Teen Mom star Amber Portwood's life has not gone to plan in recent weeks, with the young mother even spending a night in jail after being charge with domestic violence.
Now it seems she is planning on cleaning up her image, with the help of some cosmetic therapy.
The reality star stopped by a beauty salon yesterday in Indianapolis, Indiana for a quick makeover.
and had eyelash extensions carefully applied.
Amber, 20-years-old, then pulled out her credit card and spent some of the reported $280,000 a year salary she earns on the MTV reality series.
Afterwards, she showed off her new look during a trip to a local store, where she bought a potty seat for her two-year-old daughter, Leah.
Just last week, the troubled young mother spent 24 hours in jail after she was arrested on charges stemming from her alleged attack on ex-boyfriend Gary Shirley.
During an episode of the series, Amber was shown allegedly physically abusing the father of her child.
Months after the footage aired, the Madison County Prosecutor's office in Indiana charged Amber with two counts of domestic battery and one count of Neglect of a Dependent.
Amber and Gary will next appear in court on January 19 to discuss the custody arrangement for Leah.
After that, Amber will have until February 28 to return for the criminal case filed against her by Indiana authorities.


Fernando Nieve pitched six scoreless innings to extend his improbable stint with the New York Mets and recent callup Nick Evans hit a two-run homer in an 11-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night.
David Wright tied a career best with four hits and Ryan Church had three hits and two RBIs in his first start as the cleanup hitter this season.
The injury-depleted Mets bounced back from a 4-0, two-hit loss to the Cardinals on Tuesday with their best offensive output of the season. Evans had two of the Mets’ 16 hits against the NL Central leaders.
Nieve (3-0) won his career-high third straight start filling in for John Maine.


The office of Certificate of Irish Heritage and Ireland of Welcomes are inviting readers to share their ancestors’ stories and receive a complimentary Certificate to celebrate their Irish heritage.
This issue we hear from Maureen McCarthy from Florida. Claim Your Irish Heritage Would you like your own Certificate of Irish Heritage? Simply send your story (maximum 200 words) of how your ancestors arrived in your current country along with a photo to help@heritagecertificate.ie or by post to: Certificate of Irish Heritage, FEXCO Centre, Langford St., Killorglin, Co. Kerry, Ireland. Those picked will be presented with their certificate and their story will appear in a forthcoming issue of Ireland of Welcomes. “My father Timothy McCarthy was born in Dromtrasna North (O’Brien), Co. Limerick on February 15, 1907.
He sailed from Cobh and arrived in NYC on March 19, 1929, as great Depression was unfolding. He lived with an older brother John and soon was employed to work on NY subways as a motorman. My mother, Bridget Hester was born February 12, 1912 in Ballinagore, Frenchpark, Co. Roscommon. She sailed from Galway Bay and arrived in NYC on May 17, 1930, joining her older brother Patrick and her sister Sarah. Both parents came through Ellis Island, met and married in NYC then returned to Ireland on their honeymooon in 1934. With few employment opportunities in Ireland, they returned to NYC where they reared their five children. Dad returned to his previous position as a subway motorman while Mom was a full-time homemaker. Mom often praised Mantua National School, Co. Roscommon and her teacher Master Kelly.


Dr. Helen H. Hobbs, a UT Southwestern Medical Center geneticist from Dallas, has been awarded the 2016 Breakthrough Prize for her work identifying genetic variants in the genome and creating potential for more effective drug treatments.
The international prize comes with $3 million.
Hobbs was unavailable Monday for further comment.
The Breakthrough Prize was founded by Silicon Valley philanthropists Sergey Brin, Anne Wojcicki, Jack Ma, Cathy Zhang, Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan and Yuri and Julia Milner. A total of $21.9 million and seven prizes were awarded Sunday to people who have challenged conventional thinking and pioneered research in science and math.
Prize officials lauded Hobbs’ approach to studying the genome. Instead of looking at common genome differences, Hobbs, along with UT Southwestern colleague Dr. Jonathan Cohen, studied the effects of genetic mutations on LDL cholesterol in lipid metabolism and fatty liver disease.
Hobbs and Cohen discovered that people with a genetic mutation that blocked the formation of the PCSK9 gene had low LDL cholesterol levels and had a very low risk of heart disease.
That research led to the development of a new class of drugs to lower LDL cholesterol. The FDA approved two new drugs from this class over the summer.
Hobbs’ work was part of the Dallas Heart Study. The study, co-launched by Hobbs with funding from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation in 1999, collected health information, blood samples, imaging studies, genomic DNA and genetic profiling from several though people in Dallas County across many ethnicities. It allows researchers a database of people’s individual genetic sequences and actual physical traits.
Hobbs’ further research into fatty liver disease has discovered genetic variants responsible for fat accumulation in the liver, liver inflammation, cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Hobbs is director of the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. She studied at Stanford University and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine before interning at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City and joining the staff at UT Southwestern. She joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 1987.


The Saudi Industrial Property Authority (Modon) announced plans to establish an all-women industrial city in Usfan near Jeddah.
The city will be operated and managed by trained female cadre.
Local media reported that the first phase, which involved building of roads, sewage, rainwater disposal and power networks, is already complete. The project is located only 25 km from King Abdul Aziz International Airport.
Modon announced earlier that the project aims to create job opportunities for women in all economic fields.
A source said the city will be designed to facilitate the employment of women. It will have all supporting services and facilities creating a suitable environment for the women work force.
The project provides sizable incentives to investors, such as long-term leasing rates for industrial land. The authority’s website facilitates applications, and expedites the procedure of acquiring space. Investors can also get customs exemptions for tools, machinery and raw materials used by the industry.


Sasol will need as many as 18 months to decide on the best option for the Natref refinery ahead of SA’s anticipated cleaner-fuel standards.
“The technical solution doesn’t currently make the adequate returns we need, so more work is required as to what are the solutions,” Sasol co-CEO Bongani Nqwababa said in an interview on Friday at the opening of the company’s Impumelelo coal mine.
A sale of Natref would be considered if that is the most economic option, the company said in August.
Sasol last year began a review of the 108,000-barrel-a-day Natref refinery and the 150,000-barrel-a-day Secunda plant, which together account for more than a third of SA’s fuel production capacity.
SA announced the Clean Fuels II policy in 2012 to cut sulphur levels in gasoline and diesel, but the rules have not yet been implemented.
Sasol holds a 64% stake in Natref, and the options would need to be decided with Total SA, which owns the remainder, Nqwababa said.
“There is clarity” on the technology required for the Secunda refinery and teams are working on the business case, expected in six months to a year, he said.


• Collins: "It seemed like [Libby] was the fall guy"
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Jurors in I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's perjury trial were certain of the former vice presidential aide's guilt, but they also harbored sympathy for him as a "fall guy," one of them said Tuesday after the verdict.
Denis Collins, a Washington resident and self-described registered Democrat, said he and fellow jurors found that passing judgment on Libby was "unpleasant."
Collins said the jury believed Libby was "tasked by the vice president to go and talk to reporters."
Collins said none of the jurors appeared to hold any animosity toward Libby, and some expressed a distaste for passing judgment on him at all.
"I had conversations with a couple of jurors who said, 'Wow this part is not fun,' " said Collins. "It's just a question of not wanting to pass judgment on anyone. And I felt the same way."
But he said the jury's sympathy didn't interfere with the verdict, "it was just the unpleasantness of doing it."
Amid all the serious deliberations about the fate of the once powerful chief of staff to the vice president, jurors were still tempted by distractions, including a hot-dog vendor they could see, and whose confections they could smell, outside the window of their deliberation chamber.
"The one extraneous bit of conversation that happened more than any other was the hot-dog half-smoke guy across the street in front of the DMV," Collins said. "We lusted after him and we actually had a plan to get some and it didn't work out."
Collins also opened up about the nuts and bolts of the decision-making process. He said at one point jurors were using 35 Post-It pages that measured 2½ feet by 2 feet to help them break down the testimony. "We took about a week just to get all the building blocks there," Collins said.
"There were some incredibly good managerial-type people who just took everything apart in to the smallest piece, put it in the right places, and it got to the point where opinion had very little to do with it," said Collins. "You just came to this conclusion that, 'wow here it is, right before us.' "
Collins said among their key points of deliberation were: motivation to tell the truth, motivation to lie, believability and state of mind.
"So we didn't do a straw vote right away," he said. "It was too big. It was too much. It was too important. We just didn't do that. So that's why it took so long."
The primary testimony that convinced the jury on most of the counts, Collins said, was Libby's alleged conversation with NBC's "Meet the Press" moderator Tim Russert. "Some of us believed it never happened," he said.
"We were told he had a bad memory and we actually believed he did." But that testimony was contradicted by testimony that he had an incredible grasp of details.
Juror Denis Collins talks to reporters Tuesday in Washington after the verdict was announced.


Tenor Mark Padmore and pianist Paul Lewis brought the sentiments of Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte and Schubert’s Schwanengesang to life, writes Ivan Hewett.
This recital began with romantic song’s springtime, and then gave us a grand utterance from the genre’s full maturity. The first half had songs by Beethoven, including his song-cycle An die ferne Geliebte. The second gave us Schubert’s last song-cycle, Schwanengesang. Only 12 years separate them, but what a distance there is in emotional tone. Schubert ventures into strange, almost deranged areas of feeling that can make Beethoven’s evocations of May flowers and babbling brooks seem conventional in comparison.
And yet they never seemed conventional in these performances from Mark Padmore and pianist Paul Lewis. With the lightest touch — a pause here, a splash of unusual colour there — they brought the sentiments to life.
There’s a moment in the song Abendlied where the words tell of the soul’s desire to float free of its mortal frame. Padmore gave the words an almost bodiless yearning quality, and Lewis held the tempo a fraction longer than expected. Just for a moment the music floated free of its own mortal frame.
Beethoven’s set is actually more radical than Schubert’s, in the sense that it really is a cycle where one song leads seamlessly to the next. Lewis’s handling of the tiny piano transitions was brilliantly done, leading us to a new tempo and feeling so deftly that we couldn’t spot the transition. The return of the opening melody at the end sounded like something regretful from long ago, even though in clock time it was a mere 20 minutes.
In Schubert’s Schwanengesang the feelings press more urgently. Padmore may not have the granitic power of some singers, but there’s an emotional nakedness about his singing which made his performance of these dark, strange songs really strike home. He caught the way conventional romantic longing turns to desperate urgency in Frühlingsehnsucht. And in Kriegers Ahnung the two performers found a strange, haunted tone which caught the oddity of the sentiments. Is it his beloved the warrior longs for, or the peace of death?
In among the storm-tossed and ghost-haunted sentiments there are more cheerful songs, which in a way are more difficult to bring off — especially the last, Die Taubenpost, which was tacked on by the original publisher as an afterthought. This genial little parable of love’s longing can feel like an anticlimax, unless the performers make its ingenuous simplicity seem touching – which is exactly what they did.


