District 5 state Sen. Larry E. Haines, a Republican, will face a Democratic opponent in the November election who calls herself a moderate and is interested in improving education and attracting new business to Carroll County while responsibly handling growth.
Voters will have a clear choice in the general election about whom they want in the Senate.
Mr. Haines, a Westminster resident, is a conservative who owns a small business and has received national attention for his efforts to convince the state that parents aren't abusing their children if they spank them. He is vice president of the Church of the Open Door Inc.
Two Democrats are running in the September primary for the seat. Both describe themselves as moderates. Neither has held state office.
Cynthia Huggins Cummings of Silver Run has been a fourth-grade teacher for 16 years and president of the 1,250-member county teachers union the past three years. In that role, she has lobbied in Annapolis and raised money for candidates.
Rachelle Feldman-Hurwitz of Uniontown has been a member of community groups dealing with environmental, women's and other issues. Last year, she was involved in efforts in Annapolis to enact a domestic violence bill.
Voters may learn more about the two Democrats if they debate. Ms. Feldman-Hurwitz challenged Ms. Cummings to debate the issues, and she accepted, but they cannot agree on a site.
Ms. Cummings would like to debate at a meeting of the Carroll County Democratic Club, but Ms. Feldman-Hurwitz said that is not "a neutral place." She said she would rather hold the event in a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall and invite the public.
Ms. Cummings said it would be more appropriate for a primary race debate to be held at the Democratic club level. She is a member of the club, which meets monthly at the Frisco Family Pub in Westminster.
Ms. Feldman-Hurwitz is a former member; she quit after the 1992 elections.
4 "Their mentality is not my mentality," she said.
Both Democrats said they will knock on doors this summer to meet voters and gain name recognition.
Ms. Cummings, 52, was elected to the Carroll County Democratic Central Committee four years ago and is running for the position again. She is a Baltimore native who has lived in the county for 16 years.
She said she wanted to run for higher office in the past, but didn't because of the expense. Her family's financial situation changed recently when her husband, Charles, got a new job, "and he said to go for it."
"I think I represent the viewpoint of the mainstream in Carroll County," she said.
The mainstream is "people who care about education and the community. They care about values. They recognize there's growth in Carroll County, but want to preserve that rural atmosphere that makes it so appealing," Ms. Cummings said.
She will focus on "Cindy's Five C's" -- crime, communities, classrooms, career development and communication.
Ms. Cummings said she is meeting with police officers, public defenders and others in the community to hear about various issues and possible solutions.
Mr. Haines, a Westminster real estate broker, is tied to special interest groups, such as Realtors, she said.
She said she would be open to more viewpoints. She is part of a special-interest group -- public school teachers -- but said education plays a part in many aspects of county life, including attracting new businesses and reducing crime.
"Improving education must come first before we can solve any other problems," Ms. Cummings said.
If elected, she said, she would work to bring more money to Carroll to improve roads and build schools to keep up with growth. The state also should work to reduce class size by hiring more teachers, she said.
To increase the tax base, Ms. Cummings said she would work to attract light industry and tourism events to Carroll to create new jobs.
Ms. Feldman-Hurwitz, 43, said she also will focus on improving education. She has two children in elementary school and a son in college, and said she has spent many hours volunteering in her children's classrooms.
The state does not have to raise taxes to hire more teacher's aides to give students more attention in class; it should shift money from other programs, such as those that educate prisoners, she said.
"I'm tired of tax and spend," she said.
To help deter young people from crime, Ms. Feldman-Hurwitz said, children should visit jails in their community by the time they finish third grade. "They'll see this is very real punishment," she said.
Ms. Feldman-Hurwitz also would like to toughen penalties for people convicted of violent crimes against anyone 62 or older.
"Criminals see senior citizens as prey," she said.
"I'm sensitive, but I'm going to be tough so Carroll County remains a safe community," Ms. Feldman-Hurwitz said.
She is a Staten Island, N.Y., native who has lived in Carroll County 10 years. She has worked as a marketing consultant for (( computer and financial companies.
Earlier this year, she was the vice chairwoman of the county's Waste-to-Energy Committee, which studied whether the county should build an incinerator to burn trash. She also chaired a steering committee to form a Carroll County Commission for Women; the effort failed in the General Assembly this year.
Mr. Haines, 55, who defeated former Carroll Commissioner J. Jeffrey Griffith in 1990, said he will run on his record.
"I've been campaigning the four years I've been in office," he said. "I always take the opposition serious. I won't let up."
He expected about 1,000 people to attend his fifth annual old-fashioned family picnic at the Carroll County Agriculture Center yesterday.
The senator has received attention for his attempts to convince state authorities that parents aren't abusing their children if they spank them. His efforts have been mentioned in USA Weekend, a nationally circulated magazine, and he has been invited to appear on a syndicated TV talk show on the subject "To hit or not to hit." A spokesman for the "Rolonda" show in New York said the show on spanking has been postponed.
Mr. Haines sponsored two bills related to spanking in the 1994 legislative session. Neither passed. He said he will reintroduce them next year.
He said he kept campaign promises to be tougher on criminals. This year, he sponsored a bill to make it a felony for an adult to bring a minor into Maryland to sell drugs. The measure was signed into law.
Next year, he said, he plans to reintroduce legislation designed to limit punitive damages in civil lawsuits. That would help reduce the cost of health care, insurance and other services, he said.
Mr. Haines is rated highly by Maryland Business for Responsive Government -- a group that followers lawmakers' votes on business-related issues.
He said he would like to write welfare reform legislation to allow recipients to work and continue to receive some benefits until they can support themselves.
"Welfare was designed to be a safety net to help people through tough times," Mr. Haines said.
He also said he would push for a full-service Motor Vehicle Administration office in Westminster. He suggested that the state invest in one building to house the MVA and state police barracks.
If he wins the November election, Mr. Haines said, he will begin campaigning for a leadership position in Annapolis. He would like to be the Senate minority leader or minority whip. In either of those positions, he would help gather votes for Republican legislation and guide bills through the process.
Mr. Haines also said he would like to run for the 6th District congressional seat now held by Roscoe G. Bartlett, possibly in 1998.
"I don't have any aspirations to run against a sitting Republican congressman as long as he's doing a good job," he said. "I would like to serve at least four more years in the Maryland General Assembly. In fact, it will be a very pleasant time if we have a Republican governor."


Miller said on Thursday he had “never knowingly taken any banned substance”.
The world’s leading trainer believes Amir Khan can succeed in upsetting Terence Crawford — even though he considers the American the finest fighter in the world.
Khan takes on Crawford in New York on Saturday night.
Business as usual for Anthony as he prepares to make his debut in the United States.
Promoter Eddie Hearn said the Briton was “devastated” after a fourth-round knockout in Los Angeles.
The 32-year-old goes toe-to-toe with Vasyl Lomachenko in Los Angeles.
The 27-year-old’s purse has also been withheld.
Previously unbeaten heavyweight Ali was disqualified.
Warrington defeated Frampton in the first defence of his IBF world featherweight title in December.
Conlan enjoyed a comfortable points victory in New York.
Katie Taylor clinched the WBO lightweight championship title in a career-topping performance against Rose Volante in Philadelphia last night.
Katie Taylor beat Brazilian Rose Volante to add a WBO strap to her WBA and IBF titles.


Two customer help points have been stolen from stations on the Severn Beach rail line in Bristol.
The computerised machines were removed from Redland and Montpelier stations.
They provide passengers with the latest travel information and can also be used in an emergency to raise an alarm.
Sgt Mark Harris, from British Transport Police, urged anyone with information about the missing machines to contact police.
He said: "They could be your lifeline if an emergency takes place on the railway or at your station so it is vital they are located and replaced."
Richard Morrish, from First Great Western, said: "The customer help points are of no use to anyone outside the rail industry.
"However these machines do help people within the community and it's a shame that the minority have to ruin things for the majority in this way."
They were taken between 25 and 28 February.


Prepare to be fracked, New York City: I hope you like undisclosed, top secret toxic chemicals that may or may not make your tap water flammable getting blasted into the ground super close to our prime water supply tunnels! Because that's about to happen. Propubilca reveals that the state is working to enshrine rules that would allow fracking to take place within 1,000 feet of the aging underground tunnels that carry 1.2 billion gallons of water a day from upstate New York to the city. If the proposal goes through, Propublica reports that "the state would allow drilling near aqueducts but would require a site-specific environmental review for any application to drill within 1,000 feet of the water supply infrastructure." In other words, all that would stand between legal drilling within hundreds of feet of crucial water supply tunnels would be a state environmental review.
Meaning fracking could take place right next to tunnels that supply over 10 million people with water.
"That's not enough to protect New York City's water, said Kate Sinding, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council ... 'There needs to be a buffer area in which there's no drilling whatsoever," Sinding said. "Just having elevated review doesn't cut it.'"
Sigh. State officials insist this wouldn't happen with fracking chemicals, but nobody's buying.
This is just the latest in a series of disappointing signs from Governor Cuomo's office on the issue -- the man who once said he'd be dedicated to protecting NYC's watersheds is now about to make it legal to drill within a football field's length of the most important supply conduits of all. It seems to this observer that Cuomo is leaning on the goodwill generated from his admirable work in passing marriage equality to push through a pro-fracking measure detested by liberals -- and any New Yorker who cares about the safety of their drinking water shouldn't let him.


