FULL NAME: Alexander Fernandez.
BORN: Aug. 13, 1969, in Miami Beach
HEIGHT, WEIGHT: 6-1, 205
HOW ACQUIRED: Drafted June 4 fromn Miamio-Dade South CommunityCollege in first round (fourth pick over all).
COLLEGE HEIGHLIGHTS: In 1990, he was 12-2 with a 1.19 earned-runaverage in sophomore year at Miami-Dade. he struck out 154 and walked23 in …
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's top court is allowing the family of a man charged with stabbing his mother to death during a psychotic rage to file a medical malpractice lawsuit against his psychiatrist.
The lawsuit claims Dr. Derek Johnson O'Brien committed medical malpractice when he ordered two of Victor Bruscato's medications be discontinued.
The Georgia Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Monday …
Manchester City may be happy to extend its record run of seven straight Premier League draws when it comes up against Chelsea on Saturday.
City's expensively assembled squad finally clicked back into gear to beat Arsenal 3-0 in the League Cup this week, but Chelsea has scored 17 goals and conceded none in winning its last five Premier League matches and is five points clear at the top with by far the best goal difference.
"What the win has done has put us in the right frame of mind for the visit of Chelsea at the weekend," City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips said.
That attitude could be crucial if City's players are not to be intimidated …
This is not an easy process. It took Wallinger, who recordsunder the band name World Party (essentially himself and drummerChris Sharrock), three months to complete "Penny Lane." Now, heregards it with even more awe than before.
…
Companies that develop a global tax strategy can ensure a competitive advantage by a reduction in their tax burden
Imagine you are the tax director of a Canadian corporation. You arrive at your office on Monday morning and an e-mail message from the company's president is waiting for you: "Just clinched a great deal to purchase an operation in Latin America. Please see me this afternoon to discuss any tax issues." Over the next several days, however, enthusiasm turns sour as the company discovers its return on investment will be much less than expected, due to high corporate and capital taxes in the target country and a substantial tax cost in repatriating earnings. …
Representatives of a Jewish human rights organization say an Israeli delegation is traveling to Chile and Argentina to hunt for the former SS doctor Aribert Heim.
The Wiesenthal Center in Buenos Aires says Efraim Zurrof is visiting the Chilean city of Puerto Montt with other officials Monday. Zurrof is the director of the Wiesenthal Center's Israeli office and the …
A circuit judge denied a tearful request from a young mother tokeep her out of jail so she could help raise a baby she is accusedof neglecting.
Jessica Lee Saunders, 20, pleaded guilty in April to childneglect causing injury concerning second-degree burns. Her six-month old daughter, Zayna, was injured in December 2006.
Saunders was arrested after she brought the baby to the hospitalfor treatment of multiple burns to her inner and outer thighs,calves, ankles and feet. Doctors alerted the police, saying some ofthe burns were older and appeared to have come from differentcauses.
Saunders said the child rolled off a bed onto a radiator heater,but the attending …
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AWARD
Presented to a board that has instituted and practices corporate governance in a superlative manner.
AND THE WINNER IS . . .
Until recently, the board of directors at Salisbury Bancorp in Lakeville, Connecticut-a rural hamlet tucked away in the Berkshire Mountains-included two practicing attorneys, a retired managing director from Citigroup, a bookseller, an insurance agent, a gentleman farmer, and a veterinarian. And when the vet moved away, the president of a local water company took his place.
A diverse group, to be sure, and one that is quite representative of the boards at most small banks throughout the country. None of the …
Hundreds of rioters are fighting pitched battles with police in the cities of Athens and Thessaloniki following the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy in central Athens Saturday night.
According to witnesses, the shooting occurred around 9:00 p.m. when a small group of youths attacked a police patrol car. A police officer fired three shots, hitting the teenager in the chest. Witness accounts diverge widely over what happened.
Several hours after the incident, police issued a statement saying the patrol car, with two officers inside, was attacked by a group of 30 stone-throwing youths while patrolling the central district of Exarchia.
According …
What's this Jazz about Julius Erving going to Utah?
If so, the Philadelphia 76ers will get the blues.
But it looks like the 76ers will be making a joyful noise: Jazzpresident David Checketts said late last night Erving would pass up amultimillion-dollar offer sheet from Utah to remain withPhiladelphia.
Checketts said he learned through Erving's agent, Irwin Weiner,that the veteran had decided to stay in Philadelphia. He said Jazzgeneral partner Larry Miller, who had flown to Philadelphia forlast-minute talks with Erving, had left a message for him that Ervinghad decided to stay with the 76ers.
"I found out through Weiner's secretary that Larry …
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A bullet whizzed through the door of an empty mosque here, and police were investigating whether a hate crime was committed.
The bullet pierced the aluminum frame of a glass entry door at The Islamic Center of South Texas on Friday afternoon. The mosque was empty at the time and nobody was injured.
The bullet shattered an exit transom window at the other end of the mosque's central hallway, according to police.
"We're sure it's a high-caliber weapon, based on the damage," Corpus Christi police Cmdr. Jesse V. Garcia said. …
An Internet posting purportedly by al-Qaida in Afghanistan claimed Thursday that the group was behind the bombing near the Danish embassy in Pakistan this week that left six people dead.
The statement said Monday's bombing in Islamabad was carried out to fulfill the promise of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden to exact revenge over the reprinting in Danish papers of a cartoon of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
It said the bombing came in defense of the religion, the blood and the honor of Muslims, and warned that if Denmark fails to apologize for the cartoons, more attacks will follow and Monday's blast will "only be the first drop of rain."
…
PIONEERS IN ORGANICS DIVERSION
Program initiated in 1990 includes 32 composting operations processing organics from 56 conectional facilities, diverting 14,000 tons of food residuals and waste wood.
THE NEW York State Department of Correctional Services (NYS DOC) is the third largest state correctional system in the nation with 70 correctional facilities housing approximately 63,000 inmates supervised by 29,000 civilian and security staff. Correctional facilities range from 200 bed minimum security work camps and shock incarceration units to large 1930s era maximum security walled facilities such as Sing Sing and Attica with up to 3,300 inmates. The majority of inmates, 39,000, are housed in medium and minimum security dormitory style units with up to 1,500 beds.
Feeding systems range from traditional mess halls with cafeteria-style service to small group satellite feeding units. Nearly 6,000 inmates are fed three meals daily in their cells, medical units or 23 hour/day isolation cells.
With the passage of the New York State Solid Waste Management Act of 1988, all State divisions were required to initiate solid waste management and recycling policies to be in place by January 1991. The Department of Correctional Services responded by creating the Resource Management Division in 1990 to reduce the waste stream and provide avoided disposal costs to cover the cost of operations. Today the Department maintains recycling programs in all 70 facilities with 12 regional processing centers marketing over 20 recycled commodities in commercial load lots.
Early waste audits revealed the largest fraction of the waste stream by weight was food preparation waste and leftovers. Food waste generated weighed 1800 lbs/cubic yard with an average of 1 lb/day generated per inmate. This number is representative of audits conducted in 16 other states and compares with over 2 lbs/bed in hospitals and up to 3 lbs/bed in nursing homes. It was determined that less than .25 lbs/day was coming from returned serving plates with the balance coming from food prep areas, over-date bakery goods and wet materials such as pasta, rice, coffee grounds and soups.
