Partition, Through A Child's Eyes, In 'The Night Diary' Veera Hiranandani's new book is a coming of age story, for both her half-Muslim, half-Hindu heroine, 12-year-old Nisha, and Nisha's country — which is about to split into India and Pakistan.
The Night Diary is novel set at a pivotal — and bloody — moment in history, and told in the voice of a 12-year-old girl. Nisha takes us on her personal journey as part of the mass exodus of millions of Hindus and Muslims across the border between India and newly established Pakistan, a turbulent time known as Partition.
We learn Nisha's story through her journal, full of the letters she writes to the mother she never knew, who died giving birth to Nisha and her twin brother. "My father went through Partition when he was nine," says author Veera Hiranandani. "He had to leave his home, with his mother, his father and his five siblings. Basically, they packed what they could, got on a train and left for the new border of India."
It certainly is rare, to have happened at that time. But it did happen, and part of the reason I wanted to do that is that I am from a mixed background. My father is Hindu, and my mother was born in this country, and she's Jewish. And having multiple identities was something I've always been navigating. But I wanted Nisha to be from a mixed background, not only for my own personal connection, but it allowed me to explore her own sense of belonging during this time, and it allowed me to open up and break through some of the bias, and explore the questions I had about that time.
Her father's a doctor, he's very busy, pretty reserved, and she doesn't have a mother. She doesn't have an incredibly intimate relationship with her grandmother either, and Kazi really functions almost as this mother and father and friend for her, because she's lonely in that way ... he knew what her mother was like, and he, bit by bit, sort of shares that with her. Also he introduces her to cooking and ignites her love of food, and that is a way for her to express herself, because she's very shy ... and that is certainly a part of me.
I hope it resonates on a few levels. I think kids that I know, in my area, they learn about what a refugee is, but I don't know if they always have a specific sense of what that means for an individual person going through this. So I hope that readers will see that Nisha is a 12-year-old girl who loves her home, has a complicated relationship with her father, loves her brother — and also they fight — and she wonders what's for dinner, and she does all of these things that I think most 12-year-olds could relate to. And another aspect that I hope readers would take away from is that Nisha really doesn't understand how brave she is, and that takes her a long time to understand how brave it is, during a time of adversity, that she hangs on to that hope. And because she comes from this mixed background, she doesn't understand why people separate themselves in the way that they do. And that certainly is resonating today more than I even expected when I started writing this novel years ago.


TURA, March 10 - Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) today threatened to carry out serial blasts in all five districts of the Garo Hills region if security forces were not withdrawn. The outfit further threatened the Ngos and Church elders blaming them for the offensive launched by the police.
The statement comes in the wake of the police announcing the continuance of Operation Hillstorm - 3 for three months to flush out militants from Garo Hills region.
The outfit also threatened the IGP leading the Operation Hillstorm, GHP Raju, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma, along with Ngos and Church elders stating that the leaders would have to bear responsibility for the loss of life and property that will take place.
“They are the ones who called upon GNLA to gather together at Durama Hills to come forward for peace talks. This gave the opportunity for the government for the Operation Hillstorm 3 to be launched,” said Marak.
“We have observed in the past too that the NGOs and Church leaders are inviting the militants to come forward for “Peace talks” and ask our cadres to either surrender or give up our struggle,” the release added.
The outfit further warned that the families, relatives, NGOs, Church leaders that were leading their cadres to surrender before the government would have to face dire consequences.


Mothers Day 2012 falls on Sunday, May 13. Rather than give her the same old card and flowers, why not do something truly special for your mom to let her know how much you care.
A traditional way to celebrate Mothers Day is to take your mom out to brunch. This year, consider making brunch yourself, rather than going out to a crowded restaurant. Taking the time to prepare a meal for the number one woman in your life shows that you really care. Make her favorite dishes – or try something new and fun. She’ll definitely appreciate the effort. Also, make sure she doesn’t do the dishes afterwards!
If your mom is a wine lover, spend the day with her at a local winery. If you prefer to celebrate at home, buy some wine ahead of time and prepare a wine tasting at your house. Serve the wine with some artisan cheese and crackers, grapes, salami and chocolate to create a true wine tasting experience.
Is your mom the outdoorsy type? Plan a hike with the entire family on Mothers Day. Pack a picnic lunch with your mom’s favorite snacks and spend the day relaxing in the great outdoors with your loved ones.
For the tea-loving mom, an afternoon tea party would be a fun way to celebrate Mothers Day. Begin with a few pots of your mom’s favorite teas, served with cold milk, sugar cubes, lemon slices and honey. Set out a variety of sweet and savory snacks, such as finger sandwiches, smoked salmon, fruit, scones and shortbread.
Whatever you choose to do this Mothers Day, make sure you tell your mom thanks for all she’s done for you, and make this one a Mothers Day she’ll remember for years to come.


Johns Hopkins “let this organization down,” the health system’s president told staff members.
An internal review by Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital has found more than a dozen incidents in which children in the hospital’s heart unit were harmed by the care they received.
The cases should have been immediately reported to state officials, the hospital’s interim president told employees during private town halls this week. None were reported until recently.
The hospital’s former leaders also didn’t properly notify the board of trustees about safety concerns in the heart surgery department. That led to the federal government’s recent declaration that All Children’s had left patients in danger, the interim president said.
“Leadership knew there were quality and safety issues and did not elevate it in appropriate ways to the board,” said Kevin Sowers, who is president of the Johns Hopkins Health System and has also been the interim president at All Children’s since December.
“Some of the people we put here did not act in the best interest of the children we were caring for or this organization,” he said.
The disclosures came during a pair of wide-ranging and remarkably candid town hall meetings Sowers held with hospital staff earlier this week. The Tampa Bay Times obtained and reviewed video of the meetings, which also illustrated the emotional strain the turmoil in the Heart Institute has placed on longtime staff members.
Sowers described a series of lapses by the hospital’s former leaders — “people that we trusted,” he said — that hid the Heart Institute’s problems from the internal and external oversight designed to keep patients safe.
That secrecy was shattered in November, when a Times investigation revealed that the unit’s mortality rate had tripled in just two years to become the highest in Florida.
Medical staffers began bringing concerns about two of the program’s surgeons to their supervisors in late 2015, the investigation found. But hospital administrators did not slow surgeries or make personnel changes until 2017.
The reporting led to the resignation of CEO Dr. Jonathan Ellen, two heart surgeons and the three vice presidents in charge of risk management, patient safety and communications.
It also led to inspections by state and federal regulators, who visited the hospital last month and placed it in a rare status called “immediate jeopardy.” Hospitals in that status lose public funding if they don’t fix the problems within weeks.
The reports from those inspections have not yet been made public. But Sowers said regulators made the immediate jeopardy determination because of the lapses in oversight, not because patients were in danger at the time of the mid-January inspection.
He said the hospital’s prior leadership team was aware of the Heart Institute’s problems. But when it filed a required quality improvement plan with the board, “there was absolutely nothing in the plan about the heart center,” he said.
Sowers described Ellen as wielding tremendous control over both the hospital and information about patient safety problems. Ellen held the roles of president, vice dean, physician in chief and director of graduate medical education. He had the power to set and approve the agendas for the board’s patient safety committee, Sowers said.
“Structurally, one person should never have that much power at the top of an organization,” Sowers said.
Ellen, a longtime Johns Hopkins faculty member who was sent to St. Petersburg to integrate All Children’s into the Johns Hopkins system, could not be reached for comment Friday. In April 2018, during an initial interview about the Heart Institute, Ellen told the Times his leadership team had been transparent. “If we found something that went wrong, we would notify our board, we would notify the right regulatory agencies, we would look at our processes,” he said.
Sowers said the hospital’s leadership structure is being changed to spread those responsibilities across more people and to better connect the hospital’s safety officials with administrators in Baltimore.
All Children’s is governed by multiple boards. The hospital is owned by a branch of Johns Hopkins Medicine, which has a board of trustees in Baltimore. But All Children’s also has a local board of trustees, made up of prominent community leaders. Few have medical backgrounds.
It was the local board, hoping to raise the hospital’s profile, that decided to effectively give All Children’s to Johns Hopkins in 2011. Ellen was placed into power at the hospital shortly after. And the hospital revised its Articles of Incorporation to give Johns Hopkins near-complete authority to approve or overrule the local board’s decisions.
The local board now “really wants to understand what happened, and why they didn’t have the information” about the institute’s struggles, Sowers said.
“Just as you all mentioned that you are angry, some of them are angry, too, and they should be,” he said.
Sowers apologized to them, he said.
At Johns Hopkins Medicine, “they are just as upset, because they are trying to figure out how did people that we trusted not raise up the appropriate issues not only to the All Children’s board but not even to Baltimore,” he added.
Former Progress Energy Florida CEO Vincent Dolan, who served on the local board until his term expired in 2018, described the situation differently than Sowers. In an email to a Times reporter, Dolan praised Ellen as “a person of great integrity” who prioritized safety. Dolan also said he was aware of the problems with the Heart Institute and had participated in “detailed discussions” about the topic on the safety committee and in board meetings.
“We were briefed about the Heart Institute issues — some of us in more detail than others. … I feel the Board was reasonably well informed,” Dolan said.
The federal government gave the hospital until Sunday to propose a plan for how it will address the issues. Sowers told the staff he was confident All Children’s would file a successful plan on time and its public funding would not be affected.
In addition to discussing the governance issues, Sowers told employees the hospital had been cited by the state for not properly reporting the 13 cases in which patients had been harmed by medical care.
Under Florida law, the hospital should have reported those incidents within 15 days of them occurring.
Hospital leaders found the incidents by reviewing all of the Heart Institute’s cases from 2015 to 2018, spokeswoman Kim Hoppe later told the Times. Six were deaths, five of which were reported in the Times investigation, she said.
In the town hall meeting, Sowers said the hospital was reaching out to the families of all 13 children, as well as the other families profiled in the Times investigation, to apologize and provide support moving forward.
Sowers said the hospital had reviewed every death outside of the Heart Institute, as well. But it found nothing outside of the unit that needed to be reported, he said.
This wasn’t the first sign that All Children’s had failed to report serious problems.
Last year, the Times reported on two cases in which All Children’s surgeons had left needles in patients — a situation hospital officials are legally required to disclose.
In May, the state Agency for Health Care Administration cited the hospital for failing to properly report both incidents.
Nonetheless, in June the agency reported that All Children’s had corrected the issue and did not fine the hospital.
Both town hall meetings also included lengthy question-and-answer sessions during which staff members voiced concern about how the crisis had affected the community’s trust in the hospital.
Sowers was particularly troubled to hear cases of employees facing retaliation for speaking up, he said.
At times, the question-and-answer period gave way to emotional testimonies from long-time employees.
“For someone who has been here for 30 years, I’m pretty angry (at) our leadership and what they’ve done and sad for the people who are still here, doing the hard work,” one said.
Sowers said she had “every right” to feel that way.
Sowers asked if the employee was upset with him or the previous administration.
Sowers said what mattered to him was acting in the best interest of children, not Johns Hopkins. He said Johns Hopkins had let All Children’s down.
“I just wanted to hear you say that,” the employee said.
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Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders in Albany have come to an agreement that will eventually raise the state's minimum wage to $15 for everyone.
The measure is included in the state's 2016-2017 budget package, which legislators passed Friday.
"We believe that people who work hard should be able to earn a decent living and support a family with dignity," Cuomo said.
Cuomo first proposed a statewide $15 minimum wage back in January. It represents a 67% increase over the state's current $9 minimum. Cuomo estimated it could directly benefit 2.3 million workers, who represent close to a quarter of the state's workforce.
But it may also have the effect of pushing up pay for workers who make more than minimum wage, since employers will need to preserve pay differentials between entry-level jobs and more senior positions.
The hike to $15 would be phased in more slowly than the governor originally proposed -- and in some parts of the state, much more slowly.
For most New York City businesses, the minimum wage will rise to $11 at the end of 2016, then increase by $2 each year until it hits $15 by the end of 2018. But businesses with 10 or fewer employees will get an extra year. Their minimum wage will rise to $10.50 at the end of this year, then go up by $1.50 each year until it reaches $15 at the end of 2019.
In areas near New York City (i.e., Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties), the minimum wage won't reach $15 until the end of 2021.
And for businesses in upstate New York -- where towns and cities have had a harder time economically -- the minimum wage would only climb 70 cents a year until it reaches $12.50 by 2020. After that, the upstate minimum will continue increasing to $15 but at a pace set by the state's budget director in consultation with the state's labor department.
In addition, starting in 2019, the budget division and labor department will annually assess the economy in each region and the effect of the minimum wage hikes to figure out if it's necessary to temporarily suspend the scheduled increases.
The New York deal comes just hours after California became the first state in the nation to pass a statewide $15 minimum wage.
Those who support an increase highlight how a $15 minimum wage could help the overall economy. By increasing wages for those who need it most, they will be less likely to quit, reducing turnover costs for employers. And the low-wage workers -- along with their colleagues who also may get a pay bump -- will spend the extra money in their local economy, which in turn can boost demand and help create other jobs.
But those who oppose the hike worry it will hurt businesses and jobs in struggling economies in upstate New York. Less concern is expressed for the economies of downstate New York -- primarily New York City, where the cost of living is high and job growth has been strong.
"I speak to a lot of people in my industry and we're all very, very nervous about it," Nielsen told CNNMoney before the deal was announced.
New York state already requires large food franchises to move toward paying its fast-food workers at least $15 per hour. And Governor Cuomo recently mandated the same for state university workers.


