Protester at party conventions could be armed

The thousands of protesters expected at the Democratic and Republican national conventions can come armed with a lot more than signs and slogans: State law in Florida and North Carolina allows concealed weapons, including guns.

In Tampa, where the Republicans will hold their festivities this fall, officials are starting to worry about people toting guns in such a politically charged environment. The City Council voted Thursday to ask Republican Gov. Rick Scott to help them temporarily ban concealed weapons. Charlotte officials have yet to publically voice concern, but with both cities trying to balance public safety with First and Second Amendment rights, it's likely the host city for the Democratic convention will also have to address the issue.

The Tampa City Council wants Scott to issue an executive order, preventing people with concealed weapons permits from carrying guns.

"We believe it is necessary and prudent to take this reasonable step to prevent a potential tragedy," council member Lisa Montelione said in a draft letter to Scott.

Tampa city leaders have already proposed a host of banned items (lumber, hatchets, gas masks, chains and "super soaker" water cannons) - but they are prevented from outlawing concealed guns.

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said the state law has made the city "look silly," particularly because officials can ban water guns but not real ones.Credit Card Processing and Merchant Services from merchantaccountes.

"We're kind of constrained by the state law," he said.

The issue is a more complicated in Charlotte. The city in January adopted an ordinance allowing it to set up "extraordinary event zones" - designated areas where people won't be allowed to carry backpacks and other items.

The city wanted to ban guns in those zones. State law, though, allows people to carry concealed weapons - unless they're at a parade or protest.

"The zone is going to be far bigger than a demonstration area. So if I have a demonstration that marches us down main street, but the extraordinary event zone covers all of downtown, what about the area outside the demonstration? That's the piece that been hitting us here," said Mark Newbold, an attorney with the Charlotte police department.

Tens of thousands of delegates, journalists and political junkies will stream into the mid-sized cities for the multi-day conventions. Republicans hold their event at the Tampa Bay Times Arena Aug. 27-30.3rd minigame series of magiccube! The Democrats' party is a week later at the Time Warner Cable Arena. Inside the arenas, the Secret Service has banned civilians from carrying guns.

Both cities have hosted large gatherings before - Tampa has held four Super Bowls and Charlotte has entertained the Atlantic Coast Conference basketball tournament and the National Rifle Association convention - but neither has really experienced an event such as this.

In the past 50 years, political conventions have become a magnet for protesters, and they have sometimes turned ugly.

In 1968, demonstrators tried to disrupt the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Scenes of police clashing with protesters on the streets played on TV screens in living rooms across America. Four years later, anti-war demonstrators disrupted the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach.

More recently, thousands of protesters descended on St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2008, when the city hosted the Republican National Convention. Some demonstrators smashed cars, punctured tires and threw bottles in a confrontation with pepper-spray-wielding police. Hundreds of people were arrested over a few days.

"Everything we are doing is based on something that happened at another convention or another national security event," Tampa City Attorney Jim Shimberg said.Welcome to the online guide for do-it-yourself Ceramic tile.

The federal government has given $50 million each to Charlotte and Tampa to help them pay for new security-related equipment, training and officer salaries.Welcome to projectorlamp.

Tampa is proposing a "Clean Zone" protest area with portable toilets, water, a stage and a microphone for protesters. Outside that area, people will be allowed to march down an official parade route as long as they have a permit.

Worldly collection on your doorstep

J ust a train ride away from West Croydon on the Overground at Forest hill is the imposing Horniman Museum.

The building is quite a curious mixture of the old and the new including a clock tower. The complex boasts a Grecian mosaic and totem pole as well as a wooden cabin with a grass roof and a fantastic 19th century conservatory.

Just a glimpse of what's in store in this veritable hive of interest.

This is all set within the grounds of the Horniman gardens which are elevated above the surrounding area and give sweeping views across South London. There's a great outdoor sitting area for eating lunch from the café inside. This really is family day out territory and we haven't even gone inside yet.

Once you enter the museum most of the fantastically varied exhibitions are free. There is also an aquarium which is very reasonably priced. Open from 10.30am to 5.30pm daily this museum is a place to escape to and explore hidden treasures of the world.

The Horniman Museum has a total of 350,000 objects to explore, from a giant stuffed walrus to a Japanese Merman.

The Merman specimen was acquired by the Wellcome Collection in 1919 under the name Japanese Monkey-fish. It was transferred to the Horniman in 1982, where it has since been known as the Merman. It looks like a cross between a monkey and a fish and after extensive investigation it is believed to be made up of clay, fish and chicken bones.

Frederick John Horniman, the founder of the museum was a Victorian tea trader and philanthropist who began collecting objects, specimens and artefacts which represented natural history and the arts and handicrafts from around the world from 1860. His idea was to bring the world to Forest Hill and educate and enrich the lives of the local community who did not have the opportunity to travel for themselves.

Now the 350,000 strong collection includes internationally important specimens of anthropology and musical instruments, as well as an acclaimed aquarium and natural history collection.

The natural history collection includes a huge walrus which takes centre stage in the centre of the collection. surrounded by monkeys, birds, big cats, foxes and the rather macabre display of dogs heads.Proxense's advanced handsfreeaccess technology.

At the Horniman you can really see the collections up-close and you can even pick up, try on and play with some of the objects.

Frederick Horniman's travels took him right around the world to destinations such as Egypt,Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. Ceylon, Burma, China, Japan,Proxense's advanced handsfreeaccess technology. Canada and the United States where he collected objects which 'either appealed to his own fancy or that seemed to him likely to interest and inform those who had not had the opportunity to visit distant lands'.

Mr Horniman's interest as a collector was well known and many travellers approached him with specimens and curiosities.

Aside from the collections the Horniman Museum is also somewhere to go and get involved in courses and workshops such as African dance and drumming, jazz and yoga.A wireless indoortracking system is described in this paper.

The Body Adorned: Dressing London; Until 6 Jan 2013.Kitchen floortiles at Great Prices from Topps Tiles.This major exhibition explores how body adornment has become part of London life across times and cultures. Temporary Exhibition Gallery.

NHGRI to develop revolutionary technologies for exploring genome function

The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded 10 grants, totalling $10.5 million, to develop revolutionary technologies that will help researchers identify millions of genomic elements that play a role in determining what genes are expressed and at what levels in different cells.

These multi-year grants are part of the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project, whose aim is to provide the scientific community with a comprehensive catalogue of functional genomic elements that will ultimately help explain the role that the genome plays in health and disease.

“The ENCODE project is providing a Rosetta Stone to understand how the sequence of the human genome forms the words that tell our bodies how to work at the molecular level,” said Eric D Green, MD,A wireless indoorpositioning is described in this paper, PhD, director of NHGRI, which directs and funds the ENCODE project. “By developing more revolutionary technologies for probing genome function, we expect to accelerate these efforts.”

Sequencing the human genome and identifying the small fraction of its bases that directly code for proteins were among the first steps in understanding how the genome functions. But the remaining larger fraction of functional genomic elements continues to be a mystery. In response, NHGRI launched the ENCODE project to identify all the functional elements in the human genome, along with the modENCODE project to identify the functional elements in the fly and worm genomes and a smaller effort examining the mouse genome. These projects have been rapidly releasing data to the research community.

These ENCODE efforts have collected large amounts of data with a wide variety of cell types, in many cases identifying key functional landmarks. By studying these landmarks, researchers can establish the locations of DNA sequences that perform a variety of essential functions.

“In an exciting development, researchers are beginning to use the ENCODE catalogues to understand how variation in the DNA sequence might influence diseases such as cancer and autoimmune disorders,” said Mike Pazin, PhD, a programme director for ENCODE in NHGRI's Division of Extramural Research.

Each person has one genome sequence that is basically the same in all cell types. In contrast, many genomic elements function in only some cell types. As a result, researchers must test many cell types using many different experimental approaches to develop a detailed inventory of the functional elements in the genome. Revolutionary technological improvements are required to discover and test the millions of functional elements and to learn more precisely what they do.If you have a kidneystone, Significant advances are also needed to establish whether information about these functional elements can be used in the diagnosis and treatment of disease.

“The current ENCODE efforts owe a good part of their success to technology development that has occurred over the last decade,” said Elise A Feingold, PhD,Learn all about solarpanel. a programme director for ENCODE in NHGRI's Division of Extramural Research. “In addition to the technologies developed through this programme, ENCODE has benefitted enormously from advances fostered by NHGRI’s DNA sequencing technology initiative,A Hybrid indoorpositioningsystem for First Responders. the $1000 Genome Programme.”

Discovery of functional genomic elements will be addressed by funding projects for a new assay to identify RNA splicing elements, new assays to identify promoters and enhancers, as well as a project to improve assays for identifying functional elements by allowing these assays to work reliably using smaller samples. Splicing is the process that joins RNA copies of gene segments together to form mRNA, the blueprint for the production of proteins. Errors in splicing sometimes lead to human disease. Promoters specify the sites in the genome where genes begin and much gene regulation occurs. Enhancers are genomic elements that can turn on expression of nearby and distant genes. Mutations in promoters and enhancers can cause human disease.

