or Valerie had encountered the likes of tilleul (linden blossom), romarin (rosemary) and, in particular, lavande fine (wild lavender) honey. They were blown away.
Today, even though there are more single varietal honeys available from small apiaries, there are just a few who have the know-how to time their harvest perfectly to maximize the purity of the varietal type. From our very first meeting, Lo Brusc set the standard and today remains at the fore in terms of both flavor and quality. Now, Brigitte and Pierre's son, Jean, manages the family's apiaries while his sister Estelle manages their shop.
Our honey buyer, Julia, who works with apiaries across the United States and in Europe – including the Bresc family – succinctly states how we feel about their honey: "I love Lo Brusc because of the distinct flavors and textures in each of their honeys. Every year, the harvest brings new and unique flavors. What is so lovely about Lo Brusc is that the selection of flavor profiles that their honey offer ranges from super subtle and delicate to bitter, funky and pungent. Their honey is true to the flower source and I always turn to Lo Brusc as the example for what a particular single source honey should taste like. Lo Brusc is a beautiful representation of how diverse single varietal honey can be."
We couldn't agree more.


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Milton High School student expelled for fighting
Gazette staff
Friday, January 31, 2014
MILTON—The Milton School District expelled a Milton High School student for brawling on school grounds, according to a school district news release.
The student, who was not identified by age or gender, was expelled this week after a school board disciplinary hearing for fighting at school, according to the release. ��
The student already had been flagged for disciplinary action, and was attending school under a "pre-expulsion" agreement at the time of the fight, the district said.
The student is expelled until age 21 but is eligible under district rules of conditional re-entry to return to school in fall 2014, the district said. It is the district's first expulsion this school year.


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Halloween decorations light up local communities
The winter holidays aren't the only time of year when inflatable figures occupy front yards and thousands of lights illuminate houses. Halloween is becoming an increasingly popular reason for residents to deck their yards with pumpkins and fake webs.
In some instances, Halloween even leads to friendly competition among neighbors.
Rich Schroeder has been decorating his Elkhorn home for Halloween for two years.
"When I have a project in mind, I'm completely obsessed with it," Schroeder said.
He calls his project the Elkhorn Light Show and uses the decorations to brighten the neighborhood and raise money for the Elkhorn Fire Department, where he volunteers.�
Starting the first week of October, residents can drive up to Schroeder's home at 843 Chelsea Drive each night and watch a 10-minute light show choreographed to music on 88.5 FM. The show begins at 6 p.m. and lasts until 9:30 p.m Sunday through Thursday. On Fridays and Saturdays, it goes until 10:30 p.m.
"People get out of the car, start singing and dancing," Schroeder said.� "I enjoy it. I spend a lot of time setting up, and I like seeing people enjoy it."
This year, he spent 35 hours decorating his lawn with spooky items such as a zombie emerging from the ground, inflatable ghosts creeping out of an inflatable cauldron and about 10,000 white, red, blue and orange lights.
Schroeder has raised more than $800 for the fire department and invested about $5,000 to $6,000 in the show, and he doesn't plan to stop.
"I don't see any anticipation of slowing down," Schroeder said. "In fact, I am in negotiations with my spouse in regards to upgrading the light equipment for next year."
The Halloween light show runs through Oct. 31. On the morning of Nov. 1, the spooky decorations will come down to make way for Schroeder's firefighter-themed Christmas light show that will run Dec. 1 through Dec. 31.
Schroeder said Halloween will never be as big as Christmas, but the holiday allows him to choreograph his show with more mainstream music compared to the classic Christmas carols and tunes.
Tanya Utzig, who has decorated her home in Janesville for the last five years, agrees that Halloween isn't as big as Christmas.
During the Christmas season, Utzig said, people can see her house from the Interstate, while her decorations are more subdued for Halloween.
However, Utzig said, more of her neighbors have joined in since she started decorating her house at 406 Park Ave., and the decorations have fostered a competitive Halloween spirit with one of her neighbors.
"It brightens up the neighborhood," Utzig said. "Our other neighborhoods didn't do a lot of decorating, and now everyone on this block does something at least."
The Utzig house and lawn are covered in spider webs; the front yard is a cemetery with a coffin and strobe lights, and she plans to add more.
"We have a couple ghouly looking things, 'Happy Halloween' signs, 'trick-or-treat' signs, and pumpkins have to be carved," Utzig said.
Ken Iverson, her neighbor and friendly competitor, has a lawn filled with Halloween decorations, including headstones, a handmade guillotine and skulls marking the perimeter, and more is yet to come.
Iverson said he began decorating his lawn 10 years ago for his daughter and since then has built or added something new each year.
"I like Halloween. I always have," Iverson said. "It's an adult holiday where you do the kid things at nine or 10, and then I go out."
When asked who won the decorating competition, Utzig said she thinks she did because she "went a little farther this year."
Iverson gave Utzig credit for the coffin, headstones and Grim Reaper but ultimately crowned himself the winner.
"They don't have anything original," Utzig said. "I still think they have a ways to go."


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Janesville declares snow emergency starting at noon Saturday
JANESVILLE--The city has declared a snow emergency beginning at noon Saturday.
A snow emergency means all parked vehicles must be removed from city streets and public parking lots until snow plowing is complete. To ensure that you do not receive a parking ticket, please move your vehicle prior to noon Saturday and keep your vehicle off city streets until they have been completely plowed.
The best place to park during a snow emergency is in your garage or driveway. If you are unable to park in a driveway or garage, please park in one of the designated snow emergency parking stalls. These stalls are located in the seven downtown municipal parking lots listed below.
-- Wall Street Lot at Wall Street and Parker Drive
-- Municipal Building Lot at Wall Street and Jackson Street
-- High Street Lot at Court Street and High Street
-- Senior Center Lot at St. Lawrence Avenue and Water Street
-- Hedberg Public Library Lot on Water Street
-- River/Union Street Lot at River Street and Union Street
-- Parker Drive Parking Ramp at Parker Drive and Wall Street
When you arrive at the lot, look for the signs designating the snow emergency parking stalls. Fines for parking on the streets during a snow emergency are $50. The Police Department may begin issuing tickets to violators before plowing operations begin.