When Raquel Graham’s two children refused to wear scarves they found too bulky and itchy, she was determined to find some other way to protect them from Chicago’s cold winters.
Graham had soon created a chic leopard-print version for herself. When friends and family saw it and started asking to order their own, she sensed she was onto something and, in 2014, decided to show her samples at a trade show. She came away with a $50,000 order to license her NEKZ neck wraps in the colors of 40 Top NCAA colleges, for sale at Follett's on-campus stores.
Graham found a local factory that would do a small run and soon found herself in the manufacturing business, making versions for both children and adults. She used her first purchase order as the basis to obtain financing.
It was a smart bet that raised her visibility and led to orders from the campus retailer Follett and an ecommerce site called The Grommet, which sells innovative products from local small businesses. Eventually Home Shopping Network (HSN) noticed her product and invited her to be on the network. When the line launched on HSN in 2016, it sold out in 20 minutes.
Today, her company, Roq Innovation, also sells Headlightz, ski caps with built-in LED lamps to illuminate dark running paths, on HSN. With her one-woman business plugged into the supportive network at the prestigious ICNC Incubator and approaching seven-figure revenue, she recently secured warehouse space to continue to grow the brand. She recently became a board member at DePaul University's Women's Entrepreneurship Institute.
I learned about Graham when I found out she’d be speaking on a panel I’m moderating at the nonprofit Chicago Inventor’s Organization’s annual conference this Saturday, Oct. 6. Her story of building a one-woman innovation and manufacturing business and making it onto HSN offers interesting insights for other entrepreneurs who've dreamed up new inventions. Here are some takeaways from her story.
Raquel Graham has built a presence on HSN with inventions such as a less-bulky scarf alternative and a ski cap with a built-in LED light to illuminate dark running paths.
Stay open to unexpected opportunities. Graham, 49, didn’t start out planning to be an inventor. After graduating from Wesleyan College, she became an analyst at JPMorgan Chase, then—tapping into a childhood passion for contemporary dance—became assistant director of Harlem Hospital Dance Clinic in New York City.
After getting married, she moved to Chicago with her husband and became vice president and head of marketing for Ebony magazine. “Then I realized publishing was on its way out,” she recalls. To reinvent her career, she enrolled at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University to earn her MBA.
Life had its own plans for her, and in the first month of school, Graham discovered she was pregnant. When her second child was born prematurely, she realized she didn’t want to work in a corporate career anymore. “I wanted to create something or find something where I could spend more time with my family,” she recalls. Instead of job hunting after she received her MBA, she started Roq Marketing Group, a consultancy, in 2009, offering strategic marketing advice to corporate clients. “A lot of them were Ebony clients,” she says.
As her children grew, Graham found herself facing a challenge that frustrates many moms: making sure they bundled up in the cold. When she came up with her NEKZ wraps as a solution, she didn’t let the fact that she’d never invented a product or manufactured one stop her. She created her own prototype and then got professional advice on how to perfect it.
The DIY approach works for many inventors, says John Khalil, founder of Patent Lot, a site that connects inventors and attorneys, and inventor of Scent2o, a natural product that uses the power of scent to makes plain water take on flavors such as root beer or lemonade, who will also speak on the panel.
Also important, Khalil says, is to do your homework with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office to make sure you’re inventing something that’s truly new. “It pays to know what’s out there,” he says.
Step into the limelight. Graham had no TV background, and could easily have talked herself out of appearing on HSN. Instead, she embraced the challenge, tapping her background doing corporate presentations to perfect her pitch and rehearsing again and again before she did her demo tape.
Still, she knew there would be a learning curve and threw herself into mastering the skills she needed to succeed. “It’s not easy,” she acknowledges. “You have a producer [speaking on a microphone] in your ear. You have to learn to work with the host and follow your cues. You’re also reading [from a screen] to see how well your product is doing on air. There’s no script, so you go with the flow.” Fortunately, she discovered, she was good at winging it.
Keep expanding your repertoire. Graham could have stopped with one product, but she decided to see how far she could take her idea of building a company around “solutions to make life easier.” When, as an early-evening jogger, she found herself searching for a way to illuminate the paths in front of her, she came up with the idea for Headlightz. The beanies, which have a rechargeable LED light, debuted on HSN in November 2017, selling out during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Graham had some big health challenges along the way. Two years ago, after an early misdiagnosis, she was found to have pneumonia blastomycosis, a fungal type of pneumonia that became life-threatening. By the time doctors realized what was wrong, she had suffered lung and heart failure and had a stroke. At one point, she was put on a ventilator. She had to learn to walk again, in a recovery process that took a year. Last November, she finally finished her rehabilitation.


