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The city hired Brennan Olson as a part-time police officer to help provide extra patrol at Zorbaz on Gull, at the establishment's request, Friday and Saturday nights, the Lake Shore City Council learned Monday night.
Zorbaz will reimburse the city for the officer's wages. Police reported 213 incidents from June 25-July 22, including 112 traffic-related incidents and 101 miscellaneous calls.
Traffic incidents included 68 traffic warnings, 33 traffic citations, two property damage crashes, one DWI arrest and one motorcycle injury crash.
The Nisswa City Council on Wednesday, July 18, had to decide how to pay for its share of the Highway 371/County Road 18 project after the awarded bid was higher than engineers' estimates.
After the bid for the $7 million project was awarded to Anderson Brothers of Brainerd, the city's total cost, including 2013 inspections and landscaping (which weren't part of the bid), was $1,683,187, or $183,187 more than the city projected.
The city, Crow Wing County and Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) all will pay for the joint project.
Two 16-year-olds from Pine River traveled to Chicago this month to audition for the 12th season of American Idol.
Unfortunately, neither made it to callbacks, but both gained insight into the popular singing talent competition.Kayla Adkins and Ryan Sweeney, high school juniors, auditioned July 12 at the United Center with thousands of other hopefuls age 15-28.
The Chicago Tribune estimated the crowd gathered at around 9,000.
Pine River Journal Editor
Barclay Avenue in Pine River has a new shop downtown: Hens & Chicks Curiosities: a business collaboration among local women interested in indulging their creativity and providing a unique place for shoppers.
Jenny Hill, Sheila Hunter, Kris Kayser, Barb Mann, Marty Mann, Becky Stanton, Rhoda Swanson and Quinn Swanson are all contributors to the store that specializes in antiques, art work, shabby chic, re-created products, gift items, collectibles and new items mixed in with vintage ones.
Pequot Lakes High School Alumni will hold their All-Class Reunion the weekend of Aug. 4-5.
On Aug. 4, classes will hold their individual reunions and meet informally later that evening at the Pequot Lakes Legion Club.
During his freshman year at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Ben Woodland worked as a tutor. With the help of one of his friends, the Soldotna native was able to successfully tutor a Tibetan monk for his United States Citizenship test.
"He didn't really know how to read and write," Woodland said.
After seeing the monk pass his test, Woodland felt something click.
"That was when I knew what I really wanted to do," he said. "Use language to better people's lives."
JUNEAU -- The Grinch of Juneau who allegedly stole Christmas isn't and didn't.
Last week, a student group reported to police the theft of $358 in presents as they were providing gift-wrapping services in Nugget Mall for donations. The group told the Juneau Police Department they had been scammed.
Turns out it was just an honest mistake, the group conceded Monday."We were so sure that we were scammed," parent-teacher volunteer Kathleen Galau said by phone Monday.
EAGLE RIVER -- Suzie Gorski can finally put away her paint cans.
The Chugiak-Eagle River Chamber of Commerce executive director had made sprucing up the old plywood "Welcome to Eagle River" sign an annual rite of spring.
"It was just tired," Gorski said of the old sign.
Thanks to the work of several community members -- and a $19,000 grant from British Petroleum -- the iconic wooden sign in Chief Alex Park was recently replaced with a brand-spanking-new welcome sign that's sure to become the area's newest big attraction.
In the dead of winter, the air outside swings past zero on the Fahrenheit scale around the Anchorage area. Further north around Fairbanks, it gets even colder. But none of this dissuades tourists who see this as a time to take in some of the attractions that have built Alaska's tourism reputation.
The Cook Inlet saw an upswing in oil and gas exploration in 2011, with three independent oil and gas companies drilling new wells and another independent submitting more than 90 bids in the near-record Cook Inlet lease sale in June.
The increased activity has had a direct impact on companies that support the oil and gas explorers. Those businesses do everything from drill wells to dispose of waste.
Al Hull, from Petroleum Equipment & Services, Inc., said his outfit has felt the increased demand.
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Hello everybody!
Me and my Swedish classmates started a School-project in September 2011 which included to create a song and release it through Itunes, Spotify, Amazon, eMusic, Rock Band Network etc. The song will probably be finished tonight or later this week but here's the problem...
Our schedule was not the best and we are going to presentate everything in late Mars this year. Is there any author out there who wants to help us with this?
It's a Progresive Death Metal song with influences from bands such as: Opeth, Dimmu Borgir, Children Of Bodom, Dream Theater, Iwrestledabearonce and Infected Mushroom
The song is called Psychedelic and the story (lyrics) is about a Man who experience Magic Mushrooms the "good" way and the REALLY BAD WAY (Hell is awaiting)
The song is about 8 minutes long and we have tabs, midi files and everything else to make it easier to author

subset: commoncrawl


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Page Description.
Updated March 31, 2012. Mountaineering Content and Family Content sections added.This page is dedicated to video content, mainly mountain biking, though some other outdoor perspectives will be included in the lower sections. The video's shown usually illustrate parts of a route which will help the end user understand the terrain on which they are assigned better.
Also included will be some video content which shows some interesting content, mainly ridge scrambles, summit perspectives/narratives, things of that nature.
Note that the majority of these videos are shot in resolutions up to 1080p and are usually located on YouTube. For those unfamiliar with YouTube, after starting the video you will have the option in the lower right hand portion of the video frame to click on the 360P or 480P icon. By doing this you'll have the option to up the resolution all the way up to 1080P. I've found the best resolution under most circumstances to be 720P, both from a bandwidth/quality perspective.
More video content will be added as it becomes available.
Mountain Bike Video Content.
North Skyline Trail, Chilly and Ben Lomond. August 5, 2012.Mineral Fork Mountain Bike Run. July 28, 2012.
Wasatch Crest via Mill D, July 22, 2012.
Iron Mine Mountain, June 28, 2012.
Palomar Mountain Highpoint Mountain Bike Run, May 4, 2012.
View Benchmark, Final Summit Climb.
View Benchmark Rock Garden Climb.
View Benchmark Descent Part 1, Upper Portion.
View Benchmark Descent Part 2, Haddington to Ghost Falls.
View Benchmark Descent Part 3, Ghost Falls to Orson Smith Trail Head.
Jacob's Ladder Descent.
Draper Rim Trail, Part 1, Upper Half.
Rush Trail, Corner Canyon, Draper, Utah.
Ghost Falls Trail, Corner Canyon, Draper, Utah.
A cold, snowy, muddy ride on November 11, 2011.
Hiking and Scrambling Video Content.
The Ivory Tower Traverse, July 26, 2012.Cardiac Ridge Traverse, July 26, 2012.
Pfeifferhorn and White Baldy, July 19, 2012.
Mt. Superior with Hayden and Bruk, July 6, 2012.
Mt. Baldy with Taylor and Bruk, June 30, 2012.
Sugarloaf Peak with Sierra, June 29,2012.
Lone Peak with Ryan Hoffman, June 23, 2012.
Box Elder Peak Traverse.
Deseret, North and South Willow Peaks, and Pockets Peak hike.
Moapa Peak, Memorial Day, 2012.
San Jacinto and Drury Peaks, via Marion Mountain Trail.
A Panorama and Narrative from the summit of Mt. Olympus.
Sundial Peak, Final Ridge Scramble.
A Panorama and Narrative from the summit of Sundial Peak.
Lone Peak Final Traverse, Scramble, October 28, 2011.
A narrative from the summit of Lone Peak, Utah, October 28, 2011.
Lone Peak, knife ridge descent, class 3 and 4.
Back Country Skiing Video Content.
White Baldy Spring Ascent, April 5, 2012.Summit of Mt. Wolverine, December 17, 2011.
Mountaineering Content.
Sundial and Blanche Peak Ascent, May 11, 2012.Red Baldy Spring Ascent, March 30, 2012.
Mt. Superior/Monte Cristo Winter Ascent, March 15, 2012.
Lone Peak Winter Ascent, February 4, 2012.


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How can a startup actually gain momentum when it actually requires some users already using it to succeed? For example, consider a startup where one party will put in what he/she wants to learn and another party will put in what he/she can teach, and then the system will make pairs based on their location.
How do you gain the initial momentum in a startup that requires such a network effect?


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Dr. Frost met Bethany Hamilton in May and got two autographed photos from her! Now he wants to give them to two of our fabulous patients!
How can you win one of these autographed photos?
1st: Tell us what your favorite thing about our office is on our Facebook Fan Page. This will enter you into the drawing to win the autograph!
2nd: Want to make SURE you win? The comment on our Facebook Fan Page that gets the most "likes" will also win an autograph!
The contest ends June 19th so get posting!