Janesville residents can get additional snow emergency information from the City's website or by calling 755-SNOW. To report problems or concerns, please call the City Services Center at 755-3110.


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Whitewater's Studio 84 adds new gallery space
Visual Voices is the name Studio 84 has given to the new gallery area of original art created by artists with disabilities from across the state as well as their own artists at the studio, which is located at 121 W. Center St., Whitewater.
View the new art during regular hours: Tuesdays- Fridays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and during special events, including Black Friday from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m.
All sales go directly to the artist to help support them. Many of the artists donate a percent of their sales to the Studio to help support the programing for others.
Studio 84 is a nonprofit art center that provides experiences in the visual arts, and theater for the community. The organization specializes in working with all people including those with physical, cognitive limitations and mental illness.
For more information about Studio 84 and Visual Voices visit www.studio84inc.org.


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Hiroshi Ashikaga, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Languages: English, Japanese
Expertise: Arrhythmia, Atrial Fibrillation, Atrial Flutter, Bradycardia, Cardiac Electrophysiology, Cardiology, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cardiovascular MRI, Cardioversion, Catheter Ablation Therapy, Defibrillators, Device Therapy, Heart Block, Heart Disease, Heart Failure, Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator Therapy, Irregular Heartbeat, Pacemakers, Palpitations, Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia, Sudden Cardiac Death, Supraventricular Tachycardia, Syncope, Tachycardias, Tilt Table Test, Ventricular Arrhythmias, Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) Syndrome ...read more
Research Interests: Spiral Reentry; Cardiac Biomechanics; Computational Fluid Dynamics; Information Theory; Synchronization; Computational Neuroscience; Geopolitics
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Appointment Phone: 443-997-0270
600 N. Wolfe Street
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Phone: 410-502-7861
Fax: 410-502-0231
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Appointment Phone: 443-997-0270
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Baltimore, MD 21204 map
Phone: 443-849-8989
Fax: 443-849-8988
Dr. Ashikaga received an M.D. and a Ph.D. degrees from the University of Tokyo, Japan. He completed his clinical training in Internal Medicine at the University of Tokyo and Beth Israel Medical Center, where he served as a Chief Resident. He received his research training in Biomedical Engineering and Cardiovascular MRI at the University of California, San Diego and the National Institutes of Health. He also completed clinical training in Cardiology and Cardiac Electrophysiology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
You can find out more information at his website here.
- Assistant Professor of Medicine
Departments / Divisions
- Medicine - Cardiology
- Medicine - Cardiovascular
Centers & Institutes
- MD, University of Tokyo (1996)
- University of Tokyo / Internal Medicine (1997)
- Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center / Internal Medicine (2001)
- University of California San Diego / Cardiology (2002)
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine / Cardiology (2010)
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine / Cardiac Electrophysiology (2012)
Board Certifications
- American Board of Internal Medicine / Cardiovascular Disease (2010)
- American Board of Internal Medicine / Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology (2012)
- American Board of Internal Medicine / Internal Medicine (2000)
Research & Publications
Lab Website: Ashikaga Lab
Selected PublicationsPEER-REVIEWED ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Ashikaga H, Criscione JC, Omens JH, Covell JW, Ingels NB, Jr. Transmural left ventricular mechanics underlying torsional recoil during relaxation. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 286: H640-H647, 2004 (PMCID: PMC2954110)
Ashikaga H, Omens JH, Ingels NB, Jr, Covell JW. Transmural mechanics at left ventricular epicardial pacing site. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 286: H2401-H2407, 2004 (PMCID: PMC2965026)
Ashikaga H, Omens JH, Covell JW. Time-dependent remodeling of transmural architecture underlying abnormal ventricular geometry in chronic volume overload heart failure. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 287: H1994-H2002, 2004 (PMCID: PMC2842928)
Harrington KB, Rodriguez F, Cheng A, Langer F, Ashikaga H, Daughters GT, Criscione JC, Ingels NB, Jr., Miller DC. Direct measurement of transmural laminar architecture in the anterolateral wall of the ovine left ventricle: new implications for wall thickening mechanics. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 288: H1324-H1330, 2005
Ashikaga H, Covell JW, Omens JH. Diastolic dysfunction in volume overload hypertrophy is associated with abnormal shearing of myolaminar sheets. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 288: H2603-H2610, 2005 (PMCID: PMC2822838)
Ashikaga H, Mickelsen SR, Ennis DB, Rodriguez I, Kellman P, Wen H, McVeigh ER. Electromechanical analysis of infarct border zone in chronic myocardial infarction. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 289: H1099-H1105, 2005 (PMCID: PMC2396317)
Mickelsen SR, Ashikaga H, Raval A, DeSilva R, McVeigh ER, Kusumoto FA. Transvenous access to the pericardial space: an approach to epicardial lead implantation for cardiac resynchronization therapy. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol 28: 1018-24, 2005
Moreau-Villger V, Delingette H, Sermesant M, Ashikaga H, McVeigh ER, Ayache N. Building maps of local apparent conductivity of the epicardium with a 2-D electrophysiological model of the heart. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 53: 1457-66, 2006
Dickfeld T, Kato R, Zviman MM, Nazarian S, Dong J, Ashikaga H, Lardo AC, Berger RD, Calkins H, Halperin HR. Characterization of acute and subacute radiofrequencey ablation lesions with nonenhanced magnetic resonance imaging. Heart Rhythm 4: 208-14, 2007
Ashikaga H, Coppola BA, Hopenfeld B, Leifer ES, McVeigh ER, Omens JH. Transmural dispersion of myofiber mechanics: implications for electrical heterogeneity in vivo. J Am Coll Cardiol 49: 909-16, 2007 (PMCID: PMC2572715)
Ciaccio EJ, Ashikaga H, Kaba RA, Cervantes D, Hopenfeld B, Wit AL, Peters NS, McVeigh E, Garan H, Coromilas J. Model of reentrant ventricular tachycardia based on infarct border zone geometry predicts reentrant circuit features as determined by activation mapping. Heart Rhythm 4: 1034-45, 2007 (PMCID: PMC2626544)