A dad accused of involvement in dealing class A drugs in Blackpool has told jurors a consignment of cocaine was delivered to him "by mistake".
Philip Bennett claims he was expecting a delivery of cannabis - a class B drug.
The 38-year-old, of Branstree Road, Blackpool, has pleaded not guilty to conspiring to supply a class A drug and is on trial at Preston Crown Court along with several co-accused.
The court heard his home was among several addresses raided across the Blackpool and Fleetwood areas last June as part of Operation Jennet.
He says he was involved with cannabis but not cocaine - but the court heard this was a different account to what he had told police in his interview.
Prosecuting, Martin Reid asked him why he had not told police during his interview that he had been involved with cannabis.
Bennett replied: " I didn't think I was getting out of that cell, I thought I would get the blame for everything.
"I thought I was never going to see my son again, or my home.
"I thought I was going straight to jail."
He also told the court he was not thinking straight because he was worried what would happen to his son, whom he has had full custody of since 2011 when his partner was admitted to hospital with depression.
Mr Reid said: "That doesn't fit in with the defence you now want to run.
"The reason you never told police you were holding cannabis is you were holding cocaine."
The trial arose as a result of Operation Jennett, an investigation into alleged serious and organised crime on the Fylde coast.
Also in the dock are Daniel Thornber, 37, of Dingle Avenue, Steven McIvor, 28, of Warley Road, Christopher Whiteley, 43, of George Street, Elaine Jackson, 56, and Ricky Jackson, 51 of Mardale Avenue, Matthew Evans, 33, of Peter Street, and John Johnstone, 60, of Bowland Crescent.


Political interference in the valuing of high-country pastoral lease land to force lessees into tenure review, was alleged at the Land Valuation Tribunal sitting in Dunedin yesterday.
Nick Davidson QC made the claim when opening the case for Minaret Station in its dispute with the Commissioner of Crown Lands over the level of rent for the Wanaka pastoral lease, saying the Crown admitted that in its evidence last week.
"The Crown is increasing rent to get tenure review going by forcing lessees to the table. This was expressly recognised [during the Crown's evidence] and at that time it also recognised legislation will have to change. But legislation hasn't changed, yet the Crown has directed a change in approach," he said.
Minaret Station, on the western shores of Lake Wanaka, is appealing changes to the way the land is valued and rent calculated, which includes amenity or non-pastoral values.
The case is being seen by the Crown as a test for the way it values land and sets rents, but lessees say the lease agreement forfeits the Crown's right to rent for those amenity values.
Many say the new rents are unaffordable.
Mr Davidson said the Crown directed land valuers to include amenity values even though it acknowledged the new rents were in many cases not affordable.
He said the valuation method proposed by the Crown was inconsistent with the legislation which, he asserted, dictated that land be valued on pastoral values only.
He said there was a fatal flaw in the application of the statute: ". . . the Crown seeks to impose a rent on values which already belong to the lessee, by virtue of the bundle of rights associated with the lease, including the right of occupation in perpetuity."
Prices paid recently for Mt Soho, Birchwood, Mototapu and St James pastoral leases were based on non-pastoral values; what he called "a foreign element".
Mr Davidson said the 1948 Land Act stated rents should take account of a lessee's ability to pay, and that both parties shared in the income - the Crown as the ultimate owner of the asset and the lessee for their investment and the risk they had taken.
"Whose risk is it? Who is taking the risk and spending all the money? The Crown doesn't. The Crown's only risk is the lessee not paying the rent or not doing it properly, for which they can be booted off."
Claims lessees facing hardship could seek assistance were not allowed for in the legislation.
The Land Act allowed lessees to seek assistance in times of natural disasters, not because they could not afford the rent.
Mr Davidson said the Crown risked creating a major problem if it continued including amenity values.
"It's going to be a problem if it is endorsed. It is going to have a huge practical effect, but also a huge legislative effect, because it rewrites the bundle of rights granted to the lessee by the pastoral lease."


TWO firms hoping to get exclusive rights to develop the Glyn Rhonwy quarry site at Llanberis will present their details to Gwynedd Council.
Earlier this year, the council undertook a marketing campaign to invite statements of interests from potential developers ready to invest in the area and offer a quality, exciting and sustainable developments on the site.
Snowdonia Gateway and Beicio Llanberis both made their intentions known to the public last February.
The two organisations both held public meetings in March in the Electric Mountain and in the Royal Victoria Hotel respectively, where public reaction to their proposals was described as "very encouraging" after some local business people had expressed concern about the impact this would have on them.
The council's vision is to attract the right form of investment by taking advantage of Glyn Rhonwy's unique characteristics to create quality employment opportunities for the benefit of Gwynedd's communities, by contributing to the area's cultural and linguistic wealth and natural beauty.
Both firms believe they can fully develop the site and adhere to the council's vision.
They will give councillors and officers a presentation of plans in the next few weeks.


A letter from Harvest Bible Chapel elders, which was posted Wednesday on the church's website, includes this statement from founding pastor James MacDonald. The letter said MacDonald is "taking an indefinite sabbatical from all preaching and leadership" at the Rolling Meadows church but might continue preaching over the winter at the church in Naples, Florida.
"For a long time I have felt unequal to all but the preaching task at Harvest. I have battled cycles of injustice, hurt, anger, and fear which have wounded others without cause.
I have carried great shame about this pattern in certain relationships that can only be called sin. I am grieved that people I love have been hurt by me in ways they felt they could not express to me directly and have not been able to resolve. I blame only myself for this and want to devote my entire energy to understanding and addressing these recurring patterns.
I have long known and taught it is not about the messenger, it is about the message and I am grateful for a time of extended sabbatical, during which Harvest will be in capable hands. I may continue preaching at the Naples Campus through some of the winter season and have postponed all writing and leadership to begin in earnest now. I will continue this focus as long as it takes and participate wholeheartedly as requested in the process shared above.
Please pray that this welcomed time of sabbatical rest will lead to needed changes in me and a fresh opportunity to reconcile with others in God's time.
Christ is all He promised to be and more … "He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me by still waters. He restores my soul" (Psalm 23:2-3). Please pray for me and Kathy as we step away from the work, so God can do all He wants to do in the worker."


U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was in Lafayette to announce a grant to the Acadiana Nature Station.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke was in Lafayette Tuesday to announce a $100,000 grant to the Acadiana Nature Station, part of a $1.6 million allocation to the state.
The distribution is from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund for approved outdoor recreation and conservation projects.
At the Acadiana Nature Station in Lafayette, the money will be used to build a bridge to access more than 100 acres of land, said Stacey Scarce, nature station curator. About six years ago, more than six miles of trail were created on the land where more than 50 species of butterflies have been documented, she said.
"We'll be able to access all that," Scarce said. "We can bring school groups over there."
Lafayette Consolidated Government is contributing a $100,000 match.
The LWCF is funded with revenue from federal oil and gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf. It's used to protect and grow national parks, wildlife refuges and recreation areas.
Zinke said there are parts of the LWCF he'd like to reform. Louisiana's congressional delegation has a valid argument that all the LWCF revenue is offshore but Louisiana only receives $1.6 million of that. Landlocked Montana receives more from LWCF than Louisiana.
At one time, Zenke said, the federal government shared those revenues 50-40 with states, where states had more voice in where the money was spent. With more of a local voice, projects like the bridge at the Acadiana Nature Station will be built.
Zenke was the guest speak for a luncheon of the Louisiana Offshore Oil and Gas Association in Lafayette Tuesday. The news media was not allowed to cover his speech.
Asked later what he spoke about, Zenke said the Interior Department has a dual role: Energy and stewardship.
"We have to make sure that industry is held accountable," he said. "That regulation is appropriate."
Government, Zinke said, needs to work with its conservation team as well as its energy team for the benefit of all.
"Government should not be adversarial," he said. "It needs to work with people all the way down to the community level."
The Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act is an example of working together in all levels, from the federal to the state to the local, Zinke said.
The interior Department needs to be reorganized, Zenke said, so everyone is on the same page with input from stakeholders.
Zenke said he's working with U.S. Sen. Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, and U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, R-Louisiana, on funding for the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, which provides for Gulf Coast states and LWCF to receive part of Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas lease revenues.
The interior secretary said he's personally concerned about Louisiana's disappearing coast, where a football field of land is eroding every hour.
The GOMESA should include cleaning up some of the bureaucracy, such as taking years to get a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit, he said.