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The Health Education Resource Center (HERC) is affiliated with Health Service and serves as a source of information on health related topics. The HERC provides students, faculty, and staff with a wide variety of health programs. The HERC staff offers presentations, one-on-one consultations, and general resources and information for any of the programs listed below. Additionally, the HERC can help find other resources if our office does not have something that meets your needs.
Visit the HERC on the top floor of the Student Services building to see everything we have to offer!
What Is New at the HERC
Programs to Look for in the Spring:
- Healthy Cooking 101 Classes- Learn how to make a variety of healthy recipes with the help of our Nutrition Education Coordinator. Eat what you make!
- 6-Pack- A series of presentations relating to alcohol risk factors, expectancies, interventions, and behaviors taught by our Substance Abuse Education Coordinator.
- Sleep Open Sessions- Learn the importance of healthy sleep habits and ways to achieve those goals from our Community Organizing & Leadership Coordinator.
Quick Links
- January 29
- February 12
- February 27
- March 27
- Full Listing...
Hours and Location
Monday - Friday 8-4:30
Student Service Building
Top Floor
Student Service Building
Top Floor
(217)581-3013 (Clinic)
HERC: email@example.com
HERC: email@example.com
Clinic: firstname.lastname@example.com


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The region's seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate shot up in January, with the City of Cincinnati at 8.6 percent, up from 6.7 percent in December; Hamilton County at 7.9 percent, up from 6.2 percent; and Greater Cincinnati at 8 percent, up from 6.4 percent. The rates were still lower than January 2012, when Cincinnati was at 8.8 percent, Hamilton County was at 8.3 percent and Greater Cincinnati was at 8.5 percent. But the civilian labor force, which measures the amount of people working and looking for jobs, was larger across-the-board in January 2012 than it was in January 2013. Federal and state employment rates are normally adjusted for seasonal factors, but local rates are not. The full data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services can be seen here.
Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald launched an "exploratory committee" for a gubernatorial election campaign that intends to unseat Gov. John Kasich. In his announcement video, FitzGerald says state leaders have let down Ohioans and he can provide a better alternative.
The Cincinnati Tea Party is protesting Kasich's plan to expand Medicaid to include anyone up to or at 138 percent of the federal poverty level. The tea party says the expansion, which is financially supported by Obamacare, is financed by the federal government's debt and creates more long-term problems by failing to address current issues with the U.S. health care system. The Health Policy Institute of Ohio says the Medicaid expansion will save the state money in the next decade and provide health insurance to 456,000 Ohioans by 2022. CityBeat covered Kasich's budget proposal, which includes the Medicaid expansion, in further detail here.
Yesterday, Kasich's administration tried to explain why it did not seek legislative approval before transferring about $6.5 million in taxpayer money to JobsOhio, but it did not provide any evidence for its claim that the grants used do not require legislative approval. State Democrats are getting increasingly critical of the lack of transparency behind JobsOhio, a publicly funded nonprofit agency that Kasich established to eventually replace the Ohio Department of Development. Recently, State Auditor Dave Yost has been pushing to fully audit JobsOhio's finances, even its private funds, but Kasich and General Assembly Republicans argue the state auditor can only check on public funds.
Bipartisan efforts to get rid of traffic cameras are underway, largely because the policy is seen as a money grab, may be unconstitutional and likely to be put to referendum, anyway.
A nun, poll worker and widower have been indicted in the Hamilton County Board of Election's voter fraud case. The board says the charges are only the beginning, and other investigations are ongoing.
In order to meet new state standards, Cincinnati will implement safety improvements for pedestrians, including changes to lines separating pedestrian crosswalks and countdowns on more pedestrian signals.
The University of Cincinnati is investing $1.6 million in its doctoral programs and accepting proposals to support others to show how it would result in better faculty, student research productivity, recruitment, retention of top students and ability to leverage extended funding.
With yesterday's approved changes to the state's transportation budget, Ohio could be moving to a 70 mile-per-hour speed limit soon.
A dad hacked the game Donkey Kong to allow his daughter to play a heroine instead of Mario.
With a new artificial intelligence app that tweets even after a person dies, mortality is no longer a concern for retaining Twitter followers.
In February, the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent, from 7.9 percent in January, and the nation added 236,000 jobs. Many of the new jobs — about 48,000 — came from construction, while government employment saw a drop even before sequestration, a series of across-the-board federal spending cuts, began on March 1. Economists seem quite positive about the report.
In January, Ohio's unemployment rate rose to 7 percent, from 6.7 percent in December, with the number of unemployed in the state rising to 399,000, from 385,000 the month before. Goods-producing and service-providing industries and local government saw a rise in employment, while jobs were lost in trade, transportation, utilities, financial activities, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, state government and federal government. In January, U.S. unemployment rose to 7.9 percent, from 7.8 percent in December.
A new report outlined renovations for the city-owned Tower Place Mall, which is getting a makeover as part of Cincinnati's parking plan. A lot of the retail space in the mall will be replaced to make room for parking that will be accessed through what is currently Pogue's Garage, but two rings of retail space will remain, according to the report. The parking plan was approved by City Council Wednesday, but it was temporarily halted by a Hamilton County judge. The legal contest has now moved to federal court, and it's set to get a hearing today.
Meet the mayoral candidates through CityBeat's two extensive Q&As: Roxanne Qualls and John Cranley. Qualls spoke mostly about her support for immigration, the parking plan and streetcar, while Cranley discussed his opposition to the parking plan and streetcar and some of his ideas for Cincinnati.
A Hamilton County court ruled against the controversial traffic cameras in Elmwood Place, and the Ohio legislature is considering a statewide ban on the cameras. In his ruling, Judge Robert Ruehlman pointed out there were no signs making motorists aware of the cameras and the cameras are calibrated once a year by a for-profit operator. The judge added, "Elmwood Place is engaged in nothing more than a high-tech game of 3-card Monty. … It is a scam that motorists can't win." Bipartisan legislation was recently introduced to prohibit traffic cameras in Ohio.
JobsOhio, the state-funded nonprofit corporation, quietly got $5.3 million in state grants, even though the state legislature only appropriated $1 million for startup costs. JobsOhio says it needed the extra funds because legal challenges have held up liquor profits that were originally supposed to provide funding. In the past few days, State Auditor Dave Yost, a Republican, has been pushing Republican Gov. John Kasich and JobsOhio to release more details about the nonprofit corporation's finances, but Kasich and JobsOhio have been pushing back.
Advocates for Ohio's charter schools say Kasich's budget amounts to a per-pupil cut, with funding dropping from $5,704 per pupil to $5,000 plus some targeted assistance that ranges from hundreds of dollars to nothing depending on the school. A previous CityBeat report on online schools found traditional public schools get about $3,193 per student — much less than the funding that apparently goes to charter schools.
Fountain Square will be getting a new television from Cincinnati-based LSI Industries with the help of Fifth-Third Bank and the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC). The new video board will have better image quality and viewing angles, but it will also come with more screen space for sponsors.
Ohio's casino revenues rose in January. That could be a good sign for Cincinnati's Horseshoe Casino, which opened Monday.
In light of recent discussion, Popular Science posted a Q&A on drones.
City Council approved a plan to lease the city's parking assets to the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority, but the plan is now being held up by a judge's temporary restraining order (TRO). The plan was passed with an emergency clause, which is meant to expedite the plan's implementation, but it also makes the law immune to referendum. The judge's TRO, which will delay implementation for at least one week, will provide enough time to process a lawsuit filed by Curt Hartman, an attorney who represents the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST), on behalf of local activists who oppose the plan and argue it should be subject to referendum. The parking plan will lease the city's parking assets to fund development projects, including a 30-story tower and a downtown grocery store, and help balance the deficit for the next two fiscal years. Opponents say they're concerned about the plan leading to parking rate hikes, and they say the plan will not fix the city's structural deficits.
Before the final vote on the parking plan, City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. gave a presentation to City Council that showed options for reducing Cincinnati's structural deficit, including a reduction or elimination of lower-ranked programs in the city's Priority-Driven Budgeting Process, a reduction in subsidies to health clinics that are getting more money from Obamacare, the semi-automation of solid waste collection or the introduction of new or increased fees for certain programs, among other changes.
Ohio senators are pushing a law that would make records of people licensed to carry concealed firearms in Ohio off-limits to journalists. The senators say they were inspired to push the law after a New York newspaper published the names and addresses of permit holders in three counties. Dennis Hetzel, executive director of the Ohio Newspaper Association, says the law will decrease government transparency and limit rights: "I wish the pro-gun forces would be as respectful of the First Amendment as they are of the second, and they should be fearful of excessive government secrecy."
The superintendent and treasurer of the Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy, a charter school, were indicted after allegedly using school funds to go to "Girls weekends" in Chicago, sightseeing tours through California and Europe and a trip to Boston to see Oprah — allegedly costing taxpayers more than $148,000. Dave Yost, state auditor, said in a statement, "The audacity of these school officials is appalling. The good work by our auditors and investigators has built the strongest possible case to ensure they can never use the public treasury as their personal travel account again."
The Ohio Department of Transportation and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet are working together to make the case that any delays in the Brent Spence Bridge project will hurt Greater Cincinnati's economy. Most people involved in the issue agree the bridge needs rebuilding, but not everyone agrees on how the project should be funded. Northern Kentucky politicians in particular have strongly opposed instituting tolls — one of the leading ideas for funding the project.
In public hearings yesterday, service industry officials said Gov. John Kasich's budget plan, which will expand the state's sales tax to apply to more service, would drive some service providers out of Ohio and make the state less competitive. Among other complaints, Carter Strang, president of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, said the plan could make it harder for Ohioans to access legal counsel by increasing costs and reducing employment in the legal sector. CityBeat covered Kasich's budget proposal in detail here.
State Auditor Yost filed a subpoena to get JobsOhio's financial records after the agency failed to turn them over. The subpoena puts Yost at odds with Kasich, a fellow Republican who established JobsOhio, a nonprofit company, in an attempt to bring more jobs to the state and replace the Ohio Department of Development.
Hamilton County is launching the Hamilton County Community Re-entry Action Plan, which will help integrate ex-convicts back into society. Commissioner Todd Portune told WVXU the plan will help with overpopulation in jails and prisons: "When you build (jail and prison) facilities, the population in them always seems to rise to meet whatever the (capacity) level is in the facility. You never seem to have enough space. The real answer beyond facilities is that we've got to turn around the lives of the individuals who are in our corrections system that have made bad choices."
