February 14 -- Valentine's Day -- is a day to honour love and honour those loved ones who have passed onto the Spirit world.
It can be a painful time filled with memories and grief, but also a time to unite together to demonstrate how much we honour the presence of others in our lives -- even if they no longer alive.
So on this day to honour love, marches were held across Canada -- Vancouver, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Toronto, London and Montreal -- on the national day of action for justice for murdered and missing Indigenous women. A national day of action which -- to quote Che Guevera -- is driven by a state of love for our community's women and all the caring and wisdom they represent.
First Nations communities across Canada have been carrying the burden of this sadness for generations as they have walked this trail of grief. They are stepping out of the shadows and coming forward. First Nation communities and the allies demand that these murders and the disappearances stop.
According to research conducted under the Native Women Association of Canada's (NWAC) Sisters in Spirit program, over 580 Indigenous women have been murdered or gone missing, most of them over the last 30 years.
I concede that the number is much higher as Gladys Radek from Walk4Justice estimates over 3,000 women are known to have gone missing or been murdered in Canada since the 1970s, with at least 80 per cent of these women being from First Nations.
Two years ago, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women issued this statement: "Hundreds of cases involving aboriginal women who have gone missing or been murdered in the past two decades have neither been fully investigated nor attracted priority attention."
It is unclear how Canada's recent ratification of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples will improve matters.
On another front, on Sept. 27, 2010, the Lieutenant Governor issued an Order in Council establishing the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry to be led by former B.C. attorney general, Commissioner Wally Oppal, with the conduct of the investigations made between Jan. 23, 1997 and Feb. 5, 2002, by police forces in British Columbia in respect to women reported missing from the Downtown Eastside of the City of Vancouver.
"I'd like to say to you today, Commissioner Oppal, that I believe your biggest challenge is to produce a report that cannot be ignored, nor forgotten, nor dismissed. It must be a report that addresses the deeply disturbing and egregious wrongs done by our society to the most defenseless people in our community. Your report must have built-in mechanisms that ensure its active follow up. All of us as witnesses, experts, victims, families, friends and advocates must compel you to issue a report that is bullet proof, hard hitting and will cause shock waves as to what went wrong and why."
"The Assembly of First Nations continues to urge the Federal government to work collaboratively with Indigenous and women's organizations on an action plan focused on prevention and the safety and security of Indigenous women."
The national feelings ran deep.
Angela Marie MacDougall of the Battered Women's Support Services, stated at the Vancouver Downtown East Side rally that, "this is the most pressing social issue of our time."
In Ottawa, there was a rally to protest the Federal government's funding cut announced on Oct. 29, 2010 to Sisters in Spirit program by the Native Woman's Association of Canada (NWAC).
In Toronto, people gathered at a Toronto police headquarters for the 6th annual No More Silence march to partake in a Strawberry (Heartberry) Ceremony before marching to the coroner's office.
Demonstrators held placards with the names of murdered and missing women, including a placard for Carolyn Connolly who was murdered on Aug. 2, 2001 in Toronto. No one was been charged with her murder.
In London, there was a march through the city centre in support for justice for murdered and missing Indigenous women. Darlene Ritchie from the At lohsa Native Family Healing Services told the crowd, "It's your little sister, your daughter, your granddaughter, your cousin, all of them missing...Their lost legacies and the potential legacies of their children are immeasurable."
In Vancouver, on the 20th anniversary of this memorial march, children laid red and yellow rose petals along the walk; the red roses honoured the dozens of women who have been murdered in the Downtown Eastside, the yellow roses were in memory of the women who are still missing.
The marches for missing and murdered Indigenous women began its legacy in British Columbia in 1991 in response to the murder of a woman on Powell Street in Vancouver.
The most recent disappearance appears to be that of 23-year-old Nikita Jack, who, according a press release released just yesterday, went missing on Feb. 10, 2011, from her Surrey, B.C. residence. She was reported missing by her family on Feb. 12, 2011, with her parents stressing she would never leave her three-year-old daughter.
The first question that comes to my mind: How would I feel if I had a daughter who went missing? What if my sister simply disappeared? Or my mother or auntie vanished?
It's a painful but necessary question to ask. I pondered this question and others during Toronto's march and realized that all these missing Indigenous women is tantamount to genocide. Yes, that's an ugly word that makes most Canadians uncomfortable but please do not turn away.
How else do you account for such numbers? Almost 3,000 missing women since the 1970s? Let's be honest, if it were 3,000 white-skinned women, would the response to this epidemic of violence and death be different?
I know that's a hard question but we must answer honestly.
Even relying on the more modest statistics from NWAC, the list of missing and murdered native women in Canada grows: Out a total of 582 cases, 393 died as a result of murder or negligence. And 115 remain missing. Only 53 per cent of the cases involving native women was someone charged, whereas the average rate for charges in a homicide in Canada is 84 per cent.
Toronto's Aboriginal Missing & Murdered Women Awareness Conference March 3-4, 2011 at the Native Canadian Centre Toronto.
Krystalline Kraus writes the Activist Communique blog for rabble.ca.


The Justice Department approved the Banc One Corporation's $3.1 billion merger with the First Commerce Corporation of New Orleans today after the banks agreed to sell 25 Louisiana branches with $614 million in deposits. Banc One, based in Columbus, Ohio, agreed to sell First Commerce branches in Calcasieu, Lincoln, Ouachita, and Lafayette parishes to a competitively suitable buyer approved by bank regulators, the department announced. Banc One also agreed that it would not try to prevent other financial institutions from leasing or purchasing any bank branches it might close as a result of the merger.


US Presidents often reverse foreign policy; how will Trump handle setbacks?
Midnight on Sunday will mark a dividing line in the world of oil. Beyond that point, anyone unloading a tanker from Iran risks the full wrath of the US government.
While the US softened its crackdown on the Middle East’s third-biggest oil producer on Friday, allowing some trade to continue, exports are already slumping. Shipments have plunged 37 per cent since President Donald Trump announced that he’d reimpose sanctions, and once those penalties kick in on November 5, the overall supply disruption could become the biggest since Libya, erupted in civil war at the start of the decade.
“Iran’s oil exports are falling rapidly, and perhaps more and more in the weeks to come,” Fatih Birol, executive director at the International Energy Agency, said in a Bloomberg television interview.
The US will grant partial exemptions, known as waivers, to eight governments on condition that any purchases from Iran are at “greatly reduced levels,” Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said on Friday. But the Trump administration ultimately seeks to squeeze Iran’s sales towards “zero” -- potentially leaving a gap that even major producers like Saudi Arabia would struggle to fill.
US oil futures climbed to a four-year high near $77 a barrel last month on growing concerns there could be a shortage as sanctions bite deeper. Prices have since eased, aided by the US decision to allow waivers for India, Japan, South Korea and others. Nonetheless, significant risks remain.
Analysts don’t expect a complete halt, but there’s a growing consensus that Trump’s tough stance means crude exports will plunge further than during a previous round of sanctions under Barack Obama’s administration in 2012. Back then they were sliced in half to 1 million barrels a day, according to the IEA, which advises industrialized countries on energy policy.
This time, 1.1 million barrels a day have already been cut from Iran’s shipments -- a combination of crude and a light oil called condensate that was spared from curbs in 2012 -- according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Production hasn’t fallen as much as some output is going into storage. About 1.76 million barrels a day were exported in October, more than is pumped from the North Sea.
After Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sanctions, European governments vowed to try and preserve the agreement and find ways to continue trading. The region’s intake of Iranian crude has nonetheless wilted. Companies like Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc have halted purchases because the risk of being frozen out of the US financial system is simply too great.
China -- the leading importer of Iranian crude -- is still in discussions with the US on terms, but is among the eight countries permitted to keep buying Iranian oil, according to two people familiar with the discussions.
Iran says it’s confident sales will hold above 1 million barrels a day. Indeed, with US gasoline prices still relatively high and midterm elections just days away, Trump has some incentive to soften his offensive.
The impact of the sanctions has already been cushioned by other oil producers, notably some of Iran’s counterparts in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Saudi Arabia has increased production by 780,000 barrels a day since April, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The extent to which the kingdom can keep this up in the coming months depends on how many idle oil fields it’s able to tap. The IEA sees Saudi Arabia having about 1.3 million barrels a day of spare capacity. Others such as Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq could potentially squeeze out a little more as well.
If the US does, in the end, follow through on its strongest threats, choking off Iranian supplies entirely, that spare capacity could be completely exhausted, leaving almost nothing left to cover unexpected disruptions in other trouble spots.


After Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Mary Kom, get ready for yet another biopic on a sports person.
The first look of M S Dhoni is out, and Sushant Singh Rajput will play the celebrated cricketer.
Directed by Neeraj Pandey, the biopic will release next year.
The auspicious festival begins today and Amitabh Bachchan took to Twitter to wish his fans.
'Happy Navratri .. the shraad period is over and now time to celebrate 9 days of gaiety and dance,' Bachchan tweeted.
Sunny Leone has wrapped up the first shooting schedule of her upcoming film Mastizaade.
The film will also star Vir Das and Tusshar Kapoor.
Akshay Kumar, who recently finished shooting for Baby in Dubai, returned to Mumbai for his daughter's birthday.
'My favourite bald man @AnupamPkher and me on the plane rushing from the sandy desert in Abu Dhabi where the secrets of #Baby have been unravelled to our homes in Bombay so I can celebrate my daughter's 2nd Birthday with my family & friends and enjoy these precious moments of fatherhood. I wish my baby girl so much love & happiness, I don't know how to love more than this. The tired smile on my face shows how much I just want to get home right now,' Kumar wrote.
Filmmaker A R Murugadoss, who is currently working on his Tamil film Kaththi, celebrated his 36th birthday on the sets.
A 20-year-old man was mauled to death by a white Bengal tiger at a Delhi zoo, and Ranveena Tandon feels there should no zoos.
'With the whole tiger incident at Delhi zoos, brings to light that there should not be zoos, animals were born free, instead of spending money. Spending money on zoos and upkeep, spend that money against poaching and saving our forests and wildlife, preserving our environment,' Tandon wrote.
Actress Divya Dutta celebrates her birthday today.
Divya will be next seen in Rajesh Pillai's Traffic, which is a remake of a Malayalam film by the same name.
Salman Khan took to Twitter to wish his London Dreams co-star Ranvijay Singh for his latest film 3 AM.
'Remembering London dreams with the roadies rockstar @rannvijaysingha. Watch out for movie #3AM in cinemas tomorrow,' he tweeted.
The horror film also stars Anindita Nayar, Salil Acharya, and Kavin Dave.
She further wrote 'My naughty producer @KuunalGoomer n my hottie hero saahil shroff at shoot today' and added another picture.
'OBESSED! Khoob fan art is the bomb!!! I wanna see more!!!' she tweeted.