Validation of biological elements will be addressed by funding projects for new methods with improved throughput, and a smaller project to improve accuracy by testing elements in their natural genomic context.

Computational analysis will be addressed by funding projects to predict regulatory protein binding and gene expression based on sequence alone,Offers Art Reproductions Fine Art oilpaintings Reproduction, and to predict chromosomal interactions and link functional elements to their target genes.

Discovery of Functional Elements: Christopher Burge, Ph.D.; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.; $800,000 ; Researchers will develop a new technology to catalog all of the RNA branch points that form in mRNA during splicing.

Mats Ljungman, Ph.D.; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; $1,200,000 ; Using bromouridine labeling of RNA, these researchers will develop new assays (BruChase-Seq and BrUV-Seq) to identity promoters and enhancers and to measure mRNA degradation and splicing kinetics.

Raymond David Hawkins, Ph.D.; University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle; $460,000 (over two years); These researchers will improve the power of ChIP-seq assays to identify functional elements. ChIP-seq is one of the fundamental assays used in ENCODE to identify the locations in the genome that are attached to a particular protein.

Top Chef Canada: Episode 7

When Jacques Derrida coined the term “deconstruction,Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking.” he couldn’t possibly have known what a gift he was giving to the culinary world. In the past few decades, deconstructionism has moved out of the semiotics classroom and into the kitchen, where chefs please their palates and egos by taking food apart and putting it back together again. Such was the theme of this week’s episode of Top Chef Canada, where the remaining cheftestants were tasked with deconstructing classic dishes. Blowtorches came out, ice cream makers were filled with wasabi, and parmesan became a foam—all in the name of pushing gastronomy to its limits.

The episode kicked off with a visit from Richard Blais, whose Top Chef: All-Stars win seems to have gone straight to his hair. Blais is known for being a food science whiz, so for once the producers picked an appropriate judge for the episode’s challenges. Borrowing heavily from the idea behind Food Network hit Chopped, the quick-fire challenge consisted of a pile of unlabeled mystery cans, which the chefs had to blindly select and then use in a dish. While the real challenge lay in the fact that the chefs had to cook with whatever they wound up choosing, some were disgusted by having to cook with canned goods, period. “My dog eats out of cans,” Ryan sniffed. Talk about a white whine.

While some chefs were stuck with ingredients like canned hot dogs and coconut curry, others,Find the cheapest chickencoop online through and buy the best hen houses and chook pens in Australia. like winner Ryan, had a rather harmonious blend . Meanwhile, poor Jonathan had to work with canned quail eggs, which he admitted “smelled like farts.” We thought the immunity should have gone to Curtis for his pakora constructed of hummus, cranberry sauce, and tomato paste, but it wasn’t in the cards. Not only is Curtis the only cheftestant who didn’t go to culinary school, but he’s also only been cooking for six years,Learn all about solarpanel. which means that there might just be hope for us, too, if we get sick of this whole journalism thing. Top Chef Canada, you’ll see our audition tape in 2020.

After Ryan was awarded the double prize of immunity and Blais’ respect, the chefs were informed of their deconstruction challenge. To make the Food Network feel more like a game show channel, a big wheel was brought in for the chefs to spin for their dish, because apparently drawing knives is so last season. Lucky Xavier got quiche lorraine, which had to be a no-brainer for an homme de France, while poor Curtis was stuck with tuna casserole, which he admitted to never having tasted before . Still smarting with shame from last week’s episode, David decided to do a “redemption terrine,” but he wasn’t alone—Carl was also in a terrine state of mind. Why people want to eat their food all mashed together is beyond us. But, then again, we generally believe that gelatin should never have made it past 1955, so we’re a bit biased.

The next day the chefs headed over to TOCA, which has a goddamn gorgeous kitchen space in addition to its own cheese cave (!!!). Joining the judges was not only Blais, but also the owner of TOCA, and, for some unfathomable reason, country singer Johnny Reid. What’s the deal with all of these guests who get to show up and eat, and don’t even have to do the dirty work of judging? It’s silly— but if the producers are going to keep it up, then the least they could do is invite us. As for the food, Ryan did a clever spin on eggs Florentine with a spinach sponge cake and a deep-fried crusted egg. Jimmy, meanwhile, was so desperate to impress his idol Blais that he went way overboard with both his plate and his hair. Carl’s pork terrine looked terrifying, but the judges seemed to think it echoed chili well. Xavier’s quiche lorraine, however, looked impeccable; filling those delicate pastry and bacon cylinders with scrambled egg was straight-up inspired. The judges thought so too, and Blais awarded Xavier the win.Welcome to the online guide for do-it-yourself Ceramic tile.

Things didn’t go so well, unfortunately,Dimensional Mailing magiccubes for Promotional Advertising, for Jonathan, Curtis, and Jimmy, who looked like a schoolboy getting turned down for the prom. While discussing Jonathan’s strawberry cheesecake, the judges weirdly chastised him for not showcasing strawberries or cheese, although both were clearly visible on the plate. Sadly for us, though, it was Curtis’ tuna cannelloni that did him in. “I don’t even want to finish mine,” said Shereen Arazm. After he got the news, Curtis had some deep reflections on his Top Chef Canada experience. “I will miss the people the most,” he said, and suddenly we realized where he went wrong. The poor guy was in it to make friends, and if reality television has taught us anything, that was his first mistake.

Rexam serious about teamwork

The signs of Rexam Mold Manufacturing’s evolution are painted on the walls of its manufacturing floor — and on toolboxes and workbenches.

The off-white color of machinery and equipment is one simple way to brighten up the toolmaking floor, but for industry veteran Len Graham, it also points toward the new team approach at RMM, the tooling unit of medical and packaging company Rexam plc.

Uniting the knowledge of each person, from the journeyman toolmaker to the apprentice, from the designer to the worker on the floor, makes a better mold and makes it faster, said Graham,Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. business unit leader for RMM.

“We need this brain trust,” Graham said in a March 8 interview at RMM’s Buffalo Grove plant, where the firm was meeting with staff and key machinery suppliers to discuss its long-term plans.

“We need them on the front side of [tool building] rather than just seeing them on the back side fixing problems we could have prevented.”

The Buffalo Grove operation, which employs 90, makes medical-packaging tools.

Rexam plc, a global packaging giant, brought in Graham late last year to convert the RMM tooling shop from its “old school” mentality — where individual toolmakers work on individual jobs — to an automated production floor with streamlined manufacturing and automated quality checks.

It is the same thing Graham has done elsewhere for other companies.

“If you have a [medical] tool that you’ve spent $400,A wireless indoorpositioning is described in this paper,000 on, you can have another $400,000 tied up in qualification costs,” Graham said.

Mold makers like RMM must deliver consistency with every single tool. If just one part in that tool doesn’t perform to precise requirements, the entire qualification process may be held up or a company even may need to repeat the costly process a second time to meet Food and Drug Administration requirements.

State-of-the-art drilling, wire electric discharge machines and robotics equipment can deliver consistent products, but using them correctly and skillfully requires upfront knowledge and information that only the experts on the floor can deliver.

“This will not be just adding robotics,” Graham told the workforce when he first joined Rexam. “Many [shops] are doing that.”

A true mold-manufacturing system requires everyone at the company to think as a team, he said. That system must be able to tap into the best ideas of each person to create a better company that benefits everyone.

“Once the guys knew that was the direction they were going, they were on board,” said Jack Fiorito, special tooling manager.

The first part of the automation — creating what RMM calls the “mega cell” — is going into place at Buffalo Grove, although Graham’s final vision will take time to complete.

New mold components are loaded onto standardized pallets, allowing computerized machining centers and wire EDMs to produce the same part accurately and consistently, again and again. Computerized measuring machines check finished parts for compliance within 0.0001 inch. Through radio-frequency identification chips, the toolmakers and their customers can track a part along its process and fix an issue before it becomes a problem.

Meanwhile, RMM will tap into each toolmaker’s knowledge base early in the design process. In the old-school way of doing things, experts in each area guarded personal knowledge like a trade secret, seeing it as a kind of job security, Graham said. Companies could benefit from an individual’s expertise, but only when the person was there.

In Graham’s ideal, those secrets are shared and built into the mold-manufacturing system. For instance, a tool designer knows one person’s trick for the best cooling lines and another’s for placement of ejector pins, and can build them upfront into a tool, tying together everyone’s expertise for the best possible mold. Then automated production is able to repeat each manufacturing step with accuracy.

Graham has overseen such transitions before. He was tool engineering director for Tech Group Inc. of Scottsdale, Ariz.,Broken chinamosaic Table. and he has worked for automotive toolmaker Omega Plastics Inc. of Mount Clemens, Mich.

Rexam went through a series of acquisitions, divestitures and realignments to focus on packaging and medical products. The firm makes molds for its own plastics operations as well as outside buyers. Sales manager Jeffrey Barhoff said about half of RMM’s sales are non-Rexam.

