text:
Leptoxis plicata
|Scope: Global
Language: English
|Scientific Name:
|Leptoxis plicata (Conrad, 1834)
Common Name(s):
Anculosa plicata Conrad, 1834
|Taxonomic Source(s):
|Johnson, P.D., Bogan, A.E., Brown, K.M., Burkhead, N.M., Cordeiro, J.R., Garner, J.T., Hartfield, P.D., Lepitzki, D.A.W., Mackie, G.L., Pip, E., Tarpley, T.A., Tiemann, J.S., Whelan, N.V. and Strong, E.E. 2013. Conservation status of freshwater gastropods of Canada and the United States. Fisheries 38(6): 247-282.
|Taxonomic Notes:
|The genus Leptoxis was formerly called Anculosa (Goodrich, 1922). The genus Leptoxis is a difficult group. There is considerable disagreement in regard to the number of valid species (Goodrich 1922, Burch 1982). Dillon and Lydeard (1998) found high levels of genetic divergence among populations of Leptoxis praerosa and Leptoxis plicata and from all other populations of Leptoxis studied, indicating they are distinct species. In a preliminary analysis of molecular phylogeny of Mobile River basin pleurocerids, Lydeard et al. (1997) concluded that Leptoxis picta and Leptoxis plicata are quite distinct from one another and all other pleurocerids studied, while Leptoxis taeniata and Leptoxis ampla are sister taxa, and Leptoxis picta the most basal of the group.
|Red List Category & Criteria:
|Critically Endangered B1ab(i,ii,iv) ver 3.1
|Year Published:
|Date Assessed:
|Cordeiro, J. & Perez, K.
|Böhm, M. & Collen, B.
|Bogan, A.E., Dyer, E., Soulsby, A.-M., Whitton, F., McGuinness, S., De Silva, R., Milligan, H.T., Kasthala, G., Herdson, R., Thorley, J., McMillan, K. & Collins, A.
Leptoxis plicata has been assessed as Critically Endangered under criterion B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv) due to its restricted distribution. The occurrence of this species has been restricted by 90% leaving less than 32 linear km of occupied habitat. This habitat is patchy and continues to decline under the impact of many threats. The one extant population exists in a short reach of stream in 15 shoals half of which appear to be declining.
|Previously published Red List assessments:
|Range Description:
|In the past, this species has been reported by Goodrich (1938, 1941) from forks of the Black Warrior River, Walker County, the Black Warrior River in Jefferson County (including Valley Creek, Burch 1989) and at Tuscaloosa Co.; the Little Black Warrior River and the Tombigbee River (Stein 1976).
The current range of the species is limited to a short reach of the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River in Jefferson and Blount Counties, Alabama (Hartfield 1994, USFWS 1995, 2000, 2004, 2005). Recent status surveys have located Plicate Rocksnail populations only in an approximately 88 km (55 mile) reach of the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River, Jefferson and Blount counties, Alabama (USFWS 2005). The latest survey information indicates that the snail has recently disappeared from the upstream two-thirds portion of that habitat and now appears to be restricted to an approximately 32 km (20 mile) reach in Jefferson County (USFWS 2005). As such the current extent of occurrence falls well within the Critically Endangered category threshold.
Three subpopulations can be considered as one location, due to the threat of pollution and impoundment potentially severely impacting the entire location.
|Countries occurrence:
Native:United States (Alabama)
|Additional data:
|Range Map:
|Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.
|Extensive surveys have located only one population. Historically, there were many more (Hartfield 1994, USFWS 2005). The current population consists of subpopulations on fifteen shoals in 30 km reach of Locs Fork (Black Warrior drainage), Jefferson County, between Kimberly and Sayre (Mirarchi et al. 2004, USFWS 2000, 2004, 2005). There are less than three shoals with a high density of snails.
It appears to be declining in the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River where it recently occurred in about an 88 km stretch, but now exists in about a 32 km reach (USFWS 2005). Biologists conducting recent surveys have noted the disappearance of the species from one reach of stream since the work began on the species (P. Hartfield pers. comm. 1996). A 50% reduction in range has occurred in the last decade.
Decline since the early 20th century is documented as the species has disappeared from over 90% of its historic range where it formerly occurred in the Black Warrior River, Little Warrior River and Tombigbee River (USFWS 2004, 2005).
|Current Population Trend:
|Additional data:
|Habitat and Ecology:
|This species requires shallow flowing water over gravel, cobble, or bedrock in the strong currents of rapids and shoals (Hartfield 1994, USFWS 2000, 2005).
|Major Threat(s):
The main threat to this species is habitat modification. A proposed impoundment within the reach of habitat for the existing population would bisect the current known range (USFWS 1995). Other impacts which threaten this species include channel modification, agriculture, silviculture, cattle grazing, mining, drainage from unpaved roads, industrial and residential development (Bogan and Pierson 1993). Curtailment of habitat and range in the Mobile River Basin's larger rivers (Coosa, Alabama, Tombigbee and Black Warrior) due to extensive construction of dams and inundation of the snails shoal habitats by impounded waters (snails have disappeared from all portions of historic habitats that have been impounded by dams). Short and long-term impacts of point and non-point source water and habitat degradation continue to be a primary concern, compounded by population isolation and localization (USFWS 2004, 2005).
In the Mobile River basin, the greatest threats are dams (navigation, water supply, electricity, recreation, and flood control), channelization (causing accelerated erosion, altered depth, and loss of habitat diversity, substrate stability, and riparian canopy), dredging (for navigation or gravel mining), mining (for coal, sand, gravel and gold) in locally concentrated areas, pollution-point source (industrial waste effluent, sewage treatment (USFWS 2000).
|Conservation Actions:
The short reach of the Locust Fork where this species still persists is surrounded by private lands (Hartfield 1994). A captive breeding population has been established at the Southeast Aquatic Research Institute but breeding in captivity has not been successful (USFWS 2000). An ongoing captive propagation program started at the Tennessee Aquarium Research Institute should continue. Augmentation of the population in Locust Fork, using propagated juveniles, began in 2003 and continues. Reintroductions elsewhere should be considered where suitable habitat is found (Mirarchi et al. 2004).
This species was listed as federally endangered in the U.S. in 1998 (USFWS 1998). A recovery plan was drafted with the objective to delist the species (USFWS 2005):
Recovery Criteria:
Reclassification of the Cylindrical Lioplax (Lioplax cyclostomaformis), Flat Pebblesnail (Lepyriam showalteri) and Plicate Rocksnail (Leptoxis ampla); and the Painted Rocksnail (Leptoxis taeniata), Round Rocksnail (Leptoxis ampla), and Lacy Elimia (Elimia crenatella) will require confirmation of stability or increase in their existing populations for 10 or more years, establishment of captive populations, and identification or establishment of at least two additional populations for each species. Delisting of all six species will require the confirmation of at least three stable or increasing populations for each species for 10 or more years. Before either reclassification or delisting may be considered, threats to the species will be removed and plans should be developed and implemented to protect and monitor water and habitat quality in the watersheds where they occur.
Actions needed:
(1) Protect habitat integrity and water quality.
(2) Develop mitigation strategies that give high priority to avoidance and restoration.
(3) Promote increased levels of voluntary stewardship to reduce non-point source pollution from private land use.
(4) Encourage and support community based watershed stewardship planning and action.
(5) Develop and implement public education programs and materials defining ecosystem management and stewardship responsibilities.
(6) Conduct basic research on endemic species and apply the results of this research to management.
(7) Develop and implement technology for maintaining and propagating endemic species in captivity.
(8) Reintroduce imperiled aquatic species into restored habitats, as appropriate.
(9) Monitor listed species populations.
(10) Coordinate ecosystem management actions.
A specific recovery plan has been created for the Mobile River basin (USFWS 2000) which contains the following objectives: (1) protect habitat integrity and quality of river and stream segments that currently support it could support imperiled aquatic species, (2) consider options for free-flowing river and stream mitigation strategies that give high priority to avoidance and restoration, (3) promote voluntary stewardship as a practical and economical means of reducing non-point pollution from private land use, (4) encourage and support community based watershed stewardship planning and action, (5) develop and implement programs and materials to educate the public on the need and benefits of ecosystem management, and to involve them in watershed stewardship, (6) conduct basic basic research on endemic aquatic species and apply the results toward management and captivity, (8) reintroduce aquatic species into restored habitats as appropriate (9) monitor listed species population levels and distribution and periodically review ecosystem management strategy, (10) coordinate ecosystem management actions.
Further research is recommended to determine the extent of the existing population and an estimate of extant individuals. All populations should be monitored periodically and habitat degradation identified and mitigated.
A survey for potential reintroduction sites within the Black Warrior River drainage should be conducted. An ongoing captive propagation program started at the Tennessee Aquarium Research Institute should continue. Augmentation of the population in Locust Fork, using propagated juveniles, began in 2003 and continues. Reintroductions elsewhere should be considered where suitable habitat is found (Mirarchi et al. 2004).
Bogan, A.E. and Pierson, J.M. 1993. Survey of the aquatic gastropods of the Coosa River Basin, Alabama. Alabama Natural Heritage Program.
Burch, J.B. 1982. Freshwater snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of North America. 600/3-82-026. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH.
Burch, J.B. 1989. North American freshwater snails. Malacological Publications, Hamburg, Michigan, U.S.A.
Dillon, R.T.Jr. and Lydeard, C. 1998. Divergence among mobile basin poplulations of the pleurocerid snail genus, Leptoxis, estimated by allozyme electrophoresis. Malacologia 39(1-2): 113-121.
Goodrich, C. 1922. The Anculosae of the Alabama river drainage. Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of Zoology, Unviersity of Michigan 7: 1-57.
Goodrich, C. 1938. Studies of the Gastropod family Pleuroceridae VII. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology University of Michigan 376: 1-12.
Goodrich, C. 1941. Studies of the gastropod family Pleuroceridae - VIII. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology 447: 13.
Hartfield, P.D. 1994. Status review summary of seven Mobile River basin aquatic snails. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jackson, Mississippi.
IUCN. 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2011.2). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 10 November 2011).
Lydeard, C., Holznagel, W.E., Garner, J., Hartfield, P. and Pierson, J.M. 1997. A molecular phylogeny of mobile river drainage basin pleurocerid snails (Caenogastropoda: Cerithioidea). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 7(1): 117-128.
Mirarchi, R.E., Bailey, M.A., Garner, J.T., Haggerty, T.M., Best, T.L., Mettee, M.F. and O'Neil, P. 2004. Alabama Wildlife. Volume Four: Conservation and Management Recommendations for Imperiled Wildlife. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Mirarchi R.E., Garner J.T., Mettee and O'Neil P.E. 2004. Imperiled Aquatic Mollusks and Fishes. Alabama Wildlife 2.
Stein, C. B. 1976. Gastropods. In: Boschung, H (ed.), Endangered and threatened plants and animals of Alabama, pp. 21-41. Alabama Museum of Natural History, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services. 2005. Recovery plan for 6 Mobile River basin aquatic snails. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, Jackson, Mississippi.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS). 2004. Technical.agency draft recovery plan for 6 Mobile River basin aquatic snails. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, Jackson, Mississippi.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 1995. Category and listing priority form. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 1998. Species profile for plicate rocksnail (Leptoxis plicata).
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2000. Recovery Plan for Mobile River Basin Aquatic Ecosystem. USFWS, Southeast Region, Atlanta, GA.
USFWS. 1995. Recovery plan for the rare aquatic species of the muddy river ecosystem. USFWS, Potland, Oregon.
|Cordeiro, J. & Perez, K. 2011. Leptoxis plicata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011: e.T11783A3305444. . Downloaded on 18 September 2018.
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Rating: 2.4/5 (Total votes: 5)
Seperated from discovery by a huge nearly impassable morass, Pal-Ul-Don features a few prehistoric beasts still surviving, notably the sabretooth and the triceratops- like `gryf` (I`m sure the triceratops is the favorite dinosaur of many of us, and if one could be still extant and lumbering around, I`d prefer it to a T. Rex, that`s for sure).
Pa-Ul-Don is inhabited by two species of pithecanthropoi...essentially modern humans except for their opposable big toes and odd thumbs. Oh, and there is the fact that they have long, prehensible tails. The black skinned denizens are the Waz-Don, and except for the fact that they have a beautiful glossy pelt, they`re mirror images of the white skinned Ho-Don. The Ho-Don live in settlements, while the Waz-Don build elaborate caves which honeycomb cliff walls. (I love the images of these guys scurrying up and down sheer cliffs with their system of removable pegs set in holes in the walls...if the people I know who pay to practice indoor rock climbing could spend a weekend in Paul-Ul-Don, they`d be delirious.)
What`s most appealing about this story is how open-minded Burroughs was. The Ho-Don and the Waz-Don are essentially equals in intelligence and morals; and characters from both species are likeable. Tarzan himself is more complex and subtle than the simplistic one-dimensional portrayal he was later shown as. For one thing, he enjoys primitive art for its own sake. In an interesting moment, he appreciates gazing at scenery ("that spiritual enjoyment of beauty that only the man-mind may attain..."). Later, we`re told that he had differed from the apes in many characteristics "not the least of these were in a measure spiritual, and one that had doubtless been as strong as another in influencing Tarzan`s love of the jungle had been his appreciaton of the beauties of nature."
This dual nature is one of the things I love best about the character. Tarzan is not a mere animal in a human form, he is a unique symbiosis of the human and the animal natures. In the later books, this was forgotten in favor of increasingly mean spirited attacks on human nature, but the balance between Lord Greystoke strolling through Hyde Park with Jane on a Sunday and Tarzan ripping raw meat from a freshly killed gazelle* is an essential part of the appeal. Tarzan is yin and yang in a single body.
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By Wayne Veysey | Chief Correspondent
Reading have tabled an £8 million bid for Blackpool star Tom Ince, Goal.com understands.
The Premier League strugglers have made a formal move for the long-term Liverpool target as they attempt to increase their creative options in the final days of the window.
However, it is understood that Ince is holding out for a return to Liverpool, who bid for the Seasiders winger earlier this month but have not been able to agree a deal.
Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston, widely regarded as a difficult negotiator, had indicated that he would not stand in the way of Ince completing a move to Anfield 18 months after he joined the Championship club for £250,000.
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All parties involved had been hopeful Ince would be a Liverpool player by the end of the window but Reading's bid strengthens Blackpool's hand.
Blackpool want the cushion of a sell-on clause of around 30 per cent to be inserted into the deal if Ince leaves the club in the coming week.
Similarly, Liverpool had a 35 per cent sell-on clause in the deal that took Ince to the Seasiders in August 2011, meaning the Reds will end up paying £3.9m if the agreed fee is £6m, which is believed to be their offer that remains on the table.
The Anfield academy graduate has blossomed at Bloomfield Road, scoring 14 goals in the Championship this season.