As the industry gathers at Advertising Week to compare notes on the latest industry developments, the 500-pound gorilla overshadowing the Manhattan event will, of course, be the troubled economy.
The bottom line for marketers and advertisers? Despite a few bright spots—including robust growth in ad spending in the BRIC countries and “Next 11” emerging markets—the outlook remains uncertain.
The most current numbers come today, when ZenithOptimedia releases its latest data about ad spending at the Advertising Week Financial Forecast session at noon. The Publicis media network found marketers are still spending—but not as strongly as could be expected after an economic downturn.
Indeed, even last year’s silver lining—Western companies avoiding capital expansion and added fixed costs, and investing in brand building—has reversed course. Ad spending, according to numbers from Jon Swallen, svp, research, Kantar Media North America, which did relatively well in 2010—up 5.1 percent in Q1, 5.4 percent in the Q2, 8.7 percent in Q3, and 7 percent in Q4—is seeing a real dip, with Q1 2011 down to 4.4 percent, and Q2, 2.8 percent. Additionally, spending increases for the top 100 advertisers has stalled.
Interpublic market research unit MagnaGlobal estimated in June that U.S. ad spending will climb 4.8 percent next year, but that projection is due in part to the additional $3 billion expected to be spent on political advertising and Olympic-related marketing.
Regardless, rising commodity prices and the cost of goods have put the squeeze on marketers, who want vendors to share the pain with lower fees.
More importantly, in the U.S., where consumer spending still accounts for about 70 percent of the GDP, consumer confidence is plummeting along with the economy, and new census and government data is compounding the bad news. Last week, for instance, the Labor Department reported that in 2010 consumers earned and spent less for a second straight year. Is that a reaction to a nasty cyclical downturn or a more fundamental shift as the American middle class—the backbone of the economy—increasingly gets squeezed?
Indeed, while financial observers debate whether the U.S. is headed for a double-dip recession, Americans already act as if it’s happened.


Above: You can use your fingerprint to unlock Benjilock.
Fingerprint sensors are spreading into more products, including the traditional padlock. BenjiLock is a new padlock that you can unlock with your fingerprint.
Los Angeles-based startup BenjiLock, which uses fingerprint recognition technology from partners, is an offline product. Robbie Cabral, CEO and founder of BenjiLock, said there’s no need to connect the lock to the internet. The fingerprint reader can store your print in its memory and recall it for recognition purposes. It’s a good example of how just the right amount of technology can make something more convenient for consumers without adding a ton of cost.
Cabral and his wife, Brach Cabral, have been working on the technology for a while. The lock will come in a variety of colors, like black, copper brass, and stainless steel.
What happens if you lose your finger? Well, you’ll have bigger problems, but you can open the lock with a fingerprint or a traditional key. It will come out in the third quarter of this year for about $80. I’d say that isn’t a bad price, considering how easy it is to lose a key or forget your locker combination. With BenjiLock, the key is literally at your fingertips.


The NBA Finals will take action Thursday night as the two-time defending champions Miami Heat take on the San Antonio Spurs.
San Antonio Spurs' top scoring guard Tony Parker will see action in crucial Game 5 despite hamstring injury against Miami Heat Sunday in San Antonio, Texas.
Memphis	- A Memphis restaurant owner insists it's not what it looks like when it comes to the Spurs star point guard being denied service.
San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker was not only at the Soho night club in New York with singer Chris Brown and friends when a brawl broke out with friends of singer Drake, but his eye was hurt in the melee.
Denver	- With both teams coming off road losses against Western Conference foes, the Denver Nuggets hosted San Antonio on Thursday night and discovered why the hottest team in the NBA is the Spurs, who cruised to a 114-99 win in the Mile High City.
Salt Lake City	- Hosting the Spurs on Monday, the Utah Jazz became the latest victim in San Antonio’s current string of last-second dramatics, a 106-102 affair which stretched the visitors win streak to 11, longest in the NBA this season.
Los Angeles	- Letting certain victory slip through their hands, literally, the Los Angeles Clippers watched the San Antonio Spurs win their 10th straight game, a hard-fought overtime battle before a stunned sellout crowd at the Staples Center, 103-100.
Toronto	- A day after Lin-sanity captivated the city, Toronto Raptors picked up the pieces after back-to-back heartbreaking losses to push another of NBA’s best to the limit.
Detroit	- After blowing a 15-point fourth quarter lead, the San Antonio Spurs were forced to battle back against the Detroit Pistons in hanging on for their eighth straight win, 99-95, on Tuesday night at the Palace at Auburn Hills.
Newark	- On a five-game losing streak, the New Jersey Nets hosted the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night, and watched as the visitors effortlessly rolled to a 103-89 win, their seventh in a row and longest active streak in the NBA.
Philadelphia	- At the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night, the Philadelphia 76ers hosted San Antonio and discovered what many teams are finding out the hard way as a surging Spurs defense carried the team to a 100-90 win on the road.
Memphis	- Overcoming questionable officiating late in the game, the San Antonio Spurs started their annual rodeo road trip in Memphis on Monday night and earned a hard-fought win over the Grizzlies, 89-84.
San Antonio	- Bringing their powerful one-two scoring duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook into San Antonio on Saturday night and the league’s best record, the Oklahoma City Thunder fell victim to Spurs point guard Tony Parker and his record-setting performance.
San Antonio	- Dragging the worst record in the Western Conference to San Antonio on Thursday night, the New Orleans Hornets took on theirs hosts, matching them basket for basket through three quarters before falling to a quickly improving Spurs defense, 93-83.
San Antonio	- Eva Longoria has taken “desperate” to a new level, altering a tattoo on the nape of her neck with the word “NINE” which referenced her ex-husband Tony Parker’s San Antonio Spurs jersey number, apparently a sign she’s on the rebound.
Orlando	- In their second game of a back-to-back on the road, the San Antonio Spurs came into Orlando with game-weary legs, and despite their winless road record this season, hung on for a hard-fought overtime victory, 85-83.
San Antonio	- The Phoenix Suns brought their three-game losing streak to San Antonio on Sunday night, only to face a double-double effort by the ageless Tim Duncan, and saw the Spurs stay perfect at home in a 102-89 win.
San Antonio	- Led by point guard Tony Parker’s near-flawless performance, the San Antonio Spurs got back on the winning track Wednesday night, hosting the Houston Rockets in a 101-95 overtime win.
San Antonio	- Playing their first game without injured Manu Ginobili, the San Antonio Spurs had to mount a furious fourth quarter rally to come from behind and defeat the Golden State Warriors Wednesday night, 101-95.
San Antonio	- In a thrilling Game 5 between San Antonio and Memphis, the Spurs rose to the challenge in a must-win game, with rookie Gary Neal draining the shot of the season at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime where the Spurs pulled away, 110-103.
Memphis	- On Monday night in Memphis, San Antonio was knocked out by a Grizzlies 14-0 run in the third quarter, and their lay-down effort, apparently new-style Spurs basketball, led to a 104-86 blowout loss giving Memphis a commanding 3-1 series lead.
Memphis	- The matchup between Memphis and San Antonio, now simply known as a bruising series, took a dramatic turn on Saturday night as the Grizzlies thumped the Spurs for their first-ever NBA post-season home court victory, a 91-88 crowd-pleaser.
Los Angeles	- With the last day of the regular season a day away, the Los Angeles Lakers and their five-game losing streak hosted the number-one seed San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night, eventually pulling away late in the fourth quarter for a 102-93 win.
Atlanta	- Hoping to secure the number one seed in the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs built a fourth quarter lead against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, and unlike recent performances, closed out the game with a 97-90 victory.
San Antonio	- On Friday night, the San Antonio Spurs showed their five-game losing streak to the Houston Rockets, and after playing to overtime, left town choking, gasping and out of air over their latest debacle, confirming they are unworthy of playing for the title.
San Antonio	- If losing four straight games was not enough drama for the San Antonio Spurs, they hosted Boston on Thursday night and in typical play of late, wilted in the second half, giving the game to the Celtics, 107-97, extending their losing streak to five.
San Antonio	- For the fourth game in a row, San Antonio blew a fourth quarter lead and on Monday against Portland watched the noose on home-court advantage in the playoffs get a bit tighter, falling 100-92, with four starters watching the game in street clothes.
Portland	- The Portland Trail Blazers hosted the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night and the drama-filled game included a team coming back from a fourth quarter double-digit deficit to defeat the reeling Spurs at the buzzer, 98-96.
Denver	- In a high-flying game between two playoff-bound teams that was heavy on scoring and light on defense, the Denver Nuggets hosted the San Antonio Spurs, and in a Western Conference battle decided in the closing seconds, Denver hung on for a 115-112 win.
San Antonio	- The San Antonio Spurs continued their winning ways against Golden State on Monday night with a 111-96 win, their twelfth straight win over the Warriors, and doing it without Tim Duncan who went down in the first quarter with a severe ankle sprain.