Hopenfeld B, Ashikaga H, McVeigh ER. Geodesic based registration of sensor data and anatomical surface image data. Ann Biomed Eng 35: 1771-81, 2007 (PMCID: PMC2842929)
Ashikaga H, Sasano T, Dong J, Zviman MM, Evers R, Hopenfeld B, Castro V, Helm RH, Dickfeld T, Nazarian S, Donahue JK, Berger RD, Calkins H, Abraham MR, Marbn E, Lardo AC, McVeigh ER, Halperin HR. Magnetic resonance-based anatomical analysis of scar-related ventricular tachycardia: implications for catheter ablation. Circ Res 101: 939-47, 2007 (PMCID: PMC2842927)
Jbsis PD, Ashikaga H, Wen H, Rothstein EC, Horvath KA, McVeigh ER, Balaban RS. Visceral pericardium: macromolecular structure and contribution to passive mechanical properties of the left ventricle. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 293: H3379-H3387, 2007 (PMCID: PMC2878718)
Ashikaga H, Coppola BA, Yamazaki KG, Villarreal FJ, Omens JH, Covell JW. Changes in regional myocardial volume during the cardiac cycle: implications for transmural blood flow and cardiac structure. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 295: H610-H618, 2008 (PMCID: PMC2519196)
Sasano T, Abraham MR, Chang KC, Ashikaga H, Mills KJ, Holt DP, Hilton J, Nekolla SG, Dong J, Lardo AC, Helperin H, Dannals RF, Marbn E, Bengel FM. Abnormal sympathetic innervation of viable myocardium and the substrate of ventricular tachycardia after myocardial infarction. J Am Coll Cardiol 51: 2266-75, 2008
Nazarian S, Kolandaivelu A, Zviman MM, Meininger GR, Kato R, Susil RC, Roguin R, Dickfeld TL, Ashikaga H, Calkins H, Berger RD, Blumke DA, Lardo AC, Halperin HR. Feasibility of real-time magnetic resonance imaging for catheter guidance in electrophysiology studies. Circulation 118: 223-9, 2008 (PMCID: PMC2826501)
Ashikaga H, van der Spoel TIG, Coppola BA, Omens JH. Transmural myocardial mechanics during isovolumic contraction. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging 2: 202-211, 2009 (PMCID: PMC2821599)
Hopenfeld B and Ashikaga H. Origin of electrocardiographic U wave: Effects of M cells and dynamic gap junction coupling. Ann Biomed Eng 38: 1060-70, 2010 (PMCID: PMC2842929)
Ashikaga H, Leclercq C, Wang J, Kass DA, McVeigh ER. Hemodynamic improvement in cardiac resynchronization does not require improvement in left ventricular rotation mechanics: three-dimensional tagged MRI analysis. Circ Cardiovasc Img 3: 456-63, 2010 (PMCID: PMC2965024)
Estner HL, Zviman MM, Herzka D, Miller F, Castro V, Nazarian S, Ashikaga H, Dori Y, Berger RD, Calkins H, Lardo AC, Halperin HR. The critical isthmus sites of ischemic ventricular tachycardia are in zones of tissue heterogeneity, visualized by magnetic resonance imaging. Heart Rhythm 8: 1942-9, 2011
Ashikaga H, Omens JH. In vivo validation of longitudinal-circumferential area change ratio to estimate myofiber shortening in the heart. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 59: 1391-7, 2012
Kawada S, Suzuki Y, Hinohara S, Koide S, Ono Y, Ashikaga H. Cancer screening with PET: advantages and limitations. Rinsho Byori 55: 656-67, 2007 (Japanese)
Koide S, Ashikaga H, Suzuki Y, Kawada S. Screening of coronary artery disease using myocardial perfusion positron emission tomography in asymptomatic population. Vita Medical Science Review 24: 369-76, 2007 (Japanese)
Ashikaga H. Management of ventricular tachycardia. Resident Note, Sep 2011 (Japanese)
Ashikaga H, Kolandaivelu A, Tandri H, Nazarian S, Halperin HR. Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): Diagnostic and prognostic value for the patient with cardiac arrhythmias. Heart Rhythm, In Press
Ashikaga H. Management of arrhythmia after acute coronary syndrome. Intensivist (Japanese), In Press
Ashikaga H and Marine JE. Prevention of atrial fibrillation: Another good reason to recommend statins for women? Heart 95: 693-4, 2009
Ashikaga H, Blumenthal RS, Jones SR. Utility of ezetimibe. Am J Cardiol 103: 1321-2, 2009
Ashikaga H, Abreu R, Schneider R. Propranolol administration in a patient with thyroid storm. Ann Intern Med 132:681-2, 2000
Ashikaga H, McVeigh ER, Omens JH. Reply: On the mechanisms of transmural dispersion of myocardial mechanics. J Am Coll Cardiol 50: 650, 2007
Ashikaga H, Ben-Yehuda O, Chien KR. Biotechnology and cardiovascular medicine: Recombinant protein therapy. In Molecular Basis of Cardiovascular Disease, 2/e, A Companion to Braunwalds Heart Disease, Edited by Chien KR. Philadelphia, W.B. Saunders Company. Chapter 1, p 1-15, 2004
Ashikaga H, Ben-Yehuda O, Chien KR. Coronary restenosis. In Molecular Basis of Cardiovascular Disease, 2/e, A Companion to Braunwalds Heart Disease, Edited by Chien KR. Philadelphia, W.B. Saunders Company. Chapter 25, p 455-469, 2004
Ashikaga H and Chien KR. Blood coagulation and atherothrombosis. In Molecular Basis of Cardiovascular Disease, 2/e, A Companion to Braunwalds Heart Disease, Edited by Chien KR. Philadelphia, W.B. Saunders Company. Chapter 28, p 498-518, 2004
Ashikaga H and Villarreal FJ. Prospects for gene therapy for the fibrosed heart: Targeting regulators of extracellular matrix turnover. In Interstitial Fibrosis In Heart Failure, Edited by Villarreal FJ. New York, Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. Chapter 17, p 343-354, 2005
Ashikaga H and McVeigh ER. Imaging of myocardial mechanics. In Novel Techniques for Imaging the Heart: Cardiac MR and CT, Edited by Di Carli MF and Kwong RY. American Heart Association. Oxford, Blackwell Publishing. Chapter 21, p 328-335, 2008
Ashikaga H. Myofiber orientation and left ventricular mechanics. In Diastology, Edited by Ohki T and Takenaka K. Tokyo, Japan. Bunkodo Publishing. Chapter 3, p 15-22, 2010 (Japanese)
Ashikaga H, Kolandaivelu A, Tandri H, Nazarian S, Halperin HR. CT and MR Imaging for electrophysiology. In Cardiac Electrophysiology: From Cell to Bedside, 6/e, Edited by Zipes DP and Jalife J. In Press
Activities & Honors
- Travel Award, American College of Cardiology , 2003
- Travel Award, American Federation for Medical Research , 2003
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, American Heart Association, 2002
- Melvin Judkins Young Clinical Investigator Award - Finalist, American Heart Association, 2011
- Young Investigator Award - Winner, Asia-Pacific Heart Rhythm Society, 2011
- Fellowship Award, Astellas Foundation , 2006
- Young Investigator Award - Finalist, Heart Rhythm Society, 2006
- Howard S. Silverman Award, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 2010
- Elite Reviewer, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2006
- American College of Cardiology
- American Heart Association
- Heart Rhythm Society
- Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics


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Dill Pickle bags have a cult status around these parts. "Brevet tested, randonneur approved," the bags are made by fabled long distance cyclist Emily O'Brien. Over the years I'd hear snippets of stories about her, told in hushed tones ("Don't you know she did Paris-Brest-Paris on an old fixed gear bike, subsisting on nothing but pickles and chocolate milk?").
