We’ve got startups and football on our minds this week — preparing for the sold-out GeekWire Startup Day on Friday in Seattle, and gearing up for Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday, with our hometown Seattle Seahawks vying to repeat as NFL Champions against the New England Patriots.
Of course, in both startups and football, assembling an effective team is one of the most critical factors for success. Which got us to thinking: What if the Seahawks were a startup? Which roles would their key players play on the executive team? And what startup insights can be gleaned from their leadership traits?
So we studied the Seahawks’ roster and came up with a list of executive leaders. Most startups could only dream of drafting talent like this.
OK, so this one may be obvious. The Seahawks quarterback is well-spoken, upbeat and resilient in the face of adversity. He is a master of delegation and getting things done — understanding intuitively when to hand off an assignment to a colleague, and when to run with a project on his own. But most importantly, Russell Wilson seems to know exactly the right moment to take big risks, and he’s not afraid to make bold strategic moves in his persistent quest for big gains.
He certainly knows how to talk the talk, but what we love best about Richard Sherman is that he can back up all his bragging with results. The ability to not only promote a product or service, but to actually deliver — that’s what you want in a marketing guru. On top of an innate ability to communicate and sell, the Stanford grad has a multitude of his own sponsorship deals, helping to sell everything from Beats headphones to Oberto beef jerky. Sherman’s personal website and social media presence are also impressive. Richard is a natural marketer, and a perfect startup CMO.
While Sherman may be Seattle’s most vocal player, Earl Thomas might be the smartest on the field. Sherman, after all, once told ESPN that his teammate had one of the “highest football IQs I’ve ever heard of.” A CTO must know the ins and outs of a company’s technical DNA, and Thomas fits that bill perfectly with mental preparation that is second-to-none. Today’s chief technical officers also need to not only have the tech backgrounds, but also demonstrate leadership and communication skills. Thomas certainly has that covered, too, as the Legion of Boom’s point-man.
Just think of all the attention this guy has drummed up! Apart from Deflategate, Marshawn Lynch been the talk of Super Bowl Week. He has mastered the art of non-verbal communication, demonstrated his deep understanding of promotional branding, and displayed an uncanny ability to stay on-message. What more can you ask for in a public-relations executive? Oh, right, a willingness to acknowledge the existence of the media. Well, maybe he can work on that.
He might not get all the headlines, but the Seahawks center is the guy who gets everything started, and then holds off the competition for long enough let the CEO make things happen. And his effectiveness is quantifiable. As The News Tribune reports, when Unger was out due to injury this season, the Seahawks averaged 4.7 yards per carry. When he was in, they averaged 5.8 yards per carry. If that were sustained over a full season, it would be a half-yard per rush better than any NFL team’s average this millennium.
Calm, steady, reliable under pressure, and straight down the middle. What more could you ask for in a finance chief? We have no idea if the Seahawks placekicker is good with numbers, but he’s certainly got the temperament to do the job. And he’s also flexible in applying his skills, having made the transition from soccer to American football.
Photo by Anthony Quintano, via Flickr.
Of course, there are plenty of additional positions to fill on our startup team, and this enterprise wouldn’t be possible without an investor (team owner Paul Allen) or a director of human resources (general manager John Schneider). And we’ve got to find a role for Kam Chancellor somewhere.
But we feel good about our core leadership team. These guys seem well-positioned to make a big impact, and in true startup style, they do some of their best work on weekends.


SAN JOSE, Calif. – A California airport spokesman says a Dallas-bound American Airlines flight made an emergency landing at Mineta San Jose International Airport after a bird strike. No injuries were reported.
Airport spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes says the plane returned to the airport Friday about 20 minutes after it took off around 6:20 a.m.
It then taxied to a gate.


The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is cancelling plans to honour two Sri Lankan researchers who attempted to link a kidney disease epidemic in Sri Lanka to the glyphosate herbicide.
According to foreign media the AAAS which publishes the prestigious journal Science came under pressure from scientists.
The two scientists - Dr. Sarath Gunatilake and Dr. Channa Jayasumana were supposed to receive the organizations' 2019 Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility at the annual AAAS meeting next week.
But AAAS announced on Twitter Wednesday the presentation has been cancelled due to concerns by scientists and AAAS members "while we further evaluate the award selection."
Critics say the two scientists don't have the science to prove a linkage between kidney disease and glyphosate.
Kevin Folta, who chairs the horticultural sciences department at the University of Florida, also took issue with the AAAS press release about the award, which referred to glyphosate as a "lethal" herbicide. Read his comments at the bottom of this article.
Two public health researchers who battled powerful corporate interests to uncover the deadly effects of industrial herbicides, solving a medical mystery and protecting the health of farming communities across the world, will receive the 2019 Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Drs. Sarath Gunatilake and Channa Jayasumana faced death threats and claims of research misconduct while working to determine the cause of a kidney disease epidemic that has claimed tens of thousands of lives in their home country of Sri Lanka and around the world. Ultimately, their advocacy led to the culprit, an herbicide called glyphosate, being banned in several affected countries.
"To right a wrong when significant financial interests are at stake and the power imbalance between industry and individual is at play takes the unique combination of scientific rigor, professional persistence and acceptance of personal risk demonstrated by the two scientists recognized by this year's award," says Jessica Wyndham, director of the Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program at AAAS.
Beginning around 1994, rice farmers in Sri Lanka's North Central Province began falling ill with Chronic Kidney Disease. The epidemic was unique in that those succumbing to the disease were relatively young and did not suffer from ailments associated with CKD, such as diabetes and hypertension. In 2011, the country's Ministry of Health invited Gunatilake, a physician and researcher at California State University, Long Beach to investigate the cause of the disease.
At the time, Jayasumana, also a physician, was struggling to find funding to research the CKD epidemic for his doctoral degree at Rajarata University, in North Central Province. He decided to join California State University, Long Beach as a visiting scholar under Gunatilake's supervision, bringing with him samples of urine, drinking water and rice. Gunatilake and Jayasumana found that glyphosate, marketed mostly by Monsanto as Roundup, was transporting arsenic, cadmium and other heavy metals to the kidneys of those drinking contaminated water, causing CKD.
In 2014, they published their results in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Because similar epidemics were occurring in Central America, North Africa and Southeast Asia, the study earned worldwide attention. To date, the paper has received 23,000 downloads and 64 citations.
Jeopardizing the profits of glyphosate distributors, subsidiaries and importers, however, did not come without consequences. Gunatilake and Jayasumana received death threats, and twelve scientists who had obtained industry-funded grants filed a research misconduct complaint against Gunatilake. Eventually, he was exonerated, after a California State University, Long Beach scientific investigation panel dismissed the complaint.
Thanks to pressure applied by a massive public health campaign led by Gunatilake, the Sri Lankan president created the National Project for Prevention of Kidney Diseases, naming Jayasumana as director. In 2015, Sri Lanka became the first of many countries to ban the import of glyphosate. Three years later, Sri Lanka lifted the import ban, but continued to restrict the use of glyphosate on tea and rubber plantations.
In the past few years, Gunatilake has convened multi-disciplinary international conferences to discuss the dangers of glyphosate and raised more than $20,000 to help the families of victims. CKD has claimed the lives of at least 25,000 Sri Lankans and 20,000 Central Americans.
"What started as a bold effort to provide a voice for the impoverished, powerless rice paddy farmers in Sri Lanka has now blossomed into a worldwide environmental movement through research, advocacy, networking and collaboration," wrote public health professional Hanan Obeidi in the award nomination letter.
The AAAS Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award was established in 1980. It honors scientists, engineers or organizations whose exemplary actions have demonstrated scientific freedom and responsibility in challenging circumstances. Achievements that the award recognizes include acting to protect the public's health, safety or welfare; focusing public attention on important issues related to scientific research, education and public policy; and establishing important new precedents in carrying out the social responsibilities of scientists or in defending the professional freedom of scientists and engineers. The award consists of a $5,000 prize and a commemorative plaque.
The awardees will receive the prize during the 185th AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 15, 2019.
I humbly ask this question. What am I missing?
I just read the press release from the AAAS about the 2019 Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award, going to two Sri Lankan physicians/researchers—Sarath Gunatilake and Channa Jayasumana—that apparently confirmed a deadly causal connection between a kidney disease (Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Origin; CKDu) and the herbicide glyphosate. Congrats, congrats!
Wow, I must have missed this. Certainly a concrete link would be big news, and if AAAS is awarding someone for this research it must have been a prominent publication. But I scan the literature almost daily and never saw this.
The names of the awardees seemed strangely familiar. Then it hit me: this was the 2014 paper where they looked at hard water consumption in Sri Lanka and then suggested a link between heavy metals and maybe glyphosate. The paper presented a hypothesis. There were no data. There were no experiments. It was a semi-well-crafted hypothesis that could be tested.
At the time the anti-pesticide world lit up in celebration. Finally they had the smoking gun. I remember this vividly—only there was no smoke, there was no gun. It was a hypothesis to test. These folks don’t actually read the papers.
This paper, presenting a hypothesis only, was sufficient to spark a ban of glyphosate in 2015, a move that drew criticism because the ban occurred in the absence of data. Later, reputable scientists would add that the ban threatened food security as farmers were stripped of a helpful agricultural tool, based on a hunch.
The Sri Lankan National Academy of Science made clear statements on the associations, stating that the “research is not conclusive” and “we are not aware of any scientific evidence form studies in Sri Lanka or abroad showing that CKDu is caused by glyphosate.” The same organization also notes no association between CKDu and cancer, which we’d expect if the herbicide was causing both diseases as some claim.
The researchers are obviously passionate about identifying the source of the problem in this region. An examination of their later work shows a dedicated inquiry into heavy metals and pesticides that occur in drinking water in agricultural areas, and their association with CKDu. They also look at the flip side and how access to clean water improves health outcomes. That alone is deserving of some recognition. I also think they would agree with me that the AAAS website was not fairly representing their work.
Many researchers, including these authors, have examined the connections to heavy metals, particularly arsenic and cadmium (including this work that shows cadmium dose-response), which are present in high levels in CKDu endemic areas, and arise from application of fertilizers and pesticides.
A case-control study (self-reported health factors) by the same authors in a CKDu-endemic hospital also found statistical associations with application of several different herbicides and insecticides. There also was association with exposure to a variety of heavy metals in drinking water, especially from abandoned wells. The authors note that the majority of those answering questions were farmers who don’t use personal protective equipment when spraying pesticides. I’m not surprised that they’d have higher levels in their urine. Again, the authors were correct in noting the limitations of the study.
While the authors are appropriately conservative in their conclusions, the AAAS website seems to be pretty certain, especially about the “lethal” herbicide and the role of corporations in ‘suppressing’ this ‘research’.
Never believe Kevin Folta. He is an exposed Monsanto parrot. Folta brings shame upon the word "doctor."
The 2014 article, published in a journal that was listed as a predatory journal that published when the page charges were paid, claimed that Arsenic substitutes to phosphorous in glyphosate, forming an arsenic analogue of glyphosate, which then forms an insoluble complex with the calcium in hard water. This substance, though insoluble, is claimed to enter the human body with water and cause kidney diseases. The third author of the publication is Ms. Senanayake who claims to have discovered this mechanism in a psychic seance connecting to a spiritual being known as "God Natha". This was the basis of the hypothesis and why she was included in the authorship. There is no field data or chemical evidence for the proposed substance and its toxicology. If these two authors are going to be given an AAAS award, then the the AAAS should also award the psychic woman who proposed the hypothesis. The California doctor is well connected with the anti-GMO lobby, Dr. Mercola, Dr. Stefanie Seneff and other irrational types who hyped up the whole issue and gave it publicity and made it "true". What has Science come to pass?