Calling all High School Musical fans!
You may get the chance to attend the world premiere of High School Musical 3: Senior Year!
On Tuesday Disney.com announced an online promotion sweepstakes that will give fans the opportunity to attend the world premiere of High School Musical 3: Senior Year and meet the Disney stars.
Beginning today through Sept. 1, the promotion–called U Rock the Summer on Disney.com– encourages visitors to download song clips and create videos to popular songs from top Disney artists including The Jonas Brothers, Jordan Pruitt, and The Cheetah Girls.
To win, fans must post their videos on the U Rock Web Site, www.Disney.com/URock to win.
Other prizes include meeting the Jonas Brothers and the Cheetah Girls and attending their concerts.
"With ‘U Rock the Summer’ we’re not just bringing great new video entertainment to Disney.com, we’re asking our millions of fans to become a part of our entertainment," said Paul Yanover, executive vice president and managing director, Disney Online.
"And we’re thrilled to be able to offer guests the chance to win prizes tied to the music and artists they are most passionate about."


Restoring sleep patterns could improve recovery after a serious brain injury.
It’s known that lack of sleep has been linked to anxiety, depression, and may increase the risk of Alzheimer’s. But researchers are now examining how insufficient sleep may be the onset to some of these psychiatric and neurological disorders, as opposed to merely a symptom.
So does lack of sleep qualify as a public health crisis? And if so, what kind of policy changes would be made to combat the crisis? What might a campaign for treating sleep deprivation look like? We discuss.


Mizzou ends TD drought, but can’t keep up with Prescott in 31-13 loss to Mississippi St.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Dak Prescott threw four touchdown passes and No. 24 Mississippi State got 100-yard receiving games from De’Runnya Wilson and Fred Ross in a rain-soaked 31-13 victory over Missouri on Thursday night.
The Bulldogs kicked it into gear after a heavy downpour stopped at halftime, turning a one-point game into a runaway with a 17-point third quarter that included two of Prescott’s TD throws.
Wilson had two touchdown receptions and Ross and Fred Brown had one each for Mississippi State (7-2, 3-2 Southeastern Conference), which has won four in a row to stay in contention in the SEC West. The Bulldogs pulled away without left tackle Rufus Warren, who injured his left leg late in the first half.
Prescott became the 10th player in SEC history with 10,000 yards of total offense after entering the game needing just 65. He was 27 for 40 for 303 yards and led the Bulldogs in rushing with 47 yards on 14 carries.
Russell Hansbrough’s 14-yard run late in the first half gave Missouri (4-5, 1-5) its first touchdown in four games. Kentrell Brothers forced a fumble and blocked a punt to set up a pair of field goals in the first half for the Tigers. They have lost four in a row for the first time since 2004.


Thomas Foster and Paul Hutchison have begun field officer training with RPD after graduating from the police academy.
RICHMOND, Ind. — Two Richmond Police Department officers have begun field officer training after their graduation from the police academy.
E. Thomas Foster and Paul Hutchison graduated Oct. 6 from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy program. Foster won academic honors for his performance during the session.
Both officers are now participating in local field officer training, where they ride with and are trained by experienced RPD officers. After the field officer training program, the officers will begin solo patrols in Richmond.
RPD has also announced several promotions recently.
Capt. Curt Leverton earned promotion from lieutenant, Lt. Aly Tonuc was promoted from sergeant and Sgt. James Doll received a promotion from patrol officer.
In addition, Det. Neal VanMiddlesworth and Det. Michael Wright earned their promotions to detective.
Mike Emery is a reporter for the Palladium-Item. Contact him at (765) 973-4466 or mwemery@pal-item.com.


BRADFORD Co., Pa (WENY) -- One person is dead following a car accident late Monday night.
Pennsylvania State Police say it happened at the intersection of Porter and Sylvania Roads in Columbia Township at around 8:45 p.m.
WENY News is told two vehicles were traveling in opposite directions when they crashed into one another, nearly head-on.
Police tell us the victim, a 26-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her name has yet to be released.
Police have not given any information on the condition of the other driver, a 26-year-old male.


CHARLESTON (AP) — Health officials in South Carolina say the number of deaths blamed on opioid use increased 47 percent over three years.
News outlets reported the South Carolina Opioid Emergency Response Team released its first annual report on Thursday.
That report shows the increase in deaths between 2014 and 2017. The task force was created in late 2017 by Gov. Henry McMaster.
Statistics from the Department of Health and Environmental Control show that Charleston County had the highest number of deaths from opioid use in 2017.
The 2018 figures are not yet available. But Charleston County Coroner Rae Wooten said there were about 90 opioid deaths in the county last year.
State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel says many of the task force efforts are just starting.


North Stander: Will lessons now be learned by Evans and his colleagues?
Relegation has been inevitable for a long time, but the awful reality is still utterly gut-wrenching.
Without doubt the lowest point in our club’s rich and glorious history.
I know there are no guarantees in football, but how can Ipswich Town be facing football in the third tier?
It’s simply not right – but it has happened, and now we all have to hope that painful lessons have been learned.
As we know, our current miserable plight is the legacy of a disastrous combination of a lack of investment by Marcus Evans and what many view as mistakes by the club’s hierarchy over a number of years.
I won’t go through the list – there are far too many blunders and missed opportunities.
The result is that we face third tier football for the first time in most fans’ lives.
But, I repeat the question, will lessons now be learned by Evans and his colleagues?
You would hope so, because the awful evidence of cause and effect is pretty obvious in our current, horrible situation.
The big positive is that they have something to build on.
Paul Lambert, despite dreadful results, has worked miracles in restoring the faith of the fans. There were extraordinary, emotional scenes after the final whistle on Saturday. How many relegated teams will get that kind of reception from their supporters?
Lambert just stood on the pitch, staring, hardly believing what he was seeing.
Our fans are a huge bonus in the rebuilding process.
Evans and co. must treasure the supporters, and do everything they can to keep them on board.
But, a word of caution. We have been here before, and the club messed up big-time.
Do you remember the end of the 2014-15 season, when we took on Norwich in the play-offs?
Ok, we lost in the end, but there was a wonderful moment in the Carrow Road leg, when Tommy Smith sprinted 100 yards to celebrate with the Town supporters after scoring.
That was a lump in the throat moment, a sure sign that fans and football club were in perfect harmony.
I remember writing a piece that day, saying that once again we had a football club of which we could be proud.
But Evans and Mick McCarthy failed to build on that, and all we saw was decline. Lack of investment from Evans, ultra-pragmatic football and increasing bolshiness from McCarthy, and it all ended with an awful, toxic atmosphere.
The club now has another chance to build on something very special.
The first chance will be the announcement of season ticket prices. I hope upon hope that Evans gets this right.
It’s the owner’s opportunity to say thank you to the fans and do his best to fill the stadium next season.
But if he gets it wrong – as he has in the past – then he will start driving wedges between the club and the supporters once again. And, without the fans, the club has nothing. Absolutely nothing.
As for investment, well, we all understand how tough the finances will be.
The loss of millions in TV revenue will hit the club very hard. I’m sure there will be back room staff at Portman Road who are very worried about their jobs.
But, actually, I don’t think this squad needs huge investment to be a force in League One.
We have a group of promising kids coming through who, combined with Judge, Chambers, and Skuse, will prove a successful formula.
The most obvious requirement is for a goalscorer.
Lack of clinical finishing has been our biggest problem this season. We’ve seen it throughout this awful campaign. Being unable to score more than one goal a game will always end in tears.
So we need a new striker, maybe to play alongside Kayden Jackson.
I know he hasn’t exactly set the world alight since signing, but he does show promise. Clever runs, which all too often his team-mates don’t see.
In League One, he could be quite a player.
This has certainly been the worst season I have known since I started going to Portman Road aged 11 in 1968.
A definite low point - and all so unnecessary.
Our decline could have been stopped in its tracks, but the club has been sleepwalking.
Let’s hope that what happened on Saturday acts as the ultimate, painful wake-up call.


