Unseeded Bemidji, led by junior Silas Hess who scored his 20th goal of the season and junior Aidan Helwig who had two goals, defeated No. 2 seed Holy Angels 3-1 on Tuesday to advance to the Class 1A boys' soccer championship game.
Hess broke a 0-0 deadlock with a goal in the 44th minute in the semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium.
"It really lightened it up a little bit for us," Hess said. "We could relax and just realize that we were in this game and we were here to win it."
Hess also broke up a Stars' threat off a corner kick near the Lumberjacks goal in the 66th minute.
Holy Angels (19-1-1) and Bemidji (19-2-1) played a defensive battle in the first half, and both teams made their share of defensive stops near their respective goals throughout. The Lumberjacks broke through twice to get shots on goal in the first half, but Stars sophomore goalkeeper Peter Forseth stopped them both times.
After Hess's goal, Bemidji struck again in the 50th minute as Helwig, a midfielder, kicked a loose ball past Forseth for a 2-0 lead. It marked the first time Holy Angels had allowed two goals this season.
Holy Angels applied pressure and it paid off when junior defender Conor O'Rourke scored on a header in the 65th minute. The Stars, who had no shots on goal in the first half, took more control of the play in the second half, when they had four shots on goal.
But Helwig gave the Lumberjacks a two-goal lead again at 3-1 with his second goal in the 73rd minute.
Blake 3, Austin 1: Goals from three players for the Bears was not a surprising stat, considering every player on Blake's roster has scored a goal this season.
That's not the only strength of the Bears, however.
"One of the strengths of our team that gets overlooked is our defense, because we score a lot of goals," Blake coach Tamba Johnson said. "Defensively, we don't really give up a lot of good, clean chances."
Blake (18-1-2), the No. 1 seed, led 2-0 at halftime on goals from senior Luke Melin and junior Will Mortenson. Senior Jake Lundberg drove down and passed the ball to Mortenson, who found an opening.
"Jake did all the work on that one," said Mortenson, whose second goal of the tournament came with 7 minutes, 7 seconds left in the first half.
The Packers (16-3-0), the No. 4 seed, made it 2-1 about three minutes into the second half on a goal from sophomore Henry Tolbert. But Blake sophomore Keegan James got the two-goal lead back with a penalty kick in the 51st minute.
"Once we were down by two that second time, we knew that we needed to get some more guys up top," Austin coach Jens Levisen said.
"We couldn't quite get that next one to fall."
In their fifth state tournament appearance, the Bears will try for their first state title since they won in 2008.
Blake defeated last year's Class 1A champion, Totino-Grace, in the Section 5 final.


BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University Bloomington Provost and Executive Vice President Lauren Robel has announced that Mohammad R. Torabi has been appointed dean of the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington.
The appointment of Torabi, Chancellor's Professor and interim dean of the school, became effective Jan. 1, subject to the approval of the IU Board of Trustees at its February meeting.
"The entire campus is grateful to Dean Torabi for his selfless and dedicated service as interim dean, and for the vision and judgment he has demonstrated as the school has transitioned to its new mission," Robel said. "Enormous opportunities exist for the School of Public Health-Bloomington, especially as we align its new programs with the global initiatives on campus. I am looking forward to continuing to work with Dean Torabi in achieving a bright future for this new and promising school."
Torabi served as interim dean as the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation transitioned into one of Indiana University's two new schools of public health, with the formal naming ceremony for the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington taking place in September 2012. Before that, Torabi, a noted health behavior, education and public health expert, chaired the Department of Applied Health Science.
"Given his considerable experience as chair of the Department of Applied Health Science, which houses the state's oldest Master of Public Health program, and his administrative oversight as interim dean during the transition of the School of HPER to a school of public health, Mo Torabi in my belief is an excellent choice to be the founding dean of the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington," said Edwin Marshall, IU vice president for diversity, equity and multicultural affairs and chair of the IU Public Health Coordinating Council. "In Dean Torabi we have a knowledgeable and effective leader who will guide the school forward toward full accreditation and its continued evolution as a state, national and world leader in addressing the complex public health challenges of today and tomorrow."
The IU Public Health Initiative, launched in 2009 to address pressing public health needs across Indiana, called for establishing the state's only schools of public health, one at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and the other on the Bloomington campus.
Torabi said the transition to a school of public health marks a defining moment in the 66-year history of his school, the third largest on campus, and provides untold opportunities for addressing the public health needs of Hoosiers, particularly those living in rural communities.
"I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Provost Robel for her unwavering support of our School of Public Health-Bloomington, and President McRobbie, whose steadfast and visionary leadership has continued to inspire us all. Likewise, I would like to thank all members of the search committee for their service to our school," Torabi said. "It is an honor and privilege for me to assume this leadership position for our highly respected school.
"While much has been accomplished at the School of Public Health-Bloomington, much remains to be done. I'm confident that our world-renowned faculty, dedicated staff and loyal alums will continue working toward expansion of our mission of preventing disease, promoting health and quality of life, and health care cost containment for the citizens of Indiana and global community. This can be achieved through outstanding research, teaching and public health community engagement."
Sarita Soni, vice provost for research at IU Bloomington, chaired the search and screen committee for the internal search.
"Under Sarita Soni's deft leadership, the search committee conducted a thorough internal search for the best candidate for the deanship," Robel said. "I am very grateful to Vice Provost Soni and to all of the members of the committee for their dedication and service."
Torabi's research focus is in the area of measurement and evaluation of school and public health education programs and factors associated with health behavior. His research extends into health promotion and key factors related to individuals' decisions in the prevention of drug abuse, cancer and HIV/AIDS infection.
He has received numerous honors for his research and teaching, both from professional associations and Indiana University. Torabi is the former president and a fellow of the American Academy of Health Behavior, which is a premier academy dedicated to advancing research in this field. He is a fellow and charter member of the North American Society of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport, and Dance Professionals; charter fellow of the American Association of Health Education; fellow of the American School Health Association; and fellow of the Research Committee of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education and Dance.


He’s already placed a gag order on the negotiations between Georgia and Florida to settle the long-running legal feud, citing a need to shield the proceedings from a “relentless and ruthless” media.
And now the arbitrator is lashing out at a recent story that detailed how he’s been paid more than $160,000 so far to oversee the case.
Georgia can expect to shell out much more for Lancaster’s services. A trial is scheduled to begin October 31 in the presiding judge’s home state of Maine.
Read here for an in-depth look at the water wars.


Police detain at least 18 people, including a university head, over alleged coup plot.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the deputy chairman of the secular CHP opposition, said "This is an operation against the intellectuals of this country."
Hayati Yazici, the country's deputy prime minister, said nobody was above the law in Turkey.
He said: "The judicial bodies are authorised to deal with those who commit crimes. Turkey is on the right track."
Among those detained was Tijen Mergen, an employee of a unit of media group Dogan Yayin, the owner of Hurriyet, Turkey's top-selling daily newspaper.
Dogan Yayin has been embroiled in a legal battle with the government since it was fined $500m this year for alleged tax violations.
The fine came after months of public mud-slinging between Dogan newspapers and the government, prompting some, including the US state department, to question the level of press freedom in the European Union candidate country.
Government critics see the investigation into Ergenekon as revenge for a failed 2008 lawsuit to ban the AK Party on the grounds of anti-secular activities.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister and leader of the AK Party, denies the case is politically motivated.
Monday's arrests included the detention of Mehmet Haberal, the head of Baskent University in Ankara, Turkey's capital, and three former college heads in the Black Sea city of Samsun, in the eastern city of Malatya and in Bursa, west of Istanbul.
Universities have been bastions of the secularist elite, alongside the judiciary and the military, who resent the rise to power of the AK Party which has its roots in political Islam.
The group organised mass street protests in 2007 against the AK Party government's attempt to lift a veto on the wearing of Muslim headscarves in universities.
Ergenekon came to light more than a year ago when explosives were discovered in a police raid on a house in Istanbul.
The military, which is widely respected in Turkey, has unseated four elected governments either in outright coups or by strong political pressure.
It has denied any links to Ergenekon.