THE Murray-Darling Basin is one of Australia’s richest agricultural regions. The same area as France and Spain combined, it produces A$10 billion (£4.7 billion) worth of produce a year, including fruit, vegetables, cotton and mutton. But the life of the area, which springs from the 19 rivers that flow into it, is under threat.
Earlier this month, four state governments and the national government banned farmers from taking more water than they do now. Their decision followed the release of a “water audit” of the area, which found that only 25 per cent of what flows into the basin ever reaches the sea. And demand for water is increasing. Without the moratorium, farmers would have taken another 14 per cent of the in-flow over the next 20 years (see Diagram). This could have been disastrous. Fish are already dying in the rivers, salinity is increasing, and blooms of toxic cyanobacteria are likely, says the report.
To the north and west of the basin are the rangelands – home to about 10 000 families, 19 million sheep and 6 million cattle. This area makes up some 60 per cent of Australia, and much of it is marginal land. The huge numbers of farm animals and wild horses, camels, goats and rabbits take a heavy toll. As vegetation is eaten or trampled, the thin soils are left exposed to wind and rain with devastating results. A study published in April recommends that farming should stop over vast tracts of this land before irreversible damage is done.
The water audit and the rangelands study are two of a string of recent reports that reveal how agriculture is killing the land and the native fauna and flora in many parts of Australia. They have raised the national debate over the future of agriculture and the best way to manage the land. While most Australians agree that action is needed to stop the destruction, the unanswered questions are what exactly should be done and who should foot the bill.
Agriculture is one of the mainstays of Australia’s economy. But ironically, the country is not well suited to the European styles of farming that are practised. “That Australia’s agriculture has been as productive as it has is a testament to Australians’ innovation, technical skill and determination over two centuries,” say government scientists in a paper prepared for a meeting of the Prime Minister’s Science Council last month. The country’s soils are thin – most are less than 10 centimetres deep – and contain little organic matter. The weather is not dependable either, often fluctuating between prolonged drought and severe flooding. Added to this, Australia’s native mammals have padded feet that do minimal damage to soil. By comparison, the hooves of imported animals are far more destructive.
Last month, the Australian government’s Biodiversity Unit released two reports that delivered some harsh lessons about the clearing of bush and woodland for farming. The first reveals that in the decade to 1993 Australia cleared an average of 500 000 hectares per year – the equivalent of two rugby pitches a minute. This is one of the worst records in the world. In 1990 Australia stripped 650 000 hectares, more than half the area cleared in the Amazon Basin.
The report also scotches a common belief that most of the clearing took place in the last century. In fact, as much land has been cleared in the past 50 years as in the preceding 150 years. And the clearing continues. Last year, permits were granted to clear more than 1 million hectares of Queensland, including 685 000 hectares of virgin bush.
The second report is an analysis of satellite images. It concludes that vegetation over nearly half the country has been “significantly or substantially disturbed”.
Land clearance has been costly in terms of environmental damage. Disruption of the water cycle in cleared areas has reduced the rainfall by as much as 14 per cent. Biodiversity has also suffered. A small carnivorous marsupial called the numbat, for example, used to be widespread. It is now confined to a few pockets of surviving vegetation in Western Australia. Similarly, only 30 000 hectares of the native bush brigalow, Acacia harpophylla, are left. It used to cover 6 million hectares. Hal Cogger from the Australian Museum in Sydney estimates that clearing scrub to make room for wheat, kills more than 85 per cent of the resident reptiles, such as goannas, skinks and pythons. This amounts to killing about 200 animals per hectare.
Australia’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Committee estimates that burning wood from cleared forests accounts for about 30 per cent of Australia’s emissions of carbon dioxide, or 156 million tonnes a year. And water tables are rising beneath cleared land. In the Western Australian wheat belt, estimates suggest that water is rising by up to 1 metre a year. The land is becoming waterlogged and unproductive or is being poisoned by salt, which is brought to the surface. The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) reckons that 33 million hectares has been degraded by salination. The federal government estimates the loss in production from salinity at A$200 million a year.
According to Jason Alexandra of the ACF, this list of woes is evidence that Australia is depleting its resources by trading agricultural commodities for manufactured imports. In effect, it sells topsoil for technologies that will be worn out or redundant in a few years. The country needs to get away from the “colonial mentality” of exploiting resources and adopt agricultural practices suited to Australian conditions, he says.
Robert Hadler of the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) does not deny that there is a problem, but says that it is “illogical” to blame farmers. Until the early 1980s, farmers were given tax incentives to clear land because that was what people wanted. If farmers are given tax breaks to manage the land sustainably, they will do so. Hadler argues that the two reports on land clearance do not say anything which was not known before.
Graetz, who analysed the satellite photographs for the second land clearance report, argues that there is now better cooperation between Australian scientists, government officials and farmers than in the past. One example is the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, which Graetz says has forced four states – Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland – and the Australian Capital Territory to talk with one another. “They were forced to do the water audit and find out who is pumping the Darling and why it is not flowing as it should,” he says.
The problems of the rangelands are also being studied by a group of scientists, farmers, government officials and Aboriginal groups in an effort to draw up a national management strategy. One likely outcome is that sheep and cattle will be removed from some areas. In a report published in April, ecologists from the CSIRO recommend that a stewardship system should be set up. Instead of tending livestock, farmers who find it hard to make a living should be paid to conserve the land and protect it from feral animals, fire and other threats to the environment. Extra income could be generated by farming native animals such as emu and kangaroo.
The NFF advises farmers to treat native trees as potential crops. While they are growing, species such as the eucalypts help to reduce land degradation, and after felling the timber can be sold as hardwood. Farmers have also taken to growing native plants such as acacias, grevilleas and banksias around fields of grain crops. These “alley crops” act as windbreaks, prevent erosion, and retain moisture in the fields.
But the bugbear of all these conservation efforts is money. Landcare’s budget is A$110 million a year, of which only A$6 million goes to farmers. Neil Clark, an agricultural consultant from Bendigo in Victoria, says that farmers are not getting enough. “Farmers may want to make more efficient use of water and nutrients and embrace more sustainable practices, but it all costs money and they just don’t have the spare funds,” he says.


Jerry Thompkins of Bushkill has spent the last five years of his retirement trying to patent the special display cases he has designed.
Now, with patent in hand, he's searching for investors and manufacturers to turn the dream into reality.
Back in 1975, long before he ever had the idea of becoming an inventor, Thompkins, 79, started collecting models of Hess trucks. After accumulating a large number of trucks, Thompkins thought about ways to display them and keep them clean. In 2002, he tinkered with a few different designs, but an employee at the patent office suggested that he keep it simple. With that small but valuable advice, Thompkins developed his final design.
Each display case holds a single large Hess truck or eight miniature trucks. The display cases are made of wood and lexan. They are very light in weight and can be stacked. They also have little clips that allow them to be hooked together in either an angled or square pattern so that a large number of trucks can be attractively displayed in a small amount of space. When unattached, an individual display case can be placed on a shelf to highlight a single model.
According to Thompkins, the local Hess station sells 7,000 model trucks every year. People love the trucks and even buy them by the case. The trucks come out twice a year. Large models reach the shelves in November and small trucks arrive in mid-year.
That's a huge potential market and Hess doesn't sell display cases. The next step is to actually manufacture the display cases. When materials are bought in bulk, the cases are very inexpensive to make.
"I'm hoping to get someone interested in manufacturing them," explained Thompkins. "I would like to see something started so I could pay off my (patent) investors and make a lot of people happy. There's a real need for it. Lots of people say them want them." Thompkins went to a grant writing class, but he doesn't feel his writing skills are good enough to get a business startup grant. He lives in Saw Creek Estates and is hoping he can find someone who will go into business with him.
Unable to work since quadruple bypass surgery in 2003, Thompkins spends his time making display cases. He also makes clocks, tables, bookends, and other items from wood and epoxy plastic. His home is full of his varied interests and projects, but right now he's ecstatic about getting his patent and planning for the future.
"I was shocked when I got the patent," said Thompkins. "I'm quite overwhelmed."
Once he gets the right business partners, he's confident his invention will succeed.


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“Hannity” was the most-watched cable news program for the seventh consecutive month during Oct. 2018.
Fox News Channel crushed MSNBC and CNN yet again during the busy news month of October, topping both networks combined among total viewers.
FNC averaged 1.7 million total viewers to finish as the most-watched basic cable network for the 28th straight month. Rupert Murdoch’s cable news network also topped all of basic cable during the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m. ET for the fifth consecutive month despite heavy competition from Major League Baseball playoffs and other major sporting events, such as NFL and NBA games.
Fox News averaged 2.8 million primetime viewers as ESPN averaged 2.7 million and TBS picked up 2.5 million to round out the top three. MSNBC finished fourth, averaging 1.5 million primetime viewers and CNN finished a dismal ninth while failing to crack the one-million viewer plateau and finishing behind networks such as Hallmark Channel and HGTV.
In the total day category, only Fox News averaged more than 1 million viewers with ESPN, MSNBC, Nickelodeon and TBS rounding out the top five. CNN averaged 689,000 viewers as its audience continues to shrink – dropping five percent compared to the same week last year while both FNC and MSNBC gained viewers.
FNC was up across the board compared to last year, with the biggest increase being a whopping 25 percent gain in primetime. In addition to the five percent drop in total audience, CNN fell 16 percent in the key demo of adults age 25-54.
“Hannity” averaged 3.5 million viewers to finish the month as the most-watched program on cable news, followed by “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” “The Ingraham Angle,” “The Five” and “Special Report with Bret Baier.” “Hannity” has now finished first for seven straight months. MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” finished sixth, averaging 2.6 million viewers.
“Hannity” has dominated 2018, finishing No. 1 in all three quarters and nine of out of the 10 months among total viewers.
The most-watched CNN program on cable news among total viewers was “Cuomo Prime Time,” which finished No. 23 – behind 14 Fox News and eight MSNBC programs.
Among the key demo, Fox News had nine of the 10 most-watched cable news programs with “Maddow” finishing seventh. This is the first month since Feb. 2017 that “Maddow” failed to crack the top five among both total viewers and the demo.
“FOX & Friends,” “America’s Newsroom,” “Outnumbered,” “Outnumbered Overtime with Harris Faulkner,” “The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino,” “The Five,” “Special Report with Bret Baier,” “The Story with Martha MacCallum,” “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and “The Ingraham Angle” all beat their timeslot competition on MSNBC and CNN combined in total viewers. During the month of Oct., “America’s Newsroom,” “Outnumbered,” “The Five” and “Tucker Carlson Tonight” also beat MSNBC and CNN combined in the demo.
In addition, Howie Kurtz’s “MediaBuzz” crushed CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” with the FNC media program averaging 1.5 million viewers compared to 767,000.
All ratings info courtesy of Nielsen Media Research.