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Daranie Ounchaidee, a student at Ivy Tech Community College.
Like many friends from her graduating class, Daranie Ounchaidee attended a community college not far from their Indianapolis high school. In the corridors, the classmates often stopped to commiserate about the twists, turns, and missteps they had already taken on their paths to associate’s degrees.
But Ounchaidee is no longer among them. As part of a select group of 40 students from low-income families in which they were the first to go to college, Ounchaidee just received her two-year associate’s degree from Ivy Tech Community College in only 11 months.
These students are among the pioneers of a new movement to speed up the ever-slowing pace at which students get through college, from two years to one for associate’s degrees and four years to three for bachelor’s degrees, saving them and taxpayers money and improving low graduation rates. That’s because the longer it takes students to reach the finish line, the less likely they ever will.
Only 4 percent of community college students complete an associate’s degree within two years, and 36 percent of students at public universities earn a bachelor’s degree in four, according to the advocacy organization Complete College America. The National Student Clearinghouse reports that 60 percent of community college and more than 40 percent of university students are still flailing toward those credentials after even six years.
Among the reasons: Students right out of highly regimented high schools find themselves lost in college, need academic help but don’t know where to find it or are hesitant to ask, or work so many hours to afford tuition and life expenses such as gas and rent that they crawl through their required coursework.
The inability to devote complete attention to school seems to be a particular hurdle. Fewer than half of community college students attend full-time. Of those who are in school full-time, a fifth have full-time jobs and 40 percent have part-time jobs, according to the American Association of Community Colleges.
In order to qualify for the Associate Accelerated Program, or ASAP, at Ivy Tech,attendees needed high school grade-point averages of at least 2.5, and had to pledge to attend school full-time, not work, and continue living with their parents or guardians to forestall having to contend with real-world expenses such as rent and food.
They also had no choices of what courses to take or scheduling flexibility. ASAP classes began days after high school graduation and included 60 hours a week of rigidly proscribed classes and outside assignments.
At the sprawling Ivy Tech, ASAP occupies its own small warren of offices and classrooms in a single building, where counselors and advisors are never farther away than across the hall.
When the meetings shrink to one on one, these anxieties finally surface.
“We go through a lot of Kleenex,” Jordan says, tapping a box of it on his desk.
The students in ASAP say they appreciate the structure.
Yawning at the start of an early morning course in archaeology just a few weeks shy of getting their degrees, the ASAP students lugged heavy backpacks to their seats, asked perceptive questions, and filled in latecomers about the assignments. The other classes they had to take included English composition, American history, critical thinking, ethics, algebra, earth science, sociology, interpersonal communication, psychology, and economics.
All the students agree the program wasn’t easy, and some say their parents were skeptical at the outset. Ounchaidee says her parents, who are Thai and Laotian, were reluctant to let her go to college because they rely on her to help them communicate in English. They came around when she convinced them of the opportunity. “They told me that if I wanted a better life, they’d give it a chance,” she says.
ASAP is part of a wave of programs, many with similarly catchy acronyms, to fast-track college students. They include the Accelerated Higher Education Associate Degree, or AHEAD, at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, and the Accelerated Study in Associate Program, also called ASAP, at the City University of New York.
Since 2009, about 20 private four-year colleges and universities, most recently Wesleyan in Connecticut, have started offering three-year bachelor’s degrees, according to the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. So have public universities including the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Mississippi State University, Miami University of Ohio, and some campuses of the State University of New York.
Eighty-six percent of Ivy Tech’s ASAP students earn their degrees on time, or at least remain enrolled, the college says. That’s a rate five times higher than for their counterparts in the standard program. The condensed time frame also saves the students money: the one-year degree costs $7,119, most of which can be covered by federal Pell grants and state financial aid. That fast-track approach also reduces the cost per degree for taxpayers, since students who graduate on time don’t continue to use taxpayer subsidies while they slog through additional years in public colleges and universities, according to a Columbia University study of the CUNY program.
ASAP began in 2010, and Ivy Tech doesn’t have reliable data to know how graduates have done since finishing the program, but some are majoring at four-year universities in fields including engineering, business, graphic design, and architecture.
Ounchaidee has been accepted to study biomedical engineering at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, where she will begin August.


In the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, the case of the 13 Iranian Jews and eight Muslims accused of spying for Israel has aroused widespread concern among western governments and human rights groups.
It has also focused attention on the Jewish community in Iran, the oldest and biggest in the Middle East outside Israel.
In the heart of the Islamic Republic, Jews gather in a synagogue to recite their evening prayers, as they have done for centuries.
The Jews have a history in Iran which goes back more than 2,500 years.
Despite the Islamic Republic's bitter hostility to Israel, the Jewish community has clung on and survived.
Since the Islamic Revolution, it has dwindled from an estimated 80,000 souls, to perhaps only around 30,000.
Miss Hassidim is a 25-year-old worshipper and is one of the few young people not trying to emigrate.
"A lot of my friends and family left this country during these years," she says.
"Every year, the number of people coming to this synagogue is less and less."
In the early years of the Islamic Republic, many Jews may have left out of fear.
Now those who do want to leave do so for mainly economic reasons.
Jobs are few and far between, and candidates from the Muslim majority usually get preference.
However, the Jews are a tolerated minority who are respected, like Christians, as People of the Book.
At a Jewish library in Tehran, the librarian proudly shows off a new monthly magazine now being published for the community.
The librarian says that many of the books in the library are in Hebrew - though they steer clear of politics.
"These are printed in Israel," she says, pointing to some books.
"But about religion - our religion. This is printed in Israel too. It's not a problem with the authorities."
Farangis Hassidim is director of the only Jewish hospital in Iran.
It is Jewish-run, financed by the Jewish community, but nowadays only a handful of the actual patients are Jewish.
Not so long ago, it was one of the focal points of a vibrant local Jewish community in south Tehran.
"Maybe 90% of the people living round here, even 30 years ago, they were mostly Jewish," says Farangis Hassidim.
"And now, Jewish people, they have left south of city, and some they left the country. And they don't come back to us."
The depletion of the community is sadly evident at the nearby Jewish public baths.
It was once ornate and magnificent. Now almost derelict, it serves just a handful of elderly customers.
The bath attendant says that there used to be about 7,000-8,000 Jews living in the area.
"We did a survey recently and there are only 70 left now, including adults and children," says the bath attendant.
"This place has been kept going for just seven or eight old people who come here for a bath. There is no money coming in."
Most of those who have left the area have gone abroad, many to the US, others to Israel and elsewhere.
Some officials say the emigration rate has increased since the arrest of the 13 Jews in Shiraz and Isfahan.
As Haroun Yashaya'i, head of the Jewish Society says, the whole community has felt it as a heavy blow.
"This has been one of the worst things that's happened to the Jewish community here since the Islamic Revolution," he says.
"The accusation of organised espionage has hurt us a lot, and it's caused feelings of insecurity within the community," he says.
"What does spying mean? If I write to my brother in Israel, does that make me a spy?"
"We know all these people, and nobody believes they're spies."
Anxieties have been somewhat reduced by the fact that it has been made known that only one or two of the 13 Jews will actually face spying charges.
Many Iranian Jews believe they are being used as pawns in the ongoing struggle within the Islamic regime between moderates, and the hard-liners whom some Jews believe are bent on undermining and embarrassing President Mohammed Khatami and the reformists.
There are some who are trying to use this case against Iran. We're absolutely opposed to this, because we are part of the Islamic Republic. We're Iranians who happen to be Jews and to be living in Iran."
They also have distinctly mixed feelings about all the noises made, ostensibly on their behalf, by Israel, the United States, and other outside quarters.
Manuchehr Eliasi is the Jewish member of the Iranian parliament.
"We appreciate the efforts of those who are genuinely trying to help these 13 people," he says.
"But unfortunately, there are some who are trying to use this case against Iran."
"We're absolutely opposed to this, because we are part of the Islamic Republic. We're Iranians who happen to be Jews and to be living in Iran."
"We condemn all those who throw in their lot with the enemies of the Iranian nation."
The United States has spelled out clearly that future relations with Iran will hinge on the outcome of the trial.
That alone greatly raises the stakes.
The Jewish community, struggling to survive in this ancient land, will be praying that justice and fair play prevail over politics.


More than 110 million boys have been Boy Scouts. Less than 400 have achieved the same honor.
For any Boy Scout, achieving the rank of Eagle Scout is a lofty goal. Only two percent of scouts ever earn the distinction.
However, after Thomas Farner did it at age 13, he set his sights on something even more impossible.
For most scouts, earning all 138 merit badges is a pipe dream. Over the past century, more than 110 million kids have been part of Boy Scouts, and less than 400 of them — roughly 0.000003 percent — have ever earned every badge.
He was able to knock out some of the easy ones, like climbing and hiking, pretty quickly.
But there were challenges. After all, not everyone can get their hands on surveying equipment, but Thomas did.
He's gone SCUBA diving, performed search and rescue and even made pottery until finally, just before turning 18, he got badge number 138: public health.
It's a goal that may have seemed impossible if not for the lessons he learned along the way.
“Even if other people don’t think you can do something, believe in yourself and set goals and don’t let anything get in your way," he said.
Now you know the secret: To get where you want to go, just keep going.


OSLO, March 27 (Reuters) - Telenor has sold 100 million shares in Veon for net proceeds of $213 million as it continues a gradual exit from its Netherlands-based telecoms peer, the Norwegian company said on Wednesday.
After losing a battle for control over Veon, formerly known as Vimpelcom, in a power struggle with Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, Telenor decided in 2015 to divest its 33 percent ownership.
Following Wednesday’s sale, which corresponded to a stake of 5.7 percent, Telenor now owns 9 percent of Veon, it said in a statement.
“The offering results in net proceeds to Telenor of around $213 million,” the Oslo-based company added.
Telenor’s sale, in the form of American Depository Shares (ADS), was made at $2.16 each, a discount of 8.1 percent to Tuesday’s close of Veon’s ADS at $2.35 on Wall Street.
J.P. Morgan and Citigroup were joint global coordinators and bookrunners for the sale. Telenor has agreed to a 60-day lock-up agreement during which it can’t sell further Veon stock, it added.


The Saint Joseph's Park Hill School Year 6 students celebrating.
The Year 6 pupils at Saint Joseph's Park Hill School on Padiham Road in the town boasted a 100% pass rate in Maths and Writing, as well as a 93% pass rate in Reading and Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar.
The children are leaving school this week to head off to pastures new at various secondary schools, including Stonyhurst College, Westholme Senior School, Giggleswick Senior School, Blessed Trinity RC College, and Burnley High School.


Chick-fil-A®, Inc. has selected West Monroe resident Shelby Cunningham as a recipient of the chain’s $1,000 Leadership Scholarship.
Cunningham was nominated by franchised Operator David Benson at the Chick-fil-A restaurant located at 203 Thomas Road, West Monroe La. Cunningham has worked for Chick-fil-A for 4 years. She will graduate from University of Louisiana at Monroe in May 2018 with a Masters in English. Cunningham has been actively involved in theatre and performed in several musicals while attending ULM. She has served as Parliamentarian and Treasurer of Chi Tau Epsilon Honor Society. She also volunteers as Children’s Church Director at West Monroe Church of God.
Chick-fil-A’s franchised Operators make an effort to create a working environment that provides leadership opportunities among team members as well as character development that will help them excel in school, home and in their communities. These Operators, many of whom are Leadership Scholarship and S. Truett Cathy Scholar Award recipients themselves, serve as mentors in promoting the development of restaurant team members in the areas of goal-setting, integrity, service, work ethic and leadership.