The University of Cincinnati says it won't block an outdoor display of vagina pictures on campus.
Yesterday, Kentucky's U.S. Sen. Rand Paul held a nearly 13-hour filibuster to protest any possible use of drone strikes on American soil. Paul was joined by senators from both sides of the aisle in his opposition to using the strikes, which were used in Yemen in 2011 to kill Anwar al-Aulaqi, an American citizen accused of being a high-ranking al-Qaeda official.
The same Cleveland judge who made a woman hold an "idiot" sign for driving around a school bus is making a 58-year-old man hold another sign for threatening officers in a 911 call. The sign will apologize to officers and read, "I was being an idiot and it will never happen again." The man will also go to jail for 90 days.
There used to be camels in Arctic Canada, but that shouldn't be too surprising — camels currently reside in the Gobi Desert, which can reach -40 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter.
In a 5-4 vote today, City Council approved a plan to lease Cincinnati's parking assets to the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority to help balance deficits for the next two fiscal years and fund development projects in Downtown, but the plan is now being held up by a Hamilton County judge's temporary restraining order (TRO).
The plan was approved with an emergency clause, which means it is not subject to referendum, according to City Solicitor John Curp. Councilman Chris Seelbach joined the parking plan's five supporters in approving the emergency clause, which is meant to expedite the plan's implementation by removing a 30-day waiting period.
Shortly after the parking plan was approved by City Council, Judge Robert Winkler signed a TRO that will halt its implementation for at least one week. The judge's action will provide enough time to process a lawsuit filed by Curt Hartman, an attorney who represents the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST), on behalf of local activists who oppose the plan and argue it should be subject to referendum.
Mayor Mark Mallory says the emergency clause was passed to speed up the plan's implementation in time for the budget that will begin July 1, not to suppress voters: "I don't think that any member of council has ever voted for an emergency clause in an effort to keep voters from being able to reverse the decision that the council is making, so I take exception with that characterization."
The parking plan got its required fifth vote, up from a 4-3 vote in the Budget and Finance Committee Monday, from Councilwoman Laure Quinlivan, who abstained from voting in the committee meeting because she said she was concerned about the city's long-term fiscal outlook. She says her concerns were eased after she read the leasing agreement and listened to a presentation from City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. that gave City Council a few options for fixing the city's structural deficits.
The parking plan's other supporters were council members Roxanne Qualls, Yvette Simpson, Cecil Thomas and Wendell Young. Council members Seelbach, P.G. Sittenfeld, Chris Smitherman and Charlie Winburn voted against the plan.
The plan, which CityBeat previously covered ("Parking Stimulus," issue of Feb. 27), will lease the city's parking assets to fund development projects, including a 30-story tower and a downtown grocery store, and help balance the deficit for the next two fiscal years. The deal will produce a $92 million upfront payment, and the city projects that additional annual installments will generate more than $263 million throughout the lease's duration.
Opponents say they are concerned the plan will give up too much control of the city's parking meters and garages, which they say could lead to spikes in parking rates.
Under the initial plan, downtown rates will remain at $2 an hour and neighborhood rates will be hiked to 75 cents. Afterward, parking meter rates will be set to increase annually by 3 percent or the rate of inflation on a compounded basis, with actual increases coming in at 25-cents-an-hour increments. That should translate to 25-cent increases every three years for downtown and every six years for neighborhoods, according to Meg Olberding, city spokesperson.
The city will be able to bypass the so-called "cap" on parking meter rate increases through a unanimous vote from a five-person advisory committee, approval from the city manager and a final nod from the Port Authority. The process, which begins with an advisory committee that will include four members appointed by the Port Authority and one selected by the city manager, will allow the city to raise and lower rates to adjust for changing economic needs, says Olberding.
Opponents also say the money from the parking plan is being used too quickly, which does little to alleviate the city's structural deficits.
Dohoney previously argued the plan will help reduce the deficit by generating recurring revenues through long-term economic growth and development.
"The situation that we're in requires that we accelerate growth right now, not later," he said Monday. "If we do not do that, then we're going to have further negative ramifications to deal with."
With the lease agreement approved, it is now up to the Port Authority to develop and publicize the bond documents that will further detail the framework of the parking plan.
in the same meeting, City Council unanimously passed a resolution
asking the federal government to take up comprehensive immigration
Update: This story was updated to reflect Judge Robert Winkler's actions.
A YouTube video that went viral over the weekend may have broken the rosy illusions the average American has about wealth and income inequality.
Using data from Mother Jones,
Dan Ariely, ThinkProgress and CNN, the video compares the average American's ideal distribution of wealth, what the average American says wealth inequality looks like and how wealth is distributed in reality — ultimately showing that the average American says the nation is much more equal than it really is.
The video suggests investment income as one of the drivers of inequality. The top 1 percent wealthiest Americans hold 50 percent of the nation's stocks, bonds and mutual funds, while the bottom 50 percent of Americans only hold 0.5 percent of such investments, according to the video.
"The average worker needs to work more than a month to earn what the CEO makes in one hour," the narrator says.
In the past, the United States was a lot closer to equality. As the video points out, the top 1 percent only took home 9 percent of the nation's income in 1976. Today, that number is up to 24 percent.
Ohio isn't immune to the trend. A previous report from the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found Ohio's income gap — the income difference between the rich and poor — is wide and growing, and low-income and middle-income Ohioans have actually seen their incomes drop since the 1990s.
The video doesn't make any suggestions on how to fix the problem — it simply shows massive inequality exists — but there are plenty of ideas out there. A paper from the Congressional Research Service suggested the tax system may be playing a role in driving up income and wealth inequality: "However, the top tax rate reductions appear to be correlated with the increasing concentration of income at the top of the income distribution. … The statistical analysis in this report suggests that tax policy could be related to how the economic pie is sliced — lower top tax rates may be associated with greater income disparities."
In December, The Washington Post posted 10 empirically supported ideas, which included funding preschool education, making unions easier to join and promoting trade in highly skilled professions.
In his 2013 State of the Union, President Barack Obama suggested raising the federal minimum wage to help combat poverty and income inequality — a policy that economist Lawrence Mishel of the Economic Policy Institute recently advocated.
Here is the full video:
Two Ohio senators, including Senate Minority Leader Eric Kearney of Cincinnati, are pushing a bill that will require the state's Bureau of Motor Vehicles to grant driver's licenses to the children of illegal immigrants. The senators claim state BMV offices are inconsistently applying President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows the children of illegal immigrants to remain in the country without fear of prosecution, but the Ohio Department of Public Safety says the issue is still under review. CityBeat originally broke the story after hearing of Ever Portillo's experiences at a Columbus BMV office here, and a follow-up story covered the internal conflict at the BMV over the issue here.
Ohio officials have said the state has only put $1 million toward JobsOhio, but records recently acquired by The Columbus Dispatch show $5.3 million in funding has been directed to the program
so far, and the public investment could be as high as $9 million. State
officials said the funding is necessary because constitutional
challenges, which the Ohio Supreme Court recently agreed to take up,
have held up the program's original source of funding — state liquor
profits. JobsOhio is a nonprofit company established with the support of
Gov. John Kasich that's meant to attract investment and bring jobs to
the state. Kasich says he wants to replace the Ohio Department of Development with the nonprofit company in the future.
City Council's Budget and Finance Committee approved a plan to lease Cincinnati's parking assets to the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority in a 4-3 vote yesterday, but the plan will require five votes to become law in a final City Council vote tomorrow. The plan, which CityBeat previously covered, would lease the city's parking assets to fund development projects, including a 30-story tower and a downtown grocery store, and help balance the deficit. The deal would produce a $92 million upfront payment, and the city projects that additional annual installments would generate more than $263 million throughout the lease's duration. Critics are worried the city will give up too much control of its parking assets as part of the deal, and concerns about the city's long-term deficits remain. The alternatives — plans B, C and S — would fix structural deficit problems, while the budget only helps balance the deficit for the next two fiscal years.
The company that will operate Cincinnati's parking meters if the parking deal is approved by City Council had problems in the past, according to a tip received by multiple news outlets from Tabitha Woodruff, an advocate at Ohio Public Interest Research Group. The issues surfaced years before Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) was bought by Xerox in 2010, and Xerox now denies any wrongdoing. One of the issues is a 2007 audit, which found ACS mismanaged parking meters in Washington, D.C. Kevin Lightfoot, a spokesperson at Xerox, says the audit was based on "faulty information," and a lot of the problems found were because the auditor improperly read parking meter screen displays.
An approved commitment by the Hamilton County Transportation Improvement District (HCTID) may ensure a rail service is ready for Cincinnati in time for the 2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune is pushing for local and state governments to break down any barriers for Oasis Rail Transit, which will carry passengers from Downtown to Milford.
The Ohio Board of Education will decide between two candidates for state superintendent next week: acting Superintendent of Public Instruction Michael Sawyers or Dick Ross, Gov. John Kasich's top education adviser.
After years of development and anticipation, Cincinnati's Horseshoe Casino opened yesterday. The casino comes with the promise of jobs and economic development, but it also poses the risk of crime, bankruptcy and even suicide. State and local legislators are also looking forward to extra government revenue from the casino, even though casino revenue around the state has fallen short of projections. For Over-the-Rhine residents, the grand opening, which culminated in a fireworks display, was sort of like being in the middle of a thunderstorm.
Livability.com named Cincinnati the No. 10 spring break destination because of the Cincinnati Zoo, Botanical Garden, IKEA, Cincinnati Art Museum, the 21c Museum Hotel, Newport Aquarium and the Clifton Cultural Arts Center, among other places and family-friendly activities.
Science doesn't want pregnant women to be capable of anything.
Here are two pictures of Venus from Saturn's view.
City Council's Budget and Finance Committee today approved a
plan to lease Cincinnati's parking assets to the Port of Greater
Cincinnati Development Authority in a 4-3 vote, but the plan will require five votes to become law in a final City Council vote on March 6.