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Saturday, October 13, 2012
Dill Pickle Bags: a Local Delicacy
Dill Pickle bags have a cult status around these parts. "Brevet tested, randonneur approved," the bags are made by fabled long distance cyclist Emily O'Brien. Over the years I'd hear snippets of stories about her, told in hushed tones ("Don't you know she did Paris-Brest-Paris on an old fixed gear bike, subsisting on nothing but pickles and chocolate milk?").
47 comments:
Very interesting product - but, to be honest, I don't know. I am very much not a fan of saddle bags as I do not like to have any weight hanging under the seat - it upsets the bike handling too much and drives me crazy ;) I don't even like a very small tool kit under the seat and prefer instead to use jersey pockets. I have actually modified the quick release on my saddle bag style tool kit to sit on the stays of my rear rack upside down on my commuter bike so that the weight sits lower.ReplyDelete
I wonder if she could or would make a high quality waterproof bag like that which was a trunk bag to sit on top of a rear rack? I am trying to find something like that which is waterproof and has a good quick release system that is not velcro based which would go onto a standard (not topeak) rack. I would want it to be low(ish) profile and hold a camera, snacks, tools, etc for my wandering about all over creation when not in a hurry rides.
Btw, I too rarely to never put fenders on my road bikes (my cyclocross bike actually since it doubles as a light trail and road bike) since all they do is get in the way and drag a bit. Had I a touring bike, it would have fenders, but I don't, so it doesn't.Replies
Yes I'm sure Emily can make a trunk bag; email her.Delete
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2012 at 8:40 PM
Agree with you, Chris. So now I use a hydration pack without the bladder to put my things in. Used to put items in my jersey pockets but would create a hole in the pocket soon enough.Delete
I wouldn't dismiss saddlebags outright. In my experience, it really depends on the bike and on the bag.Delete
Agree with V.Delete
Possibly Chris and Anon have newer road bikes with sloping TT and longer Seat Posts?
My 30th Anniversary Spectrum is designed as many road bikes were in the late '70s with a straight TT, larger frame, so the seat tube and stem are shorter than many modern bikes my size would use.
I have done two mini-tours with the bike using the largest Carradice. Four days worth of stuff (and my IPad) the ride is fine - neutral. Not as sprightly as no pack, perhaps, but certainly not anything I would term upset.
On the other hand, much more than a couple of knick knacks in a handle bar bag and steering feels leaden.
- Jim DuncanOctober 13, 2012 at 10:34 PM
Thank you so much, Velouria, for this wonderful portrait that so sweetly cherishes your friend. I am privileged to have one of Emily's custom small saddlebags, all in black "with everything" as it were, and it is my prized saddlebag, including above my leather ones. And Emily: Thank you for being you-you enrich our world and inspire us.ReplyDelete
you and your drab green :)) for myself i imagine something happy, maybe pink and yellow! anyway, the bags look great and thanks for thinking of those who would rather not buy leather.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2012 at 6:37 AM
I like the bags and the limerick!ReplyDelete
She has a lot of good ideas and from the pictures her work appears first rate.ReplyDelete
My only problem with cottage industries is I cannot support them all (or if I did would have one of those crazy houses packed with stuff floor to celling).
That bag looks simply fantastic. I've faced the same problem -- I love to take photos, but I love to ride fast and without a huge amount of baggage. Haven't previously found a bag that would handle a full-bodied Nikon and just hang from the seat. This would be great.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2012 at 10:30 AM
I am lucky enough to own two of these bags and you're right -- Emily has thought of EVERYTHING. Every single feature is so well thought out, you just know it was developed and executed by someone who has spent A LOT of time on the bike. The quality, fit and form are all miles above any other bag.ReplyDelete
BTW, Emily herself is a delight to do business with. And hey, you can't buy any more local than someone sewing in their own attic. :-)
In short, if you don't have one, GET ONE! You won't regret it!
A Brooks saddle on a carbon fiber seatpost?ReplyDelete
The small saddlebag looks almost ideal for a gofast bike which only occasionally has to carry more than repair kit and cleat covers; "almost" because it does lack the beauty and uniform aesthetic of more traditional saddlebags. I've gone back between small bags (Banana, Jandd) and larger (Carradice Junior) for my gofast; this would convert as needed. Good design.Replies
Not a Brooks saddle, and not a carbon seatpost : )Delete
Not that there's anything wrong with either.
