Events on Long Island for Feb. 22-28, 2015

Abstract: A guide to cultural and recreational events on Long Island. Items for the calendar should be sent at least three weeks in advance to lical@nytimes.com. Comedy BAY SHORE Y.M.C.A. Boulton Center for the Performing Arts “Big Laughs in Bay Shore Comedy,” with three comedians. Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. $20. Y.M.C.A. Boulton Center for the Performing Arts, 37 West Main Street. 631-969-1101; boultoncenter.org. LEVITTOWN Governor’s Comedy Club All-Star Comedy Show. Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. $14 to $44. Heather McDonald. Feb. 27 at 8 p.m.; Feb. 28 at 7 and 9:30 p.m. $25. Governor’s Comedy Club, 90 Division Avenue. 516-731-3358; govs.com. SAG HARBOR Bay Street Theater All Star Comedy Show, hosted by Joseph Vecsey. Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. $20. Bay Street Theater, Main and Bay Streets. baystreet.org; 631-725-9500. WESTHAMPTON BEACH Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center Colin Quinn. Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. $53 to $78. Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, 76 Main Street. 631-288-1500; whbpac.org. Film EAST HAMPTON Guild Hall Screening of the National Theater Live’s performance of “Treasure Island.” March 7 at 8 p.m. $18; members, $16. Guild Hall, 158 Main Street. guildhall.org; 631-324-4050. GARDEN CITY Adelphi University Performing Arts Center A screening of “The Barber of Seville,” performed by Opéra National de Paris. Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. $20. Adelphi University Performing Arts Center, 1 South Avenue. 516-877-4000; aupac.adelphi.edu. HUNTINGTON Cinema Arts Center 2015 Oscar-Nominated Live-Action Short Films. Through Feb. 22. $5 to $15. A screening of a performance of “Andrea Chénier,” opera by Umberto Giordano. Feb. 22 at noon. $10 and $15. “Through a Lens Darkly” (2014), a documentary exploring the role of photography in shaping the identity, aspirations and social emergence of African-Americans. Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. $10 and $15. A screening of “King Lear,” from the Stratford Festival, From Stage to Screen Series. Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. $25; members, $20. “Food Chains” (2014), documentary by Sanjay Rawal, produced by Eva Longoria. March 1 at 1:30 p.m. $10 and $15. “Love’s Labours Lost,” a screening of the performance by the Royal Shakespeare Company. March 4 at 7:30 p.m. $20 and $25. Cinema Arts Center, 423 Park Avenue. 800-838-3006; cinemaartscentre.org. WATER MILL Parrish Art Museum “Ralph Gibson: Photographer/Book Artist,” directed by Paula Heredia and presented by the Checkerboard Film Foundation. Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. $10; Free for members, children and students. Parrish Art Museum, 279 Montauk Highway. 631-283-2118; parrishart.org. WESTHAMPTON BEACH Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center “Two Days, One Night,” directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne. March 6 through 8. $5 to $15. Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, 76 Main Street. whbpac.org; 631-288-1500. For Children BELLMORE The Showplace at Bellmore Movies “Shrek the Musical,” Plaza Theatrical Productions. Through Feb. 28. $10. The Showplace at Bellmore Movies, 222 Pettit Avenue. plazatheatrical.com; 516-599-6870. COLD SPRING HARBOR Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery and Aquarium National Pancake Day at Hatchery, with pancake turtles, crafts and refreshments. Feb. 28, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. $4 and $6; under 3 and members, free. Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery and Aquarium, 1660 Route 25A. 516-692-6768; cshfha.org. GARDEN CITY Long Island Children’s Museum “Healthyville,” health and wellness lessons. Through May 3. Free with museum admission, $11 and $12. Long Island Children’s Museum, 11 Davis Avenue. 516-224-5800; licm.org. NORTHPORT John W. Engeman Theater at Northport “The Snow Queen,” a play based on the story by Hans Christian Anderson. Through March 8. $15. John W. Engeman Theater at Northport, 250 Main Street. 631-261-2900; engemantheater.com. RIVERHEAD Riverhead Free Library Friday Night Fun, Fashion Origami, design fashions using origami paper. Feb. 27, 5 to 6 p.m. Free. Riverhead Free Library, 330 Court Street. river.suffolk.lib.ny.us; 631-727-3228. ROSLYN HARBOR Nassau County Museum of Art “Family Sundays at the Museum.” Weekly, 1 to 4 p.m. through March 8. Free with museum admission, $4 to $10; age 4 and under and members, free. Nassau County Museum of Art, 1 Museum Drive. nassaumuseum.org; 516-484-9337. Music and Dance BAY SHORE Y.M.C.A. Boulton Center for the Performing Arts Tab Benoit, blues guitarist. Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. $40 and $45. Y.M.C.A. Boulton Center for the Performing Arts, 37 West Main Street. 631-969-1101; boultoncenter.org. BELLMORE KJ Farrell’s International Orange, a trio; world music and jazz. Feb. 24 at 8:30 p.m. KJ Farrell’s, 242 Pettit Avenue. kjfarrells.com. BOHEMIA Connetquot Public Library “The Concert Festival Orchestra,” under the direction of Vladimir Polezhayev. March 1, 2 to 3:30 p.m. Free. “X-Session Does the ’70s,” Rock ’n’ roll cover band. March 8, 2 to 3:30 p.m. Free. Connetquot Public Library, 760 Ocean Avenue. 631-567-5079; connetquotlibrary.org. BROOKVILLE Tilles Center for the Performing Arts LIU Post Wind Symphony and Wind Ensemble. Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. $8 and $10. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Feb. 27 at 8 p.m.; Feb. 28 at 2 and 8 p.m. $53 to $93. Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, 720 Northern Boulevard. 516-299-3100; tillescenter.org. EAST HAMPTON Guild Hall Student Arts Festival Part II, performers include the East Hampton High School Jazz Band, a Maori tribal song and dance with a modern twist, the band Red Tide, and more. March 7 at 2 p.m. Free. Guild Hall, 158 Main Street. 631-324-4050; guildhall.org. GARDEN CITY Adelphi University Performing Arts Center O’Neill’s and Williams’s Shorts. Feb. 24 through March 1. $5 to $20. Adelphi’s Best of Broadway. Feb. 28 and March 1. $5 to $20. Marine Corps All-Star Big Band. March 4 at 7:30 p.m. Free. New Music at Adelphi X: American Modern Ensemble. March 7 at 8 p.m. $5 to $20. Adelphi University Performing Arts Center, 1 South Avenue. 516-877-4000; aupac.adelphi.edu. HEMPSTEAD John Cranford Adams Playhouse Hofstra University’s 66th Annual Shakespeare Festival, with “Richard II.” March 5 through 8. $10 and $12. John Cranford Adams Playhouse, Hofstra University, South Campus. hofstra.edu/drama-dance; 516-463-6644. Image MASSAPEQUA “Corsetree” (2014), a ceramic sculpture by Barbara Rocco, is one of the works in “Skin Deep,” a group show at Studio 5404, ArtSpace, 5404 Merrick Road, on display through March 2. There is a $10 suggested donation. For information: studio5404artspace.webs.com ; 631-748-4196. Credit Courtesy of Barbara Rocco HUNTINGTON Heckscher Museum of Art Flutissimo Flute Quartet: to complement the exhibition “Ferdinand Richardt’s Niagara: A Study in Landscape Painting,” with flutists Lauren Ausubel, Claudia Beeby, Leslie Strait, and Jerene Weitman. March 6 at 7 p.m. Heckscher Museum of Art, 2 Prime Avenue. 631-351-3250; heckscher.org. JAMESPORT Jamesport Meeting House Cassatt String Quartet, works by Franz Schubert, Peter Susser and Douglas Moore. March 7 at 7:30 p.m. $8 to $25. Jamesport Meeting House, 1590 Main Road. 631-909-3744. LEVITTOWN Levittown Public Library Harmonica Blues Workshop. Instruction by the Long Island Harmonica Club on how to play diatonic and chromatic harmonicas. Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. Free; registration required. Levittown Public Library , 1 Bluegrass Lane. liwg.com; 516-731-5728. PATCHOGUE Patchogue Theater for the Performing Arts The Rupert Wates Trio, acoustic and folk, and the Folk Goddesses, folk. March 5 at 7:30 p.m. $10. 6th Patchogue Folk Festival, Part One: Free Long Island Songwriter Showcase, with Hank Stone Band, He-Bird She Bird, Grand Folk Railroad, Anne Crean, Leah Kay and more. March 7 at 2 p.m. Free. Patchogue Theater for the Performing Arts, 71 East Main Street. 631-207-1313; patchoguetheatre.com. PLAINVIEW John F. Kennedy High School North Shore Symphony Orchestra, “Czech Composers and Prague Connections.” Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. $12 and $15. John F. Kennedy High School, 50 Kennedy Drive. northshoresymphonyorch.org; 516-252-2712. PORT WASHINGTON Landmark on Main Street Nicole Atkins, singer-songwriter. Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. $32 to $42. Robert Klein. Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. $47 to $57. Landmark on Main Street, 232 Main Street. 516-767-6444; landmarkonmainstreet.org. SAG HARBOR Bay Street Theater Nancy Atlas, rock. Through March 27. $20. Fireside Sessions, with Billy Campion and Billy Ryan of the Bogmen. March 6 at 8 p.m. $20. Latin Night Sessions with Alfredo Europa, Mr. No Shame & Mambo Loco. March 7. $20. Bay Street Theater, Main and Bay Streets. 631-725-9500; baystreet.org. SHOREHAM North Shore Public Library “Double Bass Through the Ages.” Kristin Benson, accompanied by Kevin Tims on piano, performs works spanning the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary Eras. Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. Free. North Shore Public Library, 250 Route 25A. northshorepubliclibrary.org; 631-929-4488. STONY BROOK Staller Center for the Arts “Visions From Cape Breton,” Celtic fiddlers. Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. $42. Staller Center for the Arts, 100 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook University. stallercenter.com; 631-632-2787. WESTBURY NYCB Theater at Westbury Musical Box presents Genesis tribute concert. March 1 at 8 p.m. $39.50 and $59.50. NYCB Theater at Westbury, 960 Brush Hollow Road. 800-745-3000; livenation.com. Outdoors SUMMIT Reeves-Reed Arboretum How Sweet It Is! — The Annual Maple Sugar Fest, learn the steps involved in turning tree sap into maple syrup. March 1, 1 to 4 p.m. $5; $20 per family. Reeves-Reed Arboretum, 165 Hobart Ave. 908-273-8787; reeves-reedarboretum.org. WATER MILL The Watermill Center Tour of The Watermill Center: Walk through history with a tour of The Watermill Center to explore the building, grounds, gardens, collection and study library. Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. The Watermill Center, 39 Watermill Towd Road. 631-726-4628; watermillcenter.org/tours. WESTHAMPTON BEACH Cupsogue Beach County Park Cresli Seal walk at Cupsogue Beach. Two hour naturalist led walk to learn about, observe, and photograph seals in the wild. Through April 26. $3 and $5; Reservation required. Cupsogue Beach County Park, Dune Road. 631-244-3352; cresli.org. Spoken Word EAST HAMPTON Guild Hall Staged reading of “Hospitality Suite,” by Roger Rueff. Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. Free. Guild Hall, 158 Main Street. guildhall.org; 631-324-4050. GARDEN CITY Ruth S. Harley University Center, Adelphi University “Fresh Off the Boat,” a discussion with Eddie Huang, author and producer of the ABC television series of the same name. March 4 at 7 p.m. Free. Thomas Dixon Lovely Ballroom at the Ruth S. Harley University Center, Adelphi University, 1 South Avenue. 800-233-5744 ; events.adelphi.edu. HUNTINGTON Cinema Arts Center “Sky Room Talks: Sidney Poitier on Film,” Philip Harwood presents a portrait with scenes from films like “The Defiant Ones,” “Lillies of the Field” and “In the Heat of the Night.” Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. $10 and $15. Cinema Arts Center, 423 Park Avenue. 800-838-3006; cinemaartscentre.org. HUNTINGTON Heckscher Museum of Art Gallery Talk: A Conversation With Artist Martina Lopez; refreshments served. Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. $7; members free. Heckscher Museum of Art, 2 Prime Avenue. 631-351-3250; heckscher.org. OYSTER BAY Oyster Bay Historical Society “History of the William Floyd Estate,” MaryLaura Lamont, park ranger at Fire Island National Seashore, discusses the 250-year history of the Mastic Beach estate. Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. Free. “History of the Doxsee Sea Clam Company,” Bob Doxsee presents a lecture and slide program on the history of Long Island’s first hard-clam canning operation. March 8 at 2 p.m. Free. Oyster Bay Historical Society, 20 Summit Street. 516-922-5032; oysterbayhistorical.org. STONY BROOK Charles B. Wang Center The authors Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld speak about successful cultural groups based on their book “The Triple Package,” at WSHU Public Radio’s “Join the Conversation.” Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. $5 and $10. Charles B. Wang Center, Stony Brook University. 631-632-6320; stonybrook.edu/commcms/wang. UNIONDALE Uniondale Public Library Book signing and discussion with Lynda R. Day, author of “Making a Way to Freedom: A History of African Americans on Long Island.” Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. Free. Uniondale Public Library, 400 Uniondale Avenue. nassaulibrary.org/uniondale; 516-489-2220. Theater NORTHPORT Bare Bones Theater Company “The Pillowman,” dark comedy by Martin McDonagh. Through March 7. $25. Bare Bones Theater Company, 57 Main Street. barebonestheater.com; 631-606-0026. AMITYVILLE Helen Butler Hall Theatre at Dominican Village “Finnegan’s Farewell,” interactive comedy with music. Feb. 28 through March 8. $20 and $25. Helen Butler Hall Theatre at Dominican Village. 631-213-9832; townshiptheatregroup.org. DIX HILLS Dix Hills Performing Arts Center “Angels in America,” with Peter Rogine, Joe Carbone, Tony Romano and Steve Briody. March 5 and 6. $12 and $15. Dix Hills Performing Arts Center, 305 North Service Road. 631-656-2148; dhpac.org. HACKETTSTOWN Centenary Stage Company, Lackland Performing Arts Center “In the Car With Blossom and Len,” by Joni Fritz. Through March 8. $17.50 to $27.50. Centenary Stage Company, Lackland Performing Arts Center, 715 Grand Avenue. centenarystageco.org; 908-979-0900. Image WESTHAMPTON BEACH The comedian Colin Quinn will be at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, 76 Main Street, on Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $53 to $78. For further information: 631-288-1500; whbpac.org . Credit Mike Lavoie HEMPSTEAD Emily and Jerry Spiegel Theater “Magdalen,” one-person play written and performed by Erin Layton. Feb. 25, 7:30 to 9 p.m. Free. Emily and Jerry Spiegel Theater, South Campus, California Avenue. 516-463-6644; hofstra.edu. LINDENHURST Studio Theater “Spider’s Web,” by Agatha Christie. Through Feb. 22. $25. Studio Theater, 141 South Wellwood Avenue. studiotheatreli.com; 631-226-8400. NORTHPORT John W. Engeman Theater at Northport “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” comedy by Christopher Durang. Through March 8. Starting at $59. John W. Engeman Theater at Northport, 250 Main Street. engemantheater.com; 631-261-2900. OAKDALE CM Performing Arts Center “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” musical by Frank Loesser, book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert. Through March 15. $18 to $27. CM Performing Arts Center, 931 Montauk Highway. 631-218-2810; cmpac.com. WESTBURY NYCB Theater at Westbury “Masters of Illusion Live,” magic show. Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. $19.50 to $69.50. NYCB Theater at Westbury, 960 Brush Hollow Road. 800-745-3000; livenation.com. Museums and Galleries EAST HAMPTON The Drawing Room “Winter Salon,” drawings, prints, paintings and photographs. Through Feb. 28. Free. Seasonal Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Drawing Room, 66 Newtown Lane. drawingroom-gallery.com; 631-324-5016. EAST ISLIP Islip Art Museum “Remembering Things Past/Alexander Percy: The Texture of Color.” Through March 29. Suggested donation, $5. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. Islip Art Museum, 50 Irish Lane. 631-224-5402; islipartmuseum.org. GARDEN CITY Ruth S. Harley University Center Gallery, Adelphi University “Underground Railroad: Hiding in Place,” more than 15 works by the artist and photographer Amani Willett. Through Feb. 27. Mondays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ruth S. Harley University Center Gallery, Adelphi University, 1 South Avenue. 516-877-3126; adelphi.edu/artmuseum. GLEN COVE Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center “Objects of Witness: Testimony From Holocaust Artifacts,” items lent or donated by Holocaust survivors and their families. Through April 30. Suggested donation, $4 to $10. Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center, 100 Crescent Beach Road. hmtcli.org; 516-571-8040. HEMPSTEAD Hofstra University Museum “From Portraits to Tweets: Imagery, Technology and the U.S. Presidency.” Hofstra University Museum, Emily Lowe Gallery, South Campus. Through May 8. Free. “The George W. Bush Presidency: Points of Perspective,” Hofstra University Museum, David Filderman Gallery, South Campus. Feb. 23 through Apr. 10. Daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hofstra University Museum, Hofstra University. 516-463-5672; hofstra.edu/museum. HUNTINGTON Heckscher Museum of Art “Modern Alchemy: Experiments in Photography.” Through March 15. “Ferdinand Richardt’s Niagara: A Study in Landscape Painting.” Through April 12. “Power, Politics and War: Selections From the Permanent Collection,” continuing. $4 to $8; children under 10, free. Wednesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Heckscher Museum of Art, 2 Prime Avenue. 631-351-3250; heckscher.org. HUNTINGTON Ripe Art Gallery “Peace, Love, and Rock & Roll,” group show. Through March 5. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Fridays, 2 to 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; or by appointment. Ripe Art Gallery, 1028 Park Avenue. ripeartgal.com; 631-239-1805. MANHASSET Manhasset Public Library Chinese artists’ painting and calligraphy. Through March 27. Manhasset Public Library, 30 Onderdonk Avenue. 516-627-2300. MASSAPEQUA Studio 5404, ArtSpace “Skin Deep,” group show. Through March 2. $10 suggested donation. Studio 5404, ArtSpace, 5404 Merrick Road. 631-748-4196; studio5404artspace.webs.com; 631-748-4196. OYSTER BAY Oyster Bay Historical Society “The Other Side: Charles, Caesar, Harry, Sam, Pompey, Lon and Isaac,” photographs by Xiomáro of the William Floyd Estate, part of the Fire Island National Seashore. Through March 29. Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 4 p.m. Oyster Bay Historical Society, 20 Summit Street. oysterbayhistorical.org; 516-922-5032. RIVERHEAD East End Arts Gallery “Squares,” members’ show. Through March 6. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. East End Arts Gallery, 133 East Main Street. 631-727-0900; eastendarts.org. RIVERHEAD Riverhead Free Library “Teen Art Show.” March 6 through 27. Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. Riverhead Free Library, 330 Court Street. river.suffolk.lib.ny.us; 631-727-3228. IVERHEAD Riverhead Town Hall Photographs by Jackie Stevens. Through Feb. 27. Mondays through Fridays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Riverhead Town Hall, 200 Howell Avenue. riverheadli.com; 631-727-3200. ROCKVILLE CENTRE Frank and Gertrude Kaiser Art Gallery, Molloy College “Contemporary African-American Folk Art/Outsider Art,” includes works by Purvis Young, Roy Finster and Derek Webster in honor of Black History Month. Through March 25. Frank and Gertrude Kaiser Art Gallery, Molloy College, 1000 Hempstead Avenue. 516-323-3196; molloy.edu. ROSLYN Bryant Library “The Alchemists — Group Exhibit.” Through Feb. 28. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bryant Library, 2 Paper Mill Road. 516-621-2240; nassaulibrary.org/bryant. ROSLYN HARBOR Nassau County Museum of Art “China Then and Now,” art from the classical, early modern and contemporary periods. “Long Island Collects the Arts of China,” from local collectors’ holdings. Gavin Rain, paintings. Through March 8. $4 to $10; children under 5 and members, free. Tuesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Nassau County Museum of Art, 1 Museum Drive. nassaumuseum.org; 516-484-9337. SOUTHAMPTON Southampton Cultural Center “Reflections in Black,” works by six contemporary artists to commemorate Black History Month. Through March 2. Mondays through Saturday, 11 a. m. to 3 p.m. Southampton Cultural Center, 25 Pond Lane. 631-287-4377; southamptonculturalcenter.org. STONY BROOK Simons Center for Geometry and Physics at Stony Brook University “K.E.,” the Swiss artist Zimoun. Through April 9. Simons Center for Geometry and Physics at Stony Brook University, 100 Nicolls Road. 631-632-2800. SYOSSET Syosset Public Library Pastels by Christine DiMauro. Through Feb. 26. Free. Mondays through Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Syosset Public Library, 225 South Oyster Bay Road. 516-921-7161; syossetlibrary.org. WATER MILL Parrish Art Museum 2015 Student Exhibition. Through March 1. $10, Free for members, children and students. Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Fridays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Parrish Art Museum, 279 Montauk Highway. parrishart.org; 631-283-2118.