More and more “tweeps” share their favorite places via photos on Twitter. This Sunday morning we thought’s we’d counter share some of the best worldwide. Here’s some of today’s best photo tweets worth 1000 RTs?


LONDON — The Duchess of Cambridge has given birth to a healthy baby boy, Kensington Palace tweeted Monay morning.
Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a son at 1101hrs.
The baby weighs 8lbs 7oz.
The Duke of Cambridge was present for the birth.
Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well.
The former Kate Middleton entered a London hospital earlier Monday in labor with what is the third child for her and husband Prince William.
Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge was admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London earlier this morning in the early stages of labour.
The Duchess travelled by car from Kensington Palace to the Lindo Wing at St. Mary’s Hospital with The Duke of Cambridge.
William and Kate married in 2011 and have two other children: Prince George, 4, and Princess Charlotte, who turns 3 next month. Both were born at the same hospital, as were William and his younger brother Prince Harry.
The baby, whose gender has not been announced, will be Queen Elizabeth II’s sixth great-grandchild and fifth in line to the throne, after grandfather Prince Charles, father Prince William and the two older siblings.
The new arrival bumps Prince Harry to sixth place in the line of succession.
The 36-year-old duchess, formerly Kate Middleton, carried out her last official engagement on March 22 before going on maternity leave.
No exact due date has been given, with officials only saying that the baby was due in April.
As in her previous pregnancies, Kate suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe form of morning sickness. Officials announced both her previous pregnancies before the traditional 12-week mark because she was too unwell to attend public engagements.
Television crews, journalists and royal fans have set up camp outside the hospital for the “royal baby watch” since early April in anticipation of the arrival.
Many are betting on a traditional royal name for the baby, with bookmakers saying Mary, Alice, Arthur and James are the most popular guesses.
Princess Charlotte starts nursery school — and she looks absolutely adorable!


GREENVILLE COUNTY, SC — Police have released video and 911 calls of a deadly officer-involved shooting that occurred last month.
According to local news station WSPA, 34-year-old Jermaine Robinson was fatally shot after police say he shot a woman inside a trailer home and aimed a gun at officers on Feb. 10.
In the footage released Monday, Robinson can be heard making a 911 call to report he was poisoned. Responding officers heard Robinson say that he had a gun before hearing a single gunshot from inside the trailer. The deputies took cover and called for backup.
In the video, Robinson can be seen exiting the trailer and is repeatedly asked to show his hands and stop moving by police.
Video shows Robinson fire two rounds in the air and yell at police to shoot and kill him. Moments later, he turns towards police and points the gun in their direction.
That’s when officers opened fire in defense. Robinson died at the scene.
The woman shot inside the trailer was taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries. No officers were injured.


Turkish authorities have included eight rules to existing regulations to increase maritime safety in the Bosphorus and Çanakkale straits, one of the busiest and most challenging waterways of the world, Vatan newspaper reported on Sept. 3.
According to some of the new rules, units from the General Directorate of Coastal Safety will intervene when a vessel is grounded. Under the existing regulations, authorities wait for rescue plans from the captain of the grounded vessel and the captain is given a time between six to 48 hours.
New regulations also stipulate that units from the General Directorate of Coastal Safety will prepare a report in the event of grounding and carry out a rescue operation. The rescued vessel will not be allowed to sail again until an investigation is concluded and the rescue costs are paid.
The ships that will go through the straits will be required to inform the Istanbul and Çanakkale port authorities regarding the security and technical equipment on board as they approach the waterways by 3.2 kilometers.
Cruise ships and container ships longer than 300 meters will be required to notify local authorities 10 days before they enter the straits.
Also, vessels that carry liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and are longer than 150 meters will have to navigate through the straits only in daytime and they will be accompanied by a harbor pilot and a towboat.
Moreover, vessels will not be allowed to come near bridge piers by less than 100 meters.
Authorities have also introduced new rules for large vessels that will use the Çanakkale Strait over which a bridge – 1915 Çanakkale Bridge – is being built. The foundations of the towers of the bridge were laid in March this year. Large vessels, described as longer than 200 meters, will be required to navigate through the strait only during daytime.


Buy something on Black Friday? Here’s how to return it if needs be.
WITH MANY OF the world’s biggest brands opting to jump onboard the Black Friday/Cyber Monday bandwagon, it’s never been a more popular time to shop online.
Although it means that we can conveniently make purchases from almost anywhere in the world at any time, it also minimises the ability to see, touch, and try on our purchases before we buy.
So when things go wrong in a digital store, where does that leave us? Are we doomed to accept something bought in a sale? Should we have to pay the return postage?
We spoke to Áine Carroll, Director of Communications and Market Insights at the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to clarify our online shopping rights once and for all.
Your rights under EU law are very strong. If it’s bought from a website in the EU, you have a 14-day window to change your mind and ‘cancel’ the order. Then you have 14 days to return it. As for a refund, once the item has been received, the refund will be applied, which could take up to 14 days more.
If the business is located outside the EU, read the website terms and conditions carefully, and check what their returns policy is as you will be relying on this if there’s a problem and you need to send something back.
You’ve a right to a refund of the standard delivery cost, from an EU-based website even for a change of mind. You may have to pay for the cost of returning it so the company is not out of pocket but they must refund you the original delivery cost that you paid, once they receive your return.
Under EU law, everything you order should be sent to you within 30 days, unless the seller gives you a specific alternative date. For example, if a website says if you order by 15th of December it will be delivered by Christmas, you would have a right to cancel the order if it didn’t arrive before then.
Auction sites like eBay are really interesting as it depends on the status of the seller. If you buy from a company your rights are exactly the same but if you buy from an individual then you don’t have any consumer rights. So it’s important to know whether you’re buying from a business or an individual.
If you get things delivered from outside the EU, you have to pay relevant taxes. In the EU a business has to give you all of the information in terms of the total cost (including VAT) but outside the EU there is no obligation for a seller to provide you with this.
Be warned that you may also have to pay VAT at the post office when it arrives in order to get your goods if the value of the items plus shipping is €22 or more, and import charges on anything valued at €150 or more.
If you’ve bought from a seller in the EU and are having trouble, you can contact the European Consumer Centre. There is one in every country in the EU and they can act on your behalf.
Sometimes the most straightforward route is to contact your bank and say you want to go through the chargeback process (reverses the charge). This can’t be used for a change of mind – it’s for when the goods weren’t delivered, are faulty or the company has gone out of business.
In most cases, once you’ve downloaded digital content and started to use it, you can’t send it back. Similarly, if something is customised you can’t return it as they’re not going to be able to sell it again. This also applies to tickets for a specific event if you buy online, which are also exempt from these laws, unless the event is cancelled.
When you’re buying online within the EU, it doesn’t make a difference if it was on sale. When you shop in the sales in a brick-and-mortar shop, you can’t assume that you’ll get a refund. When you buy online, you have the 14-day cancellation period so it’s really straightforward.
If you’re buying from a site that you’ve never bought from before – find out where they’re located. If they have no physical address listed on their site, you should be wary as they are supposed to do this under EU law. If there’s no trace of it elsewhere online or if they’re only on Facebook, it’s probably very new and could be a copycat website.
Do you think shopping online inevitably brings you less rights than in-store? Actually EU laws give you strong protection when you buy online. Make sure you’re fully up to speed on what you’re entitled to by visiting the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s online shopping section before the next time you click-to-buy.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A legal challenge by a Washington-based testing company may halt a controversial assessment exam in New Mexico and could tangle up other states using the same test.
A Santa Fe judge is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday in an appeal by the American Institutes for Research who wants to limit a potentially multi-year contract given to Pearson for Common Core testing.
Last year, the London-based Pearson was awarded a contact given out by states belonging to a consortium for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers exam, or PARCC.
According to court documents filed in Santa Fe District Court, the New Mexico Public Education Department’s requirements “unlawfully restricted competition by including a number of specifications that heavily favored one particular vendor and effectively precluded competition by requiring the use of one vendor’s propriety system” among other limitations.
New Mexico is a member of a PARCC consortium that originally included 11 other states and the District of Columbia.
That consortium, court documents say, “had an irreparable conflict of interest” in helping shape requirements for the contract that was crafted especially for Pearson.
AIR wants to reduce Pearson’s contract to a year and is seeking another bidding process for later contact years following a ruling by the New Mexico purchasing agent that the bidding process was fair.
John F. Kennedy, an attorney representing New Mexico, did not immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press.
A court ruling in favor of AIR could force New Mexico to open up bidding again, putting the future of the exam in the state in jeopardy and spark similar legal challenges in other states.
In Mississippi, the Board of Education adopted the PARCC tests on a one-year emergency contract after a state contract review board ruled that the multistate PARCC consortium chose vendor Pearson PLC without the competitive process required under Mississippi state law. The state is trying to award a new testing contract, although Mississippi officials say Pearson could still be chosen.
Mississippi also recently withdrew from the PARCC consortium amid anti-Common Core sentiments.
The backlash came as millions of U.S. students started taking the rigorous tests aligned with Common Core standards that outline math and language skills that should be mastered in each grade.
Last week, hundreds of high school students across New Mexico walked out of schools to protest the PARCC.
The Common Core test fulfill the requirement in the federal No Child Left Behind law for annual testing in reading and math in grades three to eight and again in high school. But as Congress seeks to rewrite the education law, there’s debate over whether the tests should be required by Washington, and whether students are being tested too much.