Around half an hour after Twitter "discovered" the amusingly-musical website of Tory candidate Greg Knight, it had moved on to the next big thing – Gordon Brown calling a 65-year-old Rochdale woman "bigoted".
So #bigotgate soon began to trend on the site worldwide and up popped fake accounts for Gillian Duffy, who is probably entitled to feel mystified since she had only popped out for a loaf of bread when she ran into the prime minister and an open mic.
And it carried on and on. Above is a map showing Twitter trends from around 3.30pm this afternoon, when the UK's two major 24 news channels turned over their live coverage for more than 45 minutes to rolling footage of a closed door.
It was, as an old joke has it, the biggest thing to happen to Rochdale since Cyril Smith.


If you’re searching for reasons why the Pac-10 basketball conference is bad this year, the Oklahoma City Thunder dressing room is as good a place to start looking as any.
That’s where you’ll find Russell Westbrook, the Thunder’s explosive second-year point guard, who is averaging 16.2 points, seven assists and five rebounds per game.
Sitting next to him is James Harden, the third pick in last June’s NBA draft.
Westbrook and Harden represent a big part of the Thunder’s future.
They should be part of the Pac-10’s present.
Had Westbrook stayed in school, he’d be a senior at UCLA and potentially starting alongside fellow NBA players Kevin Love at center and Jrue Holiday at guard.
In Westwood, they’d be talking about a legitimate run to the Final Four.
As it is, they’re suffering through a major rebuilding job.
The same could be said for Arizona State, where Harden would be a junior right now. Or USC, where O.J. Mayo, Daniel Hackett, Taj Gibson and DeMar DeRozan would form a Final Four-caliber nucleus had they remained in school.
Instead, both teams are trying to put the right pieces together for future success.
Everywhere you look in the Pac-10 – save for the Washington Huskies, the only ranked team in the conference – you find clubs undergoing major restoration projects after losing key players to the professional ranks.
The losses partially explain the embarrassing manner in which the Pac-10 stumbled through its nonconference schedule, and why it is ranked sixth in RealTimeRPI.com‘s latest conference rankings, ahead of the Big 10 but behind the Southeastern and Atlantic 10.
If that ranking holds up come March, the Pac-10 could send as few as two teams to the NCAA Tournament.
Can anyone say Big West Conference?
That’s what happens when you suffer nonconference losses to the likes of Montana (Oregon), Illinois-Chicago and Sacramento State (Oregon State), Portland (UCLA and Oregon) Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton (UCLA) Oral Roberts (Stanford) and Loyola Marymount (USC).
Not that Washington coach Lorenzo Romar is buying any of it.
Romar scans the Pac-10 and sees a conference on the upswing, with teams getting healthy, players regaining eligibility, and clubs finally showing signs of life.
USC has won six straight games, including the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii, thanks to the additions of Mike Gerrity and Leonard Washington to the lineup.
UCLA has won three of four, and Washington State is 10-2, albeit after playing a weak schedule.
Perhaps, but there is plenty of work to be done if the Pac-10 hopes to change its poor national perception.
The good news is, it has more than two months to do so.
There are legitimate reasons why the Pac-10 has played so poorly.
To be sure, every conference suffers personnel losses as seniors graduate and talented underclassmen leave for the NBA.
But it’s hard to imagine another conference losing as many top-quality players to the professional ranks in the past two years than the Pac-10, not to mention the turnover in coaching.
Last June, six Pac-10 players were drafted in the first round of the NBA draft, with three going in the top 10: Harden No. 3, Arizona’s Jordan Hill No. 8 and DeRozan at No. 9.
Going back a another year, Mayo (No. 3), Westbrook (No. 4), Love (No. 5), Stanford’s Brook and Robin Lopez (Nos. 10 and 15) and Arizona’s Jerryd Bayless (No. 11) all went high in the first round.
All of them could still be playing in the Pac-10.
UCLA coach Ben Howland knew Love was a possible one-and-done after his freshman year, but losing Westbrook after his sophomore season and Holiday after his freshman year were major surprises.
It’s much easier to plan for losses you see coming. Good luck doing it when you get blindsided by some kid’s decision to leave much earlier than you envisioned.
“The tough part is, you don’t know you’ll have to reload for sure until you actually lose guys,” Howland said.
O’Neill longs for the day the NBA passes legislation similar to baseball, in which high school players can go straight to professional ball, but if they opt for college they aren’t draft eligible again for three years.
That means a lot of rebuilding on the fly.
From last season alone, the Bruins had to replace four starters – including the shocking loss of Holiday. USC replaced its coach and four starters and Washington State and Arizona both lost their coach and two best players.
No wonder, then, that the league looked as sloppy as it did during the preseason.
Romar, though, cautions that looks can be deceiving. The teams we saw in early December aren’t the same we’ll see come January and February, he insists.
The rest of the Pac-10 can only hope Romar is right.
A Lomita man was arrested when he allegedly tossed fireworks under a Sheriff’s Department mounted posse working in Hermosa Beach on July 4, police said.


Now, people can carry soft copies of their documents in mobile phone’s DigiLocker or m-Parivahan mobile applications.
India has fast tracked many initiatives aimed at achieving all the four tenets of UHC that is strengthening health systems, improving access to free medicines and diagnostics and reducing catastrophic healthcare spending.
"Kerala is potentially a power-house of Digital India. I understand that the government is making efforts to bridge the digital divide and provide free Internet connections to two million poorer families by using a new optic fibre network," Ram Nath Kovind said.
"India is leapfrogging from once being an infrastructure-poor country to now leading in digital technology," Satya Nadella, in his book 'Hit Refresh' said.
The Chief Minister also called for a time line to make villages digital, adding there are more than 3000 bank branches and every month 1000 villages should be made digital.
The complaint to the police stated said that Srivastava had accessed UIDAI data without authorisation between January 1 and July 26 for an app called ‘eKYC Verification’.
Paperless working system once it is in place will ensure transparency and accountability and leave no space for corruption. "For this to happen the government needs the cooperation of its officers as well as the citizens," Chief Minister Pema Khandu said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Digital India can be summarised in these 15 points.
DIGILocker, operated by the Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY) of the Ministry of Communications & IT, will be launched formally by the Prime Minister on July 1.


FLORENCE, SC (WMBF) - A referendum coming to vote in the coming weeks would put an outdated Florence Memorial Stadium out of commission and sanction the construction of new athletic complexes for three Florence One District Schools.
The 2019 Florence District One referendum would allocate close to $15 million dollars of an $198 million dollar pie to the construction of new complexes for Wilson, West and South Florence High Schools. Originally built in 1949, the current home of all three schools would be laid to rest at the end of the 2020 football season.
“I don’t see many people opposing the need for the new facilities,” began school board Chairman Barry Townsend. “The big concern is the tax increase.” Townsend added the stadium was in bad shape when he graduated high school.
We’ve gotten great use out of it over 70 years but I believe it’s time for us match what other schools in other districts have.
Currently the facility has no visiting or officials locker room. Visiting teams are forced to change in a wooded area behind the away bleachers while the district purchases hotel rooms for the officials to change in.
“A visit to Memorial Stadium by the opposing team is no treat,” said Townsend.
One of the renderings from the 2019 referendum allocating $15 million for the creation of three new athletic complexes. West Florence.
Other believe the stadium as it currently stands has major security and safety concerns.
In addition to the creation of the new athletic complexes, the referendum would establish funds to build three new schools in the district. Only 7 percent of the funds created would be allocated for athletic programs.
On the property of the Florence Regional Airport, Memorial Stadium was denied requests by the FAA to add additional lighting to the parking lot.
To read the full referendum, click below.


Peter Odemwingie has hinted he may try and buy himself out of his West Brom contract in another Twitter outburst.
The 31-year-old Baggies striker has 15 months remaining of his current four-year deal at The Hawthorns. But, under article 17 of FIFA's transfer regulations, players over the age of 28 can end their contracts two years after signing for a club by paying a compensation figure determined by their wages and transfer fee.
Odemwingie tweeted: "I see a free player. A player who buys out his contract soon. Or a retired player. Does he look like he cares much? They made him not to."
Albion have already confirmed the Nigeria international will be dealt with internally after his Twitter attacks on the club on Sunday.
Odemwingie hit out at being only a substitute in recent games and for the club allegedly questioning his commitment.
Sources close to the Barclays Premier League outfit have indicated Albion will not sack Odemwingie, Press Association Sport understands.
Odemwingie is likely to face another fine after being hit in the pocket during January for a series of social networking outbursts.
But Albion will not ban the former Lokomotiv Moscow and Lille forward from using Twitter although any activity by players is governed by the club's disciplinary code of conduct.