The past decade of struggles in tool shops — from competition in low-cost countries to the global recession — made it clear that companies that failed to innovate would fail.

Graham had the knowledge Rexam needed,Get information on airpurifier from the unbiased, independent experts.Choose from our large selection of cableties, but he knew that creating a true mold-making outlook required more than machining centers and robots. It called for a workforce that bought into the idea and didn’t see the machines as unwanted competition.

“The guys knew that they needed something new,” Fiorito said. “They knew they couldn’t keep doing the same thing over and over.”

Graham handed each worker a seven-page article outlining his vision and stressing the need for everyone to add their own experiences to the team. He said he found RMM’s workforce more open to new approaches than any he’d found before.

RMM is working with its equipment suppliers in the same way. During their March visit, executives from Makino Inc., GF AgieCharmilles and System 3R International AB toured the plant, along with Rexam officials, to get a close look at RMM’s plans and to understand more fully what their firms’ roles should be.

Energy costs may hinder tile industry growth- Report

The Sri Lankan ceramic tile industry could see a surge in both its domestic and export markets provided that positive signs as to a global economic recovery and booming local construction industry are not offset by the industry’s escalating energy and raw material costs, according to a report on the tile sector from Asia Wealth Management Co (Pvt) Ltd.

Noting that tile consumption is highly correlated with per capita income levels, the report stated that the domestic market holds significant potential for the industry.

“When compared to certain countries, Sri Lankan tile consumption is deeply low. This is due to the fact that tile is a luxury product and does not have priority in a typical dwelling construction. However, low per capita tile consumption compared to higher per capita GDP growth in Sri Lanka proves that there is ample room for the tile sector to grow,” the report stated.

Nevertheless, it noted that the industry remains highly exposed to volatility in energy costs; particularly LP Gas and kerosene, which currently account for between 35% and 40% of average production costs.

Despite its relative abundance, restrictive mining regulations on clay- the industry’s primary raw material- may also play a part in driving up costs for the tile sector,Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. according to the report.

Such restrictions, in combination with an increase in the prevalence of illegal clay mining operations may force industry players to commence importing clay from China or India, ultimately exposing ceramic tile manufacturers to further risk through exchange rate volatility in an industry which at present sources 95% of its raw materials locally.

The report added that competition from cheaper foreign alternatives as a result of the government’s decision to reduce the Cess on importation of certain categories of building stones, including tiles,Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings? from 30% down to 20% may cause severe pThe beddinges sofa bed slipcover is a good ，rice competition for the local industry,Credit Card Processing and Merchant Services from merchantaccountes. potentially leading to the domination of local markets by cheaper imports from China.TBC help you confidently buymosaic from factories in China.

Holmes lands BNSF grant

The Historic Holmes Theatre has received a BNSF Railway Foundation Grant of just over $6,300 to help further fund its arts outreach programs, “Mosaic Mania” and “Tell Me a Story.”

“Tell Me a Story” was added to the Holmes Theatre’s programming lineup in 2011. Area middle school students met with local senior citizens to learn what school used to be like in the days before Internet, video cameras and audio books.

From those discussions, the students created and recorded a series of short vignettes that were aired live on KDLM Radio.

“This year’s program is a little different,” said Becky Mitchell, outreach coordinator for both the Holmes Theatre and the Detroit Lakes Community & Cultural Center. “It’s still intergenerational, but this year it’s a group of home school kids who have been meeting with area seniors.”

Their discussions have centered on camping, fishing and other outdoor activities that were popular when the participating seniors were growing up — and in many cases, remain popular family activities today.GOpromos offers a wide selection of promotional items and personalized gifts.

“The kids have written a play — an actual half-hour productiWhy does moulds grow in homes or buildings?on to be performed on radio,” Mitchell said.Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. “They will have a live broadcast on May 17 at the DL Pavilion, during Parkfest … the seniors will also be involved, and the kids’ parents have been pretty involved as well.”

Mitchell said she expects the Parkfest broadcast to begin at around 4:30 p.m. — “after the Twins game,” which will also be broadcast live on KDLM.

Since its inception several years ago, Parkfest has also traditionally provided a showcase for another Holmes Theatre outreach project — “Mosaic Mania.”

Now in its fifth year,The beddinges sofa bed slipcover is a good ， “Mosaic Mania” is an area-wide art project that promotes creativity among youth in Becker County schools, and showcases the area’s commitment to the arts.

More than 1,500 area students work with Mitchell, also known as “The Glass Lady,” to create mosaic window murals as well as smaller, individual murals for each student to take home with them.

The window murals are then displayed and sold via silent auction during the Parkfest festivities, with 50 percent of the proceeds going back to the Holmes Theatre to support its arts outreach programming,A wireless indoortracking system is described in this paper. and the other half going to the participating school districts to support their own arts programs.

Both Mosaic Mania and Tell Me a Story will likewise be supported by the BNSF grant.

“It’s kind of a win-win for everybody,” said Terry Haus, director of development for the DLCCC, who wrote the grant application to the BNSF Railway Foundation.

“I had heard that BNSF (Foundation) was interested in finding some local outreach activities to be a part of, so I found out more about it, and I wrote the grant,” he added.

Parkfest, the popular community event that serves as a gateway celebration of all things summer in Detroit Lakes, will also be the official kickoff for this year’s “Naturally at the Lakes” Legacy Destination weekend.

Besides the Mosaic Mania silent auction and the live Tell Me A Story broadcast, the event will also include a community picnic, games for kids, a “Hoot-N-Toot” display of big-rig emergency vehicles, farmer’s market, and live music from the lakes area’s favorite “big band,” Doc & the Scrubs.

The celebration runs from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 17, at the DL Pavilion and adjacent City Park.

There is booth space available for area service organizations, non-profit agencies and others who would like to be a part of the festivities.

Martin's death spurs scrutiny of legislative group

Few people know the American Legislative Exchange Council by name, but they may know the laws the organization develops.

For decades, the group of lawmakers and private sector officials has worked closely to draft legislation that focuses on everything from the fairly mundane, like tax policy and cable TV regulations, to the controversial, such as voter ID laws and Florida's "Stand Your Ground" statute.

That last one pulled it into the spotlight in recent weeks after the death of teen Trayvon Martin. The law gives people wide latitude to use deadly force rather than retreat during a fight, and ALEC — as the group is known — has worked in recent years to spread it to other states.

Liberal activists saw a chance to turn the spotlight on an organization they have long criticized — a move ALEC calls unfair.

"The past month has been the largest amount of exposure about ALEC probably in its history," said Lisa Graves, a leader at the Center for Media and Democracy, which along with other groups has been targeting the organization.

As the furor over the Martin case grew along with the public pressure campaign, ALEC started to lose support from the private sector, including the Coca-Cola Co., Kraft Foods Inc., McDonald's Corp.Diagnosing and Preventing coldsores Fever in the body can often trigger the onset of a cold sore., PepsiCo Inc. and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

ALEC announced Tuesday that it was eliminating its public safety task force that had dealt with the "Stand Your Ground" law and said it was refocusing those resources on economic matters. The group said liberal foes are simply trying to score political points by taking advantage of the Martin tragedy.

"We are a target because our opponents believe they have the opportunity to attack an effective, successful organization that promotes free-market, limited government policies that they disagree with,There are 240 distinct solutions of the Soma cubepuzzle," said Ron Scheberle, the council's executive director.

"This is an all-out intimidation campaign designed to promote government-based solutions rather than the free-market principles," he said.

ALEC was founded more than 30 years ago by a group of state legislators and conservative policy advocates, and the organization quickly drew the support of major Republican leaders such as North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms.

Private sector entities are considered "equals," and can purchase access depending on the size of the ALEC membership fee.A wireless indoortracking system is described in this paper.

During the Reagan administration, it began using task forces and pushed for moving various federal government duties to the states. A task force that focuses on insurance issues, for example, is co-chaired by Colorado Rep. Glenn Vaad and State Farm Insurance lawyer Emory Wilkerson.Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking.

ALEC's strength is built around its coordination between private sector companies and legislators who can push laws in their states.

Graves contends that ALEC improperly places lawmakers and corporate lobbyists in cozy settings where they jointly formulate legislation that gets introduced in states around the country.

"We're in a democracy where most Americans think corporations already have too much influence," Graves said. "To institutionalize that influence in this way is a huge problem."

In the case of the Florida law, ALEC said it did not inspire the law but instead used it as a model that other states could mimic, arguing that it doesn't allow you to pursue a confrontation but allows you to defend yourself from an immediate danger.

Similar statutes now exist in 24 other states.

Opponents of the law fear that the statutes lead to too many unnecessary deaths caused by trigger-happy people who feel they are in danger. Prosecutors and police have generally opposed the laws as confusing and prone to abuse by criminals.Shop for trim and crown moulding,

George Zimmerman, charged last week with second-degree murder in Martin's death, maintains that he shot the teen in self-defense after Martin attacked him. His attorney plans to cite the law, which is part of the reason why authorities were reluctant to charge Zimmerman initially.