Stocks rallied ahead of yesterday’s Florida Supreme court decision, as investors shrugged off weakness in the technology market and focused on the prospect of lower interest rates.
The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 164.77 to 2,917.43 – a gain of 6 percent.
The Dow Jones industrials tacked on 95.55 to 10,712.91 – up about 1 percent.
And the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 26.34 to 1,369.89, up 2 percent.
Intel announced late Thursday that massive cancellations of chip orders would cause it to miss its quarterly sales targets. It was just the latest technology company to report a slowdown in business, joining Apple Computer and Gateway.
But investors apparently decided that technology stocks had been punished enough and sent them soaring back up.
The question now is what the continued election uncertainty will do to the markets next.
Standard & Poor’s 500 futures were trading lower on Friday afternoon, indicating that the market would open lower on Monday.
But some analysts say any disruption will be temporary, because investors will focus instead on Alan Greenspan’s recent comments that he is ready to lower interest rates if necessary.


Trump, who inherited an historic market run and an economy at nearly full employment, has nowhere to go but down.
The trouble with taking credit for the admittedly white-hot market rally is twofold. First, as ProPublica’s Jesse Eisinger correctly points out, is the fact that the S&P 500, let alone the mostly useless Dow Jones, is not a reflection of the real economy. The stock market goes up when labor costs and wages go down, because it increases profit margins. Consumer confidence remained strong through 2007, as the U.S. economy plunged over a cliff into the depths of the financial crisis. And the “jobs!” market, which is about as strong as it can be without meaningful changes in the labor force participation rate, has nowhere to go but down.
According to Douglas Ramsay, chief investment officer of the Leuthold Group, Trump administration officials will come to regret gloating about the market's performance. That's because Trump enters the White House during one of the most richly valued stock markets in U.S. history. The last president to come in at such valuations was George W. Bush, and the dot-com bubble burst soon afterward. Bill Clinton began his second term in a more overvalued stock market in 1997, and exited unscathed. But if his timing were different by just a year, he would have been blamed for the early-aughts market crash.
Business cycles always come to an end, eventually. Trump, who took office amid one of the longest, strongest market expansions in U.S. history, is more than likely to be left holding the bag when the current exuberance cools.
But asked why he appeared to tie the threats to Democrats, Scaramucci pointed out that some Democrats got caught inciting violence at Trump campaign rallies last year.
Wells Fargo had previously estimated that up to 2.1 million customers may have had checking and credit-card accounts opened in their names without their permission over a period of several years. As part of an expanded review there could be "an increase in the identified number of potentially impacted customers," Wells said.
The search for unauthorized accounts now covers a broader time frame, from 2009 to September 2016. An ongoing analysis of customer data may also be turning up more affected customers, according to Wells's annual 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Goldman Sachs partner turned hedge fund manager turned movie producer turned foreclosure king turned treasury secretary has room for plenty of overnight guests in the nine-bedroom home he just picked up for $12 million, right down the street from new commerce secretary Wilbur Ross. And if you’re driving by and just need a quick bathroom break, the house has 12 and-a-half of those.
Evan Spiegel, the founder of Snapchat whose Snap Inc. went public today, is “sitting on a roughly $6 billion fortune” based on the opening price of $24 per share.


If the U.S. were to experience double-digit inflation for even a few years this could effectively destroy a third of a pension’s lifetime value. The legislature is currently under no obligation to go above the 1.5 percent COLA.
A challenge to funding our public pensions is that the promised benefits are based on relatively high investment expectations that can only be achieved with a significant investment in volatile assets.
Furthermore pension benefits are based on the highest years’ earnings, which can be out of line with career earnings. Each of these pension designs invites trouble both at the micro level with benefit “spiking” and at the macro level with under-performing markets.
How can we move forward with uncertain investment performance and inflation risks? A guiding principle is that both the state and state workers should honor the letter and the spirit of the law. Kentucky should maintain a defined benefit retirement system for its workers with concessions made on both sides.
Workers should not be allowed to include any supplemental pay in their benefit calculations. An ideal system is that workers are immediately vested in the plan with contributions and benefits tied to each year’s salary, not a few high years. There are over 50,000 former teachers retirement system employees who didn’t work long enough to gain any retirement benefits.
Pension funds should invest in the Kentucky economy through Kentucky-based businesses and municipal projects. Fund performance could be tied to an index of growth in the state’s output. This hovers around 3 to 4 percent but is steady and, importantly, is part of what our state workers are impacting with their public work. Pension benefits could be tied to the Consumer Price Index to float with any high inflation episodes. State workers should have the opportunity for their pensions to grow if they do not take them at the earliest eligible age. This would allow teachers to stay in their current positions rather than having to find new jobs or retire early.
The combined impact of these policies would be that workers receive guaranteed pensions that are robust despite investment and inflation swings. This reworked system would require longer careers and likely some pension reductions.
The state would have a defined benefit plan that was synced with the state economy, eliminating investment risk and solvency issues. For those public employees who think the status quo is better, they could be grandfathered and take their chances that inflation doesn’t thrash their pension benefit.
Paul V. Hamilton is an associate professor of economics at Asbury University.


The editorial headlined "Needless distraction" in the July 13 issue shows the true subjective colors of our local "news" provider. Reintroducing the uncivil name-calling dialogue it has so often pontificated against, the Mountain Express opens itself and its owners to the same level of discourse set forth in its editorial.
The citizens of Ketchum are currently engaged in their rightful effort to present to the voters of Ketchum the opportunity to express by their secret ballot vote their preference for the form of their city government should not be vilified as "a political faction that hates ... ."
These are concerned citizens. These are people who show up at meetings. These are citizens who are not afraid to comment on the process, nor on the details, of city governance. Whether this "political faction" represents a majority view or not should be left to the proof of the ballot box.
I myself, a 40-year observer of Ketchum politics, have become ambivalent in regard to what the editorial called the "accomplishments" of the current regime. My concern now is for the future health of this little resort mountain village and the tourist economy that must thrive here for Ketchum's real estate values to regain some of their recent losses.
The instability of the policies and the incivility of the political discourse of the current "strong-mayor" form of government have eroded and will continue to erode the feeling of confidence in resident and nonresident property owners alike.
A stable, professionally run city government of the "manager/council" type may bring some quieting of those concerns to current and future property owners.
That emotions run very high is evident in the unwarranted editorial attack by the writer of the Mountain Express piece. Ketchum does not "belong" to the current regime, to the mayor of yore or to his wife's newspaper, nor to the retired administrator, the latter three all noncitizens of the town, nor to the gutless folks that Mayor Hall referred to at a recent meeting who only express their thoughts in private conversation with him because they don't want their customers, clients, patients, whoever, to know that they have opinions about the business of the city, but whose opinions Mr. Hall and the Mountain Express revere over the opinions of the "hate" "faction" who speak out in public.
Citizens of Ketchum who believe in democratic government: Do not be cowed by the Mountain Express' call to "withhold" your signatures from the petition for a fair up-or-down vote on the form of your city government. Seek out a petition to sign and let the majority in our town set the rule. The "needless distraction" will be removed by November's vote.
Good governance, may it prevail.
Editor's note: Editorials—by definition—are published as opinions and do not purport to be news.


LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - The 16 year-old who survived a car wreck in Spencer County Wednesday is out of the hospital. Jenna Rigsby was released from Kosair Children's Hospital Thursday. Her two classmates at Spencer County High school, 16 year-old Mikie Monroe and 17 year-old Shelby Bockting both passed away.
Remains of police tape and spray paint on Mike Brown Road just off Kentucky 1633 remind those driving by about what went wrong on Wednesday afternoon.
"Right now I think we're in the numb stage," says Monroe family friend Belinda Sheeley.
It was right after school let out when the pickup carrying the high school juniors went off the side of the road killing Monroe and Bockting and injuring Rigsby. It doesn't matter who you ask around Spencer County, everyone will tell you about the girls. How wonderful they were.
"Everybody knows who Mikie is. Everybody knows who Shelby is and Jenna. The whole community feels the loss," explains Sheeley.
Both Mikie and Shelby played softball. In the recreation league, Mikie's mom was right there coaching her little girl.
"Just had the best time. She's over on the bench cheering and coaching and fussing 'em, come on. It was so much fun to watch them," says Sheeley.
It's those happy moments Sheeley is trying to hold onto now, like the time Mikie really showed just how outdoors she was. "What an understatement. Not one single man in Spencer County does not admire the great buck she got."
Also the school photographer - Sheeley watched the girls grow up through pictures. "Shelby liked to do the silly pictures. They were just happy girls. They're beautiful kids."
It's those pictures she's using as an outlet to grieve. She's making copies to give to the families and to the girl's classmates.
"A great memory to hold onto and I just wanted to give them one little piece of that," says Sheeley.
Monroe and Bockting will have a joint funeral. Visitation is 2 until 8 on Friday and Noon until 8 on Saturday and Greenwell, Jenkins and Houghlin funeral home in Talyorsville. On Sunday, there will be a visitation from 9 until 2 at Spencer County High School. Their funeral will take place at the high school at 2 on Sunday.


Dancing is a fun feature in Destiny, but it can also be a really useful tool when you're alone defending a control point. We also have highlights from someone defending a control point with punches, and the most enjoyable crash ever in Just Cause 2.
Kotaku reader Ivan sent in a video showing how he dances, using the 3rd person perspective to increase his ability to see enemies coming when holding a control point in Destiny.
Also this week, a two-for-one kill in Counter-Strike: GO, a bizarre glitch in Dark Souls 2, and a long, slow descent in Just Cause 2 multiplayer.