How Quick Communication Helps In Vaccination A man infected with measles recently visited a tight-knit Orthodox Jewish community in Michigan. Officials say a lightning-fast communication network within that community kept it from spreading.
A man infected with measles recently visited a tight-knit Orthodox Jewish community in Michigan. Officials say a lightning-fast communication network within that community kept it from spreading.
A measles outbreak that began in Orthodox Jewish communities in New York has now spread to orthodox communities in Michigan. As Michigan Radio's Tracy Samilton reports, quick communication is helping to convince people to get vaccinated if they aren't already.
TRACY SAMILTON, BYLINE: Nestled among the Starbucks and CBS Pharmacies in Southfield and Oak Park are clusters of Orthodox synagogues and Hebrew schools. There's a deli here on almost every corner. The man who visited here after catching measles in New York visited a lot of them, including a kosher grocery store, a yeshiva and Congregation Yagdil Torah, where I meet David Shapero.
DAVID SHAPERO: I generally study here in the mornings. And I was studying. I think it was on Tuesday. And there was somebody that I didn't recognize sitting nearby who was coughing his head off.
SAMILTON: Shapero says it's not unusual to see a stranger at the synagogue. There's a Jewish hospitality house right across the street. He didn't want to be rude.
SHAPERO: Well, after a minute or two, when I saw the coughing was incessant, I picked up with the fellow that I was studying with, and we moved a few tables away so that I thought I'd be out of range.
GARY ROSS: The vast majority of our community, in terms of the members of the Orthodox synagogues, are vaccinated.
SAMILTON: Ross found out about the measles case just like everyone else. In a matter of hours, text messages and emails sent by synagogues and schools spread the message to Orthodox Jews in Southfield and Oak Park. Since then, for the most part, county health officials say vaccinations are picking up.
JOHN LYON: We started excluding children who weren't vaccinated from school. So they had to stay home for their own protection from this disease.
SAMILTON: Lyon hastens to add that the lowest vaccination rates they found were not actually in the Orthodox Jewish schools. They were in others, including private Christian schools. That's the same situation here. And that's why Dr. Russell Faust, Oakland County, Michigan's, medical director, is not as worried about the Orthodox Jewish kids as he is the others.
RUSSELL FAUST: Their communication network is so great, they're all informed probably by now, right now. I'm worried about the folks that aren't in that community but, you know, have been exposed.
SAMILTON: It's too soon to know how many people in Michigan are going to contract measles from this one person. As many as 95 percent of unvaccinated people exposed to measles contract it. So as Rockland County, N.Y., gets close to eradicating its outbreak, Oakland County, Mich., is just beginning. For NPR News, I'm Tracy Samilton.


2019 NFL Draft: Could Redskins find trade partner in Jets in an attempt to land Dwayne Haskins?
By most metrics, the New York Jets have been the most active team in the NFL since the start of the league year, spending big money in free agency and completing a trade for two-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman Keleschi Osemele. And they are far from done.
The Jets have let it be known that they are open for business with the third-overall pick in the draft, and I wouldn't be surprised if, for the second year in a row, they complete a draft pick swap well before the actual selection process begins. A year ago, if you recall, they made an aggressive, proactive move to deal with the Colts to move up to third overall to be in position to take the second quarterback in the draft (either Baker Mayfield or Sam Darnold, depending on whom the Browns selected with the top pick). Now, with Darnold in tow and perhaps on the cusp of a breakout season, the Jets are ready, willing and eager to move down out of the third spot to secure more draft capital.
League sources say Washington is already among the teams sniffing around, and with pretty much every GM in the league wholeheartedly convinced that QB Kyler Murray is going first overall, and San Francisco likely to take its top defensive player on the board second overall (early money is on pass rusher Nick Bosa), then the Jets very well could be sitting pretty with that third pick as an avenue for a QB-needy team to jump ahead of the Giants (sixth overall) to land Ohio State QB Dwayne Haskins. There is a readily-accepted drop-off in the quarterback class beyond that, and while the need is not as robust as in some past years, it only takes one team to make the move.
Would the Jets really be open to dropping down all the way to Washington's pick, way back in the middle of the first round (15th overall)? Yup. I truly believe so, for the right price. And that price would be steep. The Jets would be sacrificing a sure-fire blue chip prospect potentially in the process, but in a draft where some evaluators I've talked to believe there are 12-14 non QBs with absolute first-round grades, the Jets could still be in position to land one from that group even all the way back at 15.
Redskins owner Dan Snyder has made such blockbuster moves before (RGIII, anyone?) and his quarterback situation is arguably the most bleak in the entire league, with Case Keenum and Colt McCoy being rented for a year and with Alex Smith unlikely to ever play again, but due $54M in guarantees.
If Snyder falls in love with Haskins through this process – and, I'd point out that Haskins played prep football in Snyder's backyard and that his mentor, Shawn Springs, is a former Redskins cornerback whom Snyder thinks very highly of – then he will do whatever he thinks has to do to get him. History has shown us as much, and I hear Washington is very much intrigued by the strapping pocket passer, and you just know that Snyder would take some joy in leap-frogging the NFC East rival Giants in the process.
And, I will reiterate, this is not a situation where the Jets are inclined to believe the best deal has to come right before the draft. And patience is not exactly a hallmark of the Bruce Allen reign as head of Washington's football operations (losing, however, would be). So keep an eye on this one.
Outside of the Giants and Skins, it's hard to figure anyone else makes the jump. Some execs I've chatted with believe John Elway may be open to moving up for Haskins – his pact with Joe Flacco is on a year-to-year basis at this point in the contract – though, personally, I tend to think he does not go that direction. Miami seems to be targeting the 2020 draft to solve its quarterback riddle – at the very least, giving away a bunch of picks to leap up from 13th overall would shock rival GMs at this point – and Jacksonville is paying Nick Foles like he is on the franchise tag the next two years, so grabbing a QB in the top-10 would run counter to their win-now ethos (even if winning now seems like an impossibility to their counterparts).
It's been a while since Snyder has done something splashy, and his fanbase has become among the more beaten-down and hopeless in the league (for good reason), and getting a buy-in from them wont be easy. Moving up for a potential franchise QB who threw 50 TDs a year ago at Ohio State just might help with that.
I've long chronicled the looming contractual conundrum facing the Seahawks over Russell Wilson, and am well on record that the time to go all out to extend him was last offseason. At this point, I frankly don't see much happening between the sides. I'm not sure there is even a deal that could be done, or a deal, if I was representing that player, that I would much consider signing, even at $40M per year. He's been remarkably durable, the franchise tag money in 2020 and 2021 would be huge and with this such a unique time in the history of the game – broadcast rights back on the negotiating table in a few years; a new CBA needed in a few years; the NFL about to embrace gambling money in a way unfathomable even a few years ago – I would be in no rush to even really talk about a new contract at this point. From everything I've gathered, this process hasn't even started and there's been no dialogue.
The Cardinals might as well start the full-scale shopping of Josh Rosen. And no sense limiting it to just the few teams that have an apparent QB need (really only Miami and Washington at this point). Their best bet may be with a team that has an aging starter in need of a potential heir. The free-agent QB market has been thoroughly picked through at this point, and Blake Bortles and Ryan Tannehill found new teams and the QB demand is what it is. Not much will cause it to change ahead of the draft, and do right by Rosen and get him to his new home sooner rather than later.
Heard some buzz about Wagner quarterback TJ Linta after his recent pro day. If the last name sounds familiar, yes, his father is Joe Linta, an NFL agent who helped make Joe Flacco the NFL's highest-paid player for a spell. Linta, who spent three years at Brown before transferring to Wagner for his final season, measures just under 6-foot-4 and has a big arm and has impressed scouts with his smarts and decision-making as well. Former NFL coordinator and QB coach Chris Palmer, who watched Linta go through a passing tree, said, "He clearly displayed a pro-level arm." Wouldn't be surprised if he is a late-round pick or priority un-drafted free agent at this point.


A proposal for a Walmart store in Wildomar has passed its first hurdle, gaining planning commission approval.
Supported by more than 4,500 pages of reports, analyses and documents, Walmart’s proposal for a Supercenter in Wildomar has cleared its first hurdle.
Planning commissioners voted 4-0 Wednesday, with Dan Bidwell absent, to recommend approval to the City Council, which is scheduled to take the issue up Feb. 11.
The retail giant wants to build a 186,000-square-foot store along with a 7,800-square-foot building for a smaller business on 22 acres at Bundy Canyon and Monte Vista Drive.
Wednesday’s hearing at City Hall attracted an overflow audience of about 70 residents, said Wildomar Planning Director Matthew Bassi.
None of the 13 people who spoke to the commission on the proposal voiced outright opposition, though they did raise concerns about flood control, traffic, access to the site and safety, Bassi said.
Objections to the project have been lodged in letters to the city by several critics, including environmental attorney Raymond Johnson who contends the analysis of the project’s effects falls short, especially with regard to air quality.
The commissioners, however, endorsed the project as presented without seeking changes, leaving intact more than 150 requirements with which Walmart must comply.
Walmart spokeswoman Delia Gracia said in an email that corporation representatives are pleased with the progress in Wildomar. The company is planning construction of another Supercenter in Lake Elsinore, but that has not yet reached that city’s planning commission.