In 1990, two pilot compost sites were developed to refine collection protocol and compost process control as well as determine economic feasibility for expanded operations. These early sites were open windrows on impervious pads utilizing large wood chips as a bulking agent and carbon source. (BioCycle has documented the history of the New York State Correctional composting program since its beginning; see "Correctional System Wins With Composting and Recycling," September 1994; "Composting 12,000 Tons of Food Residuals A Year," May 2000; and "Comparing Composting Technologies At Correctional Facilities," March 2003.)
Based on results of the pilot sites, and from the perspectives of operational and avoided costs, the program has expanded to 32 compost facilities processing organic waste from 56 correctional facilities. During Fiscal Year 2005-06, approximately 9,000 tons of food residuals and 5,000 tons of waste wood were composted. Using $130/ton as an average waste disposal cost (tipping and hauling fees), the avoided cost is about $2.2 million. This number includes avoided disposal costs for composting of approximately 100 dairy cattle and calf mortalities and abattoir waste from 500 beef animals processed in the Department's Agri-Business program. It is interesting to note that for the last three years, total tons diverted have decreased slightly to parallel a decrease of nearly 10,000 inmates in the last five years (due mostly to alternative sentencing and overall decreased arrests in the state).
OPERATIONAL PROTOCOLS
Although a number of composting technologies are in place in the New York system, a set of standard separation, collection and process protocols have become implemented at all composting facilities. Food waste is collected in unlined, covered, plastic barrels (35 gallon) from pre and postconsumer areas of facilities. All paper and plastics are source separated following strictly enforced procedures. Collected food waste barrels are moved daily to compost facilities. At some facilities, they are stored in dedicated coolers for collection three times per week.
Inmates typically are served in Lexan sectioned trays using durable drinking vessels and metal cutlery. Inmates housed in remote areas or segregated cells are served in covered Lexan trays and portion controlled foil sealed polystyrene containers. In emergency situations and facility lock downs, inmates may be fed in their cells in Styrofoam containers with disposable cutlery.
No size reduction or grinding is utilized at any facility. At the windrow composting sites, mixing of food waste with bulking agent is accomplished either by skid steer or front loaders or in scaled agricultural feed mixers. Aerated bay and in-vessel sites all utilize Kuhn Knight reel-type mixers with scales. Bulking agent is exclusively tub ground scrap wood generated at correctional facilities from routine maintenance, pallets, clean construction debris, lawn and tree waste. All grinding and shredding is done by contract with mobile shredder operations due to capital costs, liability and high maintenance costs of grinders. In-vessel systems require double ground mulch material that is either purchased or double ground by contract vendors onsite. (Initial trials with the Wright Environmental Systems' unit indicated a need for more absorptive surface area for the shorter residence time in the vessels to take up excess moisture and provide smaller airspaces for more uniform forced aeration.) At several sites, lawn and tree trimmings are accepted from local municipalities, as are utility generated chipped material. Starting recipes are generally 2:1 by volume bulking to food. Mixing ratios by weight are used at sites with mechanical mixers.
Composting temperatures are maintained at 55-70�C for approximately 30 days. Daily temperature readings determine turning and aeration activities. Initial moisture content is routinely 60 percent for windrows and 65 to 70 percent for mechanically aerated systems. Experience shows that visible food waste is gone in two to three weeks, with material ready for screening and curing in four to five weeks. Material is removed from active aeration and turning based on return to near-ambient temperature, moisture content and physical appearance.
Routine maturity testing is performed semiannually with complete physical and chemical analysis done only when a significant change in feedstock is experienced. Base recipes and time protocols were developed based on two years of quarterly analysis conducted for each technology.
All compost is screened through three-eighth-inch trommel or orbital screens. Overs are returned to the compost cycle after contaminants are hand removed. Fines are cured with minimal management for at least 90 days, with 120 days being the average.
Mature compost is utilized within the correctional system for landscaping, vocational horticulture programs, community service projects and, in some cases, land applied for turf maintenance or agricultural land amendment. Increasingly, finished compost is bartered to state and local transportation departments and municipalities for in-kind services. Limited bulk sales to private vendors are completed when surpluses develop at selected sites.
COMPOSTING TECHNOLOGIES
A number of considerations factor into site design and composting methodology selection, including available space, need for visual buffers, quantity of food waste generated, leachate treatment options and available labor. These factors are used to determine the level of technology utilized in developing compost facilities. Economic payback analysis also plays a major role in system implementation. Facilities are generally constructed that will provide an avoided disposal cost amortization in less than five years. The exception to this rule is when an in-vessel system is indicated where payback is less than 10 years.
Four levels of technology are employed at correctional sites. At present, there are 17 open windrow, six structure-covered windrow (i.e., in a pole barn with open sides), five aerated bay and four in-vessel systems. An additional three aerated bay facilities are funded or in development. The operating policy calls for implementing the lowest effective technology.
Leachate treatment is accomplished through capture of site runoff in surface drains and underground settling tanks that are pumped for landfill disposal as needed. The liquid fraction of runoff is diverted to stone-filled recharge structures and grass filter strips designed by USDA-NRCS.
Each level of technology offers advantages and challenges:
Open Windrow. A traditional open window system on an impervious pad (usually concrete) is the most economical system to construct and operate. These facilities are capable of handling large quantities of material with great flexibility for active processing, bulk storage and curing. Process control is limited by precipitation, temperature and other environmental influences. Mixing is less precise unless a mechanical mixer is used. Maintaining appropriate moisture has been problematic in some instances. Open windrows are used for very large sites with a variety of feedstocks such as manures, food and mortalities. This method is also used for very small operations, where capital costs for benefit derived are marginal. Leachate collection and treatment must be sized to accommodate rain and snow drainage from pad areas.
Open windrows are used for curing at most sites even with enclosed active composting areas. A 2002 study using prevailing civilian wages and current construction costs indicated open windrows operated with costs in the $6/ton range.
Covered Windrow: Windrow operations covered by pole structures with open or partial sidewalls are used where visual considerations are a factor. The structures also provide increased process control in high precipitation and severe winter sites. Containment of compost materials to the pad area is also improved with partial concrete sidewalls. Large pole structures also can provide protection from the elements for equipment such as mixers and screens. Pole structures are normally 60-feet wide by up to 200-feet long. Operational challenges with a covered windrow system include adequate ventilation for water vapor, building maintenance from equipment damage and interior odor issues. In the New York experience, based on 2002 information, costs per ton of material composted was in the $12 to $15/ton range.
Aerated Bay: Aerated static bay systems offer several process control advantages such as absolute temperature and moisture control with forced aeration. Aerated bay facilities are relatively labor efficient since regular turning of windrows is not required. They also are very space efficient in terms of materials processing. Because of the improved process control, thermophilic stages can be reduced to the minimum time frame. However, aerated bay systems require additional equipment in mixers, scales, screens and aeration fans, and controls with inherent maintenance costs. As with any enclosed composting space, ventilation is critical to the success of the program. Aerated bay systems also lose flexibility in recipes and variation in feedstock, although are not as restrictive as in-vessel systems. It has been our experience that most new composting facilities will use the aerated bay design because of cost efficiency, space, aesthetic parameters and process control. Aerated bay systems are in the $20 to $25/ton range when amortized over 10 years.
