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Fresh Air Family shared this week's free and cheap outdoor or nature events from across the state.
Go here to see their full calendar:
Young artist contest through March 31
Each year the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) partners with Wildlife Forever to conduct the State Fish Art Contest in which students depict a state fish and write a one-page essay to compete for scholarships and other prizes. Entries March 31, 2013, Complete contest rules and the entry form at www.wildlifeforever.org/contest/enter.
Spring Break special programs
Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013
Anninston Museum of Natural History
At 11am, and again at 1:30pm, Wednesday, March 27th, Education Specialist Kevin Jenne will present the popular Awesome Animals live animal program in the Museum Auditorium. It will feature a real American Alligator and an 8 foot long Boa Constrictor! Visitors will learn about many amazing animals from and see a variety of creatures from the Museum's live animal collection. The Awesome Animals program is free with your paid Museum Admission.
Guided Nature Walk
Wed, March 27, 1pm – 3pm
Gulf State Park
Meet our park guide at the Nature Center and we will take a walk on one of the trails in the park. Free. Call (251) 948-7275
Guided Beach Walk
Fri, March 29, 10am – 12pm
Gulf State Park
Meet at the Beach Pavilion near the fireplace and learn all about our coastal ecosystem. Then, meander along the shore, with our guide, looking for shells and learn about some of the local sea life. Free. Call (251) 948-7275
Nature Time
Fri, March 29, 2pm – 3pm
Gulf State Park
Meet at the Nature Center. Free. Learn new and exciting facts about some of the animals living in Gulf State Park. For all ages and allows you to get close and personal with educational animals at the Nature Center. Call (251) 948-7275
Full Worm Moon Hike
Fri, March 29, 6pm – 8pm
Ruffner Mountain, Birmingham
Native Americans named each full moon to capture the spirit of the season. We will meet at the Ruffner Road gate on the Irondale side of the mountain and hike to the wetlands to enjoy the glow of the moon and light refreshments. $7/ $5 (member). Reserve your spot at shop.ruffnermountain.org.
Easter Flower Hike with The Fitness Center
Sat, March 30, 2pm – 4pm
Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Join Fresh Air Family and The Fitness Center for a flowering walk through plants that symbolize the Passover and the passion of Christ with the Fitness Center, Birmingham's one-on-on personal training and fitness center. The hike will be a story-filled, family friendly event with storyteller, Verna Gates. Free.


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Just as some midstate residents are thinking twice before remodeling or buying a new home in the current economy, area municipalities are taking time to weigh the pros and cons of renovation versus building new public buildings.
In communities with a more robust tax base or other sources of funding, the decision to build might have been made despite the economic downturn.
Others, such as Palmyra and Hummelstown, are questioning the affordability of such projects.
Both have municipal buildings that weren't designed for that purpose. Palmyra's Municipal Center was built in the late 1940s as an American Legion post and had a bowling alley in the basement and an array of separate meeting halls for public use.
The Hummelstown Borough building was once a dress warehouse for the factory across the street.
Palmyra Borough Council has struggled for several years with the issue of whether to build a municipal center or renovate the old one. The latest study concluded that it would cost $6 million to renovate, but $3 million to build.
Council also considered leasing office space.
"I don't want to spend any more money on that old building," councilman Robert Longenecker said. "It will take twice as much to put that building into code than build a new one. To me, that's a no-brainer. Not only that, the building is inefficient, and we are pushing money right out the windows for heat and air conditioning. To me the math is simple: To live in it is going to cost twice as much as if we build a new one."
Council President Jane Quairoli has the opposing view.
"Everyone in this country is saying to all forms of government, 'Stop spending money,'" Quairoli said. "I think we should wait a year," she said, adding that she hopes when two new council members take their seats in January, they will be on the side of waiting.
Despite the recession, Longenecker feels now is the time to start the project. "The longer we stay in the building, the more we're going to be pumping into that building, and eventually we're going to have to replace it," he said.
To replace the leaking roof would cost $250,000, Longenecker said. "Do we want to pump that into it knowing, maybe five years down the road, we're going to tear it down anyway? I don't," he said.
Projections are that the project wouldn't cost taxpayers more until 2014, when taxes would have to go up about 2.5 mills to pay the annual $132,000 debt service.
That would cost the owner of a property with an average assessment of about $22,000, $55 more per year in taxes. The current tax rate of 17.5 mills costs the average owner about $385 per year.
The 2012 budget now calls for a $5 million, 20-year bond issue, which also would include $1.5 million for the first phase of a stormwater system, but one council member said he plans to call for the budget to be amended after the new councilmen are seated.
"We are in dire need of a new municipal building. It's nickel and diming us," said Mayor Fred Carpenter, adding that a stormwater system also is needed. Still, he said he isn't sure how he would vote if he would have to. The mayor only votes in case of a tie.
Quairoli said the borough budget isn't in bad shape.
Also, she said the proposed project "has been scaled down tremendously," from an earlier design that would have cost more than $6 million.
"I don't think it would create as much of a strain, but it's still going to create a strain on residents."
"I'm more into just fixing things that needed to be fixed," she said.
But there are other expenses that could be looming, Quairoli said, such as repairs of sinkholes on East Cherry Street.
Quairoli said she is not opposed to the stormwater project, which she said will benefit the entire community and needs to be done.
Hummelstown Borough Council has been talking about its aging borough building for several years as well. "It's got some old bones in it," Borough Manager Michael O'Keefe said. The borough office was renovated in 1974 from its prior use as a dress warehouse.
The building is showing its age with a leaking roof and problems with heating and air conditioning systems, and the police department has had cramped quarters from the start, he said.
O'Keefe said he is hopeful that council will begin looking at options for the building again this year. The borough owns a house opposite the borough building, which it rents out, but which might afford space for expansion.
Still, O'Keefe said he can understand economic reservations about building projects.
"Everyone would be scared to spend big dollars on a project and be accused of 'You didn't need to do that. You could have lived in the place with the leaking roof and poor phones,'" he said.
Deciding to remodel their existing building are the South Londonderry Twp. supervisors, who have endorsed the idea of remaining in the former Campbelltown school building, which will celebrate its 100th birthday in 2012.
A feasibility study, which looked at whether the municipal building would serve the township's needs for the next 20 years, concluded renovations would cost $2 million, compared with $5 million to build a new structure with the same amount of space, Township Manager Tom Ernharth said.
"Another big factor is the history of this building," Ernharth said, adding that it is identified with the community's history and provides space for community meetings and activities.
"We're slowly working at it," Ernharth said of renovations, which would include installing an elevator, remodeling the basement for the police department, and upgrading the electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems.
So far the building has received roof and interior repairs, new windows and the parking lot was resurfaced, using budgeted capital reserve funds.
"It's something we're constantly looking at and watching the economy. Once the economy improves, we would have to borrow the money" to do the rest of the project, Ernharth said.
Grants have "dried up," he said. "There is a lot of fighting for the little bit of dollars that are out there."
For six years, South Hanover Twp. has planned for a new municipal building to replace its vintage 1969 building in the village of Union Deposit.
With help from gaming funds — along with township growth and conservative spending — that is about to become a reality.
The $5 million to $6 million project will include a 12,000-square-foot municipal center on Route 39, several athletic fields and a 9,000-square-foot fire station.
The township has received about $840,000 in gaming funds for land, and site, architectural and engineering plans, Pollick said. A $500,000 grant was sought this year, and the township is hoping for continued support for the project from gaming funds.
The township has saved $1 million in a capital reserve fund to help if needed, and is paying for a project manager and engineering review.
While space needs are evident in the 1,800-square-foot township building in Union Deposit, Pollick said the supervisors have been "very cautious with today's economy. They're not jumping into anything. They would really like to do this without raising taxes."
While the recessions presents drawbacks, there also are positives, including a good bidding environment among contractors looking for work and cheaper financing costs.
The township hopes to start construction in late spring or early summer and to finish in about a year. The existing building will be retained and serve as the public works building.
One of the largest municipal projects in recent years was in Derry Twp., which in 2007 moved into a new $15.2 million complex along Hersheypark Drive that has space for municipal offices, police, tax and emergency management functions.
The township contributed $4 million it had saved and borrowed $10 million, but a tax increase wasn't required.
In contrast, in the mid 1990s, when North Londonderry Twp. needed more space, the township constructed a 5,000-square-foot addition for a cost of about $250,000, to provide room for police and administrative offices.