The Government is seeking further advice from Ofcom on Rupert Murdoch’s £11.7bn Sky takeover bid after receiving “new evidence and comments”.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has written to the communications regulator asking for extra input before Culture Secretary Karen Bradley decides whether the proposed deal should face an in-depth investigation.
Bradley said last month that she was “still minded” to refer the takeover tilt to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) following a report by Ofcom flagging “public interest concerns” surrounding media plurality.
In a statement, the DCMS said Ofcom had been given a two-week window in which to respond and expected a reply by no later than August 25.
It said: “The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has written toOfcom under section 106B(2) of the Enterprise Act 2002, seeking further clarification in relation to representations made on the Secretary of State’s referral decision.
“After assessing the large number of representations made in relation to the Secretary of State’s referral decision, a number of these raise new evidence and/or comment on theOfcom assessment.
“Any referral decision by the Secretary of State must be taken on the basis of a valid assessment of all the relevant evidence.
Ofcom warned Bradley in June that an attempt by Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox to acquire the 61 per cent of Sky it does not already own risks handing the tycoon’s family “increased influence” over the UK’s news agenda and the political process.
Since then, the Murdoch family have piled the pressure on the Secretary of State, saying her treatment of their bid for Sky will prove a test case for how far Britain is “open for business”.
Murdoch’s approach comes after his last attempt at taking over the business through News Corporation in 2011.
The tilt faced opposition from media industry rivals and politicians before it was scuppered by acute pressure on the company, brought about by phone-hacking claims involving News International.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable added: “I am very pleased that the representations made by myself, Ed Miliband and Ken Clarke are being taken seriously and are being properly investigated as they should be.


Iceland’s Foreign Minister Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson on December 7 has arrived in India for an eight-day visit.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Thordarson is scheduled to address the Iceland-India Business Seminar at The Oberoi hotel in the city, later in the day.
Later today he will be meeting with R.K. Singh Hon’ble MoS (IC) for Power & NRE and K.J. Alphons, Hon’ble MoS(IC) for Tourism.
Foreign Minister Thordarson on December 8 will hold talks over bilateral issues with Indian counterpart External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj at the Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan.
The Icelandic foreign minister on December 9 would also visit Agra and on December 10 he would pay a visit to Jaipur to attend an event.
On the morning of December 14, the Icelandic Foreign Minister will leave for Reykjavik.


What happened to the one-hit wonders of the noughties?
Aimee Ann Duffy (born 23 June 1984) is a Welsh singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Bangor, Wales, she was introduced to Jeannette Lee of Rough Trade Records, which led to her signing a recording contract with A&M Records in 2007.
Following the release of the singles "Rockferry" (2007) and "Mercy" (2008), the latter reaching singles charts worldwide, Duffy released her 2008 debut album Rockferry. The album entered the UK Album Chart at number one, and became the best-selling album in the United Kingdom in 2008 with 1.68 million copies sold. The album was certified several times Platinum and sold over 7 million copies worldwide, spawning further successful singles. With "Mercy", Duffy became the first Welsh woman to achieve number-one on the UK Singles Chart since 1983, while Rockferry was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album amongst further nominations at the 51st Grammy Awards. In 2009, she won three Brit Awards for British Breakthrough, Best British Female and Best British Album.
They shone bright with songs that defined the decade, and then what?
Who does Paloma dream of performing with at The Biggest Weekend?
Rebecca Ferguson: "If you're going to write an autobiography, it's got to be honest!"
Paloma Faith auditions for Bond!
Paloma Faith: "I've only just discovered streaming!"


DUBAI, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) said on Tuesday it was acquiring John Laing Group's stakes in two wind farms in the United States, its first North American renewable energy investment.
Masdar said it was buying stakes in the Rocksprings wind farm in Texas and the Sterling wind farm in New Mexico.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2019, Masdar said.


We found out at this year’s E3 Expo that episodic darling Life is Strange is getting a prequel, Life is Strange: Before the Storm. The new title will set its sights on the relationship between Max’s punk pal Chloe and her assumed girlfriend Rachel Amber. In a new video, former voice actress and writer/consultant Ashly Burch and new voice talent Rhianna Devries spill the tea on the characters in the forthcoming title.
Burch, who played Chloe in the original title, will not be voicing Chloe in this title because Square Enix decided to go with a non-union actress. She has, however, stayed on the team as a writer and consultant to Chloe’s character. This has caused a stir among fans of Burch’s portrayal of Chloe, and this video may indeed serve as a reconciliation to the fuss.
Not only is Burch not reprising her role, this prequel isn’t being developed by original Life is Strange studio Dontnod Entertainment. Instead, it’s being developed by Deck Nine Games, formally known as Idol Minds. Deck Nine confirmed in a blog post that Before the Storm isn’t the game Dontnod announced in May, and that the Life is Strange team is working on its own title.
For the Deck Nine team, creating Chloe in a more raw and formative time at 16 meant creating Rachel as both a hero and foil. She’s good and she’s bad for Chloe, and this three-part title is all about dissecting that complexity.
Life is Strange: Before the Storm’s first episode is due out on Aug. 31 for PS4, Xbox One and PC. There will be a fourth bonus episode, “Farewell,” from the perspective of Max that’s exclusive to the deluxe edition of the game.


Nikhil Siddhartha and Lavanya Tripathi's 'Arjun Suravaram' postponed yet again!
This is how noted actor Chandan Sen beats the cancer everyday!
The Apex Court finally struck down the archaic and draconian Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code,which criminalises homosexuality. We ask Pratik Gandhi on what is his take on this, he shares, "Supreme court finally decriminalizing homosexuality — this decision in favour of the LGBTQ community is like 'der se aaye par, durust aaye'. It will certainly bring about a change slowly among the way people perceive them. Many who were deprived from employment/work opportunities will not face the inequality now. It wasn't fair on treating them differently — a person's sexual orientation shouldn't be a reason to judge or mistreat him/her. It is totally an individual choice and I'm glad that SC has given a positive decision in this context. I had been the part of a short film in 2006 that highlighted homosexuality — during the movie recce, I realized how badly and differently were they treated. But I am sure this judgment will bring about winds of change in India."


If the numbers from Janco Associates are real -- and I have my doubts -- Internet Explorer's market share has dropped to 58 percent, with Firefox picking up 19 percent.
That leaves 23 percent for "other" browsers. Others like what? Safari is on 4 to 5 percent of machines, but most Mac people I know (like my two sons Nick and David) use Firefox.
While I always welcome competition, I'm scratching my head over this one. For instance, Janco calls Google Desktop a browser, when it runs inside a browser. Hmm.
Help me out. What browser besides IE and Firefox has any serious share, and why? Answers welcome at dbarney@redmondmag.com.


Interestingly, the two dolls share a connection already. Annabelle director John Leonetti served as the director of photography for 1991’s Child’s Play 3. And Mancini hopes to find room for Annabelle in the next Child’s Play movie, which he is writing now. But legal issues could be a problem.


THE PRESSURE’S ON – WHICH PEDRO WILL SHOW TONIGHT?
ST. LOUIS – Tonight is the first World Series start in Pedro Martinez’ illustrious career. Not to spoil the party, but will he finally pitch like a three-time Cy Young Award winner this postseason?
The Red Sox are in an almost perfect position heading into their longtime ace’s Game 3 start. Boston is up two games to none with a fully rested Martinez hurling opposite St. Louis’ Jeff Suppan, an inexperienced playoff pitcher.
If this were 1999, Martinez would likely stick the ball up the Cardinals’ tailpipe. But it’s not. So what will the pending free agent, who turned 33 yesterday, give the Sox in what could be his final appearance for Boston?
Martinez again blew off the workout day press conference. Epstein was asked if he thinks the Yankees will go after him.
While the Yanks need pitching, Martinez has produced one (slightly) above-average playoff start this October. He lasted seven innings during an ALDS Game 2 start in Anaheim, allowing three earned runs on six hits during an 8-3 victory.
His fastball was electric that night as he broke a personal four-game losing streak. Since then, the results have been mediocre at best.
Martinez produced a quality start in an ALCS Game 2 start at Yankee Stadium, but he allowed a two-run, sixth-inning homer by John Olerud that gave the Bombers a 3-0 lead that they turned into a victory.
Similarly, Martinez did the “Pedro Fade” after 100 pitches in Game 5 at Fenway Park, allowing Derek Jeter’s three-run, sixth-inning double that gave the Yanks a 4-2 lead.
And his Game 7 seventh-inning relief appearance was atrocious, as Martinez pitched an inning of batting practice to turn an 8-1 lead into an 8-3 game.
Teammates were unconcerned by his inconsistent efforts, focusing instead on the moment at hand.
Manny Ramirez, who has played in two previous World Series (1995 and 1997), predicted Martinez was not going to get any sleep last night.


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Singer celebrates the release of her fourth studio album, Demi, with some new ink on her left shoulder.
Demi Lovato is a warrior, and she's got the ink to prove it.
In celebration of her just-released album, Demi, Lovato shared a picture of a new shoulder tattoo with the phrase "now I'm a warrior." It's a nod to the emotional track "Warrior" off her fourth studio album.
Lovato appeared on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" on Wednesday and explained the inspiration behind her 12th tattoo, her first since she inked a flock of birds on her forearm.
"I have a song on my album called 'Warrior,' and it's a very, very meaningful song to me," she explained. "It's really heavy, the lyrics, but it's an inspirational song as well. ... It was kind of like a tribute to releasing an album, as well as overcoming some really, really difficult things in my life."
In the song, Lovato sings "I've got shame, I've got scars that I'll never show/ I'm a survivor in more ways than you know."
On the day of her album release, Lovato sat down for "Demi Lovato: Live From MTV" and said the track "speaks to her emotionally." But "Warrior" isn't the only song that shows Lovato's vulnerable side; the entire album is filled with honest emotion.
"There are songs that are pretty self-explanatory on this album, and when I played those songs in front of other people I almost felt, like, naked," Lovato said. "There were several times I had to leave the room."
What do you think of Demi's new tattoo? Let us know in the comments below!