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KIRUNA, Sweden (AP) — Arctic states agreed Wednesday to let nations that are located nowhere near the Earth's north to become observers to their diplomatic council, boosting rising economic powers China, India and South Korea, which are seeking to mine the region for its untapped energy and other natural resources.
The European Union also was tentatively granted observer status to the eight-state council but must first address several questions about its bid, including concerns about its ban on Canadian seal exports.
It was an odd but not entirely unexpected move by the long-obscure Arctic Council, which traditionally has served as a watchdog for the rights of the region's indigenous people and protector of its fragile ecosystem.
Widespread thawing of Arctic ice, which keeps the rest of the world cooler, has alarmed environmentalists but has become an economic lure to nations seeking to ship cargo across once-frozen seas. The global warming is making the Arctic's elusive supply of oil, gas, minerals and precious metals available — in some areas, for the first time ever — as ever-expanding counties like China and India hunt for additional energy supplies.
Officials estimate the Arctic holds 13 percent of the world's undiscovered oil reserves, and 30 percent of undiscovered gas deposits.
Ministers suggested the inclusion of the energy-hungry nations at the Arctic Council will force them to uphold the diplomatic panel's core goals of safeguarding the region.
"There is no such thing as a free lunch," said Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide. "By becoming an observer you're also signing up to the principles embodied by this organization, and that is why we have been working hard to make that happen."
In all, six nations — China, India, Italy, Japan, Korea and Singapore — were granted observer status to the council, joining several previously-accepted counties from Europe. The eight states that are permanent members of the non-binding panel all touch the Arctic Circle, including the United States, through Alaska. Denmark is connected to the Arctic Circle through its relationship with Greenland, which is a semi-autonomous territory.
Canada's minister to the council, Leona Aglukkaq, voiced mild but restrained discomfort with the new observers to the council, which she said was created "by northerners, for northerners, before the Arctic was of interest to the rest of the world." Canada will chair of the council for the next two years.
The ministers' short meeting, which is held only every two years, also attracted a scattering of protesters form the environmental group Greenpeace, who held banners outside Kiruna's small city hall urging "No Arctic oil." A hulking black mountain, from which iron ore is mined, served as the backdrop for the meeting in the small Arctic town where snow had melted to slush.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, sporting a blue suit coat amid the ski sweaters and tribal costumes at the meeting, said the world must crack down on polluting emissions that endanger the Arctic. He said the U.S. and China are two of the globe's largest contributors to emissions.
"No one nation can solve this," Kerry said. "No one is doing enough. The problem is that everything we do, or everything that another nation does, is going to be wiped out by China or another nation if they continue with coal-fired power at the rate we are seeing. So the warning signals are there."
Associated Press Television News Senior Producer David MacDougall contributed to this report.
Follow Lara Jakes on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/larajakesAP