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2012 at 8:02 PM
Berhtoud, carbon fiber wrap post, and Dill Pickle...Looks good.Delete
I had the pleasure of riding the latter part of the VT Fall Classic with Emily and got to hear a few of her limericks along the way as well as talk bag making (I'm an aspiring bag maker myself). Thanks for the great profile.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 14, 2012 at 12:00 PM
Pretty cool product! I like the availability of bold colors (or, colours) and how they can be expanded and customized(customised). I don't think they detract from the "classic" look; they enhance with a flash of joie de vivre.ReplyDelete
Maybe I'm missing something at the website, but I don't see any base line specs for capacity in cubic inches for the bags.Replies
I too was wondering about capacity. Is the large saddlebag similar in size to the Carradice Barley, or is it more like the Nelson?Delete
I will ask Emily to chime in with specs or add them to the website. Re the large saddlebag, I'd say it is closer to the Barley.Delete
The large is more or less in between the Barley and the Nelson.Delete
The main compartment has a capacity of roughly 700 cubic inches when full, but not stuffed, not counting any of the exterior pockets. The side pockets add maybe 60 cubic inches apiece; the zippered rear pocket adds about 145; the top mesh pocket is maybe 120. So if you had the rear zippered pocket, two side pockets, and the top mesh pocket it would total around 1085 cubic inches without stuffing it especially full or extending the flap. I measured it with packing peanuts though, so that's only a rough number. It's about 11.5" wide, 8.5" high, and 7.5" deep.
The small saddlebag is roughly 7" from front to back, and roughly 6 1/2" from top to bottom. The opening is roughly 6"x6". These are fairly rough measurements too, as it isn't square in any direction.
That info should be up on the website by the time V. approves this comment. :)
That is one of the finest, most functional designs i've ever seen! congratulations on a one in a million find!!ReplyDelete
These bags look super functional but a little busy in terms of style. Just my humble opinion. I also get the sense that they would be more appealing to women than to men, but I could very well be wrong, and often am.ReplyDeleteReplies
West Medford? I couldn't get any more locally-made unless I made my own stuff. Good to know! Right now I'm happy just running a tiny wedge on my road bike (and giant Ortliebs on everything else), but those are a nice balance -- big enough to take a few extra things without playing tetris with your cell phone and patch kit, small enough you aren't tempted to pack stuff you don't need.ReplyDelete
57k climbing, snow, 1000k and you're second guessing the design. Shame on you.ReplyDelete
Looks perfect.
Classic = ti bike, cow saddle, purple tape, red hubs, busy writing on the rims, food wrapers and sunscreen visible in the mesh...think you should've put a Carradice on that. Ye Olde English Audax riders from 1832 would approve.
Yoke on the bars oot saddle = big bag needs support.
Sit and spin doesn't matter what the heck you put back there.
The end.
Might want to tow a trailer for a medium format cam because Ansel would.Replies
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2012 at 11:00 PM
The big bag in the photo gets support from a very lightweight aluminum fender. Not the best.Delete
Bag supports end sway. Worth it.
Nicest support I know is the Karrimor Uplift, originally designed and made by Tonard. There are enough of those still around to supply those of us who know, anyone who made and promoted them more broadly would do the sport a service. The young uplifts are now 40 years old. An uplift is the only way to get big bags on little frames. I have bags I could not use on my 60cm frames without either an uplift or a support that robbed capacity.
The first Jack Taylor Rough Stuff, arguably the first MTB, was created to carry photo gear into the rough stuff. The tradition lives on.
JT Rough Stuff - super cool.Delete
Em has some proper-looking bag support in her 2xcx report.
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2012 at 1:12 AM
Hmm....Wonder if she'll take a trade?ReplyDeleteReplies
Since she does this for a living now, I doubt it. Though I suppose no harm in contacting her and asking.Delete
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2012 at 6:44 PM
Hmm....I also make things for a living and what I make is considered too expensive for most who would otherwise love to have one. These folks are writers, artists, craftsmen, etc. and we've developed a very nice alternative economy. I value having someone I respect as an artisan have on of my pieces and it works the other way as well. Lives are enriched and that's what it's all about.Delete
That is one sick ride report. PBP on fixie seems rather tame in comparison.ReplyDelete
Thanks for such a nice write-up, Velouria! My work room looks so nice in your photos it makes me want to go get back to work! :)ReplyDelete
@Thomas - FWIW, I've had vastly more orders from men than from women, but that is understandable since men greatly outnumber women in long distance cycling. In any case, they can be ordered with less stuff on the outside according to your own taste... that's why it's custom. :)Replies
Well, there you have it!Delete
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2012 at 9:55 AM
Would we be able to get some clear pictures of the mounting straps setup, both on the bag itself and with the bag attached to a bike? The problem I've always had with this style (transverse?) is that they tend to point almost straight down at the ground when mounted to the rails and seat post. I had a Carradice Super C Barley mounted on a Selle An-Atomica (only pushed back mid-rail) and a zero-setback post, and it had the Super C logo on the bag pointing straight down; it was ridiculous. The back of the bag became the bottom, and you had to hope that the contents wouldn't slide out under the lid and drawstring closure. Had the same problem with a Nelson, though not quite as bad.ReplyDelete
Anyway, any help or opinions anyone may have on Dill Pickle bags' performance in this area would be great; I've been thinking about trying one for awhile, but $170 is a steep gamble.Replies
Without a bag support these bags do tend to point down. I'll try to get some better shots of the straps. The black on black makes it difficult.Delete
The angle partly depends on the specific geometry of the saddle; the small will point down less if it's attached to the rails than if attached to the bag loops, and less on most "plastic" saddles than on most leather ones, because the rails on the leather ones continue farther toward the back whereas on the plastic ones they end right after the part that's clamp-able by the seatpost. In any case, the drawstring "skirt" scoops in enough that stuff shouldn't fall out, particularly with the lid cinched.Delete
The large, which has a wider opening, is designed with a profile that keeps the mouth angled upward somewhat more than is typical on bags of this type. Even with a very small, loose load in it going over bumpy roads, I've never had stuff bounce out. Additionally, the side pockets (if you get the Cordura type) are angled toward the front of the bike so that when the bag is hanging, the pockets stay closer to vertical.