subset: commoncrawl


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MONTGOMERY, Alabama --- A racial discrimination lawsuit filed against the Alabama Department of Transportation when George Wallace was governor is at a standstill, one of the lawyers says, and he has asked the court to break the logjam.
"The case is stuck in the same place as it was in 2007," said Ray Fitzpatrick, a lawyer for more than 200 non-black employees who still have claims in the federal lawsuit Reynolds vs. DOT, filed in 1985.
State lawyers disagree, saying the 29-year-old case is progressing, although slowly, and that major issues have long been resolved.
In 2001 settlements, the state paid more than $40 million to the black plaintiffs and $8 million to the non-blacks who intervened.
A consent decree requiring DOT to revamp hiring and promotions expired Dec. 31, 2006, so those are no longer under court control.
Alice Ann Byrne, a lawyer for the State Personnel Department, said the lawsuit has cost the state more than $300 million. That includes payments to the plaintiffs and intervenors, fees for lawyers, experts and consultants, contempt of court fines and other costs.
The court is holding about $14 million in contempt fines paid by the state years ago, and the state has asked the court to return the money to help pay for recruiting and training programs started because of the lawsuit.Fitzpatrick believes some of that money should be used to pay his client's claims and his legal fees.
Read his latest request to the court.pdf
Rusty Adams, who represents more than 500 black plaintiffs who have remaining claims, wants some of the fine money to go to their claims.
"We would like to see the case resolved as quickly as possible and are willing to try to sit down and talk about it and try to get it resolved," Adams said.
Lawyers for the state say they won't discuss further settlements with the groups. Their position is that each claim must be must be considered individually.
So far, 30 of the African American's claims have been chosen as "test cases" said Christopher Weller, a private lawyer hired by the state. None have succeeded. Either the state has prevailed or the claim was dropped.
"The reason it's taken so long is that there are very fact-specific individual claims," Weller said.
Byrne, the State Personnel lawyer, said at some point the others might decide their claims are not worth pursuing.
Fitzpatrick said his non-black clients, who intervened in the case in 1994, lost income because the state was late in fulfilling the consent decree, which required many changes in the way DOT recruited, tested and trained employees.
The state failed to meet a deadline to change job classifications and pay to fit the work employees actually performed.
That meant his clients went underpaid, Fitzpatrick said. The 2001 settlement compensated for that up until that year, but not during the several years after when Fitzpatrick says the underpayments continued.
In his latest motion, he gave the state a list of 10 intervenors chosen at random that he says lost an average of about $5,000 in pay.
Fitzpatrick wants to discuss a settlement that would draw from the $14 million in fine funds since it was the state's contempt that he says caused his clients to lose income.
"The state wants to turn this into an individual trial for everybody and drag this out for a couple of hundred years," Fitzpatrick said.
Byrne said the state should not owe the plaintiffs or intervenors any more money.
"We think we've paid out enough," she said.
Legal fees have been a controversial part of the case. At one point, the state was paying fees for lawyers on all sides, regardless of whether they prevailed on particular issues.
That ended in about 2005. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said at the time that the arrangement may have been "the kerosene that has fueled the litigation fires that have raged out of control in this case."
Fitzgerald said he hasn't been paid for his work on the case since the consent decree expired more than seven years ago. He says he has put in more than 1,000 hours since, which he said would come to a legal bill of $300,000.
He said he's willing to compromise on that and on his clients' contempt claims.
"But at some point the state has got to stop saying nothing," he said. "And that's all they're saying is nothing."
In his latest motion, Fitzpatrick asks U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson, who is in charge of the case, to allocate the $14 million in fine money "with apportionment between all parties to resolve the indvidual contempt claims and other appropriate matters."
The lawsuit has outlived Johnny Reynolds, one of the original plaintiffs, who sometimes talked out about it was dragging on.
Reynolds, who became a DOT district engineer, died almost a decade ago. Reynolds and other black employees filed the lawsuit 29 years ago, alleging discrimination in hiring and promotions.
"A lot of money has been spent to correct a wrong that never should have been allowed to go this long," Reynolds told the Birmingham News when the settlements were reached in 2001.
In a 2007 story, Phillip Rawls of the Associated Press wrote about the case and its impact. That was just after the consent decree expired, a milestone in the lawsuit.
In 1994, when the consent decree was entered, 9 percent of DOT's professionals and 10 percent of its technicians were African Americans. By 2003, 31 percent of the professionals and 25 percent of its technicians were black.
As of 2007, the state had paid $206 million in litigation costs, Rawls reported.
Fitzpatrick, borrowing from a court filing in another drawn out case, quoted a passage from a Charles Dickens novel to emphasize his points about how the marathon case has stalled.
In "Bleak House," Dickens wrote about an interminable lawsuit called "Jarndyce and Jarndyce."
"This ... suit has, in course of time, become so complicated that no man alive knows what it means. ... Innumerable children have been born into the cause, innumerable young children have married into it; innumerable old people have died out of it. Scores of people have deliriously found themselves made parties ... without knowing how or why ... (It) still drags its dreary length before the court."