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I am in need of about two articles per week for our PPE (disposable protective clothing) blog. I would like the articles to be around 1,000 words. Topics are provided. You can visit our site (and blog) at [login to view URL] Please provide relevant experience with your application
If you are good with LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter in posting content to fetch good prospects and if you are good with normal administrative support then provide your monthly fixed price quote with number of hours you will work. Note that currently I'm not looking for full time support. Let me know efforts and quote for first month to evaluate things. Reference to prior work is must
We are looking for talented Blogger for a part-time job to generate engaging, original content for our website. The Blogger will research topics and develop interesting posts that will appeal to our target audience and promote the blog using social media to alert and expand our readership. You should be a skilled, tech-savvy writer who can create appealing
i am going to start a Fashion blog for men. i need you to write blog posts for men that followed by Indian youth especially. the blog post should contain the links of the products from Amazon that you are writing . IF you have any questions please ping me.
We are in need of a content writer and blogger for our education website. We are into education services for professional courses like CA, ICWA and CS.
I am searching A developer . want a website Making wordpress theme to blogger template Online Convert . Process - User Upload Wordpress Theme after automatic Convert Template and receive blogger template Download Link . User Register System with facebook and Google Old Data Automatic Delete System Every 24 Hours By Cron Job
ads are not showing in my blogger anyone who can fix it without domain name
ads are not showing in my blogger anyone who can fix it without domain name
ads are not showing in my blogger anyone who can fix it without domain name
[login to view URL] Looking for a talented mind that can take our company's online presence to the next level. YoJo Bean is a startup Coffee company looking to build a strong social media following. We need someone who can post a few times a week and has strong Social Media SEO capabilities. We are also in need of someone who has experience in blogging. The gig is pretty easy - You will h...
I own a coffee company (online sales) and have started a blog with no skill. Looking to drive traffic to my website and create more sales... the usual.
I'm looking for a content creator for the spanish Version of my website. The work is half translation half content creation as I'll leave you some freedoms for the content you create. I am building a very large site and this will likely be an ongoing gig. Best, Scott
Hello all writers, I need a long-term article writer to write articles about new trends, travel, nature, illustrations etc. and update a WordPress based website. Your job will be research and write an SEO article (SEO skills would be a + point) update the articles with relevant images (image optimization is a + point) add keywords, links, videos, etc. Payments will be paid at the end of ever...
2 blogs per day needed minimum 800 characters for adult website. You will receive blogs from similar websites to rewrite from us. We will try an initial one week trial, so that 14 blogs in total. If the work is good we will continue indefinitely. Ideally we are seeking max £50 for the trial, ie 14 blogs. The project should be completed in 3 days.
We are a startup online shop that are curators of fine European and American brands of kitchenware, cookware, tableware, wine and coffee accessories. We are currently looking for a creative writer and designer who will help us manage our social media accounts, blog and ad campaigns by providing content.
i want seo of blog made blogger platform
I need someone who can provide Blogs for my website, specifically a store, to get traffic and more engagement from the people. I am not requiring for a professional blogger, but someone who got interest in KPOP and willing to work with the risk of being in a partnership. We should discuss further details.
I am looking for a travel writer or travel blogger who likes to travel a lot.
I need who can fix my problem ads are not showing in my blogger .. who can fix it
Hello, I'm currently a part-time blogger looking to create more content. Looking for someone that will be available 1-2 times per week to photograph different ideas, outfits and collaborations. I need someone that: - Is willing to be hands on - Takes directions well - Is creative - Adds value to each project - Has ideas to help bring vision to
Looking for someone to write original beauty content for bride-to-be. Relating to makeup, skin care, and hair. The first topic is relating to airbrush makeup. Approximately 250 words.
I will need the job below to be done: 1. Built a HTML side based on a references site 2. Simple wireframe will be given 3. Built a blogger/ blogspot template based on the design reference 4. Needs to be SEO friendly 5. Appreciate a lot of feedback and discussion
Hi, We are seeking a person who will be able to help us with blogger outreach. We are seeking a person who has access to blogs with DA 50+. We will provide the article. This can not be a PBN. if we find the article in a PBN will not pay. Thank
Hi, its a very simple project I am looking for quick conversion. I want exact blogger template. Especially I am looking for budget conversion, the cheapest bidder will take this project. Source Template: [login to view URL] => Blogger Template. (Removed by Freelancer.com Admin)


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Well I hope your day got better... lol.
Happy Birthday!
Happy BDAY!
They maybe have the power, but we have to try. This is unacceptable. Do you really want to post in this type of environment?
I know! I haven't deserved this at all!
I guess the mods were waiting for me to break a rule to finally ban me, and since I didn't they came up with a random excuse and did it anyway. They have absolutely no compassion for me, and don't give a fuck at how bad this is. I've spent a year here and invested a lot of time in this place.
1565 says I'm frightening to her. She's crazy ever since I jokingly gave her a death threat a whole year ago, and apologized a few days later. She's just acting on a grudge right now.
By the way, if you start a thread about this or ask any questions it will get censored. This is fucking insane.
Fake quote my ass!
Renato is the one faking quotes.
•●quietly going mad●•
Senior Member
YES sober


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And with the #1 pick, Chiefs draft Leon Sandcastle?
And with the #1 pick, Chiefs draft Leon Sandcastle?
The Kansas City Chiefs were featured in one of the funniest commercials during the Super Bowl on Sunday night.
The commercial was produced by the NFL Network and also featured football legend Deion Sanders as the fictional "Leon Sandcastle," who the Chiefs chose with the first overall pick in the draft.
ESPN's Darren Rovell said the NFL's online store did take a few orders for Chiefs jerseys with the name ""Sandcastle" on them.
Click the video box below to watch. (Mobile users click this link to watch)


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Eden, EPA discuss wastewater overflow problems
Eden, EPA discuss wastewater overflow problems
The federal Environmental Protection Agency and the city of Eden are discussing how to eliminate wastewater overflow problems.
The Reidsville Review reported city officials and the Environmental Protection Agency met earlier this month to outline work already done to resolve the problem.
Eden officials reported in June that the city had two sewer overflows into the Dan River of more than 65,000 gallons.
City Manager Brad Corcoran says officials have explained to the federal regulators the efforts that have been taken to resolve the overflow problems.
Corcoran says a consultant has estimated it would take up to $30 million of improvements to eliminate the problem.
He hopes to get more time to complete the improvements.


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Senator Charles Percy forwarded this article, published in the Congressional Record, to Dr. King. The article discusses President Johnson's attempted housing referendum, known as the Fair Housing Bill, in March of 1968.
Digital Archive brought to you
by JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Enjoying the Digital Archives? Help us maintain and expand the collection. Donate to The King Center


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Stockton, CA
Thelma Rodriguez
April 22, 1928 - January 24, 2013
Thelma Rodriguez, 84, of Stockton CA, passed away Thursday, January 24th. She is survived by her
three children: Santiago Antonio Sandoval of Soulsbyville,
David Hernandez of Lodi, Maria Luisa Rodriguez of Stockton, and her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Thelma was born April 22, 1928 in Brighton, Colorado, to
David and Guadalupe Gaitan. She was married to the late Luis Humberto Rodriguez.
Thelma Rodriguez was a beloved mother, grandmother, and friend. Her life was devoted to the care of her family and friends, and because of her love and care Thelma leaves behind a little of herself in every person who had the honor to meet her.
Services will be held Friday the 1st at 10 am at Frisbie-Warren Carroll Mortuary, 809 N. California St. in Stockton, with the burial to follow at 5750 East Pine St. in Lodi. Visitation will be held Thursday the 31st from 4 pm to 8 pm.