The low volatility factor is being glossed over this year in favor of growth and momentum, but that does not mean opportunity is lost with exchange traded funds such as the PowerShares S&P 500 Low Volatility Portfolio (NYSEArca: SPLV).
In fact, SPLV and the rival iShares MSCI USA Minimum Volatility ETF (NYSEArca: USMV) hit new highs on Wednesday. USMV selects stocks based on variances and correlations while SPLV holds the 100 S&P 500 stocks with the lowest trailing 12-month volatility. Additionally, there could be catalysts that could renew investors’ affinity for low volatility ETFs, including the Federal Reserve.
Low-volatility factor investments work on the idea that they help cushion against market turns, limiting drawdowns that investors experience while providing upside potential. Consequently, the low- or min-vol strategies may produce better risk-adjusted returns over the long haul, which has been backed by extensive academic research.


A lost 16th century Mughal garden in the heart of New Delhi is to be transformed into one of the world's largest city centre parks, in a multimillion pound project from the Aga Khan and India's government.
The park will be based around Emperor Humayun's Tomb, the world heritage site believed to have been the inspiration for the Taj Mahal, and will include the Purana Qila, the medieval fort of India's Mughal and Afghan rulers, a 16th century caravanserai, smart restaurants and a museum to tell their stories.
Its driving force in India, the Aga Khan's local director Ratish Nanda, believes the project will not only provide jobs for the area's poor largely Muslim community, but also act as a peaceful sanctuary from the cacophony that comes from the capital's 16 million people.
His vision is of an oasis where visitors can quietly read a book in the shade of its rare trees, appreciate the city's rich Mughal history and enjoy Qawwali concerts in its amphitheatre to celebrate its role as the birthplace 700 years ago of Sufi music. It will recreate the city's Ridge forest and propagate some of its threatened trees and bushes to sell in its nursery.
Mr Nanda, who revived Kabul's Bagh e Babar park for the Aga Khan Trust, said he believes the Sunder Nursery, which will eventually expand from its current 170 acres to a 1,200 acre site one and a half times the size of New York's Central Park, will become the cultural and environmental heart of the city.
"We want to restore the wow factor," he said. "What other place in the world has a 14th century Sufi landscape in 100 acres of greenery? This is the largest collection of Islamic buildings in India. Humayun's Tomb is a World Heritage Site, and we're hoping as a result of our work, this [park] will be included in that.
"300,000 children visit Humayun's Tomb every year and we could triple that."
The first stage of the new park has already been transformed. Until recently it was an overgrown parched jungle of scrub, a dump site for building rubble, home to packs of street dogs and migrant workers, with the air of an abandoned public lavatory.
Its Mughal era tombs – sited as close as possible to the auspicious shrine of the Sufi saint Nizamuddin – had been raided for architectural salvage and were overgrown and vandalised. Its trees – a rare collection of the most exotic from throughout the British Empire – had been reclaimed by wild creepers.
A small army of gardeners, labourers, landscape and conservation architects are now on course to open the first 170 acre section in 2015. They have removed more than 1,000 trucks of dumped rubble, cleared acres of wild jungle, levelled the ground and laid modern versions of classical Persian gardens with hand-carved marble and sandstone fountains and water channels.
The Lakkarwala Burj tomb has been restored and set in a new rose garden, while craftsmen have recreated entire sections of white Quranic verses on the red sandstone interior walls of the Sunderwala Burj tomb.
The Sunder Nursery project will eventually employ hundreds of craftsmen, security guards, gardeners, managers, musicians and teachers from the Nizamuddin Basti, one of India's poorest communities, and will become self-financing through entry charges.
Very few, if any, of the world's great parks have their own unique musical culture, and the Sunder Nursery will showcase it with regular Sufi Qawwali concerts – the devotional singing and clapping which can transform followers into Whirling Dervishes.
"We have built an amphitheatre for events because this area has a 700 year old musical legacy, the Qawwali tradition was born here," Mr Nanda said.


RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Saudi Arabia says it has arrested 88 men who are suspected of being part of an al-Qaida cell that was plotting attacks inside and outside of the kingdom.
The announcement Tuesday comes amid the advance of the Islamic State extremist group in Iraq and Syria, which has prompted Saudi Arabia to take harsher measures against sympathizers who could threaten the kingdom's stability.
Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki says some of the men had previously served prison sentences for similar offenses.
He says that Saudi security forces monitored the group for months and learned about their plans. He said the arrests came over the past several days.
The police say that three of the men are Yemeni nationals, one is still being identified and the rest are Saudis.


Defenceman Vojtech Budik has a knack for game-winning goals.
One night after potting the winner off of a rebound, Budik was the set-up man Saturday night against the Medicine Hat Tigers.
Budik found a waiting Parker Kelly on Tigers goalie Michael Bullion’s doorstep; he passed the puck across the Tigers’ slot area to Kelly, who hauled it in, skated around Bullion at the edge of the crease, and then buried the black rubber into the gaping net.
Kelly’s third-period goal, his third of the season, proved the winner as the Prince Albert Raiders beat the Tigers 4-2 at the Art Hauser Centre, improving their record to 2-2-0-0.
Budik was skating with the puck at the top of the Tigers’ circle on Bullion’s right side. The Czech defender waited just long enough to draw Bullion out to the perimeter of his crease, when he snapped the puck to his teammate.
Sporting their Don Cherry-themed, tartan-plaid jerseys with all-black pants and socks, the Raiders kept the pressure on the Tigers for most of the game, firing 36 shots at Bullion and creating several breakaway and odd-man rush opportunities.
Raiders’ goalie Curtis Meger got his first WHL start in net for the club, and he was solid throughout the game.
The 19-year-old rookie turned aside 30 of 32 Tigers’ shots.
“In our end we kept shots to the outside, and I was seeing the puck well, so it resulted in a win,” Meger said.
He noted how quickly the pace of the game went, especially considering the Tigers’ speed.
“(They’re) a really fast team coming down the ice off the rush. They like to make plays, so I had to be ready for that,” he said.
Meger stood tall in the dying two minutes of the game when Medicine Hat, down 3-2, pulled Bullion in favour of gaining the extra attacker in the Raiders’ zone.
Through a flurry of sticks, deflected shots and blocked shots the Raiders goalie stopped all the pucks thrown his way, tallying 12 saves in the period.
“You have to trust your (defence) at all times, but at the same time you have to always know where guys are … you have to fight to see the puck, but I felt I did that well tonight,” he said.
At the end of the first period, the score was tied 1-1, with the Raiders creating most of the momentum by keeping the puck in the Tigers zone for a majority of the period.
The frame included an early four-minute penalty kill for the Raiders, who managed to kill off the Tigers’ powerplay and allow only two Tigers’ shots on net.
After Gary Haden scored for the Tigers at 14:30, Cole Fonstad responded with a floater of a shot that fooled Bullion, who lost sight of the puck, and found the back of the Tigers’ net.
The ice was tilted a little more towards the Raiders’ net in the second period: Medicine Hat upped its tempo through parts of the frame, eventually scoring the go-ahead goal, courtesy Max Gerlach on the power play at 15:50.
Not to be outdone, Raiders’ 20-year-old Devon Skoleski evened the score at 2-2, ten seconds before the period expired.
As the puck was bouncing to the left of Bullion and Tigers defenders were trying to corral it, Skoleski made a swiping dive at the puck, knocking it through Bullion’s legs and effectively swinging momentum back to his side.
“I knew there wasn’t much time left, so I just thought ‘drive the net’ and luckily the puck popped out, and I just dove and got it,” he said.
Once the third period began, the Raiders were firmly in control for the rest of the game, creating several chances and near-goals, leading up to the Budik-to-Kelly score, which Max Martin also assisted on.
With 3.7 seconds to go in the game, captain Curtis Miske buried the insurance goal on the the Tigers’ empty net.
The Raiders wore the Grapes-themed jerseys as part of a WHL-wide charity drive for organ donation. The team raised more than $10,000 through auctioning off the sweaters online and at the game.
The team has no games over the next five days, after which it’ll head to Alberta for games against the Lethbridge Hurricanes (2-2-0-0) on Friday and a rematch with the Tigers (2-2-0-0) on Saturday.


Which Member Of Siegfried 4B Are You?
Before the boys leave Siegfried, take the quiz to find out which member of 4B you are!
Where are you most likely to be found on campus?
What's your favorite going out spot?
What're your plans for the future?
How would you most likely interact with Father John?
Via text, email, or phone call. He invited me to his house.
"Have a good night gentleman" as he floats a list of reading day rules into the room.
Which best describes your worst Feve experience?
In my only attempt, I never made it out of 3A.
Feve is a trash place.
Every Feve is worse than the last one.
What's advice you'd give to somebody?
Just because you don't get in the first time doesn't mean you should stop trying.