Outcry in Eastern Long Island Over a Plan to Cull Deer

Abstract: EAST HAMPTON, N.Y. — It will happen after dark, with night sensors. The shooters will have noise suppressors on their rifles, so as not to disturb residents or alert the targets. They will operate mainly from elevated stands and wait for apples and corn to do their work. Nets might be deployed to capture the animals before they are shot, or as government officials prefer to say, “harvested.” Deer culling appears to be headed to this fancy seaside community on Long Island. Village officials want it and expect to sign up for federal sharpshooters to arrive in February and March. It is part of an expansive initiative being encouraged across the eastern edge of Long Island by the Long Island Farm Bureau and the United States Department of Agriculture. The overall goal is to eliminate 2,000 to 3,000 deer of a population officials have put at between 25,000 and 35,000, one of the largest government deer removals ever undertaken. Bulging deer populations are a thorny issue in countless areas troubled by crop and landscaping damage, car accidents and Lyme disease, borne by deer ticks. Solutions tend to foment colliding viewpoints. The sharpshooter idea was broached on Long Island several months ago, but in recent weeks outcry has increased, with East Hampton the flash point. The propulsion has largely come from a well-known rock concert promoter. That would be Ron Delsener, now in his 70s, who has a country home in the village. “These are beautiful, gentle creatures who have no voice,” Mr. Delsener said. The prospect of sharpshooters has so outraged him that he recently began meditation classes to calm down. “Sometimes, I want to run to New Zealand,” he said. Mr. Delsener is aligned with others, including William and Ellen Crain, a psychology professor at City College and a retired pediatrician, respectively, who have a part-time house in Montauk and an organization, the East Hampton Group for Wildlife. “We think every living being should have a chance to live,” Professor Crain said. “This is the worst thing we’ve ever seen. It’s barbaric.” Wendy Chamberlin, a Bridgehampton landscape designer, and Zelda Penzel, a retired educator who has a place in East Hampton, began an online petition that has drawn over 8,000 signatures, some from distant places like Argentina and Portugal. Local papers are writing about the matter. Accentuating the broader debate, a deer recently made the cover of Time magazine under the headline “America’s Pest Problem.” Image Ron Delsener, a rock concert promoter, points out reflectors installed on a busy stretch of road to deter deer. Credit Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times Culling opponents here especially blame Joe Gergela, executive director of the Long Island Farm Bureau, a farmers’ association. “I’m the one with my nose out front with this,” he said. “Somebody has to be the bad guy. So I guess it has to be me.” Mr. Gergela said farmers were suffering extensive crop damage, so he decided to use $200,000 in state money to underwrite sharpshooters for eastern Long Island. To reach a total budget of about $500,000, he invited five eastern towns and Brookhaven, as well as some 10 villages, to sign on and “put skin in the game.” Villages such as East Hampton, which sits inside the larger town with the same name, are being asked for $15,000 each, towns for $25,000. That is for 2014. The Agriculture Department wants to continue for two more years, ultimately killing as many as 9,000 deer. Mr. Gergela said he had solid interest but awaited signed commitments, which he wants by Jan. 1. Of the six towns, East Hampton and Southold have budgeted money and plan to participate. Riverhead has said no. Brookhaven, Shelter Island and Southampton are undecided. The Village of Sagaponack passed a resolution to take part if the towns of both East Hampton and Southampton do. Under the program, does would be shot so as not to anger hunters, who favor bucks. The sharpshooters are specially trained biologists and wildlife specialists employed by the Agriculture Department. The venison will be given to food pantries. “This is not an easy subject,” Mr. Gergela said. “But the deer are owned by the people of the state.” Under somber skies the other day, Mr. Delsener drove around the area, pointing out things he and the wildlife group have done to foster coexistence with deer. A few years ago, they paid for reflectors on a busy stretch of road designed to deter deer. He paused at a farm where they financed half the cost of fencing. At his own unfenced property, he has four gardens that he plants what deer find unappetizing. His wife likes hydrangeas, as do deer, so he put fencing just around them. He wants residents to take their own precautions and has put ads in The East Hampton Star suggesting them. Drive slower. Plant deer-resistant flowers rather than fence in everything and force deer into streets. Protest turkey hunting because turkeys eat ticks. “They want to plant what they want to plant,” he said. “They want to walk around in flip-flops and not get ticks. They go, I’m going to play golf the way I want to play golf. In shorts.” Image Mr. Delsener, along with members of the East Hampton Group for Wildlife, said the area could foster coexistence with the animals. Credit Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times He went on: “They say it’s an epidemic. Epidemic? Epidemic is polio.” One tricky matter is the uncertainty of just how many deer are around. In 2006, the wildlife group paid for a ground survey in the town of East Hampton. The tally was 3,293 deer. This year, the town commissioned an aerial survey. Its count was 877. Local officials dismiss the new survey as flawed. Dean Foster, who operates Foster Farm with his father, growing potatoes, corn and other crops on 500 acres in Sagaponack and East Hampton, said the deer issue was so bad that “I’ve never seen them eat potatoes, and now I’ve seen them kick out potatoes and eat them.” He has a rented 28-acre plot that he stopped farming this year because of crop damage. He has not fenced his property because he dislikes the aesthetics. Though he would prefer local hunters do it, Mr. Foster wants culling. “Any deer taken is a good thing,” he said. The writer Peter Matthiessen, who lives in Sagaponack, said the deer population had certainly expanded. “I don’t know too many people who haven’t hit a deer,” he said. “I have seven or eight on my property. That’s seven or eight more than I used to have.” His preference is for the deer to be left to manage themselves. “I don’t like a bunch of armed strangers coming in, and I like the deer,” he said. Laura Simon, a wildlife ecologist who oversees deer matters at the Humane Society of the United States, says the program is “completely misguided” and will not work. She pointed out that deer do not infect ticks and that other animals also serve as their hosts. She said studies showed that thinning a herd prompted a rebound effect, with surviving deer having more twins and triplets. She favors contraception or sterilization, which are expensive and take time to produce results. Mr. Gergela dismisses such an alternative: “Tell them to go and get the millions of dollars it would cost,” he said. “It’s a ridiculous idea.” Mayor Paul Rickenbach Jr. of East Hampton village said he was convinced that the sharpshooters must come. “This is one of those issues where my heart and my head are together,” he said. The Village Preservation Society prefers sterilization but is reluctantly supporting the sharpshooters. Kathy Cunningham, the executive director, said the society was particularly disturbed by all the wire fencing around village properties. “They have these godawful fences,” she said. “You feel you’re in a bit of a war zone.” Ms. Cunningham realizes the matter has become combustible. “It’s going to be a nasty business,” she said. “No question about it.”

Deer
Long Island Farm Bureau
Ron Delsener
Wendy Chamberlin
Zelda Penzel
Joe Gergela
Agriculture Department
East Hampton NY
Animal Abuse


Mets Fans Go to Bat for Ballpark’s Rundown Neighborhood

Abstract: ERIC SIMON, a software developer, squinted into the darkening shadows. The bright lights of Shea Stadium and the giddiness of his baseball bachelor party had faded, and as dusk fell, Mr. Simon and his friends found themselves in a warren of scrappy auto-repair shops known as Willets Point. Even now, two years later, Mr. Simon, 29, still vividly remembers the shift from broad, paved boulevards to broken, pothole-pitted sidewalks. Through one window of the car, he saw a small shack; through another, the dim silhouette of a chained dog. Random car parts were strewn on a bed of oil spills and sludge. “We were looking at each other and hoping we got out alive,” Mr. Simon said of that evening. “It certainly wasn’t something I want to experience again.” So this season, when he came across the Mets blog developwilletspoint.com , he was intrigued. The site, run by a longtime Mets fan named Chris McShane, was dedicated to bringing together fans eager to help reshape the rundown section of Queens into “the best neighborhood in Major League Baseball,” according to the blog. Mr. Simon e-mailed Mr. McShane, 23, whose day job is as a constituent liaison for Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz. Through Mr. McShane, Mr. Simon was directed to the Web site of the city’s Economic Development Corporation, which described Mayor Bloomberg’s multibillion-dollar plan to redevelop the 61-acre site into an environmentally friendly residential and commercial community. Renderings showed 126th Street, which runs in front of Citi Field, the Mets’ new home, transformed into a strip of cafes and shops. Mr. Simon and Mr. McShane represent a new breed of Mets fans, people who have embraced the plans for a new stadium and are now working to help revitalize the surrounding neighborhood. They are using team blogs to publicize community meetings about the future of Willets Point and to update Mets fans on developments. “If they can successfully build a neighborhood there that draws in people before and after games, but also has permanent residents, I feel like it would have a good effect on the whole area,” said Mr. McShane, who grew up near New Haven and frequented Fenway Park in Boston, where lively restaurants and bars surround the stadium. “That’s something that I always wanted to do for my favorite team.” Mets fans have long coveted the vibrant settings around other ballparks, including Fenway, Camden Yards in Baltimore and Wrigley Field in Chicago. Madelyn Wils, an executive vice president at the city’s development corporation, said she understood the excitement of Mets fans. “Nobody spends the evening around Shea Stadium now,” Ms. Wils said. “They get out as quickly as they can.” The City Planning Commission is scheduled to consider Mr. Bloomberg’s proposal at a hearing on Wednesday. If approved by the commission and by the City Council, the project could be completed by 2017. If Mr. Simon and Mr. McShane are leaders in the grass-roots movement to revitalize Willets Points, diehard fans like Jim Conway are its foot soldiers. Mr. Conway, a crane operator, spoke on behalf of the plan last month at a hearing before the Queens borough president, Helen Marshall, saying that it would bring needed jobs to the area. But he admitted later that he had more on his mind than economic interests. “In Shea, it’s very depressing,” Mr. Conway said as he prepared for his annual pilgrimage to watch the Mets play in Chicago. “You’re embarrassed to ask people from out of town to go with you. There’s no place where you can celebrate being a baseball fan. You don’t feel proud.”