**UPDATED APRIL 18** Bhramari collaborates with Franny’s Farmacy, Listermann Brewing and White Labs on a hemp-infused farmhouse IPA, Oskar Blues releases JAHvanilla Ten FIDY and more local beer news.
**UPDATED MARCH 7** Oskar Blues and Wicked Weed release beers in honor of International Women’s Day, Twin Leaf and Ginger’s Revenge celebrate anniversaries and more local beer news.
**UPDATED NOV. 21** Special Thanksgiving week and Black Friday events abound throughout the area.
Plum Nectar, a dry-hopped Berliner Weisse by Sarah Gulotta and Katie Smith, will be released Oct. 17 at both breweries. $1 from each pint sold will benefit the local Pink Boots Society.
Brevard Brewing’s Kyle Williams and Hi-Wire’s Luke Holgate discuss their acclaimed märzens.
**UPDATED AUG. 15** Sanctuary turns three, Burial collaborates with Blackberry Farm and more local beer news.


Two weeks into the 2019 season, pitching has been a weakness at times for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Milwaukee has allowed 5+ runs in five of 13 games so far this season, and its 5.45 ERA ranks 24th in MLB.
But one thing the Brewers pitchers have excelled at, and it should come as no surprise, is strikeouts. Milwaukee’s staff has produced 127 Ks and ranks second in strikeout percentage (25.8%), meaning the Brewers whiff just over a quarter of opposing hitters.
Pittsburgh ranks first on that chart with a staff K% of 28.
The Brewers are led, of course, by left-handed reliever Josh Hader, who has fanned 13 of the 25 hitters he’s faced this season.
Don’t forget about starting pitcher Corbin Burnes. Burnes has struggled on the mound at times, allowing a league-high six homers in 10 innings of work. But when he’s not giving up the long ball, Burnes has been sending hitters back to the dugout. His 18 strikeouts through two starts rank third all-time in Brewers history, behind Moose Haas in 1978 (21) and Claudio Vargas in 2007 (20).
Burnes’ teammate Freddy Peralta as well as Ben Sheets, who pitched for the Brewers from 2001-08, hold the franchise mark with 25 strikeouts through three starts.
Keep an eye on that this weekend.
Burnes and the Brewers will be tested this weekend when Los Angeles, the team that knocked Milwaukee out of the 2018 postseason, plays host to a three-game series at Dodger Stadium.
Through 14 games this season, the Dodgers have boasted the National League’s top offense — and it’s not close. Los Angeles leads the NL in in runs per game (6.86), batting average (.281), on-base percentage (.377), slugging percentage (.532), on-base plus slugging (.910), homers (29) and extra-base hits (58).
Dodgers hitters also strike out just 7.71 times per game — good for a mark of 18.1%, the lowest in all of baseball.
Los Angeles currently sits in second place in the NL West with an 8-6 record.
— The Brewers have scored 64.6% of their runs this season via homers, which leads MLB. The Yankees rank second (63.9%) and Central division rival Cincinnati (61.9%) is third.
— Los Angeles starting pitcher Walker Buehler has allowed a mere 0.75 homers per nine innings since 2016, which ranks fifth among big-league pitchers.
— Milwaukee owns a 22-19 record at Dodger Stadium since 2007, its best winning percentage (.537) at any opposing ballpark in that span.
— Sure, it’s a small sample size, but Ryan Braun is hitting a team-high .500 (6 for 12) with three homers when runners are in scoring position. He also has amassed a .969 on-base plus slugging mark over his career at Dodger Stadium, second only to St. Louis’ Paul Goldschmidt (1.001) among opposing players.


The study marks the first time the researchers have quantified the national reduction in costs and injuries following the implementation of 2000’s Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act, a law UVA helped champion.
The Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act required employers to provide safer devices (such as safety syringes), review exposure-control plans annually and maintain logs of all injuries by sharp items. It also gave healthcare workers who use the devices a greater role in selecting those devices.
To assess the nationwide effect of the legislation, the UVA researchers reviewed injury data collected from 85 hospitals in 10 states between 1995 and 2005. This work was conducted under the auspices of the International Healthcare Worker Safety Center, Janine Jagger, PhD, MPH, director. The law, the researchers found, reduced accidental healthcare injuries by more than a third following its implementation in 2000. Based on those figures, the researchers have calculated the nationwide reduction in needlestick injuries at more than 100,000 a year and the annual cost savings at $69 million to $415 million.
The findings have been published online by the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology and will appear in a forthcoming print edition. The article was authored by Phillips; Mark R. Conaway, PhD; Ginger Parker, MBA; Jane Perry, MA; and Jagger, all of UVA.
While the needlestick legislation has had a dramatic impact, the authors note that there is still more work to be done to ensure the safety of healthcare workers across the country.


These are the five reasons why you should ditch the fashion trend and step outside the "clone fashion" industry. It's time to be unique and even actively take part in designing your own fashion.
SecretBrand (the Luxury Fashion Startup) it's Live on Indiegogo!


Zimbabwe has experienced improved economic growth rates in the past three years, rising from a negative GDP of 5.7% between 2001–2006 to 5.4% in 2009 and 9.3% in 2011. However, this has not translated to growth in productive employment and hence poverty reduction. This is likely due to weak connections between the growth sectors and other sectors of the economy.
In 2011, 72.3% of all Zimbabweans were considered poor, whilst 62.6% of the households in Zimbabwe are deemed poor. Poverty is more prevalent in rural areas compared to urban areas with about 76% of the rural households considered poor compared to 38.2% of urban households.
Individual poverty prevalence is 84.3% in rural areas compared to 46.5% in urban areas, while extreme poverty is 30.3% in rural areas compared to only 5.6% in urban areas.
The decline in formal employment, with many workers engaged in poorly remunerated informal jobs, has a direct bearing on both poverty and hunger. In 2011, 94% of paid employees received an income equal to or below the total consumption poverty line (TCPL) for an average family of five, while three out of every four employed persons in Zimbabwe are classified as ‘vulnerable employment’.
The percentage of food-insecure rural households at peak (January to March) declined steadily following the onset of economic recovery from 15% in 2010–2011 to 12% in 2011–2012. However, due to this year’s poor rainy season, the percentage of food-insecure rural households is projected to rise sharply, up to 32% for the period in 2013–2014, reflecting Zimbabwe’s reliance on rain-fed agriculture. The prevalence of underweight children under five years of age fell from 11.8% in 2009 to 10% in 2011, although this figure may be affected by the projected increase in food-insecure households.


The slide at Stamford Bridge play area.
A slide at a village in the Pocklington area has been cordoned off after parents highlighted a problem with the equipment.
Concerned parents in Stanford Bridge contacted a local councillor to air their fears over a ‘dangerous’ slide in the play park.
Some children have managed to get their feet stuck in the grooves on the slide which has led to some bumps and bruises.
Parents asked Pocklington Ward Councillor Andy Strangeway to look into the situation before a child is seriously hurt. He acted on their behalf and the council has sealed off the area.
Cllr Strangeway was shocked to hear that incidents of children getting their feet stuck in the grooves go back at least two years.
Cllr Strangeway said: “I did not find out about the problem until last week and basically the slide has been like this for at least for two years.
“Kiddies have been getting their feet trapped in it as they go down.
“They slide down and get their feet wedged in the gaps, which are large enough to fit a child’s shoe. They end up going over the side of the slide.
“From what the mothers were saying it was just the tubes but then for some unknown reason a base was fitted underneath them.
“It’s quite amazing to me that this slide is still in operation. The equipment should be checked every year.