Major League Baseball is recommending in the “strongest terms” that players and staff not travel to Venezuela for the Caribbean Series, which is to start Feb. 2 in Barquisimeto.
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared he was temporarily assuming presidential powers in a bid to unseat Nicolas Maduro. President Trump this week supported Guaido's claim to power. Maduro called home all Venezuelan diplomats from the U.S. and closed its embassy in Washington.
The Caribbean Series is the highest tournament for professional baseball teams in Latin America.


Asko is owned by Sub-Zero, and that is who we had to deal with. They were horrible. We purchased a very expensive Asko washer and dryer. Almost from day one we had problems with the washer. Sometimes it would just not spin all the water out of the clothes. This was random, and it didn't matter how big or small the load was or what the cycle was. This has now gone on for over 2 years. We called the store we bought it from and they sent their repairman. The man has now been out more than 10 times. Some parts on the washer were replaced although no one could seen to figure out what the issue was. NOTHING has worked and we continue to have the problem. In addition to this at times when washing suds and water would pour out of the front of the washer onto our wood floors. Of course the repair service couldn't figure out why that was happening randomly either.
During this time Asko/Sub Zero in Wisconsin was contacted several times by the repairman, and in our presence. The poor guy just didn't know what else to do and wanted to let them know about the issues. I personally just had a phone conversation that was insulting and went nowhere. The rep showed absolutely no good faith, and during the call she continually tried to manipulate the conversation and distort the truth in an attempt to try to absolve Asko/Sub-Zero of having to take responsibility for their obviously defective product.
I have never had issues like these with any other washer I have ever owned. It is truly disgusting that this company has ignored the problem and let it go on and on, no matter what we did. We went through channels and did everything they all told us to. Now, we are at the end of our patience, and are going to leave bad reviews about them on every site we can find. We have all our paperwork together and are now considering a lawsuit in small claims court. We cannot afford to let this go. Needless to say we would never do business with this company again or ever recommend them or their products.
Just awful. Spent 12K on a brand new 48 inch side by side Sub Zero Refrigerator. Took five weeks to get a service call for initial problems of excessive noise. Despite promised contact, no one called to schedule appointment. Was on hold for 24 minutes trying to find out why. When service finally appeared, they resolved noise problem but next attempt to use the external water dispenser resulted in a flood of water down the front of the refrigerator and all over the floor, with water spraying everywhere but in the glass directly under the dispenser, and creating a huge mess. Called again Friday morning to hear after 12 minutes on hold that the office is "closed". Not sure why anyone thinks this is a good product or a customer oriented company, except for the hype and advertising, all of which are lies.
My side by side built in Sub-Zero ice maker gets stuck so sometimes I don’t get ice, and sometimes it spits it out wildly. Ice dispenser is horrible as it normally spits out ice on the floor as it is poorly designed. The freezer drawer doesn’t pull out all the way, and I couldn’t find any useful information online to pull the drawer out. I called them, first woman didn’t know, and the second woman pretended she knew what to do and I told her it wasn’t working. And asked to speak to another person and she said that the next person would just tell me the same thing? This was after being on hold for 20 min and talking to them for 5. I’m not impressed for the price I paid.
Purchased this Sub-Zero 1 1/2 yrs ago. The compressor makes a bongo drum sound when it comes on. This lasts for about 1-2 minutes. The freezer does not keep food as frozen as the supermarket even at a temp setting of zero. The fridge box temp tends to measure 40-45 degrees even though temp is set at 38.
Considering the outrageously high price there should be a fridge thermostats like the ones in your home where you can set the temp for day and night. There should also be an actual temp gauge inside the fridge and the freezer!
Although we have had these models for over 18 years, they have needed many repairs to keep them working. First, the good. The compressors have lasted without failures. Bad: the evaporators in both units failed within 5-7 years, the electronic modules use substandard relays for switching the compressors on and off (contacts welding due to excess starting current), defrost heater failed on the freezer when the evaporator failed. It is very inconvenient when a refrigerator or a freezer fails so I would hope that these VERY expensive units would be built for a lifetime like the GEs built 70-80 years ago.
How do I know I can trust these reviews about Sub-Zero?
We bought this fridge in 2016 because the previous fridge lasted about 20 years. The newer model was a joke, lacking any innovation, with most of the material seemingly inferior to their 90s counterpart – all of which made me feel very stupid for not checking out the physical unit prior to forking out $10,000. We've had to contact Sub-Zero three times for issues/repair since. They dropped the ball on our last service request. As other reviewers noted, calling their falsely advertised "Call Us Anytime" line was a waste of time as no one ever picks up. I'm still waiting with the hold music and it's been over 20 minutes — writing them an email instead. By the way, the hidden email for customer service is customerservice@subzero.com. Good luck, people. I would go for a Miele, Thermador, or honestly, anything else.
We inherited the Sub-Zero 650 when purchasing our home. The unit is less than 20 years old. It seems as though it's one issue after the next. The unit is built in, so replacing it would be expensive. We're stuck with fixing it time after time. Think twice before purchasing Sub-Zero. You'll be happy you did.
Not worth the money. For its large size, it doesn't hold much. Freezer is too small and it makes very little ice. Had to get an extra refrigerator for the garage.
Do no waste your money on Sub-Zero water and ice maker. We inherited a Sub-Zero when we bought our house and it was 30 years old. About 3 years ago it started to have issues so we decided to replace with another Sub-Zero since our previous one lasted so long and "upgrade" to the water and ice maker. We just assumed that Sub-Zero would be top of the line for everything. WE WERE VERY WRONG.
The ice maker either jams or the ice shoots out so fast and all over the place. Then every now and then an ice cube will just drop out and if nobody is around, it melts and cause a puddle to form where you put the cup and drips down our wood panels. We have had several service calls and everyone tells us it is just the way it is designed and the defrost heater caused the ice to melt a little and then the cubes stick together. And the cubes are so big they don't fit through the hole very well... especially when they start to stick together. Smaller cubes or a bigger chute would help. So basically, there is nothing we can do... just a very poor design.
Our friends also bought a Sub-Zero with ice dispenser in the last 2 years and they say the same thing. We just bought a second fridge for the house (LG) with another ice dispenser and it works wonderfully. How can a company that makes a fridge at 1/6 of the cost have a better design than a $12000 refrigerator??? So unbelievably disappointed in our purchase and Sub-Zero has done nothing besides connect us to a service provider that says nothing can be done. Seriously people, DO NOT WASTE YOUR $$$.
This refrigerator keeps food perfectly and longer but is very expensive, almost three times the cost of another refrigerator, and has no bells and whistles for all that money. No ice or water in the door.
Have had this built-in SubZero since 1994 and it has been an exceptional refrigerator/freezer. Last year it finally needed a new compressor and of course there was no more R-12 refrigerant to be had so had to pay for not only a new compressor but R-22 refrigerant too. Still an outstanding refrigerator/freezer.
One of my best purchases while piecing together a new house, great craftsmanship, well-made. Good price for it all. Needs better air filtering though.
I have so many problems with my Sub-Zero (700tf) I have lost count. I had to replace the compressor last March and now it's April a year later and I think I have to replace it again! The new compressor has a warranty of one year and I'm just a month past that! I feel I'm at a loss because the freezer is built into a wall and I don't know how to replace it with a different brand that would fit. I called the closest repair shop that works on these and since they are an hour away they charge $125 upfront to come and see what the problem is. Very disappointed for the money to buy one of these. Oh, and we were the first owners of it and have only had it since December 22, 2009!
New Subzero side by side - Very good looking and apparently well made. It was installed Saturday. The instructions say it takes 24 hours for ice to be made. The next day I tried to get the ice container out to see how much ice was made. The door does not open wide enough to pull out the container. I had to maneuver it a few different ways to finally get it out and then to get it back in. I called the service department for the selling company. He said there is no adjustment and it is a common complaint. Extremely stupid.
I am submitting this review because so many others have been negative. We bought our side by side Sub-Zero 690 late in 1999 and it is still going strong. we have had repairs under $500 in that time frame. We are looking to replace it only because we are redoing our kitchen. The service person who was out a couple of years ago said that they often see Sub-Zeros work well at age 30! We bought a double wolf oven a couple of years ago just because we have had such a good experience with Sub-Zero, Having said that many people have also suggested that the newer appliances are not as reliable as older models.
We have had constant problems with our 2 Sub-Zero Refrigerators and 2 freezers. I have lost track how many times the Sub-Zeros have been serviced and parts replaced. We maintain it and clean out vents etc so we take good care of them. It’s just a poorly made product. When I tried to call the corporate headquarters, I could not get anyone on the phone. Avoid at all costs or you will be paying for repairs on a yearly basis.
Joe the refrigerator repairman was excellent in guiding me through and teaching me how to connect the water hose to my refrigerator. He even showed me how to turn on the water valve for the refrigerator to work the water and ice dispenser. I not only recommend him for his excellent job, I will order the Sub-Zero refrigerator again and continue to contact Sub-Zero for upcoming repair.
We purchased all Sub-Zero/Wolf/Asko kitchen appliances several months ago through Ferguson, both supposedly reputable American companies. The Sub-Zero promotion gives the customer the choice of several free smaller appliances (i.e. toaster) and a $1,000 gift certificate in return for buying all Sub-Zero products. In order to redeem from Sub-Zero we had to submit a redemption form, proof of purchase, serial and model numbers. We submitted everything requested online, as requested by Sub-Zero. We waited several weeks and followed up. We were informed a claim was never made. We resubmitted everything again and again we informed the claim was not received by Sub-Zero.
Our claims were never bounced back due to using an incorrect email address. We have submitted our claims three times now, both online and now by mail. Each time we call the claim dept, rep says they have no knowledge of our claim. Our conclusion is Sub-Zero has no intention of ever honoring their offer and the promotion is bogus.
I called the Sub Zero Customer Care 800 line today for they said "Ask us Anything Anytime". Unfortunately that is not the case. After hearing the repeated message "someone will be with you" I got a person that basically knew nothing. In fact she told me to call on Monday to the same phone number and ask for a "product specialist". I think they need to change their website and state that no one is available on Saturdays that is knowledgeable. Fortunately the problem is only one of not making ice, so it can hold but if I had an extremely pressing problem, I would expect far better. This Sub-Zero is 7 years old and was $10K.
Purchased our Sub-Zero and Wolf. Freezer gasket would create vacuum seal making it hard to open which is good, our fridge side never did that upon opening. He replaced the freezer side gasket with a bigger one to line up the two doors because the fridge door stuck out more than the freezer side, the problem is now neither side creates vacuum when you close it and try to open it again, which tells me that neither door is sealing properly, also ice and frost is building up in my freezer. Plus I conducted three other tests and the seals on both doors failed all three tests. So I had a professional come out to fix the problem and he made it worse, now my compressor runs a lot more and I noticed the vent above is hot and it never was before. We had problems with our oven shutting off on us. After three different servicemen the problem is finally fixed, but now one of the stoves igniter keeps on clicking even when the stove is off.