Willets Point (NYC)
Area Planning and Renewal
Shea Stadium (NYC)
Blogs and Blogging (Internet)


New York City Seeks to Shore Up Shrinking Garment District

Abstract: New York’s garment center, once the heart of an industry that employed hundreds of thousands of workers and produced most of the clothing in the United States, is in danger of extinction. For decades, cheaper foreign competitors and rising rents forced many of the sewing and cutting rooms and the button and zipper shops that once thrived on the side streets south of Times Square to close, shrink or move as mass production shifted to China, India and Latin America. Now, even the remaining factories and shops that make the couture coats, dresses and other apparel for glamorous fashion designers like Nicole Miller , Yeohlee Teng , Anna Sui and Nanette Lepore are in jeopardy. Owners say they are caught in a vise between declining retail sales and landlords eager to find better-paying tenants. Some city officials and industry leaders worry that if manufacturing is wiped out, many of the designers who bring so much luster to New York will leave, along with the city’s claim to be a fashion capital rivaling Paris and Milan. The damage would be undeniable, given that the industry’s two big annual events — Fashion Week in September and February — attract enormous numbers of visitors and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity. “If you don’t have production in the garment center, there would be no reason for designers and suppliers to cluster in the district,” said Barbara Blair Randall, executive director of the Fashion Center Business Improvement District. “We’re down to 9,000 jobs.” The Bloomberg administration is now considering designating one or more large buildings in the garment center solely for manufacturing and related businesses. For 22 years, the city has protected the garment district through special zoning that restricts building owners — from 34th to 40th Street, between Broadway and Ninth Avenue — from converting factory space to offices, which command higher rents. Landlords have long railed against the restrictions, and their complaints have gained traction with the Bloomberg administration. But even as the city weighs whether to do away with the zoning restrictions, city officials, union leaders, designers, property owners and manufacturers are devising other ways to save the garment center with a proposal that would have been unthinkable even a decade ago. But city officials say the industry has shrunk to a point where it could be reasonably consolidated in a few buildings, rather than several blocks. “It’s not mass production,” Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey said of the garment center. “Clearly, what’s occurring is much smaller and more high-end compared with the actual production that used to exist. The idea is, we want to keep garment manufacturing in the garment district.” The effort to shore up the garment center comes as Manhattan’s other blue-collar districts — printing, fur, meatpacking and fish — have disappeared, overrun by white-collar offices, residential development and expensive retailers. Initially, city officials had wanted to quickly rezone the garment center, much as they had revamped the adjacent Hudson Yards district in 2005, and move the remaining clothing manufacturers to Brooklyn or Queens. They argued that the current zoning restrictions had failed to stem the loss of manufacturing jobs in the district, which have hovered around 9,000 in recent years, from 16,000 in 1995. But a group of industry shop owners formed an organization called Save the Garment Center and resisted, as did the unions, arguing that moving sewing shops to Queens or Brooklyn would mean the end of the industry. The shop owners soon enlisted some high-end fashion designers who manufacture most of their clothing at the center’s factories. The designers’ orders are more likely to be 3,000 or 4,000 pieces, not the production runs of 100,000 pairs of jeans that are now typically sent to China. “Sustaining some form of the industry contributes to our status as a fashion capital of the world,” said Ms. Teng, the designer. “Access to manufacturers is profound. After all, fashion is about timing.” Andrew Ward, director of designer development at the Garment Industry Development Corporation , a nonprofit group of shop owners and union officials, estimated that only 5 percent of the clothing sold nationally is made in the United States, mostly in New York City and Los Angeles. But because those products are generally more high-end, they represent 24 percent of total national sales, he said. Anthony Lilore, who owns a design house on West 38th Street featuring an organic clothing line called Restore Clothing , said he manufactured 95 percent of his clothing in the garment center, where he can walk to sample rooms, pattern makers and factories to oversee production quality. Chen Zheng owns New World Fashion, a sewing room on 37th Street, near Seventh Avenue, where 28 employees, most Chinese, stitch together coats, dresses and tops for the designer Nanette Lepore. Her production order this month is for 3,700 pieces, down from 4,000 a year ago. In order to help pay his rising rent, Mr. Zheng said, he recently sublet 15 percent of his space to a yoga studio. At his factory on the same street, Rodger Cohen pointed to the shirring machines that were steadily gathering and stitching a long roll of hammered silk fabric for a high-fashion dress order and lamented the machines he had tossed away. Mr. Cohen, president of Regal Originals, a pleating and stitching shop, said he was forced to cut the size of his factory in half last month and dispose of the aging machines that he no longer had room for. “No one else is going to open a shop today,” he said. “It made me sick to throw them away.” City officials and industry leaders, including the Fashion Center Business Improvement District and the Council of Fashion Designers of America, have started to coalesce behind the proposal, from the unions Unite Here and Workers United , to designate one or more buildings for clothing production, while eliminating the zoning restrictions. To stem the proliferation of budget hotels in the district, Mr. Sheekey has agreed to a proposal from Unite Here requiring developers to obtain a special permit for hotels in the garment center, and possibly other industrial areas. Under the proposal, a nonprofit organization would operate and subsidize the designated buildings, charging viable rents for manufacturers: $16 a square foot, for example, instead of the $35 frequently paid by architects and small companies in the area. In turn, the nonprofit group would be financed through a small tax on property owners within the district. City officials say that they are looking for a 300,000-square-foot building, but the unions and others say that as much as one million square feet of dedicated space is needed for the industry to prosper and expand. “We need very broad-based support,” said Ms. Randall of the Fashion Center Business Improvement District. “We need to know that the majority of owners approve.” It is unclear how most landlords view the proposal, which would entail some sort of tax assessment. But Eric Gural, a managing director of Newmark Knight Frank , a real estate company that owns five buildings in the garment center, favors the idea. Lifting the zoning restrictions, he said, would immediately increase the value of the properties, far more than any tax to preserve manufacturing. “The bang for your buck is enormous,” he said. Still, some shop owners and designers worry that city officials are not intent on preserving enough space for manufacturing. They also question whether the companies that move into the designated manufacturing sites would have an unfair advantage over workshop owners who are paying higher rents in the district. “We need the mayor’s support to enforce the existing zoning laws as they were intended,” said Ms. Lepore, who makes 80 percent of her clothing line in the garment center. “Without the garment center, young designers cannot survive. If we fail to protect this district today, New York will not be the fashion capital of the world tomorrow.”

Office Buildings and Commercial Properties


BP Shortcuts Led to Gulf Oil Spill, Report Says

Abstract: WASHINGTON — BP , running weeks behind schedule and tens of millions of dollars over budget in trying to complete its troubled Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, took many shortcuts that contributed to the disastrous blowout and oil spill there last year, federal investigators concluded in a report released on Wednesday. The central cause of the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig was a failure of the cement at the base of the 18,000-foot-deep well that was supposed to contain oil and gas within the well bore. That led to a cascade of human and mechanical errors that allowed natural gas under tremendous pressure to shoot onto the drilling platform, causing an explosion and fire that killed 11 of the 126 crew members and caused an oil spill that took 87 days to get under control. The two-part report, compiled by a joint task force of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement and the Coast Guard and covering more than 500 pages, is the most comprehensive to date on the April 2010 disaster. Its findings largely mirror those of other investigations, including the inquiry by a commission named by President Obama to determine the causes of the calamity. That panel issued its findings in January . “The loss of life at the Macondo site on April 20, 2010, and the subsequent pollution of the Gulf of Mexico through the summer of 2010 were the result of poor risk management, last-minute changes to plans, failure to observe and respond to critical indicators, inadequate well control response and insufficient emergency bridge response training by companies and individuals responsible for drilling at the Macondo well and for the operation of the Deepwater Horizon,” the latest report said. The report concluded that BP, as the well’s owner, was ultimately responsible for the accident. But it also said that BP’s chief contractors, Transocean , which owned the mobile drilling rig, and Halliburton , which was responsible for the cementing operations, shared the blame for many of the fatal mistakes. The study goes further than previous reports, citing seven violations of federal regulations as factors. Among them were violations of laws that required BP and its contractors to operate in a safe manner, to take measures to contain oil and gas for the protection of health and the environment, to conduct reliable tests of well pressures and to notify federal regulators of changes in drilling plans. The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation that could bring indictments and heavy fines. David M. Uhlmann , a professor at the University of Michigan Law School and former chief of the Justice Department’s environmental crimes section, said the Justice Department almost certainly reviewed the findings of the study before it was released. “Today’s report increases the likelihood that BP, Transocean and Halliburton will face criminal charges for their roles in causing the gulf oil spill,” Mr. Uhlmann said in an e-mail. “The Justice Department may have outside experts for both its criminal and civil cases, and it could develop additional information about the causes of the spill in those investigations, but it will be hard for the Department to distance itself from the findings of the Coast Guard and Boemre.” The well blowout unleashed a spill of nearly five million barrels of oil, fouling the gulf and hundreds of miles of beaches , marshes and fish habitats and causing billions of dollars in damage. The three companies have pointed fingers at one another and are engaged in multibillion-dollar litigation to try to spread the enormous costs of the accident. Families of crew members are suing the companies in federal court, seeking compensation and damages. BP said in a statement that it had long acknowledged its role in the accident and had urged its drilling partners to accept their share of the blame. “BP agrees with the report’s core conclusion — consistent with every other official investigation — that the Deepwater Horizon accident was the result of multiple causes, involving multiple parties, including Transocean and Halliburton,” the company said. It added that it had taken steps to improve its safety practices and strengthen oversight of its contractors. Lou Colasuonno, a Transocean spokesman, said that the report identified the cement failure as the primary cause of the accident and defended the actions of Transocean crew members. “We take strong exception to criticisms of the Deepwater Horizon drill crew, nine of whom perished fighting to save their fellow crew members and the rig, for the actions they took in the face of such an unprecedented emergency,” he said in a statement. A Halliburton spokeswoman said that BP was to blame for poor well design and that at least some of the cement set by Halliburton did not fail. The company absolved itself of any blame. “Every contributing cause where Halliburton is named, the operational responsibility lies solely with BP,” the statement said.