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For current students or recent grads headed overseas, keeping close tabs on debit and credit card transactions can help to avoid a financial mess while far away from home.
Continue Reading Below
While consumers should always be mindful of swiping abroad, students and grads with a tight budget and a low credit limit should be especially cautious of how international transactions can affect their bank accounts and credit history.
"It's even more important when traveling abroad because you're likely not familiar with the ins and outs of foreign banking systems and common practices in other countries," says Rebecca Hall, a financial advisor with Ameriprise Financial. "As a foreigner, you may be a target for fraud and could be taken advantage of simply because you're unaware of what is customary."
Although debit and credit cards are convenient, students need to learn the exchange rate for local currency compared to U.S. dollars to find out the actual cost of their purchases, says Mona Miller, director of Study Abroad Programs for GlobaLinks Learning Abroad.
"When you use plastic, it's easy to overspend and overlook the impact of foreign currency exchange rates," she says. "As you travel, it is smart to set up online access to all accounts and monitor each for service fees and interest charges."
Here are four tips financial experts say grads and students should keep in mind when using debit and credit cards overseas.
Tip No. 1: Tell Your Bank /Credit Card Issuer About Your Trip
One of the ways banks watch out for fraud is by noting unusual shopping patterns, and credit card issuers might get suspicious when overseas charges pop up on an account if users haven't alerted them first, warns credit card expert and author Beverly Harzog.
"This could lead to a fraud alert on your account and you wouldn't be able to use your card, so it's just a good idea to let your banks know where you're going and how long you'll be there," she says.
Tip No. 2: Bring a Variety of Money Resources
The safest way to manage finances abroad is to diversify them by using a mix of ATM cards, debit cards, traveler's checks and credit cards, recommends Miller.
"If your money runs out and you have a credit card, you may be able to access funds through your credit line," she says.
Harzog suggests bringing a debit card and two credit cards that are widely accepted worldwide, such as a Visa (NYSE:V), MasterCard (NYSE:MC) or Discover (NYSE:DFS) card.
The magnetic strip on the back of most credit and debit cards can be problematic in some areas of Europe, where cards often have a smart chip installed rather than a strip, explains Ben Woolsey, director of Marketing and Consumer Research for CreditCards.com.
"Generally [European merchants] can handle cards with magnetic strips, but where people run into trouble is with smaller merchants or places where there's not a person standing there, say if you're buying a train ticket at a kiosk or you're in a parking garage where you're sticking a card in the meter, those are not set up to handle cards with a magnetic strip--it's good idea to have a card that's European compliant."
Tip No. 3: Know Foreign Transaction Fees and International Banking Associations
Credit card and ATM transactions can lead to service fees in addition to the monetary difference in the current exchange rate--some foreign transactions can tack on an extra 2-3% in fees for each purchase.
"Debit and credit transaction fees should be compared so you can decide to use the lowest cost option when traveling," says Hall.
Just like in the U.S., consumers can get hit with extra fees when going to an ATM outside of their bank's network and it's important to research any alliances major banks have with international ATM networks, says Woolsey.
"You can typically find that on a major bank's website and if not, you can just call the toll free number on the back of the card and find out what the situation is," he says. "If you have a card with a smaller bank or a credit union, they may not offer those types of alliances."
Tip No. 4: Prepare for a Lost/Stolen Card
In the case of theft or card loss, students should contact their bank or credit card issuer immediately to keep fraudulent charges to a minimum.
"It is useful to make a photocopy of both sides of each of your credit and ATM cards so that you have the account numbers and phone numbers to call in case they are lost or stolen--keep these photocopies in a separate, secure place, such as a safe where you are staying," says Miller.
Students will need the collect customer service number of their bank or credit card, as the toll free number on their card will not work outside of the U.S., says Woolsey.
"Call customer service and report the lost or stolen card—it's really critical to have all of that information that you can access and keep it separate from your credit cards."


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If 29 developers are interested in Willets Point, why not the Vanderbilt Yard? Also, no Times scrutiny for Pinsky's projections
Seth W. Pinsky, president of the corporation, said in an interview that the project would create 5,300 new jobs, provide affordable housing and generate $25 billion in investment over the next 30 years. He said that 29 developers had already expressed interest, and that the city would choose finalists this spring.Contrast with AY
But opponents of the Bloomberg plan counter that the project is speculative and environmentally unsound.
First, if 29 developers have expressed interest in Willets Point, would a similarly large number have jumped at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Vanderbilt Yard and/or the entire Atlantic Yards site?
But the MTA didn't reopen its RFP after Forest City Ratner in 2009 asked to renegotate the Vanderbilt Yard deal, and MTA board member Jeff Kay claimed, "But there is no other market. No one else has come forward with a credible proposal at this time, and we should take advantage of that."
Optimistic projections
Second, Pinsky should not with any certainty claim such definitive numbers about jobs, housing and investment. Nor should the Times transcribe his claims without a glimmer of doubt.
Rather, he should call it a best-case or optimistic scenario. After all, the numbers for Atlantic Yards have been slashed drastically, due to a reconfiguration of the project, and delays in construction and the likelihood of a partial buildout would further lower the Pollyannish numbers produced.


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Peppermint Cream Squares, White Chicken Chili, Cocoa Fritters, Gingerbread Cake Cookies, Toffee-Chocolate Chip Shortbread, Classic Rugelach, and More
We were all about the holiday cookies this week at The Kitchn! We have these festive peppermint cream squares, pink and bright. There were soft gingerbread cake cookies sprinkled with sugar, and vegan, gluten-free coconut snowballs. There were cocoa fritters and rugelach, as well as the most scrumptious toffee-chocolate chip shortbread.
But we didn't neglect dinner. White chicken chil is here for all your winter comfort food needs! Follow it with a rye and ginger hot toddy and you'll be warm, cozy, and well-fed.
• Peppermint Cream Squares
• White Chicken Chili
• Gingerbread Cake Cookies
• Coconut Snowballs
• How to Make Classic Rugelach Cookies
• Hanukkah Cocoa Fritters
• Toffee-Chocolate Chip Shortbread
• Rye and Ginger Hot Toddy
Last Week's New Recipes: Whipped Eggnog Loaf Cake, Homemade Challah Bread, Lentil Pockets, Campari Spritz, Chicken Pasta, & More
(Images: See linked recipes for full image credits)


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Irish eyes on Iowa State shooters in NCAA matchup
Irish eyes on Iowa State shooters in NCAA matchup
Mar. 22, 2013
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Other than those key-lime-crashes-into-neon-green uniforms Notre Dame trashed for the NCAA tournament, there was one other thing that made the Fighting Irish the talk of college basketball for a few days this season.
On Feb. 9, they defeated Louisville in an epic, five-overtime thriller, a game with more plot twists than any Hollywood "B'' movie.
To some Notre Dame fans, it was the only game.
"It's the game of the year," said coach Mike Brey, adding wherever he goes in South Bend fans bring it up. "That's all they know we played. They don't know how many games we've lost since then, thank God. They don't remember the two thumpings Louisville gave us. They remember that one."
The seventh-seeded Irish (25-9) are hoping to make more memories Friday when they play 10th-seeded Iowa State (22-11) in the first round of the West Regional. Brey has Notre Dame in the tournament for the fourth straight year, and he's trusting his team can make a deeper run this March after being bounced in its opener last March by Xavier.
Brey knows his way around the brackets better than most coaches. One of Mike Krzyzewski's assistants at Duke, he was a member of six Final Four teams and two national champions. On Friday, Brey will be participating in his 53rd NCAA tournament game, a staggering number.
There's nothing that can replace tournament experience, and Brey is counting on his players, especially junior starting guards Jerian Grant and Eric Atkins, to be more prepared to handle the big stage this time around.
"They played older than they were (last year) to get us the bid," he said. "And then in the postseason I thought they played their age a little bit, especially in the Xavier game. Experience helps in everything in college basketball in that you've been part of the tournament once.
"It can be a great advantage."
After their wild 104-101 win over the Cardinals, the Irish went 4-3 to close the regular season and beat Rutgers and Marquette in the Big East tournament before losing to Louisville in the semifinals. Although they didn't make the final, senior forward Jack Cooley felt he and his teammates were finding their groove.
"We really started to get into a flow of players really knowing their position and their roles on the team and how to play in order for us to win," said Cooley, who averages 13.1 points and 10.3 rebounds. "Right now, we're clicking very, very well and we're playing our best basketball."
The well-balanced Cyclones, who have six players averaging at least 9.3 points, also feel good about their run-up to the NCAAs.
The nation's leader in 3-pointers, Iowa State relies on its outside attack, which is not that surprising given that the Cyclones are coached by Fred Hoiberg, who starred at the school and had his number 32 retired in Ames.
Hoiberg gives his players the green light to launch whenever they're so inclined. Iowa State makes 9.8 3-pointers per game, and the Cyclones have dropped 325 shots from behind the arc this season.
"At any position, any time of the game, all five guys have the ability to shoot the three," said senior point guard Korie Lucious, a transfer from Michigan State. "Coach gives us all confidence. We all have confidence in each other to shoot the three. That's what we like to do."
Hoiberg doesn't hide from the fact that the Cyclones prefer to live dangerously from the outside.
"We have five guys out there that can either make a play or make a shot," he said. "It makes it difficult on the defense, just with the randomness that we have on the offensive end and the freedom that our guys play with. It's a luxury."
The Cyclones scored 89 and 96 points against Kansas, the No. 1 seed in the South Regional, but lost both games. Still, it's the kind of game they prefer, and Brey knows Iowa State will want to push the tempo.
"They're unique," he said. "We played some similar teams in our league, but not anything like this."
The same could be said for those controversial green uniforms Notre Dame broke out recently. They were panned by many fashionistas and even got a negative review from President Obama, who said the "neon glow thing didn't work for me."
There's no doubt the adidas-designed uniforms caused a commotion, but the Irish will be wearing a more traditional white for their tourney opener.
"I could tell a lot of people weren't telling the truth to me when they said how they felt about them," Cooley said. "I personally really liked them."
So did Atkins.
"I wish Obama was on our side about the jerseys," he said. "I like them a lot."
If they win, maybe the Irish can show them off again.