These bags look great. The bag and insert to carry a small toolkit and a DSLR is exactly what I need. I'm one of those who doesn't like racks on my road bikes--my fixie would be okay as it's an old touring frame, but my geared road bike is more aggressive and just handles weird with a noticeable load back there--and also need to be able to easily switch between bikes. Currently I use my Chrome bag with an insert or for really short rides my "camera case": a Finnish surplus gas mask bag that I modified by adding foam padding and changing the strap setup a bit.ReplyDelete
As a recent grad working a service industry job I can't afford one of these now--not that I don't think they're worth the price--but it is definitely on my list should I find a large wad of cash on the ground.
(BTW Velouria, my Chrome is your old one that I got from one of your occasional sales. It gets used every day and is very happy in its new home. Thanks)Replies
Oh nice, glad you're enjoying that Chrome bag!Delete
- Christopher FotosOctober 15, 2012 at 12:19 PM
My Lord what an accomplished rider. On a fixie? I'm in awe.ReplyDelete
I read her account that you link to, and her ride started and ended just a few miles down the road from me in Manassas (and I like it here just fine--not all suburbia is "crappy"). Though I'm not sure if any of our roads intersected or overlapped, much of the terrain sounds and looks like that of the Backroads Century about a month ago. I was actually worried about dogs on that ride, but, oddly, I'm not sure I encountered even one.
Another great post and on the riding, wow, just a whole 'nother level.
For those interested in Emily as a rider, here are some more fun stories:ReplyDelete
Furnace Creek 508 (which she's done twice)
Endless Mountains 1000
Enjoy : )Replies
Nice bags. I will save it for the day when the cost/flexible income ratio isn't so bad. I like the idea of carrying extra clothes without a rack. The look is fine for me, although all that mesh clutters the nice design, at least in my opinion.Delete
I read the 508 report, which made me never want to ride a fixed gear bike on a 508 mile ride. I drove the road from Kelso to 29 Palms last year, in reverse and at night and have seen that area in the daytime. It's a pretty impressive ride and reading the story of Emily's ride is amazing. I believe I read a story of her first 508, which was equally thrilling.
- AnonymousOctober 15, 2012 at 10:39 PM
Go Dill Pickle! Immensely respect your experience and insights into producing these great products.ReplyDelete
Glad to see that Emily is getting some hard earned recognition.ReplyDelete
She's not only a World Class Cyclist---She also plays most historical woodwinds (aka Transverse Flute) as well.
She's incredibly creative and entrepreneurial- as you can see.
Her bags are Awesome!
She made a bag for my camera gear at my studio. It has a pocket or sleeve for every item.
It's durable and lightweight.
All of us @ Rustic Kitchen wish her the best!
Jim Cafarelli
Executive Producer of "The Cooking Show" @ Rustic Kitchen
A few years ago, after she returned from grad school in Europe, Emily and I rode together across Massachusetts from Boston to Westfield and back as part of a 360K populaire. As you do on rides such as these, we wound up chatting about a bunch of stuff, including her seamstressing and desire to start making more Dill Pickle bags. At the time, I was idly considering getting a front bag, looking at Acorn and Berthoud and the rest of the usual suspects, and so turned to her and said, "hey, can we talk about you making me a front bag?"ReplyDelete
So a few weeks after the ride, she and her boy came over for dinner and we spent an evening drinking wine, talking about rides and what we'd like to see in a real randonneur front bag.
"I want to be able to flip a cue sheet one handed."
"... and still be able to read that cue sheet in the middle of a rainy night."
"... and pack it down for checking it in as luggage when travelling internationally."
and so it goes. The result is the bag that you saw at that RSC party. I've had it for a little more than a year now and I still love it and it is everything that we talked about making. She's been a great collaborator in that process and while there are a few ways it can be improved, as a prototype it still works really well.
As a side bonus, I've also found that it's perfectly sized for carrying six bottles of beer, and I don't if Emily specifically designed it that way or if it's just an unconscious design requirement that we both share but never articulated to each other.
freaking skillz to pay the bills - very nice! Thanks for bringing this craftswoman to my attention.ReplyDelete
I've had my small seat bag for maybe two months and really like it for my long rides. I will be doing my first "official" century in Albuquerque this coming weekend and will be using the bag for snacks and to store the jacket after it warms up. The bike is a Laing Sport that hails from 1975, toe clips and all. Emily's bag is a nice modern complement to my old fashioned ride.ReplyDelete
Theresa in Tucson
Thanks for bringing Emily and her great bags to my attention! Doing business with her was a pleasure and the bag looks and feels fantastic.ReplyDelete


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Main Page
From WagaWiki
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*[[User:Paul_b|Paul_b]] is looking at the [[Lessons]].
*[[User:Paul_b|Paul_b]] is looking at the [[Lessons]].
*A start of [[User:Keatonatron|Keatonatrons]] [[Writing and Conversation Points]].
*A start of [[User:Keatonatron|Keatonatrons]] [[Writing and Conversation Points]].
*[[User:Ongakuka|Ongakuka]] is working on a grammar based FAQ
*[[User:Ongakuka|Ongakuka]] is working on a grammar based FAQ.
== The Frequently Asked Questions ==
== The Frequently Asked Questions ==
Revision as of 14:11, 13 August 2006
Welcome to www.TheJapanesePage.com WagaWiki
How to Contribute
There are two easy ways to create content 1) Do a search for any topic. If there isn't a page, you will be given a chance to create the page. 2) Or if you create a link (to an as of yet not created page) and save that page (for example a link to a main category from the home page) the link will allow anyone to click on and create.
Hopefully that makes sense. Basically when you click on a link or search for a page that doesn't exist, you will be asked to create it.
Paul came up with some great ideas for where this should be heading. Perhaps we can work on it here (or move it to the policies page)
In sum, Paul said, "Basically I'm thinking of aiming at achieving something where you can say "start here" to beginners and they'll have both a clear linear progression of lessons that cover absolute basics and links to separate articles in depth when available."
clay wrote: Do we have a set goal with what we want to accomplish with the WagaWiki? I mean, boundaries of topics covered or a basic plan for where and how it should go?
If we can create a mission statement and carve up a list of goals, we may be able muster the troops better.
Paul_b wrote: Well I can think up a few suggestions for a start.