In-Vessel: While the most costly on a per ton processed basis, in-vessel composting systems still provide reasonable returns in specific locations. The New York State DOCS operates four Wright Environmental units of 750, 1500, 2000 and 3000 pounds/ day capacity. These units are employed where space is at a premium, such as inside facility security perimeters and adjacent to other inhabited buildings. In-vessel units provide ultimate process control and protection from the elements. Aeration, moisture, mixing and leachate and odor control are integrated in the vessel. With a 20-foot by 60-foot footprint, the 3,000 lb/day unit is very space efficient. Management considerations are increased for in-vessel systems. Integrated computers and electronics require extensive operator training and increased maintenance costs when mechanical failures occur. Enclosed space regulations may make routine maintenance difficult. In-vessel systems are recipe specific and require specialized bulking material with little flexibility in feedstock. With an enclosed tunnel design, adjustments to material in the 14-day cycle are difficult. In-vessel systems have been very successful in the New York State system. Over a 15 year amortization capital and operational costs average $45/ton.
All the composting technologies described above are capable of producing commercially acceptable compost products and significant waste disposal cost avoidance when compared to an average $130/ton hauling and landfill fee structure.
BIOBASED PRODUCT EXPERIENCE
Since 1995, the New York State DOCS has piloted three brands of biobased bags and food serviceware. All of these products were vegetable/starch-based with bag products including a polyethylene matrix. In each case, a number of economic and physical characteristics precluded the Department from regular use of the products. The NYS DOCS' potential use of disposable/compostable serviceware is limited to emergency and security issue cell-based feeding situations.
The most evident limiting factor in each of the product lines tested was cost per service. The minimum cost was more than double the cost of alternative materials such as foam or paper materials.
In the case of compostable bag products to be used as food waste can liners, no product exhibited abrasion resistance suitable for institutional use. No product tested provided thermal tolerance above 100�F without failure. All but one product tested also lost integrity in the presence of high moisture materials when stored for more than a few minutes.
When introduced in windrow composting, biobased bags disintegrated into large fragments that posed a severe airborne problem across the landscape. When used in mixing equipment, bag sections became entangled in shafts and elevators causing system failures. Nondegraded bag fragments also coated the interior of screening equipment causing poor sizing of material. As with all tested biobased products, the per unit cost of biodegradable waste bags was approximately double that of traditional film bags.
Product testing for biobased serviceware included cups, bowls, plates and cutlery. All products tested were made from vegetable starch compounds. In each case of products submitted for field testing, both physical and economic limitations prohibited inclusion of these products in regular use for correctional facilities.
In all cases, cups, bowls and plates did not sustain physical shape or integrity when exposed to normal serving temperature of foods or liquids. When stored in unventilated areas, ambient heat of summer caused disfiguring and self-adherence. Forks and spoons did not maintain rigidity when introduced to hot liquids and became misshapen when stored in summer temperatures. Utensils used after being stored for over 60 days became brittle and broke into small pieces especially knives.
When biobased cutlery was introduced to the compost process, handle of the utensils showed an uncanny resistance to degradation and after several months became a contaminant of increasing proportions in recovered bulking agent. It was noted that a significant portion of biobased cutlery was still evident in compost after four cycles of active composting. The biobased materials were tested in all four compost systems in use. As with biobased film products, the cost of cutlery was at least double of durable and disposable plastic and metal alternatives.
Although initial experiences with biobased serviceware were unsatisfactory, the NYS DOCS system would continue to field test new products as the utility and environmental advantages of biobased products could fill a need in selected instances.
[Sidebar]
Four levels of technologies are employed at the correctional facilities, including covered windrows (right) and covered aerated bays (above).
[Sidebar]
Aerated bay systems are in the $20 to $25/ton range when amortized over 10 years.
The New York State DOCS operates four in-vessel units (one shown above), ranging in capacity from 750 lbs to 3,000 lbs/day.
[Author Affiliation]
James Marion is Resource Management Director with the New York State Department of Corrections. This article is based on a paper presented at the Food And Biobased Cafeteriaware Composting For Federal Facilities In Washington, DC Roundtable Discussion held in Beltsville, Maryland, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in December 2005.
BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — ESPN President George Bodenheimer will relinquish his day-to-day responsibilities Jan. 1, with John Skipper taking over the role.
The Walt Disney Co., which owns the sports network, made the announcement Tuesday, saying it was part of a company-wide emphasis on succession plans.
"We've focused on succession at all levels of Disney for some time now, and consistent with that approach, George initiated conversations last spring that led to today's announcement," Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger said in a statement.
Last month, Iger said he would step down in March 2015 to make way for a new chief executive.
Skipper, 55, has been ESPN's executive vice president for content since October 2005. He joined ESPN in 1997 as senior vice president and general manager of ESPN The Magazine. Previously, he was senior vice president of The Disney Publishing Group, overseeing all of Disney's publishing operations in the United States.
Skipper will serve as ESPN's president and co-chair of Disney Media Networks, putting him on an equal footing with Anne Sweeney, the other co-chair, who also heads the Disney/ABC Television Group.
The promotion gives Skipper a key position at the biggest and most profitable division of Disney — its television business.
ESPN's strong performance has lifted the importance of Disney's pay TV channel business within the company and has given Disney unparalleled negotiating strength with distributors such as cable and satellite companies.
Bodenheimer, 53, will continue to chair ESPN's board of directors. He has been president for 13 years, during which the company grew substantially. Bodenheimer, who joined ESPN in 1981 as a driver in the mail room, is the longest-tenured top executive at the sports network.
Bodenheimer said that after 31 years at ESPN, "it was a good time to step away from the day to day management of ESPN and let others take the lead."
FORECAST FOR TUESDAY
eARIES (March 21-April 19). You've got plenty of bright ideas, sotake charge. Someone's passive-aggressive action could make youleave when you really want to stay. Show the boss you care aboutyour work, and appreciation will soon come to you. rTAURUS (April20-May 20). Progress at work will come slowly. Keep asking for whatyou need. You've got a way of making up for lost time, and this willbe extremely effective when dealing with friends you've not seen ina while or clients from years past.
tGEMINI (May 21-June 21). Feel slightly out of control? Wait itout, it will pass by the afternoon. New sources of inspiration aretapped when you release the need to control everything. It'sexciting to know that not everything is easily predictable.
yCANCER (June 22-July 22). Use your vast mind and creativeimagination to develop future goals. Bond with kindred spirits whileexercising. You are sociable and able to make solid connections.Time with a partner helps heal the relationship tonight.
uLEO (July 23-Aug. 22). A source of small but regular additionalincome will materialize. Return that phone call. People who want itall their way are toxic to you. Explore artistic talents and newpossibilities for self-expression.
iVIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Bashfulness charms a love interest.Open accounts and make investments. Organize paperwork. Childrendeserve special consideration, even though they have already wornyou out. Confront a relative regarding a destructive habit.
oLIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Meet a challenge at work head-on.Although family members will have trouble adjusting to a change, youcan lead the way. Your current financial situation calls for thriftand discipline. Your love interest will make a surprisingsuggestion.
pSCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Set a new record; you are capable.Financial schemes must be revised. New living arrangements help savemoney. A romantic partner has a last-minute change of heart. Avoidmaking comparisons between family members.
[SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Your colleagues' censure stemsfrom jealousy. You have control over what was unmanageableyesterday. Tonight's date may be the start of something big. Newinformation provides solutions to long-term difficulties.
]CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Get help with details, because yourtime is better spent elsewhere. Watch for movement on the romanticfront. One who makes a play for you may be older. A controlling bossmakes life rough for your mate, so be the gentle comforter.
qAQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Things finally click between lovers.Ask intelligent questions, and you'll get to the heart of thematter. Your short-term evasion of pressing issues leads to long-term unhappiness - think before you avoid things or procrastinate.
wPISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Several unsure prospects won't helpyou as much as one good one will. A lackluster romance will shineonce again when you make travel plans. Analyzing your love lifepreoccupies you to no avail - spend your time more constructively.
IF SEPT. 5 IS YOUR BIRTHDAY: Life sparkles because you refuse tolive vicariously through others. Be prepared to finally take yourposition among the powerful next month. The best signs forpartnerships of all kinds are Capricorn and Pisces. Your luckynumbers are: 5, 51, 22, 6 and 11.
The United Nations said Thursday it has received less than half the money it needs for cyclone relief in Myanmar, with some nations delaying their donations because of concerns about restrictions imposed by the military government on foreign aid workers.
The U.N. set a goal of US$201.6 million for its relief efforts but so far has received only US$113.2 million, or 44 percent, from government donors, it said. An additional US$51 million in pledges has not yet been delivered, the U.N. said.
Funding shortfalls were particularly great for emergency food operations and education, it said.
"Funding is clearly not coming in at the rate we would hope," said Amanda Pitt, a spokeswoman for the U.N. relief operations. "Funding is urgently needed to sustain the pipeline for food and assistance."
Pitt said the U.N. hopes that funding will increase after a comprehensive assessment of the needs of the estimated 2.4 million survivors of the May 2-3 cyclone is finished by June 20.
About 250 experts from the U.N., Myanmar's government and Southeast Asian nations headed into the Irrawaddy delta on Tuesday for the survey of 6,000 hard-hit villages. They will determine the food, water and shelter needs of the survivors, along with the cost of rebuilding houses and schools and reviving the farm-based economy.
The U.N. estimates that more than 1 million survivors, mostly in the delta, still need help more than five weeks after the cyclone struck. Cyclone Nargis killed more than 78,000 people in impoverished Myanmar and left another 56,000 people missing, according to the government.
Myanmar's military regime has asked for US$10.7 billion in foreign funds for relief and reconstruction.
Aid donors representing dozens of countries and regional organizations met late last month in Yangon and agreed to provide some cyclone aid, but warned the military junta they would not fully open their wallets until aid workers are provided access to the hardest-hit areas.
The junta has since promised to allow international aid workers into the delta, but access to the area remains difficult.
Aid agencies say a new set of government guidelines introduced Tuesday for relief operations could further complicate and delay recovery efforts.
The guidelines, distributed by the government at a meeting of U.N. agencies and private humanitarian organizations, require repeated contacts with national and local government agencies and large amounts of paperwork.
Joliet police said Wednesday they are baffled that no witnesseshave turned up in the Tuesday lunch-hour murder of a 19-year-oldMinooka girl in a busy section of Joliet.
The body of Danielle McTee, a summer clerk at a Joliet bank, wasfound in an outside stairwell behind a church across the street fromwhere she worked.
She had been shot once in the back of the neck, police said.
McTee usually took her lunch break around noon on the front lawnof the church, according to Joliet Police Sgt. Robert Kelly. Asecurity guard from the First National Bank of Joliet branch, whereMcTee worked, discovered her body at 3:30 p.m. Earlier, another bankemployee twice searched for McTee when she failed to return fromlunch.
A woman planting flowers in front of the church didn't see orhear anything suspicious, Kelly said. McTee was a graduate ofMinooka High School and was planning to attend college in the fall,police said.
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Niklas Backstrom and the Minnesota defense picked up where they left off.
Backstrom made 27 saves, Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored, and the Wild beat the Chicago Blackhawks 1-0 on Thursday night in the season opener for both teams.
Backstrom, the unflappable goalie from Finland, was given a two-year, $6.2 million contract in June that led to the trade of Manny Fernandez to Boston. In his first game under the burden of the big money and the starting job, Backstrom was just as good as he was as a 29-year-old rookie who helped the Wild make the playoffs for the second time in franchise history.
He didn't give up many rebounds and didn't budge when the Blackhawks had a brief 5-on-3 midway through the second period.
Nikolai Khabibulin wasn't bad himself in the other net. He stopped 23 shots, letting only one get by him in the middle frame when Minnesota's attack was the strongest.
The four-time All-Star has not played up to his reputation or his contract with Chicago, posting a goals-against average of 3.06 over his first two seasons with this young club.
The Blackhawks introduced Patrick Kane on the right wing after using the first selection in this summer's draft to take him. The 18-year-old, paired with fellow rookie Jonathan Toews, has given Chicago the hope of more offense and a return to competitiveness after several bleak years.
Toews, the third overall draft pick in 2006, was scratched because of a broken finger, delaying his debut by at least one game. Kane had a late chance to tie it, but his wrist shot from the left circle with less than 1 minute remaining was smothered by Backstrom.
The Wild are further along in their development, as Bouchard - the first-round selection in 2002 - showed in the second period.
Coming off a 20-goal season and placed on a second line that coach Jacques Lemaire has raved about with Brian Rolston and new center Eric Belanger, Bouchard got the first goal of 2007-08 for Minnesota.
Rolston took the puck to the blue line and fed Belanger, who went to the corner and sent a quick pass across the crease for Bouchard to knock it over and past Khabibulin's stick. The Wild almost had a second goal less than 2 minutes later, when Stephane Veilleux's shot from between the circles hit the crossbar and was signaled good on the ice. The video review, however, wiped it out.
This was an even game a bit like the old North Stars-Blackhawks feuds in the Norris Division. It included a smattering of cold stares, shoves - and two fights involving Minnesota enforcer Derek Boogaard. He served seven penalty minutes.
Notes:@ The Wild gave up the fewest goals in the league last season at 2.24 per game. The Blackhawks were second-to-last in the NHL in scoring with 2.38 goals per game. ... Former Minnesota defenseman Andrei Zyuzin is on injured reserve with Chicago because of a strained groin.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Make no mistake: Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels wants a role in the 2012 presidential campaign.
Less clear: Whether that means as a candidate or a commentator.
Daniels, in a brief interview with The Associated Press, said Wednesday he hadn't envisioned running for president. "It's certainly not the way I planned to spend the rest of my working life. ... On the other hand, there's my sincere concern about the condition and direction of the country. I promise you this, if I thought the country was in good shape or even reasonable shape, I wouldn't give this a thought."