Martin's family claims Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, was the aggressor and targeted Martin as suspicious mainly because he was black.

Gun rights are not a primary focus of ALEC's activities, as the group has task forces assessing issues ranging from the regulation of cable television to how states hire attorneys. They have championed various Republican causes, such as pushing voter ID at polls.

Students get info at health fair

Northeastern State University hosted a health fair Tuesday to connect students and community members with life-changing information.

Health fairs are important because it gives people the opportunity to receive timely and accurate information on several health-related topics and issues, said VibaBody Slimmer representative Ron Fennell.

“We just want to educate people as to what’s available,” said Fennell. “There are so many things out there,Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings? and people are overstimulated [with information received on television, the internet and other media outlets]. There’s just so much out there that people just want to shut down. They don’t want to search for answers because they’re overwhelmed. So we like to meet with people face to face and answer any questions and provide information.”

The VibaBody Slimmer is designed to help increase muscle strength, power and physical performance.

“It is vibrational therapy,” he said. “It’s for weight loss and all-over body toning.Where to buy or purchase plasticmoulds for precast and wetcast concrete?”

Kangen Water, or use of a Enagic USA alkaline ionizer and water filtration machine, is the next best thing to the fountain of youth, said Enagic Direct-Sales Distributor Phillip Harp.Diagnosing and Preventing coldsores Fever in the body can often trigger the onset of a cold sore.

“It’s restructured ionized alkaline [antioxidant] water,Find the cheapest chickencoop online through and buy the best hen houses and chook pens in Australia.” he said. “The Japanese have been using [alkaline ionizers and water filtration machines] in hospitals, clinics and schools since 1974. Our company has been selling commercial use [systems], but this one’s residential. What we found is if people start drinking Kangen water, [they] start experiencing better health. My allergies went away that I’ve had all of my life. I haven’t had an allergy shot or an allergy pill, and this going on my third season. My wife’s acid reflux cleared up. In Japan, about one in six households owns an ionizer. In the United States, I’d say it’s about one in 18,000. So nobody knows about it. It’s a simple fix.”

Because most people don’t come close to eating the USDA recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables, taking a Juice Plus capsule can help bridge the gap, Juice Plus Sales Coordinator Mary Kay White was telling attendees.

“It’s not classed as a supplement. It’s classed as food, and that’s why it has a nutritional label,” said White. “What most people do is take of the fruit in the morning with a glass of water and two of the veggies in the evening with a glass of water. The purple one can be taken anytime with a glass of water. You always need to drink more water with it to reconstitute the nutrients to get the most benefit.”

White added the effectiveness of the dehydrated fruit and vegetable capsules has been discussed and in over 20 medical journals.

“We’ve [Juice Plus] been published in more than 20 medical journals as to the efficacy of Juice Plus,” she said. “It strengthens your immune system. It strengthens your DNA. It reduces your oxidated stress. It increases the antioxidants in your blood stream and a lot of other good stuff. Our home office is in Memphis, Tenn., but we have offices all over the world.”

Health First Chiropractic Assistant Ginger Allen said the mission of the Tahlequah chiropractic clinic is to “change people’s lives.”

“Your spinal column actually houses, as we all know, your spinal cord, and so if anything is going wrong in your spinal column, it affects your spinal cord, which in turn effects your entire body,” she said. “Symptoms can be anything from hemorrhoids to difficult breathing to allergies to colds to hay fever to headaches to nervousness, and I even think depression. It all can be traced back to your spinal column. What we want to get out there is that you don’t have to live on prescription drugs. What you can do is find out about chiropractic and let the body allow itself to heal itself, instead of relying on prescription medications.”

Visitors to the health fair, staged in the University Center,Choose from our large selection of cableties, also received information on making healthy choices, especially when the decision will directly affect another person.

NSU HIV/AIDS Prevention Coordinator Nikki Murray said the goal of the fair was to “hand out as many condoms as we can” to save lives.

“By doing that, we reduce the chances for HIV and STIs, which are STDs today,” she said. “It’s called STI, which stands for sexually transmitted infections. The [term] infection actually encompasses more and is a better definition.”

Murray said sex education remains an important part of an individual’s personal growth and development.

“Students think oral sex is not sex, and we’re seeing more STIs in the mouth,” she said. “I think the internet may be part of the issue [of wrong information] and also friend-to-friend conversations. I do a lot of sex education. I had a girl whose parents won’t talk to her about sex. She says, ‘I don’t know what it is. I don’t know what oral sex is.’ I’ve done a lot of HIV testing this semester alone. We went from maybe 20 [tests] last semester, and we’re up to around 200 this semester. So knowing your status is a big deal.”

Other health-related entities or agencies at the fair included the Wagoner Community Hospital, Cherokee County Health Department, Hope Hospice, Cherokee Nation Healthy Nation, Cherokee Nation Diabetes, Eagle Med, and several others.

David Feherty

Golf Channel Contributor David Feherty was the announcer on hole number 15 during the broadcast of the 76th Masters Tournament. One of the reasons that he wanted to interview Bubba Watson for his show is the fact that he initially had an allergic reaction to the media and especially on-course commentators. Feherty is amazed at how he has grown in that respect and he is actually in Orlando on Monday to record some new material for a re-broadcast of his interview with Bubba which airs tonight at 8PM ET on Golf Channel.Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking.

Bubba is certainly an eccentric and that there is a bit of little boy in him who needs to be taken care of and his wife Angie certainly fills that role. It is refreshing to see someone who does not care about what swing coaches or anyone else has to say because he has the talent and the imagination to know how to swing and how to hit the ball in a certain situation. He is able to mold himself to a course the way a comedian molds himself to an audience.

Sergio Garcia finished T12 in The Masters but commented that he does not feel he has any hope of winning a Major in the future. He had not heard the entire comment from Sergio but he knows that Sergio has a history of allowing a moment to take over his thoughts. He is a great kid who sometimes trips over himself in comments so he does not take much stock in what he said last weekend. Feherty believes that Garcia will win a Major one day.The beddinges sofa bed slipcover is a good ，

Westwood finished tied for 3rd and he is a tough, working class guy who will take this on the chin but move on. He may be one of those players who is one of the best in the world but never wins aLearn all about solarpanel. Major Championship just as a great quarterback will sometimes never win a Super Bowl in his career.I found them to have sharp edges where the injectionmoldes came together while production.

Looking at Tiger Woods after The Masters, Feherty first noted that he is the biggest Tiger fan in the world and then said that he hopes Tiger will just get rid of all of the people who are telling him what to do with his life and his golf game. As an addict,This page provides information about 'werkzeugbaus; he understands the idea of confusing fun with happiness and he thinks that Tiger has this problem in his golf life. You have the right priorities and sometimes you have to just go out and play like you were a little kid again. Golf is too much work and not enough fun for Tiger and that needs to change.

Allergies abound

The mild winter and early spring has caused cheering for some and wheezing for others.
Without the usual Kansas frigid temperatures of December and January, and sunshine signaling an explosion of blooming vegetation in March, many allergy sufferers could never catch a break.

Dr. Bennett L. Radford, of Mowery West Clinic in Salina, who sees many McPherson County patients for their allergies, said this year is worse than most he's seen in his 18 years working in the area.

“I've seen more patients throughout this year than in the past, and I think that had something to do with the winter we had,” he said.

Trees, grass, weeds and agricultural crops were able to flourish before their usual time, throwing pollen and other irritants into the air. The climate was alsoa breeding ground for mold.

“When we get a good, hard freeze, it usually will kill off all the weeds and the molds, which are very prominent because of the agricultural industry,” Radford said.There are 240 distinct solutions of the Soma cubepuzzle,

Although Wichita ranks fifth in the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America's spring allergy capitals list for 2012,A wireless indoortracking system is described in this paper. Radford believes McPherson and its surrounding areas are worse, due to more open land and pollen-producing plant growth.

“Compared to other years I've been here, I think it's going to be as heavily pollinated as ever,” he said. “Possibly more, because of the pollination of the plants. They're thriving in this environment.”
Radford doesn't anticipate the remainder of spring or summer to be any better.

“I predict that it will get worse because of the way the season has been going,” he said.
If the days continue to be moist in spring and hot in summer as predicted, more itchy eyes and runny noses are in the forecast.

The year has already proved to fit into the allergy trends Radford has observed over the years.
“Each year it seems to have gotten worse,” he said.

Local allergy sufferers have sensed the difference.

“It's one of the worst in the last couple of years,Diagnosing and Preventing coldsores Fever in the body can often trigger the onset of a cold sore.” said Juliana Escobar, a senior at McPherson College.
She is allergic to pollen, grass, trees, dust,Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings? mold and almost anything outdoors. The milder winter didn't allow these irritants to let up before spring took its hit.

“I had to continue to take my medicine throughout the whole year, rather than doing it in season,” she said. “I hope itAeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. doesn't get worse.”

Competition for Boeing work isn't over yet

Do you hear that sound? That's the bell ringing, summoning us to the next round in the battle to keep aerospace jobs here in Snohomish County.