Growth in Internet traffic, especially from burgeoning video Web sites and peer-to-peer usage, will put more pressure on network managers to handle the explosion and on private sector investors, and they should be allowed to do so in unrestricted ways, a Washington think tank said Thursday.
The think tank, the New Millennium Research Council, released an 18-page report that called on Internet policymakers to avoid new regulations that could restrict Internet investment by the private sector and to find ways to encourage investment to handle the coming Internet onslaught.
The report also urged regulators to avoid inhibitions to experimentation by Internet service providers with new traffic management technologies.
Written by Jason Kowal of Analysys Research in Washington, the report, "The Never-ending Rush Hour: Internet Traffic Growth Requires Continual Investment in Capacity and Innovation in Network Management," calls for "more of laissez-faire recommendation than active encouragement or subsidization" of Internet growth, Kowal said in a press conference today.
He said he specifically tried to avoid the Net Neutrality issue facing Washington policymakers in making the recommendations. Kowal said he urged more of the same approaches used in the past. "The drivers of growth have been a laissez-faire approach from governments towards development" of the Internet, Kowal added.
"The real point [of the report] was to look at network operations and not talk about specific policy decisions," said Matt Bennett, NMRC executive director. The NMRC is a project of Issue Dynamics in Washington, a public affairs institute with clients that include many opponents to Net Neutrality, including AT&T, Verizon Communications and Comcast.
The report "clearly defines the traffic issues the Internet faces today and offers important perspectives on the need for continuous investment and 'smart' network management," Bennett added.
The report said investment in network capacity by ISPs typically involves activating fiber optic cables that are already constructed but still dark; connecting the fiber to higher speed routers; dedicating circuits to Internet traffic; and expanding end user access lines where needed. Notably, 75 percent growth in the average traffic on the world's Internet backbones in 2006 outpaced the 47 percent growth of capacity, the report said, citing TeleGeography Research. That trend had continued for the third straight year.
Also, the report noted several ways to continue developing smarter networks with network management software and related strategies. One method being widely deployed in business networks for creating differentiated services "has never been widely applied ... across the public Internet," the report said. A model using differentiated services, which set priorities for different kinds of Internet traffic, such as voice and video, "would deliver substantially more band for the buck," it said.
Setting up differentiated services could mean making sure that delay-sensitive traffic such as voice or video could get priority over data such as e-mail or even late night data dumps. A study cited in the report by several authors found that if IPS's deployed differentiated classes of service, the network would require 60 percent less capacity at relatively moderate traffic levels than if the network used what is known as a "best effort" traffic delivery system.
Bennett said the growth in Internet video has been especially dramatic in the past year, and noted an oncoming surge that includes such programming as nearly 3,000 hours of online live streaming video from the 2008 Olympic Games from NBC.
"Today there are countless online applications that deliver amazing benefits, but also pose challenges," he said.
A group supporting Net Neutrality, Free Press in Washington, called the NMRC report "an industry-funded report designed to scare lawmakers away from their duty to protect an open communications system for all Americans," according to a statement from S. Derek Turner, Free Press Research Director.
Incumbent service providers want to hold onto power to control content "so that they can favor their own video products while making the minimal amount of network investment," he said. In nations that have fast and cheap broadband, public policies have encouraged a more open and competitive broadband market, he added.
Ed Moran, director of product innovation at Deloitte Services, said the traffic jam on the Internet is already felt regularly by a person who tries to connect from home at 3:30 in the afternoon when video sites are activated by teenagers.
Adding the growth in Internet users and other innovations such as Voice over IP will tax the Internet, Moran said, noting that up to 60 percent of the Internet traffic is now attributed to peer-to-peer applications such as Myspace.com.
Deloitte's own user surveys show an interest in increasing downloads of photos and music as well as videos, Moran added. "There are all these trends combining to create, almost, a perfect storm," he said. Capacity is growing, "but not as fast as demand."


The leader in video calling has been slacking off.
That’s a line remote co-workers often ask each other when they need to really discuss something, face-to-face or at least orally. But later this year, both of those software programs could find themselves sidelined by Slack.
The makers behind the chat app announced yesterday that Slack users who are messaging each other will soon be able to have a voice call as well, and eventually a video call. No timeline has been given for either feature.
Slack’s rapid rise has already made it a darling of Silicon Valley. Just a year after its launch, investors valued the business chat app at over $1 billion. It was pegged at $2.8 billion as of last April, despite annual recurring revenues of just $25 million. That valuation is thanks to Slack’s fast-growing, devoted customer base, which has skyrocketed from 500,000 daily active users in January 2015 to 2.3 million daily active users today.
What percentage of these users are also Skype or Google Hangout users is impossible to say, but judging by purely anecdotal evidence from people in the tech and new media world, there’s huge crossover. Most people who use Slack for business use a combination of Skype and Google Hangouts when they need to talk to someone face-to-face. But a majority of their time remains inside Slack, where they can write text messages to individual colleagues as well as set up team channels, upload gifs, and use special tools.
Google is likely indifferent to Slack’s rise. It makes almost all of its money from advertisements, and options like Google Hangouts are just there to keep users close to the search bar.
But Skype is a different story.
Skype, which is part of Microsoft, is mostly a two-trick app, and used for voice and video calls. Skype probably has more users that Slack right now, but some of its most valuable, paying “business” users are likely to fall into that “also using Slack” category. The company claimed 300 million monthly active users as of date, and had 4.9 million active daily users at the end of 2014, the latest daily data available.
Skype for Business, the app’s business-centric upgrade, is only a hair more sophisticated than regular Skype, which at the ripe old age of 12 both looks and feels dated. It has none of the bells and whistles that make Slack addictive in the first place. Adding voice and video calling to Slack could help businesses use one tool for nearly all communication purposes.
Skype is owned by Microsoft, and accounts for a tiny percentage of the $93 billion in sales Microsoft brought in last year (they aren’t broken out, but in 2013 Microsoft told Bloomberg Skype was set to bring in $2 billion in annual sales). Microsoft has been focusing on Windows Azure, an Amazon Web Services competitor, and revamping Skype is probably not a major priority. Microsoft did not respond to Quartz’s requests for comment on this piece.
But how many young companies are using Outlook? If internet history tells us anything, Skype is on its way to becoming the AOL of voice and video calling apps.


In a conversation with Marc Lynch, F. Gregory Gause III discusses the relative stability of oil regimes in the Middle East and North Africa, noting the importance of countries’ willingness to spend oil money and maintain patronage networks.
Gause also says he believes the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to be stable, but that the country’s foreign policy extends beyond what it is comfortable with. Describing the KSA as “bullish” on stability, Gause says if the country was going to face significant unrest, it would have done so in 2011. Yet the KSA’s recent interventionist tendencies, and its unprecedented generational shift in leadership, implicate change is forthcoming, although it is unlikely to be destabilizing.
In his conclusion, Gause notes there is an immediate academic, theoretical, and policy need to chart and follow what has happened in the region over the last few years. He maintains there is still very little work being completed on Middle East international relations.


San Jose city employee unions argue their pension rates are protected under a precedent established by past court decisions.
A public fight and maybe a legal battle is brewing between South Bay Labor groups, the City of San Jose and local housing developers.
The Santa Clara and San Benito Counties Building and Construction Trades Council and the South Bay Labor Council are upset about proposed fee cuts for developers that doesn't ensure hours or jobs for local workers.
On Wednesday, NBC Bay Area obtained a letter sent to city leaders that not only expressed the labor group's displeasure but threatened a retaliatory ballot measure.
The attached letter references Measure JJJ in Los Angeles over a similar dispute which passed with 64 percent of the vote in November.
The labor groups are demanding, among many things, contractors pay prevailing wages, ensure at least 35 percent of its workforce construction hours be performed by San Jose or Santa Clara County workers.
The letter is in reaction to a proposal providing or extending incentives to primarily downtown developers including fee cuts.
We're studying the issues raised by the advocates for local hire, apprenticeships, and related issues through a formal task force with labor and business representatives. A local hire and apprenticeship program is already incorporated in the high-rise fee reduction proposal that Council will consider Tuesday. The fee reductions on high-rise construction would merely comprise an extension of an prior program that has been critical to enable the city to get shovels in the ground.
The incentives are scheduled to be discussed at the December 13 city council meeting.