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I agree with you on Mexico being one of the worst backpack places on the planet. I could not wait to get out. If you really want to go and scratch your head in awe. Head into Belize and see how things can really get stupid.
But, glad you are doing well and continuing the journey.
Greed of a Tourist Trap has no boundaries of fools to purchase.
I need a guidebook with a list of all the places in the guidebook so I know all the places not to go.


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MARSHALLTOWN - Bishop Garrigan's Alexa Capesius came up just short in a bid to repeat as Class 1A state golf champion, placing second here Tuesday to North Linn's Jessica Franson.
Capesius, who won gold in convincing fashion as a junior, finished two strokes behind Franson. Capesius had an 81 after firing a 76 in the first round.
Grundy Center ran away from the field in the team race, shooting a 711. The Golden Bears were fourth with a 757, just one shot behind Akron-Westfield.
Newell-Fonda placed fifth overall. Bishop Garrigan's Brittney Arndorfer was in a tie for 14th with Mustang Jade Hess. Both carded two-day totals of 181.
Other golfers for the Golden Bears were Emily Marlow (187), Chloe Garman (232) and Emily Berte (284).
Capesius was the lone senior for Garrigan, as Arndorfer, Marlow and Berte are juniors, while Garman was just a freshman.
Joining Hess for Newell-Fonda were Abby Christensen (199), Claudia Larsen (205), Brooke Belcher (213), Morgan Hurd (213) and Morgan Magnussen (220).
Hess, Christensen and Larsen will be moving on, but Belcher, Magnussen and Hurd are all coming back.
Senior Jennalyn Thul from West Bend-Mallard finished tied for 27th with a two-day total of 198.
Livengood 14th for Cowgirls
AMES - Clarion-Goldfield finished eighth here Tuesday in the Class 3A girls state golf meet.
Mikaela Livengood led the Cowgirls, carding a two-day total of 175 to place 14th overall.
Atlantic was crowned champion, shooting a 695. Carroll Kuemper was second and Clear Lake third.
South Tama's Paige VanDyke was the individual champion with a 148.
Joining Livengood were Jenalee Hinkle (202), Shanee Tate (208), Hope Polzin (221), Cassie Hanson (233) and Kaylee Smith (239).
Livengood, Hinkle and Polzin were juniors this past spring. Tate, Hanson and Smith were sophomores.
East Sac County's Makayla Ernst, a senior, finished 19th (180).