HINGHAM — Father Bill’s and MainSpring’s signature fundraiser, the 24th annual FoodFest, is set for this July.
The event will feature tastings from 40 South Shore restaurants and bakeries, from Indian cuisine, sushi and burgers to cupcakes and frozen yogurt. There will also be live music, a wine pull and a silent auction. Money raised will support the organization’s emergency shelters in Quincy and Brockton.
Last year’s event drew more than 1,000 South Shore residents and raised over $320,000, allowing the organization to provide emergency overnight shelter to over 2,700 people.
Father Bill’s and MainSpring is the largest nonprofit addressing homelessness on the South Shore. Its programs include homelessness prevention, emergency shelter, employment programs and more than 500 permanent housing units for individuals, families and veterans. The nonprofit serves over 6,500 people each year and has operated since the 1980s. The state provides less than 50 percent of its funding. FoodFest is the organization’s largest fundraiser of the year.
FoodFest will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on July 31 at The Launch at Hingham Shipyard and Hingham Beer Works, 349 Lincoln St., Hingham.
Tickets are $150 and will be on sale beginning Monday at 501auctions.com/foodfest or by calling 508-427-6448 Ext. 2238. There are also corporate sponsorship opportunities available.
For more information about the organization, visit helpfbms.org.


MARSHALL COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) – With recent record-breaking snowfall in the Tennessee Valley, it’s no secret we have faced an abnormally long, cold winter. With those cold temperatures, your heater is likely working around the clock.
General manager of Guntersville Electric Board Tommy Troup wants to remind people to think about their thermostat settings.
To many people, 70 degrees still feels cold to the skin, however turning the heat up above 68 degrees can cause an increases on the bill. “When the temperature is below freezing, or if you mess with the thermostat, you can drive your electric bill up significantly by doing that, because you can cause the backup heat to kick on,” adds Troup.
Try to use your electricity wisely, bundle up, set a temperature on your thermostat. Additional suggestions to help you conserve energy and save money are keep curtains closed at night to hold in heat, and make sure there is a tight seal around your door. If it is still drafty, roll up a towel and put it along the bottom of the door to block cold air.
If all else fails, remember — winter won’t last forever.
Chilly air is settling in, but how long can it last?


Transition prospects uncertain after Russia insists President Bashar al-Assad be allowed to retain power in some form.
Foreign ministers of world powers are in Geneva to hold talks on developing a common strategy to tackle the bloodshed in Syria, but differences persist between Syrian ally Russia and other countries.
Shortly before the actual conference on Saturday, envoys were trying to overcome one of the main sticking points - Russia's insistence that President Bashar al-Assad be allowed to remain in power in some form, a condition that is a non-starter among Syrian opposition members.
"We haven't reached agreement in advance with Russia and China. That remains very difficult and whether it will be possible, I don't know if this will be possible," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on arriving for the talks hosted by international envoy Kofi Annan.
Kofi Annan has been hoping for consensus on a proposal involving the formation of a unity government comprising leaders from both the government and the opposition and the likely stepping down of Assad.
Moscow, a long-time ally of the Syrian government and an opponent in principle to what it terms foreign intervention in a domestic matter, has voiced objections to any solution that is imposed on Syria.
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, met Hillary Clinton, his US counterpart, in St Petersburg on Friday. He said there was "a very good chance [of finding] common ground at the conference in Geneva [on Saturday]".
His deputy, Gennady Gatilov, later tweeted Moscow's view of forcing Assad aside: "Our Western partners want to determine themselves the results of the political process in Syria," he said.
"However, this is a matter for the Syrians themselves."
Lavrov, however, said that he had seen some flexibility on Clinton's part during their talks.
"I felt a change in Hillary Clinton's position. There were not ultimatums," he said. "Not a word was said that the document we will discuss in Geneva cannot be touched," he said, a few hours after senior officials in Geneva failed to arrive at a compromise that could be presented to the foreign ministers for approval on Saturday.
A senior US state department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Reuters news agency that "areas of difficulty and difference" remain, but that an accord was still possible.
The foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Russia, the United States, China, France and Britain - will attend Saturday's talks along with counterparts from regional powers Turkey, Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq, as well as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Nabil Elaraby, the secretary-general of the Arab League.
Annan is seeking backing for a proposal that does not explicitly call for Assad to step down, but does outline the formation of a transition government involving leaders from both sides, and excluding any who would jeopardise stability.
Diplomats told Reuters that Russia had proposed changes to the plan on Thursday, despite initially supporting it, but that the US, Britain and France had rejected the amendments.
Annan said on Friday that he was "optimistic" that the Geneva talks would lead to an acceptable outcome.
Assad on Thursday dismissed the notion of any outside solution to the crisis which has imperilled his family's four decades in power: "We will not accept any non-Syrian, non-national model, whether it comes from big countries or friendly countries.
"No one knows how to solve Syria's problems as well as we do."
The United States and regional powers such as Turkey are under pressure not only from Russia but also members of the rebel movement against Assad.
The opposition Syrian National Council has expressed grave reservations about any transition process that reserves a role for the current president.
Laurent Fabius, the French Foreign Minister, was to hold Paris talks with rebel council chief Abdel Basset Sayda in hopes of persuading him to take a more accommodating line.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said some 4,700 of the more than 15,800 people killed since the uprising broke out since a UN-backed ceasefire brokered by Annan entered force.
On Friday, Syrian government forces used helicopter gunships and tanks to bombard opposition strongholds across the country, including towns in the northern province of Idlib and in the capital Damascus, the opposition said.
The attacks were reported after Mustafa al-Sheikh, a former brigadier general who defected from the Syrian army, said that about 2,500 Syrian troops and 170 tanks had assembled at an infantry school near the village of Musalmieh northeast of the city of Aleppo, just 30km from the Turkish border.
The mass military deployment came after Turkey amassed troops and deployed surface-to-air missile launchers along its southern border with Syria in response to the shooting down of a Turkish warplane by Syrian forces.
A spokesman for the Syrian foreign ministry did not deny that Syrian troops were amassing near the border, but stressed that there were "no hostile intentions from the Syrian side".


A team of college students from Ferris State University in Michigan took inefficiency to new heights over the weekend with a machine that needs 345 separate procedures to make a glass of orange juice.
The group's Toy Factory beat out seven other student groups at the annual Rube Goldberg competition at Purdue University. Named for the cartoonist who drew fanciful machines, the idea is to make ornate, complex devices to conduct simple tasks.
This year's challenge involved taking an orange, squeezing out the juice into a pitcher, then pouring it into a glass using 20 or more steps. In previous contests, machines have had to peel an apple, toast a piece of bread or put a stamp on an envelope, among other tasks.
The Ferris students hooked up a variety of toys--a slinky, an Operation game, a jack-in-the-box, a bunch of dominoes and a hobby horse, among others--in constructing their machine. The team spent 3,000 hours building it, but the effort showed in the results. The 345 steps that Toy Factory required to complete its task set a new record.
"We've come to the competition for the past four years, and after last year's disappointment when our machine had a malfunction, we really wanted to come back and win this year," Tom Sybrandy, a senior at Ferris State and captain of the team, told the Purdue News Service. "We were worried because the competition is fierce, but when we did the first run without any problems, we just had a sigh of relief."
The old record was set by the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers last year with a machine that needed 215 steps to shred five sheets of paper.
Second place went to Purdue for its "00J: The Orange is Not Enough" device. The machine included a secret agent who broke into a casino, drove a miniature Lotus and then took off on a parachute to help the orange reach its destination. It took 155 steps and also took about 3,000 hours to build.
Texas A&M took third place with a machine that squeezed the orange in 59 steps. The machines have to go through their routines twice, and points are deducted for any human assistance.


Workers wear double-lined suits, and the floor is heated to prevent permafrost.
In one of the coldest workplaces on earth, in New Berlin, employees wear heated boots with a 2-inch-thick sole.
Inside their work area — two freezers totaling 12,000 square feet — it’s nearly 70 below zero, colder than most winter days in Siberia.
Dressed in multiple layers, hoodies, masks, hats and gloves, they can stay in the freezers for only about two hours before taking a 20-minute break to warm up.
It’s that cold inside the “super freezers” at Chr Hansen, a food ingredient company based in Copenhagen, Denmark, with its North American headquarters in West Allis.
The freezers store bacteria cultures used to make cheeses, yogurts and other dairy products, as well as wine and meat products.
The floor is heated to prevent permafrost, in the soil, that could damage the building.
Workers wear suits that would protect them down to nearly 80 below. The suits are double-lined clothing with a reflective surface inside to trap body heat.
The suits also have a “tilt alarm” that sounds if a worker falls inside a freezer, initiating a quick rescue response.
“It’s almost like working at the North Pole,” said Mike Graham, project engineer at Chr Hansen, which is the process of adding 19,000 more square feet of super freezer space.
When finished, it will be one of the largest such freezers in the world, according to the company.
Chr Hansen has one of the world’s largest commercial collections of bacteria, nearly 30,000 strains.
Half of the world’s cheeses and yogurts contain a Chr Hansen ingredient, according to the company, which has production facilities on five continents.
Cultures are stored at minus-67 degrees until they’re shipped, frozen, to food companies that thaw them and put them to work making products.
The company also makes probiotic bacteria strains for health care companies around the world.
“We develop and produce cultures, enzymes, probiotics and natural colors for a rich variety of foods, confectionery, beverages, dietary supplements and even animal feed and plant protection,” the company says.
More than 1 billion people a day consume products containing the company’s natural ingredients, the Chr Hansen website says.
The company has more than 3,000 employees, in about 30 countries, including about 300 in New Berlin and the Milwaukee area.
It was founded by a Danish pharmacist in 1874 and has been in the Milwaukee area since the late 1920s.
“We’ve been pretty fortunate in the people we’ve been able to recruit and retain,” Graham said.


The Drifters, Cornell Gunter's Coasters and The Platters will be together on one stage, singing all of their hits at The Classic Center Theatre on June 20.
With more than 94 charted records and 45 top 10 hits combined, audiences can expect to hear favorites like “Under The Boardwalk,” “Stand By Me,” “There Goes My Baby,” “This Magic Moment,” “Up On The Roof,” “Save The Last Dance for Me,” “With This Ring,” “Only You,” “Yakety Yak,” “Charlie Brown,” “Poison Ivy,” “The Great Pretender,” “Magic Touch,” “Twilight Time,” “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” “On Broadway,” and more.
Visit ClassicCenter.com to buy tickets, call (706) 357-4444 or stop by The Classic Center box office at 300 N. Thomas St. in downtown Athens.