THE CORK COUNCILLOR who was expelled from Sinn Féin last week is now considering whether to sue the party.
Cobh-based Kieran McCarthy was expelled from the party just over a week ago amid a huge controversy over tensions with the sitting Sinn Féin TD Sandra McLellan.
The party expelled McCarthy in the wake of a secret internal review into the constituency organisation which investigated a dispute over loans that the councillor took out in the party’s name for the local elections last year.
Sinn Féin has remained tight-lipped on the findings of the internal review which also resulted in the one-year suspension of Mallow-based councillor Melissa Mullane for “uncomradely behaviour”.
McCarthy told TheJournal.ie this morning that his solicitors have contacted Sinn Féin seeking “a lot of information” including documentation, minutes of meetings and “a lot of stuff that’s relevant to what the party has been saying”.
He said he intended to challenge the decision of the party to expel him and said that could include potential legal action.
McCarthy, who was a member of Sinn Féin for 34 years, also said he has no intention of resigning his seat on Cork County Council despite party rules requiring him to do so.
There is no legal obligation for McCarthy to resign his local authority seat and he said today he intended to stay put.
He added he was “70 per cent in favour of standing” as an independent at the next general election.
Mullane, who has not responded to calls, told The Corkman newspaper last week that she will not be vacating her council seat despite being required by the party to do so.
She intends to appeal the decision to suspend her from Sinn Féin and has until the middle of next month to do so.
Sinn Féin has been contacted for comment.
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Allegations of child sexual abuse and staff cover-up continue to swirl. Let’s set an example for all churches to follow, bringing healing to victims and churches alike.
But Denhollander argues that the resulting Thaler-Liebeler report: was conducted by a firm and an attorney with no known or recorded experience in criminal law or investigative work.
after two years of investigation, ABWE fired GRACE, alleging “a myriad of investigative flaws.” Pii victims and former ABWE missionaries declined to interview with Pii,” the report stated.
What Does an Authentic Christian Reception of Syrian Refugees to the United States Look Like?
My sister-in-law, Kelly Stetzer, shares important information about child abuse and what churches need to know.
How the worst of the abortion industry brought out the best of pro-life advocacy.
What we say about abortion matters, even if we act peacefully.
Reviewing decades-old abuse allegations isn't simple, as firing by Baptist missions agency shows.
How a 26-year-old founded the undercover operation to take down the abortion giant.
In Mark's report, there was not a lot of focus on the supplier—on the people who were we use are any more extreme than what is done every day by mainstream investigative journalists.
Leader died two days before $1.7 million Templeton Prize was awarded to Jean Vanier, founder of L’Arche communities.
Is Harold Camping's Radio Empire Nearing Its Own Apocalypse?
Investigation finds failed end-of-the-world prediction had major financial consequences for Family Radio network.
Our call to rally against persecution extends beyond the church.
Tampa Bay Times investigation reveals "165 allegations of abuse and neglect" in Florida.
How faith informs the award-winning work of Michael Luo.


Harold Beider, 66, of Wilmette, a Chicago area hotel owner, died Friday in Columbus Hospital. Mr. Beider owned the Comfort Inn, 601 W. Diversey Pkwy., and The Days Inn, 644 W. Diversey Pkwy., and the Forest Lodge on River Road in Wheeling. During World War II, Mr. Beider served in the Navy. He is survived by his wife, Marlys; two sons, Daniel and Kenneth; two daughters, Kelly Rubin and Jacqueline Geyelin; a brother; and two grandchildren. Services were held Monday in Skokie.


Nov 29 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi’s stock market fell sharply to a four-month low on Thursday because of a slide in shares of First Abu Dhabi Bank, the United Arab Emirates’ largest lender, just before MSCI doubled its weighting of the stock in its indexes.
The Abu Dhabi index lost 2.3 percent amid record volume in FAB, which slumped 3 percent. A total of 57.9 million shares in the bank traded, by far the highest since its listing in April 2017.
MSCI decided on the weighting increase in its semi-annual index review in mid-November. Arqaam Capital estimated the increase, which takes effect at the end of this week, would attract $524 million of passive funds into the stock.
The stock has performed well this year so many investors took the influx of passive funds into it as an opportunity to take profits, said Mohamad Al Hajj, head of regional equity strategy for EFG Hermes.
The company’s stock is still up 32.7 percent year-to-date compared to an 8.5 percent rise in the Abu Dhabi index.
Abu Dhabi National Hotels rose 3.2 percent in very thin volume after saying its deal to buy hotels from Dubai’s Emaar Properties was valued at 2.2 billion dirhams ($599 million). Emaar lost 2.2 percent.
Middle East funds have become more defensive after November’s oil price plunge and now expect on balance to trim their equities exposure slightly while increasing their holdings of fixed income, a monthly Reuters poll showed on Thursday.
The poll of 13 leading regional fund managers, conducted over the past week, found 15 percent now expect to raise equity allocations in the next three months and 23 percent to reduce them, the survey found.
Saudi Arabia’s index rose 0.9 percent on Thursday, boosted by banks. Al Rajhi Bank rose 1.3 percent while the largest lender, National Commercial Bank, climbed 3.1 percent.
Ash Sharqiyah Development Co added 3.5 percent after appointing Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman al-Shamikh as its chairman.
The Dubai index slid 0.6 percent, declining for a sixth straight day as real estate firms continued to sag. DAMAC Properties dropped 3.6 percent.
Dubai Investments shed 2.2 percent to a five-year low; the stock has been sliding after MSCI decided to move the stock to its UAE small cap index from its UAE standard index.


The State Officer Certification Exam includes a series of physical and psychological tests. However, this is not O’Neal’s first time on a police force.
Doral Police Chief Don De Lucca — who was Miami Beach police chief until 2007 — has worked with O’Neal in the past. O’Neal was sworn in as a reserve officer in Miami Beach in 2005 but is no longer with the department.
O’Neal — known globally as Shaq — has played for the Boston Celtics, L.A. Lakers and Orlando Magic, among other teams. Most recently the athlete and actor has appeared in the movie Grown-Ups 2, along with commercials for Icy Hot and Gold Bond.
Once O’Neal left the building, the City Council continued the day-long budget workshop in which the police and fire chiefs, as well as the Cultural Affairs Advisory Board, Green Initiative Task Force and other boards, asked for monetary changes in their designated areas as this year’s budget is finalized.
The first budget hearing will take place at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, 8401 NW 53rd Ter.


April 15 may seem like a long way off, but with a little planning before the end of the year, you could take advantage of tax breaks to help you lower your tax bill.
Several tax provisions are scheduled to expire at the end of this year.
Many of these tax breaks have been extended in the past, so it's possible Congress could extend them again over the next few months.
"It could be in very late December, at which point it's too late to do much tax planning, or January when you really can't do anything," cautions Richard Baum, a partner at accounting firm Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP.
The government shutdown could also delay the start of tax-filing season a few weeks as well.
Here's a look at eight tax breaks to consider now before they disappear.
1. Teachers' classroom expense deduction. Eligible educators who work in a school providing primary or secondary instruction can deduct up to $250 worth of unreimbursed classroom expenses. This is an above-the-line deduction, which means teachers can take this deduction before they get to adjusted gross income and regardless of whether they itemize other deductions or take the standard deduction, according to David McKelvey, a tax and business consulting partner at Friedman LLP.
2. Exclusion of cancellation of indebtedness on principal residence. The U.S. tax code treats forgiven debts as taxable income. However, if your principle residence is foreclosed or sold in a short sale before the end of the year, this provision allows you to exclude up to $2 million of forgiven debt from your taxable income. "I'm hopeful that [this provision] gets extended because there's still a lot of foreclosures in the pipeline," says Keith Spritz, managing director of accounting firm CBIZ MHM LLC. "If you're in that position, at least it provides an easy benefit for you to take advantage of." If your home is on the verge of a foreclosure or short sale, you may want to nudge along the process before the end of the year to ensure you're eligible for this tax break.
3. Transit benefits. In 2013, employees can spend up to $245 pretax per month on transit benefits such as rail passes, which is on par with the $245 pretax they can spend on parking. That parity is scheduled to sunset at the end of this year so that the benefit for public transportation would drop to $130 per month pretax, while higher parking benefits will remain.
4. Mortgage insurance premiums. Homeowners who have less than 20 percent equity typically pay for private mortgage insurance (also known as PMI). Those premiums were deductible in 2012 and 2013, but that provision is scheduled to expire at the end of the year. "That's an item that hurts less wealthy homeowners," McKelvey says. However, homeowners who itemize their deductions can still deduct mortgage interest.
5. IRA distributions to charity. People older than age 70½ are required to take minimum distributions from their individual retirement accounts, so this provision allows them to contribute that money to charity without counting those distributions as income. The provision can keep income low enough for an individual to qualify for other tax breaks that may have phase-out limits.
6. State and local sales tax. If you pay state or local income tax, you can deduct that amount from your federal taxes if you itemize. But if you live in a state like Florida or Texas that doesn't have income tax, you can't take advantage of that deduction. This provision allows you to deduct state sales tax if your state doesn't have sales tax or if the amount you paid in sales tax was higher than income tax. "You can use the IRS estimate based on your income and the state you live in to calculate what would be a normal sales tax deduction, and then you can add to that certain big-ticket items like a boat," says Mark Luscombe, principal analyst for the tax and accounting group at CCH. "In a given year, even if you have an income tax, you might want to check both if you've made some major purchases."
7. Electric vehicles. Consumers who buy a qualified electric plug-in vehicle may be eligible for a tax credit of up to $7,500 depending on the size of the car's battery pack. For instance, owners of the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf may be eligible for a $7,500 credit, while owners of the Ford Fusion Energi and C-MAX Energi are eligible for a $3,750 credit. Some lessees may be eligible for this credit as well.
8. Remodeling your home for energy efficiency. Homeowners who remodel for energy-efficiency can take a credit of up to $500 over their lifetime. This provision has existed since 2006, so many taxpayers have already used the credit. "It looks at your prior credits that you've taken so there is a little bit of a look back, and you may not get the full amount," Spritz says. There is a separate $500 credit available for energy-efficient appliances. If you haven't used the credit yet, there are still two months left to install new windows or buy an energy-efficient air conditioner.
Corrected on 11/05/2013: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated a tax credit would be available for energy-efficient washing machines.