Please whatever you do don't buy these products, if you have a problem the service people are not trained well enough to fix the problems. We bought these products because they are suppose to be the best, but honestly I am so stressed out I feel like crying. My wife is sick to her stomach. We just want to throw this stuff in the garbage, because it's too painful to go in our kitchen. We have to call service again and this is about the 8th or 9th time they have been out and the range and the fridge are not even a year old. We have had more issues with our appliances than all the appliances we have owned in the last 40 years. The whole reason we bought this is so we can have peace of mind and instead I have to go see a shrink to cope. Take heed to my warning. Please. It's a lot of money and it's not even close to worth it. Believe me.
My first Sub-Zero was a model 690. After numerous problems And having to threaten the manufacturer they finally replaced the refrigerator/freezer. The problem with the first one was with the icemaker and they couldn’t repair it. Now we have a model 695. The compressor has given us many problems. Finally A month ago we had a new compressor put in. Even with the warranty we still had to pay $765. Now it’s been a month and a half since the new compressor and on Christmas morning we discover that the refrigerator is back up to 60°. What a nightmare. All our food is wasted. I really don’t know what to say. Other than the Sub-Zero’s are good looking but very unreliable. I called up the company who is an authorized representative repair facility for Sub-Zero to get this taken care of. Time will tell!
The ice makers are the worst in the industry. We paid extra for the door mounted ice delivery system and quickly learned not to use it due to overfilling and with its location you cannot visually observe it or water filling without bending down to a height of 4 feet or less. Ice maker clogs regularly requiring removal of icebox to clear. Buy a less expensive refrigerator and be much more pleased. It is overpriced by a minimum of 2x.
Don't bother to purchase this unit - after 13K and 3 years the ice maker freezes up and the compressor is gone - terrible customer service - when you spend this type of money on a product you would think that it would last more than 3years. Repairs are outrageous and it is still not fixed. Stay away.
My fridge (BI36U) cost nearly $10,000 and is falling apart after just three years. I feel so ripped off. What the heck happened to this brand? My in-laws have had their Sub-Zero for decades and have only had repairmen come out recently. This company is coasting on an old reputation that is just not true anymore. In the time I've had it, again less than three years, repairmen have had to come twice. One is here right now which is what has inspired this lovely rant! And like others on this forum, I've needed to do various things myself, like emptying my entire fridge and sitting there with a hair dryer to get the ice inside to melt.
Folks, this fridge is exactly like the sports car my husband had when we first met, it was constantly in the shop for one expensive repair or another, requiring special parts and expertise. Except this fridge is not fun when it is working, it's just a fridge. Mine was a high end kitchen design. My kitchen is all over Pinterest and sure, the Sub-Zero looks good in the photos. But now when I look at it, I feel like a big sucker. If you actually want to use this fridge in real life, be ready for a headache.
I purchased both Sub-Zero refrigerator and Wolf 48 inch oven in 2008. For past few months the Wolf oven wasn't working right and would take longer than usual to warm up and I didn't have time to call for service until my Side by side refrigerators stop working and everything melted. I panic and didn't know what to do and how expensive would be to fix it.
Then I thought instead of calling the technician I will call Sub-Zero to see what kind of suggestion they have. To my surprised they have 24 hours toll free number. I called them and explained to them the situation regarding the refrigerator and then since I had them online told them about the Range. I cannot even believed how helpful and understanding and wonderful they have been through this process.
First, the lady guide me and helped me to do some test on the refrigerator and got it back to work. She said somebody play with it and put it on showroom mode (that was our maid when she was cleaning it). Just imagine if I would of call outside technician what kind of cost and problem I would have, and then she authorized a technician to come and inspect the refrigerator and the oven without any charge.
The technician arrived on time and he was very polite and very professional and after inspecting both appliances he told me the dual oven needs one of the heating element on each one is out and needs replacement and some other part for refrigerators needed to be changed. I called the 24 hours customer service again and they said they authorized the part and the labor.
I was amazed with their professionalism, care and politeness. They did not have to to do any of these thing but they did it because they take pride of American made product and excellent reputation and amazing customer service. My refrigerator and my Wolf Range got fixed without any question or headache. I know both brand cost more but it is worth every penny in a long run. My suggestion is if you have problem with any of the product first call the company before you call any repairman.
When we decided to renovate our home in 2003, we had limited space for a kitchen in our small urban home. With space being at a premium, we decided a big boxy-style fridge would just not work, so we looked into buying a Sub-Zero. We cook a lot, and buy lots of produce at our local farmer's market, along with many condiments for making lots of styles of food. We needed a fridge that was not big, but not small either. We ended up buying a used 550 off of a refrigerator repairman for $2,000. He had refurbished it and the price included a 1 year warranty. My husband built a cabinet especially for it, custom door panels, side panels, and matching cabinet above. It looked great, just what we needed. We loved the shelves, the two egg trays on the door, the deli drawer and the ice maker.
We found the vegetable/fruit drawers too shallow, and ended up with lots of vegetables on the shelves above and below the drawers, which cut into space for everything else. The specs say the 550, 36" wide, bottom freezer drawer, has 15.7 cu.ft. of refrigerator space and 6.4 cu. ft. of freezer space, for a total of 22.1cu. ft. That is a reasonable amount of space, and not different than the old side-by-side GE we used to have. In 2008, the ice maker stopped working, and the same repairman who sold us the unit came back and installed a new WATER VALVE for $38.00 parts, $70.00 Trip charge, and $180 for labor. With tax it came to $291.00. Great, ice maker working again, all is good. But there were other annoyances with the refrigerator that we just chalked up to buying a used unit - one was mold. It seemed to creep in from the back of the refrigerator, landing on jar lids, inside corners of shelves, inside the dairy cubbies on the door.
No sooner would you do a full clean up and wipe down the whole thing with diluted Clorox and it would be back. Then there was the pan under the unit, annoying to get to, but we needed to check it every so often, as we were afraid it would fill up and wreck our kitchen hardwood floors. Then the cleaning of the upper grill, always catching dust, which looked bad, and the coils inside the upper area had to be cleaned too. This would be fine if you had cleaning help to do this but sometimes a two earner couple with kids cannot stay on top of these things. Then in 2015 the refrigerator is noisier than usual for a couple of weeks, and one day there is water flowing all over the wood floor in front of the unit, causing the wood to cup, just awful. Water spots appear on the drywall of the ceiling of the room below the kitchen.
The ice maker isn't working, and the ice cream is melted in the freezer drawer, obviously something has gone wrong with the freezer, so we call the guy we bought it from, but he never calls back, so I look for another repairman who will work on Sub-zeros in our area (not too hard to find as we live in a very urban setting in a major US city). The new repairman comes out, looks it over and says the Evaporator needs charging, and that there seems to be a leak in the freezer system. The total estimate to fix is $1,200, with a 3 month warranty on the work. As we are very busy and can't really deal with changing out the refrigerator at the time, we agree to have him do the work. He is there almost a whole day with his equipment consisting of a tank and long hoses, but in the end the 550 is up and running, including the ice maker.
We spend weeks tearing up the damaged floor, searching out boards to match the 100-year old original floor, new finish, etc, and do the best we can to make it look okay, although it was impossible to repair it to how it used to be, and to this day we see the "mistakes" in the floor thanks to the 550 Subzero leak. The downstairs ceiling also has to be "down" while the ceiling is repainted. It’s August 2017 now. The icemaker once again is not working. The mold is back in the refrigerator area. The white paint that we had repaired on the shelves is once again coming off, with the black metal showing through. We still stuff the vegetables in, but love the egg trays for our farm fresh eggs. But it is time to throw in the towel. And here is why I would never buy a Subzero again - the refrigerator doesn't really work well when you store actual food in it. Like a family-sized amount of food.
The whole system is designed around air circulation, meaning you have to only store shallow items on the top and bottom shelves of the refrigerator section. So I did a calculation of the actual area of storage in this unit, 36: wide, 24' deep, 84" high fridge/freezer. When you measure the actual space that jars and food items will fit onto the shelves, excluding the lips and the brackets, etc, the actual area for storage is: 12.4 cu ft. Fridge and 4.5 Freezer for a grand total of 16.9 cu ft. of space. It’s just not an adequate amount of storage space for the average family. Who can be constantly concerned that the items on the bottom shelf won't block the "airflow?" It's a refrigerator, for goodness sakes. I'm glad I did not spend an arm and a leg to learn the truth about Sub-zero. I hope to find a real refrigerator, one than can look after itself.
We've only had our wine cooler for 3-1/2 years. It was not inexpensive... $7000 or so. I would have expected many years of good service. So, the bottom unit just failed... called in a local service company to repair. It's past the 2 year warranty, and it's not a covered 5 year warranty item. $275 to fix. Three weeks later, the top unit failed. Waiting to hear what this will cost me. Oh, and the only authorized Sub-Zero service company for South Florida is in Miami, over 80 miles away. Very disappointed. I have other Sub-Zero appliances, which I'm questioning now, expecting them to die soon. I will not consider Sub-Zero again, nor will I ever recommend to friends and colleagues.
This is the second time my Sub-Zero failed. The last time it was the compressor for over $800. I won't make that mistake again. I can buy a new fridge for much less. My ice maker has been frozen for two years. I am tired of using a hair dry to melt the ice blockage.
Sub zero built in refrigerator - Would not recommend these pieces of junk to my worst enemy. Have had two service calls at over 600.00 each and the parts were still under warranty. The drain hose freezes constantly and has to be thawed, a design defect for sure. I'm ready to take it to the dump where it belongs and get a fridge for less than I pay for servicing this one. I know where they get the zero in their name from. I would give them a zero star if it was available.
I am very dissatisfied with this product! We bought a Sub-Zero when we built our home less than two years ago. The ice jams up nearly weekly, the freezer ices up and the dispenser leaks! We paid several thousand dollars for this because we wanted an high-end kitchen. What a mistake! Before this, we had a Kenmore for 20 years and never had a problem. Don't buy this product!
Innovative: The company has always been forward-thinking, they have created the free-standing freezer and the built-in refrigerator.
Ultimate luxury: Sub-Zero has a reputation for making the most luxurious refrigerators possible, so it's a good choice for anyone who wants to outfit their home with luxury appointments.
Built-in and customizable: Sub-Zero provides built-in refrigerators that blend in smoothly with a homeowner's aesthetic.
Test drive: The company allows customers to make appointments and check out Sub-Zero refrigerators in the showroom to ensure they pick the appliance that is right for them.
Curated collections: Sub-Zero offers customers curated collections of kitchen appliances and products, making it easy to design a kitchen seamlessly.
Best for: Homeowners, businesses and restaurants that are looking for a luxury appliance.