Given the assurances given about the currency last summer, it's no surprise that many Kazakhs are apprehensive about the coming privatization of the country's most valuable industries and businesses.
On July 15, 2015, Kazakhstan's national currency, the tenge, was valued at around 187 tenges to the U.S. dollar. That was the day that the chairman of Kazakhstan's central bank, Kairat Kelimbetov, announced that bank authorities were widening the currency's trading band so the tenge would float between 170 and 198 to the U.S. dollar.
Kelimbetov said the exchange corridor would allow the tenge to "fluctuate independently" and therefore "answer the challenges in the coming six to 12 months." He said it was a "happy medium" for Kazakhstan's economy. In August, the bank announced a devaluation of the tenge and the rate fell precipitously.
On January 12, 2016, less than six months after Kelimbetov announced the widening of the currency band, the tenge's exchange rate was around 370 to the U.S. dollar.
Faced with economic hardships not seen since the 1990s, Kazakhstan is now moving to privatize its biggest enterprises, including the state oil and gas company, the state nuclear company, the railroad company, the national postal service, and many more of the prize pieces that for more than a decade represented Kazakhstan's economic success. Privatization could potentially bring tens of billions of dollars into Kazakhstan's economy, which is exactly what Kazakh officials are hoping.
Given the assurances the National Bank chairman gave a half-year earlier, it is no surprise that many people in Kazakhstan are apprehensive about the coming privatization of the country's most valuable industries and businesses. Many also remember the results of privatizations in Kazakhstan 20 years ago that made a select few people very wealthy.
RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, known locally as Azattyq, interviewed some knowledgeable people in Kazakhstan to get their reaction to the impending privatization.
The president of the Union of Academics, Orazaly Sabden, told Azattyq, "Under the guise of privatization, it is possible that not the people but those people who already have billions will be further enriched." Sabden added that the privatization process "must be fair...[and] it should be transparent -- on television, in the press, everything so the people see they are getting something."
"We've seen other privatizations [and] who gained from them," Sabden recalled, without naming anyone in particular.
The director of the Astana branch of the Institute of Economic Sciences, Zhangeldy Shymshykov, said another problem was that "within the government structures, quasi-state enterprises have appeared recently, and they interfere with the formation of entrepreneurial and competitive conditions."
Shymshykov said state management had been neither motivated nor interested in effective results.
Ordinary citizens shared with Azattyq some of their concerns since the government late last year announced plans for the massive privatization campaign. As Kazakh citizens helplessly watch their purchasing power plunge and some face bankruptcy after they took out loans based on dollar rates during better economic times, many people in the country are afraid this wave of privatization will only benefit those who already have large amounts of money.
Some critics suggest the privatization targets mostly the infrastructure of big state companies and is an attempt by the government to jettison ballast by forcing these companies and enterprises to function as independent businesses.
The fears surrounding privatization are not wholly unfounded. Kazakhstan's large privatization process in the mid-1990s produced many of the richest people in the country today, and some former officials from that time have since fled the country and live comfortably abroad in self-imposed exile.
Akram Yuldashev allegedly confessed on Uzbekistan’s state-controlled television to organizing the May 2005 protests in Andijon.
RFE/RL's Uzbek Service, known locally as Ozodlik, has learned from sources that Akram Yudashev, the imprisoned leader of the Akramiya religious group, died in prison five years ago.
Yuldashev had not been seen since late 2005. International rights groups had repeatedly called on Uzbek authorities to provide information about Yuldashev, his location and condition, but Uzbek authorities routinely ignored these requests.
Ozodlik spoke to sources on January 11 who confirmed Yuldashev had died of tuberculosis in prison some five years ago, though the sources could not provide an exact date or the location of the facility where Yuldashev was being held.
Akram Yuldashev rose to prominence in the mid-1990s as a religious leader in the area around the eastern Uzbek city of Andijon. Yuldshev authored a book titled Iymonga Yol (The Path To Faith) in which Yuldashev related his religious and philosophical ideas. Yuldashev wrote the book after becoming disillusioned with the now-banned Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir and parting ways with the sect.
His stature as a community and religious leader grew in his native Andijon region. During this time, Yuldashev worked as a math teacher and later in a textile plant.
In 1998, he was arrested on charges of narcotics possession and jailed for 30 months. However, he fell under an amnesty instituted by Uzbek authorities some months later and was freed.
On February 16, 1999, a series of bombs exploded in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, regarded as the first-ever terrorist attack in Uzbekistan. Yuldashev was arrested the next day and later tried and convicted of involvement in the Tashkent bombings. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
In the spring of 2005, demonstrations started in Andijon against the jailing of a group of local businessmen. These businessmen were acquaintances of Yuldashev. The appointments of new provincial and city officials some months earlier had upset the established system of patronage in the region and the businessmen had not only lost their enterprises but were in danger of losing their freedom as well.
On May 13, 2005, an armed group crossed from Kyrgyzstan into Uzbekistan, attacked a police station, stole weapons, then went to a prison near Andijon and freed the prisoners. Those prisoners mixed with the demonstrators in Andijon and violence broke out.
Uzbek authorities sent in troops to restore order and a bloodbath ensued.
Authorities blamed a group called Akramiya, followers of the imprisoned Yuldashev, for provoking the violence. Though he had been in prison for some six years, Yuldashev was branded as an instigator of the violence and appeared in court on charges of attempting to overthrow the government.
Yuldashev's trial appearances in late 2005 were the last times anyone outside the government ever saw him. His fate has remained a mystery until now.
In the 10 years since Yuldashev was last seen, his family has tried to get information about Yuldashev's fate. Some members of the family fled to the United States and engaged legal aid and lobbyists to press the Uzbek government to divulge information about their imprisoned kinsman, all without result.
International rights groups such as U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) repeatedly released statements calling on Uzbekistan's government to provide some information about Yuldashev.
HRW's Steve Swerdlow reminded RFE/RL that his organization had issued a report on September 15, 2014, titled Until The Very End, which chronicled the incarcerations of 34 people. Swerdlow said Uzbek authorities provided some information about 33 of those 34 people. Yuldashev was the one person about whom Uzbek officials did not comment.
It now appears all these efforts during the last five years were in vain. The person all the people and groups were seeking information about was dead.
Uzbek authorities have still not commented on Yuldashev's reported death.


The famous Dutch flower auction at Aalsmeer handles 19 million flowers per day.
Americans spend $1.98 billion on flowers and plants for Mother’s Day.
78% of all cut flowers sold in the United States are imported, primarily from Latin America. This amounts to about 2.9 billion imported stems, most of them coming from Colombia and Ecuador.
A typical wage on an Ecuadorian flower farm is $150 per month. Wages represent less than four cents for every rose sold.