Daniels said he was "alarmed about where we are. I hope I'm wrong, but I do want to see the nation make decisions that can guarantee a great future as opposed to risk of a serious setback to the American way of life."
Asked whether he considered President Barack Obama beatable in 2012, Daniels said he sometimes tells people "he's either unbeatable or unelectable. I just don't know which it is."
"I think there are things that ought to be said and ideas that ought to be presented to the American people. I think there are answers that can assure us a great future but there are dangers that will have a blighted future if we don't act. I can't see what would be at the end of a campaign."
"If I decide to do it, I'll just try to be as straight as I can be and persuasive as I can be and hope that at least if it doesn't work out, public understanding was improved," Daniels said.
The Midwestern governor promoted his state's education overhaul in a high-profile appearance in the nation's capital Wednesday, just days after fellow Republicans in the Indiana Legislature handed him a series of victories. Daniels had been adamant that he wouldn't consider seeking the presidency until the Legislature ended. It did so last weekend but he says he hasn't yet decided whether to enter the still-forming candidate field that lacks a front-runner.
"I really thought that it might become too late somewhere along the line," Daniels said. "But for whatever reason it appears not to be, and again, I think it's a happy surprise."
He added: "Unless you're a political professional or running a bed and breakfast in New Hampshire, that's a darned good thing that we're going to have a campaign for the nomination measured in months and not years," he said.
With the legislative session behind him, Daniels now is talking with potential supporters — including President George W. Bush — and donors to gauge whether to join the field. He says he will decide in the coming weeks what his political future will entail; he's barred from running for a third term as governor. His allies are standing ready with a political machine based a few blocks from the Indianapolis statehouse if he chooses to launch a presidential campaign.
Whether he's a candidate or not, he's certainly going to try to influence the debate, and Wednesday's appearance here at the conservative American Enterprise Institute showed as much.
Before a standing-room-only crowd, Daniels promoted an Indiana education overhaul, including measures that scale back the rights of teachers' unions, expand vouchers to pay for private schools and demand teachers have training in subjects they teach — all popular moves among the conservatives who control the GOP nominating process.
He said the overhaul will force schools to compete for students and help improve education.
"If the public schools work, then the students ... won't be incarcerated in schools that don't work," Daniels said.
Indiana's measures create the nation's most expansive private school voucher program and add merit pay for teachers. Opponents say Daniels' agenda will hurt public schools by taking money and students away. The voucher proposal was a key reason behind a five-week boycott earlier this session by House Democrats, who returned to the state after winning concessions on the voucher bill and other legislation.
Daniels, who is of Syrian descent, received a public service award from The Arab American Institute on Wednesday night.
A judge is sending a man arrested outside a school attended by Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck's daughter to a state mental hospital.
Los Angeles County District Attorney's spokeswoman Jane Robison says Steven Burky pleaded no contest Tuesday to two counts of stalking the celebrity couple and their children.
Robison says a judge found the 37-year-old to be not guilty of the offenses by reason of insanity after a hearing. Burky was ordered to stay away from Garner, Affleck and their family for 10 years if he is released.
Burky was arrested in December outside a school attended by one of the couple's daughter, a violation of a civil restraining order Garner obtained in 2008.
Margaritifera hembeli
| Status | Threatened |
| Listed | Endangered—February 5, 1988 |
| Reclassified | Threatened—September 24, 1993 |
| Family | Unionidae (Freshwater Mussel) |
| Description | Dark brown to black elliptical shell with white nacre. |
| Habitat | Shallow flowing streams with sand or gravel substrate. |
| Food | Filter-feeder. |
| Reproduction | Female stores sperm in gills; glochidia (larvae) are released into streams after hatching. |
| Threats | Stream diversion; reservoir construction; pollution. |
| Range | Louisiana |
The Louisiana pearlshell (Margaritifera hembeli ) is a freshwater mussel with a generally elliptical shell that measures about 4 in (10.2 cm) long, 2 in (5 cm) high, and 1.2 in (3 cm) wide. The outer shell surface (periostracum) is dark brown to black, and the inner shell surface (nacre) is white.
Like members of the family Unionidae, the pearl-shell is a filter-feeder. It takes nourishment by siphoning water, drawing it in through the inhalant siphon, and passing it over specialized gills that filter out suspended food particles. Common food materials of freshwater mussels are desmids, diatoms, filamentous algae, detritus, bacteria, and plankton.
This species was reclassified in 1993 from "endangered" to "threatened" because of improvements in habitat management, a new population discovery, and other successful recovery efforts.
The life of mussels is complex, and reproduction often depends upon a stable habitat—unaltered stream conditions, clean water, and an undisturbed stream bottom. The cycle also depends upon theabundance of suitable fish hosts to complete the mussel's larval development.
To reproduce, males discharge sperm, which are dispersed by stream currents. In the process of feeding, females nearby or downstream take in sperm, which fertilizes eggs stored in their gills. The gills serve as brood pouches (marsupia), where the glochidia hatch and begin to develop. After a time, these glochidia are released into the stream. A few mussels have inner parts that resemble a tiny minnow and can be manipulated to lure host fish. When a fish gets close to the shell, the mussel expels its glochidia.
Glochidia have tiny bean-or spoon-shaped valves that attach to the gill filaments of host fish. Glochidia can only progress to the juvenile stage while attached to the fish's gills. Those that do not fortuitously encounter a host fish do not survive when released by the female mussel. They sink to the bottom and die.
When the juvenile has developed a shell and is large enough to survive on its own, it detaches from the host fish and falls to the stream bottom, beginning a long association with a single stretch of stream. Maturing mussels bury themselves in riffles and shoals with only the shell margins and feeding siphons exposed to the water. Some mussels live as long as 50 years or more.
The family Unionidae, which includes all of the freshwater mussels in the United States, is separated into two groups based on the length of time the glochidia remain in the female's marsupia. The eggs of the short-term (tachytictic) breeders are fertilized in the spring, and glochidia are released by late summer of the same year. Long-term (bradytictic) breeders hold developing glochidia in the brood pouch over winter and release them in the spring.
Freshwater mussels feed by siphoning phytoplankton and other plant matter from the water. Indigestible particles are expelled from the shell by reverse siphoning. Silt in the water can kill mussels by clogging their feeding siphons.
There are no known interspecific differences in feeding among freshwater mussels. The glochidia are obligate parasites on the gills or fins of fish. Adult mussels are filter-feeders and consume particulate matter in the water column. Identifiable stomach contents almost invariably include desmids, di-atoms, algae, protozoa, and zooplankton.
Most freshwater mussel species display seasonal variations in activity associated with water temperature and reproduction. Metabolic rate is, in part, positively correlated with temperature. Many ectothermic species have the capacity to adjust their metabolic rates in response to long-term changes in temperature. Thus, metabolic rates do not continue to rise as temperatures rise in the summer, and they do not continue to fall during the winter as temperatures decline.
Some freshwater mussels also show diurnal changes in metabolic rates that indicate a tendency toward nocturnal activity patterns. Mussels may move to the surface to feed at night and move deeper into the substrate during the day; this is one way to avoid predators that hunt by visual contact.