Metros are delayed by up to 15 minutes system wide.
Passengers travelling on the Metro this afternoon are facing delays following two train failures.
Nexus, the provider of the Tyne and Wear Metro service, has confirmed that there are delays of up to 15 minutes system wide due to a track fault and the failed trains.
Passengers are advised to allow extra time for their journey.
A Nexus spokesman said: "There has been disruption to Metro services into South Shields on Friday afternoon due to some trains being taken out of service after they developed faults.
"This means there has been some gaps in the timetable but Metro is running to all destinations.
"Four of the ten extra trains we send out for the evening peak travel period are currently not running.
"This means that some services will be a bit busier than usual.


Sandy Creek Park intends today to embrace all things that slither.
The Sandy Creek Nature Center will play host to its 34th annual Snake Day from noon to 4 p.m.
The event will include live snakes, games, crafts, reptile hikes, presentations, face painting, food, a snake-themed photo booth, as well as guest speakers from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the Orianne Society and Bear Hollow.
"The most important thing about Snake Day is the interaction with and education of the public," said Program Specialist and Naturalist Michelle Cash, who has participated in three previous Snake Day programs.
"Snakes are some of the most misunderstood creatures," said program leader Carmen Champagne. "Snake Day lets people get up close to learn and see the snakes for what they really are."
More than 70 snakes, both venomous and non-venomous, will be brought to the event by exhibitors like the Georgia Reptile Society and UGA's Herpetological Club. Those snakes will include pythons, rattlesnakes, copperheads, king snakes, worm snakes and a few exotic snakes, according to Cash.
Athens is home to a wide variety of native snakes. It is vital that people are able to recognize basic characteristics of these reptiles and have an understanding of their ecological importance, Cash said.
This year's Snake Day itinerary will also include viewing the nature center's updated and expanded exhibit hall, which features the habitats of northeast Georgia.
In previous years, Snake Day has attracted nearly 800 people, and program coordinators are gearing up for an equally impressive turnout this year.
"We get all sorts of people coming in for Snake Day. Some love snakes, others are scared of them, but we want to educate everyone," said Cash.
The program's activities and presentations are designed for those 4 years old and older.
A $3 family admission fee will be charged for Athens Clarke-County residents. Non-county residents will be charged $5. There will be no charge for children under 3.
The Sandy Creek Nature Center is located at 205 Old Commerce Road off U.S. Highway 441 north of the Athens Perimeter.
Further event information can be found online by visiting the Special Events page at www.athensclarkecounty.com/sandycreeknaturecenter, or by calling the Sandy Creek Nature Center at (706) 613-3615.


RYLAN CLARK-NEAL stormed off the This Morning set over an old photograph of his ginger hair.
The TV presenter was telling Ruth Langsford and James Martin about new scientific gene research.
Apparently, Dutch scientists have discovered that the "ginger gene" is the secret to looking younger.
Rylan then lists off an array of red head celebrities, and little does the former ginger know, there's a gallery of the stars being shown behind him.
And at the end of the slideshow, an old childhood photograph is shown of the 27-year-old with ginger hair.
We love Rylan's HILARIOUS reaction, watch it for yourself.


On Monday I posed the question on the Fast Company blog “Who’s to Blame for the Digital Ceiling?".
On Monday I posed the question on the Fast Company blog “Who’s to Blame for the Digital Ceiling?“. Technology and social media change makers Lisa Stone of BlogHer, Shireen Mitchell of Social Media Women of Color, Amy Muller of Get Satisfaction, and Rashmi Sinha of SlideShare are not only transforming the way women, nonprofits, and consumers use the web, these inspiring women are putting cracks in the ceiling.
First up Lisa Stone, Co-Founder of BlogHer.
What Inspired Lisa To Start BlogHer?
In January of 2005, Kevin Drumm of The Washington Monthly asked a question that kept cropping up, “Where are all the women bloggers?” I didn’t want to just complain about the question, which was driving many women who blog crazy because there were so many of us, but I DID want to figure out a way that women blogging could showcase themselves. I’d been mulling the idea of a conference for women bloggers, but I wasn’t sure it would fly. I decided to go for it in February 2005 when I met Elisa Camahort Page and Jory Des Jardins. They loved the idea and we began asking other women who blog if they wanted to join in.
In Spring of 2005 we blogged about the BlogHer Conference idea, suggesting it as a network for all women bloggers to draw on for exposure, education, and community. We added economic empowerment to that mission after our first conference, where users told us they also wanted a better business model. That’s our goal – greater visibility and autonomy for individual women bloggers — and, ultimately, for the community of bloggers as a whole. Since we suggested the idea, other bloggers have been running with the idea, making it better and smarter. That’s how we grew to reach 14+ million women each month according to Nielsen.
Has The Social Media Landscape Changed?
I can tell you that no one asks “Where are the women bloggers?” anymore! In the past five years, women have not only become the majority of Internet users, but power users of social networks like Facebook and status update technologies like Twitter. Here’s the data: Of the 42 million American women who engage in social media every week, 55 percent of women participate in some form of blogging activity; 75 percent participate in social networks such as Facebook or MySpace and 20 percent use Twitter. As a result of this increased activity, our study found that women are online now more than ever.
I’ve had some terrific experience with men who are leaders in media and social media. David Siminoff invested in BlogHer when we decided two years ago that it was time to stop bootstrapping and really expand. People like Dan Gillmor, Dave Winer, Jay Rosen and David Hornik have always been incredibly collegial with advice, recommendations or just paying serious professional attention to what BlogHer’s trying to accomplish.
So I feel really fortunate — because at the same time, women in tech deal with the ongoing factor that women are just not invited to speak or attend conferences other than BlogHer in the same numbers and there’s what I’ll call the “round-up” target=”_blank”>pr0n factor“, the most recent example being the Golden Gate Ruby on Rails conference. Plus the fact that mainstream media has relegated women who blog to “mommy bloggers” or “other”, which is frustrating. My advice to myself and to other women whom this all drives crazy? Hey, we all know and work with people (including men!) who don’t play that way and never would. So focus on your product, build something extraordinary and successful that can be measured in metrics and/or revenues. It’s possible to earn the respect you’re looking for. Go for it!
Lisa’s Advice To Women Who Want To Launch Their Own Startups?
1. Ask your users, potential or existing, what they want. Don’t tell them. Look where that got the print newsrooms I used to work in.
2. Bootstrap for as long as you can before you consider outside funding. It gives you enormous insight and forward inertia, which will help you find the right people to invest who are enthusiastic about your actual business and real-live users. I will be talking about all of this in more detail during my session at Women Who Tech TeleSummit coming up on May 12th.


320 E. Millbrae Ave., 1 a.m. Thursday Deputies spotted a minivan without plates at the Chevron station and conducted a records check, found out the vehicle had been stolen in Oakland and arrested the 29-year-old Millbrae man in the back seat.
300 block of Union Avenue, 1 p.m. Oct. 19 A person arriving home was met by a strange male who had just taken a shower.
3500 block of South Bascom Avenue, 10 a.m. Oct. 19 Two people under the influence were arrested. They included a 36-year-old woman and a 37-year-old man with a hypodermic needle hidden between his buttocks.
200 block of East Campbell Avenue, 3:45 p.m. Oct. 19 A 47-year-old man accused of mentioning a gun when he threatened a co-worker was arrested by officers who found a loaded gun and packaged cocaine for sale in his vehicle.
600 block of East Campbell Avenue, Oct. 20 Officers arrested a 36-year-old man on probation for marijuana sales who had his son with him during a transaction. Child Protective Services responded to care for the boy.
600 block of Almarida Drive, 9:15 p.m. Wednesday A man peeking in the window of a residence took off when noticed by a person inside.
Sea Cloud Drive, 12:12 p.m. Oct. 19 Police arrested a Foster City man, 19, on felony vandalism and resisting arrest charges.
Cayman Lane, 6:58 p.m. Oct. 19 A male reporting a residential burglary was determined to have miscommunicated with his cleaning service.
Baffin Street, 9 a.m. Wednesday A vehicle last seen on Oct. 17 was reported stolen.
Selby Lane, 3:45 p.m. Oct. 19 A vandalism report was taken.
41200 block of Blacow Road, 1:43 a.m. Oct. 20 Police arrested a man, 58, who was wanted on an active warrant and had methamphetamine concealed beneath the sweatband on his hat.
25 Churchill Ave., 7:13 a.m. Oct. 19 A vehicle at Palo Alto Unified School District was burglarized.
El Camino Real, 12:55 p.m. Wednesday A person pointed out how elevator doors open and then close, how when the elevator goes up, the doors open up and then close, and when it goes down, it goes back up, down and up again all on its own. An officer responded. A vandalism report was taken.
Arbor Avenue, 6:26 p.m. Wednesday A resident returning home encountered a woman on a bike leaving the backyard. She was about 60 years old and had luggage on the back.
Miramontes Point, 7:10 a.m. Oct. 16 A laptop left unattended overnight night during a conference was stolen. Estimated loss was more than $1,200.
Mirada Road and North Cabrillo Highway, 10 p.m. Wednesday A driver seen brandishing a gun was pulled over and arrested for driving with a suspended license. The 19-year-old man”s weapon, a BB gun altered to appear real, was taken for destruction.
Newbridge and Mello streets, 9:12 a.m. Wednesday A 31-year-old Menlo Park man caught carrying a concealed weapon was cited and released.
400 block of Ivy Drive, 1:30 p.m. Wednesday An assault was reported.
Facebook Way and Willow Road, 6:59 p.m. Wednesday A cellphone was stolen.
Blossom Hill Road, 12:01 a.m. Oct. 19 A residence was burglarized.
Church Street, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 20 A vandalism incident occurred.
Chirco Drive, 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Oct. 20 A residence was burglarized.
Poplar Avenue, 9:30-10 p.m. Oct. 12 A female was approached from behind by a person who pulled her ponytail and caused her to fall.