A KIWI woman's 10-year-old son watched her die in a horrific accident at a Gold Coast theme park.
Cindy Low, 42, originally from Kawerau, died yesterday at Dreamworld along with three others when their Thunder River Rapids ride flipped, trapping the victims in machinery below.
The mother-of-two lived in Sydney for at least a decade with her Kiwi husband, Mathew, who was originally from New Plymouth.
The couple were on holiday on the Gold Coast with their son and daughter.
Low was sitting next to her 10-year-old, Kieran, on the ill-fated ride. Her husband and 6-year-old daughter were not on the ride.
It is understood Kieran was the last person to see his mother alive.
He was one of two children who survived the horrific accident. He was admitted to Gold Coast University Hospital yesterday with his father at his bedside.
However a hospital spokeswoman told the NZ Herald today he had been discharged last night.
Shocked relatives are currently on their way to the Gold Coast to support the family.
New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Mfat) has now been advised by Queensland police that a New Zealand woman was one of the victims.
This morning, a Queensland police spokesman told the Herald none of the victims lived at New Zealand addresses.
Goodchild's daughter is understood to have been one of the children thrown to safety from the raft. She screamed in horror as she watched her mother die, the Daily Telegraph reported.
As Goodchild's husband rushed to try and save her life, NewsCorp is reporting that he had his wallet and phone stolen from the family's pram.
Seven reporter Robert Ovadia also said the husband had the valuables taken from the pram that was carrying the couple's eight-month old child when he tried to offer help.
Kaylah Walker, 25, and her mother Lisa Walker, told Fairfax the ride was not working earlier in the day.
"Earlier in the day it had broken down," Lisa Walker said.
"It had broken down and we went back a couple of times to this particular ride.
"We were standing on the bridge watching and the water had stopped.
The incident happened about 10 minutes after they walked away from the ride.
She described the Thunder River Rapids as "one of the most tame rides in the park".
"Unless you are a wee tiny tot," Lisa said.
A woman who was at the amusement park last week told the Herald she got stuck on the ride.
POLICE have told how a boy and girl, aged 10 and 12, were on the same raft involved in the Dreamworld disaster which killed four but managed to escape.
"In terms of how they escaped, maybe through the providence of God or somebody," Police Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd said.
"It is almost a miracle that anybody came out of that.
"Coming to a place where families want to come and enjoy each other's company and just have fun doesn't really equate to such a tragedy as we've seen."
The Queensland Government has vowed an unprecedented investigation into the Dreamworld tragedy, involving 30 detectives, will look at every aspect of the disaster to ensure it never is never repeated.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it was the worst theme park tragedy Queensland has seen.
"That is why this investigation needs to be thorough," she said.
Senior police have described the scenes as 'horrific' and said there would be ongoing counselling made available to first responders including police, paramedics, firefighters as well as those who witnessed the tragedy.
Ms Palaszczuk, speaking on ABC radio, said while the investigation would focus on Dreamworld's safety practices, she was sure other theme parks would be looking at theirs in light of what had unfolded on Tuesday.
She said police had worked into the night to gain statements from witnesses.
But the investigation would today turn to the ride's operation itself and how it could have happened.
"The focus for the police today will be on the actual rides and the policies and procedures.
"It's just an awful, awful tragedy,'' the Premier said.
"I think there are a lot of people in shock today that this has unfolded at one of our most iconic tourist theme parks,'' she said.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said it was a dreadful accident at one of the Coast's most popular attractions.
He would not be drawn on whether the ride should be closed.
"Normally their maintenance schedule is world-class and this is one of those freak accidents," he said.
"When that's handed down we want to know exactly what's happened so that none of this will be repeated again."
On social media, there have been numerous comments about complaints being made to Dreamworld about rides, including buckles coming undone and ride breakdowns.
Dreamworld Victims Identified: The ABC is reporting that three of the four people killed in Dreamworld accident identified.
TWO children watched their mother die in a horrifying incident at the Dreamworld theme park, as she, her brother and his partner were killed while aboard the Thunder River Rapids ride.
The four pronounced dead the scene included Kate Goodchild, 32, from the ACT, whose partner and daughters were at the park with her.
Ms Goodchild's brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozbeh Araghi were also killed, as was a 42-year-old woman.
News Corp is reporting that a young girl "howled hysterically" as her mother and three others lay dead on the ride, marking the first fatalities in Dreamworld's history.
After the deaths, the park was emptied of its thousands of visitors, who passed a mass of ambulance, police and fire vehicles as they left.
It is so far understood that the four were on a raft when it flipped as they were approaching the conveyor belt which delivers the rafts to the end of the ride.
The mother of Ms Goodchild and Mr Dorsett said the family was "absolutely devastated".
"I have three children and have lost two of them today -- my whole family has been wiped out," she told the Courier-Mail.
"I have two granddaughters -- an eight-month-old and a 12-year-old -- and it truly breaks my heart to know that my eight-month-old is never going to get to know her mum."
An Australian Workers Union official has told ABC News it warned about the safety and maintenance of the theme park early last year.
AWU Queensland secretary Ben Swan said there were "some very grave concerns" relating to the safety of equipment on the site.
He said a complaint relating to safety was lodged with Dreamworld owners Ardent Leisure after an unrelated industrial incident.
Dreamworld chief Craig Davidson said staff were "deeply shocked and saddened" by the tragedy.
"Our hearts and thoughts go to the families involved and their loved ones."
The ride is considered among the park's most family-friendly and sedate.
Children as young as two are able to ride, as long as they are accompanied by an adult.
FOUR people have died after a tragic accident on the Thunder River Rapids Ride at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast this afternoon.
Police say the people involved were aged between aged 42 and 32, and two men, aged 38 and 35, and that two were crushed in the conveyor belt that drives the ride after two other were thrown from it.
"One of the rides has sustained some sort of malfunction causing two people to be ejected from the ride and two to be trapped," Gavin Fuller from Queensland Ambulance Service said at a press release at the scene this afternoon.
"All four people sustained injuries that were incompatible with living."
He added the incident had deeply affected many of the Ambulance officers who attended the scene.
Dreamworld CEO Craig Davidson said the park would be closed as a workplace health and safety investigation and an investigation by the coroner took place.
"We are deeply shocked and our hearts and thoughts go out to the families involved and their loved ones," Mr Davison said.
Julie Nielsen said on behalf of Workplace Health and Safety Queensland: "This is an absolute tragedy and our hearts go out to the friends and relatives of those who died today."
WHSQ will work closely with the Queensland Police Service (QPS), which is the lead agency conducting the investigation into the incident.
Directly after the incident happened about 2.20pm emergency services swarmed the scene with police, firefighters and at least four ambulance crews.
The water was drained from the road in an effort to save the people.
Theme park goers witnessed the tragedy.
The Thunder River Rapids Ride is one of the tamer rides at the park and has been in operation since 1986.
People get on board a six-person circular raft, which is then sent floating on running water through a cave and out into a section of steep rapids.
Dreamworld earlier issued a statement saying it was working to establish what happened.
"Dreamworld is working as quickly possible to establish the facts around the incident and is working closely with emergency authorities and police to do this," the statement read.
"Dreamworld's focus and priority is with the families of those involved in this tragedy and will be providing an update to the public as information becomes available."
An ARM staffer said the ride is generally one preferred by children and families.
"I've taken a two-year-old child on it. I found it very tame and slow," she said.
"However I have seen teens standing and trying to crash into the sides before."
The staffer said she had seen teens not wearing the ride's seat-belts rocking their rafts back and forth.
Multiple ambulance crews are on the scene at the theme park.
A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said the call came in at 2.11pm today and she confirmed the incident is still unfolding.
A senior emergency services source confirmed four people have died.
News Corp reports the ride was closed in April after a man nearly drowned on it, however, it was cleared to reopen after a workplace health and safety investigation.


A newly built cottage could easily be mistaken for one of the century-old summer homes on Lake Minnetonka's historic Crane Island. It's the AIA Minnesota Home of the Month.
In 1906, Charles Woodward gazed at Lake Minnetonka from his summer home on Crane Island. Woodward, along with a group of Presbyterian families, founded an island community to escape the heat and congestion of the city. Each spring, they ferried across the lake, bringing the supplies to last for their summer sojourn.
More than a century later, Leni and David Moore relish that same view from their summer home, which sits on the island’s highest point.
Before building their 21st-century getaway, the Moores often vacationed on Crane Island at the summer homes of their Minneapolis neighbors. They even rented a cottage for a month to immerse themselves in the island’s timeless qualities.
What: A new summer retreat on Lake Minnetonka’s Crane Island evokes the 100-year-old cottages still on the island.
Size: 2,200 square feet, including three bedrooms and three bathrooms. There’s also a screened porch.
Design team: Architect Mark Nelson, residential designer David Heide and Kyle Veldhouse, David Heide Design Studio, Mpls., dhdstudio.com, 612-337-5060.
Landscape design: Landscape Renovations, Afton.
The densely wooded, 13-acre island is dotted with 15 cottages, many of which are pre-World War II dwellings passed down from generation to generation. There are no cars or grocery stores and limited TV reception, but the island boasts a close-knit community. Just as they did in the 1900s, residents take in docks and close the cottages on Nov. 1.
The Moores hoped to continue a family tradition of lake living, which started well before they were married in 2007. Leni, who lived in New York, vacationed at a family retreat in the Hamptons. David grew up spending summers at a lakeside house in Connecticut.
David, a multimedia artist and retired theater manager, compared it to “a miniature Madeline Island. But it’s only a 30-minute drive back to Minneapolis,” he said.
The Charles Woodward cottage had burned down many years ago, so the original lot was empty. Luckily for the Moores, a longtime island resident decided to sell that lot and some adjacent land, which was overgrown with buckthorn and basswood trees.
Although the Moores were building new, they wanted to ensure that their home would have the age-old craftsmanship and qualities of the original early cottages. Yet it had to be equipped with modern must-haves, such as air conditioning and plenty of bathrooms. Building on the island posed its own challenges. The contractor had to haul supplies across the ice in the winter or in barges and boats in the summer.
The Moores choose David Heide and Mark Nelson of David Heide Design Studio for the project. The two had designed several remodeled spaces inside the Moore’s older bungalow in Minneapolis.
“Their firm is sensitive to a home’s historic character while adapting spaces for contemporary use,” said David.
The project eventually expanded to accommodate the couple’s visiting adult children and more amenities. The 2,200-square-foot structure was designed as a 1½-story home punctuated with shed dormers to minimize the scale and blend better with the other island cottages, said Nelson.
Leni and David Moore sat for a portrait outside their Crane Island cottage.
His versatile design juxtaposes the aesthetic of a North Woods cabin, Vermont farmhouse and fishing lodge.
“The materials and style were also inspired by the early 1900s caretaker’s cabin in the island’s commons area,” said Nelson.
The mechanized shutters also allow for shelter from the storms.
“The beauty of the porch design is that you can see out to the lake — but people from the lake can’t see in,” said Nelson.
For the rest of the home, Nelson maintained a traditional floor plan with separate defined rooms. But he used wider doorways to draw in natural light and make spaces feel more open and airy.
In the farmhouse-style kitchen, the Moores chose a reclaimed timber work table instead of a contemporary center island. Other handcrafted touches include an iron pot rack by a local artist, built-in glass-fronted cabinets and painted shiplap boards. Inside the adjacent dining room, an iron oil lamp chandelier by local artist Connee Mayeron emits a warm amber light on summer evenings.
David re-created a hunting lodge vibe by adding a massive, dry-stacked stone wood-burning fireplace in the living room.
“It’s a 21st-century chimney with a 19th-century stone surround,” he said.
Another modern addition (a flat-screen TV for movie nights) is concealed behind a sliding panel that flanks the fireplace.
The couple’s earlier remodeling projects on their bungalow in the city proved to be a cost-saving resource. They recycled many components — from kitchen cabinets to bathroom sinks — in the Crane Island retreat.


Shelby County has a new mayor after a joint swearing-in Lee Harris and Shelby County Commissioners. Harris will resign from the Tennessee Senate Friday.
Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified the first African-American to hold a leadership position in the Tennessee Senate. Senator John Ford served as Speaker Pro Tempore from 1987 to 1988.
New Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and members of the Shelby County Commission were sworn in Thursday during a ceremony at the Cannon Center of the Performing Arts.
This was the first time in recent memory that Shelby County commissioners and the mayor were sworn in during a joint ceremony.
Harris said that joint ceremony shouldn't be taken for granted.
“I’m enthused by the fact that we’re able to pull off a unity ceremony," Harris said. "I hope that will be a sign of things to come, that we’ll be able to work together collaboratively."
Harris will resign from the Tennessee State Senate Friday and take office as mayor Saturday.
He has served in the Tennessee Senate since 2014, becoming the youngest senator in the state at that time. Once there, he was named Senate Minority Leader.
Resigning from the Senate is "bittersweet," he said.
Harris, 39, is a law professor who campaigned for less blight and poverty as well as better mass transit and education.
He has already begun filling the more than 100 positions he'll appoint, naming his chief administrative officer Tuesday.
A transition team, divided into six task forces, is currently at work on a report that Harris will receive in October. That report will likely become the basis of a strategic plan for Shelby County, said Danielle Inez, who heads the transition team.
"This is an opportunity for the mayor-elect to put the county on a path forward where we actually have the types of issues that matter to the people that live in this county," Inez said at a transition team meeting earlier this week.
Harris said he wants to work closely with the new Commission and that he considers himself "just one of the commissioners."