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement


Effective Concussion Treatment Remains Frustratingly Elusive, Despite a Booming Industry

Abstract: In a small brick building across the street from a Taco Bell in Marrero, La., patients enter a clear plastic capsule and breathe pure oxygen. The procedure, known as hyperbaric oxygen therapy, uses a pressurized chamber to help scuba divers overcome the bends and to aid people sickened by toxic gases. But Dr. Paul G. Harch, who operates the clinic there on the outskirts of New Orleans, offers it as a concussion treatment. One patient, Rashada Parks, said that she had struggled with neck pain, mood swings and concentration problems ever since she fell and hit her head more than three years ago. Narcotic painkillers hadn’t helped her, nor had antidepressants. But after 40 hourlong treatments, or dives, in a hyperbaric chamber, her symptoms have subsided. “I have hope now,” Ms. Parks said. “It’s amazing.” Three studies run at a taxpayer cost of about $70 million have all come to a far different conclusion. They found that the benefits of hyperbaric oxygen reported by patients like Ms. Parks may have resulted from a placebolike effect, not the therapy’s supposed ability to repair and regenerate brain cells. But undeterred, advocates of the treatment recently persuaded lawmakers to spend even more public money investigating whether the three studies were flawed. A growing industry has developed around concussions, with entrepreneurs, academic institutions and doctors scrambling to find ways to detect, prevent and treat head injuries. An estimated 1.7 million Americans are treated every year after suffering concussions from falls, car accidents, sports injuries and other causes. While the vast majority quickly recover with rest, a small percentage of patients experience lingering effects a year or longer afterward. Along with memory issues, symptoms can include headaches, dizziness and vision and balance problems. Over the last decade, the Defense Department has spent more than $800 million on brain injury research, with organizations and companies like the National Football League and General Electric spending tens of millions more. And as people become more aware of the debilitating long-term consequences of repeated concussions, businesses have been chasing salable solutions. Image Brain-imaging technology at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The Defense Department has spent more than $800 million on brain injury research. Credit Zach Gibson for The New York Times The search for ways to treat and prevent concussions has spawned screening tools, helmet sensors, electronic mouthpieces, diagnostic blood tests and brain imaging devices. Start-ups are marketing their products to the military, schools, hospitals, sports teams and parents, and controversial therapies like hyperbaric oxygen are being promoted to patients. But as the industry booms, medical experts are raising concerns that it is a business where much of the science is sketchy, belief frequently outruns fact, and claims of technological breakthroughs evaporate soon after they are made. Michael Singer, the chief executive of BrainScope, a company that makes a hand-held brain-wave measuring device cleared by the Food and Drug Administration to help assess injuries, says that while some companies are studying their products before selling them, others are selling untested products or marketing them without seeking regulatory approval. “It is a Wild West out there,” he said. Not long ago, the field of brain injury research was small. Numerous attempts to develop drugs to treat patients with significant head injuries failed as researchers struggled to understand the brain’s complexity. Little attention was paid to concussion, which is also called mild traumatic brain injury. “The number of neurologists interested in traumatic brain injury could have held a convention in a phone booth,” said Dr. Ramon Diaz-Arrastia, an expert at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. That changed a decade ago after reports showed that hundreds of thousands of service members were returning from Iraq and Afghanistan impaired by concussions caused by battlefield blasts and accidents. In 2007, Congress, facing criticism that the military had ignored the psychological and physical toll of the conflicts, allocated $600 million for research and treatment, splitting the funds between traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. The Defense Department went on a spending spree. It funded dozens of studies to find a concussion treatment. Some studies examined supplements, others looked at drugs like Lipitor, the cholesterol medication, and still more trials tested medical devices. Research was also underwritten to develop blood tests to better identify soldiers with concussions and to create improved imaging tools to map a concussion’s impact on the brain. Dr. David X. Cifu, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond who also works for the Veterans Affairs Department, said that the hundreds of millions of dollars in government funds spawned a research feeding frenzy that led to dubious claims. “It was a small field that got amazingly large because a lot of people were making stuff up and claiming things,” Dr. Cifu said. Some specialists said they believed the military’s approach to concussions suffered from a basic problem. While agreement exists on the symptoms that define a concussion at the time when one occurs, a similar definition did not — and still does not — exist to describe what happens after a concussion, including how the injury’s symptoms change over time. Image High school and college athletes will use mouth guards with sensors from i1 Biometrics. Credit Courtesy of i1biometrics In addition, many soldiers who are diagnosed with a mild brain injury also have PTSD, a defined condition with symptoms similar to those associated with a concussion. Some critics within the military argued it was overestimating the concussion problem and channeling patients into the wrong type of treatment. “They would get the message they had a serious brain injury,” said one of these critics, Dr. Charles Hoge, a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Whatever the case, the inability to separate PTSD from concussion turned the government’s research program into a scientific hodgepodge. A 2013 Veterans Affairs review of studies of mild traumatic brain injury, or M.T.B.I., in soldiers and veterans found that the studies’ overall quality was poor, and it was impossible to separate long-term impacts unique to concussion from those attributable to PTSD. Col. Dallas Hack, a doctor who oversees the Army’s research program, said officials realized several years ago that the military’s efforts had gone off-course and a lot of money had been spent on studies that produced little in the way of tangible results. Since then, the Defense Department has refocused its efforts on basic questions, such as developing a better definition of concussion. “We were naïve” at the start, Colonel Hack said. A few years ago, a major producer of football helmets, Riddell, announced that it was on the trail of the concussion chase’s Holy Grail: a way to reduce injuries by using electronic impact sensors to monitor head blows. The National Football League was so enthusiastic about the technology’s potential that it studied the performance of impact sensors in the Riddell helmet in eight N.F.L. games. But the league ended the experiment, saying the data produced by the sensors was too crude to be of value. “You couldn’t fully appreciate the magnitude and the location of a hit,” said Jeff Miller, the senior vice president for health and safety policy for the N.F.L. The end of the N.F.L’s field test, however, hasn’t dimmed enthusiasm for sensors among coaches and parents. In the fall, players on several college football teams, including the University of South Carolina and the University of Texas, will take the field wearing mouth guards equipped with sensors made by a small company, i1 Biometrics. As with much in the concussion business, experts are still uncertain whether the data produced by impact sensors will result in fewer concussions or simply create statistical noise that adds to parents’ anxiety. Sensors “can serve as a second set of eyes, but they cannot diagnose concussions,” said Blaine Hoshizaki, a professor at the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa. Impact sensors vary in design, but they are intended to serve as early warning systems that may help reduce concussions. A sensor records the movement of a player’s head and can be set to light up or send a signal to a cellphone or monitoring station when that movement is very abrupt, such as when a player is tackled hard. At that point, the player can be examined and, if needed, taken out of a game. Image Col. Dallas Hack, who oversees the Army’s brain injury research program, said a lot of money was initially spent on studies with limited results. Credit Zach Gibson for The New York Times With growing demand, the cost of sensors, which are mass produced in Asia, has dropped sharply. Helmet makers can easily charge double for a helmet containing them, and such products are available not only in football, but also hockey, lacrosse, cycling and other sports. In March, nearly 100 corporate executives, entrepreneurs and researchers crammed into a conference room at Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, Va., for a one-day seminar “Head Acceleration Measurement Sensors.” Some two dozen companies make such sensors, and the March meeting was attended by companies with names like Triax Technologies and Brain Sentry, as well as helmet producers like Schutt Sports, which makes football gear, and Trek, the bicycle maker. One presenter at the meeting discussed an earpiece with a sensor inside it, while i1 Biometrics demonstrated its sensor-containing mouth guard. Jesse Harper, the company’s president, said in an interview that i1 Biometrics first tested the device in laboratories and then on cadavers, whose skulls were struck to record the device’s ability to detect motion. “It’s not the most cocktail-friendly conversation,” Mr. Harper said of the cadaver tests. After tests on players proved successful, the company started selling the device last year to high schools and a number of colleges. The mouth-guard system costs $199 a player, Mr. Harper said. Currently, however, there is no consensus among coaches about the strength of a sensor reading that would lead to pulling a player out of a game. While one player might absorb a strong head blow without ill effect, the same force would stagger another one. Mr. Harper added that the schools and colleges buying his company’s mouthpiece could also use it as a training tool to study the position of a player’s head when struck and potentially work on ways to reduce the most harmful impacts. But some experts say they believe that sensors are still not ready for widespread use. Mr. Miller, the N.F.L. executive, says he thinks the sensors are likely to improve. But last year, when the league, General Electric and Under Armour announced the award of $8.5 million in competitive grants to companies developing promising concussion-related technologies, not a single sensor producer was among the recipients. Dr. Harch, the New Orleans-area physician, is a true believer in the benefits of hyperbaric oxygen. In his book, “The Oxygen Revolution,” he claims the treatment not only helps treat post-concussion syndrome, but also autism and Alzheimer’s disease. Image Currently, there is no consensus among coaches about the strength of a sensor reading that would lead to pulling a player out of a game. Credit Courtesy of i1biometrics One major professional medical group, the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, has said there is no evidence showing the technique is effective in resolving concussion symptoms. “I don’t offer this treatment in my facility for mild traumatic brain injury because I’m not convinced it works,” said Dr. Enoch T. Huang, an official at the society and a specialist at the Adventist Medical Center in Portland, Ore. Dr. Harch acknowledges that he is in the minority. “My generation of doctors thinks this is a fraudulent theory,” he said. Many years ago, he and other advocates formed a competing professional group, the International Hyperbaric Medical Association, which has lobbied to get coverage for the treatment. The military has also been skeptical and for a time refused to fund hyperbaric oxygen research. But facing intense lobbying from lawmakers and veterans groups, the military agreed to start several trials. “We just had to do the study and put it to rest,” said Carl Castro, a professor at the University of Southern California and a retired Army colonel once involved in overseeing military concussion research. Conducting those studies posed a challenge. Researchers were concerned that because hyperbaric oxygen therapy is so intense — a patient typically takes five dives a week over two months — the benefits patients experienced were more psychological than physical. To address that issue, researchers divided patients into groups. One got hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Another got so-called sham procedures, in which patients sat in a chamber pressurized slightly to create the feeling of treatment, but instead of pure oxygen received room air, which is about 20 percent oxygen. “We had no idea what we’d find,” said Dr. Lindell K. Weaver, a hyperbaric expert at the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City who worked on the studies. Those trials found that patients who had a real treatment or a sham treatment reported similar benefits, pointing to a placebo effect. But if Defense Department officials hoped the results would end the debate, they were wrong. Late last year, hyperbaric oxygen proponents started a new lobbying campaign, arguing to lawmakers that the studies’ conclusions were misleading because patients who had received sham procedures were still getting the treatment, though at a lower dose. They pointed to other studies with positive findings and claimed the government did not want to pay for the hyperbaric oxygen because of its cost. Dr. Harch estimated that, depending on location, the price of a series of 40 dives typically ranged from $5,000 to $12,000. Image A portable brain-wave measuring device made by BrainScope. Michael Singer, the company’s chief executive, says the market for concussion products is booming. “It is a Wild West out there,” he says. Credit Zach Gibson for The New York Times Sympathetic lawmakers responded by putting language in the most recent congressional budget bill requiring the Government Accountability Office to review whether the military trials had been run properly. Many of those lawmakers were the same ones who had lobbied the military to run the trials in the first place. Representative Walter B. Jones Jr., Republican of North Carolina, said he supported the accountability office review. He has introduced a bill that would require Veterans Affairs to pay for the treatment if prescribed by a doctor and said he believed that hyperbaric oxygen, even if it just made patients feel better, should be used instead of dangerous psychotropic drugs that veterans are often given. “No one has committed suicide from being treated with oxygen,” Mr. Jones said. Medical experts say that after a decade of intense focus, there is a heightened awareness of the consequences of concussions. The military has adopted new battlefield procedures to examine soldiers, new research is underway and schools are far more vigilant in making sure students are checked out after a head injury. Experts say that the most effective treatment is addressing each of a patient’s symptoms individually, and in some ways, the search for new approaches has returned to the starting line. A concussion expert with the Mayo Clinic, Dr. David W. Dodick, said he believed a cheap nutritional supplement, N-acetylcysteine, could help treat concussion symptoms, and he hoped to study it. It would not be the first time that the supplement, which is an antioxidant, has been tested for that use. In 2008, the Defense Department began a study of the supplement in soldiers in Iraq who had sustained a concussion. That trial showed benefits, but the study quickly became engulfed in controversy. Dr. Dodick said that the dispute about the trial overshadowed a possible breakthrough and that N-acetylcysteine might be a valuable tool. “Every coach and parent could be carrying this on the sidelines,” he said. Some researchers have also started trials of hyperbaric oxygen, and Dr. Harch is working on a trial he believes will provide compelling data about the treatment. Funding for the $1.2 million trial was originally allocated in 2008 as part of legislation backed by Louisiana’s congressional delegation, but the study was delayed. An advertisement recruiting patients for the trial states, “If You Continue to Have Symptoms From a Mild Concussion You Experienced While Playing Sports, In a Car Accident, or During Military Service, You May Qualify.” Dr. Harch has recruited more than 20 of the 50 patients he hopes to enroll. He is certain that the study will show breakthrough results.