Freshwater mussels are nonmigratory.
Louisiana pearlshells can be found in very shallow flowing streams with gravel and sand substrate. Water depths range from 12-20 in (30.5-50.8 cm). Vegetation in the surrounding watershed is mostly mixed hardwood-loblolly pine forest.
This species is thought to have ranged throughout most of the headwater streams of Bayou Boeuf in Rapides Parish, Louisiana.
In 1983, after an extensive search, biologists from the Louisiana Natural Heritage Program found the pearlshell in 11 streams. Two years later the total population was estimated at 10,000 individuals, about 90% of which inhabited four streams: Long Branch, Bayou Clear, Loving Creek, and Little Loving Creek. Much of the pearlshell's range is within the Kisatchie National Forest, administered by the Forest Service.
Since its listing in 1988, the mussel's prospects have improved so much that the species was reclassified from "endangered" to "threatened" in1993. One reason for the reclassification was the discovery of new populations and an expansion of the known range for the species into the Red River drainage. In the fall of 1991, based upon a report of the Louisiana pearlshell from Moccasin Branch in the Red River drainage, biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and Kisatchie National Forest conducted a field survey of streams in andadjacent to the Catahoula District of the National Forest. Twelve populations of the Louisiana pearl-shell were found in three different small drainages that eventually flow into the Red River. One drainage is isolated from the others by the impoundment of Lake Iatt. All of the populations were found in small, shallow, clear streams with gravel or firm sand substrate.
The pearlshell's range has been reduced by dam construction, stream diversion, and generally degraded water quality. Logging operations in Rapides Parish have included clear-cutting up to stream banks, which has increased erosion and runoff. Freshwater mussels are especially vulnerable to siltation because their feeding siphons are easily clogged. A large population was lost in the early 1980s to natural processes, when beavers constructed a dam that flooded a section of stream habitat.
The Louisiana pearlshell, one of the rarest members of its family, has been avidly sought by both amateur and scientific collectors. As this mussel is already very limited in numbers, any collection can have an adverse affect.
On September 24, 1993, the FWS determined that the Louisiana pearlshell warranted reclassification from "endangered" to "threatened."
In addition to documenting a larger range than known at the time of its initial listing, surveys found evidence of successful reproduction in most, if not all, populations. Management initiatives at Kisatchie National Forest to benefit the pearlshell have included the control of beavers (whose dams had fragmented the mussel's range and flooded its free-flowing habitat) and the establishment of streamside zones to minimize sedimentation during logging operations.
According to a 1990 FWS draft recovery plan, the main objective for recovery of this species is increasing population numbers in each of Long Branch, Bayou Clear, Loving Creek, and Little Loving Creek to greater than 2,000 individuals and increasing population numbers in the Mack Branch, Castor Creek, and Brown Creek to over 1,000 individuals. These minimal levels are to be maintained for a period of at least 10 years with evidence of successful reproduction and recruitment. In the future, all streams will be surveyed to determine population status.
Because this mussel occurs within a national forest and on land administered by the U.S. Air Force, the Forest Service and the air force are required to formally consult with the FWS concerning any proposed actions that would potentially harm the pearlshell or its habitat.
Other recommended recovery efforts include the reduction of off-road vehicle activity. Better timber management could reduce siltation in the streams. In addition, public education and information on the hazards of siltation and waste runoff (such as motor oil, sewage, and agricultural pesticides) are necessary. The reclassification to "threatened" status is a clear sign that recovery efforts are on the right track.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Regional Office, Division of Endangered Species
1875 Century Blvd., Suite 200
Atlanta, Georgia 30345
Telephone: (404) 679-4000
http://southeast.fws.gov/
Athearn, H.D. 1970. "Discussion of Dr. Heard's Paper (Eastern Freshwater Mollusks, the South Atlantic and Gulf Drainages)." Malacologia 20 (1): 1-56.
French, III, John R.P. November 1990. "The Exotic Zebra Mussel: A New Threat to Endangered Freshwater Mussels." Endangered Species Technical Bulletin 15 (11).
Johnson, R.E. 1983. "Margaritifera marrianae, A New Species of Unionacea (Bivalvia: Margaritiferidae) from Mobile-Alabama-Coosa and Escambia River Systems, Alabama." Occasional Papers on Mollusks, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University 4 (62): 299-304.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1990. "Endangered and Threatened Species Recovery Program, Report to Congress." U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Four people died in Russian hospitals overnight, bringing the death toll from last weekend's nightclub fire to 117, an emergency official said Tuesday.
About 30 of the 120 hospitalized remain in critical condition after Saturday morning's blaze in a nightclub in Perm, sparked by an indoor fireworks display.
Prosecutors suspect negligence and on Monday charged four people _ the club's co-owner, its manager and entertainment director and the head of a fireworks company whose indoor show sparked the blaze. All are in custody in the Ural Mountains city.
Oksana Butina, a local Emergencies Ministry spokeswoman, told The Associated Press that the four new deaths all occurred in hospitals in Perm.
Most of the dead were killed by burns or gas inhalation, officials have said, although some were crushed as the crowd tried to flee through a single exit.
Video footage from Russian television showed the club's ceiling covered in a pattern of woven twigs, which were set alight by one of the pyrotechnics. The ceiling behind the twigs reportedly was highly flammable plastic.
Enforcement of fire-safety standards is infamously poor in Russia and there have been several catastrophic blazes at drug-treatment facilities, nursing homes, apartment buildings and nightclubs in recent years.
China Construction Bank Ltd., the country's second-biggest commercial lender by assets, said its profit climbed 15 percent in 2009 on a surge in lending and strong fee and commission income.
Profit for 2009 was 106.8 billion yuan ($15.6 billion) or 0.5 yuan per share (7 cents per share), the Beijing-based lender said Sunday. That compared with a 92.6 billion yuan profit in 2008.
Chinese banks extended over 9.5 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion) in loans in 2009 in support of a massive government stimulus program meant to ward off recession. The slew of new loans has raised concern over potential problems with bad debt problems, but so far such trends have not shown in lenders' earnings results.
China Construction Bank, which is a major lender for construction and housing, said its ratio of nonperforming loans to total lending fell to 1.5 percent by the end of last year from 2.2 percent a year earlier.
Like its rivals, the bank has sought to boost its fee and commissions income. In 2009, such income rose 25 percent over the year before, to 48.1 billion yuan ($7 billion) from 38 billion yuan in 2008.