Strome was rewarded for his stellar play by logging a career-high 17:28 of ice time in Wednesday's 3-2 shootout win in Anaheim.
Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet quoted veteran NHL coach John Tortorella after Thursday’s practice, echoing sentiments about confidence and how it can affect certain players and their performance on the ice.
According to Tocchet, that has been the case for Dylan Strome and a contributing factor for the proficient stretch of performances he has put together to open the 2018-19 season.
Not only did Strome mercifully end the Coyotes’ scoring drought at 17:33 of the first period in a game Arizona won, 3-2, via shootout on Wednesday in Anaheim, but Strome has made enough strides in his overall game that Tocchet gave the 21-year-old some added responsibility on Wednesday that could continue in the future.
Tocchet said he’s been impressed with Strome’s body positioning, hockey IQ and his willingness to step up when called upon. The coach pointed out a specific moment that stuck out to him during Wednesday’s game.
After Derek Stepan was sent to the penalty box for tripping at 16:06 of the second period, the Coyotes were without a center on the second penalty-kill unit. Instead of double-shifting Brad Richardson, Tocchet scanned his bench for a candidate to take a key faceoff in the Coyotes’ defensive zone.
He instantly met the gaze of Strome, who was itching to get back on the ice.
“I said, ‘Get out there and take the draw for us,’” Tocchet said. “And he won the draw and got it out. That’s a big play. People don’t realize if Anaheim wins the draw, we have to defend (in our on zone). But if we get it out, we get the matchup we like and we want out there.
Strome was also a standout on the man-advantage for the Coyotes, stepping in on the team’s first power-play unit and sneaking a shot through the five-hole of Ducks goaltender John Gibson to give the Coyotes their first goal in 137 minutes and 33 seconds of play this season.
Tocchet said he and Strome got inspiration on the goal-scoring play from Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews, who is known for scoring power-play goals on his forehand side.
According to Tocchet, Strome watched a lot of video on Matthews and Tocched said he would design a similar play for Strome on the Coyotes’ power play. As the result showed, it worked to perfection.
Strome, who also finished with a 71-percent success rate in the faceoff circle, was rewarded for his play by logging a career-high 17:28 of ice time. He only recorded one shot (his power-play goal in the first period), but Tocchet said he saw the various areas of the game that Strome was affecting and kept rolling him out there.
“I think it’s the most I’ve ever played in a game,” said Strome, who tallied eight points in his final 10 games last season. “Obviously it felt pretty good. When you’re kind of in a groove, I think the coaches realize that and then it’s just about trying to win the draws and not get scored on.
Josh Archibald (upper body) has been cleared for contact and practiced with the Coyotes on Thursday at Gila River Arena. He could conceivably suit up for Saturday's game against the Buffalo Sabres, per Tocchet. ... Christian Dvorak (lower body) and Jakob Chychrun (knee) also practiced with the team but are not yet cleared for contact. ... Alex Galchenyuk (lower body) has not yet skated with the team and continues to rehab on his own.


Adidas may be showing off the future of shoe manufacturing with their latest Futurecraft video, Futurecraft Leather. Using high powered milling machines, normally reserved for industrial design, a computer sculpts away at a solid piece of leather. As the pieces fall away, a futuristic sneaker is revealed. This allows the entire top piece to be a single piece of leather.


Dallas is a major city with an active and happening singles scene. The city is home to many different bars and nightclubs, and many cater to singles. The best bar in the city is Lee Harvey’s. This bar prides itself on being a dive bar, complete with its own restaurant and old-fashioned decorations.
The "Dallas Observer" runs contests every year in which locals vote on their favorite hot spots in the city. Those readers often pick Lee Harvey’s as their favorite. In 2006, readers voted it the best bar in Dallas. In 2007, readers of the "Dallas Observer" named the bar as having the best outdoor bathroom and the best onion rings in the city.
Lee Harvey’s has its own restaurants located on-site where patrons can order snacks and dinner to go along with their drink. Appetizers include onion rings served with a chipotle aioli sauce, three types of quesadillas and buffalo wings. The restaurant also offers salads and a wide range of burgers. Patrons can even grab an ice cream treat.
The bar started as an artists' hangout and that laid-back feel remains today, more than 50 years since the bar opened. Friday nights usually offer the biggest crowds. The customer base is a large mix of patrons who have been coming there for year along with younger people who just discovered the bar. Guests love the mix of older beer signs, wood paneling and comfortable couches.
On the nights when Lee Harvey’s showcases a band or DJ, the bar is packed with crowds of singles and groups. Thursday nights are when a local DJ puts on records, but on certain nights a local radio station takes over the booth. Guests also love Friday and Saturday nights when the bar showcases live bands, usually from the area.
One reason why so many singles love Lee Harvey’s is because of their happy hour specials. During happy hour, people come from all over the city to take advantage of the drink specials and lower prices. Sunday through Wednesday happy hour runs all day, and on other days the bar features special prices until 7 p.m., which attracts businessmen and office workers.
Eblin, Jennifer. "The Best Singles Bar in Dallas." Travel Tips - USA Today, https://traveltips.usatoday.com/singles-bar-dallas-21865.html. Accessed 21 April 2019.


The Gesa Carousel of Dreams just completed it’s first year of operation. With 45 horses, three chariots, a cougar and a husky; rounding boards featuring artwork by Tri-City photographer John Clement; the carousel is “a gorgeous piece of equipment,” to quote Eric Van Winkle, departing executive director of the Three Rivers Carousel Foundation.
Major donors like Gesa Credit Union, Toyota of Tri-Cities and Baker Produce, along with hundreds of other donors and volunteers, made the Carousel of Dreams a reality. But it takes more than money to make dreams come true, it takes leadership. Van Winkle has been a passionate champion of the project from concept through fund-raising, construction and a critical first year of operation. He deserves our gratitude and best wishes as he moves on to his next adventure.
Taking over for Van Winkle next week will be Parker Hodge. Hodge has served this community in many ways for many years, including being an important member of the Tri-City Herald leadership team. We’ll miss him at the Herald, but we’re happy to know that our carousel will be in such capable hands.


A Ranchi infant, who was allegedly drowned on February 1 by her mother, given up for dead at one hospital but revived at another, and rushed to Ranchi airport and from Delhi airport to a hospital in record time thanks to police enforcing green corridors on Monday, might not survive.
Nine-month-old Khushi is in coma, doctors at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) in Delhi said on Tuesday.
Khushi’s mother, undergoing psychiatric treatment, had on February 1 either thrown the baby in a well near Ranchi’s Ojha Market or jumped in the well with her, an SGRH doctor who heard the two contradictory versions from the family, said.
Initially declared dead by a medical facility near Piska More in Ranchi, Khushi was revived after cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) at Rani Hospital, also in the state capital. But as many of her organs started failing, Ranchi doctors referred her to Delhi’s SGRH, with better ventilators, dialysis for children, and an Ecmo device for heart-lung bypass that pumps blood into very ill children to improve their oxygen levels.
To enable her reach Delhi as fast as possible, Ranchi police on Monday transported Khushi through a green corridor — a stretch where police halt all traffic — from Rani Hospital to Birsa Munda Airport in 10 minutes, starting 1.02pm, covering a distance of 12km. She flew to Delhi in an air ambulance. In Delhi, a similar 12km corridor was created from Indira Gandhi International Airport’s Terminal 1D to SGRH that reached Khushi to the hospital in 13 minutes at 5.23pm.
“Falling in cold water made her body temperature fall. This is called hypothermia…When she was initially taken to a doctor, this made her appear dead. Currently, she is in coma. There is some spontaneous breathing movement but she is not moving her limbs or responding to pinches,” he explained.
Khushi’s brain has been injured due to oxygen deficiency induced by drowning, her blood pressure was low when she was admitted and her urine output is very less.
“There is no medicine to reverse the damage. We are preventing further damage and waiting for nature to regenerate her affected organs. It may take anything from weeks to months,” Dr Sachdev added. If she survives, the quality of her life is likely to be poor.
This kind of treatment costs up to Rs 50,000 per day for the first two days. The cost reduces later but remains expensive in private facilities.
Dr Sachdev said Khushi was from a middle class family. Her father and uncle, accompanying her, are depressed, he said. They apparently told the doctor that the girl’s mother had been undergoing treatment for psychosis induced by her delivery.
Postpartum psychosis is a rare psychiatric emergency with symptoms such as extreme mood swings, depression and hallucinations. It affects 0.1 to 0.2 per cent of women after childbirth.


XPO Logistics celebrated drivers with at least 1 million accident-free miles at a two-day celebration in Ann Arbor, Mich., in mid-June, including a question-and-answer session hosted by company CEO Brad Jacobs.
In total, 890 XPO drivers have traveled more than 1 million miles without a crash, 19 of which went at least 3 million miles and received a special honor. When combined, the 890 amass more than 1 billion miles without a crash. The less-than-truckload division has 12,575 drivers.
The drivers honored represent 11 states and have an average tenure of 30 years.
“The billion-mile mark is a huge achievement for our company and a point of pride for our drivers. It speaks to their impressive commitment to both safety and customer service, because an accident on the road is also a delay in delivery,” said Tony Brooks, president of the LTL business.
XPO ranks No. 3 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.


The Housing and Development Board (HDB) launched 3,739 flats for sale on Tuesday (Feb 12) in the first Build-To-Order (BTO) and Re-Offer of Balance Flats (ROF) exercise of 2019.
SINGAPORE: The Housing and Development Board (HDB) launched 3,739 flats for sale on Tuesday (Feb 12) in the first Build-To-Order (BTO) and Re-Offer of Balance Flats (ROF) exercise of 2019.
Of these, 3,162 are BTO units which will be spread across five projects – three in the non-mature towns of Jurong West and Sengkang, and two in the mature town of Kallang Whampoa.
The five projects are Boon Lay Glade, Jurong West Jewel, Fernvale Vines, Kallang Breeze and Towner Crest.
The flats are priced from S$95,000 for a two-room Flexi in the Boon Lay area to about S$523,000 for a four-room in Kallang Whampoa.
Eligible first-timer families can get up to S$80,000 of housing grants, the release said. These include up to S$40,000 of Additional CPF Housing Grant (AHG) and up to S$40,000 under the Special CPF Housing Grant (SHG).
“With these grants, flat buyers could pay as little as S$15,000 for a two-room Flexi flat, S$110,000 for a three-room flat, S$197,000 for a four-room flat, and S$333,000 for a five-room flat," said HDB.
Flat allocation priority will still be given to first-timer families, the release said. Those who wish to live with or stay close to their parents will also be given the option to do so.
Couples who wish to live with their parents can apply for a Three-Generation (3Gen) flat in Jurong West or Sengkang. Meanwhile, those who wish to live close to parents or married children in the same BTO project can submit a joint application under the Multi-Generation Priority Scheme.
Property analysts expect strong demand for flats in Kallang Whampoa, given their proximity to MRT stations.
"The Kallang/Whampoa flats are expected to be the 'hottest' in this exercise, as they are centrally located and not too far away from MRT stations," said ERA Realty's key executive officer Eugene Lim.
This is the first BTO sales launch in the Kallang Whampoa area since November 2016, noted OrangeTee & Tie's head of research and consultancy Christine Sun.
"The last BTO exercise at Kallang Residences in November 2016 was 12.1 times oversubscribed for the four-room HDB flats and 3.3 times oversubscribed for the three-room HDB flats," she said.
In addition to the BTO flats, 577 unselected flats from the Sale of Balance Flats exercise in May last year will also be on offer.
These consist of two to five-room flats, as well as 96 units of 3Gen and three executive flats across various towns and estates.
At least 95 per cent of the flat supply will be reserved for first-timer families and up to 5 per cent for second-timer families, HDB said. Should they meet the prevailing eligibility conditions, elderly may apply to buy a two-room Flexi flat.
However, families will be given priority for flat selection.
HDB said about 13 per cent of these ROF flats are already completed, while the rest are under construction.
Prices for ROF under this exercise start at S$179,000 for a three-room in a non-mature town. Three-generation flats in mature towns are priced from S$559,000.
Interested buyers may apply for the flats on offer from Tuesday to next Monday. However, they will only be able to take part in either the BTO or ROF exercise, not both.
The next HDB flat launch will be in May. This exercise will offer about 3,400 flats in Kallang Whampoa, Tengah and Woodlands.