Eddie Glaude & Son: Leave Ballots Blank, Because Voting for the Status Quo Threatens Our Lives | Democracy Now!
Does it stink like rotten meat?
EDDIE GLAUDE: Yeah, you know, I mean, part of what I’ve tried to do with my son over the course of—the hardest thing that I’ve ever done is to try to raise a child—and I say “try”—is to give him access to this wonderful tradition, that informs how we see ourselves and how we see ourselves in the world. And what I’m most proud about is that when we were deciding to write this letter, you know, I remember Langston telling me, “Dad, I don’t want to be the poster child of a pity party.” Right? “I don’t want to be the excuse for white sentimentality.” Right? Sounding like Richard Wright, right? What he wanted to do was to provide an occasion—I shouldn’t speak for you, L—but to provide an occasion to put forward—right?—the feelings and vision of his generation, to give voice to it. And he did it in the intimate setting of his relationship with his crazy father. So, I don’t want to speak for you, L, but, you know, this idea of really thinking about the politics of your generation is so important.
AMY GOODMAN: You know, a lot of people talk about the conversation they have with their sons, and I wanted to turn to the New York mayor, Bill de Blasio, who did just that in 2014, about he and his wife Chirlane’s—who’s African-American—fear for their teenage son Dante.
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO: Chirlane and I have had to talk to Dante for years about the dangers he may face. Good young man, law-abiding young man, who never would think to do anything wrong, and yet, because of a history that still hangs over us, the dangers he may face, we’ve had to literally train him, as families have all over this city for decades, in how to take special care in any encounter he has with the police officers who are there to protect him. And that painful sense of contradiction that our young people see first, that our police are here to protect us and we honor that, and the same time, there’s a history we have to overcome because for so many of our young people there’s a fear, and for so many of our families there’s a fear.
AMY GOODMAN: He talked about also his conversation with his son. This question—have you had the conversation? I also want to turn it around to Langston: Do you have this conversation with your friends, and what do you say?
LANGSTON GLAUDE: Definitely. I do have this conversation with my friends all the time. And, you know, one of the biggest things that I have discovered when having these conversations is that it’s not just young black men who are having these conversations. It’s young black women, children, gender nonconforming folk. Black people have this conversation every single day, because it affects them almost the same every single way. So this is the experience of black people, that black people have to talk these—have these conversations with each other just in order to get home. And that’s what we’re angry about when we do this work, simply because it shouldn’t be that way. We shouldn’t have to have these conversations. We shouldn’t have to have these different types of rules for what to do when stopped by a police officer in order to ensure your safety. We should be able to exist normally, just as regular other—just as other citizens do.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Professor Glaude, can you talk about what you say you in your book, Democracy in Black, about racial habits and what you call the value gap, in the context of what Langston said?
EDDIE GLAUDE: Yeah, Langston just hit it dead on the head, right? I talk—we talk about the achievement gap and the wealth gap in this country, but at the heart of all of it is the value gap. And the value gap is the belief that white people matter more. And that belief has animated our social practices, informed our political and economic arrangements, from the moment in which we gave voice to the principles of freedom, liberty and equality, and reconciled it with the institution of racial slavery, to the moment in which we elected our first black president, and then we heard the vitriol of the tea party and then a wholesale attack on voting rights. So there’s always this kind of sense that white people matter more. And to the extent that’s true, no matter what the inputs are, the outputs will be the same. And those who are valued less, their lives have a sense of precariousness.
But we want to be careful. The value gap is not simply the possession of loud racists. That’s too easy. That’s melodramatic. It’s actually evidenced in our habits, in the very ways in which we live our lives, the fact that, “Oh, I just want my kid to go to the best school,” and usually that phrase means “How many black and brown kids go to that school?” “Oh, I want to just live in a nice neighborhood”—usually, that’s just a shorthand for “How many black and brown people live in this neighborhood? Is it mixed-income?” Right? So there’s a way in which we’re making day-to-day choices.
And I use this example. I believe the planet is warming. I do. I’m not a climate change denier. But if you look at my house and you look at my car and you look at the light bulbs in my house, you would think I think the planet is OK. I’m making choices, day in and day out, that contribute to the warming of the planet, but I’m not running around loudly saying, “No, no, the science is wrong.” That’s just the way racial inequality works. It’s not about intentional prejudice. It’s about a culture practice, as Professor Imani Perry says.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to end just by asking you and Langston about your choice for president. Bernie Sanders just endorsed Hillary Clinton. Your thoughts on that? Then we’re going to have a post-show conversation.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Yeah, I’m not—you know, I believe, like José Saramago in Seeing, that wonderful novel written by that Portuguese writer, Nobel Prize winner 1996, that we should blank out, that those of us who are not in the battleground states, that those of us who are in blue states or red states, that we should just leave the ballot blank. As Melville’s Bartleby, scrivener, says, “I prefer not.” I can’t stand either one of them.
AMY GOODMAN: Langston, your thoughts on the election?
LANGSTON GLAUDE: I agree 100 percent. You know, there needs to be a stance amongst the people that we are not going to simply accept the status quo any longer, especially when the status quo is the very thing that is costing us our lives and our livelihoods. So, I personally don’t find either one of the candidates favorable in any sense, because, again, a change needs to come on the behalf of the people, and I don’t believe either one is prepared to bring that change in the manner that we need it.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to have to leave it there. I thank you both for being with us, Langston and Eddie Glaude. Eddie Glaude’s new book, Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul. He’s chair of African American Studies at Princeton University. Langston is at Brown.


Sporting Kansas City hosts the Houston Dynamo at 8:00 p.m. CT on Wednesday at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in the decisive second leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in the2012 MLS Cup Playoffs. Standing-room only tickets for the match are on sale now and a limited number of seats are available online at Ticketmaster.com or at the LSP Box Offices.
The match, sponsored by Budweiser, will be broadcast locally on KSMO-TV with Callum Williams and Jake Yadrich on air beginning at 7:00 p.m. CT from LSP. The game will also be streamed online at MLSSoccer.com.
Sports Radio 810 WHB will carry the match and will go live from the LSP Members’ Club with Todd Leabo and Nate Bukaty from 2:00 – 6:00 p.m. CT during Between the Lines with Kevin Kietzman. The official radio home of Sporting Kansas City, the station will dedicate four hours of coverage for the Conference Semifinal starting at 7:00 p.m. CT and concluding with The Final Whistle: Sporting KC Postgame show.
Spanish listeners can tune in to La Gran D 1340 AM for live coverage on Wednesday night.
The mid-week match-up comes three days after Houston prevailed 2-0 in the opening leg onSunday at BBVA Compass Stadium with goals from Adam Moffat and Will Bruin. The victory sees the Dynamo enter Wednesday’s rematch with a two-goal advantage in the two-game, aggregate goal series.
If Sporting Kansas City wins by two goals on Wednesday, then two 15-minute extra time periods will be played in their entirety, followed by penalty kicks, if necessary. If Sporting Kansas City wins by three or more goals on Wednesday, then the team will advance to the Eastern Conference Championship for the second straight year.
Sporting Kansas City, the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, have scored two goals in three of their last four home matches this season and have scored two or more goals on 16 occasions in the postseason all-time. The club has won by two or moregoals 14 times in MLS competition in the last two seasons, including a 3-0 victory over Houston last season at LSP and a 2-0 triumph in last year’s Eastern Conference Semifinals second leg.
In the postseason for the 11th time in the team’s 17-year history, Sporting KansasCity is 12-4-2 at home in the postseason while the Dynamo are 4-4-3 on the road in six playoff campaigns. Sporting KC is 3-1-1 all-time in the month of November at home with three 2-0 victories in those five matches.
Houston, the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference, will be playing the team’s third game in an eight-day span after advancing from the Knockout Round with a 2-1 victory at the Chicago Fire on Oct. 31.


January 20, 2003  NPR's Eric Westervelt reports if the United States attacks Iraq, the latest and most sophisticated American weapons and equipment will be on display. The Army now has Humvees that can stop a .50 caliber bullet, and the unmanned support plane in its arsenal -- in addition to other weaponry far evolved from the equipment used in the Gulf War. Researchers are still working on ways to improve communications during combat among different branches of the armed forces and between different units.
January 16, 2003  The remaining half of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division prepares to leave Ft. Stewart, Ga., to join units already in Kuwait. The departure of thousands of soldiers means painful separations for families and economic loss for the town. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports.


Robert Wagner to Play Murder Suspect on "NCIS"
Actor Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood were married twice in their tempestuous relationship.
Robert Wagner isn't a murder suspect, but he's about to play one on TV.
The 81-year-old actor has been in the news lately, as the 30-year-old death of his wife Natalie Wood has been reopened as a homicide investigation. Authorities have said he is not currently a suspect in Wood's death, which occurred on his yacht. But now, Wagner is set to play a suspected killer on the CBS drama "NCIS."
In the episode "Sins of the Father," which airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET, Wagner plays the father of Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo Jr. In a clip from the “Sins of the Father” episode, the elder DiNozzo is arrested after a body is found in the trunk of his car.
“I have no recollection of what happened,” DiNozzo tells police.
Wood died on Nov. 29, 1981 in what has long been classified an accidental drowning. She was aboard Wagner's boat with Wagner, actor Christopher Walken and the boat's captain. The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department is re-examining the case in light of comments by the captain, Dennis Davern, who is now saying he lied to police immediately after Wood turned up dead. He now claims Wood and Wagner had a fierce fight, ands that after she went missing, the actor tried to slow down the investigation.
Last week, Wagner released a statement saying he welcomed the new probe.
"Although no one in the Wagner family has heard from the LA County Sheriff’s department about this matter, they fully support the efforts of the LA County Sheriff’s Dept. and trust they will evaluate whether any new information relating to the death of Natalie Wood Wagner is valid, and that it comes from a credible source or sources other than those simply trying to profit from the 30-year anniversary of her tragic death," the statement said.


You may think the drivers where you live are the sorriest in the nation, but then you’ve probably never been to Baltimore, MD. The “Charm City” has the dubious distinction of being home to the worst drivers in America. That’s according to the annual Best Driver’s Report just issued by Allstate Insurance.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for vehicular nirvana head for bucolic Brownsville, TX, where you’ll find the most cautious drivers in the country, Motorists there get into crashes only once every 13.6 years, which is 26.3 percent below the national average.
Allstate defines a crash as any auto collision that results in a property damage claim. Rankings are based on claims reported during a two-year period that extended between January 2015 and December 2016.
Among the winners and losers in Allstate’s 2018 report, Miami motorists appear to be the most improved in the U.S., with the city jumping 37 spots on the list up to number 86, with an 8.5-year accident frequency. At the other end of the spectrum, you might want to steer clear of Spokane, WA, which dropped 37 spots in Allstate’s list from 2017’s rankings after already suffering a 12-spot plunge the year before.
Fasten your seat belt and ensure your passengers are likewise buckled up.
Keep your eyes firmly planted on the road ahead, and look out for the unpredictable nature of other traffic, along with pedestrians and bicyclists that may cross your path.
Keep your phone and other devices tucked away to avoid distraction, and never text-message while driving.
Obey all speed limits and plenty of time to arrive at your destination safely.
Leave plenty of distance between your vehicle and traffic ahead.
Keep an emergency roadside safety kit in the trunk with caution signs, flares, and other essentials.
Have a roadside service lined up in case you suffer a breakdown.
Click here for the full Allstate Best Driver’s Report for 2018 and prior years.


CHICAGO - Han, Luke and Leia will always be “Star Wars” legends, but “The Rise of Skywalker” wraps up the current trilogy with another iconic trio by emphasizing their team spirit.
In “The Force Awakens,” youngsters Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Finn (John Boyega) had instant chemistry from meeting on Jakku and being blasted into an intergalactic war between the Resistance and the First Order, and obviously there was the cool bromance between Finn and X-Wing pilot extraordinaire Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac). But “The Last Jedi” mostly had them on separate missions: Rey going off to find Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Finn teaming with Resistance mechanic Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), and Poe pretty much going rogue against Resistance leadership.
“The Rise of Skywalker” (in theaters Dec. 20) takes place some time after “The Last Jedi” ended, but during a panel at Star Wars Celebration, director J.J. Abrams revealed that the new movie would have the good guys on a group adventure this time around.
Isaac tells USA TODAY that “Rise of Skywalker” is the most fun for him because it explores Poe’s backstory and history, uses a lot more humor and rekindles his friendship with Finn.


ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani police say gunmen have opened fire on a vehicle carrying a senior police officer in the southwestern city of Quetta, killing two of his guards but the officer escaped unhurt.
Abdur Razzaq Cheema, police chief in Quetta, said the target of Wednesday’s attack was Hameedullah Dasti. He was en route to a prison to take militants on trial to court. Dasti was traveling in a bullet-proof vehicle, but the guards were not.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan province, the scene of a low-level insurgency by Baluch separatist groups that demand a greater share of the province’s resources.
Militant groups also operate there and often target police.


Drew Brees and the Saints are perfect at home, half the battle for a sure-fire playoff push.
You may have heard me mention this before, but I’ve always used a very simple formula to structure a path to the postseason. Win at home and split on the road. Looking specifically at this week in the NFL, only the Redskins and the Steelers lost while every other home team held serve. At 5-8, the Steelers are all but eliminated from the playoffs. The Redskins lost their chances at the postseason in Week 13, so it is no wonder that they are the only two outliers.
Of the 14 teams that defended their home turf, the Bengals, Eagles, Saints and 49ers did so against teams that would be in the playoffs if the season were to end right now.
Unsurprisingly, the Bengals started the game against the Colts with three unanswered touchdowns and held a 21-point lead midway through the third quarter. Andrew Luck and the Colts mounted a mini-comeback but ultimately couldn’t overcome another poor first-half performance and fell 42-28. In the last six games, the Colts have been outscored 114-24 in the first half, while the Bengals have now scored 40+ points in three straight games. The win pushes the Bengals’ home record to a perfect 6-0. With a win in Pittsburgh next week, the Bengals will be set up to follow my formula without a fault: undefeated at home with a 4-4 record on the road.
The Eagles put together one of the most dominating fourth-quarter performances I can recall this season to beat the Lions in an epic snowstorm. Philadelphia faced an early 14-point deficit but used four fourth-quarter touchdowns to charge back and then eventually win, 34-20. It’s hard to draw any major conclusions from this game because of the unusual weather, but the Eagles’ defense continues to quietly impress. After giving up at least 21 points in 16 straight games, the Eagles have held their opponents under 22 points for nine straight games and have forced multiple turnovers in five straight. Not so quiet was LeSean McCoy’s record-breaking rushing day in which he went for 217 yards and two touchdowns. He became the first Eagles back to rush for 200+ yards since Duce Staley, currently the Eagles running backs coach, did so in Week 1 of 2000.
Unlike the Bengals, the Eagles have taken a much different route to their division-leading 8-5 record. Philadelphia started the season by losing their first four home games, but have now won three straight. The matchup against the Bears in Week 17 is their only remaining home game on the schedule. One of those four home losses came against the Cowboys in Week 7 and, because of that, if the Cowboys win tonight, the Eagles will fall from the three seed to out of the playoff picture altogether. You must hold serve at home!
Another undefeated team at home this season, the Saints, held serve against the red-hot Panthers last night with a dominating 31-13 win. Not only are the Saints a perfect 7-0 in the Superdome, but they are an entirely different team when playing in New Orleans. In their seven home games, the Saints are averaging 32.9 points while holding their opponents to just 15.5. In their six road games, they have scored just 18.8 points per game and surrendered a full 7.1 more points to their opponents. Furthermore, they boast a +5 turnover differential at home while carrying a not-so-flattering -3 differential on the road.
Just like the Bengals, the Saints are following my formula to perfection: undefeated at home with a perfectly split 3-3 record on the road. They will travel to St. Louis next week and then turn around and play the Panthers for the second time in three weeks, this time at Carolina. Because the Saints have won at home and split on the road, and assuming both the Saints and Panthers otherwise win out, New Orleans can afford to lose in Carolina because they will hold the tie-breaker between the 12-4 teams. On the other hand, the Panthers slipped up at home in the very first game of the season, and that one hiccup at home may cost them a bye in the playoffs. You have to hold serve at home!
The 49ers held on at home to beat the Seahawks for the first time in the past three tries. By doing so, the 49ers moved to 9-4 and held on to the final wild-card spot in the NFC with the 8-5 Cardinals biting at their heels. The 49ers have bounced back from a 1-2 start and have won eight of their past 10 games, allowing just 13 points per game in that span. But the 49ers have lost two games at home this season, leaving them vulnerable in the overall playoff picture. However, they still control their own destiny. With the Week 17 showdown against the Cardinals being their final divisional game, if the 49ers win their next two and then lose to Arizona in Phoenix, then they still win the tie-breaker between the two clubs because their divisional record would be better.
As you can see, there are many paths to the playoffs in the NFL, but the cleanest and easiest to define is to defend your home and split on the road. A 12-4 record might as well be a guarantee to play in the postseason, and most of the time, 10 wins does the same. But as you can see, the further you get from that path, the muddier the waters become.


Saturday play at the 3 Irish Open at Baltray has resumed after a five-hour delay caused by strong winds that made the course unplayable.
In other Saturday news, shin splints have forced Graeme McDowell to pull out of the tournament. The Portrush man was half way through his third round when he pulled up just before 10am local time.
22 year-old Irish amateur star Shane Lowry is leading the 3 Irish Open after second round play, while three time major champion Padraig Harrington failed to make the cut.
Lowry shot a ten-under-par 62 to go 15 under par for the tournament, while Graeme McDowell shot a 61 at the County Louth golf course at Baltray on Friday.
However, pre-tournament favorites Padraig Harrington and John Daly both failed to make the cut and will not be around for the weekend.
Other highlights from Friday's play included a €40,000 hole-in-one for Paul Lawrie on the 17th. The 1999 British Open winner went on to have a 66 to go 13 under for the tournament, two behind Lowry.
The cut came at four under par, and prominent Irish players still in the hunt include duo Graeme McDowell are Rory McIlroy on seven under, trio Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley and Gary Murphy on five under, and in by the skin of his teeth Damien McGrane on four under.
First round leader Francesco Molinari was disqualified after signing off on an incorrect score. The 26-year-old put the wrong score on his card for the 12th, and this error cost him his place in the tournament.


A few more Stars Hollow citizens will be returning for the Gilmore Girls revival.
Sally Struthers and Michael Winters will reprise their roles for the upcoming Netflix series, TVGuide.com has confirmed.
Struthers plays Lorelai's cat-loving next door neighbor, Babette Dell, and Winters plays the uptight grocer Taylor Doose.
The duo join previously announced returning stars Alexis Bledel (Rory) Lauren Graham (Lorelai), Jared Padalecki (Dean), David Sutcliffe (Christopher), Milo Ventimiglia (Jess), Matt Czuchry (Logan), Liza Weil(Paris), Kelly Bishop (Emily), Sean Gunn (Kirk), Scott Patterson (Luke), Keiko Agena (Lane), Danny Strong(Doyle), Vanessa Marano (April), Emily Kuroda (Mrs. Kim) and Yanic Truesdale (Michel).
Sutton Foster, who starred on Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino's short-lived series Bunheads, has also joined the cast in an unknown role. But sadly, it seems that Melissa McCarthy will not be reprising her role as Sookie.
Are you excited for the Gilmore Girls revival?


Things are looking sunnier than ever for Reading Rainbow.
After the show's Kickstarter hit its $1 million goal in just 11 hours, the creators set their sights on a new butterfly in the sky: $5 million. With one week left, the Kickstarter is currently at $4 million in pledges from more than 83,000 backers.
We caught up with Reading Rainbow co-founder and CEO Mark Wolfe (who wrote and directed the Kickstarter video) and chief marketing advisor Teri Rousseau to find out how they've remained authentic to their brand while reinventing Reading Rainbow for a new generation of digital natives.
AdFreak: Tell me a bit about the brand after Reading Rainbow left public television.
Rousseau: The original mission when LeVar and Mark formed RR Kids was to bring back Reading Rainbow for this generation and LeVar very much felt that the way to bring that back was through digital technology. Our original app was for the Kindle Fire and iPad, and it went really well. We had kids reading over 150,000 books a week. It was a top-downloaded app.
Wolfe: I think we're just lucky that parents are looking for something. Kids want to spend time in front of an electronic device. When television was the medium, kids wanted to be in front of it, and now it's a tablet. You can't mitigate that; you just have to utilize that as best as possible. Parents are confronted with so many choices, and not many of them are positive choices.
Rousseau: We recognize we're competing against the Angry Birds of the world. One of our special elements in the app is our aesthetic. We've developed these beautiful islands where you can discover the books on: Animal Island, Awesome People Island (that's the nonfiction), National Geographic Island. It's fun to just explore that world and it becomes very game-like. Children want fun. Parents want quality content. That's a challenge and that’s a challenge to any family brand: making sure you meet the mark with parents and children both. We had to make it very interactive while making sure we maintained the principles of the linear show.
So preserving the credibility of the Reading Rainbow brand was key in the creation of the app?
Rousseau: We were very careful with our development. We did do focus testing with both kids and parents. Our mission was bringing the brand back for digital and there's no doubt it resonates with today's families. At the same time, we didn't want to disappoint anyone’s memory of what it was.
You had an existing fan base from another generation that you didn’t want to alienate.
Rousseau: Those classic episodes still hold up and are available on iTunes. Teachers still use them in the classroom. But I think the opportunity to bring back such a beloved and icon brand has been a once and a lifetime opportunity. Now we know we did it right. We've proved that Reading Rainbow works in this new form, and what we needed to do to bring it to the next level was get help from the community.
What's the next level beyond the app?
Rousseau: We were hearing, "Is it on Android?" and, "Is it in classrooms?" Teachers were finding it themselves and paying for the app out of their own pocket. We needed to figure out a way to bring it to them in their own classrooms, and give access to schools free of charge for those in need.
So you created the Kickstarter campaign, and it’s been wildly successful.