Concussion
Brain
Research
Traumatic brain injury
Pentagon


Antiviral ‘Scareware’ Just One More Intruder

Abstract: SAN FRANCISCO — How much money can criminals make scaring naïve computer users? Try $5 million a year. That is how much a marketing associate of one Russian operation appears to be earning from its sales of fake antivirus software through an elaborate scheme that relies on e-mail spam and indirectly controlling thousands of unprotected PCs, according to internal company files posted online by a Russian hacker. The company is Bakasoftware, a clandestine effort based somewhere in Russia that markets what it claims is an antivirus program strictly to English-speaking computer users. The program, whose name has recently been updated from Antivirus XP 2008 to Antivirus XP 2009, lodges itself on a victim’s computer and then begins generating a series of pop-up messages warning that the user’s computer is infected. If the user responds to the warnings, he is urged to buy a $49.95 program for disinfecting the machine. Although tens of millions of Windows PC users have seen these irritating programs that purport to warn against malware infections, there are few details about the operators who develop and distribute the software, known as scareware. Financial details of the operation came to light recently after information posted by a computer hacker identifying himself as NeoN was discovered on a Russian electronic bulletin board by an American computer security researcher. The researcher, Joe Stewart, who is director of malware research at SecureWorks of Atlanta, has tried to understand the nature of the fake antivirus software and the way it is sold through a second tier of “bot-herders,” people who redistribute the program through illegal “botnets” or networks of Internet-connected PCs. The scheme was partially revealed, Mr. Stewart said, after NeoN broke into one of the computers used by Bakasoftware for accounting. Mr. Stewart believes the hacker posted the results of just one week’s operations. Mr. Stewart also discovered that when the Bakasoftware program starts, it checks the language of the computer user based on information contained in the Windows operating system. If it finds the personal computer of a Russian language speaker, the program terminates. Bakasoftware, which may be based in Moscow according to Internet domain name records, did not respond to telephone and e-mail requests for comment. This type of online scheme had recently become the target of a concerted law enforcement effort by the Washington State attorney general’s office with the assistance of Microsoft’s computer security investigators. Last month the attorney general, Rob McKenna, said that his office was using recently passed state legislation aimed at companies that use scareware tactics to file seven lawsuits seeking to halt the practice. The attorney general’s office has received complaints about the Antivirus XP program, a spokeswoman said, but she declined to provide information on its investigations. “The big problem with scareware is that you have voluntarily provided personal information to a Web site that you would not ordinarily want to have your name, address, credit card and date of birth,” Richard Boscovich, a Microsoft lawyer who leads a group of security investigators at the company, said. Mr. Stewart said he found that Bakasoftware’s program has some limited antivirus capabilities, but that it was “a far cry from what a real antivirus program does.” NeoN posted a detailed exposé of Bakasoftware’s sales scheme, which relies on a network of affiliates, on Sept. 22. Mr. Stewart describes the affiliate program as a sophisticated, automated and highly profitable system intended to efficiently infect millions of computers. Once an affiliate is invited to participate it is given access to a control panel allowing it to distribute different types of mechanisms for infecting Internet-connected computers. “Affiliates can earn anywhere from 58 to 90 percent commission on sales of the software, depending on the volume of sales,” Mr. Stewart writes. The extraordinarily high commission explains why the rogue anti-malware products are so popular among hackers and spammers. NeoN published a list of the ten top earners during a one-week period, with revenue ranging from $58,000 to $158,000. Mr. Stewart estimated that one affiliate alone was able to install 154,825 versions of the software in just 10 days and that 2,772 copies of the program were later purchased from those infected users. Based on that conversion rate, Mr. Stewart estimated that an affiliate could expect to earn over $5 million annually by maintaining a botnet large enough to force between 10,000 and 20,000 installations on a daily basis. It appears that the operation involves credit card fraud and money laundering, Mr. Stewart said. One of the affiliates sold software to 75 percent of the computers contacted. A sales rate of 1 percent or 2 percent is more typical of the affiliates, he said, a sign that stolen credit cards were being used. Despite recent success in convicting some scareware distributors, computer security industry executives are skeptical about ending online fraud. “Once the consumer is made aware of the threat and they’re educated, most consumers will take the right course of conduct,” said Mr. Boscovich. “The problem is the scams are always changing. The minute they’re educated about scareware something new will come up.”

Russia
Computer Viruses
Computers and the Internet
Frauds and Swindling


Ex-Councilman Fined by Conflicts Board

Abstract: Former City Councilman Kendall Stewart of Brooklyn has been fined for hiring the daughter of his chief of staff and allowing her father to act as her direct supervisor for more than five years, the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board said Monday. Under a settlement with the board, Mr. Stewart, who left the Council at the end of last year, will be forced to pay $1,250. His former chief of staff, Asquith Reid, had already been fined $2,500 for his role in the matter. “By causing his chief of staff to violate the city’s conflicts of interest law, the Council member himself violated the conflicts of interest law,” the board said in a statement. Mr. Reid’s daughter Sharon worked as a constituent liaison in Mr. Stewart’s district office from 2002 to 2008. She earned about $30,000 in 2008, according to public records. Mr. Reid is also at the center of a separate scandal involving Mr. Stewart. Last year, Mr. Reid and another aide, Joycinth Anderson, pleaded guilty to charges that they had embezzled $145,000 meant for nonprofit groups, including one named for a daughter of Mr. Reid who had died of cancer. Mr. Stewart, who joined the Council in 2002, lost his seat last year to Jumaane D. Williams. Mr. Stewart did not return calls seeking comment. Mr. Williams said in an interview Monday that he believed the action by the Conflicts of Interest Board would help bring closure to his district. “I hope this begins to close this chapter in history and we can move forward,” he said. “I don’t want to say that you should never hire your relatives, because that doesn’t make sense. But they have to have the best skills, and you have to make sure they are not unsupervised, so there are some barriers of accountability.”