U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar lashed out at critics on social media, saying he will block Facebook users who make posts he deems improper and uncivil.
U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar lashed out at critics on social media Friday, saying he will block Facebook users who make posts he deems improper and uncivil.
In a 400-word post reflecting anger and frustration, the four-term Arizona Republican unloaded on those who express "hostile, crass and inappropriate rhetoric."
"Commenting on my Facebook is a privilege, not a right," Gosar wrote.
"Quite frankly, we don’t care if a Facebook 'block' offends you," he later added.
Faith Vander Voort, a spokeswoman for Gosar, said the congressman was unavailable for comment Friday. She said the pending GOP health-care bills have generated the most vitriol lately, but said Gosar and his staffers have faced years of abusive comments.
"There was a stretch when Mr. Gosar was commonly called terrible and offensive things, like 'Hitler.' Of course, that isn’t tolerated," Vander Voort said.
During his congressional career, which began in 2011, Gosar has blocked "several hundred" users, she said.
In his Facebook post, Gosar cited last month's shooting of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., as an example of why he and his staff take threats seriously. He also urged people to contact him — civilly — if they want a serious effort to discuss their grievances.
"If you really desire to get in touch with me, quit spewing hateful comments on photos of me with constituents and loved ones. Call my office and let’s get something done," he wrote.
The post quickly generated dozens of responses, with many of the ones publicly shown supportive of Gosar's position.
"Thank you for handling this in a clear and concise manner. People that have real concerns will address them using the proper channels," according to a user identified as Jeni Henry Donahey.
"Cowards who hide behind a FB account because they're incapable of exchanging views in a civilized manner have no right to abuse others ... block them all," wrote a user identified as Valerie Lazor Mahany.
Others saw Gosar coming up short in his public responsibilities.
"If a staff member of the representative is on Facebook monitoring all the posts, they are doing it on taxpayer expense. Thus, your Facebook postings belong to the taxpayer and not to you," according to a user identified as Bob Burd.
"I guess Rep. Paul Gosar does not want to represent the constituents who disagree with him," wrote a user identified as David Brauer.
Gosar's posting is the latest in a series of heated skirmishes between Republicans and a public that intensely dislikes the GOP health-care plans, President Donald Trump and Congress generally.
On Thursday, a man was arrested after allegedly telling staffers at Sen. Jeff Flake's office, "We will get better aim," a reference to the Scalise shooting.
In May, federal authorities charged a Tucson man with leaving threatening messages for U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz.
One piece of common ground for Democrats and Republicans in Congress today seems to be agreement that the public is seething.
What happens if GOP can't pass 'Obamacare' repeal?


When Captain America: The Winter Soldier hits the big screen on April 4, it will mark Scarlett Johansson’s third big screen appearance as Natasha “Black Widow” Romanoff. That will soon be followed by a fourth, Avengers: Age of Ultron, in 2015. According to Total Film‘s new interview with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige (via Comic Book Movie), the much-anticipated sequel will feature a “very big” role for the character. What’s more, he teases that a Black Widow solo film may be the next step for the character.
Of course, Black Widow is going to first have to make it through the events of The Winter Soldier, which Feige promises is a game-changer for the MCU.


JASON PUNCHEON keeps on proving that he may not be the world’s best penalty-taker – but give him a chance in open play and he can be deadly.
For the second home game running the winger was the man who grabbed a precious three points for Palace as his first-half strike condemned unlucky Hull to defeat.
Puncheon’s spot-kick miss against Tottenham three weeks ago is still talked about as one of the worst ever.
But since then the winger has bagged the winning goal against Stoke – and now this strike, which moved Palace level with Hull on 23points as the survival bid gathered pace.
Hull boss Steve Bruce, who spent four months as Palace manager back in 2001 before walking out to take over at Birmingham, gave debuts tohis new £14.5 million strike force of Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic.
Hull had a good early case for a penalty snubbed by referee Roger East, when Danny Gabbidon appeared to bundle Long over in the area.
But to pile on the agony for Bruce, Palace went straight back up the ?eld and scored. Yannick Bolasie skipped past Paul McShane and crossed.
Puncheon’s ?rst header was inadvertently blocked by team-mate Marouane Chamakh, but the ball came back to the winger and he rammed his shot high into the net.
Hull looked out of sorts as Puncheon and Bolasie raided continually down the ?anks with determination and speed, and when another cross was only half-cleared, Adrian Mariappa cracked a drive just over.
The worry for Palace boss Tony Pulis though, was that the chances were not being taken.
Hull’s Allan McGregor produced a superb save to tip Mile Jedinak’s ?erce 25-yard free-kick over the bar.
Palace were winning most of the 50-50 balls, defending doggedly, and breaking with speed and venom.
Right on the stroke of half-time they almost paid for that pro?igacy, as Tom Huddlestone ?red in a free-kick which Palace keeper Julian Speroni just managed to tip over the bar.
Then Palace were caught again, as Jedinak sloppily lost the ball on the edge of the area.
Jake Livermore pounced, but with the goal gaping, cracked his drive an inch over the bar.Hull werevastlyimproved after what must have been a half-time rollicking from Bruce, and Palace were holding on to their lead with increasing desperation.
Substitute George Boyd forced another save out of Speroni.
Then Liam Rosenoir somehow ?red wide from point-blank range after Livermore’s run, when it seemed easier to score.
Debutant Jelavic then wasted another opportunity.
Hull keeper McGregor was sent off in injury time after a clash with substitute Stuart O’Keefe and Huddlestone took over.


Hundreds of postal workers and supporters have been out with banners and flags, protesting in Birmingham over plans to sell off the Royal Mail.
The march around the city centre is against current plans made by the coalition government.
Steve Reid from the Communication Workers Union has been one of the people leading the demonstration.
He's been telling Heart that he doesn't want the Royal Mail to be sold off as he fears it will never be the same again.
He's worried the service will suffer if it becomes privatised and added that he thinks it will lead to higher prices and post office closures.
However, the Royal Mail have told us they support the privatisation bill, saying it IS vital for the future of the company if they are going to resolve their multi million pound debt.
They added that it will allow the Royal Mail much needed private investment.


Secretary of State John Kerry says a new congressional authorization for U.S. military operations against the Islamic State should not be limited to Iraq and Syria and should not bind President Barack Obama from ever deploying ground troops against the group if necessary.
Kerry spoke Tuesday at a hearing on updating legal justifications for the current U.S. military operations.
Obama is using congressional authorizations that former President George W. Bush relied on after 9/11 — ones that critics say are a legal stretch at best.
Kerry says he doesn't think U.S. military action will extend beyond Iraq and Syria, but that it would be a mistake to tell extremist militants that there are safe havens outside the two countries.