Though it has been 50 years since a mill dumped mercury upstream from Grassy Narrows First Nation, the reserve’s children are showing troubling signs that the neurotoxin is still poisoning the community.
Children whose mothers ate fish at least once a week while pregnant are four times more likely to have a learning disability or nervous system disorder that is slowing their efforts in school, says new research led by a leading mercury expert. Those kids were compared to Grassy Narrows children whose mothers hardly ever ate fish.
Dr. Donna Mergler and a team of scientists surveyed the families of 350 children ages 4 to 17. The research is part of an ongoing, comprehensive study that has already revealed the adults of Grassy Narrows report higher rates of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts compared to other First Nations adults.
During the 1960s, the Dryden pulp and paper mill, operated by Reed Paper, dumped 10 tonnes of mercury into the Wabigoon River that feeds Grassy Narrows downstream. The mill was using the mercury to bleach paper. The mercury contaminated the walleye downstream and poisoned the people who ate the fish. They developed tremors, slurred speech, impaired hearing and tunnel vision, and lost muscle co-ordination.
The robust fishing tourism industry, especially at famous Ball Lake Lodge, was decimated. The commercial fishermen and guides went on welfare.
The new research is another strong indication that the dumped mercury — pollution that officials for years said would fade away — is still a problem.
Over the past two years, the Star and scientists have revealed that fish downstream near Grassy Narrows remain the most contaminated in the province, that there is mercury-contaminated soil and river sediment at or near the site of the old mill, and the provincial government knew in the 1990s that mercury was visible in soil under that site and never told anyone in Grassy Narrows or nearby Wabaseemoong (Whitedog) Independent Nations. Scientists strongly suspect that old mercury still contaminates the mill site and is polluting the river.
Parents or caregivers responded to the lengthy survey about their kids between December 2016 and March 2017.
The effort was spearheaded by community leaders and Mergler, a mercury expert at Université du Québec à Montréal. It was funded by Health Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care.
The adult survey was supported by records of mercury levels in hair, blood and umbilical cord blood. Those same adults answered questions about their children for this survey.
It shows that Grassy Narrows children age four to 11 have a higher reported rate of ear infections, speech problems and learning disabilities compared to that reported by parents of other First Nations children. Grassy teens are struggling in school, with shorter attention spans than other First Nations teens, the research found.
This comparison is possible because the adult and children surveys were adapted from an older 2008 and 2010 survey that had been given to 12,000 people in First Nations communities across Canada.
Mergler has told the Star that the Grassy Narrows surveys were significant because “it’s the first time that there has been a population-based study of the community that links fish consumption to health outcomes and that looks at the difference between Grassy Narrows and other First Nation communities.
She has said that the survey shows the river must be remediated to protect future generations and that the community needs bolstered health care and education resources.
A report on the survey’s findings recommended that a learning centre be set up to give information on mercury’s impact on a developing fetus and child. It also called for more supports for children, including a full-time child psychologist and speech therapy programs, as well as a community kitchen that serves uncontaminated food. Finally, the report urged officials to revisit the current guidelines on walleye consumption as damage could be occurring at levels lower than previously believed.
At least 10 per cent of all Grassy Narrows teens have anxiety or depression.
The children of mothers who ate fish at least once a month during pregnancy are twice as likely to have visual problems and three times more likely to have chronic ear infections, compared to children of Grassy Narrows mothers who hardly or never ate fish during pregnancy.
Two-thirds of children and youth eat bannock and walleye, traditional foods, with half eating walleye at least a few times during the past year.
92 per cent of the children whose pregnant mothers ate fish at least once a week had a grandfather who was a fishing guide.
The likelihood of these grandchildren of fishing guides having been in the care of child and family services is five times greater than those whose grandfather was not a fishing guide.
“The tradition and culture of fishing and fish consumption have been passed down from one generation to the next,” the report said. “However, since the 1970s, so, too, has the loss of the traditional economy, unemployment and sickness. Fishing guides and their familes were the most highly exposed to mercury and the first to lose their jobs.
Last year, the provincial government committed $85 million to clean up the river and the federal government has pledged to help build a mercury care home that will help some of the sickest residents. The clean-up work has not yet begun, though experts are conducting research to determine how to best remediate the river.
And this year the province retroactively indexed payments from the Mercury Disability Board to inflation. The board, which was set up during the 1980s to compensate those who can demonstrate symptoms consistent with mercury poisoning, had long been criticized as being inadequate. Roughly 70 per cent of applicants had been turned down for compensation. Earlier this year, the board’s longtime neurologist quit after an allegation of bias. The doctor said he had done no wrong and wanted an apology, and when he did not get one, he said, he quit.
The new research also found signs that the children of Grassy Narrows are active despite their significant challenges.
More than two-thirds of all children and youth participate in community-organized cultural events, and 88 per cent of children swim, jog or mountain bike.
Many of the teens of Grassy Narrows have participated in logging blockades and marches to protest governmment inaction on the mercury contamination. Their song “Home to me” has more than a quarter-million views on youtube, the website says.
“Our youth are brave and talented people who have overcome great obstacles to leave their mark on Canada,” said Chief Rudy Turtle. “But every day they face the legacies of mercury, colonialism, and residential schools, so it is an uphill battle for them. They deserve to have a good life and to enjoy themselves like other youth do, without having to fight again and again for basic fairness.