Council members Roxanne Qualls, Yvette Simpson, Cecil Thomas and Wendell Young voted for the plan, and council members Chris Seelbach, Chris Smitherman and Charlie Winburn voted against it. Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld was absent, and Councilwoman Laure Quinlivan abstained, although she said she could vote yes if she sees more details about how the city will curb its long-term budget problems.
The plan, which CityBeat previously covered ("Parking Stimulus," issue of Feb. 27), would lease the city's parking assets to fund development projects, including a 30-story tower and a downtown grocery store, and help balance the deficit for the next two fiscal years. The deal would produce a $92 million upfront payment, and the city projects that additional annual installments would generate more than $263 million throughout the lease's duration.
Before the vote, several City Council members said the parking plan would not solve Cincinnati's structural deficit problems, but City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. said the plan would help reduce the deficit by generating recurring revenues through long-term economic growth and development.
"The situation that we're in requires that we accelerate
growth right now, not later," he said. "If we do not do that, then we're going to
have further negative ramifications to deal with."
Still, Dohoney admitted the plan would not solve all the city's budget woes — just like he has repeatedly said in the past. Even with the parking plan, the city projects a $10 million deficit in 2014, $15.5 million deficit in 2015 and $20 million deficit in 2016.
The council members insisted there are alternatives to the parking plan and Dohoney's Plan B, which would lay off 344 employees, eliminate Human Services Funding and close pools and recreation centers, among other changes.
On March 1, Seelbach proposed Plan S, which would not lease the city's parking assets to balance the budget and would instead use $7.5 million in casino revenue, cut $5 million based on the results of the city's priority-driven budgeting and allow voters to choose between a $10-per-month trash fee or a 2-percent increase in the city's admissions tax.
On the same day as the hearings, Winburn, the sole Republican on City Council, proposed Plan C, which would reduce city employees' salaries across the board — with exemptions for police, fire, health, garbage, recreation, parks and road paving — and use casino and parking revenue to clear the deficit.
At the City Council hearings, Quinlivan listed a few other
possibilities, including sharing public safety services with other
local communities. She also advised the city to put together a long-term deficit reduction plan. "We don't want to kick the can down the road any more," she said.
Thomas suggested putting an earnings tax hike of 0.1 percent or 0.2 percent on the ballot. He said, "It would solve this (deficit) problem once and for all."
Some council members also raised concerns about the release of bond documents, which will further detail the framework of the parking agreement. Dohoney and Laura Brunner, president of the Port Authority, said the bond documents have not been crafted because a lease agreement has to be approved by City Council first, but the documents will be made public once they are put together.
Before the final committee vote, Smitherman successfully
motioned to separate part of the parking plan from the budget, which opens the plan to referendum. The motion was in response to City Solicitor
John Curp, who said appropriation ordinances, or ordinances that are essentially budgets, aren't subject to
referendum, according to state law.
The company that would operate Cincinnati's parking meters
if the city passes its controversial parking plan this week was mired with audited problems and
complaints in the past. The issues surfaced years before Affiliated
Computer Services (ACS) was bought by Xerox in 2010, and Xerox now denies any wrongdoing.
A 2007 audit found ACS had failed to take care and keep track of parking meters it operated in Washington, D.C. The audit claimed 35 percent of parking meters listed in ACS's inventory were missing, about 16 percent of the remaining meters were completely inoperative and 65 percent had problems that ranged from defacing to improper height and stability. ACS also failed to fix meters within the 72-hour period mandated by its contract, according to the audit.
For some residents, the broken meters led to unfair
tickets, with 6,888 tickets, or nearly 1 percent of parking meter
tickets, being improperly issued at unfixed meters, according to the audit. The audit also found a 903-percent increase in overall parking meter complaints under the privatization contract with ACS.
The audit also questioned the financial gains for Washington, D.C., which had to pay $8.8 million, or 33.4
percent, more under privatization than projected trends under public
The bad audit wasn't enough for Washington,
D.C., to cut its contract with ACS, which still manages the city's
parking meters today.
The audit was among a few other problems tipped to multiple media outlets by Tabitha Woodruff, an advocate at Ohio Public Interest Research Group. In 2007, ACS was accused of bribing police officers in Edmonton, Canada, but a judge ruled in favor of ACS, stating there wasn't sufficient evidence. In 2010, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) charged ACS with backdating and falsely disclosing stock options between 1996 and 2005, and ACS consented to a permanent injunction without admitting or denying the charges.
All the discovered problems occurred before 2010, when Xerox bought ACS.
Kevin Lightfoot, a spokesperson at Xerox, says the audit's findings were based on "faulty information." He says Xerox and the District of Columbia Department of Transportation found ACS had saved Washington, D.C., money. He also claims the auditor had misunderstood the parking meters' screen displays, which he says led to the improper identification of inoperative or malfunctioning meters.
CityBeat previously covered the parking proposal, which would lease the city's parking assets to fund deficit reduction and economic development, in detail. Mayor Mark Mallory and Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls have endorsed the plan, and it's currently expected to have the five votes necessary to pass a possible City Council vote today.
On Friday, Councilman Chris Seelbach revealed Plan S, an alternative proposal that would not lease the city's parking assets and would instead use $7.5 million in casino revenue, cut $5 million based on the results of the city's priority-driven budgeting and allow voters to choose between a $10-per-month trash fee or a 2-percent increase in the city's admissions tax.
City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. also put forward
his "Plan B," which would lay off 344 employees, eliminate Human
Services Funding and close pools and recreation centers, among other
changes. In response, mayoral candidate John Cranley proposed his own
plan, which would use casino revenue, parking meter revenue and cuts to
"non-essential programs" to tame the deficit.
Plan B, Plan S and Cranley's plan all fix the structural deficit in the city's budget, while the parking plan only fixes the deficit for two years.
City Council may vote today on the controversial plan to lease the city's parking assets to fund economic development and temporarily balance the deficit. On Friday, Councilman Chris Seelbach put forward Plan S, which would redirect $7.5 million in casino revenues, cut $5 million based on the results of the city's priority-driven budgeting and allow voters to choose between a $10-per-month trash fee or increase the city's admissions tax by 2 percent. Previously, City Manager Milton Dohoney unveiled Plan B to the parking plan, which would lay off 344 employees, eliminate Human Services Funding and close pools and recreation centers, among other changes. In response, mayoral candidate John Cranley proposed his own plan, which would use casino revenue, parking meter revenue and cuts to "non-essential programs" to tame the deficit. Plan B, Plan S and Cranley's plan all fix the structural deficit in the city's budget, while the parking plan only fixes the deficit for two years. The parking plan was unanimously approved by the Cincinnati Planning Commission Friday, and it appears five council members are ready to give the plan the go-ahead.
Members of Gov. John Kasich's own party are beginning to show skepticism toward the governor's budget proposal, which would expand the sales tax to apply to more services, increase the oil and gas severance tax and make more Ohioans eligible for Medicaid — mostly at the cost of the federal government. Republicans are likely to propose alternatives before a mid-April vote. In a Quinnipiac University poll, a majority of Ohioans approved of the Medicaid expansion but not Kasich's tax plan. CityBeat covered Kasich's budget plan in detail here.
Police are taking measures to prevent traffic problems at the Horseshoe Casino's grand opening tonight. Meanwhile, Indiana casinos are preparing for downturns as the Horseshoe Casino promises a major alternative to tri-state gamblers. During the soft opening last week, Ohio's casino regulator found the Horseshoe Casino would have to fix its security and surveillance before the grand opening. Previous studies found casinos bring job growth at the cost of crime, bankruptcy and even suicide, and a Dayton Daily News report also found the state's casinos are falling short of job projections.
On Friday, the sequester, a series of across-the-board federal budget cuts, kicked in, and it could mean big funding reductions for Ohio's schools. The blunt cuts are largely because Republicans refuse to negotiate with President Barack Obama and Democrats — to the point that Republicans don't even know what the president is proposing.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio is asking the state's Department of Education to expand its seclusion room rules to apply to charter schools. Previous reports found seclusion rooms, which were originally intended to hold out-of-control kids until they calm down, have been largely used for convenience by educators, leading to stricter policies from the Ohio Department of Education. But the regulations currently apply only to traditional public schools, not charter schools.
Reminder: On top of putting everyone around you in danger, texting while driving will now result in a fine up to $150.
The Cincinnati Zoo has confirmed it has terrible taste in names with its choice for the new four-week-old gorilla: Gladys Stones. Still, the zoo does have that whole environmentally friendly thing going on. Maybe the pros outweigh the cons.
U.S. researchers are claiming they have "functionally cured" an HIV-infected infant after extensive treatments left the virus's presence in blood at such low levels that it can no longer be detected by standard clinical tests.
Scientists are ostracizing what Popular Science calls the "world's sexiest octopus."
If you can watch BigDog, the four-legged robot, toss cinder blocks with ease and not fear the robot apocalypse, you're not prepared.
A new Policy Matters Ohio report found local government funding has been reduced by $1.4 billion since Gov. John Kasich took office, leading to a nearly 50-percent reduction in state funding.
The report found local government funding dropped from nearly $3 billion in the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years — the years budgeted by former Gov. Ted Strickland — to about $2.2 billion in the 2012 and 2013 fiscal years — the first two years budgeted by Kasich. The governor's most recent budget proposal would ensure the continuation of the downward slide, with local government funding dropping down to slightly more than $1.5 billion in the 2014 and 2015 fiscal years, according to the report.
Policy Matters concluded new revenue from the state's
casinos and an expanded sales tax would not be enough to outweigh cuts
in the Local Government Fund, utility tax reimbursements, tangible
personal property reimbursements and the termination of the estate tax. By itself, the estate tax, which was phased out at the beginning of 2013, would have provided $625.3 million to local governments in the 2014-2015 budget, but it was repealed
in 2011 by the Republican-controlled Ohio legislature and Kasich.
The governor's office has repeatedly argued that the cuts in Kasich's first budget were necessary to help balance an $8 billion budget deficit, but the Policy Matters report says improving economic conditions have removed a need for further local government funding cuts: "To encourage growth we need good schools, reliable public safety and emergency services and strong communities. During hard times, state and local policy led to cuts. But further cuts in appropriations for local government are not helping communities. Curtailing local control of local revenues will complicate recovery – as the economy improves, it is time to restore the fiscal partnership between state and community."
When presenting his 2013 budget proposal, City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. said the state funding reductions cost Cincinnati $22.2 million in revenues for the year.
CityBeat previously covered Kasich's 2014-2015 budget proposal and how it affects taxpayers, schools and Medicaid recipients ("Smoke and Mirrors," issue of Feb. 20).