Reading Eagle: Lauren A. Little | Bern Township dairy farmer Paul Hartman says the farm bill is important to people in his business because it provides assistance when milk prices are low.
Farmers want to see a new federal bill, not an extension. SNAP work requirements and hemp are key topics.
Pennsylvania farmers want the federal farm bill passed before the end of the current lame duck session of Congress.
"If it doesn't pass, it could revert back to 1939 and then Congress would have to start the bill over in 2019," said Mark O'Neill, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau spokesman.
The 1939 farm bill had no crop insurance, no dairy protection plan and little conservation funding.
The modern farm bill is reworked every five years. It expired with the Sept. 30 end of the federal fiscal year, but a lot of programs have been funded until the end of the calendar year, O'Neill said.
The House and Senate each passed different versions of the farm bill. Now it is in a bipartisan conference committee whose members are negotiating a final version.
An extension while lawmakers hammer out the fine details is still more likely than no bill at all, but it is not guaranteed.
"There is no automatic extension of the bill," O'Neill said. "There have been extensions in the past, but farmers don't want an extension. Farmers want a new bill in place."
If it is not passed in 2018, newly elected members would have to get up to speed on the complexities of the bill, further delaying its passage.
Uncertainty over the fate of the farm bill makes it tough for farmers to plan crops for next year, and this is planning season.
"Crop insurance is a major consideration, especially in years like this," O'Neill said. "It has really been difficult for farmers across the board, with the constantly wet weather. Every farmer who grows anything was affected by the weather with lower yields. In years like this, crop insurance is more important than ever."
Livestock farmers are also keeping a keen eye on the farm bill.
"Some things in there are for assistance when milk prices are low," said dairy farmer Paul Hartman, an owner at Scattered Acres in Bern Township. "The farm bill gives a certain level of stability to what we are doing.
"Agriculture is a huge industry in our country. Having a reliable food supply is critical."
It's called the farm bill, Hartman notes, but there are many sections of the bill that are not directly related to farming.
For example, the bill hit a snag over a portion of the House version that sought to add a work requirement for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, aka SNAP, previously food stamps.
The House-passed measure would have required adults aged 18-59 with no children to work or participate in a work training program at least 20 hours per week.
The Senate version does not include the SNAP work requirement.
SNAP is a large part of the farm bill.
In the currently expired bill, 80 percent of the $489 billion budget went to nutrition programs, including SNAP; the Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program, which teaches people how to choose and prepare healthy food; and programs that promote farmers markets and farm-to-school food service.
"The farm bill is critically important," said state Sen. Judy Schwank, a Ruscombmanor Township Democrat. "I believe it is poised for agreement.
"Republicans are looking to the new Congress and thinking it will never pass," she added. "They will allow the work requirement to be discussed in the next farm bill and move forward on this one."
Democrats and some Senate Republicans have not been supportive of the work requirement and in 2019, the Democrats will displace Republicans as the House's majority party.
"Knowing the picture is going to change, this is not the time for big change in the farm bill," Schwank said.
The Senate version also has a provision to remove industrial hemp from the controlled substance list, O'Neill said, adding there is a lot of support for the crop.
Hemp farming was a robust industry in Pennsylvania before the federal government removed authority to grow it.
Industrial hemp has over 25,000 reported uses, including fiber, oil, biofuel, hand soaps and cosmetics, but it is still classified as a Class 1 drug and cannot legally be grown in the U.S. for human consumption.
It can, however, be consumed. Granola with hemp seeds contains hemp imported from other countries.
Hemp is the same plant species as marijuana, but it contains between zero and 0.2 percent of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient in cannabis.
The last federal farm bill removed the prohibition on the production of hemp but added restrictions. States have to give the authority to grow hemp, it has to be for research, and it is still classified as a Class 1 drug, state Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding said in a 2017 interview.
In 2017, Pennsylvania reintroduced the hemp crop under the Industrial Hemp Research Pilot Program. Through the program, 50 permits were available in 2018 and growers could plant a limited number of acres of hemp exclusively for research purposes, not for commercial sale.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has hinted that hemp will be removed from the controlled substance list, opening opportunities for the industry.


THREE men who were convicted of the murder of American sailor Kyle Bruner during his attempt to prevent a robbery of two visitors were spared the death penalty yesterday.
Justice Indra Charles had been urged by the Crown to sentence Craig Johnson, 23, Anton Bastian, 22, and 24-year-old Marcellus Williams to death for their role in the events that led to Bruner’s fatal shooting on May 13, 2013.
Instead Johnson was sentenced to 45 years imprisonment for murder and 12 years for each of the two counts of armed robbery of which he was convicted.
His fellow convicts, Bastian and Williams, received 40 years for murder and 12 years for armed robbery.
Their sentences were ordered to run concurrently from the date of conviction. They were credited for the time spent on remand. All three have been in custody since May 2013.
In the sentencing hearing yesterday, she acknowledged the seriousness of the offences and the circumstances under which the killing occurred, but determined that other cases with more egregious circumstances did not see the death penalty imposed or affirmed by higher courts.
Last November, a jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts for Johnson, Bastian and Williams for Bruner’s murder. The three men were further convicted with 32-year-old Jamaal Dorfevil on two counts of armed robbery as they were alleged to have held up two women while armed with a firearm, robbing one of $150 cash, her $3,000 handbag and the other of cash, a handbag and an iPhone.
Justice Charles noted that the cases of Simeon Bain and Peter Meadows were useful authorities in helping her arrive at a decision.
“Even if the court is going to impose the death penalty, there should be some starting point. To say that we must not look to common law in this case is not helpful,” the judge said on that point previously raised by the Crown.
Meadows was convicted and initially sentenced to death in 1988 in the murder of Deanette Strachan, who was fatally shot during an armed robbery of a convenience store.
In 2014, his commuted life sentence was reduced to 35 years’ imprisonment after he relied on the Court of Appeal’s ruling in the case of Angelo Poitier where it outlined a range for murder cases where life imprisonment was not warranted.
The court noted that Meadows was 23 at the time of his conviction in 1988 and was a person of good character up to that time.
In the case of Bain, the 44-year-old had his life sentence reduced to 55 years by the Court of Appeal for the throat-slashing murder of former Burger King restaurant manager Rashad Morris.
Justice Charles, in yesterday’s sentencing decision, stressed that the court had to consider the nature and gravity of the offence, character of the person, conduct or influence that caused the murder as well as the convict’s prospect for rehabilitation.
The judge came to the conclusion that Bruner’s murder was not as outrageous or premeditated as the case of Simeon Bain who seduced his victim as part of a plot to kidnap him from the Charlotte Street location of Burger King, took him to the Tonique Williams-Darling Highway location where he had been the manager and stabbed and slashed the man’s throat in the restaurant’s parking lot after failing to get access to the safe inside the store.
Justice Charles also recalled the opinion of psychiatrist Dr John Dillard that a person was capable of being rehabilitated the younger they were.
She noted that a conviction of robbery carried a sentence of up to 14 years imprisonment.
Justice Charles said she considered a number of cases to arrive at a reasonable sentence.
She noted Dorfevil had no previous convictions and expressed remorse for life that was lost. She also acknowledged that his former employer said he would rehire him and commended him for taking a course while at the prison and received a certificate during his remand.
Dorfevil was sentenced to six years in prison on each of the two counts of robbery. The sentences will run concurrently from the date of conviction. He was credited for the time spent on remand, which is three years to date.
All four convicts denied having any involvement in the armed robbery and the killing of Bruner, who was shot in the neck as he tried to help two women who were being mugged by two armed men.
They testified that they were at home on the early morning in question and had been lied on and assaulted by the police, who produced videotaped interviews of Johnson, Williams and Dorfevil taking officers through the crime scene.
Johnson, Bastian, Williams and Dorfevil were represented by attorneys Mr Smith, Roberto Reckley, Walton Bain and Sonia Timothy respectively.
A fifth accused, 21-year-old Leo Bethel, had all charges discontinued against him by way of a nolle prosequi within moments of Justice Charles concluding her summation of the evidence. He was defended by Ian Cargill.


Ms. Gloria Carter accepts Special Recognition Award at the 2018 GLAAD Media Awards.
(AllHipHop News) Jay-Z gave hope to hip-hop with the release of his thirteenth studio album 4:44.
This past Saturday night at the Hilton Midtown in New York, the 29th Annual GLAAD Media Awards honored the films, television shows and media personalities who hail at the forefront of LGBTQ representation in entertainment.
Many were honored among the star-studded crowd, including Ava DuVernay, Samira Wiley, and Jay-Z, whose award was accepted by his mom Gloria Carter.
As she took the stage to retrieve the Special Recognition Award, she delivered a touching, heartfelt speech thanking the man above, her son, and GLAAD.


North Carolina’s discriminatory “bathroom bill” will cost the state at least an estimated $3.76 billion over the next 12 years, according to an analysis by the Associated Press. The AP, which achieved the tally based on public record requests and interviews with local officials, notes that its estimate is conservative because it only includes projects that directly cite HB2 as the reason for relocating.
House Bill 2, otherwise known as the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, was signed into law a year ago. It blocks anti-discrimination protections for gender identity or sexual orientation and prohibits people from using public restrooms that do not correspond with the gender on their birth certificate.
In the past year, artists, businesses, and activists have protested the anti-LGBT laws by boycotting the state. Bruce Springsteen, Demi Lovato, and Pearl Jam canceled concerts there; PayPal and Deutsche Bank have called off plans to expand their operations in the state; the NCAA will avoid hosting events as long as the law stands, and the NAACP is calling for a boycott. So far, according to the AP, the state has lost 2,900 jobs because of HB2 and has lost $196 million in revenue from conventions, sporting events, and concerts.