A rare type of moss could be more effective than medicinal cannabis for treating certain medical conditions, according to new research.
The liverwort plant Redula Perrottetii contains a substance similar to that found in the illegal narcotic, researchers at the University of Bern claim.
The tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) found in cannabis can be used in the medical field to deal with certain types of pain, muscle cramps, dizziness and loss of appetite.
The research team in Switzerland, led by Professor Jurg Gertsch, have been exploring the medical uses of ‘perrottetinene’ found in the rare liverwort, which only grows in Japan, New Zealand and Costa Rica.
Cannabis is illegal in the UK, but Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced earlier this year that doctors in England, Wales and Scotland, will be able to prescribe it medicinally on a case-by-case basis.
Professor Gertsch began investigating the pharmacological effects of the natural substance perrottetinene after discovering liverworts were being sold as legal highs online.
Working chemists from Erick Carreira’s team from the ETH Zurich, Professor Gertsch’s research team in Bern biochemically and pharmacologically compared THC and perrottetinene.
Using animal models the team was able to demonstrate that perrottetinene reaches the brain very easily and demonstrates a stronger anti-inflammatory effect in the brain than THC.
Researchers found perrottetinene was less psychoactive than THC, but said more studies were necessary to look at chronic and inflammatory pain.
The study, published in the journal Science Advances, said cannabis is rarely used medically because it can have a strong psychoactive effect and is an illegal, controlled narcotic in most countries.
Andrea Chicca, a member of scientific staff in Dr Gertsch’s group, said there is the potential for developing the therapeutic use of perrottetinene or similar substances.


33.91 acres of farmland in quiet community.
Directions Wilmington-68 S, L On 123, L On 251,R On Kernan Rd. Property On Left. Fayetteville-68 N, R On 123, L On 251,R On Kernan Rd. Property On Left.


ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia has more than 500 hazardous sites in need of costly cleanup, but an analysis of state spending shows that it routinely shorts the trust fund that's supposed to pay for them.
Less than half of the $14.5 million in fees the state collects on average for hazardous waste cleanup annually is spent on that need, a WSB-TV analysis of state budget figures shows. The rest goes into Georgia's general fund for other purposes.
"We find that a lot of people had no idea this was going on," said Jesse Demonbreun-Chapman with the Georgia Water Coalition. The issue of the hazardous waste sites was included in the Georgia Water Coalition's publication, "Dirty Dozen: 2017's Worst Offenses Against Georgia's Water."
"We know for a fact that there's a tremendous backlog of hazardous waste sites that are not receiving the remediation that they need," Demonbreun-Chapman added.
There are 528 sites on Georgia's cleanup list, ranging from closed dry-cleaning businesses to old landfills.
The trust fund was created in the 1990s to clean sites deemed hazardous by the state, but money collected first goes to the state's general fund. Then, lawmakers appropriate how much of the money goes toward cleanup each year.
On average, a little more than 40 percent of money collected is budgeted to the Georgia's Environmental Protection Division's Land Branch, which administers the fund and another for solid waste.
The EPD's Land Branch Chief Jeff Cown said his department doesn't need extra funds to clean up the state's hazardous waste sites.
Cown said the state is currently responsible for cleaning up a 36 of the 528 sites on the list — sites abandoned by the property owners. Contractors around the state perform the actual cleaning. The money is also used to administer the project.
On average, 11 hazardous sites come off the list each year, but an average of eight new sites are added in the same span. There are 166 sites that have been on the state's list since it was created in 1994.
Currently, just 10 sites are being remediated, WSB-TV reported.
Tonya Bechtler with the Yellow River Water Trail balked at the idea that the state doesn't need more funding to clean up hazardous waste sites.
"If they've got that extra money please send it to Newton County," Bechtler told the Atlanta TV station.
Newton County's landfill is one of 130 landfills on the state's hazardous site list. Bechtler said the site's proximity to the Yellow River makes ground water contamination a big environmental risk.


In North Carolina in 2016, more than 1.5 million people received some benefits from the SNAP program, according to a January report from the Department of Agriculture. As of July 2017, North Carolina had more than 10.2 million residents.
The change is allowed under the disaster declaration for the state, but it may take up to 36 hours for retailers who accept SNAP to accept the change due to programming changes, the Department of Agriculture said. Due to power outages, some stores may only accept cash.


Heavy morning traffic on I-95 southbound in Fairfield, Conn. on Wednesday, October 2, 2013.
STAMFORD -- A Stamford-based "aerial transportation" firm is hoping it will be able to get well-heeled commuters to opt for a quick helicopter ride during Metro-North railroad service problems.
Ray Leavitt, CEO of Evo-Lux Transportation, said his company hopes to change Stamford's ordinances to accommodate his software-driven startup and change the current prohibition on helicopter landings in the city except for emergency medical trips and visits by presidents, governors and international heads of state. His attempts to expedite approval of temporary helipad on Monday to capitalize on Metro-North's ongoing service disruption were rejected by local public safety officials because of the prohibition.
"Since there is an ordinance, we couldn't get it lifted even temporarily," Leavitt said. "We really wanted to show how nimbly we could get a service running to relieve a major bottleneck and pain point."
This week, EvoLux Transportation began using social media and supportive businesses to promote a limited-time offer on one-way and round-trip helicopter flights between Connecticut and New York City's heliports for a minimum of $300 a seat each way.
The company was able to establish heliports in Bridgeport, Fairfield, White Plains, N.Y., and at Westchester County Airport, but has not yet been able to get clients signed up for the flights during the rail service disruption.
Leavitt said that while the company is currently developing a proprietary software engine to quickly link helicopter operators to eager customers, he was hoping to create a partnership with a local corporate complex such as NBC Sports or Chelsea Piers to partner on the construction of a Stamford heliport.
"People think that this service is going to be just for the elite, but because we're opening this up a marketplace and hopefully growing it we hope to be able to open up the price point all the way down to the upper middle class," Leavitt said.
Public Safety Director Ted Jankowski said the use of public property for helicopter landings in the city of Stamford are extremely rare, citing the examples of Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, both of whom have landed aboard Marine One in Kosciuszko Park.
Since 2004, there have been several medical emergencies requiring airlifting critical patients via helicopter from Stamford Hospital to specialty or other advanced medical care facilities, he said.
Train service came to a halt on the New Haven line on Sept. 25 after a Consolidated Edison feeder cable near Mt. Vernon, N.Y., failed just after 5 a.m., stopping train service from Stamford to Grand Central.
On Monday, the railroad was able to restore partial service of electric trains through the affected corridor of Rye, N.Y., through Pelham, N.Y., and has thus far been able to incrementally restore 65 percent of normal service.
Con Edison officials initially said it could take weeks to restore the power to the trains, although the electric feeder cable problem that disrupted the heavily used rail line is expected to be fixed by Oct. 7. After testing, service is expected to resume Oct. 7 or 8.


After NJ singer/songwriter Pat DiNizio died in December, his bandmates in The Smithereens have regrouped with guest vocalist Marshall Crenshaw.
The Smithereens, with guest vocalist Marshall Crenshaw, and original bassist Mike Mesaros onstage again, will perform this Friday, June 1, in Montclair.
"We lost Pat in December," recalled Dennis Diken of The Smithereens' lead vocalist and songwriter Pat DiNizio. "When he passed, it was like losing a family member. I'd known Pat for 39 years."
Diken, now of Wood-Ridge, had co-founded The Smithereens in 1980 as its drummer, along with two fellow musicians from Carteret, guitarist Jim Babjak and Mesaros, and DiNizio, a singer/songwriter in nearby Scotch Plains.
The Smithereens had booked a show for this past January in the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank. With DiNizio's sudden death on Dec. 12, 2017, at age 62, the other bandmates were encouraged to stage the show by Steve Van Zandt, the E Street Band member who was producing the event. Tickets for "Time and Time Again: A Celebration of the Life of Pat DiNizio" immediately sold out.
"It was a wonderful night. Everybody put their all into it," recalled Diken.
Mesaros, who had departed the band in 2006 to raise a family in California, had earlier in 2017 reunited with The Smithereens for some guest appearances, including a fundraiser following the passing of Babjak's wife, Betty, in 2016. Mesaros was back onstage for the January 2018 memorial show, with his replacement, Severo "The Thrilla" Jornacion, also performing on tunes. Diken noted that Mesaros is again a permanent member of the band.
"We brought up a number of guest vocalists" for the "Time and Time Again" show, recalled Diken, including Van Zandt, Marshall Crenshaw, Richard Barone, Patty Smyth, and Robin Wilson of the Gin Blossoms.
"Robin Wilson was a huge Smithereens fan. He really put his heart and soul into it. We did a show with him in Waukegan [Illinois]. We'll be doing more shows with Robin once the Gin Blossoms reunion tour is finished."
"When he sang with us that night, it felt really right," Diken said of inviting Crenshaw into the lineup. "We all consider Marshall one of the great songwriters and singers.
"Our fans were very vocal about wanting the band to continue, and we want the band to continue. It seemed like a good way to move forward," Diken said. "Nobody can ever replace Pat, and it's not our intention to look for someone who's a soundalike, but someone who has a passion for the music."
For their show this Friday in Montclair, The Smithereens will perform in Outpost in the Burbs. Earlier this year, Diken had been the drummer on a tour by Dave Davies, co-founder of The Kinks, and they'd performed at Outpost, located in the First Congregational Church, 40 South Fullerton Ave. "It's a great venue," observed Diken. "Just looking up and seeing those stained-glass windows is inspiring."
Opening the 8 p.m. show will be the Grip Weeds, whose founding members operate House of Vibes, a recording studio in Highland Park where The Smithereens and Van Zandt have cut tunes.
Northeast from Highland Park in Middlesex County, Diken, Babjak, and Mesaros had grown up in Carteret, a rough-and-tumble town along the Arthur Kill, across from Staten island.
As childhood friends, Babjak and Diken had jammed together. As members of a cover band in the late 1970s, Diken had musically connected with DiNizio, of Scotch Plains. By 1980, Babjak and Mesaros had coalesced with Diken and DiNizio into a quartet, The Smithereens.
It was a band whose members were immersed in the Beatles, the Who, and other seminal 1960s connections, along with Buddy Holly. The band members melded their personal artistry and their musical influences into powerful riffing and forcefully melodic tunes, with DiNizio's oft-melancholic lyrics entwined in concise, catchy songs.
Five years later, they were signed to Enigma Records. In April 1985, on Good Friday, The Smithereens were booked for The Record Plant, a prestigious recording studio in Manhattan. "On that night, we were scheduled to record in one of the larger rooms. Lo and behold, we get a phone call: 'We have to kick you upstairs to the small room.' We decided to go ahead, and recorded five tracks, 'Cigarette,' 'Crazy Mixed-Up Kid,' 'Alone at Midnight,' '[Behind the] Wall of Sleep,' and 'Blood and Roses,' all in one evening.
"It was a fateful night," noted Diken. "It probably sounds vain, coming from an artist, but 'Blood and Roses' and 'Behind the Wall of Sleep' are probably classics. There's something magic in the recording, in the mixing, in the way they came together. Those two songs will stand the test of time."
Along with DiNizio's lovelorn lyrical creativity and his expertise in crafting melodies, he and his colleagues ferociously rocked out in concerts. Fans who had attended their frequent shows in New Brunswick's Court Tavern are identifiable decades later by their responses: "Huh? What? What did you say?"
Diken has performed on other artists' recordings – worth citing, the recently issued "Dr. Demento Covered in Punk" tribute album in which he's on songs featuring Uncle Floyd, William Shatner, and the late Adam West.
He has written essays and liner notes, such as his remembrances on The Smithereens' newly released CD, "Covers," the band's first album since DiNizio died.
Just released this month, "Covers" is a compilation of B-sides, outtakes, tribute tunes, and standalone recordings of other artists' songs, all of which influenced or impacted the bandmates.
And later this year, a PBS series, "Lest We Forget," is slated to include an episode on musicians who've died in 2017, including DiNizio. Babjak and Diken are among the musicians who speak about DiNizio.
Asked whether The Smithereens will release an album of new tunes, Diken was certain: "It will happen. I can't say when."