Among those playing for Republic FC will be former Jesuit High School midfield standout Conti Kolokotronis, who has played professionally in Greece.
Republic FC won three of four regular season matches last season against Galaxy II, but Los Angeles eliminated Sacramento 1-0 at Bonney Field in the first round of the playoffs before advancing to the USL championship game. Galaxy II lost 2-1 in in extra time to the Rochester Rhinos.


Briana Libby is not a federal employee, and she is not into politics. She lives 2,500 miles from the US border with Mexico, where Donald Trump has demanded funds for a wall in exchange for ending the partial government shutdown.
Nonetheless, the shutdown has hit Libby, 26, with devastating force. A mother of two daughters aged four and six, she was on the verge of buying her first home in southern Maine when the shutdown happened.
A $200,000 mortgage Libby had negotiated with the support of the US department of agriculture was supposed to close on Friday. But with the shutdown, the loan program has ground to a halt. Meanwhile her landlord has found a new tenant, and Libby, a payroll specialist at a healthcare organization, fears becoming homeless.
“My loan officer is pretty confident that at this point, closing in January is not an option at all, and we need to be out of our home at the end of the month,” Libby said. “So my option is packing up all of my stuff, finding a storage unit and sleeping on my mom’s living room floor until I can get into my home.
As the longest shutdown in US history enters its fifth week, the waves of havoc it has created are crashing ever further outward, threatening essential government functions and introducing unexpected hardships in the lives of millions of Americans.
Crucial climate change monitoring and research has halted. Unpaid Coast Guard enlistees have had to turn to food banks to feed their families. Asylum seekers who have already waited years for an immigration court hearing now have to wait years longer. Theater workers and stage actors are threatened by an interruption in arts funding. Corrections officers can’t buy gas to get to work. Inmates say basic services are falling apart. Some federal employees have had to tap into their retirement plans.
For those employees required to work without a paycheck because their roles are deemed essential, the pressure is intense, said Clifton Buchanan, a bureau of prisons corrections officer and union executive from Houston, Texas.
“Last night I got a disturbing call that one of my officers attempted suicide,” Buchanan said.
“Not having gas, not having food – I have staff that are contemplating quitting to go find another job. We’re already short-staffed.
Inside Washington, the shutdown has in part played out as a political circus: Trump serving 300 hamburgers on silver platters to a visiting college football team; members of Congress stuck on a tour bus after Trump, at the last minute, canceled their overseas trip; the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, telling Trump to delay his planned State of the Union Address; angry letters sent back and forth between the White House and Capitol Hill.
But each day, terrible new costs of the political deadlock emerge. Federal employees claiming unemployment benefits jumped to 10,000 in the first week of the year, according to labor department figures – double the number from the previous week.
According to a Syracuse University data tracking program, the shutdown has derailed more than 60,000 immigration cases and counting, said federal judge Amiena Khan, speaking in her capacity as executive vice-president of the National Association of Immigration Judges union. Because immigration courts are already over-scheduled, delayed cases probably get bumped to the “end of the line” – which probably means the end of 2021, almost three years away.
Ironically, given that Trump’s desire to eject and ban immigrants is driving the shutdown, some immigrants whose claims of asylum are without merit have been in effect granted a years-long reprieve by the shutdown.
“It shows a high level of dysfunction,” Khan said.
The shutdown has threatened to weaken the country’s immigration system in other ways. Border officers are among those working without pay, as are enlistees in the US Coast Guard, an essential part of immigration enforcement that last year recorded an almost fivefold increase in the number of migrants it intercepted off the coast of southern California.
Yet some Coast Guard families have faced food emergencies and other crises because of the shutdown, said Katie Walvatne, 34, president of the south-east Connecticut Coast Guard Spouses Association.
Walvatne, whose husband has served in the Coast Guard for more than 15 years, recently helped to open a food bank for enlisted families and other federal workers at the US Coast Guard academy in New London, Connecticut.
“We just realized that families are going to need something so that they can put groceries in their pantries,” Walvatne said.
Walvatne said the community’s sense of solidarity had ameliorated some of the difficulty of the situation.
“For as much anxiety and stress as we’re having right now with this whole shutdown, the community – both active duty and not – has just been amazing,” she said.
Elsewhere, the shutdown has interrupted basic government functions, such as processing tax returns, providing food assistance and supporting low-income housing. Arts organizations dependent on grants from the National Endowment for the Arts aren’t receiving promised funds for 2019 – and any grant submissions for 2020 cannot be processed, according to the Actors’ Equity Association union.
The shutdown also has severely impeded scientists’ ability to monitor and research climate change data, said Paul Shearon, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers union, whose members work at the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Nasa and elsewhere.
“Even all the way down to weather satellites, a lot of that information is just not being – is not available because those people are out,” Shearon said. Some important field work, such as identifying toxins and conducting cleanup in the wake of last November’s fatal wildfires in California, has been suspended or slowed – or employees are conducting the dangerous job without pay.
Back in southern Maine, Briana Libby reflected on how close she had come to securing a piece of the American dream, which she hopes might still be hers.
“It’s supposed to be a happy, exciting thing – but we are in fear of being homeless,” she said.
Asked whether the experience had affected her political views, Libby said, “I don’t really pay too much attention to politics, to be honest. I never was a Trump supporter, but I also don’t really put my nose into it too much because, I just don’t.