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15 Fresh Salads for the Thanksgiving Table
It has become something of a tradition for us to talk about salad right now, days before the Thanksgiving holiday. Yes, Thanksgiving is a literal feast of heavy, delicious foods like mashed potatoes swimming in butter (see our luxurious recipe here) and the sweetest flaky pies. But I think that a good salad is also essential.
Not for any misplaced concerns for health or a balanced diet (this is a once-a-year affair, after all) but for pleasure. A well-mixed salad provides a pop of color on the buffet, and its crisp flavors complement and enhance everything else on the table.
So here are a few of our favorites, from a beautiful kale and citrus mix, to fennel tossed with beets, to a simple roasted cabbage slaw with lemon. There's a classic Southern coleslaw, and our guide to the perfect side salad. Even if everything else on your table is planned out, it's not too late to add in a pretty and refreshing salad!
• 1 Roasted Cabbage Slaw with Hazelnuts & Lemon
• 2 Fresh Fennel and Lemon Slaw
• 3 Classic Buttermilk Coleslaw
• 4 Cabbage Beet Coleslaw
• 5 Kale Salad with Blood Orange and Meyer Lemon
• 6 Oi Muchim (Spicy Korean Cucumber Salad)
• 7 Winter-to-Spring Salad
• 8 Crunchy Peanut Slaw
• 9 Orange, Olive, and Fennel Salad
• 10 Tri-Color Slaw with Lime Dressing
• 11 Warm Golden Beet Salad with Greens and Almonds
• 12 Fennel, Beet, and Orange Salad
• 13 Celery and Grapefruit Salad with Parmesan
• 14 Roasted Squash and Arugula Salad with Pecans, Bacon, and Goat Cheese
• 15 Asian Pear, Fresh Date, and Pomegranate Salad
Do you put a salad on the Thanksgiving table? Or do you skip it for cooked vegetables like Brussels sprouts?
(Images: See linked recipes for full image credits)


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WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. -- A pair of accidents have led to lane closures on the Hutchinson River Parkway and Sprain Brook Parkway on Tuesday.
The left lane of the southbound Hutchinson River Parkway is blocked in Harrison between Exit 25 (North Street, Route 127) and Exit 23 (Mamaroneck Avenue). The accident was reported at 11:30 a.m.
One lane of the southbound Sprain between I-287 and Route 100C is blocked following an accident reported at 11:50 a.m.
An accident has also been reported on the ramp of the northbound Hutchinson River Parkway at the junction of the Cross County Parkway in Yonkers, resulting in stop-and-go traffic.
Click here to sign up for Daily Voice's free daily emails and news alerts.


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KUWAIT CITY (AP) — Kuwait police fired tear gas and stun grenades Sunday in a busy historic market to disperse several thousand protesters calling for the release of an opposition activist and a purge of corrupt judges.
Defying government orders not to hold unauthorized protests, more than 2,000 people marched from Kuwait's Grand Mosque after traditional evening Ramadan prayers and into the old market, where police broke up the demonstration.
It's the fourth consecutive day that police have used tear gas to break up unauthorized anti-corruption protests in the Gulf Arab monarchy.
Kuwait has the most politically empowered parliament among the Gulf Arab states, with opposition lawmakers often directly challenging government officials over corruption and power abuses. Kuwait's political tension has deepened rifts in one of Washington's most important Gulf allies.
A picture circulated on social media of activist Abdulhadi Al-Hajeri in the back of an ambulance in a blood-soaked garment. His head was wrapped in a bloodied sheet.
Human rights activist Hadeel Bugrais told The Associated Press that al-Hajeri was wounded when a tear gas canister hit him in the head. She said the police were firing "randomly" at the crowd of marchers and that many bystanders were caught up in the mayhem.
Burgais said dozens of protesters were arrested. She accompanied several lawyers to a police station to inquire about the detainees.
A brief statement by Kuwait's Interior Ministry released late Sunday said the protest was dispersed by police and that no injuries were immediately recorded. The statement made no mention of arrests, saying only that the protest was unauthorized.
The protesters are demanding the release of Musallam al-Barrack, a former opposition lawmaker who was detained in an investigation into allegations he insulted the judiciary. Al-Barrack revealed documents he alleges prove huge sums of illicit financial transfers were made to senior officials, including judges.
Kuwait's prime minister, Jaber Al Mubarak Al Sabah, a member of the ruling family, has dismissed the documents, saying they have no value and do not stand up to scrutiny.
Al-Barrack's group is calling for allowing citizens to run for the prime minister's post. Kuwaiti prime ministers are currently appointed by the emir and are from the ruling family.
Many protesters Sunday were members of his tribe, but many others joined the call for greater government accountability and transparency. They say they are fed up with the pace of economic development in Kuwait, which was once a main hub for tourism and investment in the region but has now been shadowed by neighboring Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Violent protests have also been taking place since al-Barrack's arrest in his hometown province of Jahra in the neighborhood of Sabah Al-Nasser, southeast of the capital Kuwait City. Protesters there have burnt tires and some have fired flares at security officers.


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What do we learn in the Drupal Basics class?
The foundation of any website is the basic pages. How-to for every aspect of creating or editing a Basic Page can be found in this support site. Watch the recording of a Drupal Basics session or check out any of the tasks below for specific how-to instructions.
The goal for Drupal Basics class is to get you capable with the following tasks:
Add New Content
Drupal Help Resources
Find Content
Insert Images
Links & Anchors
Login to Drupal
SEO, Metadata & Taxonomies
Upload Files
WYSIWYG editor
Guidelines Every Editor Should Know
The Drupal Sandbox is a safe place to practice these tasks. Login to get the credentials to use this sandbox.
What is a Basic Page and how is it different from Basic Page, Members?
There is no difference in terms of creating and editing--the difference is in relation to rights. In order to grant editing rights to members for a page, use the Basic Page, Members content type when creating new pages. In order to keep the training materials intact on this sandbox, all the pages that you are free to edit as the Test users are created as Basic Page, Members so they can be edited by any member who wants to practice their basic Drupal skills.
What Other Content Types are there in Drupal?
Although the focus of the Drupal Basics class focuses on how to find, edit and create a Basic Page, there are several other content types in use on the ALA website that you can learn more about:
Use the power of the iMIS database to dynamically display roster, charge and even RSS posts from ALA Connect for your committee or Round Table.
Feature Slides
Get events, initiatives and other important mentions featured on a slideshow on the ALA website. Learn how everything from how to prepare your slide to proposing it to appear on the ALA-homepage
Graphically dynamic way of directing users to content


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When a Kalamazoo Public Safety officer saw a man acting suspiciously at 2 a.m., he checked things out and discovered the man said he'd hit a deer with his vehicle. The officer wanted to make sure the deer had the appropriate tag and when he opened the car's trunk lid, he got more than he bargained for!
Check out this report from WOOD TV8 in Kalamazoo about the jumping whitetail and jumpy KPS officers!