Keidel: The Future Of Flushing Is Here As Wheeler Gets Set To Take Hill If Wheeler can just get a fraction of Harvey's traction, the sun could finally shine on Queens, where they could someday be Kings.
Chien-Ming Wang Opts Out Of Yankees Deal, Signs With TorontoChien-Ming Wang has opted out of his minor league contract with the Yankees to sign with the Blue Jays, according to WFAN and CBSSports.com baseball insider Jon Heyman.
Eduardo Nunez Leaves Game Injured In Yanks' Series-Opening Loss To TigersEduardo Nunez, filling in for injured shortstop Derek Jeter, left the game in the fourth inning after being hit by a pitch as Ivan Nova and the Yankees fell to the Tigers in the opener of the three-game series.
Giglio: Don’t Forget The Greatness Of Johan SantanaIf Johan Santana’s last pitch in a New York Mets uniform was his 93rd and final offering to the Washington Nationals' lineup on August 17, 2012, it’s likely that fans will soon forget the dominant, Hall of Fame caliber pitcher that he once was.
Sweeny: My Sweet 16 Thoughts With Opening Day Around The CornerLet’s remember how long a baseball season is. When 2012 began, the Marlins and the Angels were supposed to be in the playoffs and the A’s and the Orioles weren’t. We still haven’t played Game 1 of 162. Let’s try to enjoy the ride.
Yankees Make It Official, Wang Returns On Minor-League DealThe Yankees have signed Chien-Ming Wang to a minor-league deal, he will report to the Yankees' minor league complex immediately.
Report: Wang 'Likely' To Sign Minor League Deal With YankeesChien-Ming Wang earned a workout with the Yankees on Wednesday after his strong showing in the World Baseball Classic. A minor league deal with his former team could be next.
Sweeny: One Vote For A National League DHI always thought of myself as traditional, but you know what? I’ve come around on the DH. So much so, that it’s time to add it to the National League. That’s right, I said it. I want the NL to adopt the DH.
Who's The First To 9 Wins In MLB? Mets' Dickey, That's WhoOn a bright, sunny afternoon, R.A. Dickey had the Washington hitters swinging at shadows. The knuckleballer baffled the Nationals, limiting them to four singles over 7 1-3 scoreless innings and leading the New York Mets to a 3-1 win Thursday.
Ward: Lack Of Depth And Star Production In Yanks' Lineup Is Reason For Average StartWhy do the Yankees look so mediocre? Anyone who has watched the Yankees this year knows that they haven’t hit with men on base. As a team, the club is hitting just .223 with runners in scoring position.
Keefe To The City: What Is Phil Hughes?After 126 games, 77 starts, 49 relief appearances and 472 innings in the majors, Neil Keefe still isn't sure what Phil Hughes is.
Sweeny: Friday Notes From Yankees CampIs Phil Hughes’s second start of the spring important? It’s important enough for Joe Girardi to take a 2½-hour ride to see it.


"Gina Haspel is a superb choice to lead the CIA. She is a first-rate intelligence professional who will clearly do her utmost to protect our country while upholding its laws. America today faces an increasingly complex and dangerous world, in which the role of accurate, relevant and honest intelligence is more vital than ever to our security and our freedom. Director Haspel brings to the job a keen mind and combination of integrity and invaluable expertise, spanning more than three decades at the CIA. Her experience includes the challenges of the Cold War, counterterrorism, and leadership positions at CIA headquarters and in the field. She has directed operations against such hard targets as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, and earned the respect of a long and bipartisan roster of her colleagues and cohorts among those dedicated to defending this nation.
"As the first woman to lead the CIA, she provides a strong role model for women who aspire to serve this country. As a brilliantly qualified patriot, she will strive to provide, as she promised in her Senate testimony, 'what our nation needs from CIA — truth, integrity, courage.'"


Princeton is not perfect. We have persistent problems with race, gender and class that affect members of our student body every day. Far too often, it falls upon the most affected groups to work alone to combat these problems. The fact that the University shares this dynamic with the rest of society does not make the situation excusable. We can do better, and we should do better. Being in the service of a righteous cause, however, does not exempt activists from criticism. We, the Editorial Board, disapprove of the misconstrual of the words of University President Eisgruber ’83 during the protest at the Chapel on Sunday and commend Eisgruber for his thoughtful response to the discussion surrounding Urban Congo and Big Sean.
The protesters on Sunday willfully chose to misinterpret Eisgruber’s statement that “the controversies [comedy, satire and state performances] provoke may be genuinely painful, but they are also fundamental to the life of any great University.” One protester held a sign with the phrase “[Racism] is also fundamental to the life of any great University” and several others (including those who penned the manifesto) referenced the quote using the same reading. The protesters read the quote in this way out of a misguided belief that Eisgruber meant this to say that performances such as the one by Urban Congo are essential to the well-being of the University.
However, the previous line of the email, which reads “Comedy, satire, and stage performances inevitably transgress boundaries,” reveals this is not the case. Performances such as the one by Urban Congo are in extremely poor taste, and Eisgruber’s own email quotes a group member describing them as “inexcusably offensive.” The protesters are right that hate speech and vitriol are not part of a thriving University.Rather, it is the discussion of the boundaries they cross that is essential to our University. It is important for us, both as thinkers and as members of society, to engage in such discourse, which is precisely what Eisgruber references in his email. We believe that discussions about what constitutes hate speech are important and productive.
Furthermore, the protesters’ logic is suspect. In labeling discussion about what constitutes hate speech as itself hateful, they assume a resolution to that discussion that does not exist. Their flagrant misquoting of Eisgruber’s response is intellectually dishonest because it refuses to engage in the relevant question of what should and should not be labeled as hate speech. The protesters are eager to call a class of speech they detest hateful, but they give no way for us to adjudicate what is and is not hate speech. While their discussion is rooted in the need to protect vulnerable students, they ignore the long history of hate speech codes being used to protect the powerful from the powerless. Saying that we reject hate speech is the easy part of this argument, but the hard part is defining what we reject. While the Urban Congo performance was clearly tasteless, there is often a blurry line between acceptable artistic expression and offensive speech, as illustrated by the mixed response to Big Sean headlining Lawnparties.
Activism is an important tool for advancing ideas, and it finds an important home in our protections for free speech. However, activism is not immune from criticism and, in this case, we think that the protesters misconstrued what was a commendable response from Eisgruber. Hate speech has no place in our society, and it has no place in our University; however, conversations about what hate speech is and what we should do about it are important and vital to any community. These conversations can be painful and uncomfortable, but they are necessary if we are ever to make progress towards resolving social issues of our time. We, the Board, have always believed that only through open and fair discussion of our problems can we join together to solve them. We commend Eisgruber for his thoughtful response reminding us of that need.
Andrew Tsukamoto '15 and Jill Wilkowski ’15 abstained from this editorial.


Striker Luke Rodgers has left Forest Green Rovers by mutual consent after less than a year at the New Lawn.
The 32-year-old arrived at Rovers in February after a spell playing for Hammarby in Sweden.
Rodgers made 21 appearances for the Conference outfit, with his final game coming in their 1-1 draw with Eastleigh on 11 November.
The forward's career has spanned 15 years, having started out at Shrewsbury Town in 1999.
He has also had spells with Crewe, Port Vale, Yeovil, Notts County, Portsmouth and the New York Red Bulls.