(Reuters) - Bobby Wood converted a penalty kick late in the first half to give the United States a 1-0 win over Paraguay in a friendly in Cary, North Carolina on Tuesday.
The United States, who failed to qualify for this summer’s World Cup in Russia, fielded a youthful side but it was the 25-year-old Wood who got the goal, calmly scoring from the spot after Tyler Adams was tripped by Paraguay goalkeeper Gatito Fernandez.
Paraguay, who also missed out on qualification for Russia, improved after the break but were unable to find the equaliser.
Interim U.S. coach Dave Sarachan, who took the reins when Bruce Arena resigned in October, said the match was a good opportunity for some of the squad’s younger players to gain some international experience.
Only two of the Americans’ starting 11 were over 25.
“The kids have got to start somewhere and this was a good game to get their feet wet,” Sarachan was quoted as saying by the New York Times.
Sarachan singled out 19-year-old Tyler Adams for praise.


Website owners can now see how much traffic they get from Discover.
Google has added data from Google Discover to its Search Console. This means website owners can now see how much traffic they are getting from Discover.
Discover is essentially “searchless” traffic from Google. It shows content to people in the Google app, on Google.com’s mobile home page and on Pixel phones.
Much like search, the goal is to show content to people who will find it relevant. By adding the data to Google Search Console, site owners can now see which of their content is getting the most traffic and the highest click-through rates from Discover. This should help them produce more successful content.
For example, my story about Alpnames shutting down last month had over 5,000 Google Discover clicks on roughly 53,000 impressions.
Based on the data in my account and Google’s stated goal of Discover, it seems that content that gets the most clicks leads to more impressions. I suspect Google is also monitoring interaction with the content much as it does with clicks in search results.
New feature will combine different domain name variations.
Google is introducing a new concept called “domain properties” to its Google Seach Console.
Website owners use Google Search Console to get insight into their Google search traffic including keyword data, spidering and links. The search giant asks site owners to add all possible variations of their main URL to the service: http, https, www, non-www, m. (people are still doing that?) etc.
But this makes it hard to see all of your site’s data in one location. Enter domain properties, which combines all of these versions of the site into one for easy consumption. A domain property includes all protocols, subdomains, and paths.
Google will automatically create domain properties within the next few weeks for site owners with DNS verification set up.


Some financial industry figures could face criminal charges for breaking laws during the financial crisis and ensuing recession, according to a bipartisan commission appointed by Congress to probe the matter.
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission has referred several cases to either state or federal authorities for potential prosecution, two sources involved in the deliberations tell the Huffington Post.
"Though civil charges appear a more likely outcome should prosecution result, one source familiar with the panel's deliberations said criminal charges should not be ruled out."
The commission, created in 2009, is working to determine the causes behind the financial crisis and can hand over evidence of any wrongdoings to authorities if it finds any.
The panel hasn't been free of partisan politics.
Republicans on the panel tend to blame government housing policies for dragging down the financial sector and ultimately, the economy with it, according to Reuters.
Democrats, on the other hand, want to focus on "shadow banking," or unregulated financial firms, and securitization of private mortgage debt.
The panel plans to release its report on the matter Thursday.
A spokesman for the commission wouldn't comment on the matter.
"I cannot comment on the commission's report or its activities until (Thursday) January 27th," spokesman Tucker Warren tells the Huffington Post.


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No. 3 UCLA finished the preseason undefeated, leaving the Bruins and fellow Pac-12 team No. 1 Washington as the only remaining undefeated teams in the NCAA.
UCLA (24-0) swept past Michigan State (10-11), San Jose State (15-9), Boston University (8-12), Ohio State (14-2) and Long Beach State (19-7) in the Louisville Slugger Invitational, outscoring their opponents 47-7.
The Bruins won via the mercy rule in four of their five games this weekend, which has been a theme throughout the preseason. Thirteen of the 24 games played by the Bruins have ended early.
Friday’s doubleheader ended with a pair of five-inning, 10-0 victories over Michigan State and San Jose State.
Nine different batters had a base hit for the Bruins against the Spartans, seven of whom drove in a run.
Freshman Holly Azevedo and Rachel Garcia – who was named National Fastpitch Coaches Association Player of the Week and USA Softball Co-Player of the Week – both picked up a pair of victories over the weekend.
Garcia picked off where she left off last week going 2-for-2 with a walk against San Jose State, adding a game-sealing home run, two RBIs and three runs scored, while also pitching a complete game and allowing just one base hit.
The mercy-rule streak continued Saturday as UCLA defeated Boston 10-2 in six innings.
The Bruins only managed one extra base hit, a double by junior third baseman Brianna Tautalafua, yet still managed to score 10 runs. The Terriers committed one throwing error and threw four wild pitches, helping the Bruins tack on runs.
Azevedo gave up two earned runs in six innings, allowing six hits, walking three and striking out one.
After giving up a pair of singles in the second and failing to record an out on a fielder’s choice, the bases were loaded with one out and UCLA up 4-0.
Boston would score a run on a wild pitch from Azevedo before the freshman stranded two, recording a ground out and flyout to end the inning with runners on second and third. The Terriers left eight runners on base.
Sunday presented UCLA with the opportunity to square off against ranked opponents before Pac-12 play.
No. 16 Ohio State held the No. 3 UCLA lineup to five hits yet still managed to lose 11-0.
The Bruins were up early after freshman shortstop Briana Perez blasted a two-run home run in the second inning.
UCLA then scored eight runs in the fifth to secure their fourth consecutive mercy-rule victory. The Buckeyes self-imploded, giving up a double, walking five, hitting two batters, tossing a wild pitch and surrendering a pair of RBI singles within the inning.
Senior Selina Ta’amilo pitched a complete game, giving up two hits and striking out two in five innings of work.
The final game of the invitational proved to be the toughest as the Bruins squared off against the host, No. 21 Long Beach State.
The 49ers got on the board in the first, hitting a two-out RBI single off of Garcia.
UCLA responded with a five-run fifth inning that began with a bases loaded walk drawn by right fielder Julie Rodriguez. Freshman designated player Malia Quarles hit a deep sacrifice fly to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead.
A pair of singles from Perez and Washington pushed UCLA up 5-1 before Long Beach State got a run back in the bottom of the inning.
Freshman Aaliyah Jordan then hit a solo home run toward left center that would end up counting for the decisive run since the 49ers got three runs back on a pair of doubles in the sixth inning.
The Bruins missed an opportunity to add insurance runs in the top of the seventh, loading up the bases with one out, but failing to drive any in.
The 49ers went out quietly in the bottom of the seventh as Garcia shutout Long Beach State, pitching a complete game pushing UCLA to 24-0 for the season.
UCLA opens up conference play at Oregon on Friday.


If you wanted to walk into the IRS office in Medford right now, you couldn’t because of the government shutdown, leaving many confused about how to file their taxes this year.
MEDFORD, Ore. -- If you wanted to walk into the IRS office in Medford, you couldn’t because of the government shutdown, leaving many confused about how to file their taxes this year. Because of this and the new tax laws, agent Patrick Hurley of Hurley’s Tax Services said he's already added about 20 new clients to his list.
"You cannot even make a phone call or send a contact for any information so you're almost forced to deal with the tax professional," Hurley added.
Since the IRS is closed, Hurley can't even give them a call or send certain documents over for clients. By the end of this tax season Hurley expects to see about 150 extra clients, all full of questions about how to file their taxes this year. Despite the shutdown, the IRS will be processing returns. The partial government shutdown isn't the only thing causing some confusing this tax season, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act President Trump signed at the end of 2017 is also adding some confusion.
"People are going to be shocked seeing the new different things and when they try to do that themselves who are they going to talk to? You're not going to be able to make a phone call to the IRS."
The new law eliminates all personal exemptions, most itemized deductions and doubles the standard deduction. So Hurley recommends hiring an agent to help file this year.
"Because of the new complex laws, nobody really knows what to expect yet…It's going to make it difficult there are no promises up there. Easy returns will get through quickly. The more complex returns will take more time."
You can find important deadlines here.