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Norooz in Pasadena is a celebration of the Iranian New Year
In 2013, Norooz will occur at 04:03:13 AM Pacific Time on Wednesday, March 20th,
at the turn of the spring or vernal equinox.
The first Norooz in Pasadena was officially celebrated on Tuesday March 20th, 2007 at precisely 05:07:26 PM at the turn of the spring at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, California.
The mission of Norooz in Pasadena is to celebrate and promote Iranian arts and culture to the non-Iranian community in Pasadena and its neighboring communities.
The word Norooz means 'new day' and refers to a new beginning, a new year. It begins precisely at the time of the vernal equinox, which marks the beginning of Spring, on or about March 21.
Norooz in Pasadena is a non-religious and non-political cultural entity. As of 2009, Norooz has been declared "a new Pasadena tradition" by the City of Pasadena's Mayor, Hon. Bill Bogaard.


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HOLLISTER, Calif.- Hollister Police say FBI agents arrested the man accused of calling in bomb threats to San Benito High School all the way from Michigan.
Jason Keith Smith, 27, was arrested Tuesday and charged with the use of interstate communications to make threats.
Smith allegedly used his cell phone to make bomb threats, claiming he had hidden explosives in San Benito High School and threatened to detonate the device.
After making his initial appearance Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Smith will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California.
FBI credits the arrest to a thorough joint investigation with the Hollister Police Department.


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Class 2a Concordia Supersectional
Cole and Jackson control the inside for Seton
Seton Academy's Mariah Cole and Desiree Jackson are the last line of defense on a team that takes pride in its defense.
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health care proxy
Definition from Nolo's Plain-English Law Dictionary
A person named in a health care directive to make medical decisions for the person who signed the document, called the principal. A health care proxy may go by many other names, including agent, attorney-in-fact, or patient advocate.
Definition provided by Nolo's Plain-English Law Dictionary.
August 19, 2010, 5:17 pm


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Inside the Creative Studio eBook: Inspiration and Ideas for Your Art and Craft Space
Inside the Creative Studio eBook: Inspiration and Ideas for Your Art and Craft Space Learn MoreItem Number: EP3143
Availability: Download Now
$19.95 -
Fresh Quilting eBook: Fearless Color, Design, and Inspiration
Brighten up any room with fun, contemporary projects exploding with sensational color and learn to create beautiful and lively pieces for you and your home with the easy-to-download Fresh Quilting eBook. Learn MoreItem Number: 10Z016
Availability: Download Now
Was: $19.95
Sale: $18.16
DIY Fabric Design!: 10 Ways to Make Your Own Fabrics with Surface Design Techniques (eBook)
What better way to personalize your quilts than to incorporate fabrics you've dyed, over-dyed, discharged, stamped, printed, or screened? Learn MoreItem Number: EP3627
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$9.95 -
Wearable Art: 10 Creative Ways to Accessorize (eBook)
Gather your fabrics and fibers, papers and ephemera, paints, beads and baubles, and your favorite tools and get ready to have fun. Learn MoreItem Number: EP3678
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10 Projects to Organize Your Art Studio Beautifully, Plus How to Host Successful Open Studios (eBook)
Personalize your studio with these 10 tried-and-true projects that help you get organized, work more efficiently, and lift your spirits. Learn MoreItem Number: EP3366
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Barbara Randle's Crazy Quilting With Attitude eBook
By Barbara RandleBarbara Randle, successful sewing artist, introduces a fresh approac Learn MoreItem Number: W2920
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By Cindy Walter and Stevii GravesQuilters will learn the most exciting new techniques Learn MoreItem Number: W2927
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By Cindy Gorder Crazy quilting needn't be sheer madness - thanks to the simple Learn MoreItem Number: W2949
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Bundles of Fun eBook
By Karen SnyderThis book is ideal for quilters who love to use fat-quarter bundles. Learn MoreItem Number: W2971
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Watercolor Landscape Quilts eBook
By Cathy GeierWatercolor Landscape Quilts equips you with the skills and insig Learn MoreItem Number: W2972
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Longbay Resort is a group of traditional bungalows arranged in beautiful gardens or along the beach, with easy access to the range of restaurants & bars offered along this stretch of beach, or on the village road behind. Unlike a lot of resorts, it is flat! Although the accommodation was excellent at Longbay Resort, my preference was to eat at... More
- Also Known As:
- Longbay Hotel Koh Phangan
- Longbay Hotel
- Long Bay Hotel
- Official Description (provided by the hotel):
- Longbay resort is peacefully located directly on the beach at Haad Yao beach, on the northwest of Koh Phangan just about 30 minutes to Haad Rin. ... more less
- Reservation Options:
- TripAdvisor is proud to partner with Booking.com, Agoda, Priceline, HostelBookers, Tingo and Otel so you can book your Longbay Resort reservations with confidence. We help millions of travelers each month to find the perfect hotel for both vacation and business trips, always with the best discounts and special offers.


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State DOT holding land auction Wednesday
Posted at: 02/27/2013 6:53 AM
You could be the new owner of several pieces of land if you have the extra cash and win at auction.
There is a surplus of land in Monroe, Ontario, and Livingston Counties. On Wednesday, the state DOT is auctioning off nine properties beginning at 10:30 a.m. at its regional office on Jefferson Road.
The properties are in Irondequoit, Webster, Greece, Chili, Canandaigua, Farmington and Geneseo.
The DOT says it no longer needs the land for highway improvements.
For maps, values and deposits, click here.
Have a story you want our news team to investigate? Call us at 585-232-1010, click here to send us an e-mail or leave us a Facebook post or tweet.
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Portable air conditioners can provide spot cooling or heating option if you know how to use them correctly. Commercial Cool by Haier portable air conditioners have casters and can be rolled from room to room but to work properly, they must be vented through a window. The quick-mount window kit, which is included, makes it easy to vent the portable air conditioner through double-hung or sliding window. Portable air conditioners are available in cool only or heat/cool, for supplemental heat.
Check out Tom's full interview here and if you need some direction on choosing the right type of AC, Haier has Product Selector that should help.