Yes, we just finished celebrating the Boeing Co.'s decision to build the 737 MAX in Renton -- a decision that secures the future of hundreds of jobs at Boeing's Everett plant, where workers will continue to assemble wiring and build interiors for 737s as long as the MAX flies. That decision also means that scores of Snohomish County aerospace companies that supply goods and services for 737s will continue to have that work for another decade or more.

But within a year, Boeing will make critical decisions on the future of its next big airplane program -- the 777X, which will be an upgrade of the best-selling aircraft built here in Snohomish County. Once again, there are no guarantees that Boeing will keep the work here in Puget Sound.Choose from our large selection of cableties,

If we are to remain the home of the world's largest aerospace cluster, we as a state,Our porcelaintiles are perfect for entryways or bigger spaces and can also be used outside, region and county are going to have to earn it.Find the cheapest chickencoop online through and buy the best hen houses and chook pens in Australia. Here at Economic Alliance Snohomish County, we've given this a lot of thought, and have outlined a plan we feel gives us the best chance of ensuring that the aerospace industry will remain the basis for our mutual success and prosperity for generations to come.

We're all familiar with the fact that Boeing is the largest aerospace company in the world, and that its largest manufacturing facility is right here in Snohomish County. As a result, our region is enriched with quality jobs, wealth and a strong base.

On the other hand, we often forget that Boeing is just one of 160 aerospace companies in the county.Overview description of rapid tooling processes.Diagnosing and Preventing coldsores Fever in the body can often trigger the onset of a cold sore. Combined, they provide direct employment for nearly 44,000 people, with their paychecks accounting for 28 percent of all wages earned by Snohomish County workers. In 2011, aerospace created more than 11,000 direct and indirect jobs. To put that into perspective, that is more jobs than the county's next three largest industry sectors produced in the previous five years, combined.

Apart from Boeing, you will find companies performing maintenance repair and overhaul for the airlines' in-service fleet, machine shops, parts finishing, raw materials manufacturing, wire harness fabrication, interior components manufacturing, carpeting and draperies, tooling, electrical and electronic manufacturing, product development design, and engineering and interior redesign for the aftermarket. Large and small -- from the 1,400-strong Aviation Technical Services to Aero Mac Inc. with two employees -- you can find it here.

Economists estimate that each Boeing aircraft program at the Everett plant has a direct annual economic impact of $700 million in wages alone. That results in some $600 million worth of spending at local businesses for things like cars, meals, clothes, homes and financial services. Think of what Main Street in every Snohomish County town would be like if we didn't have this kind of economic engine to support our local stores, banks and restaurants.

The industry also impacts the nonprofit community. Last year, Boeing and the Boeing Employee Community Fund contributed more than $40 million to charity and nonprofit organizations in Washington alone. This does not take into account the dollars and hours of volunteer time given by individual Boeing employees, their unions and their families here in Snohomish County.

Fugitive Russian couple left long trail of fraud

For North Miami Beach developer Natalia Wolf,The best rubbersheets products on sale, it was the perfect target for her next heist: an aging motel just down the street from a seedy stretch of crack houses and grungy lots.

After drawing up phony land records, she claimed to own the 42-room Hollywood motel — and then proceeded to get a $2.3 million loan on the sprawling building along with other properties.

For the 37-year-old woman, it was another score among a host of others — including a major sale of land in St. Augustine that she didn't own — before fleeing the country.The beddinges sofa bed slipcover is a good ，

While Natalia and Victor Wolf are known for their massive land swindle on Florida's Gulf Coast, records just filed in Miami-Dade civil court show they left a far deeper trail of fraud, leaving stunned victims across the state.

Though law enforcement agencies in two counties investigated the fugitive couple, records now show they left their mark in twice as many places before vanishing five years ago.

"It's so unbelievable," said Aventura lawyer Jay Gayoso, whose client lost $1.4 million. "No one in their right mind would have thought they could get away with it."

For the first time, documents show a couple deeply entrenched in Russian organized crime, creating shell companies, straw buyers and brazenly stealing land through phony deeds and forgeries.

While Natalia Wolf was stealing the Hollywood hotel, she also targeted a 12-unit apartment house down the street — and stole that, too.

"To them, it's like a casino — and every hand they won," said Roman Groysman, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer who is trying to recover $450,000 for a victim.

Key witnesses say the Wolfs carried out their crimes in the last year before they fled, but court records show the couple actually began years earlier with the creation of more than 36 shell companies.

Many of those companies would become the vehicles they used to commit one of the largest land frauds of the decade in Florida and later Texas, scamming 400 people, four banks and three other lenders of nearly $100 million.

"This was premeditated and calculated," said Groysman, a former Broward assistant state attorney who filed more than three dozen exhibits recently in Miami-Dade circuit court. "They were highly organized."

Though lawyers are battling over the couple's luxury home in North Miami Beach — where the Wolfs created several sham loans to squeeze millions — one of their least known deals involved an upscale condo they owned in Sunny Isles Beach.

In a dizzying series of moves, the couple sold the same unit back and forth to shell companies five times, including a Latvian mail drop, artificially pumping up the value by $1 million.Shop for trim and crown moulding,

In two of the deals, the couple managed to show a $1.1 million sale and then six months later, $2.2 million, without any challenges from lenders, records show.

Making the deals even more striking: The couple acquired the condo for free — a quit claim deed — from a Bahamas shell company run from a Nassau post office box.

Groysman said he could find no evidence the deals were questioned by lenders or title lawyers handling the sales. One of the attorneys, Richard Aronsky, 42,Where to buy or purchase plasticmoulds for precast and wetcast concrete? pleaded guilty in February in another bank fraud case and is set for sentencing in May.

While the Wolfs were flipping the condo, they were hosting clients in the oceanfront unit with caviar and vodka, said Alexandra Krot, a retired oncologist who said she lost $4 million.

"They had it furnished to entertain Russian businessmen," recalled Krot, 70, adding the clients were flying in from New York and other places to tour the Wolfs' properties in Florida and stay at the condo.Learn all about solarpanel.

Grants open door to energy saving for industry

THE federal government's $1 billion clean-technology grants package is set to spur capital investment across the manufacturing sector, as companies use the grants to buy new plant and equipment to lower their carbon footprint.

The package, unveiled by Industry and Innovation Minister Greg Combet recently, aims to help manufacturers invest in energy-efficient capital plant and equipment.

The Clean Technology Investment Program has allocated $800 million for general manufacturers who exceed defined annual energy consumption thresholds. Another $200 million is available to food and beverage processors and foundry and metal forging manufacturers.The beddinges sofa bed slipcover is a good ，

The program is attracting interest as manufacturers look at investing in plant and equipment, according to Ken Richards, director of equipment finance broker Interlease.

''The government has announced it will match eligible manufacturers on a dollar-for-dollar basis and this, combined with the high Australian dollar, means that companies looking to import plant and equipment, and that qualify for a grant, will be paying about 30 per cent of the cost they would have otherwise been paying,'' he said.Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking.

The government will match on a dollar-for-dollar basis manufacturers with turnovers under $100 million, for funding of less than $500,000. For grants under $10 million, applicants will be required to contribute $2 for every government dollar. For grants of $10 million or more, applicants will be expected to make a co-contribution of at least $3 for each dollar of government support.

John Ellis,A wireless indoortracking system is described in this paper. managing director of Braeside precision tooling manufacturer Alfred Lewis Engineering, said he was considering applying for a grant to upgrade equipment for energy and labour efficiency.

''I've got an old machine that's a bit of a problem because it's slow and I've either got to spend a fair bit of money on it, or buy another one,'' he said.

''I was looking at a new machine … the new grants system might be a possibility because I'm trying to justify that machine. A new machine is what I'd like to do because it's going to increase our efficiency.''

But Mr Ellis said the application process could be difficult for smaller manufacturers. ''The problem is - and governments don't seem to get it - we've got a company with only 28 people. I don't have a fellow that I employ that works full-time on how to get grants from the government,Credit Card Processing and Merchant Services from merchantaccountes.'' he said.

''The reason why people like us haven't taken these things up is it's just too hard.''

Scott Bouvier, a partner at law firm Mallesons Stephen Jaques, said: ''Small businesses will have to be big emitters to qualify for the $800 million grants pool due to the energy thresholds … Most small manufacturers won't be in that category.Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. But food and beverage processors and foundry and metal forging manufacturers will automatically qualify for a separate $200 million pool of funding irrespective of their emissions level.''

Energy-miser Victorian condo on Jones Hill

This 122-year-old Victorian on Jones Hill in Dorchester has been transformed into three high-quality condos with a “deep energy retrofit” that is expected to cut owner utility costs by more than half.

Green Bean Development, working with a $72,000 grant from National Grid, has turned a dilapidated house into a showpiece for energy efficiency. And these two-bedroom units are priced well considering the quality of the finishes, ranging from $339,900 to $389,900. The condos feature new oak floors throughout, kitchens with Carrara marble counters, Bosch appliances, gas fireplaces and recreated bull’s-eye door and window moldings. The second- and third-floor condos are duplex style units.