- WagaWiki isn't going to be a dictionary.
I know dictionaries (WWWJDIC) and there is no way in heck that we're going to duplicate that effort. So vocabulary lists and word definitions should be kept to those of special interest or those of immediate use in an article.
- WagaWiki is a great place to answer good / common questions.
Next time you find yourself answering a question you've answered half a dozen times before think about creating a wiki page and linking instead.
- WagaWiki is a great place for articles on the Japanese language.
People can easily add new details / links / corrections instead of just using the (often ignored) comments. Wiki articles should also be easier to find your way around and have better interconnectivity (with the categories, links and features like 'recently changed' and 'most popular' page lists).
I would suggest that all new articles have a copy put on WagaWiki.
- WagaWiki probably isn't going to be a textbook.
But that doesn't mean we can't make it useful to people learning Japanese.
Proper textbooks require a high level of organization and professional style that is going to be very difficult to achieve (as can be seen from my partially successful attempts at Grammar page 1 and Grammar page 2).
Where's the Help?
In addition to the minimal Local Help, you can also check out Wikipedia's Help and MetaWikipedia's Help for all the help you could ever need. We can't make a full local copy of the help due to copyright issues.
About Logging In
You can login using the link at the top of the page. Your username and password are the same as your TheJapanesePage.Com account.
Table of Contents
- Zengargoyles ToDo List
- Chatroom Schedule
- Infidel is working on a page about Selecting a Japanese Textbook.
- Paul_b is looking at the Lessons.
- A start of Keatonatrons Writing and Conversation Points.
- Ongakuka is working on a grammar based FAQ.
The Frequently Asked Questions
In the course of human events, many questions are asked over and over and over. We've collected these questions and sometimes even the answers here: Just the FAQs
But first, you should read How to Ask a Question
Original Information
MediaWiki has been successfully installed.
Consult the User's Guide for information on using the wiki software.


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Flash memory and the Connected Home
Post a comment
The smart device market is growing rapidly, particularly in the home where smart meters, thermostats, in-home displays and appliances are becoming more popular. In fact, within the next five years, the amount of smart home energy management devices shipped globally will reach 400 million units (IMS Research).
The rapid growth is, in part, driven by consumer demand for total connectivity and higher expectations for user experience. But consumer demand is only a portion of the story the rest is more technical. In recent years, intelligence, connectivity and the user interface have come together to make smart home devices more efficient, cost effective and adaptable to consumer preferences.
If you look more closely, its the advances in embedded systems and Flash memory technology that have been the driving force behind device innovation and increased convergence. As the demand increases for smarter devices equipped with much better graphics and instant-on capabilities, Flash memory is becoming more critical to the connected home and smart energy sectors.
When it comes down to it, memory is what makes a device smart. Without memory, a system cannot store the data needed for a device to learn from its user, or power the advanced user interface that consumers demand.
High-density Flash memory supports the large OS images, applications and graphics required to elevate the human machine interaction (HMI). Additionally, the ruggedness and longevity of high-quality Flash components are vital for providing the connectivity and durability needed to improve home energy management within the residential market. The smart connected home would not be possible without innovative memory solutions, which means dependence on NOR and NAND Flash memory technology will grow even more rapidly as we move toward the home of the future.
Smart Thermostats
In recent years, weve grown accustomed to the evolved user interface we experience with our smartphones, tablets, even our dashboard so why not expect the same from your thermostat? As the UI transforms into a sophisticated information hub, the embedded systems powering the technology need more complex software and more persistent storage of information. This is where NOR Flash is making a big difference, providing the high-density Flash memory to support large OS images, applications and graphics needed to elevate the human machine interaction (HMI) .
NOR Flash is ideal for these high-demand environments. Its instant-on performance is vital for driving fast boot time requirements as well as providing higher performance memory and processing power for sophisticated software and graphics, while reducing (or in some cases eliminating) the dependency for discrete DRAM. NOR Flash also delivers the real-time feedback and high reliability required for the increasingly complex UI. Flash memory also enables the communication functionality, which is a relatively new function of smart thermostats, which provides homeowners with the ability to control these devices remotely with their iPhone or other device.


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Rock County Health Department receives farm safety grant
JANESVILLE—The Wisconsin Division of Public Health recently awarded an $8,750 grant to develop a farm safety education program.
The Gazette asked officials at the Rock County Health Department what it means.
Q: Why farm safety, and why now?
A: The health department has a child death review team. Looking at child deaths helps health department decide what educational efforts might be needed in the community, said Karen Cain, Rock County health officer.
For example, when the team noticed deaths related to unsafe infant sleeping practices, the department got a grant to purchase safe cribs.
In the past several years, there have been a handful of deaths of children on farms, the review team found.
Q: Don't farm safety materials already exist in abundance?
A: Cain acknowledged that they do.
University Extension services, farm bureaus, OSHA and other governmental agencies already have developed safety material for all ages.
Guidelines for children's agricultural tasks were developed at the National Children's Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety at� Marshfield Clinic.� The organization has developed guidelines for more than 50 farm tasks ranging from running an irrigation system to operating a skid steer in the barn, according to the center's website.
Cain said they will be using existing educational materials and might create new materials from them.
Q: How big of a problem is farm safety?
A: Rock County is home to 1,500 farms, according to a summary of the grant provided to the county board.
The National Children's Center notes that there is no central database on childhood ag injuries but using "the best available data" estimates that about 1,450 children are injured every year while working on farms.
The estimates of the number of children who suffer fatal injuries while working on farms vary widely.
Q: How will the grant money be used?
A: A health educator will develop traveling displays for locations such as public libraries; write health columns for Rock County 4-H newsletters, farm bureau newsletters and public service announcement for radio stations; do presentations for school children and develop activity books for children, according to the summary provided to the county board. A health educator who works 80 percent time will work full time until the grant money runs out. Then he or she will return to 80 percent time.
UW Extension will be a partner in the grant, said Donna Duerst, 4-H Youth Development Agent with UW Extension.
Extension's role will include helping distribute the materials, Duerst said.


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Your Views: Here's why we must replace Congressman Ryan
The most ignorant of all are those who do not know what they do not know. I include Paul Ryan in that category.