RUSSELLVILLE � Despite a surge in ticket sales spurred by last week's record $587 million Powerball jackpot, the state's lottery scholarship program still needs changes to avoid running out of money, lottery officials were told Monday.
RUSSELLVILLE � Despite a surge in ticket sales spurred by last week�s record $587 million Powerball jackpot, the state�s lottery scholarship program still needs changes to avoid running out of money, lottery officials were told Monday.
Speaking at a meeting of the state Lottery Commission at Arkansas Tech University, Shane Broadway, interim director of the state Department of Higher Education, said that a couple of weeks ago the lottery�s ticket sales for the year to date were more than $4 million behind the previous year�s sales, but Powerball changed that.
�We pretty well are back to where we were a year ago in one day with the jackpot growing last week,� Broadway said.
Even so, Broadway warned that if the lottery generates about $90 million a year in net proceeds for scholarships, and if the scholarships continue to be awarded at the present rate and in the present amounts, the scholarship program is only a few years away from running out of money.
�The students who are going to graduate from high school this coming spring, by the fall and certainly by the spring of their sophomore years (late 2014 or early 2015), you get to the point even at $1oo million in net proceeds where you have to tap into the reserve and you don�t have the ability to pay it back. You never catch back up,� he said.
Broadway made similar warnings in testimony last month before the legislative oversight committee on the lottery. The committee is studying a proposal by Sen. Johnny Key, R-Mountain Home, that would award scholarships in different amounts for different grade levels.
Students currently receive $4,500 per year to attend a four-year school and $2,250 per year to attend a two-year school. Under Key�s proposal, freshmen would receive $2,000, sophomores $3,000, juniors $4,000 and seniors $5,000.
Broadway told the commission that if scholarship amounts were reduced to $3,300 per year for four-year schools and $1,650 per year for two-year schools, the next group of freshmen could be funded for four years at that level with $90 million a year in scholarship proceeds, although the Department of Higher Education would have to borrow from the reserve.
�If now because of last week it increases the amount in terms of what net proceeds may be for this year, then instead of going from $4,500 and $2,250 to $3,300 (and $1,650) it could possibly mean you don�t have to come down as far,� he said.
Lawmakers also could seek to save money by changing the eligibility requirements for the scholarship, Broadway said.
Broadway said the department usually begins the financial aid process for the next school year on Jan. 1, but since the Legislature is likely to make changes to the program during the session that begins Jan. 14, applications will include �a very big asterisk� advising applicants that eligibility requirements and scholarship amounts may change.
Broadway said that is a question on everyone�s mind.
�My intuition would say yes, it does,� Engstrom said.
�My intuition would say yes as well,� Broadway said, adding that he did not have any research on how far scholarship amounts could be lowered without discouraging students from applying.
Also Monday, the commission voted to authorize Lottery Director Bishop Woosley to write to members of the state�s congressional delegation and urge them not to support a bill that would legalize Internet gambling, including the sale of lottery tickets.
�This could have some negative impact on us, regardless of whether we ever did iGaming or not,� Woosley said.
The legislative oversight committee on the lottery has already written to the delegation in opposition to the bill.


Enter your zip code to search used Altima Hybrid listings in your area.
The 2011 Nissan Altima Hybrid ranking is based on its score within the 2011 Affordable Midsize Cars category. Currently the Nissan Altima Hybrid has a score of 8.2 out of 10 which is based on our evaluation of 41 pieces of research and data elements using various sources.
Test drivers said the thing they liked most about the 2011 Nissan Altima Hybrid is that it drives like a regular gas-only Altima, which is a big compliment for a hybrid car. However, at 33/33 mpg city/highway, the Altima Hybrid’s fuel economy isn’t as strong as its hybrid rivals, and it has low safety ratings.
Auto critics really liked the 2011 Nissan Altima Hybrid’s interior quality and enjoyable driving experience, which is quite similar to that of a gas-powered car. They praised the Altima Hybrid’s athletic handling, but they noted that it isn’t quick from a stop. Reviewers also liked the Altima Hybrid’s sporty styling and high-quality construction.
The 2011 Nissan Altima Hybrid’s fuel economy is good, but there are rivals in the class that have better fuel economy. Reviewers said that the transitions between electric and gas power were noisy and more noticeable than they would have liked. They also noted that the back seat may be tight and uncomfortable for taller passengers. Additionally, rivals like the 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid offer better safety ratings. The 2011 Nissan Altima Hybrid was only sold in nine states, so shoppers may have trouble finding a used model in their area.
The 2011 Nissan Altima Hybrid has a four-cylinder engine, electric motor and continuously variable transmission (CVT). The Altima Hybrid comes with dual-zone climate control, push-button start and a six-speaker stereo. When it was new, available option packages added feature like a sunroof, leather seats, heated front seats, Bluetooth, navigation and an upgraded stereo with a USB port and satellite radio. Standard safety features on the 2011 Altima Hybrid include six airbags, anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control and traction control.
The 2011 Toyota Camry Hybrid has similar fuel economy estimates to the 2011 Altima Hybrid. Like the Altima Hybrid, reviewers praised the Camry Hybrid for its family-friendly interior space and for driving like a gas-powered car.
The 2011 Ford Fusion Hybrid outshines the Altima Hybrid with better fuel economy and safety ratings. The Fusion Hybrid was well-liked when it was new for combining family sedan practicality with an enjoyable driving experience.
Calculate 2011 Nissan Altima Hybrid Monthly Payment Which Cars You Can Afford?


When Reddit user 80sArcade found his old Game Boy the other day, it had a Game Boy Camera still attached. Within were 14 photos from 1998.
You don't often get that kind of gaming time capsule from so long ago, mostly because the Game Boy was about the only system outside the PC to have a camera at the time.
In posting the photos, he also shares some information on those snapped, making the whole thing strangely personal (and a lot more interesting than if he'd just found a bunch of photos of action figures).
Really.. I have three - bought secondhand with random peoples photos on them. Not unusual.
Wow... I'm pretty sure the two that I got were either wiped clean or just didn't get used. That's no fun at all.


According to Davie police, a firebombing that failed to destroy two cars on Monday did so on Tuesday, April 3, when the arsonist returned for a second time.
The second time was the charm for whoever firebombed two vehicles in a mobile home park in Davie and now police are searching for the arsonist.
The first attack occurred early Monday in the 12500 block of Southwest Seventh Street, in the Kings Manor Mobile Home Park.
A compact car is seen on surveillance video driving by a home twice. During the second drive-by, someone threw an incendiary device under the rear of a car parked in the driveway, Davie police said. The flames grew and there was a small explosion causing minor damage to the car, investigators said.
Apparently, the arsonist was not satisfied.
Early Tuesday, a security camera recorded an extended cab pickup truck driving by the same address twice. On the second pass, the video shows someone getting out and walking around one of the cars in the driveway.
“A few minutes later there is a large explosion and a big fire ball that completely engulfs both vehicles in the driveway causing major damage,” Sgt. Mark Leone said.
The cars appeared to have been totally destroyed.
The motive for the arson attacks was not immediately known but investigators are asking anyone with information to contact Davie police at 954-693-8200 or Broward Crime Stoppers, anonymously, at 954-493-8477 or online at browardcrimestoppers.org. Anonymous tips that lead to an arrest are eligible for a reward of up to $3,000.
It was a rude awakening for Patricia Lordi early Thursday.


Juan Corona, who gained the nickname “The Machete Murderer” for hacking to death dozens of migrant farm laborers in California in the early 1970s, has died. He was 85.
Corona died Monday at an undisclosed hospital, Vicky Waters of the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported. He had been serving a life sentence in state prison.
A labor contractor who hired thousands of fruit and vegetable workers for Northern California farmers, Corona killed 25 of them, according to authorities who arrested him in 1971.
The bodies were buried in shallow graves on farms and orchards along the Feather River north of Sacramento. Most had been brutally hacked to death and dismembered, possibly with a machete or meat cleaver. One was shot in the head.
“It was a gruesome manner of killing. He hacked these people to death,” Sutter County District Attorney Amanda Hopper told The Associated Press after attending the last of Corona’s eight unsuccessful parole hearings in 2016.
He was arrested after a peach farmer who had contracted with him for hired pickers became suspicious upon finding a hole that had been freshly dug, then filled in. Authorities found the body of a man whose head had been cleaved open and his torso riddled with stab wounds.
Nine more bodies were recovered in another orchard five days later, along with receipts made out to Corona, who was immediately arrested.
When authorities searched his truck and house they found a machete, axe, meat cleaver and post-hole digger among other items. They also recovered a ledger containing the names of dozens of laborers Corona had found jobs for, including eight of the victims.
He was convicted of 25 counts of murder in 1973, the most until John Wayne Gacy of Chicago was convicted of 33 in 1980.
An appeals court overturned Corona’s conviction in 1978, ruling he had received incompetent representation from his attorney who called no rebuttal witnesses to the state’s 119 prosecution witnesses.
He remained incarcerated while he went on trial again, this time with a new attorney who argued it was actually Corona’s late brother who, driven by rage, committed the murders.
Corona was again convicted on all 25 counts.
The evidence presented at his trials was circumstantial and why Corona committed the killings has remained largely a mystery.
He testified at his second trial, denying he killed anyone, but prosecutors said he admitted the crimes at a 2011 parole hearing, adding that they were justified because the victims were “winos” who had trespassed.
At his final parole hearing in 2016 Corona said he couldn’t recall killing anyone.
Juan Corona was born in the Mexican state of Jalisco on Feb. 7, 1934, and followed his older brothers to the United States in 1950 to pick crops in California.
According to an academic study by Virginia’s Radford University that was titled “The Machete Murderer,” Corona originally crossed the border illegally, but after returning to Mexico some years later he came back in 1956 with a green card and remained as a legal resident.
Family members and others said he was traumatized by a deadly flood that struck Northern California in the mid-1950s. Soon after he reported seeing the ghosts of those killed. He was committed to an Auburn, California, mental hospital where he would undergo numerous shock treatments.
By the mid-1960s he had become a successful labor contractor, but complained to friends and acquaintances that he often still felt unwell.
Corona was divorced while in prison and information on survivors was not immediately available.


Lefroy House, the seniors home in Sandys, is not expected to be relocated “in the near future”, according to the Ministry of Health.
The move, which came up in the House of Assembly last week, will go to its design and requirements phase in the 2019-20 fiscal year, but building is expected to take four to five years, a spokeswoman said.
She added: “The Government has identified an available and suitable parcel of land in Southampton in the Rockaway / Morgan’s Point area close to public transport, ferry and bus routes and removed from traffic noise and pollution. The site is government-owned and adequately zoned.
The site offers better protection from storms than the present location, where the listed historic building, built as a hospital by the Royal Navy in 1890, has suffered hurricane damage.
The ministry has scheduled a meeting with family members of Lefroy House regarding its plans.