• Eagles lodge International Dinner, 5 p.m. 37 First St. E. Eight cuisines featured. $10 per person. Funds raised go to charities. All welcome.
“Rebuilding Sperry – A Builder’s Perspective,” 7 p.m. Arts and Technology Building, FVCC. Free. Public invited.
“Better to be alone than with a bad companion.” — Spanish expression.
• Canine Expo Extravaganza, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 30, Gateway Community Center, Kalispell. Booths, vendors, canine resources and mini-seminars. Friendly dogs on leash welcome. Free. Call Kathryn Smith, 818-303-6838.


The college football season is less than a month away from kicking off, and most teams have already begun their fall camps. And just in time for the regular season, our writers have cooked up previews for all of the conferences in the FBS. We last covered the MAC, and today we’ll take a look at Conference USA.
After leading Marshall to its first Conference USA title, Holliday got the recognition he deserved. Holliday coached up one of the nation’s most potent offenses, one that averaged 45.6 ppg last season. The defense also wasn’t too shabby either, finishing 18th in the nation in scoring (21 ppg). Showing how dominant it truly was, the Thundering Herd constantly blew out its opponents with an average margin of victory of 26.2 points. With results like that, the award had to go to Holliday, hands down.
You’d have to expect that the quarterback that led the conference’s best offense would win this award. Cato was one of the top signal callers on the national spectrum as well, throwing for 3,903 yards (7th), tossing 40 touchdown passes (3rd) and averaging 278.8 passing yards per game (14th). An explosive athlete, Cato also got it done with his legs last season, rushing for 492 yards while averaging 5.13 yards per carry.
Just like Cato, Hewitt was an obvious choice. The senior linebacker was a little slow to get going, but after a season-ending injury to LB Evan McKelvey in the fifth game of the season, Hewitt really picked up his production. From that point forward, Hewitt averaged over 11 tackles per game with a season-high 18 against Florida Atlantic. Hewitt finished the season with 123 tackles (1st in C-USA), along with five sacks and 13 tackles for loss.
1. Marshall 66 vs. Western Kentucky 67 OT, Nov. 28th – When you get two of the nation’s top scoring offenses together, you know there’s going to be fireworks. For fans that got to see this game, they weren’t disappointed. The first half alone had more points scored combined than most games total, as Western Kentucky led 49-42. Western Kentucky QB Brandon Doughty threw his Conference USA record eighth touchdown in OT, and followed that up with a two-point conversion to win the game.
2. Middle Tennessee 50 vs. Western Kentucky 47 3OT, Sept. 13th – Another overtime affair involving Western Kentucky, this time the Hilltoppers were on the wrong side of the battle. While not quite the shootout that fans saw in the game above, this one really got exciting when it got to overtime. Middle Tennessee QB Austin Grammer hooked up with receiver Ed’Marques Batties for a 25-yard game-winning dagger after Western Kentucky kicker Garrett Schwettman hit his fourth field goal to begin the third overtime.
3. Marshall 26 vs. Louisiana Tech 23, Dec. 6th – Louisiana Tech almost ruined Marshall’s season by almost taking the conference championship away from the team that had been blowing everyone out. However, the Thundering Herd’s 10-point swing in the fourth quarter put the team on top and gave it its first Conference USA title. Rakeem Cato’s five-yard pass to Deon-Tay McManus with just under two minutes put the game on ice.
It was tough choosing between last year’s champion, Marshall, and Western Kentucky, but the edge in 2015 goes to the Hilltoppers. Western Kentucky will again have a high-powered offense led by QB Brandon Doughty, who was the x-factor in this decision. To go along with Doughty, the team has a solid group of receivers and dynamic running back, Leon Allen. The duo of Doughty and Allen is one of historical proportions as they had 6,372 yards combined between passing and rushing, the highest total in FBS history.
The defense is a work in progress after finishing 120th in total defense (509.9 yards per game) and 121st in scoring defense (39.9 ppg) last season. Returning seven starters should help the unit improve, along with the addition of UAB transfer Jontavious Morris. If the defense can at least slow teams down, the offense will take care of the rest.
Louisiana Tech is the clear favorite to win the C-USA West, but could also have a good shot at winning the conference championship as well. One of the more interesting aspects of this Louisiana Tech team is its offense. Looking to follow last year’s recipe for success, the Bulldogs have landed a fifth-year senior quarterback to lead the offense. This season it will be former Florida QB Jeff Driskel, the 2011 No. 1 rated pro-style QB who wasn’t able to live up to the billing down in Gainesville.
While Driskel had his issues facing SEC opponents, he shouldn’t have the same problems in the C-USA. He has a strong arm and can use his legs to make plays as well—Driskel broke Tim Tebow‘s record for rushing yards by a QB in a game while with the Gators. He’ll also have plenty of weapons to help take the pressure off him while he gets comfortable in the new offense. Running back Kenneth Dixon is a workhorse in the backfield, rushing for 1,299 yards and 22 touchdowns, and Driskel has a strong trio of receivers in Trent Taylor, Carlos Henderson and Paul Turner, who each had over 500 receiving yards in 2014.
Defensively, there’s little concern as to how the Bulldogs will play, especially after leading the nation in turnovers (42) and interceptions (26). Forming one of the conference’s better duos in the defensive backfield, safety Xavier Woods and corner Adairius Barnes combined for 11 interceptions last season, looking to do much of the same this season. The only issue this defense could face is with a thin linebacker group. Three new starters will make their debuts and there’s really not much behind them.
If there’s a team that has a good shot to turn things around in 2015 it’s the Florida Atlantic Owls. Although FAU finished just 3-9 last season, the Owls were a lot closer to bowl eligibility than what their record says. There were two games in which the Owls lost by a single point and two losses in which the difference was a field goal.
On offense, FAU will look to run more of a read-option attack with QB Jaquez Johnson and running backs Jay Warren and Greg “Buddy” Howell. The duo of Warren and Howell combined for 824 yards last season, and will be especially counted on this season now that the team’s top receiving targets have graduated. FAU returns just two pass catchers who reeled in more than 10 passes and totaled over 200 receiving yards in Jenson Stoshak (37 receptions, 508 yards) and Kalib Woods (16 receptions, 223 yards).
It’s going to be tough for the Owls to muster out the six wins required to become bowl-eligible this season, but they’ll have the opportunities to do so. Getting FIU and Middle Tennessee at home could make the difference this season.
1. Shuler Bentley, QB, Old Dominion – Taking over for Taylor Heinicke under center is a tall order, especially after Heinicke was third in the conference in passing yards last season. He definitely has potential to be great, as he was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of South Carolina in 2013. Nonetheless, Bentley, a redshirt freshman, will take the reigns of this high-octane offense, which is a decision that head coach Bobby Wilder felt was a no-brainer.
2. Blake Bogenschutz, QB, UTSA – There’s a lot of buzz around “Bogey” down in San Antonio as the Roadrunners will be injecting the redshirt freshman into the starting QB position. He’s a quiet leader who lets his play do the talking, and his teammates and coaches have taken notice. In the spring game he completed 15 of 23 passes for 233 yards, including a pair of touchdown passes that went for 75 and 29 yards.
3. Trae Meadows, Safety, Middle Tennessee – Meadows is a guy that could come in and make a difference right away for a team that had a knack for giving up big yards last season. He brings great speed to the defense, as he was clocked at 4.45 in the 40-yard dash. Meadows also seems to have a nose for the ball, nabbing 12 interceptions over his last two seasons in high school.
Although I think new Louisiana Tech QB Jeff Driskel could make things interesting, it’s hard to bet against Brandon Doughty. Doughty, after all, did lead the nation in passing yards (4,830) and touchdowns (49) last year. There were five games in 2014 where Doughty threw for at least five touchdowns, including that C-USA record breaking performance against Marshall in which he threw for eight scores. It’s just hard to bet against a guy that averaged 371.5 passing yards per game last season.
Woods had a fantastic season in 2014 and was overlooked by most people in the country because of the conference he plays in. The standout safety recorded six interceptions, two of which he took back for touchdowns. Woods ranked second in the nation in interception return yards, picking up 174 last season. He also made his way into the backfield for one sack and 3.5 tackles for loss. Woods ended the season with 71 tackles, 13 passes defended and also forced three fumbles.
1. Western Kentucky vs. Louisiana Tech, Sept. 10th – An early-season matchup between the two division favorites in the conference should give fans a good game to watch. This could very well be just the first time these two play each other in 2015, as this could be the billing for the title bout in December. Louisana Tech trots out a new QB in Florida transfer Jeff Driskel, while Western Kentucky returns Brandon Doughty under center, a guy who was one of the best in the country last season.
2. Western Kentucky vs. Marshall, Nov. 27th – This game could decide who represents the East in the C-USA title game. Last year’s contest was a thriller until the end, with Western Kentucky QB Brandon Doughty throwing his eighth touchdown pass, then completing a two-point conversion to win the game in overtime. Marshall won’t be the same offense it was a year ago without Rakeem Cato under center, but the Thundering Herd will no doubt be making itself heard in this game.
3. Rice vs. Louisiana Tech, Oct. 31st – Facing off on Halloween could make things interesting in this game between the last two C-USA West champions. Last season, Louisiana Tech put up 76 points on Rice, while forcing four turnovers in the process. If Rice is going to have any chance at reclaiming the division title this season, it has to come out on top against the Bulldogs.


In an effort to better serve the 220,000 veterans that live in New York City, the City Council voted to establish a New York City Department of Veterans’ Services.
Special rights and privileges for members of the armed forces, veterans and their families.
Mayor Bill de Blasio still needs to sign the bill, but is expected do so. City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said lawmakers have earmarked about $330,000 to help start the agency.


Some early users, including me, have complained about Microsoft’s decision to get rid of the traditional Start menu in Windows 8.
But industry analyst Dale Vile, research director at Freeform Dynamics in the U.K., says the rest of us are wrong, or at least aren’t giving Windows 8 a fair shake.
On a controversial aside, I personally think Microsoft was right to do away with the old start menu, which to me now seems cramped, clumsy and inefficient when I go back to a Windows 7 machine. Being a typical lazy human being that gravitates to the familiar when given a chance, if the start menu was there I probably would have continued using it and failed to take advantage of the more efficient navigation mechanisms designed into the Windows 8 desktop. Now I wouldn’t want the start menu back, even if I could have it, as it would be totally redundant, arguably even counterproductive.
In other words, he’s on the opposite end of the spectrum from Chris Pirillo’s dad.
Personally, I’ve had a good experience with Windows 8 on a tablet, but I’ve found the learning curve especially steep on a traditional desktop computer, and the new commands and methods of navigating aren’t yet second-nature to me when I’m using a keyboard and mouse.
The real test will start on Oct. 26, when the new operating system is released to the wider world.


Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama are unlikely political foes, but the House Speaker is in the middle of an ugly fight with the President  as well as the CIA and powerful House and Senate Democrats and Republicans  about Congress's watchdog powers over the U.S. intelligence services.
Bucking a veto threat by Obama and overruling a deal among the White House, Republicans and two Democratic committee chairmen, Pelosi is pushing to dramatically expand congressional oversight of the CIA and other intelligence agencies. At issue is Congress's ability to monitor the intelligence programs deemed most sensitive and closely held by the Executive Branch. And the battle is turning into the biggest confrontation yet over Executive power between the liberal House Speaker and a White House that has moved steadily to the center on national security matters.
Pelosi wants the CIA and other intelligence agencies to inform all members of the House and Senate intelligence committees when they launch any covert action or other controversial program, not restricting that information to the chairmen and ranking opposition members and party leaders, or "Gang of Eight," as required by current law. She also wants the congressional intelligence committees to have the power to task the Government Accountability Office (GAO) with auditing any intelligence program, Democratic aides say, a power the GAO has for classified Pentagon programs but not for the intelligence agencies. "The Speaker has made it very clear that she wants disclosure for the full membership of the intelligence committees, not just the ranking members," says Pelosi's press secretary, Brendan Daly.
The fight is unusual because Pelosi has rarely faced off against Obama over a veto threat. Moreover, she has chosen an election year in which to do battle on national security, an issue on which Democrats have been increasingly vulnerable since Obama took office. Most surprising of all, Pelosi is going to the mat after months of work by her Democratic allies to cut a deal with Republicans and the White House. "It's striking that her objections stand even though the committee leadership is satisfied," says Steven Aftergood, an expert in government secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists. "It indicates that it is something that she feels strongly about. She was burned by the previous Administration, and seems determined to prevent any sort of recurrence of that treatment."
As the highest-ranking Democrat in the House in 2002, Pelosi was one of the eight members of Congress who were briefed on the Bush Administration's "enhanced interrogation" methods. She has since claimed that the CIA did not disclose that it was using waterboarding, which the U.S. previously viewed as a form of torture and was therefore illegal. The CIA claims that it did brief Pelosi, and last year she charged that "the CIA was misleading the Congress" about the program and that "they mislead us all the time." Those comments led to an open confrontation between Pelosi and the CIA, which the White House believes has contributed to the loss of support among independent voters for the Administration's approach to national security.
When the House and Senate took up the fiscal year 2010 intelligence authorization bill in March this year, it contained the expanded notification and GAO provisions sought by Pelosi. The White House threatened to veto the bill. "The Administration strongly objects to these provisions," White House Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag wrote to Senate Intelligence Committee chair Dianne Feinstein on March 15, 2010. "The provisions ... undermine [the] fundamental compact between Congress and the President regarding the reporting of sensitive intelligence matters ... an arrangement that for decades has balanced congressional oversight responsibilities with the President's responsibility to protect sensitive national security information."
That exchange prompted three months of negotiation between the Democratic leaders of the intelligence committees, their Republican counterparts and the White House, resulting in a far-reaching compromise bill. According to a statement released by Feinstein on Thursday afternoon, the committees' compromise bill would require all intelligence agency heads to certify every year that they have notified Congress fully of all covert actions. It would require written confirmation of covert actions authorized by the President and memoranda of notification of those actions and justification for not briefing the full membership of the two intel committees. The compromise bill would also require intelligence agencies to explain the legal basis for their activities in writing to the committees, something the Bush and Obama administrations have resisted in part or whole. "It's fundamental to national security that it be passed," Feinstein said.
But Democratic staffers say Pelosi will not move the bill to the floor unless it contains a provision doing away with the Gang of Eight notification procedure as well as one empowering the intelligence committees to authorize the GAO to audit intelligence programs. "She wants the whole intelligence committee notified for both covert action and other times [of which only] the chair and ranking members would be notified [under the compromise bill]," says a Democratic aide familiar with the fight. "In addition, and separate from that, she wants the GAO provision included."
The White House and the CIA declined to comment on the fight, but some Democrats on the Hill are incredulous that Pelosi has dug in her heels. They say the committees have spent months reaching a deal that is acceptable to Republicans and the intelligence community and that blocking the deal threatens not just the historic expansion of oversight they have negotiated but also could put back in play a political issue that is dangerous to Democrats ahead of the elections this fall. But Pelosi aides insist that the standoff is a matter of principle. "It's not a mystery at all," says spokesman Daly. "She wants more notification."
Pelosi is negotiating with the White House over a possible compromise. Although she has pushed hardest to open notification beyond the Gang of Eight, advocates for diminished government secrecy say that GAO oversight is more consequential. As it stands, there is limited oversight of waste in multimillion-dollar intelligence-community programs, and accusations of "black-budget pork"  pet projects that Representatives hide from view in the secret intelligence budgets  go largely uninvestigated. "There has never been a compromise of classified information out of GAO, and they review classified programs at the Pentagon all the time," says Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists.
Congress hasn't passed an intelligence authorization bill in five years, in part because of the fight over disclosure. "If we're not going to have an intelligence authorization bill," says Aftergood, "much of the committees' reason for existence goes away: this is the primary vehicle for shaping intelligence policy, and without it the committees are insignificant."


Washington, D.C. — Today, the Center for American Progress, the National Employment Law Project (NELP), and Community Legal Services (CLS) announced the launch of a three-year, multistate initiative to remove barriers to economic opportunity for Americans with criminal records and their families, building on the bipartisan momentum growing across the country for commonsense criminal justice reform.
Following decades of mass incarceration and overcriminalization, 1 in 3 Americans now have some type of criminal record, and nearly half of U.S. children have at least one parent with a record, according to a CAP analysis. Having even a minor criminal record can stand in the way of employment, education, housing, and other pillars of economic stability.
At the heart of the initiative, CAP, NELP, and CLS will partner with state-based leaders in criminal justice reform and re-entry to advance two second-chance policies: clean slate automatic record-sealing and occupational licensing reforms. Clean slate policies will be modeled after reforms currently advancing in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, which passed the Senate 50-0 earlier this summer.
The launch of the initiative coincides with the award of six grants to support state-based projects advancing clean slate automatic sealing and occupational licensing reforms. Selected states for clean slate projects include: Colorado, led by the Colorado Center on Law and Policy; Michigan, led by Hope Network; and South Carolina, led by the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center. Selected states for occupational licensing reform projects include: North Carolina, led by the North Carolina Justice Center; Ohio, led by the Ohio Justice and Policy Center; and Rhode Island, led by Direct Action for Rights and Equality.
The initiative’s work—which receives support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation—will benefit from strong partnerships with leading criminal justice reform institutions such as Right on Crime and the transpartisan Justice Action Network. A richly diverse advisory committee will bring a range of perspectives—including those of directly affected individuals, families, employers, and law enforcement—as well as deep academic and technical expertise and bipartisan leadership. Advisory committee members include: Daryl Atkinson, former Second Chance Fellow at the Department of Justice; Julie Basco, deputy director, Office of Research at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; Jim Bueermann, president, Police Foundation; Marc Levin, policy director, Right on Crime; Genevieve Martin, executive director, Dave’s Killer Bread Foundation; Glenn Martin, founder and president, JustLeadershipUSA; Becky Pettit, professor of sociology, University of Texas at Austin; Amy Solomon, former director of policy, Justice Department Office of Justice Programs, and incoming vice president of criminal justice policy at the Laura and John Arnold Foundation; and Matt Visser, president and CEO, VICTIG Screening Solutions.
The National Employment Law Project is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts research and advocates on issues affecting low-wage and unemployed workers. For more about NELP, visit www.nelp.org.
Founded in 1966 by the Philadelphia Bar Association, Community Legal Services (CLS) has provided free civil legal assistance to more than one million low-income Philadelphians. As the City’s oldest and largest legal services program, CLS represented approximately 9,500 clients in the past year. CLS assists clients when they face the threat of losing their homes, incomes, health care, and even their families. CLS attorneys and other staff provide a full range of legal services, from individual representation to administrative advocacy to class action litigation, as well as community education and social work. CLS is nationally recognized as a model legal services program. For more information, contact 215-981-3700 or visit www.clsphila.org.


Find the agenda on the British Columbia Association of School Business Officials (BCASBO) website.
Yes Michael Campbell is Gordon Campbell’s brother and an ardent supporter of the idea that the free market will solve any and every problem. The idea that School Districts should have to establish businesses in order to make ends meet is destined to fail, not least because, like BC Ferries, they are a public good that forms a crucial foundation to our society and to our economy. There are tons of things that business does extremely well, but natural monopolies and public goods that form a platform for business and the economy are not on the list — especially since you put the entire business community at risk when you tamper with them.


Marine veteran Chris Van Etten got himself an endorsement gig with Jockey for their new Show ’Em What’s Underneath advertising campaign. There's a print advertising campaign, a TV commercial and Chris will be making appearances around the country leading up to July 4.
Chris lost his legs in an IED explosion while serving in Afghanistan in June 2012 and was up walking on prosthetics two months later. When you hear "prosthetic legs," you don't really think "underwear model," but.....damn.
The campaign also feature firefighter Lisa Cusimano and adoptive father Michael Cottone. Look for the print ads in People, Glamour, Allure, Self, Shape, Men’s Health, GQ, Outside and ESPN. There's no word yet about where and when Chris will be making appearances, but you can follow the campaign on Twitter @Jockey and see if they post the details.