The fact that EPA administrator Scott Pruitt sat several seats to the right of President Trump during his announcement of a $200 billion infrastructure plan on Monday was one clue that it was actually jam-packed with policies taking aim at environmental regulations. For instance, a substantial portion of the proposal eases the environmental reviews for infrastructure projects, which may not ensure that roads and bridges are being repaired, but does help industry snake new natural gas pipelines through federal lands.
1. Changing the Federal Permitting Process: Trump asks for dramatic changes to the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, which affects how environmental reviews for federal permitting are handled. This essentially speeds up the environmental review process so that permits might be approved without full consideration of the potential damage, while downgrading the EPA’s role in the process. This means that a nuclear plant or an especially controversial pipeline through a town could face speedier approval, with less opportunity for legal intervention.
2. Cutting Oversight: The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers have historically been in charge of interpreting what bodies of water are subject to the Clean Water Act. There has been a longstanding fight over that Obama-era definition under Waters of the US rule, which the Trump administration is seeking to roll back. The new plan would shift the responsibility for determining what waters fall under the umbrella of federal water oversight from the EPA’s water experts to the Army Corps of Engineers. By “Establishing the Secretary of the Army’s authority to make jurisdictional determinations under the Clean Water Act”, Trump has given responsibility to the organization likely to be more lenient.
3. Veto Restrictions: Another threat to water oversight is a section that limits the EPA’s ability to veto a federal permit if the project would lead to unsafe discharge. This power has only been used a handful of times but was the reason the Obama administration could reject the controversial Pebble Mine permit in Alaska’s Bristol Bay—which, by the way, Trump has reversed.
4. Gas Pipelines in the Parks: His plan lets Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke approve natural gas pipelines to cut through national parks without any oversight whatsoever. Right now, the Interior Department must get specific congressional authorization to approve permits. “Obtaining congressional approval for each pipeline crossing and facilities necessary for the production of energy is time consuming and delays construction of needed natural gas pipeline facilities,” the plan says.
None of these proposals are guaranteed to pass Congress. Indeed some may be dead on arrival. Still, the NEPA reforms may catch on with members of the Republican party.


MEXICO CITY, March 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Empresas ICA, S.AB. de C.V. (BMV:ICA) (NYSE:ICA), the largest infrastructure and construction company in Mexico, confirmed today the payment of a Ps. 600 million loan granted by Arrendadora Value, S.A., SOFOM ER by means of selling OMA B shares that had been pledged to secure the loan. To date, 6,814,578 OMA B shares have been sold in order to pay the loan.
Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties and may differ materially from actual results or events due to important factors such as changes in general economic, business or political or other conditions in Mexico, Latin America or elsewhere, changes in capital markets in general that may affect policies or attitudes towards lending to Mexico or Mexican companies, changes in tax and other laws affecting ICA's businesses, increased costs, unanticipated increases in financing and other costs or the inability to obtain additional debt or equity financing on attractive terms and other factors set forth in ICA's most recent filing on Form 20-F and in any filing or submission ICA has made with the SEC subsequent to its most recent filing on Form 20-F. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to ICA on the date hereof, and ICA assumes no obligation to update such statements.


No trail is planned that will directly link the parking lot to the existing trail. You have to ride a short ways up a dirt road. It's easy to pick up more speed than you intend if you're riding a bike down that section, and there's a lot of soft sand where the new gate is. Watch your speed if you're coming out that way.
Speaking of watching your speed, make sure you do so when leaving the parking lot. You're driving through residential area on Collister Drive, which is steep and it's easy to pick up momentum if you're coasting.


Some people are calling for the community to rally in support of the owner.
Lee's Diner on Route 30 just west of York has been found out of compliance in 16 of its last 20 state health inspections. The owner, Omar Ilayan, says he does his best to keep the place up to standards, but he contends an inspector has it out for him.
Every restaurant in Pennsylvania must be inspected by the state Department of Agriculture. Those inspections typically occur once a year, but follow-up inspections can happen more frequently.
Each inspection report is available online, but the state's site is not easy to navigate.
Lee's Diner was last inspected on Dec. 27 and was found to be out of compliance. The two inspectors who visited the restaurant at 4320 W. Market St., just west of York, listed 16 violations.
Ilayan contends an inspector has a vendetta against him and cites him for minor infractions.
Lee's did pass a follow-up inspection Sept. 28, 2016.
If a restaurant is found to be out of compliance, it can stay open for business. However, it faces a follow-up inspection. Barring any immediate threat to the public's health and safety, the state will not force a restaurant to close.
Lee's has been around since the 1950s. It is a classic trolley-style diner wrapped in stainless steel featuring Formica tabletops, vinyl booths and mini-jukeboxes at every table. Ilayan bought the diner 11 years ago for about half a million dollars.
A thread on the Fixing York Facebook group calls on the community to stop by the diner and judge for themselves how clean the operation is.


As she introduces her husband to delegates at the Republican National Convention tonight, Ann Romney may talk about how her family's Mormon faith shapes their lives.
For the first time the Romney campaign invited a handful of reporters to attend a Church of Latter-day Saints service with the Romneys a couple of weeks ago.
And top aides say Mitt Romney welcomes a chance to talk about his faith, and his role as bishop in the church, in his acceptance speech Thursday night. Mormons are nervous, and excited.
Utah delegate Deidre Henderson said she sees the spotlight on the faith positively.
“As people become more familiar with the faith, there’s maybe the kind of shroud of mystery or secrecy... that will be largely stripped away, and I think that's a positive thing," she said. "We’re pretty much just like everyone else except we just don’t drink alcohol."
But how much should that shroud be lifted?
Prominent Mormon Sen. Orrin Hatch tells Politico it will distract from the party message on the economy. But columnist Ross Douthat is one of many political pundits urging Romney to open up. He says Romney's role as a caring bishop will collapse the image of him as a conviction-free mannequin.
Meanwhile, Mormon members of the Utah delegation in Tampa were busy Monday putting together kits of soap, toothbrushes and towels for Tampa's LDS Church's Bishop's Storehouse, for members in need.
“We have an extra day here with the convention being canceled on Monday so we stepped up and we’re doing 1,000 sanitary kits that could be used in hurricanes. It’s about doing what Christ would do and that's serving the people around you," Utah Republican Party Chairman Thomas Wright said.
Utah Rep. Brad Dee said they call it "charity never faileth."
Mike Winder, LDS church member and mayor of West Valley City, Utah, who is blogging about the convention from Tampa. He is author of a church history titled "President and Prophets, the Story of American Presidents and Latter Day Saints"
This segment aired on August 28, 2012.


Dear Readers: Here's a fun game you can play with foodie friends. Pretend you're leaving town for at least five years. You have 10 meals left in the Bay Area. Money is not an issue. Where would you go?
Foodies always mention the same places: Masa's, the French Laundry, Chez Panisse. But as they move further down their list, four- star destination restaurants give way to more personal choices: the favorite Chinese restaurant with special spicy chicken, the burrito parlor where the salsa is just so, the inexpensive Italian place where the waitresses are so great with kids . . . .
None of this surprises Chronicle Food Critic Michael Bauer, who put together today's Bargain Bites dining guide, which features great values throughout the Bay Area.
"The real heart of what's so great about dining out in the Bay Area is the quality, lower-priced restaurants," Bauer says. "There's great depth of quality at all levels, even in the lowest price ranges."
No kidding. Our special pullout guide was originally eight pages, but grew to 12, and it features more than 100 restaurants. And as Bauer points out, we visited a lot more places than we actually included.
"Our criterion was either they had to be good and cheap or at least really, really cheap," Bauer says. "Obviously, the lower the price, the more lenient we were."
Aside from the actual reviews, you'll find a couple of bonuses: indexes by both cuisine and location, plus a story about fixed-price dining, another source of great dining values.
"Probably the best, most surprising deal is the Bistro at the Lafayette Park Hotel. They have giant martinis, great atmosphere, excellent food, plus -- something you never get in the city -- free valet parking. You can look like a big spender for change."
By the way, I played the Foodie Game with Bauer. He mentioned Masa's, of course, and the French Laundry. And then he listed Ton Kiang ("for the dim sum"), La Taqueria ("wonderful burritos") and Coriya (''great for parties").
What are your favorite bargain dining spots? We'd love to hear from you. Write to Michael Bauer, The San Francisco Chronicle, 901 Mission St., San Francisco, 94103. I can hardly wait to see what you recommend!


WITH THE international community preparing to lift most sanctions on Iran, its president, Hassan Rouhani, no doubt will present his nation as ready to take its rightful, respected place in the world when he addresses the U.N. General Assembly on Monday. The world, including the Obama administration, should think twice about that. Any nation that holds innocent journalists captive, in violation of its own laws and of international norms, will be regarded with suspicion, and deservedly so.
Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian was seized by Iranian security officials 14 months ago. Iran has never made clear why, but officially his detention is based on what the State Department has called “patently absurd” allegations of espionage and aiding a hostile government. Iranian law says no one may be detained for longer than a year without a conviction, unless accused of murder. No conviction has been announced, but Mr. Rezaian remains imprisoned. That is Exhibit One concerning Iran’s trustworthiness as a law-abiding state.
Mr. Rezaian’s trial was conducted in secret, and he’s been allowed little contact with his court-appointed lawyer or with relatives. His trial apparently concluded a month ago. Verdicts are supposed to be rendered within two weeks, but his lawyer has not been informed of one. That is Exhibit Two.
The outrage of Mr. Rezaian’s detention extends beyond the niceties of Iranian law. U.N. officials have said that his treatment conflicts with international norms. “The arrest, detention and secret trial of Mr. Rezaian violate his rights and intimidate all those working in the media in Iran,” David Kaye, U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, said last month. In an Aug. 31 report, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed concerns about the level of censorship and number of detained journalists in Iran and drew particular attention to Mr. Rezaian’s case. “It appears that his arrest and prosecution are linked to his profession as a journalist and his legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of expression,” the report states.
Eager to complete an agreement on Iranian nuclear capability and win approval for it in Congress, the administration has been reluctant to say much about Iran’s egregious human rights violations at home or support of terrorism abroad. We favor the nuclear deal, but that can’t be the only element in the U.S.-Iranian relationship. President Obama and Congress both should make clear that further improvement in relations, including the foreign investment that Mr. Rouhani craves, is difficult to imagine as long as innocent Americans languish in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison.