Coke and Pepsi are taking their 87-year-old fizz fight into space, with NASA playing referee.
So far, space agency insiders say, the experience has been less than refreshing.
Because of a compromise reached after weeks of highly sensitive legal negotiations, both beverages are expected to be aboard the shuttle Challenger during its weeklong science mission that begins Friday.
Each soft drink will be in its company's can designed especially for dispensing during weightlessness. The Pepsi can must still pass final tests at Johnson Space Center in Houston but NASA spokesman Brian Welch said no problems are likely.
The shuttle pantry will be supplied with four cans of each soft drink in what is intended as a test of the can technology and a way of giving astronauts more thirst-quenching choices. They now are limited to powdered drinks.
Carbonated beverages have not been carried on the shuttle because no special containers were available to control and dispense the bubbly liquids in zero gravity.
Still, one problem remains. The shuttle has no refrigerator. Never has, never will, as they say in ads for that other soft drink.
"There's really not been a demonstrated need for it," Welch said. Cold and hot water is available, he said.
Coke "was not meant to be consumed warm," said company spokesman Mark Preisinger in Atlanta. However, the cans will be wrapped in insulation to keep down the temperature.
Pepsi tastes better cold, but is refreshing no matter how you drink it, said company spokeswoman Rebecca Madeira in New York.
For its part, NASA is more worried about technology than taste, preferring research over refreshment.
If either or both soft drink cans work well, NASA has retained the legal right to use them in the future, filled with whatever drink the agency chooses.
The flight is a test and "it's not like a matter of astronauts going up there to recline and enjoy the beverage," Welch said.
The Coca-Cola Co. likes to think of the flight in terms of prestige.
"We have had a history of being an innovator in the soft drink industry," and putting Coke in space is another example of that, said Preisinger.
There won't be a big demand for Coke on shuttle flights, but the company is interested in serving the potential market aboard a space station or other space ventures, he said.
The Coke can, which the company said cost $250,000 to develop, looks like a regular 12-ounce can with a special top that includes a drinking spout and valve switch. It dispenses the liquid using a lever that works like a plunger. Pepsi's can is "quite different," but also uses a standard size can with a dispensing valve on top, Madeira said. A pouch inside contains individual pouches of citric acid and sodium bicarbonate.
The acid and sodium mix when the dispensing valve is pressed. That causes the larger pouch to expand with carbon dioxide and fill the void as the liquid is consumed, she said.
Pepsi has been talking to NASA about a space can for at least two years, she said. The technology cost $14 million to develop, but it has other applications for the company.
Like Coke, Pepsi wants to get into space "to be competitive," Madeira said.
For NASA, the soft drink issue first bubbled over in May.
On May 8, Coca-Cola distributed pictures and an announcement that it had developed a space can to be tested on the shuttle as early as July. NASA said then that there had been no final agreement.
Agency sources said the soft drink company had hoped to put the can on a mission in April to coincide with the announcement of the change in Coke's recipe.
Neil Hosenball, NASA's general counsel in Washington, said he was angered when the company went public with the shuttle experiment before reaching a final agreement with NASA. He said he "fired off a letter" to Coca-Cola.
The space agency, which is prohibited from endorsing products, did not want to show a preference for any soft drink.
In late June, NASA announced an agreement with Coke to use the soft drink and its can in July. Five days later, NASA announced that Pepsi had signed up for the same mission.
"It's not impossible," said Welch, that NASA could dispense Coke from Pepsi's can or vice versa.
Meanwhile, NASA says other soft drink companies "are welcome" to devise different containers for shuttle testing.


Congresswoman Ilhan Omar at an event for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Photo: Lorie Shaull via Wikicommons.
Could the intense and outraged reaction to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s tweet be the key to reforming The New York Times’ coverage of Israel and Jewish topics?
When Omar tweeted recently suggesting that Jewish campaign contributions had swayed America’s Middle East policy, nearly everyone seemed to agree she had crossed some important line.
Omar herself eventually said, “I unequivocally apologize,” though she did proceed in her next sentence to complain about the “problematic” role of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which she likened to the National Rifle Association and the fossil fuel industry.
Yet the “anti-Semitic trope” for which Omar was widely condemned, the claim that American support for Israel is financially motivated — “it’s all about the Benjamins baby,” as Omar put it in a reference to the $100 bills featuring Benjamin Franklin’s portrait — is a consistent feature of New York Times news and opinion articles. Here are just a few recent examples.
The New York Times used to have a brand campaign promoting its help-wanted classified advertising, “I got my job through the New York Times.” In this case, Omar could have legitimately claimed, “I got my anti-Semitic tropes through the New York Times.” Perhaps if the Times news and opinion articles were greeted with the same waves of outrage that Omar’s tweet was, the newspaper would back off.
The different reaction may suggest that Omar is being singled out for severe criticism for some other reason. Or it may just be that the Times has been so bad on these issues for so long that at this point, no one other than perhaps me and my readers even expects the paper not to spread anti-Jewish myths. Perhaps, at this point, the Times has lost so much credibility that no one takes the paper at all seriously when it does spread such anti-Jewish myths. Either way, the Omar episode is an excellent opportunity for the pro-Israel community to consider revisiting its approach to the way the Times covers these issues.


The mediated deal is expected to bring some work that was contracted out back in-house.
Legal Aid Saskatchewan and the union representing its employees say they have reached a deal to resolve issues related to the government agency’s Saskatoon office, the restructuring of which sparked controversy this summer.
In a joint news release issued Tuesday, Legal Aid and Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 1949 said the Nov. 22 agreement will bring some work that was previously contracted out back in-house, and create a mechanism for reviewing issues.
“This agreement is a positive move for Legal Aid Saskatchewan and will increase staffing levels at the Saskatoon office,” CUPE Local 1949 President Wanda Towstego said in a statement on Tuesday.
Legal Aid Saskatchewan CEO Craig Goebel added that the mediated agreement will help the organization move forward and take advantage of opportunities to improve service for its clients.
The agreement also resulted in the union withdrawing an unfair labour practice complaint filed against Legal Aid management.
The controversy began in June when the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reported that the agency planned to lay off some Saskatoon staff and contract out hundreds of recent arrest files, known as “duty counsel” work, to members of the private bar.
Concern about the changes grew over the summer, with some private lawyers and one provincial court judge speaking out. The Saskatchewan NDP also raised the issue at news conferences and in the provincial legislature.
According to the news release, the settlement was mediated by William Vancise, a retired justice of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.


Upon learning that their credit card information might have been compromised, many of the nation's 40 million Target shoppers took action by cancelling their cards or contacting their banks and credit card companies. Unfortunately, people do not have the same option if their personal information is hacked at the Obamacare website.
"The difference is that Target notified consumers when a breach occurred, but the scary part here is that [Obamacare] consumers are not necessarily going to be told that their personal information has been breached," says Tom Flanigan, press secretary for Republican Rep. Diane Black of Tennessee.
"No one is forced to shop at Target, but they are forced to participate in the exchanges and to input very personal health information," Flanigan tells Newsmax.
Alarmed by ongoing reports of security lapses, Black has introduced the Federal Exchange Data Breach Notification Act of 2013, which would require the federal government to notify individuals if their personal information has been exposed or compromised.
In a statement announcing the measure, Black said her concerns have grown as tech experts "repeatedly raised red flags about the security of the information people are putting into the [Obamacare] exchanges."
"Americans deserve this basic notice so that they can protect themselves from cyber-attacks and identity theft. Most state-run exchanges are subject to laws that guarantee this notice, and the federal government imposes these same rules on the private sector, yet they have gone out of their way to avoid imposing this basic diligence on their own Obamacare exchange," Black said.
The Obama administration and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius have publicly boasted about the improvements in the efficiency of Healthcare.gov, but the progress report issued at the beginning of December by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) contained no references to fixes to the widely reported security gaps on the website.
"There is an astonishing lack of required accountability for the federal government, regardless of whether the breaches are accidental, as most seem to have been, or intentional. This was an issue that was raised when HHS was putting together rules for the exchange, but they decided they were not going to do that," Eric Boehm of Watchdog.org tells Newsmax.
As Boehm noted in a recent article, there was a proposal offered to strengthen security measures prior to approval of the final rules for the exchanges were approved on March 27.
In that meeting, two individuals suggested taking steps to "ensure the exchanges would promptly notify affected enrollees in the event of a data breach or unauthorized access to the exchange's databases," Boehm wrote.
HHS responded that they had no plans "to include the specific notification procedures in the final rule. Consistent with this approach, we do not include specific policies for investigation of data breaches in this final rule."
In order to remedy the situation, Boehm says, HHS would have to devise and implement a specific department policy requiring disclosure to consumers of breaches, or an act of Congress.
Flanigan tells Newsmax that Black will be "pushing really hard with leadership" to move the bill forward after the Christmas break.
The importance of addressing the security risks was underscored by David Kennedy, a cyber-security expert, who told CNBC that while the website may be functioning more efficiently, adequate security fixes have not been made.
"You're trying to rush to keep the website — the front-end that we see every day — up-and-running. Unfortunately when you do that and you don't do any testing around that, you introduce new exposures," said Kennedy on SquawkBox.
According to a report released by TrustedSec, the average number of hacking events per at one International Fortune 500 company was 232 attacks a day during 2012, but the report noted the company had a "much smaller footprint and profile, and less publicity than the healthcare.gov website."
"Additionally, basic reconnaissance was performed on the Healthcare.gov website, and it appears that there are little to no preventative measures in place to stop attackers from hitting the website continuously, nor detect attackers," said the report.
In interviews conducted with HHS officials, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee learned that since the October 1 launch of Healthcare.gov, at least two "high findings"
On Minnesota's exchange, MNsure, an unencrypted file was inadvertently sent to the wrong individual. Up to 2,400 people had their private health information placed at risk when an employee with the exchange accidently sent information included in an Excel document to insurance broker Jim Koester.
Koester told The Minnesota Star Tribune said he was not immediately concerned but "the more I thought about it, the more troubled I was. What if this had fallen into the wrong hands? It's scary. If this is happening now, how can clients of MNsure be confident their data is safe?"
In November, the Oregonian reported that Cover Oregon officials committed three personal data breaches in three days. The cause of the problem apparently involved the processing of the paperwork, which included the use of a shared printer to print out individual claims. Cover Oregon is only processing paper applications because the exchange website is not able to enroll people yet.
Justin Hadley, who logged on to the North Carolina exchange to determine his eligibility, received information about two separate individuals from South Carolina.


Dozens of Palestinians have been shot by Israeli troops while collecting rubble.
Three Palestinians have been shot and injured by Israeli troops in recent days while collecting rubble near the Gaza Strip's border with Israel.
Many young Palestinians scour the area to gather the bricks and stones from demolished homes to sell to help them scratch out a living.
A UN report says that at least 25 Palestinians have been killed and scores of others injured by Israeli gunfire along the border since last year. Doctors say about one-third of the victims are under the age of 18.
Human rights groups in Gaza and Israel have threatened to launch a legal challenge over what they describe as Israeli violations of the buffer zone.
Al Jazeera's Nadim Baba reports from Beit Hanoum in Gaza.