LeBron James made his final appearance of the season in Boston in Thursday night’s 98-79 Game 6 victory, and, if the actions of one rogue individual are any indication, Celtics fans won’t be sorry to see him go.
As James walked off the court following a 45-point, 15-rebound performance that ranks among his greatest games ever, he was doused by what appeared to be beer unceremoniously dumped on him from the stands above. James appeared momentarily flustered, but, after a brief delay, continued striding towards the Heat locker room in the bowels of TD Garden.
The NBA MVP will hope to be covered in a different kind of drink on Saturday night in Miami, as the Heat have a chance to pop the champagne and secure a second consecutive Eastern Conference title in a winner-take-all Game 7.
Check out the video of James’ walk off the court below.


Workers at South Yorkshire newspapers owned by Johnston Press today began an all out strike against redundancies. This followed a vote that was 100 percent for action on a 90 percent turnout. Nineteen out of 20 journalists voted for the action—and the last was on holiday.
'Johnston Press borrowed almost £1 billion to acquire local papers. They use the slogan, 'Life is local'. But what they did was centralise and asset strip. Things went OK for them until they got burned in 2008. Share prices plummeted.
Four operators now control almost all local papers. There are clumps of papers owned by the same company across the country.
'On my paper a trainee reporter gets £14,000. As editor I get £25,500. Are you surprised local papers can't attract or keep the kind of people who will produce stories?
Jim said, 'The former managing director, who was on £91,000, 'The company is not a charity here to indulge the lifestyle choices of its workers'.
'Now we have been told that our staff will drop from six to three journalists.
On Wednesday night Jim insisted on running a front page detailing the reasons for the dispute. He refused management demands to make substantial editorial changes to the article. After a stand off of several hours management backed down and the article was printed unchanged.
NUJ members at the Doncaster Free Press, Epworth Bells, South Yorkshire Times, Goole Courier and Selby Times have walked out indefinitely.


NEW YORK – The worried manager of an industrial-sized pig farm in the little Mexican town of Xaltepec invited in journalists in an effort to calm things down.
"What happened was an unfortunate coincidence," he told them insistently. More than 3000km away in New York, the world's richest "pig baron", Joseph Luter III, is hoping he is right.
Downwind of Xaltepec - where 15,000 squealing hogs are squeezed into 18 warehouses - residents of La Gloria blame Smithfield, Luter's firm, for an outbreak of respiratory problems that swept the town last month, killing two children.
Now, with Mexican authorities identifying a 4-year-old from the town, Edgar Hernandes, as one of the first known cases of swine flu, furious residents believe they are ground zero of the flu alert.
The very suggestion has sent a shudder through the ranks of campaigners who have long argued that the sort of industrialised pig farming that has turned Smithfield into one of the most powerful corporations in the United States, with a market value of US$1.4 billion ($2.5 billion), was a disaster waiting to happen.
For Smithfield, the world's largest pork supplier, which processes more than one in three pigs killed in the US and jointly owns the Xaltepec plant and seven others in the region, the spiralling concern in Mexico threatens to become a worldwide marketing disaster - even before anyone is able to test the hunch of the people of La Gloria.
A team of United Nations veterinarians is arriving in Mexico to examine whether this new deadly strain of swine flu, mixed as it is with genetic material from avian and human strains, could be lurking in pig populations undetected. Smithfield says none of its pigs are sick but has sent samples for testing.
Victor Ochoa, the Xaltepec manager, ensured employees washed down cars coming into the plant yesterday and made journalists shower and don protective clothing before entering.
In common with his bosses back in the US, Ochoa insisted that all 15,000 animals had been properly vaccinated, that the plant met all the required health standards, and that the vast swimming pool of faeces - industrial pig farming's toxic byproduct - was covered with a lid to limit exposure to the outside air.
"What happened in La Gloria was an unfortunate coincidence with a big and serious problem that is happening now with this new flu virus," he said. La Gloria residents, though, have been protesting against the farm for months.
Starting in February, one in six of the 3000 residents reported health problems.
The Government initially dismissed the spike as a late-season rise in ordinary flu, but by April, health officials sealed off the town and sprayed chemicals to kill the flies that residents said were swarming about their homes.
The business practices of Smithfield are a far cry from its origins, lovingly recounted in sepia-tinted prose on its corporate website. "The Luter family of Smithfield, Virginia, has been curing and selling hams since the turn of the century," it says.
Critics say that - even on top of any questions about the humane treatment of the pigs - the sheer quantities of manure that have to be disposed of when thousands, or tens of thousands, of animals are housed together make it impossible to run this business in a safe way.
The manure is collected in a lake underneath the pig pens and then washed into giant pools or lagoons. It is eventually sprayed on nearby fields, but the lagoons have a habit of leaking or flooding. In 1997 Smithfield was fined US$12.6 million for violating the federal Clean Water Act.
The other risk, scientists say, of concentrating so many pigs together is the risk of diseases spreading fast, a problem that farmers overcome by pumping the livestock full of vaccines and other drugs. In 2007 an outbreak of swine flu at its farms in Romania cost the company US$13 million.
Smithfield says it is always investing in research to improve farming methods and operates its facilities to the highest standards. Its public relations message is complicated, however, by the uncompromising stance of chairman Joseph Luter III.
Animal rights activists "want to impose a vegetarian society", the 67-year-old once said, and vegetarians were "neurotic".


Has Darren McFadden finally seized the feature-back role Oakland drafted him to fill two years ago? Until he’s able to followup one solid outing with another – a feat that has eluded him to date – don’t bank on it. Especially with Michael Bush on the verge of returning to the lineup.
Is it too early to panic over lackluster opening-day performances from such notables as Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Schaub, Michael Turner, DeAngelo Williams, Andre Johnson and DeSean Jackson?
As for some other underachievers — I’m looking at you Matt Ryan, Jerome Harrison, C.J. Spiller and Mike Sims-Walker — you’re on a very short leash. Another flop like that and you’re going straight to our doghouse. And trust me, it stinks in there.
He looked like the dazzling All Pro of old in taking over for the concussed (and ineffective) Kevin Kolb against a talented Packers defense. Kolb hasn’t been ruled out of Week 2 (yet), but even if he returns, Vick’s shadow will loom large over his shoulder. Next up, Detroit!
Ryan Grant has never missed a game due to injury, but a badly sprained ankle will change that. Jackson looked good in relief Sunday, and he’ll get the start for at least one week. Consider the understudy a decent proxy for the Packers’ workhorse against the mediocre Bills. And remember, ankle injuries can linger.
The rookie wideout picked up where he left off in the preseason with five catches for 30 yards and a score. Not world-beating stats, to be sure; but enough to reinforce his value. I’ve been singing Williams’ praises for weeks, and yet he’s still available in more than half of fantasy leagues.
Peyton Manning isn’t going to throw 57 passes every week, but any receiver that catches 10 balls from him is worth a look. Collie still ranks behind Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark and Pierre Garcon in the hierarchy, but as we saw Sunday – and several times last season – he can produce when called upon.
One team’s excess is another team’s gold. With less than a week to get acclimated, the Ravens’ castoff hauled in 10 passes for 119 yards, on a whopping 16 targets. Since St. Louis is bound to be playing from behind more often than not, Clayton should be in line for several more days like this.
He was the surprise starter and poached the touchdown run from Jerome Harrison, but Hillis also coughed up the ball twice (losing one) while gaining just 41 rushing yards. I’m more concerned now about Harrison than intrigued by Hillis.
There may not be a better time to deal Hightower, after his solid, but flawed, performance against the lowly Rams. Even with Beanie Wells inactive, Hightower had just 54 yards rushing (with one TD); but his two lost fumbles won’t sit well with the coaches. Sell high, while you can.
Throughout his four-year NFL career, Lewis has scored no more than twice in any season. He equaled that against the Broncos, on his only two receptions. That’s what we in the business call an aberration.
The SEC won the 2019 NFL Draft’s first round with the most picks. The Big Ten and ACC also had a lot of first-round picks.


As the poll battle for Mumbai and other civic bodies heats up over the next 10 days, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will hold nearly 50 rallies across the state.
He will address 10 rallies in the megapolis, hammering home his party’s agenda of transparency and development for the country’s richest civic body. He is the lone star campaigner for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) this season, with only Union minister Nitin Gadkari expected to arrive from Delhi for a couple of rallies.
At stake is not just control of the country’s financial capital, but also 25 district councils that govern nearly 75% of the rural population.
The polls — dubbed ‘mini assembly elections’ — are being seen as a referendum on the Fadnavis government and will give the public an idea of the strength of the four major parties ahead of the 2019 polls.
“I hold nearly six rallies daily. I will address 10 in Mumbai,” said Fadnavis.
With the split in the saffron alliance, the stakes have been raised, but Fadnavis is confident of his party emerging as numerous uno in the district councils, as well as in the municipal corporations.
In contrast, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is focussing only on his party’s stronghold, Mumbai, where he will hold as many as 18 rallies. If one goes by the party’s performance in 2012 in these local bodies, it ranks a poor fourth.
The BJP plans to increase the tempo of its campaign in Mumbai next week, with every Fadnavis-led rally revealing a new talking point — albeit on the same issue of corruption in the civic body — and a promise to transform the functioning of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
“Isn’t this the single biggest issue in Mumbai ? Corruption, which leads to bad roads and poor civic amenities, is an issue that brings together the rich and the poor. It affects the poor even more. We have set an agenda and the Shiv Sena is now following it,” said a senior BJP leader.
On Tuesday, Fadnavis will hold two rallies in Marathi heartland of Girgaon and at Prabhadevi, right opposite the office of the Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana.
The Prabhadevi-Dadar, Lalbaug and Parel belt has been home to the original ‘Marathi manoos’ for decades and is considered to be the Shiv Sena’s stronghold.
“Doesn’t the Marathi manoos want development ? Of course he does,” said Fadnavis.
Despite the ongoing bitterness between the saffron allies and a split in the alliance, there is a strong likelihood that the parties may have to come together for a post-poll tie-up.
Mumbai civic polls: Can BJP keep its transparency promise?