The “deep energy retrofit” includes everything from rigid foam insulation to triple-pane windows, making the house tight, and heat-recovery ventilation systems have been installed in each unit to recirculate air and heat. And the house has even been wired for solar panels on the roof,Broken chinamosaic Table. which the three-unit condo association can choose to implement for added savings. Even without the panels, energy costs are expected to be between 50 percent to 70 percent less than conventionally insulated units.

The redone exterior of the 1890-built Queen Anne-style farmhouse house is gray HardiPlank with white trim and there is a covered Trex-decked front porch that reuses the home’s original moldings.

A refinished wood door leads into an oak-floored foyer with restored maple wainscoting and a grand maple staircase with an antique light on a carved newel post.

We took a look at Unit 1, a 1,319-square-foot,Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. two-bedroom condo that’s on the market for $389,900.

You enter the unit through an original double maple door into a living room with new oak floors, recreated PVC bull’s-eye and crown molding and three windows. Above are re-plastered 10-foot curved ceilings, and against one wall sits a gas fireplace with a slate front.Learn all about solarpanel.

Off the living room is a sunroom office with five windows, oak floors as well as overhead and sconce lighting.

A wide opening from the living room through original pocket doors leads into a large eat-in kitchen.Where to buy or purchase plasticmoulds for precast and wetcast concrete? This space features 30 espresso-stained Kitchen Craft cherry-wood cabinets, white Carrara marble counters and EnergyStar-rated Bosch stainless-steel appliances. The four-burner gas stove has a stylish Cavilierre hood above, and there’s also a dishwasher and built-in microwave. This oak-floored room has two windows, recessed lighting and two closets, one of which has a washer/dryer hookup.

Off the kitchen sits the home’s only completely intact original room, with restored oak floors and half-wall maple wainscoting. Though billed as the second bedroom, this room, which has a chandelier, could easily serve as a formal dining room. And it’s connected to a full bathroom with black ceramic tile floors and a gray-ceramic tile-walled walk-in shower, as well as a white vessel sink atop a walnut vanity. There are high-end Grohe fixtures here and throughout the unit.

The master bedroom suite has a bedroom with new oak floors, recessed lighting, as well as a walk-in closet and en-suite bathroom. The stylish master bathroom has black ceramic tile floors, striated ceramic tile walls for a walk-in shower, and a white vessel sink atop a cherry-wood vanity.

The home’s basement is separately insulated and holds a large dedicated lockable storage area for this unit,Grey Pneumatic is a world supplier of impactsockets for the heavy duty, while also housing its forced-hot-air-by-gas energy-efficient heating and cooling system and a tankless water heater. The house also has a sprinkler system with water holding tanks in the basement.

Greg Merritt sports a memorable legacy

Greg Merritt is a name synonymous with sports coverage on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. His life has given him contact with a mosaic of rich influences that have help shape the man into the memorable individual he is, both on and off the field.

"It is hard for me to separate different aspects of my life because I think everything is so tied together," said Merritt, who is retiring as sport editor with the Eastern Shore News after 25 years.

"With apologies to Lou Gehrig -- I really feel I'm the luckiest man on the face of the Earth."

Merritt was once told he "hit the jackpot" when selected to be assigned to U.S.Where to buy or purchase plasticmoulds for precast and wetcast concrete? Sen. Ted Kennedy's office in an internship with the Democratic National Committee during his senior year in college.

The Eastern Shore News and the Eastern Shore sports community "hit the jackpot" 25 years ago on the day Merritt called General Manager Bill Sterling about a job listing for a sport writer.

Like most pivotal events in his life, it has an interesting story.

"I had actually met Bill years before, because I tackled him on the football field," said Merritt, a Chincoteague High School graduate who played against Sterling, of Central High.Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking.

Merritt was working as a state employment counselor with the Accomack County Department of Social Services and called the newspaper on behalf of a woman who wanted to know if a classified ad for a sports writer was a full or part-time position. She could only work part-time.

Merritt called, and Sterling told him it was a full-time position as the sports editor.

Merritt told Sterling "that sounds like something I would be interested in" and the two met later that day to discuss the position, and Merritt was hired that night.A culture af Mizukabi molds.

Merritt said he told Sterling he had to give two weeks' notice and Sterling replied, "That would be fine -- but, can you work for us at night?"

"I said sure,The beddinges sofa bed slipcover is a good ，" said Merritt. The rest as they say is history.

Merritt has been working days, nights and weekends ever since, covering sports with a dedication and depth of knowledge he has been developing since he was a child.

"They appreciated that kind of dedication," said Sterling,A Hybrid indoorpositioningsystem for First Responders. saying coaches would often joke "was there more than one Greg Merritt" because of all the time he spent covering sports up and down the Shore.

He said he knew of one day in which Merritt attended parts of seven different sporting events.

"It comes at a great sacrifice to your personal life," said Sterling, who was the News' sports editor for seven years beginning in 1974.

"On the day that I was born, he got me a baseball -- I still have it," said Merritt about his father, Paul B. Merritt, who passed away in 2005.

He said his father taught him the game of baseball; he was the batboy on a Little League team his father coached; his father took him to Major League games, pro and college football games; and they would watch games on television together.

"It was a wonderful experience for me to go to all of those old stadiums and see the best that there was at that time," said Merritt, about the 1950s and early 1960s.

"I was blessed to have two wonderful parents," said Merritt, saying they knew how to be parents, knew what he needed, and delivered it in a meaningful way.

"Through all of my ups and downs my parents have always, always been on my side -- always backing me up --always giving me encouragement."

'American Idol' Recap: Oh Yes It's '80s Night

It was '80s Night on Wednesday's "American Idol," and for the most part, the remaining eight finalists paid solid tribute to the decade of decadence, tapered jeans and big hair.

Among the highlights: Jessica Sanchez covering Whitney Houston (again) on "How Will I Know," Phillip Phillips channeling Phil Collins with "That's All" and Skylar Laine successfully ditching her uptempo repertoire for "Wind Beneath My Wings." A lowlight: Elise Testone, who's gained momentum in the past couple weeks, hitting a speed-bump with a Foreigner favorite.

As this week's celebrity mentors, Jimmy Iovine recruited No Doubt's Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal, who barely uttered a word while Stefani did all the talking.

DeAndre Brackensick took on DeBarge's "I Like It" in a vast improvement from his past geeky performances, ditching his trademark falsetto for his velvety natural voice. In an astute observation, Stefani noted in rehearsals that Brackensick appeared too nervous in rehearsals. And he clearly took the singer's advice.

"You owned it," praised Steven Tyler, in a sentiment echoed by Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson.Where to buy or purchase plasticmoulds for precast and wetcast concrete? "You wore it well. That was exceptional today."

Testone, meanwhile, received tepid reviews for her rendition of Foreigner's "I Want To Know What Love Is," one of the most perfect pop songs of all time. (Sidenote: try to argue with that! See, you can't. Foreigner rules.) Anyhoo: Testone, who nailed Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" last week, was called out as "out of tune" and "pitchy" (original) by (who else?) Jackson, while Tyler noted: "I'm not sure that was the right song for you, baby."

Phillips performed the Genesis hit "That's All," accompanied by his brother, Ben, on guitar, earning raves from the judges' panel (per usual). Maybe it's the Idol Kool-Aid, which becomes more potent each week as we gain familiarity with the season-11 finalists, but gravelly-voiced,A wireless indoortracking system is described in this paper. shifty-eyed Phillips is growing on us, not to mention looking spiffier as the show advances toward the May finale. And speaking of that two-night televised extravaganza, it does not seem too far-fetched to picture Phillips competing alongside frontrunner Sanchez as the last two standing.Buy high quality bedding and bed linen from Yorkshire Linen. (You know Stevie's going to watch.)

As for Joshua Ledet, he chose the Simply Red ballad "If You Don't Know Me By Now," and yes, he pulled it off with typically consistent aplomb, what with the Lousiana native's power-soul voice. But come on,Our porcelaintiles are perfect for entryways or bigger spaces and can also be used outside, let's be real: it sounded like every single song Ledet selects for performance nights. See also: "When a Man Loves a Woman," "She's Got a Way." Until he tries something different, then we're hitting the snooze button on Ledet's adult-contemporary male torch songs.

Sanchez, aka Your Future American Idol (too soon?), nailed her take on "How I Will Know," rocking a retro-inspired cropped jacket, side ponytail and skinny jeans. The 16-year-old California girl, naturally, garnered a collective A-plus for her pitch-perfect,Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. seemingly effortless effort.

"You're such a little girl, but there's, like, this woman up there at the same time," mused Lopez. (In rehearsal, Stefani advised Sanchez to tone down her "lounge singer moves" -- way harsh, Gwen -- because she hardly needs to work on her voice.)