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PELHAM, Alabama -- More than 200 acres of high-profile, Interstate 65 property in Pelham once slated to become a $110 million retail center now has a new owner looking to sell the site in pieces for multiple development projects.
A broker for the new owner said the portion of the property along U.S. 31 is being slated for retail and restaurant development while the rest of the property could become anything from a church campus to a recreation and sports complex to industrial and distribution sites.
Smith Land Investments LLC, an investment entity for Birmingham physician Dr. Macy Smith, purchased the property from Fifth Third Bank, which took the deed in lieu of foreclosure from the previous owner a year ago.
The heavily wooded property at the southwest corner of I-65 and Shelby County 52 stretches over to U.S. 31.
"We are working with the city of Pelham to try to bring some new industry into the city there," said Connor Farmer, broker with Farmer Keith LLC representing Smith Land Investments in marketing the sites. "The property is available for sale."
Farmer declined to disclose the purchase price, but he said it was significantly less than the previous owner had paid for the land, allowing the new owner to put attractive selling prices on the tracts. That should allow the 200 acres to be developed in a way that preserves much of its natural beauty, he added.
"There are a lot of other uses for the site beyond what AIG Baker was going to do with it," Farmer said. "You don't have to mass grade the whole site. You can do less dense development."
AIG Baker Shopping Center Properties bought 150 acres in 2004 for $10 million and had plans to clear much of the property to create Hayes Market Place, a lifestyle shopping center like The Summit that was originally proposed to sprawl for 850,000 square feet and cost $110 million.
The center was to be named for longtime Pelham Mayor Bobby Hayes and capitalize on the growing population between Pelham and Alabaster.
The property, known as Blueberry Hill, had its problems. AIG Baker estimated in 2003 it would cost $15 million to clear and level the hill and ridge for the development. Another $7.5 million in road and access improvements were necessary. The city of Pelham agreed to help with some of the infrastructure and access expenses.
But delays gave Birmingham-based Colonial Properties Trust time to develop Colonial Promenade Alabaster at I-65's Alabaster exit. That development took many of the tenants that were going to be part of Hayes Market Place. AIG Baker scaled the plans down to 500,000 square feet to try to salvage the development, but the drop in the economy killed the deal. The property was among many AIG Baker tried to untangle from a partnership between Alex Baker and the New York-based AIG insurance giant that had to be bailed out by the federal government during the financial collapse.
Now, Farmer said retail will be a part of the property's future, but likely only on the U.S. 31 portion.
"We've got about 1,600 feet of frontage along Highway 31," he said. "We're willing to divide it up into some commercial retail or restaurant spaces along Highway 31."
Other options are also being explored, he said.
"We think there is a good site for a large church campus with the church building on top of the hill with lots of visibility, cabins down by the creek and ball fields on the flat areas," Farmer said. "We also think it would make a real good school site."
Having 200 acres off I-65 is also attracting the attention of economic developers always looking for large properties with good access to pitch to new industry.
"Anything in the I-65 corridor has its own natural advantages," said Brian Hilson, chief executive of the Birmingham Business Alliance. "It's a site that's going to get attention just like others within that corridor have had, especially as the interstate improvements are completed."
The property is listed as one of the available properties on the database of sites the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama maintains for the state to pitch to new industry.
Farmer said there has already been interest.
"We've had discussions with the city and the county and representatives of the city has worked with the state to try to bring economic development projects to the site," he said.
Southpace Properties Inc. brokers Steve Mordecai and David Trott represented Fifth Third Bank in the sale to Smith Land Investments.
Join the conversation by clicking to comment or email Tomberlin at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Jennifer Carpenter fought back tears at 'Dexter's' Comic-Con panel
Jennifer Carpenter fought back tears at "Dexter's" Comic-Con panel
The cast came to Comic-Con having just filmed the series finale last week. PLUS: "Rita," "Doakes" and "LaGuerta" were in attendance, and the final season and complete series DVD will be released on Nov. 5.
David Duchovny & Gillian Anderson celebrate the 20th anniversary of "The X-Files" at Comic-Con
Anderson said she'd be open to a third movie, but not a limited series.
"Hannibal" releases a gag reel
Also, it was announced at Comic-Con that Season 1 will hit DVD on Sept. 24.
"Workaholics" trio are making a movie together, with Seth Rogen
Rogen and his "Superbad" partner Evan Goldberg are writing an action-comedy film starring Adam DeVine, Anders Holm and Blake Anderson. But the movie won't be related to their Comedy Central characters.
Eliot Spitzer inspired "The Good Wife," and now he's using the CBS drama for inspiration
What happens when art imitates life, followed by life imitating art?
Stop saying TV is better than the movies these days
Why that argument is lazy. PLUS: Cable is soaring thanks to the creative erosion in film and network TV.
Conan O'Brien opts not to play an '80s Atari "rape game" on his show
"Conan" producers didn't know about the contents of "Custer's Revenge" before adding it for a segment of "Clueless Gamer."
Why Jason Bateman's Emmy nomination was undeserved
He was the weak link on the Netflix season of "Arrested Development."
"Girls" Season 3 will "focus on financial stability"
Exec producer Jenni Konner says: "I can't say much more. It's an age thing. There's only so long you can say you just graduated college."
Louis CK: Woody Allen pulled me aside and asked, "What if we were in a movie together, you and me?"
The "Louie" star talks about his seven Emmy nominations and his Woody moment.
Connie Britton has been nominated 4 years in a row, for 3 different shows
Will she win an Emmy for "Nashville"?
"Bunheads" creator still doubts there will be a 2nd season
"They are telling me nothing more than they've told you," Amy Sherman-Palladino tells Buzzfeed. PLUS: Why all the fuss over "Bunheads"?
"Survivor's" Kim Spradlin is pregnant
The "Survivor: One World" champ is expecting her first child.
We are living in the golden age of TV posters
"Welcome to the age of TV-poster public exegesis," says Laura Bennett. "TV culture has become so obsessive, so attuned to any sign of what's to come, that even its off-screen manifestations are subject to exacting scrutiny."
Linda Cardellini stunned by her "Mad Men" Emmy nomination
"When I started the part, I didn't know what it was I would be doing. And so having it unfold the way it did was amazing," she says.
"Teen Wolf" returns Jan. 6
Watch the trailer for the 2nd part of Season 3.
Watch Ricky Gervais' 1999 comedy pilot
He played a David Bowie impersonator two years before "The Office."
Food Network accused of reality TV fraud
The winner of "Giving You the Business" said instead of getting his own franchise, as was promised, he only got some stock.
"Orange is the New Black" promotes Taryn Manning
She'll become a series regular in Season 2.
HBO and NFL Films extend "Hard Knocks"
The two announced a "long-term renewal" today.
Anthony Bourdain and Nigella Lawson sign on for the British version of "The Taste"
They'll be joined by French chef Ludo LeFebvre.
"Grey's Anatomy" adds 2
Bobby Campo and Heather Hemmens will play a couple involved in a major disaster.
Video: Library of Congress racing to preserve TV history
CBS News went inside the archiving process, as they convert hours of film into digital.
CBS: More than 20 million have watched "Under the Dome's" premiere
That's through live viewing, DVRs and video on demand.
"Big Brother's" Jeff Schroder is going back to "The Bold and the Beautiful"
He'll be part of "Room 8."
"Firefly" getting a role-playing game
game is currently in development for iOS and Android.
"Full House" reunion: Lori Loughlin spends a night on the town with John Stamos
They also had dinner with Bob Saget this week.
TV Land orders 10 more episodes of "The Exes"
Those episodes will air later this year.
Josh Holloway: "Intelligence" isn't the new "Chuck"
"I thought 'Chuck' was a great show," the CBS star says. "But it's not 'Chuck' at all."
"Glee" bringing back Dot-Marie Jones
"I did hear that I'm coming back, but I honestly don't know to what to what extent," she says.
Honey Boo Boo retires from pageants
"We're done," says Mama June.
"Arrow" casts Black Canary
Actress Caity Lotz will take on the new role.
Here are 25 great sitcoms you can watch on YouTube
From "Dick Van Dyke" to "The Honeymooners."
Check out Ryan Seacrest as a shirtless teen model
Why was he wearing mom jeans at 19?
See Bryan Cranston's childhood photos
From his GQ cover story.
Check out "Game of Thrones" toys
And other products unveiled at Comic-Con, including a Ned Stark doll.


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The recorder is at the center of a dispute about a July 30 conversation between Mohamud and an undercover FBI operative in which Mohamud allegedly suggested he wanted to take part in a bombing.
Government prosecutors have said from the beginning of the case that the recorder failed. They later explained that its batteries died before the conversation, but that the conversation was overheard by FBI personnel covertly tuned to the audio.
"I'm going to allow you to spend your time looking at the recording device and the battery," said U.S. District Judge Garr M. King, during a two-hour discovery hearing in Portland's federal courthouse.
Their client is accused of attempting to ignite a van full of explosives at the tree-lighting ceremony attended by thousands at Pioneer Courthouse Square. But the explosives were harmless fakes presented to Mohamud by undercover FBI operatives posing as Islamic terrorists, part of a government sting.
Mohamud attended today's hearing. The judge set an April 10, 2012, trial date in the case.
-- Bryan Denson