Calvin Schiraldi's hamstring tug from stepping hard on secondbase Thursday at New York is not considered serious. "We might haveto push him back a day is all," manager Don Zimmer said. TrainerJohn Fierro added, "The tender area is no bigger than a dime." Rich Gossage is taking it slow with the recurrence of a cramp inhis neck. "We don't know if it's a muscle pressing a nerve or what,"the reliever said. "I just don't want it to turn into what it wasbefore. That was the most pain I've ever been in." Les Lancaster feels almost strong enough to pitch after hisappendectomy 10 days ago. "It was bad enough watching the guys onTV," he said. "Now I've got to watch from here without being able tohelp." Scout Charley Fox is back from scouting the Yankees, perhapsto trade Rick Sutcliffe. "They said they won't trade any of theirkids for a veteran, so there's no deal," he said. A tribute to Harry Caray is set for Nov. 19 at Bally's in Las Vegas.Frank Sinatra is part of the roast, which Chicago comic Tom Dreesenwill emcee. "I've been fried quite a few times, but never roasted,"said Caray. Scout Hugh Alexander is back one month after a life-threateninganeurysm operation. "To get to it, the doctor said he put my kidneyson the table, my liver on the table and my intestines on the table,and went lookin'," he said. Former Chicago columnist Rick Talley is preparing a book on the 1969Cubs to coincide with next spring's 20-year anniversary of the club'sheartbreaking season. To order the Monday night game souvenir program, send a $7 check ormoney order to: Cubs-Night Game Program, Gift Catalog, 1060 W.Addison, Chicago 60613.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — What if they threw a giant party for the Americas and didn't invite the United States or Canada? That's what Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is doing with a two-day, 33-nation summit starting Friday, welcoming nations from Brazil to Jamaica in what he hopes will be a grand alliance to counter U.S. influence.
Many presidents have less sweeping goals in mind, seeing the new Community of Latin American and Caribbean States mainly as a forum for resolving regional conflicts, building closer ties and promoting economic development.
Yet the bloc's creation is also a sign that for many countries, the United States is no longer seen as an essential diplomatic player in regional affairs.
"The U.S. has lost an awful lot of space in the region, even though it's still the most important, the most powerful country in the region," said Eduardo Gamarra, a Latin American politics professor at Florida International University in Miami. Still, he said, it's unclear whether the region's governments are truly committed to forming a close alliance that brings together Latin America in ways that offset U.S. power.
Chavez, who sells the largest share of Venezuela's oil to the United States, is urging the region to assert its independence, noting it was once a dream of 19th century independence hero Simon Bolivar to unify Latin American nations. Lampposts in Caracas are now festooned with banners picturing independence leaders ranging from Bolivar to Cuba's Jose Marti, along with the slogan "the path of our Liberators."
At least publicly, though, only some of Chavez's closest allies seem to share his interests in creating alternatives to established bodies such as the Washington-based Organization of American States, which includes every nation in the Americas except Cuba among its active members.
Nor are the region's leaders likely to agree with Chavez in creating organizations to replace those he strongly criticizes, such as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the World Bank.
The new group, known by its Spanish initials CELAC, will add one more acronym to a region with plenty of smaller organizations, including Unasur, Mercosur and the Caribbean Community. Some of Chavez's most fervent support comes from within the nine-nation, socialist-leaning Bolivarian Alternative bloc known as ALBA, which he has promoted with allies including Cuba and Nicaragua.
"This isn't aimed at becoming a new economic integration bloc nor replacing the OAS," said Maria Teresa Romero, an international studies professor at the Central University of Venezuela.
"President Chavez and others in the ALBA are using the CELAC for their political and propagandistic aims," Romero said. For Chavez, she said, it's a chance to show the outside world and Venezuelans "that he still has great international leadership" even though his influence has slipped in the past several years.
The summit's agenda as described by diplomats includes rather modest aims: approving the group's procedural rules as well as a clause dealing with democratic norms, formally launching the organization and adopting a declaration of shared principles.
At the very least, the summit will serve as Chavez's international debut after months of cancer treatment that forced him to postpone the meeting, which originally was planned in July. Many presidents, including those who differ with him, are on a personal level showing solidarity with Chavez and the cancer struggle that has left his head shaved to a fine stubble after chemotherapy.
Many presidents say the inclusion of every nation in Latin America and the Caribbean is indeed historic. Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman called it a step toward unifying "a region that had been divided."
Cuba, for instance, was long suspended from the OAS, and when in 2009 the body voted to lift the suspension, President Raul Castro's communist government rejected the offer while accusing the OAS of supporting U.S. hostility toward Cuba.
Now, Cuba says the new bloc is a sign of the region's independence, a stance echoed by Chavez.
"For centuries, they've imposed on us whatever the north felt like imposing on us," Chavez said this week. "The time of the south has arrived."
Plans for the new organization, which grew out of the 24-nation Rio Group, have been in the works since a 2008 summit hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Brazil, as Latin America's largest nation, will play a key role in setting the group's objectives, and President Dilma Rousseff was arriving Thursday for talks ahead of the summit.
Brazil's delegation is primarily concerned with examining a regional response to the global financial crisis. The region has so far weathered the turbulence better than the U.S. or Europe, recording economic growth of more than 5 percent last year, and leaders are looking for ways to further strengthen economies by encouraging local industries and reducing imports from outside the region.
The U.S. remains the top trading partner of many countries in the region, with exceptions including Brazil and Chile, where China has become the biggest trading partner. China has also made diplomatic inroads, including by granting about $38 billion in loans to Venezuela in exchange for increasing shipments of oil.
Brazil has joined Chavez in promoting a new Bank of the South to pool funds for development financing. But that doesn't mean nations are ready to abandon the World Bank.
Mexico's undersecretary for Latin America, Ruben Beltran Guerrero, told The Associated Press that the new bloc "isn't a forum that excludes any other," but rather will complement established organizations.
Mexico and other countries also view it as a body that will, similarly to the OAS, stand up for democratic principles in a region that has seen its share of coups, most recently in Honduras in 2009. Beltran said Mexico wants the bloc to "send a very clear signal to the countries of the region that a breakdown in constitutional order brings consequences."
Chile is to assume the rotating presidency in the group's inaugural year, and its mission will include "promoting human rights and democracy," said Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno. It will also be a forum for discussing issues ranging from counter-drug efforts to improving transportation routes, Moreno told the AP in an email.
On a practical level, though, some analysts say the fledgling group will face many constraints.
"It's going to be underfunded. It's not going to have any enforcement mechanisms. At least that's been the history of what we've done with these multilateral organizations," Gamarra said.
He cited the example of Unasur, saying that since its 2008 founding the South American bloc has had little clout.
Chavez, in typical style, has been playing up the gathering for months. He at one point called it "the political event of the greatest importance ... in 100 years."
___
Associated Press reporters throughout Latin American and the Caribbean contributed to this report.
___
Ian James on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ianjamesap
Mike Small is leading the Illinois Open again. So what else isnew?
The University of Illinois coach takes a one-stroke lead into thefinal round today of the 57th Illinois Open at The Glen Club inGlenview. Playing his sixth consecutive day of tournament golf, Smallshot a 2-under-par 70 on Tuesday and completed 36 holes in 7-under137.
His main challengers are a foursome of players with unfulfilledpro tour dreams. Lake Forest's Andrew Price, who has spent most ofhis first pro season on the Gateway Tour, matched Small's 70 and isat 138 with Aurora's Curtis Malm, who shot a 69. Malm, who won thetournament in 2000, is trying to become the fourth player to win theIllinois Open as both an amateur and professional.
Another stroke back are Winfield's Kevin Streelman, who has had aproductive season on the fledgling U.S. Pro Golf Tour, and BrettMelton, who won the Illinois PGA Match Play title in May. A club profor five seasons at Midlothian and Green Garden, Melton is movingfrom Crete to Washington, Ind., and won't be eligible for theIllinois Open after this year.