Kate’s unfortunate death from cancer in January 2010 at the age of 63 has once again pulled the spotlight of cultural celebrity their way, and the release of Tell My Sister — a box set containing their first two albums and a third CD full of spare, acoustic demos and other previously unreleased tracks — was followed in May by a pair of memorial/benefit concerts in New York City’s Town Hall, featuring guests Emmylou Harris, Norah Jones, and a cast of many others.
The sister’s first two releases, Kate & Anna McGarrigle and Dancer with Bruised Knees, from 1975 and 1977 respectively — fully restored and remastered here by the pair’s original producer, Joe Boyd — are now considered underground masterpieces. But it’s Tell My Sister, the third disc here, that’s the real revelation — a fresh-sounding, awe-inspiring collection of demos, unreleased tracks, and acoustic interpretations that still feels remarkably relevant and compelling.
And Odditties is the perfect companion-piece to that third disc, presenting an even dozen tracks from the vast McGarrigle archive, personally selected by Anna and released in December 2010 on a small Canadian label.
Odditties begins with four Stephen Foster tunes, includes a lovely, multi-tiered arrangement of the Cajun classic, “Parlez-nous a Boire,” and concludes with a coolly understated rockabilly arrangement of “You Tell Me That I’m Falling Down,” a McGarrigle Sisters honky-tonk ballad that easily stands with the very best of the genre.
That credo pretty much expresses what made the McGarrigle Sisters iconic — an unmistakably vulnerable presentation of deep longing and faith-based devotion expressed through the medium of charming and utterly delighful 19th-century parlour songs.


Tonya Harding was once a big name in the figure skating sphere for her talents on the ice, but she is best-known nowadays for the scandal from back in 1994 that involved an attack on her rival Nancy Kerrigan and a lot of attention from the national media. There have been many conflicting stories about what happened when Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed in the leg ahead of the Winter Olympics, and the story recently returned to the spotlight thanks to the I, Tonya movie. Now, Tonya Harding is telling the story in her own words in a two-hour ABC special, and a first look features Harding talking about Kerrigan. Check it out!
In Truth and Lies: The Tonya Harding Story, Tonya Harding will evidently tell her side of the story in a way that she hasn't before. She'll also delve into her own past and the life she led before hitting the national spotlight. A lot of the focus of the story of Harding and Nancy Kerrigan painted Harding as a villain for what was done to Kerrigan; the ABC special looks to give more of Harding's perspective.
Of course, it's clear from this first look that the special will give more insight than just what Tonya Harding has to say, as we can see her claim that she and Nancy Kerrigan were friends being disputed. In fact, even her claim from back in 1994 that she was sorry about what had happened to Nancy Kerrigan seems to be disputed in the special. It's probably safe to say that Truth and Lies: The Tonya Harding Story won't just be two hours of Harding speaking to the camera.
In addition to her relationship with Nancy Kerrigan, Tonya Harding will chat about her relationships with her mom, LaVona "Sandy" Golden, and her now ex-husband Jeff Gillooly. Both were portrayed in 2017's I, Tonya movie, so it should be interesting to see how Harding's account of their characters compares to their portrayals on the big screen.
Footage of Harding as a young girl will be featured, as well as commentary from a number of folks relevant to the story, including news anchor Connie Chung who infamously attempted to interview Harding back in 1994, Harding's former coach Dody Teachman, and the district attorney who prosecuted the case against Harding and Gillooly, among others. Actors from I, Tonya will weigh in as well. We'll have to wait and see what they have to say about what happened before, during, and after the attack on Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding's involvement.
Truth and Lies: The Tonya Harding Story will air on Thursday, January 11 from 9 - 11 p.m. ET on ABC. Be sure to tune in to see more of the story of what happened between Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan from Harding's point of view. For more of your viewing options in the new year, be sure to swing by our midseason TV premiere guide and our 2018 Netflix premiere schedule.


ALBANY — State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox on Monday is set to file a complaint with the state Board of Elections chief enforcement counsel accusing union allies of the state Senate Democrats of illegally coordinating campaign efforts on their behalf.
The complaint alleges that the state teachers union, the Communications Workers of America, and Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union have violated the law by involving themselves and top staff with the efforts of different Super PACs they created to help the Senate Dems.
By law, the Super PACs, also known as independent expenditure committees, can raise and spend as much as they want on candidates as long as there is no coordination with the campaigns. The unions that create them and are working to help different candidates also need “some actual organization separation,” according to a U.S. Court of Appeals decision cited by Cox.
The complaint to be filed with state Board of Elections Chief Enforcement Officer Risa Sugarman insists there has been unlawful coordination — including staff overlaps — by the three unions, their regular PACs that are allowed to coordinate directly with campaigns, and their independent expenditures that are not.
The complaint also says that the registration form of the CWA-created New Yorkers Together lists Robert Master — an assistant to the union’s vice president — as one of its leaders. Master is also listed as treasurer of CWA District 1’s regular PAC that is supporting and working with various Senate Democratic campaigns.
In addition, the complaint says CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor is listed as an agent on New Yorkers Together’s registration form and someone who “exerts operational control” over CWA District 1’s PAC.
Given the “influence and control” Master and Trainor have over the union, its regular PAC and super PAC, “these entities cannot be viewed separate and apart from each other,” the complaint says.
If found in violation of the law, the unions could be hit with felonies and fines equal to the amount spent illegally.
Master, teachers union spokesman Carl Korn, and 32BJ spokesman Eugenio Villasante say there are clear “firewalls” between the activities of their unions and the independent expenditure committees.
“We’re confident no one is going to give any credence to their complaint,” Master said.
Combined, the three Super PACs have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars so far in support of Senate Democrats and in opposition to Republicans.
A paid organizer for a progressive group that frequently attacked Gov. Cuomo on corruption issues during the recent Democratic primary has served time behind bars.
Quintin Cross, the Hudson Valley lead organizer for Citizen Action, in 2007 was charged with spending $20,000 using city credit cards on such things as bar tabs, airline tickets and an online dating service subscription while he was the majority leader of the Hudson City Council.
Cross was also charged in 2016 with felony grand larceny after being accused — but found not guilty at trial — of stealing more than $3,000 from a woman’s checking account.
And in April 2012, he was accused — but never indicted — of breaking into City Hall and stealing money from a petty cash drawer.
Citizen Action Executive Director Karen Scharff said the group knew of Cross’ background when he was hired and praised the job he’s doing.
“We believe all employers should hire formerly incarcerated people, and we support ‘ban the box’ (that would prohibit asking potential employees about any criminal history) and other policies that make it easier for formerly incarcerated people to get a job,” Scharff said.


KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The world's first refrigerator dating expert was our guest on the FOX 4 Morning Show on Wednesday morning.
Based on snapshots, John Stonehill evaluated the inside of our morning team's refrigerators and revealed what their refrigerators say about each of their lives and personalities.
Karli got quite a chuckle from her evaluation.
And squirrels and cats inside refrigerators? That's a whole other story.
Be sure to watch the video! Then check out John Stonehill on his website.
We moved home to StL a couple years ago. OH how I miss the Fox 4 morning crew!!!
A fridge filled with leftovers (not months old, of course) is a fridge filled with love!
I live north of Cameron and east of St Joe, and can’t get the station even with an antenna. I used to have cable that carried 4 but they shut down..now I have dish, but being so close to st. joe i guess they have to carry the closer stations, even though i pay.


THERE was only pride to play for in Division Four of the Bradford Table Tennis League with the Hermits and Baildon teams involved in derby encounters.
Thornbury A are the runaway winners of the division with a 100 per cent record but Baildon E are also worth an honourable mention. This is their debut season and they will finish as runners-up after dominating their meeting with Baildon D.
Stephen Hirst and James Kinsella both recorded trebles while Shin Ng added a single. Allen Pollard and Kevin Flaherty took one each for the D team as Baildon E won 8-2.
There was a much closer derby at Hermits when third-placed Hermits H met Hermits I, who are fourth. The former had won the two previous meetings 8-2 but their opponents ran them much closer in this meeting.
Hermits H looked set for another comfortable win when Mick Raine, Stewart Varley and George Raine put them 3-0 up but the I team came back strongly.
Brian Cooper and John Margerison both won two and, after the singles, Hermits H only led 5-4. Mick and George Raine eventually sealed a third successive win for the H team by taking the doubles 3-1.
In Division Three, there was another closely-fought derby as Hermits F in fourth place met second-placed Hermits G. The F team had lost the two earlier encounters but it was third time lucky here.
Chris Town led the way, taking all three of his singles. Martin Jackson won two and Michael Butler also won the last singles as the F team ran out 6-4 victors.
Results – Division One: Dewsbury Tog B 6 Yeadon A 4, Embassy Police B 1 Hermits A 9, Dewsbury Tog A 10 Embassy Police B 0. Division Two: Hermits D 2 Hermits C 8, Fastbats 0 Unity A 10, Highdale B 7 Pudsey B 3. Division Three: Hermits F 6 Hermits G 4, Rastrick 0 Unity B 10, Pudsey C 8 Baildon C 2. Division Four: Hermits J 0 Thornbury A 10, Baildon E 8 Baildon D 2, Hermits H 6 Hermits I 4.