Since peaking in February 2018, the relative affordability of new homes being sold in the United States has continued to improve through November 2018, the last month for which the data is available, where rising mortgage rates, falling new home sale prices, and rising incomes has combined to produce that outcome in the national level data.
The following chart shows the history of interest rates for 30-year conventional fixed rate mortgages in the U.S. from April 1971 through November 2018.
In November 2018, 30-year conventional mortgage rates peaked at 4.87%, the highest they've been since February 2011, nearly a full percentage point higher than the 3.92% recorded in November 2017. Mortgage rates began falling in December 2018, pacing the decline in the yields of the 10-Year U.S. Treasury that began in mid-November as global economic growth began visibly deteriorating.
Although U.S. economic growth has been stronger than the global economy, rising mortgage rates have made it more costly to afford the monthly payments for high-priced homes in the regions of the U.S. that have been experiencing shortage conditions, particularly in the western region states of California, Oregon, and Washington, causing those markets to sharply slow, sending both sale prices and the number of sales lower.
Nationally, November 2018 saw the initial estimate for the median sale price of new homes sold in the U.S. drop to $302,400, the lowest level recorded since February 2017 and 12.5% below the peak value of $343,400 recorded in November 2017.
Smoothing the month-to-month volatility in median new home sale prices out by calculating their trailing twelve month moving average, we find the initial estimate for November 2018 marks a downward turn in what had been a relatively flat trend since April 2018. At the same time, median household incomes in the U.S. have continued to rise. In the following chart, we've shown the trajectory of the trailing year averages of median new home sale prices against median household incomes from December 2000 through November 2018.
Falling median new home prices and rising median household incomes are combining to improve the relative affordability of new homes sold in the U.S. The following chart shows the ratio of median new home sale prices to median household incomes since 1967.
After peaking at 5.45 times median household income in February 2018, the ratio of median new home sale prices to median household income has fallen to a preliminary value of 5.22 in November 2018. Although this figure is still historically elevated, it does mark an improvement in the relative affordability of new homes sold in the U.S. to levels last seen in late 2014.
This trend can be considered to be the silver lining in an otherwise cloudy environment for the new home market in the United States. We'll take a closer look at what falling prices means for the real estate industry later this week.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take part in an annual summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin during which the two sides will sign a host of agreements.
Soon after landing in St. Petersburg, PM Modi met people outside his hotel.
St Petersburg, Russia: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in St. Petersburg Wednesday night for an annual summit with President Vladimir Putin during which the two sides will sign a host of agreements, with all eyes on a deal to build with Russia's help the last two units of India's largest nuclear power plant.
On his arrival here, PM Modi tweeted, "Reached the historic city of St. Petersburg. Looking forward to a fruitful visit aimed at cementing India-Russia relations."
With hours to go before the summit, Indian officials told PTI that last-minute talks are taking place to iron out details and language of the agreement on a line of credit for building Unit 5 and 6 of the Kundankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu. "The agreement remains work in progress," the source said.
The reactors are being built by India's Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and Russia's Atomstroyexport company, a subsidiary of Rosatom, the regulatory body of the Russian nuclear complex.
The two sides are expected to ink 12 agreements in wide- ranging sectors, including in science and technology, railways, cultural exchanges and other business areas between private parties also, in addition to a "vision statement" that the two leaders will release.
The nuclear deal, if signed, would be the centerpiece of the summit, the second time in eight months after their last bilateral in Goa in October 2016.
If signed, the two units of the plant, with capacity to produce 1000 MW of electricity each, will significantly boost the country's nuclear power generation.
The current nuclear power generation capacity of all 22 nuclear power reactors is 6780 MW.
In October 2015, a joint statement between PM Modi and Mr Putin promised the signing of a General Framework Agreement on the nuclear units by December 2016. After an inter-ministerial group cleared the project, it was sent to the Prime Minister's Office for approval. But, sources said, the Credit Protocol, or a line of credit that Russia was to provide, proved to be a hurdle.
"There is a lot of mutual trust and personal chemistry between the two leaders that has developed over the last three years," Pankaj Saran, India's ambassador to Russia, told PTI. At the summit tomorrow, "the leaders will take stock of the current relationship and discuss a blueprint for a vision of the future," he said.
India's traditional ties with Russia dating back to the days of Soviet Union have been complicated by Moscow's growing economic and political alliances with China and Pakistan. However, Saran said India's relations with Russia are independent of its ties with Pakistan.
"Our relations with Russia is on a different pedestal and we have a full agenda between us that is important to both of us. We have clear understanding of our core concerns and vital security interests," he said, hours before PM Modi was to arrive from Spain.
PM Modi arrived in stormy weather in St. Petersburg, the former capital of imperial Russia that was founded by Czar Peter the Great in 1703, and was also known as Petrograd and Leningrad.
The prime minister will begin his three-day Russia sojourn with a visit tomorrow to the Piskariovskoe cemetery, a memorial for some 500,000 Russians who were killed in the siege of Leningrad in World War II, which the Russians call the Great Patriotic War.
PM Modi will then be received by Mr Putin at the Konstantin Palace, a sprawling regal complex that is also the Russian president's official residence where he hosts world leaders. After the summit, Mr Putin will host PM Modi at a private dinner without any aides.
On Friday, PM Modi will be the guest of honor at the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which is being attended by a host of political and business leaders from around the world. It's the first time that an Indian prime minister is attending the economic and business summit. Some 60 Indian CEOs ae attending the summit, and India has also set up a 'Make in India' pavilion in addition to hosting roundtables and an exclusive India-Eurasia economic and business breakfast.
Trade between the two nations stands at $ 7.8 billion, down from $ 10 billion in 2014. The two nations are targeting to raise the trade to $ 30 billion in the next five years.


A Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge yesterday gave an Australian filmmaker a wholly suspended two-year prison term after finding him guilty of threatening a Brisbane-based church doing work in Cambodia.
Judge Keo Mony also levied a six-million riel ($1,500) fine against 64-year-old James Ricketson after he was convicted of threatening to dishonour the Citipointe Church by broadcasting accusations that the church sold children, Mony said.
In an email to the Post, Ricketson said he went to court and spoke to a judge, who said he would set a new trial date. A Post reporter at the hearing did not see Ricketson there.
Ricketson’s case stems from a documentary about prostitution in Cambodia he began filming in 1993. At that time, he met a young girl working as a garbage collector who became a prostitute. Later in life, the woman gave birth to two children, whom she sent to live at a Citipointe shelter.
When Ricketson recently tried to update his film, Citipointe refused to let him interview the girls, now 11 and 12, on camera, church attorney Kong Rady said during the March 12 trial.
According to the church, Ricketson then bribed the girls’ parents into asking Citipointe to return their children, but after finding out why the parents asked for their children back, the church declined.
“Ricketson has tried to get two girls who are vulnerable to human trafficking, whose mother was a victim . . . out of our shelter in order to continue making a film . . . for his personal benefit,” part of Citipointe’s complaint reads.
When the church did not return the children, judge Mony said, Ricketson threatened to broadcast allegations that Citipointe sold children abroad.
In an open letter to Citipointe pastors Leigh Ramsey and Brian Mulheran posted on his blog on Tuesday, Ricketson said he wasn’t served with a court summons. But Mony said that when police attempted to serve a summons, Ricketson refused to accept it and threw a bowl at them.


The Oak Ridge Rowing Association hosted the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship Regatta at the Melton Hill Lake course on April 19 and 20.
It was the 30th consecutive year that the regatta has been held in Oak Ridge.
This year, 58 teams and over 1,900 rowers participated in SIRA over the two-day event. Crews came from states as far away as Texas, Kansas, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Championships were earned in 20 events and Purdue University was the overall team winner.
"It was a very successful event that ran on time once we overcame some weather challenges," said ORRA Coach Allen Eubanks. "The level of competition at SIRA is good enough to bring teams from as distant as Philadelphia and Texas.
"They come here to compete, not only for the SIRA championship, but to get ready for the Dad Vail club national championships that will be held in May. The teams that do well here normally do well at the Dad Vail."
With the SIRA Regatta in the books, there's no rest for the weary at ORRA. This weekend the association hosts both the Oak Ridge Dogwood Regatta and the Big East Women's Championship Regatta at Melton Hill Lake.
n PHOTOS: Next week, look for a photo page highlighting the regatta season hosted by the ORRA.