"[Winning] would be a great way to say goodbye," Melton said, "butMike, Andrew and a bunch of others might have something to say aboutthat. Some people may say that Mike's invincible, but I think he'sbeatable -- if I play well."
Small, the 2003 and 2005 winner, finished 38th in the PGA Tour's
U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee on Sunday. He has played fiveconsecutive weeks of tournaments.
"The heat didn't bother me at all," Small insisted. "I'm notfatigued.
After [today], I have nine days off. If
I can handle it mentally, I'll be fine."
lziehm@suntimes.com
Kanawha County Public Library system's annual book sale,traditionally held each August, will be held in October this year.
The sale is one of the major components of the first WestVirginia Book Festival, which will be held Oct. 12 and 13 throughoutthe Civic Center. The book sale is scheduled for Oct. 13 from 8 a.m.to 8 p.m. in the Charleston Civic Center's South Hall. The Book Salewill close at 4 p.m. and reopen at 4:30 p.m. with special $2 a bagpricing.
More information is available by calling the main library inCharleston at 343-4646.
Comparing the Illinois school system to a "soviet-style bureaucracy," Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich Thursday announced he's taking over the state's educational system because too many students "can't meet basic reading...."
Saying he is not satisfied with the way Illinois runs its schools, Blagojevich stepped up to the plate vowing to run and reform a system he believes allowed children to fall between the cracks.
Senate President Emil Jones, Senator Barack Obama (D-13th), and Rep. Monique D. Davis (D-27th) are glad that Blagojevich is taking on the school system, but, Jones and Obama said it sounds easier than it is done.
While Blagojevich and his deputy chief of …
U.S. and Russian flights believed to be carrying candidates for a 14-person spy swap landed in Vienna on Friday, parking nose-to-tail in a remote section of the tarmac as the largest such exchange since the Cold War moved into its final stage.
The U.S. charter _ a maroon-and-white Boeing 767-200 carrying 10 deported Russian agents _ arrived after flying overnight from New York's La Guardia airport. Within minutes, it came to a halt behind a Yakovlev Yak-42 _ Russian Emergencies Ministry plane thought to be carrying the four Russians to be exchanged.
Stairs were put up to the U.S. flight and people wearing fluorescent yellow jackets entered the plane.
…
IT'S BEEN JUST 13 months since mass protests and impeachment drove ex-Philippine president Joseph Estrada from office.
The episode reminded Filipino voters why they doubt their government; investors were reminded why many steer clear of the Philippines.
Imagine the outrage, then, over the drive to give the detained Estrada a four-month pass -- or a much longer one -- to the United States. There are actually two give-Estrada-a-break drives. One would let him travel to the US for knee surgery, arguing local doctors stink. Estrada denies it's a ruse to escape justice, but folks here worry he'll seek political asylum abroad.
The other would put the …
Saab was awarded two export orders totalling SEK one billion for its Arthur artillery locating radar and the …
Byline: New York Time
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Gov. Lawton Chiles of Florida, who has taken pride in running clean campaigns for nearly four decades, now finds his ethics being questioned a year after what he said would be his final run for elective office.
After months of denials, the Democratic governor's top political advisers admitted over the last several days that they authorized a blitz of scare telephone calls to elderly citizens just before last year's election.
The callers, who lied about their identities, told as many as 680,000 elderly Floridians that the Republican nominee, Jeb Bush, had cheated on his taxes and that Bush's running mate …
When he heard that his manager _ his first-ever big league skipper _ had called him a "kid," Bobby Scales couldn't help but smile.
"Sounds good to me," he said. "Maybe we can hoodwink him and make him think I'm 26."
Scales is 31 years and seven months old, so he wasn't about to fool Lou Piniella. But the "kid" did impress the Chicago Cubs manager Tuesday in his major league debut.
After 11 years of bouncing around the minor leagues _ dreaming and hoping and yearning for just a chance to perform on baseball's biggest stage _ Scales started at second base at Wrigley Field. He singled sharply to left field in …
Outrage over honoring It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp with an Academy Award for Best Original Song has created a dilemma for another generation of aspiring Black artists. Is the primary allegiance of artists to their art form, or should they restrict themselves by the ideals of Black social/political critics?
Just as Hattie McDaniel, Lincoln Perry (Step and Fetchit) and a host of earlier artists were forced to perform within the racial, political and social context of their times, today's generation of aspiring artists create and perform based on their cultural and/or sub-cultural experience, their unique realities. These young Black artists utilize their own vernacular, the language …
2000 SEP 21 - (NewsRx.com) --
Endogenous gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) is necessary for the development of host protective immunity against blood-stage Plasmodium chabaudi malaria, researchers in Canada report.
"The role of endogenous IFN-gamma in protective immunity against blood-stage P. chabaudi AS malaria was studied using IFN-gamma gene knockout (GKO) and wild-type (WT) C57BL/6 mice," wrote Z. Su and colleagues, Montreal General Hospital. "Following infection with 10(6) parasitized erythrocytes, GKO mice developed significantly higher parasitemia during acute infection than WT mice and had severe mortality."
In infected GKO mice, the production …
HOLLYWOOD--The victim of poor ratings, syndicated early fringe strip Day & Date is being canceled effective Jan. 3, 1997, the show's distributor, Eyemark Entertainment, confirmed late Friday. The show, hosted in its second season by Dana King, was conceived as a sort of Today for the afternoon that would counterprogram talk shows and be a compatible news lead-in. "I'm sorry but not surprised," …
Byline: Associated Press
ALBANY -- State Senate Republicans reintroduced a package of bills Wednesday designed to combat auto insurance fraud, and accused Assembly Democrats of contributing to rising rates by failing to pass their proposals last year.
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno designated anti-fraud legislation a top priority for the Senate this session -- something he also did last year.
So what's new?
``2003 is a brand new year,'' he said. ``It's a brand new beginning, we're prioritizing in January. We're ready.''
Assembly Democrats, who passed bills similar to the Republican package last year, responded by blaming …
The Boeing Co. winds up the year with plenty to worry about: ailing customers, sagging orders, production cutbacks and disgruntled workers at an impasse in labor talks.
Still, there are new orders on the books and the prospect of more before the year's out. And things aren't as bad as at the competition.
So far this year, Boeing has announced orders for 174 jets worth about $13 billion. That's quite a change from just two years ago, when Boeing took orders for 543 planes worth $47.7 billion, an industry record.
In the late 1980s, Boeing executives worried about finding enough workers to hustle the airplanes out the door. Today, they talk about …
He plays like Rooney but behaves more like Beckham. He loves his cars, his rap music and his clothes, and changes hairstyles more often than you can say "Kim Jong Il."
North Korea striker Jong Tae Se is not your average North Korean.
Born and raised in Japan, the 26-year-old forward has never lived in communist North Korea, and says he has no plans to. He loves to shop, snowboard and dreams of marrying Korea's Posh Spice _ none of which would be possible in the impoverished North, one of the most isolated countries in the world.
But he wears the Democratic People's Republic of Korea jersey with pride, and is moved to tears when he hears …