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Thierry Lasry
Lively Sunglasses
Launched in late 2006, the self entitled brand is based on the concept of futuristic vintage. Creativity and quality serve as the trademark of Thierry Lasry; no oversized logos appear on the temples and each pair is entirely hand made in France with the best craftsmanship techniques and traditional know-how.
- Acetate frames with metal arms
- 45-15-145 in mm
- 100% UV protection
- Revolve Style No. THIE-UG2
- Manufacturer Style No. LIVELY
- Can't find your size? Place a special order inquiry for this item.


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Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will campaign together in Florida Friday following this week's Republican National Convention, according to a release by the campaign.
Romney and Ryan will be officially entered into nomination on Thursday at the Republican Convention in Tampa. On Friday, the newly elected duo will attend a convention farewell victory rally at the Lakeland Linder Regional Airport in Lakeland, Florida.
The Republican National Convention officially began Monday but was scheduled to immediately recess due to severe weather conditions. Tuesday marked the first full day of activities.


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It seems we have had our fair share of mixed weather. One day it's cold, then it snows, then it's 70 degrees and then it rains for days. I think most St. Louis Moms are ready for sunshine and playing outside! Kids are ready too!
So how do you prepare for spring and summer? Take a look at the cute things STL Boutique Moms have ready to get you in a sunny spirit!
Personalized Sunshine Pillow from Zoey's Attic
Girl's Hat with Rolled Fabric Flower Trio from Here's The Diehl
Silver Circle & Crystal Dangle Earrings from Made by Maggie
Red and White Personalized Polka Dot Onesie from Cary's Kids
Personalized Mouse Pads with Spring Designs from Frog's & Fairy Dreams
Embroidered Anchor Initial Shirt from Emelias Mom's Boutique
Embroidered Whale Girl's Boutique Bow from Ellie's Garden
Red White & Blue Tutu by Mady Lu Tutu
I Do! Bridal Shower Cookies from Sweet Scarlet Baking
Happy Spring and Summer St. Louis!
Filed under: Adult Accessories, Baby & Kids, Cookies & More, Gifts, Jewelry, Products, St. Louis, Uncategorized | Tagged: anchor, beach, bows, bridal shower, earrings, Embroidered, flowers, fourth of july, memorial day, Moms, mouse pad, onesie, personalized, pillow, red white and blue, sunshine, tutu | Leave a Comment »


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Vacheron Constantin Malte Complications For The Ladies
Filed under: Timepieces / Watches
Over on Time Zone there are pictures of the latest version of Vacheron Constantin's Malte collection for women. The latest model, Ref. 83505 is a moonphase power reserve model with 184 diamonds. It measures a ladylike 29mm, is water resistant to 30 meters and has a transparent caseback. The movement is the Vacheron manual wind caliber 1410, with 22 jewels beating at 28,800 bph and with a power reserve of 40 hours.%uFFFD It's attractive but I prefer the Ref. 83500 (shown after the jump). It has similar features but at 32 mm, it's a touch larger, uses less diamonds (only 82) and has, in my opinion, a much more attractive dial.


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597,00 €
445,00 €
This is the ultimate collection for professional and high quality cinematic sound design. You get our highly successful CINEMATIC TRAILERS & CINEMATIC METAL libraries plus our lates release CINEMATIC HITS. Prepare yourself for incredible 17+ GB of WHOOSHES, STINGERS, IMPACTS, RISES, TRANSITIONS, HITS, BOOMS & RUMBLES. Choose from more than 4.900 source recordings and more than 450 ready-to-use sound effects, pre-designed by our award-winning sound designers. Our CINEMATIC Series is a limited offer and expires on Dec 15th. It contains the following three great Cinematic libraries:
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From the Zylinder collection by Sonneman, comes the Zylinder Single Pendant. Featuring a metal grid inner shade to minimize the glare from an exposed bulb, polished chrome metal accents, 3 X 60W T10 shaped incandescent bulbs (not included) and 120" of adjustable cable. Can be dimmed with a standard incandescent dimmer. Canopy in satin black. Material(s): Clear Glass Shade With Perforated Metal Inner Shade Dimensions:
Lamp Type: INCANDESCENT Bulbs: 3 X 60W T10 Halogen Medium Base (E26) bulb (not included) Model(s): 4395.57 4396.57 Sonneman Lighting. A Way of Light.Robert Sonneman pioneered modern lighting, making it an art form. For over thirty years his world-famous lighting designs have been the subject of numerous articles, museum and international exhibitions on design. Many Sonneman designs have become classics of the modern era. They are regularly seen in major movie and television productions. Sonneman's passion for contemporary design extends to many other categories of the home as he continues to create innovative solutions for the way we live.
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Effects.VstProgramParamGetDefaultValue method |
Remarks Obtains the default value for the specific parameter related to the given program. For further details about managing a VST effect refer to the How to manage VST effects section. For further details about methods related to the use of special effects refer to the Effects COM object. Syntax
Return value