As someone who had been a CEO for 17 years, I've seen too much "might makes right" among CEOs. That's how Ryan thinks. I think decisions must be evidence-based and fully examined.
Balancing a budget is more than wielding a meat axe. I do not trust Ryan with cost-benefit analysis. He doesn't understand that his prejudices toward the disenfranchised will create problems much greater than we now face. We rise and fall as a nation. Everyone must have opportunity to reach their full potential.
On the night of Obama's first inauguration, Ryan sat in a strategies session plotting how to get rid of this new president. That is not only un-American but a violation of the sacred trust voters placed in him. Every legislator must walk the talk instead of just talking the talk. Ryan relies on words. I expect informed choices.
Every organization has areas of waste, especially our corporate giants, which at least have boards of directors. Our country is run by lobbyists seeking self-interests over the common good. The billionaires are calling the plays, not the man on the street and collective best interests.
We need to stop voting for a family name. We need a competitor committed to our community's interest, not trading of favors or catering to the wealthy.
In my view, that person is Rob Zerban.


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Attorney challenging evidence in OWI homicide case
JANESVILLE—In a controversial decision earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement did not have blanket authority to take blood samples from people suspected of drunken driving, sparking a wave of changes in how officers investigate intoxicated driving cases.
Before the decision, if someone refused to give a sample of his or her blood, authorities took it anyway—without the driver's consent and without obtaining a search warrant.
Ruling on the case of Missouri v. McNeely in April, however, the court decided that practice was unconstitutional.
The decision has had an obvious impact on local law enforcement, forcing officers to regularly rouse judges for search warrants after hours.
But what the ruling means for pending cases—those working through the court system now in which police drew blood without warrants when that was allowed—is less clear.
That uncertainty sets the stage for a hearing in Rock County Court on Wednesday that could jeopardize a homicide by intoxicated driving case.
The attorney for Sean M. Waterman, a Brodhead man accused of driving drunk in a crash that killed a passenger in his car, has filed a motion to suppress blood evidence in his client's case because it was taken without a warrant.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, will argue that samples such as Waterman's were taken in accordance with police policies in place before the Supreme Court's decision.
"Police relied on a law that was good at that particular point in time," Deputy District Attorney Perry Folts said. "(The ruling) doesn't overrule or affect those cases."
At issue is whether court decisions such as Missouri v. McNeely apply retroactively and� whether evidence obtained from practices later ruled unconstitutional can still be used after the decision goes into effect.
It's a tricky question, left mostly up to how judges weigh a number of factors, UW-Madison law professor and civil liberties expert Donald Downs said.
"When you have a new ruling that changes the law … then it's always going to be an issue that has to be considered," Downs said.
Blood taken from driver in hospital
One afternoon last September, authorities said, Waterman was driving his Buick LeSabre north on Highway 213 in the town of Spring Valley with a passenger named Douglas Axelson in the car.
As he neared Lang Road, Waterman drifted onto the right shoulder and hit a driveway entrance, according to a criminal complaint. His Buick flew 40 feet, rolled several times and hit an electrical pole before coming to a rest on its side, police said.
Axelson was pronounced dead at the scene.
Waterman was airlifted to Rockford Memorial Hospital, where a Rock County deputy told nurses to take samples of his blood—without a search warrant, said his attorney, Walter Isaacson.
The sample showed Waterman had a blood-alcohol concentration of .286 percent, more than three times the legal limit, according to court documents.
Prosecutors have charged Waterman with homicide by intoxicated driving, third-offense intoxicated driving and two misdemeanor counts of bail jumping. He faces more than 25 years in prison if he is convicted.
In a motion filed last month, Isaacson said taking the blood sample was a violation of Waterman's constitutional rights.
Isaacson has asked Judge Richard Werner to suppress that piece of evidence, excluding it from trial and potentially jeopardizing the prosecution's case.
The deputy had ample time to get a warrant, Isaacson said, but made no effort to do so, making the search unconstitutional.
"If you've got time, you have to get a warrant," he said.
Although he could not comment on Waterman's case specifically, Folts said attempts to suppress evidence obtained through warrantless blood draws don't have merit.
The McNeely decision that prohibited them applies to current and future cases, Folts said, but is not retroactive.
"It was from that point forward; it doesn't go back," Folts said.
The question of how far back a decision applies isn't quite that simple, legal experts said, though the outlook for motions such as Isaacson's could be bleak.
And no matter what Werner decides at Waterman's hearing, the larger issue won't be settled on Wednesday and will likely end up in state appellate courts.
Judges weigh previous law, effect on system
There's no hard and fast rule for how Supreme Court decisions affect pending cases, Downs said.
He pointed to a 1965 decision, Linkletter v. Walker, in which the court ruled the constitution "neither prohibits nor requires" that decisions be applied retroactively.
It's left mostly up to judges, who are told to weigh if the defendant is still given an opportunity to defend himself, if law enforcement was reasonably relying on existing law and how applying the decision retroactively would affect justice and public safety, Downs said.
Assistant UW-Madison law professor Cecelia Klingele said it's rare to see courts apply� decisions retroactively.
Judges have denied motions to suppress evidence after similar decisions, Klingele said, citing a 2009 ruling on when police could search a person's car without a warrant after he or she was arrested.
Defense attorneys argued that ruling, in the case of Arizona v. Grant, proved previous searches were also illegal and evidence obtained from them should be suppressed, Klingele said. After all, if police violated one defendant's rights in a case the court ruled unconstitutional, weren't another defendant's rights violated just the same?
But because police were following the practices and laws in place at that time, she said, judges found officers were acting in good faith and upheld the searches.
Klingele expects challenges in the wake the McNeely decision to play out in the same way.
"We want police officers to follow the law," she said. "So we're not going to punish them, per se, for doing that."
Last updated: 2:46 pm Tuesday, July 30, 2013


text:
USS Ormsby APA 49 Print
Please enjoy a print by world renowned military artist Wing Cdr Ian Hall MBE.
The print image is 17 x 6.5 - 7 in. on 19 x 13 in. glossy heavy weight photo paper. Print comes unframed.
This print is usually shipped in 4-8 business days and carries a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee.
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