Notes: Introductory Seminar. Preference to first-year students; sophomores admitted if space available. Advance sign-up process and deadlines at http://introsems.stanford.edu. This class section has been cancelled!


When eight-year-old Jessica Jordaan returned home from De Villiers Primary on Monday afternoon, a pile of bricks lay in place of the house where she had lived all her life.
Jessica’s mother Christolene and her aunt Poppie Jafta, carrying one-year-old Dirkie on her hip, stood guard over the family’s possessions. These had been dumped outside the gates of Wonderfontein Wineries.
Last night the family of five slept “among the bushes”.
But farm manager Henk van Niekerk has lashed out at the family, saying that their own stubbornness is to blame for their homelessness. He and the farm’s attorney, Hannes du Bois, assured GroundUp that the family were offered alternative accommodation long before the court application for an eviction was started.
The eviction process followed the letter of the law, said Du Bois.
“The family had no right to be there in the first place,” he said.
Du Bois sent GroundUp correspondence with the family, from June 2013, in which alternative housing was offered. Furthermore, Du Bois and Van Niekerk claim that the current occupants only moved into the house last year after their father, Dirk Mastrick, who had worked on the farm since 1983, died. They had never worked there, and had no claim to the land, he said.
Christolene (25) and her brother Izak (32) also denied any knowledge of an offer for alternative accommodation. Whatever the case, the reality is that two children – one aged eight, the other aged one – spent the night outside.
No emergency housing has been made available by the Langeberg municipality, which suffers from a perpetual housing backlog.
GroundUp could not source comment from the municipality at the time of publication.
This article was originally published on GroundUp, a community journalism project.


Little known fact. There are actually more film festivals per year in San Francisco than there are days. And here’s another one. The ATA Film and Video Festival happens this week.
It starts Wednesday with a free workshop on experimental film exhibition and distribution. Thursday and Friday feature two programs of short works: “Specters & Machines” and “Stories we tell ourselves.” There will also be musical performances and art installations.
Need I say more? I plan to be camped out around the “mental/sexual situations” booth if you want to say hi or are looking for a comatose guy’s shoes to steal.
I make a lot of really impressive films but they’re so experimental I never screen or distribute them. Instead I dip them in scented oils and hang them on mobiles above my bed. This way my own creative energy can drip into my body while I sleep. Help keep my dreams alive with paypal donations. Thanks!


The Latest In The Russia Inquiry: Are Indictments Imminent? Some news organizations are reporting — but NPR hasn't confirmed — that special counsel Robert Mueller has secured his first indictment. Other developments in the Russia probes are expected this week.
The Latest In The Russia Inquiry: Are Indictments Imminent?
Some news organizations are reporting — but NPR hasn't confirmed — that special counsel Robert Mueller has secured his first indictment. Other developments in the Russia probes are expected this week.
Let's turn now to the Russia investigation. All eyes today are on a federal court in Washington, D.C. That is where Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team of prosecutors have been presenting evidence to a grand jury, and we could be on the brink of a major development in this investigation. NPR's Ryan Lucas has been following this, and he's in our studios. Hey, Ryan.
GREENE: So what could, in theory, happen today?
LUCAS: Well, Special Counsel Robert Mueller of course is the man leading the investigation into Russia's interference in last year's election.
LUCAS: A big part of his probe is the question of coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia, so did folks within Trump's orbit work with Russians to try to win the 2016 presidential race? Now, Mueller has been using a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., since August. And on Friday night, CNN reported that the grand jury has handed down its first indictment in the Russia probe. Now, NPR has not independently confirmed that. According to CNN, there's no word on who the target is or what the charges are, but CNN and a couple of other media outlets say anyone charged could be taken into custody as early as today.
GREENE: Which, the idea of someone being taken into custody and an indictment, that could be a significant development here, right?
LUCAS: Most definitely. And usually in an instance like this we would learn the identity of the person being charged and what those charges are. In this case those details could shed light on the direction that Mueller's probe is going. One thing that's important to remember here, though, is that Mueller has the authority to investigate not just the so-called collusion question but really any matters that may arise during the course of his investigation. So the charges that may come down today could be totally unrelated to Russia. They could be instead related to, say, allegations of money laundering or lobbying. Remember that there have been a number of people within Trump's orbit who, you know, there are questions about lobbying work they did on behalf of foreign clients, including foreign governments.
Now, the other thing is that the indictment is also likely an indication that Mueller and the whole Russia question, the whole Russian investigation is not going to go away anytime soon. And that, of course, is what the White House would like to see happen.
GREENE: Well, and a lot of people are trying to figure out what President Trump was up to over the weekend. He was tweeting a lot, which is certainly not out of the ordinary over a weekend or at all, but I'm trying to figure out if he might know something or if he was tweeting maybe about this stuff because of, you know, as a sign of what's to come.
LUCAS: Well, the president has said for quite some time that the Russian investigation is a witch hunt. That's his term for it. And he says it's organized by Democrats, of course, to kind of hamstring his presidency. On Sunday he did fire off a whole series of tweets that appear to take aim at Mueller and the investigation. He said that he's never seen such, and I quote here, "anger and unity" - all caps - among Republicans about a bunch of issues related to Hillary Clinton, including her emails. He said that the Democrats are using this as a, quote, "terrible and bad for our country witch hunt for evil politics." Republicans are fighting back, he said, and then he added, there is so much guilt by Democrats/Clinton, and now the facts are pouring out. In all caps, "do something."
I have to add one more thing, though, and that's that his lawyer said in a statement that same day that the president's comments are unrelated to the Special Counsel's activities.
GREENE: (Laughter). They're just tweets. He's just tweeting, is the message. And just really briefly, I mean, any idea who could be charged? Any speculation about that?
LUCAS: There's a ton of speculation out there. Some say former campaign Chairman Paul Manafort, who's clearly been a focus of the investigation. The FBI served a search warrant on his home earlier this summer. Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is another idea. But it could be somebody else entirely. Smaller fish, so to speak, and then investigators work their way up the chain.
GREENE: All right. NPR's Ryan Lucas. Ryan, thanks a lot.


Duane Jones told the station his son, Melvin, was supposed to pick him up at the airport Thursday and the two were going to the Sun Bowl game, but he never showed.
The San Antonio Express News reports that the Army now considers Mathis AWOL, but Jones won’t be considered AWOL until January because he was on leave.
The newspaper reports the two men must be AWOL for 30 days before the military will begin searches.
KTSM reports Mathis is Asian American, 5-feet 3-inches tall and weighs about 120 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. Jones is black, 5-feet 3-inches tall, weighs about 130 pounds and has dark hair with hazel eyes.
Anyone with information is asked to call the El Paso Police Department at 915-832-4400.


PHILIPPINE SEA (Sept. 16, 2018) The Arlieigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) and the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) fire SM-2 missiles during exercise Valiant Shield 2018. Valiant Shield is a U.S. only, biennial field training in blue-water environment. This training enables real-world proficiency in sustaining joint forceds through detecting, locating, tracking, and engaging units at sea, in the air, on land, and in cyberspace, in response to a range of mission areas. (U.S. Navy video by Mass Communications Specialist 2nd Class Sarah Myers) Released by Lcdr. Matt Knight, CTF-70 Public Affairs.


Camera IconA new poll has revealed SA-BEST leader Nick Xenophon may not win his own seat at the SA election.
Nick Xenophon might not win his own seat at the South Australian election, a new poll has revealed, as the state's political leaders continue their final push of the four-week campaign.
In an Advertiser-Galaxy poll of 590 voters in the seat of Hartley, incumbent Liberal MP Vincent Tarzia leads the SA-BEST party leader 51 to 49 per cent in the two-party preferred vote.
Mr Tarzia also polled the highest primary vote at 38 per cent, ahead of Mr Xenophon on 30 per cent and Labor candidate and former minister Grace Portolesi on 22 per cent.
Mr Xenophon called Saturday's election a "two-horse race" and appealed to voters to consider where their preferences will be directed.
"My message to Labor and Greens voters is that if they vote for Labor or the Greens in the seat of Hartley they'll effectively be delivering the seat to the Liberals and to Mr Marshall," he said.
He said it was premature to comment on how the party would operate if he failed to win Hartley.
"There'll obviously need to be a parliamentary leader if I don't make it, but I'm not contemplating that," Mr Xenophon said.
The former federal senator on Tuesday revealed a plan to "drought-proof" South Australia by pledging $20 million to develop a state-wide stormwater plan, should SA-BEST win balance of power.
"As the driest state in the driest continent we have an obligation to ourselves to tackle a world water shortage before it happens," Mr Xenophon said.
The Liberals offered up a major funding commitment of their own - a $16 million pledge to extend outreach palliative care services to 24-hours, seven days a week and a promised a statewide review of all palliative care programs.
In Mr Marshall's electorate of Dunstan, Premier Jay Weatherill campaigned with local Labor candidate Matt Loader - though the Advertiser-Galaxy poll suggests the opposition leader has little to worry about.
In the two-party preferred vote, the poll has Mr Marshall leading Mr Loader, a former federal candidate, 53 to 47 per cent.
Earlier in the day, the premier promised at least 90 per cent of work on Labor's major infrastructure projects would be completed by South Australians.
"Our infrastructure agenda will create thousands of jobs, and today, I am guaranteeing that South Australians will get the vast majority of that work," he said.
A re-elected Labor government has committed to a $2 billion pipeline of major infrastructure projects.