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The Sound of Music [Blu-Ray]
Director : Robert Wise
Screenplay : Ernest Lehman (based on the musical, music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II; book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse)
MPAA Rating : G
Year of Release : 1965
Stars : Julie Andrews (Maria), Christopher Plummer (Captain von Trapp), Eleanor Parker (The Baroness), Richard Haydn (Max Detweiler), Peggy Wood (Mother Abbess), Charmian Carr (Liesl), Heather Menzies (Louisa), Nicholas Hammond (Friedrich), Duane Chase (Kurt), Angela Cartwright (Brigitta), Debbie Turner (Marta), Kym Karath (Gretl), Daniel Truhitte (Rolf)
Robert Wise's film version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical The Sound of Music is one of the greatest examples of the sometimes massive divide that separates film critics and audiences. When it was released in 1965, it was a smash success, a true cinematic phenomenon that people paid to see again and again; it played almost continuously in theaters until 1969, ultimately placing just behind Gone With the Wind (1939) and Star Wars (1977) in terms of lifetime ticket sales. The studio that made it, 20th Century Fox, was in dire straits at the time of its release, having just gambled and lost tens of millions of dollars on the indulgent epic Cleopatra (1963). The runaway success of The Sound of Music essentially bailed the studio out of financial ruin; Julie Andrews' twirling across a grassy Austrian mountaintop paid off the debts incurred by Elizabeth Taylor's debacle in ancient Egypt.
While audiences lined up to see The Sound of Music again and again, film critics were busily filling pages about how much they loathed it. Many critics saw it is as insulting, base entertainment, the kind of saccharine, sickly sweet family movie that, in catering to the most simplistic of emotions and refusing to offend anyone, was ruining the prospects of serious films about weighty subjects. The New York Times' stalwart critic Bosley Crowther, who could hardly be described as "cutting edge," noted that the film's "quaintly old-fashioned" story worked on audiences primarily due to "a cheerful abundance of kirche-küche-kinder sentiment and the generally melodic felicity" of the music. New Yorker critic Pauline Kael was best at summarizing what was so objectionable about the film (which she dubbed The Sound of Money): "the luxuriant falseness of 'The Sound of Music' [is] part of the sentimental American tone that makes honest work almost impossible." Kael couldn't help but admire the film's effectiveness, even on her, even as she decried its mechanical wringing of emotions and lack of daring. Make no mistake: The Sound of Music is an utterly sweet and wholesome film, a big-studio musical that still draws people of all ages and leaves them smiling and giddy with its innocent view of life. It is, simply, one of the last and most successful products of a less-cynical cinematic age, and it's no wonder that it waltzed away with five Oscars, including Best Picture.
Viewing The Sound of Music today, 45 years after its initial release, one can see why critics like Kael were so angry at it. It is a thoroughly calculated film, one that is designed to strike the most basic emotional chords without fail. It is full of smiling nuns and ridiculously obedient children, stunningly beautiful scenery, and lots of harmonious singing and laughing (Kael described it with her typical pinpoint precisions as "a world of operetta cheerfulness and calendar art"). Of course, all the cheer is punctuated with a few heartfelt speeches that bring characters to sudden (and obvious) realizations--didn't the father realize that using whistles to call his children and making them line up in military fashion was driving a wedge between them?
Yes, the movie is hopelessly corny and contrived, and its goody-goody wholesomeness can be overwhelming at times. Yet, only the staunchest cynic can say he or she truly hates it. There is something irrepressible about its simple-minded joy, and that joy is infectious. Kael saw this as being manipulated, which is largely true. She made a good point when she wrote, "nothing could be safer, nothing could be surer." Of course, critics who have seen thousands of movies are much more aware of when they are being manipulated in ways they don't like (it seems that Hitchcock was the only filmmaker who could make critics feel they were being played like a piano and make them like it at the same time). Most audience members, sunk deep in their chairs in the communal darkness, don't mind all that much as long as they are having a good time.
The Sound of Music was based on a 1959 Broadway production by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, whose stagework had already been adapted by Hollywood numerous times, including Oklahoma! (1955) and South Pacific (1958). The story is based on the real-life odyssey of the von Trapp family, who had to flee Austria in the late 1930s when Hitler's Third Reich took over the country. The Sound of Music covers only a small portion of the lengthy von Trapp family history, most notably how Captain and Maria von Trapp met each other and fell in love.
When the film opens, Maria (Julie Andrews) is an outspoken nun-in-training at an abbey in Salzburg, Austria. Because of her (gently) rebellious nature, she is sent out of the abbey to be the governess of Captain von Trapp's seven children. The Captain (Christopher Plummer) is a widower who runs his vast house like a military camp because he doesn't know how to do it differently. Maria quickly changes things by reintroducing the children to fun and games and, in the process, eventually melting the Captain's steely exterior.
At almost three hours in length, The Sound of Music is an indulgent musical epic of grand vistas and huge interior sets (nothing in the film is small, especially in Todd-AO 70mm). The screenplay was written by Ernest Lehman, who already had experience adapting musicals with The King and I (1956) and West Side Story (1961), the latter of which had also been directed by Robert Wise. Those who have seen The Sound of Music know it for its numerous memorable songs that, despite criticism from purists who claim they are not representative of Rodgers and Hammerstein's best work, are nonetheless clever and even invigorating.
Love it or hate it (or somewhere in-between), The Sound of Music is a milestone in cinematic history. While its enormous success is notable, it is perhaps more notable that the movie marked the end of a cinematic era. Films like The Sound of Music simply are not and cannot be made anymore. In 1965, there was still an audience for large-scale family musicals that didn't shy away from simplistic emotionalism and shameless heart-tugging. But, even then, the tides were changing: censorship boards were collapsing, foreign films marked by intense social realism and frank sexuality were flooding the market, and Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and The Graduate (1967), films that would forever change the face of American cinema, were only two years away. The Sound of Music was a blockbuster in its time, but it is now more clearly seen as a last breed of dinosaur that simply refused to die.
Still, if one is willing to pack cynicism away in the closet for a while and forget the painful lack of realism that punctuates its every moment, The Sound of Music is an enjoyable escape. Lighthearted, skillfully directed, and full of energy, it is a difficult movie to dismiss altogether. And the fact that it is still so popular nearly five decades later is testament to the enduring desire of audiences to forget their troubles from time to time and indulge in pure, unmitigated escapism.
The Sound of Music 45th Anniversary 3-Disc Blu-Ray+DVD Combo Pack | |
Aspect Ratio | 2.20:1 |
Audio | |
Subtitles | English, Spanish, French |
Supplements | |
Distributor | 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment |
Release Date | November 9, 2010 |
Simply stunning. Say what you will about the quality of the film itself, but The Sound of Music has never looked or sounded better, at least since its 70mm roadshow presentation back in 1965. 20th Century Fox has certainly treated one of its cinematic jewels with the proper care and respect, going back to the original 65mm camera negative and making an 8K scan that was then downcoverted to 4K for extensive digital restoration and color correction. The results have brought the film to new visual heights that are far and beyond what was previously available on DVD. Watching the film in its original Todd-AO 2.20:1 aspect ratio on this 50GB dual-layered disc, the grass on the Austrian slopes has never looked greener, Julie Andrews' freshly scrubbed skin has never looked more natural, and the contrast in the darker scenes has never looked sharper. Detail is simply outstanding (especially in the various fabrics, which really pop off the screen with true filmlike dimensionality), which has the result of making familiar images seem new all over again. The original four-channel surround mix has also been given a significant upgrade to lossless DTS-HD 7.1 surround, and the results are quite magnificent, especially during the numerous musical numbers, when the surround speakers kick in and create an impressively enveloping sensation. Surprisingly enough, there are parts of the soundtrack that are particularly bass-heavy, especially the wedding scene that features a rumbling organ score that put my subwoofer through the paces. | |
As with the sound and image, 20th Century Fox has really outdone themselves in the supplements department, putting together an extensive array of materials that require two Blu-Rays to contain it all. Despite having spent hours with the discs, I have not managed to make it through everything, so I'll just note a couple of highlights. You can watch the film with one of two audio commentaries: A new track by Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Charmian Carr, Dee Dee Wood, and Johannes von Trapp joins the previously available track by director Robert Wise. There is also an exceptionally well-done immersive viewing option called Your Favorite Things: An Interactive Celebration, which allows you to choose any of four types of content to see during the movie: "Making Music: A Journey in Images," a picture-in-picture feature that shows you behind-the-scenes photos and footage, excerpts from the script, storyboards, production paintings, etc.; "The Sing-Along Experience," which puts the song lyrics on screen; "Many Things to Know," a trivia track; and "Where Was It Filmed?," a trivia game. You choose which ones you want before starting the movie, but a bar at the bottom of the screen allows you to turn them on and off during the viewing, as well. Musical Stages: Creating The Sound of Music is an interactive behind-the-scenes experience that includes brief featurettes on all the songs, the Broadway production and how it compares to the film, songs that were cut from the film, the image and sound restoration, and the real-life von Trapp family, who still live in Vermont. A City of Song is another impressive set of supplements organized in a virtual map of filming locations in Salzburg, Austria; each area allows you to watch a short featurette about the location, read trivia about it, and see behind-the-scenes photographs of the production that took place there. In addition to all the new material, there is also a fantastic array of vintage materials, including interviews with Julie Andrews, screen tests, television program excerpts, theatrical trailers, and TV spots for the various re-releases. This set also includes virtually all of the supplements included on the previously available DVDs, including the 87-minute documentary The Sound of Music: From Fact to Phenomenon, which covers both the history of the von Trapp family and the production of the movie. The documentary is made up of extensive interviews with almost everyone involved with the movie and surviving members of the von Trapp family, as well as behind-the-scenes footage, production sketches, outtakes, and clips from other movies. Also included is a dated, but still amusing featurette made in 1965 called "Salzburg: Sight and Sound." It is basically a travelogue of the film's primary location told from the point of view of actress Charmian Carr, who played Liesl. The documentary does feature some production footage of the movie, but most of it is about the city itself. In short, any fan of The Sound of Music should feel overwhelmed with joy at both the amount of material contained in this three-disc set and the quality of its comprehensiveness. |
Copyright ©2010 James Kendrick
Thoughts? E-mail James Kendrick
All images copyright © 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment


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The Duchess details
Formats: | 12 DVD, Blu-ray |
Starring: | Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Hayley Atwell, Charlotte Rampling, Dominic Cooper, Simon McBurney, Aidan McArdle, Angus McEwan |
Director: | Saul Dibb |
Genre: | Drama |
Studio: | PATHE VIDEO |
Collections: | 100 Hot Hits, 100 Most Wanted, Based on a True Story, Top 400 All-Time Rentals |
Name | Discs | |
The Duchess |
12 Feature |
DVD Information
Run time: | 1 hour 50 minutes |
Rental release: | 16 Mar 2009 |
Main languages: | English, English Audio Description |
Most helpful review
By williamsgwynfa (627 reviews) from gwaenysgor , 06 Sep 2008[Highly rated reviewer]
this dvd is superb. It stars Keira Knightley as Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, Ralph Fiennes as William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, Hayley Atwell as Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire and Charlotte Rampling as Lady Spencer.
The film is set at the end of the eighteenth century, The Duchess is the story of the beautiful and, glamorous Georgiana Spencer, the most fascinating woman of the age.
While her beauty and charisma made her name, her extravagant tastes and appetite for gambling and love made her infamous.
Married young to the older, distant Duke of Devonshire, the confidant of ministers and princes, Georgiana became a fashion icon, a doting mother, a shrewd political operator and darling of the common people.
But at the core of her story is a desperate search for love.
From Georgianas passionate and doomed affair with Earl Grey to the complex ménage à trois with her husband and her best friend, Lady Bess Foster, The Duchess is a very contemporary tale of fame, notoriety and the search for love.
Well worth watching.- Was this review helpful to you?
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(569)Historical Pleasure
By a customer , 18 Dec 2013This was my second viewing and it is even better the 2nd time. A typical historic period piece with believable true historic facts. This happened, maybe not all facts are true who knows but a fantastic account of what women went through, although rich and famous they were only there to bare sons!! Keira is gorgeous and ace too!!- Was this review helpful to you?
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Fabulously rich people feeling miserable about their terrible lives
By mj55 (176 reviews) , 04 Jun 2013As you can guess from my title I wasn't too impressed. Despite the effort that clearly went into this movie I couldn't muster up much sympathy for the horrible creatures in this story. Fabulously wealthy and powerful, totally detached from the general populace and living in their own little bubble I couldn't relate in any way to the characters - with their obsessions about male heirs, fashion and their bit on the side. Plus ça change :-) No doubt it's a well made movie but the storyline and characters killed it for me.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (1)
Made me want to read the book
By stefv (60 reviews) , 28 Apr 2013Fascinating story of a terrible marriage. Lovely sets and costumes but at heart this is a sad story about an arranged marriage.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
A great film. Thoroughly recommended
By The KnightWatcher (629 reviews) from Gloucestershire , 04 Mar 2013Kiera Knightley, A great period drama about duchess of Devonshire in loveless marriage forced to give up her lover to retain access to her children. Thought to be a faithfull representation of the times. Lots of parallels with Charles and Diana.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
Effective Drama of Passion and Etiquette
By Seedyvee (207 reviews) from Grantham , 10 Feb 2013An effective drama arising from the external forces of passion bearing on a loveless marriage in tension with the social values and expectations of 18th century high society England. While Ralph Fiennes broods chillingly as the inhibited and taciturn Duke, Keira Knightly is ... well, Keira Knightly yet again. For all her dollish prettiness she exploits on camera her acting seems based on mere technique and her shallow unnatural style is all too apparent when in dialogue with others and her emotional motivation quite absent. Lovely settings, down to the delicious sound affects of candles being quenched redolent of a once quite genteel England.- Was this review helpful to you?
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The Chicago Bears agreed to a one-year deal with defensive lineman Jay Ratliff, ESPN reported Saturday.
Ratliff was released by the Dallas Cowboys two weeks ago after failing a physical.
Ratliff visited the Bears, Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins this week. He was also reportedly contacted by the Cincinnati Bengals hours after they lost defensive tackle Geno Atkins to a season-ending knee injury Thursday night.
Ratliff is reportedly two to four weeks away from being ready to play. He has been out for almost a year with a groin injury that led to sports hernia surgery in December. He also faces drunk driving charges stemming from an arrest six weeks after then-Cowboys backup Josh Brent's alcohol-related crash that killed teammate Jerry Brown Jr. Ratliff's trial is scheduled for February.
Ratliff faces his former team when the Bears play the Cowboys Dec. 9.