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When Kylan Laurent ended a police chase by jumping 165 feet from the Veterans Memorial Bridge into the Mississippi River, he already was wanted for questioning in two homicides involving women who had been strangled in East Jefferson motel rooms. As investigators searched for signs of him Wednesday, they released new details of a third assault for which they consider the 22-year-old Vacherie man a "person of interest," this one the choking of a woman in a motel room in Harvey.
With boats and helicopters patrolling the river, investigators disclosed that they are trying to determine whenter Laurent attacked a 22-year-old woman Aug. 18 at the Sun Suites Motel at 1101 Manhattan Blvd. in Harvey.
The victim in this case, like Anita McDonald at a Kenner motel and Jateese Hudgins at a Metairie motel, was from out of state. She hailed from Cleveland and told authorities she came to New Orleans to work as a dancer and rented the room, according to a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office incident report. She posted an advertisement on a social networking website to meet someone "just for company," the report said.
But unlike McDonald and Hudgins, she survived.
When a man she arranged to meet arrived at her room, he choked her until she lost consciousness, the report said. He tied her hands behind her back with black electrical tape and used the tape to wrap a pillow over her face.
When the woman regained consciousness and freed herself, she noticed that her computer, cash and three phones had been stolen, the report said.
She refused medical treatment when police arrived, but the responding officer noted redness on her neck and ligature marks and swelling on her wrists, according to the report.
The case bore similarities to the deaths of McDonald, a 22-year-old woman from Flowood, Miss., and Hudgins, a 21-year-old woman from Philadelphia. Both had prostitution records, and both their bodies showed evidence that their hands had been bound before they were discovered, McDonald on Monday night at Comfort Inn, 2710 Idaho Ave., and Hudgins on Aug. 10 at La Quinta Inn, 5900 Veterans Memorial Blvd.
Kenner Police Chief Steve Caraway said he thinks McDonald, too, met her assailant through an online social network. He didn't know what was used to bind her and said police didn't find tape on her body, but he said the autopsy found adhesive residue on her face.
McDonald arrived in Kenner on Monday from Panama City Beach, Fla., and rented the Comfort Inn room herself, Caraway said. Police think she posted her online ad and that Laurent contacted her, Caraway said.
Laurent is also the suspect in two crimes in Baton Rouge, one involving aggravated battery and false imprisonment, Graham said. Few details are being released in those cases because they are active investigations, he said.
Kenner and Baton Rouge authorities consider Laurent a suspect in their cases, but the Jefferson Sheriff's Office calls him a "person of interest," a less serious designation, in the Metairie and Harvey crimes. He's not a suspect in those because authorities "haven't been able to physically place him at the scene," said Col. John Fortunato, a Sheriff's Office spokesman.
Authorities were monitoring Laurent in the Vacherie area Tuesday afternoon when they asked uniformed troopers to stop him as he drove on River Road. That's when a pursuit began, with Laurent speeding north onto the Veterans Memorial Bridge, stopping on the right shoulder near the peak and jumping into the water, police said.
Laurent's relatives spoke Wednesday with authorities at their command center at the foot of the bridge. They wouldn't talk with the news media.
Graham said officials don't want to presume Laurent is dead and thus will keep up the search for him
"He is a suspect in several violent crimes, and we want the public to be aware of what's going on," Graham said. "We're going to continue nonstop until we find him."
. . . . . . .
Littice Bacon-Blood contributed to this report. Mary Sparacello can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com or 504.467.1726.


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A Jamestown High School freshman will compete against nearly 80 other contestants vying to be crowned Miss New York Teen USA 2014.
Crystalee Pena, 13, was recently selected to compete in the Miss New York Teen USA 2014 pageant in January. In the months leading up to the competition, Pena will seek sponsors to help her acquire the funds to purchase clothing and apparel for the pageant. For the various categories of the pageant, she'll need an evening gown and a swimsuit. Plus, she'll also have to do a formal interview on stage.
The pageant is scheduled for Jan. 17-19 at the Performing Arts Center of Purchase College in Purchase. If Pena wins, she will secure a place in the Miss Teen USA pageant.
Article Photos
Crystalee Pena, 13, a Jamestown High School freshman, was recently selected to compete in the Miss New York Teen USA 2014 pageant.
P-J photo by Dusten Rader
According to Pena, in order to be selected, she first had to submit a picture and have a phone interview. When the announcement was made, the realization came as quite the shock, especially since she had no prior pageant experience.
"They asked me what I thought my best features are, and they are my eyes, being tall and my hair," Pena said.
Pena is the daughter of Crystal Woodye, a store lead at Walgreens, and David Pena. She currently lives with her mother, Crystal, and her step-father Henry Woodye, who is a skills trade at Cummins. Although she is a native of Jamestown, Crystalee is partly of Puerto Rican descent. The announcement of Crystalee's selection for the competition also came as a surprise to Crystal, she said.
"Crystalee is a beautiful girl, but I thought, 'What are the odds of them picking someone from a small town?' but they did - I was thrilled," Crystal said.
Although Crystalee has never before competed in a pageant, she did happen to place in a Most Beautiful Baby Contest at the Chautauqua Mall in Jamestown, which earned her a couple trophies. But, she didn't become interested in beauty competitions again until she got a little older, and realized she liked modeling.
"I like showing people that pretty much anybody could be beautiful- not just for their looks," Pena said.
Crystalee attended Fletcher Elementary School before heading to JHS, where she's quite happy with her new teachers and friends, she said. Her favorite subjects are history and math because she likes learning about the past, presidents, equations, and because she is good at it.
"I like my nice teachers, and being with my friends," Pena said. "My friends think it's cool that I've been selected, and they are excited for me."
In addition to her duties at school, Crystalee takes karate lessons. She has also taken hip-hop dance classes at Studio Jamestown. She's also a huge fan of singing, and draws inspiration from artists such as Rihanna, Demi Lovato and Taylor Swift. Her favorite songs by each artist are "Teardrops On My Guitar" by Taylor Swift, "Skyscraper" by Demi Lovato and "We Found Love" by Rihanna.
"I love singing more than anything," Pena said. "If they have a talent aspect, I'll be singing."
Pena loves living in Jamestown, and is proud of living in a city that loves Lucille Ball, who has been one of her inspirations. She also said she draws inspiration from her mother, who has been a great role model throughout her life.
For more information, visit missnewyorkusapage ant.com. To purchase tickets to January's pageant, visit www.artscenter.org. To become a sponsor, email email@example.com.