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Executive Summary:
Microsoft SQL Server author and expert Allan Hirt examines popular SQL Server backup compression tools HyperBac for SQL Server, Red Gate Software SQL Backup, and Idera SQLsafe, and also takes a look at how Microsoft SQL Server 2008 will affect the backup compression market.
Editor's Note: Idera disagrees with the findings of this comparison review, and has written a letter to SQL Server Magazine in response. You can read Idera's letter to the editor by clicking here.
The market for SQL Server backup compression tools has become crowded over the past few years, ever since Quest Software's LiteSpeed for SQL Server appeared. Prior to the availability of compression tools such as LiteSpeed, many DBAs were using methods such as ZIP compression on their SQL Server backup files. But such compression methods are inefficient and don't eliminate the necessity of making an original, large backup; they also consume nearly double the disk space (and time) as the ZIP file is being generated. Today, databases are not only much larger than they've ever been before, but they're also more mission-critical. How do you back up a 500GB, 1TB, or larger database effectively and quickly? Then, how do you copy that large backup to another location rapidly? The short answer is that you can't. Both backup and copy operations can take a considerable amount of time when you're dealing with hundreds of gigabytes or terabytes.
The benefits of compression are obvious: A backup file takes up less physical disk space (reducing storage costs), and when archived needs less space on tape or in your vault. Smaller files mean faster copies and quicker restore times when you're pulling a backup in a disaster-recovery scenario. Another reason for the increased importance of backup compression tools is compliance with regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): Companies might need to keep more data around longer, which means backups also get larger. Although the cost of disks has come down over the years, disks can't solve all the storage problems related to larger data sets, which require even more disks (and attendant increases in hardware costs), as well as increases in related costs such as for air conditioning in server rooms that house growing numbers of disks and servers.
Backup Compression and You
A backup compression tool's main purpose is to compress a backup as it's being made and give you the ability to restore it. Individual tools add their own feature sets on top of that basic functionality, but all integrate with SQL Server in different ways, and all are relatively inexpensive. Choosing the program that's right for you comes down to evaluating features, effectiveness, cost, and ease of use. Ask the following questions as you evaluate compression tools:
- Are there backup problems that a compression tool will solve, such as the inability to retain backups on disk or a lack of disk space for backups?
- Are there immediate cost savings that you can realize with compressed backups (e.g., when the internal storage team is charging for storage space by the gigabyte)?
- Are there problems with your current disaster recovery plan in regard to backups that smaller, more agile backup files could help solve?
- Does the tool under consideration offer anything beyond compression that you can use in your environment, or is compression good enough?
- Does the licensing model cover the number of SQL Server servers and instances in my environment?
- How will changing the way backups are done affect your environment? How long will changes take to implement?
In this article, I compare three popular SQL Server backup compression tools: HyperBac Technologies' HyperBac for SQL Server, Red Gate Software's SQL Backup, and Idera's SQLsafe. (Table 1 lists the products' feature sets.) You might be wondering why LiteSpeed for SQL Server isn't included here. Because the newest version of LiteSpeed for SQL Server (version 5.0) wasn't complete in time to be tested along with the other products, Quest opted not to participate in this comparison. (Quest is adding new features to LiteSpeed for SQL Server, including virtualized backups, support for non-SQL Server platforms, and policy-based management. SQL Server Magazine will review the updated LiteSpeed for SQL Server in a subsequent issue.) To read my take on how SQL Server 2008 will change the backup compression landscape, see the Web-exclusive sidebar "Backup Compression and SQL Server 2008," InstantDoc ID 98179.
HyperBac for
SQL Server
HyperBac for SQL Server
HyperBac Technologies' HyperBac for SQL Server is the new kid on the block, hitting the market in 2007. In its design, HyperBac takes a novel approach: Nothing is installed in SQL Server. In fact, the tool has no real integration directly with SQL Server because it doesn't integrate with SQL Server's Virtual Device Interface, as most backup software does. HyperBac for SQL Server installs at the OS level and intercepts calls (filtering for SQL Server calls) that SQL Server makes to the OS regarding writing to disk, then streams the file to the file system, cutting out the proverbial middleman. HyperBac Technologies worked with Microsoft to ensure that all of this works properly.
Installing HyperBac for SQL Server is a breeze: The install package is tiny and very fast. All it installs are the required services and an applet in the system tray, which makes the service easy to enable or disable. The applet also handles any configuration. This is refreshing in its simplicity.
Does intercepting those calls at the OS really work? Yes, and it works well: HyperBac for SQL Server is transparent once enabled. For a DBA, this is a dream tool: Unlike the approach most vendors take, in which you must use either the vendor's interface or extended stored procedures, HyperBac doesn't require DBAs to modify one shred of code or change how they do things. HyperBac for SQL Server intercepts the native SQL Server backup and restore commands, which lets DBAs continue to use their accustomed method for backups and restores and removes the need for HyperBac to provide a tool for managing backups and restores, command-line tools, or extended stored procedures. The tool works as promised, seamlessly and transparently integrating with existing SQL Server functionality. Because the only thing you need to do is install HyperBac for SQL Server and enable the service, you can be up and running in minutes.
Like the other tools in this comparison, HyperBac for SQL Server can encrypt backups, supporting as much as 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). But the product sports a unique feature—the ability to back up to and restore from a ZIP file. When you employ this feature, the ZIP archive contains the standard .bak file, but the file is made with the same speed and compression of a standard HyperBac for SQL Server backup. This means that in five years, if you need to restore the database, the backup file will be in a standard format, so you won't have to search for a copy of HyperBac for SQL Server to restore the database—you'll need only to unzip it from the archive. I tested this functionality, and it works like a charm—it's one of the nicer options I've seen in some time from a backup utility. (Keep in mind, though, that decompressing a large .zip file requires a tool like WinZIP or WinRAR and can take many hours—decompressing the test database for this review took 21 hours.) HyperBac for SQL Server also includes a utility to convert HyperBac backups into a standard SQL Server format that a SQL server can use if HyperBac for SQL Server is not on the server or the backing-up-to-ZIP feature wasn't employed.
HyperBac for SQL Server also can compress bcp and DTS and SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) tasks that involve writing to and reading from files. This is another feature unique to HyperBac.
HyperBac for SQL Server isn't perfect, though. It has only two levels of compression, which weren't well documented in the version I tested. (HyperBac has assured me that this documentation has been made more clear in an update.) In my experience, few DBAs tweak the compression parameters of a tool like HyperBac for SQL Server, and I think the HyperBac developers did a good-enough job of implementing the product's compression algorithms. So having "tweakability" might not be necessary with this tool.
SQL Backup
Red Gate Software's SQL Backup is available in two versions: Lite and Pro. I tested the Pro version, which is part of Red Gate's SQL Toolbelt collection of SQL Server tools.
SQL Backup can generate backups or perform restores via its management tool, a command-line utility, or extended stored procedures. The product includes a utility to convert SQL Backup backups to a standard SQL Server format. To use SQL Backup for row-level restores, you need to purchase another Red Gate product, SQL Data Compare. SQL Backup also features log shipping, but since Microsoft has provided this feature from SQL Server 2000 forward, it might not have a wide appeal.
To install SQL Backup, you must first install the management tool; then, as you add instances of SQL Server, you push the service and/or extended stored procedures out to those servers and instances. Although this process isn't the worst I've seen, when you're importing an instance of SQL Server into the management tool, it would be nice to have the option to install the SQL Backup components at that time, rather than in a separate step. SQL Backup doesn't configure its own database in a SQL Server instance to store data about its backup and restore operations. It merely reads the information related to backups directly from the instances.
SQL Backup has a very nice interface that I liked. It has a color-coded graphical timeline of backups and jobs and lets you see potential conflicts or problems in addition to the backup. If you're managing multiple SQL Server instances with SQL Backup, this is a handy feature. The interface is logical and DBA-friendly. I noticed one bug with SQL Backup's management tool: When I created and then tried to delete a backup job, the confirmation dialog appeared behind the context-sensitive menu, and if the context-sensitive menu wasn't positioned in just the right way, I couldn't click Yes. Another minor gripe is that SQL Backup shows an operation's progress not as an overall percentage but in gigabytes. I would rather see the percentage.
SQL Backup offers three levels of compression. A feature called Compression Analyzer lets you see your possible size savings. Depending on the size of your database, Compression Analyzer could take a while to run, but it will display estimated file sizes within each compression level. Another handy feature is in the wizard that walks through the backup process: It includes an option to copy the backup file being made to a network or other location when the backup is complete. Log shipping is also offered as an option.
Although the management tool is great for managing backups, it doesn't do as well with restores. You can do an on-demand restore, but you can't create a job to do a restore. This is frustrating. I see an increasing need with my clients to refresh development or test data with production data. A tool like SQL Backup should be able to automate this process, but it can't do so currently.
I have other problems with the management tool. It has no provision to kill any connections in the database before you attempt a restore. And the default path for the database restore isn't the path that's actually in the backup file; rather, it's the default path as defined for the SQL Server instance. This is surprising because even if you restore a database backup on the instance on which it originated, it will default to the wrong location. On the positive side, after you run the Restore Wizard, if you don't want to run the command with the GUI, you can copy and paste either the command line or extended stored procedure code that the wizard generates. This is a great feature for easing repetition and creating your own scripts.
It concerns me that only SQL Backup Pro supports 64-bit SQL Servers. Most of the clients I work with are considering a 64-bit platform for SQL Server, and not every SQL Server deployment uses Enterprise Edition. It seems like an oversight by Red Gate not to include the same platform support in SQL Backup Lite, which is attractively priced for small- to-midsized shops that might want to step up to 64-bit.
One final point is that SQL Backup measures its compression savings against total data size, including unused space. This can artificially inflate the savings number. The numbers aren't egregiously off, but for many IT organizations, under- or overestimating space can cost money if doing so creates a capacity-management problem. Compression savings should be measured against the potential native backup size, not a total database size that includes things that don't factor into the backup.
Continued on page 2
Like SQL Backup, Idera's SQLsafe is part of its own suite of SQL Server tools. You can use its management tool, a command-line utility, or extended stored procedures for backup and restoration. SQLsafe's point-in-time slider can help you restore to a specific point (assuming you have the proper set of backups available) and, like HyperBac for SQL Server and SQL Backup, includes a utility for converting backups you make with SQLsafe to a native SQL Server backup. SQLsafe also has the unique option to restore a single table. Idera offers a free version of SQLsafe called SQLsafe Freeware that has limited functionality and seems to be geared toward small, nonenterprise environments.
Installing Idera's SQLsafe reminded me a bit of my experience with LiteSpeed for SQL Server—I had to click through a lot of screens to set it up. SQLsafe configures and uses a management database, so you need to have an instance of SQL Server for it to use. Neither HyperBac for SQL Server nor SQL Backup has this requirement. If you use SQLsafe, you'll need to make sure that the instance powering it is highly available.
One problem with the management database approach—or at least the approach as SQLsafe implements it—is that backups and restores you make outside of SQLsafe don't seem to be recorded in the management database. The difficulty with this approach is obvious: If a DBA generates any kind of backup outside of SQLsafe, doing so could break the log sequence number (LSN) chain, and SQLsafe will know nothing about it. Idera is making a dangerous assumption that once you've installed SQLsafe, no DBA in your environment will ever make a backup outside of SQLsafe. This approach also emphasizes the necessity of making the instance on which SQLsafe runs highly available.
SQLsafe supports different forms of encryption but doesn't specify whether the level is 128-bit or 256-bit. Idera includes a tool for converting SQLsafe's backup to a standard SQL Server backup format. SQLsafe also has a command-line utility to perform backups and restores outside of SQL Server and the SQLsafe tool. SQLsafe offers six options for compression: four numbered levels and optimizing Idera's IntelliCompress technology for either size or speed. Of the three tools I tested, SQLsafe has the greatest number of compression options.
SQLsafe uses a service and doesn't install extended stored procedures into an instance by default. If you run backup jobs with scripts and don't want to use the service, the extended stored procedures that would allow you to script SQLsafe backups aren't installed by default, so they'd need to be installed on each instance where the scripts would run, then you'd need to change your scripts (as you would if you used SQL Backup's extended stored procedures). One problem is that the only place the different options that the extended stored procedures use are documented is in the sample scripts Idera provides. This isn't optimal, and it was also a little sloppy—the version of SQLsafe listed in the scripts was the one previous to the version I tested. Even if the scripts are the same in both versions, I would have thought Idera would update the sample scripts to reflect the version of the product that was installed.
I wasn't impressed by SQLsafe's management tool. The UI reminds me of Outlook, and I didn't find its workflow to be as intuitive as the one in SQL Backup. I did like how it showed the progress of an operation as a percentage, which is more useful than SQL Backup's display of progress in gigabytes.
SQLsafe lets you set a backup policy across multiple servers. I didn't test this capability across different physical servers, but my test server was running two instances of SQL Server 2005. SQLsafe doesn't have the ability to customize the backup path for each instance when you set a backup policy, which means all backups will go to the same location. An Idera representative told me that a future version of SQLsafe will rectify this situation and that you can modify the behavior in the current version by using macros. However, this workaround isn't obvious to anyone who wants to be up and running with SQLsafe quickly.
I have the same gripe with SQLsafe's management tool that I did with SQL Backup: You can manage your backups but not your restores outside of one-time-only restores. SQLsafe provides utilities for importing maintenance plans into the SQLsafe repository. One curious omission: I saw no provision for importing regular SQL Server Agent jobs. A bigger problem is that as I tried to run the tool for importing a maintenance plan, I got the message "ALLANX64\INS2 is SQL Server 2005 or greater which is not supported." I didn't see any documentation to tell me that the feature doesn't work with SQL Server 2005.
The Tool That's Right for You
When it comes to disaster recovery, refreshing a development server with new data, or any operation that requires a restore, time is money. All three tools both sped up and compressed backups and had faster restore times than native SQL Server operations. Time spent backing up and compressing the backup was similar among all three products. HyperBac for SQL Server and SQL Backup had similar times for a restore operation; although SQLsafe's restore time was faster than a native SQL Server restore, it was considerably slower than the other two products' restore times. (To read more about my compression testing, see the sidebar "Compression Testing and Results.")
HyperBac for SQL Server is available with a per-server license model and also has the lowest list price without reduced functionality. Imagine that you are administering 100 instances. If you spread those instances over 65 physical servers, the list-price comparison among the products would be $99,500 for SQLsafe, $51,675 for SQL Backup Pro, and $43,875 for HyperBac for SQL Server. Despite the cost differential, Idera deserves credit for not requiring a license for the SQLsafe agent on instances that are performing only restores, which is perfect for disaster recovery.
Where workflow is concerned, HyperBac for SQL Server is at the top of the list based on the way most DBAs I know like to work. Although it doesn't ship with a management tool for backups, it works with whatever tool you have. As I've noted, a big part of the pain of tool adoption is the cost of implementation. HyperBac wins hands down on this point because it lets you get up and running in short order. But if you're managing a lot of SQL Server backups and want the full complement of GUI, management tool, and the ability to use the command line or scripts via extended stored procedures, either SQL Backup or SQLsafe might be better bets for you. Both these products have a management tool that is geared toward environments with multiple SQL servers. Neither management tool is perfect, but either might do a better job for you than managing your backups in each instance with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).
Both SQLsafe and SQL Backup were more cumbersome to install than HyperBac for SQL Server, involving multiple steps such as pushing components out to SQL servers after the initial install. HyperBac for SQL Server's install could become part of a standard Windows build process so that it's already in place by the time a DBA gets a new server.
All three tools offer similar performance in compression, so an ultimate purchasing decision boils down to the other features and functionality a tool brings to the table and how it can benefit your own backup and restore administration. I found SQL Backup and SQLsafe both slightly disappointing; neither features the ability to set restore policies or lets you manage regularly scheduled restores. In enterprise-class tools, these are glaring omissions. Using the cost example of 100 instances, if you compare according to price and feature set, is SQLsafe approximately two times better than either SQL Backup or HyperBac for SQL Server? In my opinion, the answer is no. Both HyperBac for SQL Server and SQL Backup Pro represent good value, and each takes a different approach. If I were in the market for a SQL Server backup compression tool, I'd choose HyperBac for SQL Server, and that's why I've designated it my Editor's Choice. But I recommend that you audition the tools that appeal to you and make your own informed choice.