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Rating: 12: Films in this category may include infrequent drugs, infrequent use of strong language, brief nudity, discreet sexual activity, and moderate violence.
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2013 Compendium
Pilot for Rural Vet Care Delayed and Limited in Scope
- Categorized in: June 2010
WASHINGTON, DC—In 2008, Congress authorized VA to implement a pilot program enhancing contract care for rural veterans. The law required that the program be well on its way within 120 days following the law's authorization in October 2008. However, a series of unexpected challenges delayed VA, which expects to roll the program out by the beginning of next year. Legislators are anxious to see the pilot begin, since 40% of the 3 million veterans using the VA healthcare system live in rural areas, even though some are concerned that the pilot, in its current form, is limited in its scope.
Calculating Rural
When VA officials started planning for the pilot in October 2008, they found that the disconnect between law's language and VA's current practices presented challenges which prevented them from implementing the program by the February 2009 deadline.
"The first challenge was the statute's definition of 'highly rural'," explained Patricia Vandenberg, VA deputy under secretary for policy and planning, at a House VA Committee hearing last month. "The statue used driving distance to determine a highly rural veteran. VA uses census bureau data." Using census data, VA defines "highly rural" as those veterans living in a county with fewer than seven
civilians per square mile.
"We knew we'd have to reconfigure our data systems to calculate travel distances for each enrolled veteran for multiple VA facilities, conduct analysis to identify eligibility according to the statute's definition, and develop enrollment projections for the pilot program," Vandenberg explained.
That analysis was not completed until October 2009.
Another delay was caused by the word "hardship," and how to determine which veterans were worse off in terms of access to care than others—a process that Vandenberg testified could take up to two years for VA to nail down. However, with the passage of recent legislation amending the law, that language—and the bureaucratic roadblock it represented—has been removed.
"While progress has been slower than expected and what we would have liked, our goal is to have the pilot program operational in latter part of 2010 or early 2011," Vandenberg declared.
A Tentative Timetable
Currently, the pilot program is being set for roll-out in VISNs 1, 6, 15, 18, and 19. Those VISNs have been provided with enrollment distribution maps and asked to submit proposals for where the program might be of the most use. VA expects the proposals to be reviewed, and viable proposals accepted by the end of the summer. However, Vandenberg noted that the final roll-out date is unknown since the program will depend on the willing cooperation of private healthcare contractors.
"Because this process depends somewhat on the willingness of non-VA providers to participate, we're not able to stipulate exactly when the pilot can commence. However, we are using all of the resources and insights gained from Project HERO (Health Care Effectiveness Through Resource Optimization Pilot) and contracting specialists to expedite the process."
She also noted that the project will depend on the willing cooperation of veterans, some of whom might prefer VA care over closer private care. "In an instance where there are options, rather than instructing the veteran that they absolutely have to go one place or the other place, we are working with them to understand what best suits their healthcare needs and their preferences."
While legislators accepted that the program would be delayed, some expressed disappointment and concern that the pilot will only be rolled out in certain areas within each VISN, rather than be available for any veteran in that VISN that meets the criteria. They noted that the Congressional Budget Office evaluation for the legislation was for the entire VISN.
"I think we will make a terrible mistake if we implement this pilot program and only target the easy areas within a VISN," declared Rep Jerry Moran, R-KS. "I think we should only [go through with it] if we can demonstrate it can be done VISN-wide."
Comments (1)
I work at a rural VA and have been trying to find out how one defines a "rural" hospital. Is it the size of the community (population or geography), or the institution, or the resources within the instituton? I also note that problems facing a rural (or "small") VA medical center are quite unique and distinct from a non-"rural" one, and often not well understood. Patients traveling a distance could be one of the criteria, but one must consider that often the largest (or the most reputable) centers have large fraction of patients traveling a long distance also.
Should pay-for-performance be used to improve healthcare quality at the VA?


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The planet Jupiter rises below the Moon early tomorrow. It looks like a brilliant star. It's in the east about 45 minutes before sunrise, but it's so low that you need a clear horizon to see it.
Jupiter has more than 60 moons of its own. The largest is Ganymede, the biggest moon in the solar system -- bigger even than the planet Mercury. And the second-largest is Callisto.
The two moons resemble each other. They're both made of rock and ice, with icy surfaces scarred by impacts. But the resemblance doesn't go very deep. Ganymede appears to be made up of layers: a solid iron core, a layer of rock around the core, and a thick layer of frozen water on top. Callisto is more jumbled, so it doesn't have the same distinct layering.
A recent study by Amy Barr and Robin Canup at the Southwest Research Institute says the moons are different because one of them took a more severe beating.
About 3.8 billion years ago, all the planets and moons in the solar system were bombarded by comets. Jupiter's gravity pulled in many of these big balls of ice and rock. Since Ganymede is closer to Jupiter, it got hit by more of them than Callisto did, and the ones that hit it were moving much faster.
The energy from the impacts melted Ganymede most of the way through. That allowed the metal and rock to sink to the middle. Callisto didn't melt as thoroughly, so it remained jumbled -- a mixed-up ball of rock and ice orbiting the solar system's largest planet.
Script by Damond Benningfield, Copyright 2010
For more skywatching tips, astronomy news, and much more, read StarDate magazine.


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Borneo Tours
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One of the least explored areas on the planet, the mention of Borneo conjures up images of primeval rainforest, undiscovered tribes and rare, exotic species. Comprised mostly of impenetrable jungle, the world's third largest island is shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and the tiny, wealthy Sultanate of Brunei. Home to critically endangered rhino, elephant, leopard and orangutan-to name but a few-Borneo's wildlife is its top draw. But as pressures from logging, forest fires and the growing demand for palm oil mount, refuges are increasingly the best way to see wildlife, so come while you can. While you're at it, take a trek up Sabah's Mt. Kinabalu, search for the world's largest flower, or learn the ancient traditions of the island's headhunter tribes.
Borneo—Sabah Adventure (AASA)
Revive your sense of adventure on this jam-packed tour. Hike rainforest trails and summit Mt Kinabalu to watch the sunrise. Our CEOs will provide nature lovers and photographers of all skill levels with an introduction to the highlights of remote Sabah, helping you frame great snapshots of tropical birds and giant flowers. Visit the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre and meet these special creatures. And after all the excitement and exercise, there will still be the chance to see baby turtles in their natural habitat. Get off the beaten track and discover the best of Sabah.
Highlights: Climb the highest peak in South East Asia, photograph Asia's only great ape, spot turtles on Turtle Island, explore the Kinabatangan jungle
Borneo Family Adventure (AABF)
Borneo is one of the few places left on this planet that feels untouched by time. Spend a little of yours here with the kids. Perfect for families eager to get deep into the thick of things, this exciting journey takes you deep into the jungles to meet the locals (and stay in one of their traditional longhouses to boot) and encounter wildlife you'd otherwise only see on TV. The biggest highlight: Catching up with your primate relatives at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. It's just 11 days, but it feels like a lifetime.
Highlights: Enjoy the white-sand beaches of Pulau Gaya, meet primate cousins at Sepilok Orangutan Centre, Stay in traditional long house accommodation
Trip | Length | Style | Service Level | Starting Price |
Borneo—Sabah Adventure (AASA) | 10 days | Classic | Standard |
Borneo Family Adventure (AABF) | 11 days | Family | Upgraded |


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its not a bad place to say the bed where nice. food in cottonwood is very good and old town is amazing for the cash its a good stay and you have to go to sedona-jrome-and if you have time go on a great hike and have a some go wine cottonwood is a great place to go and stay
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