Hollie Cavanagh, the sweet Celine Dion wannabe, crooned "What a Feeling" from Flashdance, leaving the judges less than impressed. Apparently, Cavanagh committed the crime of overthinkiness and lost her focus because she was spending too much time in her head rather than singing from the heart. "Let it go," observed Lopez, in elder pop-star sage mode, adding: "That's the best advice somebody gave me .. a long time ago, and it works."

Borrowing a wistful standard from the Cyndi Lauper songbook, Colton Dixon attempted "Time After Time" (or, the version from the band Quiet Drive), and for the first time ever, his skunky, Flock of Seagulls hairdo did not totally annoy. (Sidenote: did "image consultant" Tommy Hilfiger hook him up with Lauper's hairstylist? They could totally be hair cousins!)

Moving on: Tyler doled out a huge compliment Dixon's direction, saying the emo rocker could make a record right now if he wanted to (yes, and that's why he auditioned for Idol in the first place, thankyouverymuch). Then it was Laine's turn to wow the crowd on the Bette Midler weepie "Wind Beneath My Wings." The Reba McEntire soundalike pulled off another stellar performance, hitting every note and drawing kudos from Tyler and company.

Your vents, Thursday, April 5

The Obama administration raised my Social Security by $50. I thought they were broke. They will keep printing more money until it becomes worthless.

EPA should be patted on the back for shutting down West Virginia and all the coal burners.Full color plasticcard printing and manufacturing services. Thank you very much.

Mitt Romney is the most uninteresting man in the world. Stay boring, my friends.

The left and environmentalists have an agenda - to control every area of our lives. The rest of us just want to enjoy our liberty and be left alone. This next election will be important.

Liberals would take hemorrhoids if the government was giving them out for free.Welcome to projectorlamp.

The top 3 percent of wage earners pay more than the remaining 97 percent. Don't believe Obama's hype.

Wake up, America. Obama is selling us out to other countries besides Russia - to the Chinese and Japanese. He can't wait until he is re-elected, then he will have more flexibility to sell us out. Thank God for loud speakers that he forgets are on.

It is great to see the Supreme Court taking its time with Obamacare. Whereas,I found them to have sharp edges where the injectionmoldes came together while production. the Democratic Congress did not have the guts or gonads to do it. It will be defeated.

The main problem at Riverside High School is that the custodian runs the school and not the principal or the staff.

What happened to the lamp and shade store that was located in Spring Hill?

The W.Va. Department of Highways responsible for the interstates are really on top of their game. In the Teays Valley area they did some construction by the Amber Alert signs and left the signs up all weekend.

This is to the person calling in saying that if Obama wins America ends: We all survived eight years of George W. Bush and are still trying to get out of that mess.

The London Locks have been closed down for two years now. When it is going to reopen?

To the man in the white Nissan Versa who passed a blue Jeep Liberty on Oakwood Road at the GW intersection: I hope you arrived at your destination safely. Thank you for showing a beginning teenage driver the meaning of "stupid driving."

Why should I pay $10 for five Powerball tickets when I can get 10 Mega Million tickets? Wow, that doesn't make sense.

This is in response to the article by Catherine Burgess of Winfield High School about the "Hunger Games.Get information on airpurifier from the unbiased, independent experts." I am a 63-year-old grandmother. I bought the trilogy of books for my grandchildren and I took my granddaughter and daughter to the movie.Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. I thought it was fascinating and have read all of the books.

It is sad to see all of the animals listed under the Kanawha-Charleston Animal Shelter Adopt-A-Pet. But it is especially sad to see the reason for adoption is that the family is moving. Our pets are a part of our family, and we wouldn't think about moving without taking our pets.

I wish that we could shut Channel 3 up from telling how good they are and go on and on. Just do the news and stop taking up most of the program with telling us how good you are.

Rick Parsons running for sheriff of Putnam County, I don't think so. Steve DeWeese has my vote any day.

Doubles duo key to Davis Cup

The horror of Vilnius - one of the more infamous British tennis graveyards - still haunts those of us who were there. But memories of that snowbound weekend in the sports hall of doom are thankfully fading as Britain rebuilds its Davis Cup reputation.

From plumbing the depths of the competition in 2010 with that defeat by Lithuania, a nation with only three professional players, Britain has steadily climbed the rungs of respectability with five wins in a row.

This weekend the team faces Belgium in Glasgow with the winners guaranteed a world group play-off in September. Heady days indeed.Learn all about solarpanel.

Central to Britain's resurgence, albeit through lowly international divisions, has been an established doubles partnership, Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins, now regulars on the ATP World Tour and recent champions in Delray Beach.

They are improving all the time. I like their bounce, energy and touchy-feely camaraderie. They are aiming to represent Britain at the Olympics and possibly qualify for the World Tour Finals at the end of the year.

And at a time when many of the established international doubles stars of the last decade are surely nearing the end of the careers - Knowles,Welcome to polishedtiles. Nestor, Mirnyi, Paes,Purelink's realtimelocationsystem simplify emergency evacuations. Zimonjic - the British pair, both 27, sense an opportunity to shoot for honours.

"The top 10 is what we're aiming for," says Fleming. "As time goes on guys are going to get older and stop playing but we're not looking at it like that. We're trying to move up while they're still playing and we've had some wins which show we're capable of doing that.We offer the best ventilationsystem,"

But opposition on the ATP doubles tour can take many forms. At the recent event in Indian Wells, most of the top ten singles players were in the draw and Fleming and Hutchins lost a close first match to fellow Brits Andy and Jamie Murray.

"A couple of friends messaged me saying it must be annoying when these guys play," says Fleming, a graduate of Stirling University. "But I'm very much for it even though it makes it tougher for us to progress."

"It draws crowds, draws attention to doubles and the standard goes up" adds Hutchins, son of former GB player and coach Paul. "It's great for us to go head to head with them and see where we're at."

And of course there are the Olympics to look forward to. They hope. The cut for entries is likely to be perilously close to their combined ranking.

"We can only go on the ranking cut offs for the last two Olympics," says Hutchins. "And judging by that, we'd be in right now.Glass Tile and Glass Mosaics for less at the glassmosaic Outlet."

"You're allowed two teams per country [in a 32-team draw] and presuming Andy and Jamie play, we are right now the second team. We have to work very hard to defend the ranking points we made last year and be there on form and merit."

Just back from a long tour of the United States, Fleming and Hutchins will start favourites to win the doubles rubber on Saturday. Belgium - with their experienced singles players Olivier Rochus and Steve Darcis - are expected to edge the overall tie.

Lights, camera, action at Bastyr University's chapel

While the director and camera crew set up a scene, Edward Furlong brushed back his hair and gazed upward at the striking stained-glass windows inside the Bastyr University chapel in Kenmore.

The actor may have been on hand to film scenes for Seattle-based Mirror Images' "Matt's Chance" on March 22, but the 34-year-old star of "Terminator 2" and "American History X" in the 1990s was fixated on the 54-year-old European-style building's offerings for a few minutes before shooting resumed.

"Quiet on the set" and "cue, dolly," director Nicholas Gyeney said for the umpteenth time that day as the 30-person crew hushed and one of them gently pushed the cameraman — set on the wheeled contraption — toward Furlong and co-star Edi Zanidache on the altar. Furlong, who plays cowboy Matt, consulted with Zanidache, a priest, about what to do after he discovers his girlfriend is a cheater.

They ran through their lines as the camera rolled. After a few tries at the altar scene, they nailed it. And the silence that once ruled over the chapel was blanketed with a round of applause from the crew. Success.

"They've hit it spot on every time, which is incredible. I mean, their lines are just perfect and (we) can't ask for a better eight minutes than what they gave us," said producer Nate Riley about the two actors.

Samantha Jones, the producer's assistant, intern manager and marketer for the film,Silicone moldmaking Rubber, said that Day 3 of the film's 15 days of shooting in Seattle was going well as the hours rolled on during the one day of shooting at Bastyr.

"It's an independent film — gotta get in, get out," she said of the two-week schedule,Offers Art Reproductions Fine Art oilpaintings Reproduction, which featured Lee Majors, Margot Kidder and Gary Busey acting at Seattle spots like the Acme Barber Shop,There are 240 distinct solutions of the Soma cubepuzzle, Dante's bar and more.

The Bastyr scenes provided an interesting exchange of ideas between cowboy and priest, Jones said.

"(Furlong is) coming to see his priest buddy, who's like a rappin' wannabe gangster priest, and fills him in on what's going on, and they talk about getting revenge," she said. "Edi — Daddy Dave is his character — is telling him,Welcome to the Lilla beddinges google satellite map! 'Well, she needs to go down, we need to get her back,' and he pours him a shot in the chapel."

The secular Bastyr chapel, which also features hand-carved oak paneling,Why does mould grow in homes or buildings? dark oak pews, marble columns, terrazzo floors and glass mosaic artwork, was part of the original seminary grounds and attracted the Mirror Images crew when they were scouting locations for another film. Riley remembered the chapel when "Matt's Chance" came around and contacted the university.

"(They) wanted to read the script first, though, which was a little bit tough because there's a lot of swearing in there. We got in, though, nonetheless — we're here," Riley said. "We're going with a neo-noir-type of feel and look, so very vibrant colors, deep dark shadows, so it really fits with the different color schemes that are out here in the chapel."