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It is the last Sunday of the month (not to mention the year) and that means it is time to hear from Press readers.
Q: Approximately 5:09 p.m. last evening I sent an e-mail to the circulation department of the GR Press. For some reason we did not receive last Sunday's paper and, mainly because of the "Gun" series but also the Sunday ads, I just wondered if there was any possibility of still getting a copy. I wasn't holding out much hope but thought it was worth a shot.
When I returned from a movie premiere around 9:30 p.m., there on my front porch was Sunday's paper. ... I guess I just wanted you to know you have a damn good Circulation Department. So kudos to your staff and thank them for making us feel like the GR Press values our subscription." -- Maureen Fahey Dreher, of Ada
A: You said it as well as anyone could. Thanks.
Q: "After reading the Press's Dec. 8 front page story on the federal government's bill attempting to regulate school snacks, one thing struck me as odd. ... I wonder why The Press chose to quote Sarah Palin in the article. ... Why should she be considered an opinion leader on this subject in a publication targeted towards West Michigan readers?
If being a former governor is a prerequisite for quote-worthiness in The Press one would think you could have contacted John Engler or Jim Blanchard. ... I'm all for differing points of view, and I appreciate The Press' efforts to show the multiple sides of the issue, but maybe you could find someone to comment whose views are actually, you know, important." -- Rob Herman, of Grand Rapids
A: It would appear to me that former Gov. Palin's inclusion makes sense. While largely local in its nature, the story did refer to President Obama and his wife, Michelle, as well as the U.S. secretary of agriculture. On the anti side, it seems Palin was the most quotable in opposition to the change. Like her or not, she has positioned herself as a national voice for Republicans.
Q: "I wanted you to know that I have also enjoyed the new e-mail service with the quick look at top stories. I like having a quick look at what I'll be getting later in the paper. Thanks for this service. Nice Job." -- Amy Conway
A: We call it the e-newsletter and it goes out to those who've signed up for it every Monday-Friday morning. To sign up, visit mlive.com/gr-update. When you open the e-mail, you not only get the list of top stories, but can also click on the headlines to read the full stories as they appear on Mlive.com. Many readers, like you, say they enjoy this service.
Q: "After browsing through the newspaper this morning, I had to wash my hands to get the black ink off my fingers before I could touch anything else. ... Please change the ink back to something that doesn't leave a residue on your hands, clothing and furniture!" -- Mary Ann Alliston, of Grand Rapids.
A: Bob Pierce, The Press' head of production at our Walker facility, says we've not changed our ink in recent years. During the press run, he says, "there are other variables that affect rub off, such as fountain solution and the amount of ink applied to the sheet."
Q: "We moved to West Michigan five years ago and subscribed to the GR Press. We have lived in mostly big cities, so we weren't sure about this smaller city newspaper try. I just wanted to say what an awesome newspaper the GR Press is. I so appreciate the choice of front page articles. Each day, a 'feel good' or relational story of good will is shared and when most papers and media outlets are looking for that highly publicized, attention grabbing, manipulative headline, the Press continues to make space, even on the cover page, for the good things in the world. Way to go, PRESS!" -- Gary Matthews, of Holland.
A: We appreciate your appreciation.
To all of our readers, have a great 2011! Thanks for sharing your questions with me. I look forward to answering more of them next year.
Contact Press Editor Paul M. Keep via e-mail at: firstname.lastname@example.com or by phone at 616-222-5508.


text:
Big Session Festival 2007 Headliners
Big Session Festival, the creation of folk rockers, Oysterband, returns for its third year, once again set in Leicester's De Montfort Hall and its surrounding four acre gardens.
The weekend will see an array of special guests from the world of folk and roots performing across three stages, indoor and out, over three days.
As well as artists performances, there will be lunchtime and impromptu sessions, a ceilidh, a children's area, real ale, food and market stalls, plus free camping.


text:
Fire starts at Loose Senior Citizens Center in Linden on Friday
Friday, September 30, 2011 4:56 PM
Inappropriate photo? Alert us.
Betty Reschley, 73, of Fenton Township (center) is comforted by friends as she watches firefighters put out the fire that started Friday afternoon at the Loose Senior Citizens Center in Linden. Reschley volunteers at the center 4 days a week. "She is a busy volunteer here, besides being the sweetest thing you'd ever meet," Keith Hancock, whose wife works at the center with her, says of Reschley.
Related articles
- Linden senior center fire believed to have started in basement September 30, 2011, 7:24 PM
- Fenton, Linden area top 10 stories of 2011 December 31, 2011, 10:00 AM
- Loose Senior Center aims to raise $3 million to build new center; turns to community for support January 19, 2012, 7:16 AM
- No bid yet on Fenton Township building from Loose Senior Center June 12, 2012, 2:00 PM
- Loose Senior Center will not bid on Fenton Township building June 14, 2012, 9:42 AM
- Loose Senior Center 'total loss' after building catches fire; cause unknown September 30, 2011, 4:15 PM
- Fire fueled by high winds destroys Loose Senior Center; officials unsure about upcoming programming September 30, 2011, 5:42 PM
- Volunteer calls Loose Senior Center's fire 'horrifying' September 30, 2011, 4:47 PM
- Linden fire chief suspects cause of Loose Senior Center fire was electrical October 03, 2011, 1:50 PM
- Loose Senior Center puts programs, services on hold for two weeks after fire destroys main building October 03, 2011, 4:41 PM
- Loose Senior Center director hopes to have fire-damaged building demolished by Christmas November 16, 2011, 12:05 PM


text:
Back from a birthday party
Yesterday was Zuleikha's tenth birthday, and today she invited some of her friends to her party at a bowling center. It was lots of fun, and I took over 300 photos, most of which I can't show here without further admission. So here is one which does not show any of her friends:
I guess this one is ok as well, because you can't really identify anyone except our own daughter:
All of the photos will go to all of the parents of course. I'm glad that everyone who was invited also came. Like I wrote already, this was real fun.
Thanks for viewing.