Conflicts of Interest
Conflicts of Interest Board (NYC)
Stewart Kendall


Verizon’s Union Workers Vote to Authorize Strike

Abstract: Verizon Communications is seeking major concessions from 45,000 unionized workers in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states, as it copes with a long-term drop in revenue and profits in its old-fashioned telephone business and intense competition in television and Internet services. But the union leaders are resisting any suggestion of givebacks, saying the overall company is making plenty of money. The company earned $6.9 billion in net income for the first six months of this year, amid strong growth in its majority-owned Verizon Wireless cellphone operation. And Verizon’s hefty investment in its FiOS TV and Internet services is starting to pay off. The battle lines between the sides were drawn more sharply on Thursday, when the Communication Workers of America announced that in balloting by 35,000 of its members at Verizon, 91 percent had authorized their leaders to call a strike as soon as Aug. 7, after the contract expires. Verizon officials were quick to note that such a vote did not necessarily mean a strike would occur. Such votes are routine in contentious contract discussions, and negotiators usually reach a settlement before the strike deadline. However, Verizon and union officials agree that the company’s demands are far more sweeping than in previous years. Verizon says it is pushing hard for flexibility and to hold down costs because its wireline business — which, unlike its wireless operation, is heavily unionized — faces such intense competition, much of it nonunion. “We’re looking to make meaningful changes in the contract, which reflect the state of the wireline business as well as the economy,” said Lawrence Marcus, Verizon’s senior vice president for labor relations. “The wireline business is basically fighting to reverse a 10-year decline in our profitability.” Verizon is pressing its unionized workers to begin contributing to their health care premiums, proposing that workers pay $1,300 to $3,000 for family coverage, depending on the plan. The company says the contributions are similar to those made by its 135,000 nonunion employees. Verizon also wants to make it easier to lay off workers without having to buy them out and wants to tie raises more closely to job performance, denying annual raises to subpar performers. The company also has called for freezing pensions for current employees and eliminating traditional pensions for future workers, while making its 401(k) plans somewhat more generous for both groups. It would also like to limit sick days to five a year, as opposed to the current policy, which company officials say sets no limit. “Verizon has put on the table the most aggressive set of contract demands we’ve ever seen,” said Robert Master, a spokesman for the communications workers. “From our perspective, this hugely profitable company that made $20 billion over the last four years, despite the worst economy in 75 years, seems determined to turn tens of thousands of secure middle-class jobs into lower-wage, much less secure jobs.” The union has sought to put Verizon on the defensive, repeatedly highlighting that its top five executives received a total of $258 million, including stock options, over the last four years. The union is planning a big protest Saturday outside Verizon’s headquarters in Lower Manhattan. “I’m not a financial wizard, but if you can afford to pay a C.E.O. millions a year, then how can you ask workers to slash their benefits?” said Paula M. Vinciguerra, president of the communications’ workers’ local on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. “I was raised with the idea of shared sacrifice.” Verizon said many field technicians earned $95,000 a year, including overtime, with an additional $50,000 in benefits. But union officials said the field technicians and call center workers generally earned $29 to $37 an hour, translating to $60,000 to $77,000 for a full-time worker, with benefits worth an additional $25,000 a year. The Verizon contracts that expire at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 7 cover nearly 45,000 workers, from Massachusetts to Virginia, including thousands of Verizon employees in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers . That union is holding a separate strike authorization vote. Jim Spillane, a spokesman for the electrical workers, declined to comment on Verizon’s proposals or the contract talks. The crux of the clash is Verizon’s financial health. The company says the wireline division is struggling, while the union says Verizon’s overall business is thriving. Craig Moffett, a telecommunications analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said: “It’s hard to argue with Verizon’s basic premise that the wireline business is a troubled business. They are going to have to find ways to shrink that business to maintain any semblance of viability.” Last year, Verizon’s wireline division trimmed its work force by buying out 11,900 workers. Its wireline operations — which include home phones and FiOS — had revenues of $41.2 billion last year, down 2.9 percent from the previous year. At Verizon Wireless, a joint venture with Vodafone Group, a British company, revenue was $63.4 billion, a 5.1 percent increase over the previous year. Verizon reported that its wireline operating income was $606 million for the first six months of this year, compared with $9.0 billion at Verizon Wireless. Jeff Kagan, founder of a telecommunications research company in Atlanta, said Verizon’s landline division had no competition until the last decade. Verizon has lost business to wireless companies, to companies like Vonage and Skype and to cable television companies, many of them nonunion like Comcast and Time Warner, Mr. Kagan said. “When you have competition with companies that are not unionized, it’s a different world,” he said.


Modern Life Presents Nomads of China’s Highlands With a ‘Tragic Choice’

Abstract: HONGWANSI, China — The young monk in crimson robes rushed from room to room in the temple, talking with local residents about the coming religious festival. A frail 86-year-old lama with tinted glasses sat outdoors. He had just napped. Taking part in morning rituals had tired him out, he said. He was being hosted by the young monk, Nanqian, who was the only lama living year-round at the temple. That meant Nanqian, more than any other resident of the mountain town of Hongwansi, shouldered responsibility for keeping local religious traditions alive. Image The temple in Hongwansi. Yugurs, who generally practice Buddhism, are related to the Turkic-speaking Uighurs, who mostly practice Sunni Islam farther west. Credit Adam Dean for The New York Times The temple has a golden roof, white stupas and altars adorned with sculptures made of yak butter. They are all emblematic of Tibetan Buddhism, but these are not Tibetans . The town’s residents are Yugurs, a small group given its own ethnic classification by the Communist Party. They are actually related to the Turkic-speaking Uighurs, who mostly practice Sunni Islam farther west and who, for some Chinese, have become associated with violence and resistance to rule by Beijing . “They all believe in Buddhism,” Nanqian said of the residents of Hongwansi, which sits at the foot of the snowcapped Qilian range of Gansu Province, considered the Yugur heartland. “They’ll come with their families for this ceremony.” “The influence of religion is still great among the Yugurs,” he said. It is not just religion that distinguishes the Yugurs from the Uighurs. Some Yugurs speak an Altaic language that partly resembles old Mongolian. Also similar to Mongolians, many Yugur families come from a nomadic background. They still watch after livestock. Herds of sheep roam grasslands outside the town. These days, Nanqian and some residents of Hongwansi are struggling to preserve these central aspects of Yugur culture, even as the traditions fade among younger residents. The Yugurs are not well known in China. Serendipity led me to them: I came across their homeland while traveling in the Qilian Mountains to report on the effects of climate change in western China. “We don’t have the written language anymore,” said Se’erjin, the manager of a handicrafts workshop who once worked in the Sunan County cultural office. “If we don’t preserve the oral language, then it will quickly disappear,” she said. “If we don’t preserve handmade crafts or the techniques of making things by hand, then there’s nothing special about us.” Yugur culture has drawn some interest in recent years. In 2014, a filmmaker, Li Ruijun, released “River Road,” about two Yugur boys riding camels to join their father and look for water in the desert. It was even shown at Lincoln Center in New York. The history of the Yugurs tells of the wax and wane and mixing of cultures, dictated by geography and migration and the choices made by societies. The influence of a variety of nomadic steppe cultures in what is today northern China is a towering part of Asian history up to the 20th century. Image A Tibetan Buddhist ceremony at the temple in Hongwansi. Among the spectators was the visiting lama Luozangdanba, seated at right, who organized the rebuilding of Hongwan Temple. Credit Adam Dean for The New York Times In contrast to the Uighurs in Xinjiang, the Yugurs clung to their traditional steppe culture for centuries and did not settle into farming oases . That meant a nomadic lifestyle, herding sheep, horses and other animals among pastures in the Qilian foothills. Nomadism is now on the decline across China, in part because of government restrictions , and those Yugurs who still have animals live in permanent homes in the winter and herd their livestock only in the summer. “All small ethnic groups have to face the kind of tragic choice of embracing modernization or preserving traditions,” said Ba Zhanlong, an ethnic Yugur anthropology professor at Beijing Normal University. He added that he does not believe that the Yugurs need to define their ethnic group by their language or nomadic lifestyle. Chinese scholars say both the Uighurs and the Yugurs (sometimes called the Yellow Uighurs) are descendants of an ethnic group called the Huihu, a Turkic-speaking nomadic people who had an empire in the eighth to ninth centuries on the steppes of present-day Mongolia. Western scholars use the term Uighur or Uyghur to describe that earlier group. One branch migrated west into what is now the Xinjiang region. They converted to Islam over several centuries. Image Yugurs and Tibetans at a ceremony at the Hongwansi temple. Credit Adam Dean for The New York Times Another major branch moved east down the Hexi Corridor, a broad plain between mountain ranges that was the passage to Central Asia for empires and dynasties in eastern China. The Qilian Mountains form the southern boundary of the corridor. Yugurs who settled toward the western end of Sunan County were mostly Turkic speakers, while those to the east spoke the language that now resembles old Mongolian. They had lived under a Mongolian khanate. The influence worked both ways: Mongolians at one point adapted the old Uighur script, now vanished, to create a written language, which in turn was adapted by the Manchus; the original Uighur script has roots in Aramaic, Syriac and Sogdian scripts. Professor Ba said many Yugurs now see their original languages as the main feature that distinguishes them from other ethnic groups. But they have realized, perhaps too late, that many Yugurs have forgotten the languages or, in the case of younger people, never learned them, he said. In 2004, officials from the central government’s Ethnic Affairs Commission started a pilot program to try to salvage the language, saying it was in a “critical” state. Still, many schools in Sunan County do not have the resources to teach it in a comprehensive manner. “People finally came to realize and acknowledge that our languages are largely gone,” Professor Ba said. “There has been a glaring intergenerational gap.” The Sunan cultural bureau in the center of Hongwansi has several rooms that showcase the Yugurs’ pastoral traditions, which, like their language, are fading among younger people. Photographs depict nomads on horseback and living in tent homes. On special occasions, they dress up in long silk robes with elaborate embroidery, similar to Mongolian clothing. Image A groom offers a toast to guests at a Yugur wedding. On special occasions, Yugurs dress up in long silk robes with elaborate embroidery, similar to Mongolian clothing. Credit Adam Dean for The New York Times A young woman at the bureau, He Rui, said there were about 13,000 Yugurs in the county, half of whom still do some herding. The national census of 2010 had China’s total Yugur population at about 14,400. For Se’erjin, the crafts maker, the traditions she is trying to preserve reflect the nomadic lifestyle. Se’erjin, or Ke Cuiling in Chinese, said she was a herder until age 17, when she went to a school to train to be a teacher. Now 55, she has retired from that career. “The most important handicraft for Yugurs are clothes or tents made of wool,” she said. “The second most important things are items made of animal skin, including leather.” The Buddhist religion remains a cultural focal point for many Yugurs, though Professor Ba said shamanism was at the root of their beliefs. Image Many Yugur families come from a nomadic background and still watch after livestock. Credit Adam Dean for The New York Times The town of Hongwansi is named for the temple where the young monk Nanqian lives. The temple was originally built in the Qing dynasty, moved through the years to different sites, and was destroyed in 1958, during a Maoist political campaign. Nanqian said he grew up in the nearby Kangle area and became a monk at age 16. Four years ago, he moved to Hongwan Temple, after it had been rebuilt. “I have been a very devoted believer since I was young,” he said. During the Cultural Revolution, he said, monks from the original Hongwan Temple moved to Ta’er Temple in Qinghai, the famous Tibetan institution where the old visiting lama, Luozangdanba, lives. They never returned to live here. Luozangdanba, an ethnic Yugur, visited each year and led the efforts to rebuild Hongwan Temple from afar. “I’m the only Yugur lama living here,” Nanqian said. “There are other Yugur lamas, but they have gone elsewhere.”