Comic book movies remain very much in vogue, so Todd McFarlane’s announced reboot of his Spawn franchise-in-the-making is really just a drop in the bucket. It doesn’t matter that there’s no real clamor for it, or that Mark A.Z. Dippé’s previous film made for an ignominious debut. Hey, if the X-Men franchise could right itself after X-Men: The Last Stand, then maybe McFarlane’s got a shot. At the very least, he really wants to do it, as evinced by his recent promotion of the undertaking at Emerald City Comic-Con.
There’s currently no production start date for this Spawn reboot, so for now, you’ll have to make do with Deadpool and Logan.


A sport conceived in the Soviet Union has finally gone international, with the hand-to-hand fighting finals being held in the US for the first time.
For Canadian Elaloui Hisham, hand-to-hand fighting is still new. He mostly does judo and teaches Thai boxing. However, this Russian-born sport takes the best elements of many fighting techniques.
“It’s more real than anything else, plus it has an artistic aspect,” he said.
Not only did the KGB use this method of fighting, but also Russian Special Forces are taught it, and it is a growing sport.
“It is a program developed by the KGB and it’s another attractive thing. I mean, it’s a real deal, it’s not game,” Hisham said.
Unlike mixed martial arts, Russian hand-to-hand fighting has rules and limitations which newcomers are still getting used to.
The world champion in hand-to-hand fighting, Igor Egorov of Russia says that fighters’ minds should remain on the mat.
“Once you get distracted on anything except the fight, you are down. Your mind has to be clear. Emotions also distract you. You also should never allow the thought that you’re losing, or that you might lose. If you have the slightest such thought, it’s guaranteed that you will lose,” Igor explained.
The method that Russian Special Forces use also involves guns and bats, but in these US finals it is restricted to just hands and feet. It is not only a good spectator sport, but also some of the moves can be pretty useful in self-defense.


Research shows people are increasingly 'phubbing' - and experiencing being 'phubbed' - in social situations.
The term refers to snubbing your partner to look at your phone - 'phone' plus 'snubbing' equals 'phubbing'. And research has suggested it's a relationship killer.
The researchers further found it was this experience of phubbing - and of being phubbed themselves - that made people more likely to believe phubbing was 'normal'.
Professor Karen Douglas, of Kent University, said: "Smartphones allow people to connect with others from almost anywhere at any time.
"However there's growing concern smartphones may actually sometimes detract from, rather than complement, social interactions.
"The results revealed internet addiction, fear of missing out and self-control predicted smartphone addiction - which in turn predicted the extent to which people phub.
"This path also predicted the extent to which people feel phubbing is normative - both via the extent to which people are phubbed themselves and independently."
Prof Douglas said: "It was found smartphone addiction significantly predicted phubbing behaviour.
"Further, when the effect on smartphone addiction from each variable was calculated, it was revealed internet addiction and fear of missing out were positive predictors of smartphone addiction - whereas self-control negatively predicted smartphone addiction."
Prof Douglas said: "A significant portion of the world's population use smartphones to conduct their everyday lives.
"Many people simply cannot live without them. It's therefore increasingly important for social scientists to consider the impact they have on the quality of social life."
Last year a US study found 46 per cent of people have been 'phubbed' by their partner - and more than a third felt depressed by it.
The more often a couple's time spent together was interrupted by one attending to their mobile phone the less satisfied the other was in the relationship.


As Wisconsin lawmakers again prepare to grapple with the contentious issue of a statewide smoking ban, Minnesota’s ban has been in place for nearly a year and a half.
McGuire says much of the opposition to a statewide ban in Wisconsin has a familiar ring. “Whether it’s a local level ordinance or a statewide ordinance, there’s always the prediction that the sky is going to fall,” he says.
McGuire’s advice to ban proponents in Wisconsin is to keep the focus on the health of workers who are being subjected to second hand smoke. Governor Jim Doyle once again called for a statewide ban, in his state of the state address.


Hitachi will introduce its mini-notebook in November, following on the heels of the Toshiba?s Libretto and Mitsubishi's Amity models.
Hitachi is set to follow in the footsteps of Toshiba and Mitsubishi and announce a mini-notebook that runs Windows 95.
Hitachi will introduce its mini-notebook in November, following fast on the heels of the Toshiba?s Libretto and Mitsubishi's Amity mini-notebook models, according to sources familiar with the roll out.
Mini-notebooks run Windows 95 and are much lighter and smaller than typical notebooks, though generally slightly larger than diminutive Windows CE handhelds, which run the less-powerful Windows CE operating system.
The Hitachi notebook will have a 133-MHz Pentium processor, feature an 8.4-inch screen, and weigh about 2.7 pounds. Most mainstream notebooks weigh five pounds or more and come with 150- or 166-MHz processors. The Hitachi product should be priced at around $2,000 or slightly less, according to sources.
The 8.4-inch active-matrix LCD screen is the largest on a mini-notebook to date, and from a screen-size perspective, actually harks back to some of the earliest laptop computers which came out in the early '90s. Many of these carried 8.4-inch active matrix screens.
By comparison, the Mitsubishi notebook has a 7.5-inch color display, while the Toshiba Libretto has a 6.1-inch display.
The Hitachi mini-notebook is also expected to have a relatively big keyboard.
Prior to the introduction of the Libretto, mini-notebooks with reduced-size keyboards had not sold in very high numbers in the U.S. market, mostly due to the difficulty of typing on them. But so far, the Libretto has been a big seller at retailers.


If you resolve to improve your home improvement efforts in the New Year, here are some trends that might inspire your projects.
Move over paint and wallpaper. The new way to pop an accent wall in any room of the house is with tile or stone. Unique materials, including reclaimed barn wood and metallic tiles, will be boldly applied in 2016, piggybacking on the creative vertical, ledgestone and herringbone-pattern installs we saw last year. Partial horizontal backsplashes will continue to be replaced by full walls of tile in the kitchen and bath. Full wall fireplace surrounds – in stone, masonry or tile – will run floor to ceiling and serve as major design focal points in living rooms, bedrooms and other nontraditional rooms.
Every year, industry experts Pantone and Benjamin Moore announce special color picks that reflect the mood and attitudes they “see taking place in our culture.” These select colors often guide fashion and interior design trends. Pantone announced its two-color winner for 2016: Rose Quartz and Serenity, a pale pink and periwinkle blue combo that is stirring much debate. To get a sense of these colors, think of the pink and blue plastic pegs you add to your car in the classic board game Life. Benjamin Moore left many scratching their heads, and others jumping for joy, when the company announced Simply White as its top go-to color for 2016. Love ‘em or leave ‘em, these colors will pop up in paint selections this year.
Homeowners will continue to embrace open floorplans in 2016, and the kitchen will remain the primary anchor of these spaces. This doesn’t mean you have to build an addition or expand the existing footprint of your house. Rather, homeowners are making better use of their existing square footage by safely opening up walls, and designing more functional layouts, to create a larger common gathering place and living area.
We talk to more and more homeowners who want to care for elderly parents at home rather than send them to costly care-giving facilities. The projects range from wheelchair accessibility and safety upgrades, to building private mother-in-law suites. To explore the latter, be sure to check with city and county planning and zoning departments, and comply with all relevant building codes for Accessory Dwelling Units.
According to the Remodeling 2015 Cost vs. Value Report, the project with the best return on investment nationwide is a steel entry door replacement. In Denver and along the Front Range, this project boasts a whopping 112.5 percent recoup of cost. Adding new stone veneer to the street-facing façade generated the second-highest return at nearly 82 percent, confirming market demand for curb appeal. Kitchen and attic bedroom remodels continue to pay off in resale value and are good projects to consider in 2016.
When it comes to remodeling trends, we admit this list barely scratches the surface. But if you’re ready to embrace the adage “out with the old, in with the new” in 2016, then it might be a good place to start.
Bryan Soth and Dwight Sailer have owned and operated HighCraft Builders, a Fort Collins design-build remodeling company, since 1998. Contact them at (970) 472-8100 or visit www.highcraft.net.


There is no prescribed route or prerequisite to the major; students typically find themselves majoring after taking courses in the department and becoming acquainted with department faculty. Students contemplating the major or joint major are invited to consult with the Director of Undergraduate Studies. The undergraduate student services associate in Building 70 can also field questions regarding the declaration procedure within the department.
A Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies requires 60 units of course work. At least 44 units are to be taken in courses numbered above 100. Ten units out of the 60 may be taken for the grade of C/NC.
one course in each of the following categories: introduction to religious traditions (courses numbered 11-50) and introductory topics in the study of religion (courses numbered 51-99). In consultation with the Undergraduate Director, one Stanford Introductory Seminar in Religious Studies may be applied to this introductory requirement.
At least 29 units are to be taken in intermediate lecture and seminar courses numbered 100-289. Of these, at least two seminars are required from courses numbered above 200. With approval of the Undergraduate Director, language courses related to the student's program of study (such as Arabic, Biblical Hebrew, New Testament Greek, Chinese, or Japanese), but not counted towards the University language requirement, may be counted among these 29 units.
completion of either a senior essay or honors thesis. See below concerning the difference between these options.
Each student, in consultation with his/her adviser, works out a focus of study centering either on a particular religious tradition or on a theme or problem that cuts across traditions such as ritual, ethics, scripture, or gender.
Students focusing on one religious tradition must take at least 8 units in one or more religious traditions outside their concentration.
The following courses in other departments/programs have been approved by the Chair as fulfilling requirement 2 above.