text:
SALEM, Ore. -- A Salem father who used a dog shock collar on his young children has been sentenced to three years of supervised probation.
Court documents say Todd Marcum is not allowed to have contact with children without approval of the Department of Human Services and his parole officer. He is also not allowed to participate in physical play with children or corporal punishment.
Investigators say Marcum used the electronic collar to shock his four children, ages 3 to 9 -- last spring. He was sentenced Monday after he pleaded guilty to four counts of criminal mistreatment.
The children have been in the custody of their mother.
Marcum tells KPTV he's started counseling. And he adds, "Nothing like this will ever happen again."
-- The Associated Press


text:
L'Oreal Pro Serie Expert Volume Expand Gel Masque
L'Oreal Pro Serie Expert Volume Expand Gel Masque is a light, nourishing masque perfect for fine hair.
Julie G.
Feb 6, 2011
Amazing Stuff
I was looking for a new product fo rmy hair and asked my salon for a recommendation. I was hesitant at first because the little jar approach seemed a little awkward and the price was relatively high for the size of product. I decided to just start off with the conditioner since I still had another brand of shampoo left. I've used it exactly per the instructions, and I have to say that I LOVE it! I have a lot of straight, fine-textured, colored hair that tends to get weighed down by too much product. Since I've been using the conditioner, it has been full of body, easy to style, and holds curl better than ever. While I do wish the pricing were better and that it was not in a jar, I have to say, I'm sold on the product itself. Now I need to just switch over to the shampoo!
5 out of 5 shoppers thought this review was helpful.