Co-Workers Say They Chipped In on Winning Lottery Ticket

Abstract: ELIZABETH, N.J. — Talk about the potential for an awkward workplace moment. Five New Jersey construction workers are suing a longtime colleague and friend, accusing him of fraud because, they say, he cashed a $38.5 million winning lottery ticket that belonged to all of them. To make matters worse, they say, the colleague, Americo Lopes, 52, hid the win from them for more than four months after the Mega Millions jackpot was announced on Nov. 10, 2009, according to the suit, which is being heard in Union County Superior Court. The plaintiffs, who worked in the same crew as Mr. Lopes pouring concrete for sidewalks and had pooled their money to buy lottery tickets with him since 2007, claim that the prize money should be divided evenly. That would mean that the after-tax total of $24 million would be split six ways, so each person would take home $4 million, according to the suit. Through his lawyers, Mr. Lopes concedes that he and his co-workers, who were employed by Berto Construction in Rahway, used to chip in $2 each every few weeks to buy lottery tickets. But he says the winning Mega Millions ticket was one that he purchased on his own. This was not unusual, he said, because he would frequently buy his own tickets over the years. So the winnings should be his alone, he said. The trial, which began Tuesday, is being heard by an eight-person jury before Judge Miriam K. Span. The plaintiffs were devastated to uncover Mr. Lopes’s alleged deception, said Rubin Sinins, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. On Wednesday, the lawyer called Margarida Lopes, Mr. Lopes’s wife, to the witness stand. Under questioning, Ms. Lopes spoke about the day in March 2010 when her husband finally told his colleagues that he had won the lottery, in the form of a phone call to one co-worker, Daniel Esteves. Initially, Ms. Lopes refused to say that Mr. Esteves had cried when her husband told him the news. “If you have feelings, water’s going to come out,” she said at first, though she finally agreed with Mr. Sinins’s account that he was sobbing. A lawyer for Mr. Lopes, Michael Mezzacca, said that a lack of any record-keeping called the plaintiffs’ accusations into question. He said that because the crew did not write down who had bought what, none of the workers could say with any conviction who had paid for the winning ticket. There was an emotional moment as Mr. Mezzacca cross-examined Candido Silva Sr., one of the plaintiffs and the foreman of the group. Mr. Silva took off his glasses and wiped his eyes before saying, through an interpreter, that Mr. Lopes had been like “a son, so I would never have thought he would do what he did.” He, like the other workers, is from Portugal, and he speaks only Portuguese. Throughout the proceeding, Mr. Lopes (pronounced LOHPS) stared straight ahead and sat somewhat slumped in his chair. The plaintiffs contend that Mr. Lopes continued to work for two more days after discovering he had the winning ticket in order to deceive his colleagues into thinking nothing was different. On Nov. 12, 2009, Mr. Lopes told his boss that he needed to have foot surgery, and that he planned to take a leave of absence in the winter, according to the complaint. But he never had the surgery. During that winter, Mr. Lopes continued to act as if nothing had changed, according to the suit, even when his colleagues helped him work on the driveway at his home, in Elizabeth. Mr. Lopes also went to visit Jose Soosa, another plaintiff, when Mr. Soosa’s wife had a baby, and later borrowed some wine-making equipment from Mr. Soosa without mentioning that he was newly rich, the plaintiffs contend. In March 2010, Mr. Lopes quit Berto for good and told his boss he had won a lottery, but played down how much money was involved. The others learned about it within weeks. On Wednesday, the translations, which were provided by interpreters who stood next to the witness box, lent the proceedings an unusual tempo. There were also a few unintentionally comic moments, as when a clanking radiator forced Judge Span to call a break for more than an hour. During the break, she passed a message by way of the interpreters to two of the plaintiffs, asking if they could help fix the radiator. They did not.

Lotteries
Suits and Litigation
Union County (NJ)
Lopes Americo


Paris and London Clubs Vie for Top Prize in European Rugby

Abstract: LONDON — The winner hoisting the European Rugby Champions Cup will be doing it for the first time Saturday, but that doesn’t mean it will be a surprise. Neither can be considered an upstart like this season’s English Premier League soccer champion Leicester City. The Paris club Racing 92 will be playing in its first final and London-based Saracens in its second. Both are among a select group of clubs, dominated by Toulon and Clermont Auvergne, that have overpowered the competition since the Irish provincial franchises ceased to be financially competitive. But this season, Clermont was surprisingly eliminated at the pool stage, while Toulon’s run of three consecutive titles ended when it lost to Racing in the quarterfinals. Now that both finalists have seized their chance, they don’t intend to go away anytime soon. “Of course you want to win it. But if we do, I’m hoping that it’s the start of something, rather than the end,” said Saracens Coach Mark McCall during a news conference Tuesday. “We’ve got a really brilliant age profile in our squad, we’ve got people signed up for the long term, people who are unbelievably ambitious and hungry to get better who are in their early and mid-20s, so I believe we’re going to be playing in a lot more of these matches.” With Racing 92 President Jacky Lorenzetti outlining limitless ambitions with the team’s move from the 109-year-old Stade Colombes to a new, state-of-the-art, multipurpose venue next season, these teams could be seeing a lot of each other over the next few years. They already know a fair amount about each other; the final in Lyon, France, will be their sixth meeting in the Champions Cup since 2010. Saracens are 4-1 in those meetings, winning the last four, including their quarterfinal matchup in 2014. Most games have been squeakers, though, with the margin of victory reaching double digits only once. Forget trash-talking; the tone this week has been respectful. “They’re a great side, strong throughout and their players have played a big part for England this year,” Mike Phillips, the veteran Welsh scrumhalf for Racing 92, said in a conference call Tuesday. “They’ll be full of confidence. They have a superb defense, with great line speed and tackling. We have to dominate the breakdown, get to the advantage line and kick well, be really accurate and make the most of what is likely to be a small number of opportunities.” While French teams traditionally are known for having strong attacks, Saracens have been the best this season, averaging 34.1 points a game, while Racing has the toughest defense, conceding only 12.8 points a game. Saracens flyhalf Owen Farrell is the leading scorer, with 106 points, while the American wing Chris Wyles has scored the most tries, 5. Two Racing players lead in tackles, with the Welsh lock forward Luke Charteris having 107, while the New Zealand back-row forward Chris Masoe has 87. Saracens are looking to become the first team to finish the tournament with a perfect 9-0 record. While Saracens have been built around a youth movement, developing players like the 21-year-old lock Maro Itoje, Racing has bolstered itself by signing veterans from New Zealand. The 32-year-old wing Joe Rokocoko, who scored 47 tries for the New Zealand All Blacks, recalled his decision last summer to sign with Racing. “I could either sit back and enjoy the sunset or have another go at competitive rugby, and I made the right choice,” Rokocoko said. “This is an incredible opportunity for any player, the biggest trophy there is apart from the World Cup.” Masoe, 36, brought expertise he gained at Toulon, his previous club. “He knows how to prepare and what to do in the week — when you train, and he’s often last in doing something extra, and when to switch off and joke about,” Rokocoko said. “The young players listen, because he delivers on the weekends.” The Kiwi who attracts most of the attention is, of course, Daniel Carter, the current and three-time world rugby player of the year, the career leading scorer in international matches and a World Cup champion. “He’s brought touch, experience and know-how, and he’s fit in well. It’s all been good,” said Phillips. Carter raises a distinct set of problems for opponents, said McCall, the Saracens coach, who will try to limit his influence on Saturday. “If we can do that, it means our pack have got on top in the scrum, in the lineout,” McCall said. “It means we’ve put a little more pressure on him than he’s experienced before. But if you run down his channel and think you’re going to shake him up, you’re not going to.” Carter will undoubtedly have a serious influence on Saturday’s final. But when in his long career has he not?


No Replay for Hairston as the Mets Fall to the Giants

Abstract: SAN FRANCISCO — About an hour after he had hit a pinch-hit home run against Giants closer Brian Wilson on Friday night, Scott Hairston, his wife and some friends sat at a local restaurant to celebrate. He was not recognized by the other patrons, even after he had crushed the spirits of many of them. But wearing his Mets uniform, Hairston was definitely recognized as he came to the plate with two outs in the ninth inning Saturday as the potential tying run. A chorus of boos quickly turned to cheers, though, as relief pitcher Sergio Romo struck out Hairston on three pitches to secure a 3-1 victory for the San Francisco Giants . A day after punishing Wilson and the Giants’ bullpen, the Mets were hoping for more of the same Saturday when they forced the Giants ace Tim Lincecum from the game after only six innings. Instead, Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez and Romo picked up where Lincecum left off as they all combined to hold the Mets scoreless over the final eight innings. The Mets scored on consecutive doubles in the first inning by Carlos Beltran and Daniel Murphy but managed only two more hits the rest of the game. That lack of offense, especially on a night when Lincecum was not at his most commanding, was a significant factor in the loss. But so, too, was the Mets’ inability to turn any of the three potential double play balls in the first inning as the Giants scored twice. In fact, the Giants scored all three of their runs on potential double play balls. “We’ve got to turn the double play,” Mets Manager Terry Collins said. “We’ve got to get outs when they are attainable.” On the first play, shortstop Ruben Tejada, playing in place of the injured Jose Reyes, was a tad slow making the relay throw from Justin Turner, and his throw bounced. First baseman Lucas Duda, playing in place of Ike Davis, should have made the scoop but could not hold onto the ball, and a run scored. Later in the inning, Tejada, ranging to his left, tried to tag Pat Burrell, the runner heading to second base, but he missed, and his throw to get the batter, Nate Schierholtz, was late. Instead of making one sure out, he tried to get two, and got neither, as Miguel Tejada scored. Finally, Aubrey Huff hit a ball to the right side with Pablo Sandoval on third. Turner made the play, Tejada made the relay and Duda caught the ball, but Huff beat it out and Sandoval scored. If Mets starter Chris Capuano was frustrated at his young infielders’ inability to convert, he did not show it. “They weren’t exactly tailor made,” he said. In the seventh, with Bobby Parnell pitching, the Giants scored again when Sandoval hit a bouncer up the middle. Tejada fielded the ball and flipped it to Turner, but his back was turned to first base and he was in an awkward position to make a strong relay. Aaron Rowand scored to make it 3-1. Lincecum did not have his best command, walking four in six innings, but he limited the Mets to one run and four hits as he evened his record at 7-7. Capuano (8-8) might have pitched better, but the Mets could not generate any offense. They did get Lincecum to throw 114 pitches through six innings and forced him out of the game. But as opposed to Friday night, the Giants’ bullpen was up to the task. INSIDE PITCH Francisco Rodriguez did not deny a report in MLB.com that he switched agents, from Paul Kinzer to Scott Boras. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he said. ... David Wright is progressing well in his recovery from a stress fracture in his lower back and is expected to start playing in minor league rehabilitation games Wednesday, Terry Collins said. Wright, who has been on the disabled list since May 16, could join the Mets on their next trip. ... Ike Davis has also made solid progress in his recovery from a bone bruise, Collins said, adding hope that he will not need season-ending surgery. The big test will come in a day or two when he runs. ... Jose Reyes made some incremental progress with his left hamstring strain, and Collins is still hopeful he can return July 22 for the first game of the coming trip.

San Francisco Giants
Baseball
New York Mets
Lincecum Tim
Hairston Scott