text:
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Two reputed members of a Chicago street gang were charged on Monday in the murder of a 15-year-old girl who was gunned down days after performing with her high school band at inauguration festivities for President Barack Obama, police said.
The slaying of Hadiya Pendleton on January 29, eight days after the majorette appeared at an inauguration event in Washington, highlighted a rash of deadly shootings in Chicago and became a rallying cry for advocates for tougher gun control nationally.
Two men identified by police as gang members, Micheail Ward, 18, and Kenneth Williams, 20, both of Chicago, were each charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder in connection with the shooting, which also left two other teens wounded.
Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said Ward pulled the trigger and that Williams was believed to have driven the getaway car. "They thought the group they shot into were members of a rival gang," McCarthy said.
Police said the arrests stemmed from a description of the vehicle that matched a car police had stopped two days earlier with Ward in it. McCarthy said the "big break" in the case came from parolee interviews.
Williams and Ward were seeking revenge on a rival gang that shot and wounded Williams in July, McCarthy said. They fired into a crowd at a public park, killing Pendleton as she and some friends were seeking shelter there from a rainstorm near their school, he said.
The Obama family's Chicago home is about a mile from the park where Pendleton, a sophomore at Martin Luther King Jr. College Prep High School, was slain.
Ward, who police say confessed to the shooting, had previously been arrested in 2011 on charges of unlawful use of a firearm and was sentenced to two years of probation.
McCarthy said if mandatory minimum sentences for unlawful firearm use had existed in the state of Illinois, "Micheail Ward would not have been on the street to commit this heinous act."
"This has to stop. Gun offenders have to do significant jail time," McCarthy said. "And there has to be a certainty of punishment when we arrest somebody with an illegal firearm."
First lady Michelle Obama attended Pendleton's funeral on Saturday, along with other dignitaries including Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and Congressmen Danny Davis and Bobby Rush, both Chicago Democrats.
The two suspects in Pendleton's slaying were on their way to a birthday party at a suburban strip club when they were arrested on Saturday night, hours after the victim's funeral, police said.
Pendleton's parents, Cleopatra and Nathaniel, will attend Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday, according to a White House official.
In recent weeks, the president has presented a number of proposals aimed at curtailing gun violence across the country.
(Reporting by Renita D. Young; Editing by Mary Wisniewski, Greg McCune, Dan Grebler, Cynthia Johnston and Lisa Shumaker)