The Commission’s main action plan in the field of sport a year after the introduction of sports as an EU competence has been disclosed today.
Sports and the sports betting sector have strong links and mutually beneficial interests. As highlighted by the Communication this is especially true in the fight to preserve the integrity of sport and in the diversification of sports funding.
The Communication clarifies that the possible threats compromising sports integrity are multiple and can be related to illegal betting but also sporting objectives.
Sigrid Ligné, Secretary General of the EGBA “We reject all forms of corruption in sport. The Commission acknowledges the efforts of EU regulated private betting companies and sport stakeholders to fight the threats related to illegal betting. Regrettably the Communication fails to address the prevention and fight against sport driven corruption”.
The Communication recognizes the existing financial contribution of sports betting activities for instance through fiscal contributions or commercial agreements. It insists as well on the need to preserve the financial stability of the sport sector while ensuring that internal market and competition law is respected.
According to Sigrid Ligné “the Sport sector has a lot to gain from better enforcement of Internal market and Competition rules as EU regulated sports betting operators are prevented in a number of Member States to sign commercial audiovisual, ipTV/live streaming or sponsorship agreements with Sports organizations”.
EGBA warns however against the creation of new or specific IPR rights for sport which will jeopardize the fine balance that exists today between public and private interests and which will raise important internal market and competition law issues.


SORSOGON CITY, Jan 6 (PIA) –- Sorsogon City police chief PSupt Edgardo Ardales said that the city police is now in the process of synchronizing the barangay patrol system among barangay tanods and the Philippine National Police (PNP) force to ensure peace, order and security in all barangays here.
“The responsibility of ensuring peace and security in the barangay lies primarily on barangay officials and barangay police (tanod), and men of PNP is at all time available to render service to the general public according to their mandate and ensure that the whole community is secured and free from all forms of harm."
Ardales bared that among his plans and priorities for 2012 is to hold dialogue with all barangay officials across the city to discuss with them some crime mitigation efforts and forge partnership with them in order to make sure that the efforts as planned and implemented will not be put to waste.
“I am planning of entering into an agreement with barangay officials and tanods in terms of a systematic implementation of a patrol system where tanods and policemen assigned in the area will take turns ensuring that no areas will be left unattended to,” the official said.
He also specifically mentioned that electrification in dark areas and the visibility of barangay tanods through the assistance of PNP personnel in the area are a must in all barangays.


Marketing people tell me they use demographic data only when they can’t get the good stuff—the polling that much more precisely identifies how people will buy (or vote) based on more detailed lifestyle preferences. But when they can’t get the lifestyle data, then sometimes demographic data provides an approximation of what’s really happening.
So it is with women, who over the past generation have become more likely to vote Democratic. The numbers go up and down with the dynamics of a particular campaign, but the trend is there. To stop with gender is to stop too soon.
in 2000 based on polling they had conducted over the years. They identified a cultural shift taking place, a change in values. A growing number of people were more concerned with protecting the environment than with expanding the economy. Cultural creatives sought deep relationships and were rolling their own spiritual lives rather than turning religion over to the establishment church.
Other researchers were finding the same trends. Daniel Yankelovich in the marketing world saw the ascendance of values over class, education, or work.
wrote about a “culture shift” from his perch at the University of Michigan. Ruy Teixeira and John Judis predicted a new Democratic majority coming out of the culture being created in the fast-growing tech cities.
What Ray and Anderson realized is that this culture shift was taking place faster among women than men. More women were interested in alternative religions, holistic medicines, individual rights, and environmental protection than men. When the two researchers counted up the core group of “cultural creatives,” they found that two-thirds were women.
More single women are Democrats because more single women are cultural creatives. “It’s not ‘the demographics,’ ” Ray and Anderson wrote. Sure, it’s simple to separate people by gender, education, income, and the color of their collars, they wrote, but “those conventional categories show only a thin slice of people’s lives.” To understand why people act and vote the way they do, you had to find their values.
So, where are all the good men? Demographically, of course, there are just as many men as there have ever been. But when Ray and Anderson examine values, not demography, they find a serious shortage of culturally creative men. “The bad news (for women) is that there aren’t enough men to go around,” Ray and Anderson write. There are lots of women looking for a new kind of relationship and too many men dropping out of college, watching mixed-martial-arts matches on television, and voting Republican.


A friend said it was “fun” so we eventually saw State of Play. Rattling along, it did turn out to be a kind of sophisticated, adult fun – just don’t follow the plot too closely or ask why the core interest swings from military industrial complex to single villain simplex. It also makes the case for permanently keeping Russell Crowe on a movie set – so excellent when he is being someone else.
One thing did nag at me, and it is a recurrent nag I recognise from other films in the action/thriller genre. For our desk jockey hero, time is an expandable file. With the deadline before him, the Crowe character bends his alloted 8-hour space-time into a week-long pretzel – which is how long it would take a normal journalist-sized human to accomplish all his tasks – and saves the day.
The beautiful French film Summer Hours begins with a summer party in a country house, and ends there with another summer party. In between a year passes, with the death of the matriarch of the house. Part of the magic of this film, what grounds the sentimental and makes it touching, is the sense of living – and here, dying – time.
The sui generis Samson & Delilah is a marvelous example of reel time, a clock beat in time with its heart, rather than racing for the finish line. It is hypnotic.
The odd effect of movie time is, let us say, Einsteinian. When Hollywood pulls off one of their great car/spaceship/gun chases it bellow pumps the pulse; we want to air-punch and yell, Yeah! And yet, emerging from the dark I feel like someone has just excised two hours from my life – there is now a movie-length gap in my continuum, leaving just a tendril aroma of sulphurous popcorn in that void.
Some movies use time merely as a space to show the wares – the plot, stars, big budget effects et al. A film in which time plays out, as in Samson & Delilah (however confronting I found it) made me feel like I had lived inside the time. Time is part of the film’s meaning, which is to say: this time is about life, not a detour from life.
*Apocryphal, but “our Einstein” can stand in for extreme intelligence or understanding, in the same way that “our Cate” stands for extreme grace and talent. And “our Les” stands for grotesquely gigantic poetic gifts … mmm.


So you’re invited to an exclusive, secret-location alfresco gathering where everyone dresses divinely in white, dines under the stars, and brings and lights candles to make the evening sparkle.
Swank Specialty Produce in Loxahatchee Groves has finalized its 2014 lineup of down-on-the-farm mealtime events taking place along its lush grounds—and for the first time, they include not only lunches but a twilight-time, wear-white and light-candles dining soiree.
Cafe Boulud's Rick Mace is among chefs in Swank's lineup.
The 2014 schedule includes three noon-4 p.m. lunches—Jan. 12 is the first—and a series-concluding 4-8 p.m. “Midspring Night’s Dream” finale on April 6.
Several Palm Beach County chefs are participating in the lineup, along with others from Miami and Fort Lauderdale. A team of at least four collaborate at each event, preparing and serving dishes incorporating Swank’s acclaimed bounty, plus ingredients from Swank’s event-partners ranging from Florida ranchers and seafood purveyors to cheese- and wine-makers.
Jan. 12, noon-4 p.m.: “Once Upon a Farm,” benefiting the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. Participating chefs: Nick Morfogen of 32 East in Delray Beach; Aaron Brooks of Edge, Steak & Bar in Miami; Richard Hales of Sakaya Kitchen in Miami; and John Drugan of Edge, Steak & Bar in Miami.
Matthew McGhee of The Ritz-Carlton's Angle restaurant.
Feb 9, noon-4 p.m.: “Hot Pink Lunch,” benefiting the Breast Cancer Research Fund. Participating chefs and sommeliers: Matthew McGhee of Eau Palm Beach Resort’s Angle; Clayton Carnes The Grille in Wellington; Conor Hanlon of The Dutch in Miami; Darlene Moree of Parisorbet in West Palm Beach; and Jenny Benzie of Pour, Sip, Savor.
March 9, noon-4 p.m.: “You can Bank on It,” benefiting the Palm Beach County Food Bank (bring canned goods to be donated to the food bank). Participating chefs and sommeliers: Larry LaValley of 3800 Ocean on Singer Island; Sharithma Almodovar of Fratelli Lyon at West Palm Beach’s Norton Museum of Art; Anthony Pizzo of Cut 432 in Delray Beach; Janderyn Makris of Earth and Sugar in Boynton Beach; and Delray Beach-based wine educator and writer Stephanie Miskew.
April 6, 4-8 p.m.: “A Midspring Night’s Dream,” benefiting the Armory Art Center’s Outreach Program. Participating chefs and sommeliers: Paula DaSilva of 3030 Ocean in Fort Lauderdale; Giavanni Rocchio of Valentino Cucina Italiana in Fort Lauderdale; Rick Mace of Café Boulud in Palm Beach; Deanna Lezcano of 3800 Ocean on Singer Island; and Mariya Kovacheva of Café Boulud in Palm Beach.