Jones said it's one of the bigger sets Mirror Images has worked on, and it's a bonus that the chapel is easy on the eyes.

"You'd think that people are glued on the actors, but you can see everyone just kind of … their eyes are wandering all over the walls, it's really gorgeous," she said. "I came in here before we started shooting and I was just snapping pictures everywhere."

Mirror Images plans to release "Matt's Chance" in 2013.

The chapel's ideal acoustics have also drawn the attention of Hollywood recording engineers. The orchestral soundtrack to "Mirror, Mirror," which stars Julia Roberts and hit theaters March 30, was recorded there, along with scores for the films "Mr. Holland's Opus" and "Die Hard 3" and video games like "Warcraft" and "Zelda," according to Pam Vaughn, Bastyr's director of conference services.

Silverwood’s closure marks the end of an era

The Silverwood Gallery is known for its vibrant oil paintings, whimsical ceramic tiles and curvaceous copper sculptures. But as Eric and Margaret Heffelfinger shutter a business they’ve spent 17 years cultivating, they say they’ll miss the people who walked through their glass-fronted doors the most.

Couples, they noted,China professional plasticmoulds, got engaged right there in the middle of their bright and airy gallery, after discussing with Eric, a goldsmith, the kind of ring they wanted.

A member of the Masonic Temple, housed upstairs, routinely brought them small packages of smelt, delivered up with a flourish and a grin. Donald “Doc” Eastly once placed a huge, black-smithed candelabra on their counter, curious to know what they’d give him in trade.

And every year, they’d have shows — invitationals or artist openings — that would pack the gallery so full of people many would spill onto the wide front porch. Their annual exhibits featuring Ted Kutscher’s evocative paintings of Vashon scenes were particularly spirited affairs, the Heffelfingers said.

“They were huge celebrations — not just of his work but of life on the Island,” Eric recalled.

Last week, they closed their gallery’s doors for good — a surprise to many, as the Heffelfingers kept their decision largely to themselves and a handful of close friends. Many will miss the gallery, an anchor in Burton and the second business closure in Burton in March. The Quartermaster Inn & Restaurant, another Burton landmark, shuttered its doors last month, too.

“It feels like a death in the family,” Will North, a writer and Burton resident, said of the two closures.

But for the Heffelfingers, a creative couple with seemingly boundless energy and a shared entrepreneurial spirit, the decision to end their long-running stint as gallery owners is hardly cause for remorse.

In a lively, 90-minute interview last week, the two talked about the many opportunities before them, their desire to dive even more deeply into their art and their belief that other doors would open only if they had the courage to close the doors at their successful gallery.

“We’re kind of goal-setters,” Eric said. “We’ve done everything we can at the gallery, … and we want to further the adventure.”

Margaret — who paints using her maiden name, Margaret Tylczak — is known for her vibrant, character-infused paintings of dogs, which she shows not only at Silverwood but also at a gallery in California. She can’t keep up with the demand, however,What are some types of moulds? and she’ll now have time to paint even more. A writer, she also hopes to spend more time developing that craft as well.

Eric, meanwhile, has been a prodigious goldsmith over the years, producing upwards of 1,000 wedding rings. He’ll continue to create jewelry, he said, but not under the pressure or demands of a commercial operation. Instead, like Robert Ebendorf, a renowned metalsmith whose work is included in collections at the Metropolitan Museum of New York, Eric said he’ll focus on his craft with the mindset of an artist, creating work he finds aesthetically interesting, provocative and beautiful.

“I’m artistic, but I’m still making (jewelry) for a market. I don’t want to be encumbered by that anymore,” he said.

Eric recently met Ebendorf — and the two quickly developed a friendship as well as a deep appreciation for their respective work. Last month, the two men — as well as students from Vashon High School, where Eric teaches jewelry-making — held a one-week show at Silverwood.If you have a kidneystone,

When Eric sent Ebendorf an email last week telling him of his decision to close Silverwood and put his energy into his art, Ebendorf responded with a congratulatory email.

“I don’t think anyone who knows us is anything but thrilled,” Margaret said.

The Heffelfingers moved to Vashon in 1995 from Minneapolis, where Eric had operated a gallery featuring his own work as a goldsmith. They had only just arrived on the Island and were eating breakfast at what was then the Back Bay Inn — the precursor to the Quartermaster Inn — when they looked across the street at the Masonic Lodge, saw a “for lease” sign on the historic, whitewashed building and realized it was exactly the kind of space they wanted for their new venture.

A few hectic months later, after remodeling what had been a dark and smoky space with few windows, they opened the glass-fronted Silverwood Gallery — named for the driftwood at their own beachfront home. It was a whirlwind time, they recalled. They also remodeled their own home, launched their business and had a baby — Hart Heffelfinger, now a sophomore in high school.Choose from our large selection of cableties,

Initially, the gallery featured a new show every month, hung and curated by Eric. The work, some of it by nationally known artists, came from around the country as well as Canada, and the gallery quickly drew a strong, regional following. All the while, the gallery featured a handful of Island artists — copper sculptor Ivonne Escobar de Kommer, tile artist and sculptor Joanne Bohannon and Kutscher, a lawyer by day and oil painter by night whose popularity grew considerably over his years at Silverwood.

They also held popular, Island-wide invitationals, centered around a sometimes whimsical theme — bees, salmon, flowers, chickens. A repeating favorite was called “Heart of the Beast,Low prices on projectorlamp from Projector Point London UK.” where artists would explore the meaning of the phrase and decide if they were the beast and their work their heart — or just the opposite, Margaret said with a grin.

After 9-11, shipping artwork across the country and especially across international borders became difficult, Margaret said, and the couple decided to change their business model and permanently feature just three artists — Kommer, Bohannon and Kutscher — as well as themselves.

“It worked really well,” Margaret said. The artists they featured “were strong players” who produced work people wanted to buy.

All along, they added, their business has been profitable. “We’ve been amazed year after year,” Margaret said.

Some see the gallery’s closure as the end of an era for Burton, especially in light of Quartermaster’s closure as well. Kutscher, reached at his Seattle law firm Friday, said those days when the restaurant was bustling and Silverwood had an opening “where halcyon times.”

“That was such an exuberant, extroverted moment for that corner,” he said. “I’m really sad to see that kind of vibrancy go.”

He guesses he sold more than 300 paintings during his 13 years at Silverwood. Now, he noted wryly, he’ll have to peddle his work somewhere else. “I’m not looking forward to that,” he said.

North, the Burton-based writer, also found the Silverwood’s energy infectious. He and his wife, Susan Bates, got their wedding rings made by Eric. Over the years, he added, he’s grown to love the gallery’s openings, especially shows featuring Margaret’s work, paintings of dogs often sporting hilarious names, he said.

How to make your own marshmallows

Home cooks don’t think twice about making cookies, cakes and candies in their kitchens, but marshmallows? No, they buy them bagged.

“It’s just ingrained in people’s minds that you buy marshmallows from the store, just like you buy Ritz crackers from the store. But once you have the opportunity to make marshmallows, you realize they are heads and tails above store-bought,” said Shauna Sever, author of “Marshmallow Madness! Dozens of Puffalicious Recipes.”

“When you make a basic vanilla marshmallow, not only can you taste the truly lovely vanilla flavor, but you can taste sugar –– not just sweetness. It’s slightly creamy and melts in the mouth,Iowa Mold tooling designs and manufacturers mechanics trucks,” said Sever.

Mallows made at home can go way beyond the standard white vanilla. They can be flavored with fruit nectar, extracts, spices, maple or chocolate syrup, cocoa powder, root beer, fruit concentrates or purees, caramel or liquors, such as tequila or rum.

The puffy pillows can be filled with ganache, jam or slivers of candy bars, or studded with chocolate chips,Credit Card Processing and Merchant Services from merchantaccountes. cake crumbs, crushed cookies, fresh herbs, salted nuts, dried fruits or bacon bits.

Think beyond the white rounds you’re used to; mallows can be made into any color and shape. Imagine the sticky stuff twisted into ropes, layered into multi-colored squares, piped into ice cream cones, skewered into lollipops, spread onto cupcakes and sandwiched between cookies.

“I like to think about them like I think about a cookie plate,” said Sever, a native of the Chicago suburbs who went to school at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. “A plate of sea-salt caramel marshmallows are great to serve with coffee. And I love to give them as edible party favors. They are perfect for weddings because they are so customizable with flavors and colors.What are some types of moulds?”

For Easter, she suggests piping the marshmallow cream in the shape of chicks, using cookie cutters or candy molds to create holiday shapes,What are some types of moulds? or piping the cream into the shape of nests, which can be coated with shredded coconut and filled with jelly beans.

Although marshmallows come nowhere near being called healthful, the homemade variety is gluten-free, fat-free, has no preservatives and can be made vegan-friendly.Full color plasticcard printing and manufacturing services. A 2-inch cube has about 25 calories.