text:
Stardust/Knowledge Base/Integration/Camel/Email Trigger with Process Attachments
This article discusses an integration scenario where a Stardust process is kicked off by an incoming mail in a POP3 account that is being monitored by Camel. The incoming mail is parsed for certain keywords and the process to be invoked is selected dynamically based on the value of the keyword. Certain process data is also selected dynamically by parsing the mail contents. Any attachments that are part of the mail are converted into Documents and associated with the newly created Process Instance.
All the artifacts discussed in this article can be downloaded from here.
Process Model
The model above contains two processes viz. Purchase and Redemption. For simplicity, both the processes have been designed to be identical. We define two simple primitives viz. "Client" and "MailBody", both of type String. The "Client" data will be populated based on the value of a lookup made from within the Camel route depending on certain process data, while "MailBody" will contain the text of the Email. The first activity named "Wait for Doc Sync" is a Route activity which is set to Hibernate initially. We will discuss the reasons for this decision later in the article. The subsequent activity displays the contents of the data above in the Stardust portal. Note that both the processes need to be able to support "Process Attachments". This can be enabled by changing the process properties.
Camel Route
We next look at the details of the Camel route employed.While the default Stardust camel-context.xml file already ships with a few bean definitions and a "do-nothing" route, we will restrict ourselves to only discuss those beans and endpoints used in this integration.
The "ippServiceFactoryAccess" bean belongs to the ISB component and is used within our custom bean to pass ServiceFactory credentials when invoking the Stardust services. We employ two custom beans in this integration viz. "mailProcessDataExtractor" and "ippProcessRouter". As seen above, the Camel Mail component is responsible for monitoring a POP3 inbox. The default polling interval is used here (60s). The "delete" attribute on the Endpoint ensures that the mail is processed only once by the Camel route and deleted upon successful execution of the route (mail deletion may not work on all servers). The Exchange is routed from the Mail endpoint to our custom bean. Note that since no method is explicitly specified, the method with the "@Handler" annotation will be invoked. We will discuss the code in our custom beans later in the article and limit ourselves to a higher level discussion in this section. If the mail happens to contain the right keywords, the mailProcessDataExtractor sets the "ippProcessId" header which identifies the process to be started to the "ipp" endpoint later in the route. This bean also sets a couple of custom headers viz. "dataValue" and "dataID". The "dataID" header contains the Id of the data within our process model that will contain the "dataValue" (in this case "Client"). The "dataValue" is the value to be set for "dataID". The bean parses the mail contents, scans certain keywords and matches these against a couple of property lookup files to determine these values.
If the mail does not happen to contain any valid keyword, the bean is unable to set the custom headers. The route terminates at this point (exit choice above).
If the mail does appear to contain valid keywords, the route then invokes our second custom bean viz. "ippProcessRouter". This bean is responsible for dynamically replacing the placeholder [header.dataID] in the IPP endpoint with the value computed by the mailProcessDataExtractor bean. This is explained in greater detail in the following section. The "ipp:authenticate' endpoint simply sets the proper user credentials to start the process and the subsequent step "ipp:process:start" actually starts off the process and sets the data values expected by the model. Note that at this point, no process attachments have been created due to the fact that we do not have a ProcessInstanceOID to associate the documents with until the process is started. The header "ippProcessInstanceOid" is set on the exchange body after the process is started. We make use of this value by calling the "moveDocumentstoPI" method on the mailProcessDataExtractor bean. This method moves the documents to the correct location under the Document Repository associated with the newly created Process Instance and sets the "PROCESS_ATTACHMENTS" header with a Document List that contains these Documents. The next endpoint in the route "ipp:process:setProperties" maps this header to the "PROCESS_ATTACHMENTS" data path of the process thereby associating the documents with the new Process Instance. At this point the need for a hibernated activity in the process model above becomes clear. We would like to ensure that the documents are associated with the correct Process Instance before we let the process continue any further. The above steps ensure that we achieve this goal. We are now free to complete the awaken the hibernated Route activity and let the next activity in the process execute. This is achieved by the final call to "ipp:process:continue" in the route.
Custom Beans
Properties files
Let us first take a look at the properties files referrred to by our mailProcessDataExtractor bean. This bean depends on two properties files viz.process.properties and datavalue.properties
This properties file defines the keywords that must be scanned within an email and the corresponding process to start if a keyword is encountered. For example, with the contents below, we specify that for a given row should any of the keywords on the right side be encountered (case insensitive), the process on the left should be started.So, on encountering the word "buy" in the email, the "Purchase" process would be started. Likewise, the word "sell" in a email with start the "Redemption" process.
#comma separated list in the format ProcesID=[list of keywords that invoke this process] Purchase=Purchase,Buy Redemption=Sell,Redeem,Sale
This properties file defines the keywords that must be scanned within an email and the corresponding value of the "dataID" and "dataValue" exchange headers.For example, with the contents below, we specify that for a given row should any of the comma separated keywords on the right side be encountered (case sensitive), the data with ID on the left (separated by ;) should be populated with the normalized form of the keyword (between = signs). So, on encountering the keyword "NT" for example, the data with ID "Client" would be set with the value "Northern Trust". Likewise, if the email contains the keyword "Omaha", the "Client" data will contain the value "Mutual of Omaha".
#comma separated list in the format Data,Data Value={variations of name to map to this data value} Client;1=Northern Trust=Northern,Trust,NT,Trst Client;2=Mutual of Omaha=Mutual,Omaha
MailProcessDataExtractor Bean
The structure of the MailProcessDataExtractor bean is as seen below:
get/setServiceFactoryAccess: Injected by Spring, credentials used to access Stardust services such as DMS and workflow. getPropertiesFromClasspath: Load the properties files (discussed above) and called by constructor. MailProcessDataExtractor: Invokes the above method and sets Object properties. processEmailBody: Processes the Exchange containing the email details, converts attachments to Stardust Documents, extracts mail body and set various headers getContentFromMail: Gets the mail body for mails with attachments or forwards (multipart). Invoked by processEmailBody setHeadersAndBodyForIpp: Does the actual text parsing, comparison and setting of headers for Process ID, Data and DataValue. Also adds the mail text to the exchange message body. Called by processEmailBody. convertToDocument: Does the actual work of converting the attachment to a Document. The Document is stored under a folder called "mail_trigger_attachments" temporarily until it is moved upon creation of the Process Instance. Invoked by processEmailBody. moveDocumentstoPI: Moves the documents to the Process Instance specific folder once the process starts. Invoked directly by Camel.