text:
Pardon the Interruption, but…
Labels: personal stuff
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Pardon the Interruption, but…
…meatspace concerns have the lion's share of my attention right now. I'll be back in cyberspace shortly. Although I may be a bit slow getting to your pages, I will check in from time to time.
Labels: personal stuff
Monday, April 18, 2011
The Loving Children of an Ungodly Father: Neither Rest nor Relaxation
A number of things began to come to a head for the Children of God as 1977 came to a close. Berg had had it with the intramural squabbles among his assistant leaders, who were beginning to rival him in authority. Claiming that they had become "too dictatorial," and chastising them for dragging their feet on such things as FF-ing and other sexual policies, David Berg fired his top 300 officers (known collectively as 'The Chain'), and on 18 February 1978 rechristened the cult 'The Family of Love.' Berg referred to the change as Reorganization Nationalization Revolution (RNR). A month later, Berg clarified the nature and scope of the changes in a Mo Letter titled "Happy Rebirthday--RNR Rules!" (DO, February 1978). Among other things, he instructed:
TRY TO GET AWAY FROM BEING CALLED THE 'CHILDREN OF GOD' where the name is not helpful nor legally necessary….
AS OF REBIRTHDAY, FEB. 18, THE CHAIN's [the 300 leaders directly under Berg] FIRED and need to find new jobs….
EACH HOME SHOULD HAVE AN IMMEDIATE NEW ELECTION or reelection of local Servants no later than February 18.…
FFERS NO LONGER NEED FISHERMEN, ONLY FISHERWOMEN! An experienced girl FFer with each trainee group or group of trainees--Then the Fish will pay all the bills! Don't tell me you can't afford to FF!--You can't afford not to!--Read the Book of Ruth!
NO MINIMUM AGE FOR FFERS!--unless sex is involved!--Then they must be of legal age for sexual involvement, usually at least 21 to 23, depending on the state or country. Watch out!….
PREGNANCIES FROM SEX OR FFING need no longer be considered as obligations to marry as before. Some have felt free to help each other for fear it might require marriage if pregnancy occurs. That's optional….
OUR CHILDREN BELONG TO THE FAMILY and to all of us, and we are all their parents and they are all our children, so no "unwed" mother need fear for herself nor her children. Several of our children call every adult in the Home 'Mommy' or 'Daddy', and that's as it should be….[emphasis original]The above new rules clarified Berg's vision to his membership. Whereas males participated in FF-ing before RNR, he intended this practice almost exclusively for females. Moreover, he wanted children to engage in the practice. Although he forbids actual "sex" in flirty fishing, from the context of this and other cult literature one has to interpret that word as actual intercourse (as opposed to oral sex and masturbation--after all, by rules, the group considered only these three activities as FF-ing). In effect, though, we see Berg taking more direct control over the group by eliminating self-willed middlemen (or middlepersons).
Berg also wanted to distance the group's identity from the negative publicity it had so far accrued under the name Children of God. From here on out, when possible, they were to be known as the Family of Love.
Like trying to grip a handful of water better by making a fist, Berg's attempt to assert greater authority in many respects caused him to lose parts of his flock. Many members had begun to leave on their own, if they weren't already excommunicated. Their reasons varied, of course. We can guess that some of the first generation simply missed living a "normal system" life. Many, however, cited specific aspects for leaving. Some parents hated the separation from their biological offspring, whom the cult said belonged not to them but to leadership. Others couldn't stomach Flirty-Fishing and other sexual policies of the group. A number of parents also began to hear rumors about the sexualization of the young, and feared that their own kids were subjected to abuse.
Then still, others objected to the strict enforcement of tithing. Berg demanded that everyone give 10% of their income before taxes. In some countries, the tax base for even modest incomes was 50%. Say if a couple, through busking, litnessing and ff-ing scraped together $10,000 for the year--a decent, livable wage for the 1970s--and had to pay 50% in taxes (or $5,000) on top of a tithe ($1,000), then living on $4,000 a year each could pose quite a challenge. Of course, in countries with high tax rates, they could enjoy the benefits of the national infrastructure and social services. Then again, if the cult decided to then move them to another place with a lower tax base, and fewer services, then they'd be SOL.
Moreover, because of legal pressures, Berg saw the advantages of not looking so much like a cult in various countries (especially, in the US). One way to do this would be to make homes more nuclear. Of course, if families lived on their own, they might become less inclined to tithe. Berg must have sensed this, for in 1979 he reformed the tithing policy, allowing for family units living by themselves in the "outside world" to determine the amount they could afford to give. Each family had to apprise the group of their income monthly using an Independent Report Form. Obviously thinking that a little bit of revenue from these folks beat nothing at all, Berg nevertheless continued to give IRF'ers the hard sell about the benefits of actually tithing. In a Mo Letter titled "IRFERS BEWARE" (DFO, published March 1980), Berg blamed a female follower for her own rape and murder on the grounds that she would have been protected had she (1) consented to the rape and (2) paid a full tithe:
THEY OBVIOUSLY WEREN'T WHOLE-HEARTED OR TOTALLY SOLD OUT FOR THE LORD, or he could at least have been tithing. [He] had a good job, but was only an IRFer, not a tither. If they had at least been tithing or serving the Lord fulltime, they would have been more in the will of God, you know that. But obviously they'd taken an apartment near her relatives & gone back to System work & were only IRFing, only sending very little a month for the Lord's work….
The more negative publicity came the cult's way during the 1980s, the more they engaged in public relations to halt what they perceived as so much religious persecution. They publicly made statements ending ff-ing and prohibiting child sexual abuse. While they stressed that these were minor incidents from the past, we have good evidence (in terms of witness testimony, the cult's own publications, videotapes and photographs) that both activities occurred after their supposed termination in 1987.
The 1990s brought turmoil to group leadership, as law enforcement agencies around the world exhausted their tolerance for the CoG/FoL. Someone would have to pay the consequences for the wanton exploitation of women as semen receptacles and surrogate mothers. Someone would have to pay the consequences for the flagrant violation of law that existed as cult dogma for the previous two decades. Someone would also have to pay the consequences for systematically abusing children through violence, sex and/or a combination of both.
One person not paying any consequences at all was one David Moses Berg. He died peacefully on 1 October 1994 in Costa da Caparica, Almada (Portugal), never so much as spending a day in court (much less a minute in prison) for the cult's criminal activities.
As its leaders, Zerby and Kelly would have to shepherd the cult through some rather turbulent times, as all the deeds of their founder would come back to haunt the cult, while their own past actions would exact their karma personally upon them.
Labels: CoG, cults, innocence, mind control
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The Loving Children of an Ungodly Father: I Fought the Law and…I Won!
Parents of Children of God members began to organize early on in the 1970s, and in 1973 finally got New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller to ask then-State Attorney General Louis Lefkowitz to investigate the "extent of the various activities of the organization known as Children of God as its activities affect the public peace and safety."*
The Lefkowitz report noted a number of suspicious activities, some prosecutable (e.g., kidnapping, tax fraud), some not (e.g., brainwashing--a legal activity, at least in 1974 New York). They had a number of witnesses, including fourteen ex-members, thirty-four parents, six members who responded to subpoena, and a number of people who had direct contact with the group. They also had documentary evidence in the form of films, Mo Letters, and other cult publications. The problems they encountered stemmed from the lack of cooperation with anyone associated with the cult, and the group's ability to move key witnesses in and out of the country.
David Berg made clear early on, in various publications and sermons, that the CoG would not recognize any legal authorities. He practiced what he preached almost immediately. In September of 1969, after police arrested twenty of their numbers during anti-war protests, the cult put up $34,000+ dollars in bail to secure their release. They then spirited them away to undisclosed locations. Because police could not locate the offenders (among them Berg's sons Jonathan and Paul), the only thing they could do was keep the bail money and try them in abstentia.
The CoG would come to rely upon this tactic quite a bit in the future, especially after the cult went international. If US authorities wanted to investigate or question a cult member, the cult could quickly spirit her or him away to a distant location, most likely in another country. If authorities tracked them down to a specific colony/compound, other members could stall them, saying something like "We don't know who you're talking about. We never heard that name [which was quite possible, since everyone in the cult had an alias]," or simply "We don't know where she/he is." Meanwhile, the targeted person had ample time to escape from the back. And Berg felt quite justified using the stall-and-evade ruse, as he noted in a Mo Letter titled "Public Relations" (DO, 24 November 1971):
YOU MUST NOT INTERFERE WITH AN OFFICER WHO COMES WITH A MENTAL WARRANT—or you're in legal trouble! You can ask to see the warrant, make sure who it's for, and while you're stalling, someone else can inform the disciple involved, who then has a perfect right to run out the back door if he wants to! A mental warrant is not a warrant for arrest for a crime—so if he's supposed to be so crazy, who would blame him for running! This procedure has been very successful on a number of occasions! The tricky one is where they get the disciple away from you first on a supposed visit, and produce the warrant and the officer later when they have him alone! He can still try to run if he wants to—and certainly no officer's going to shoot him for that!—The parent wouldn't let him! [emphasis original]From 1971, Berg made himself quite scarce, despite the fact that supporters had a difficult time contacting him. As the 1974 New York State Attorney General's Office report stated, when addressing the matter of trying to figure out the cult's net worth:
Because Berg and members of his Family have been residing in Europe for the past several years, further efforts to obtain evidence of their net worth have been abandoned as an exercise in futility. Testimony of a large contributor that he had travelled to Europe in order to meet Berg and was unable to do so because Berg was always 'moving about' and not available, caused him to become disenchanted and to devote himself to 'doing everything possible to expose these people' for the irreligious libertines they have become.
Among other things, the Lefkowitz report determined the means by which the cult got money, and how they kept up with as much of it as possible. As expected, they got money from members, from member parents, from selling Mo Letters on the street, and from local merchants. Interestingly, the AG's Office also notes that as early as 1974, the cult had received substantial donations from "businessmen," who had donated as much as $75,000 to the group after they "flattered" him. Note that this coincides with the advent of FF-ing in late-1973.
Getting money was one thing. Keeping it was another. The CoG incorporated in Texas as a religious organization, but the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) didn't see them as one, and ordered them to pay their full share of taxes. That also disallowed deductions for people who donated money to them. Yet, the CoG still claimed to be a tax-exempt entity and registered charity when soliciting money. Technically, they weren't lying. They had set up a subsidiary corporation, Youth for Truth, Incorporated (YTI). The IRS, unaware of YTI's connection with the CoG, granted it tax-exempt charity status. Thus the CoG could launder all it's money through YTI, and not pay a red cent in taxes.
In case you're wondering, Lefkowitz sent a copy of this report to the IRS. Still, the CoG could have just as easily started another tax-exempt subsidiary.
Kidnapping became a serious issue within the cult, as disaffected members tried to leave, but found it difficult to do so without their children and/or spouses. Even if a parent went to court and won custody of a child, that didn't mean the cult would comply with the order. A good example of this: Berg's son Paul, and his daughter-in-law Sarah. After CoG members kept asking him about how to have sex with an expecting woman, Berg instructed Paul to demonstrate with Sarah, at the time over eight months pregnant. Paul said "Yes." Sarah said "No."
Of course, women weren't really allowed to say no in the CoG. Paul forced her compliance by whacking her in the stomach with a two-by-four. This induced premature labor, which required the care of an outsider "system" hospital. Upon her release, cult members incarcerated her and the infant inside a trailer, outside of which they posted a guard. They also took her first child, Nathan, from her. When the guard left his station for an extended period of time, she escaped, with the baby, and walked over six miles to secure help. She obtained custody of Nathan in 1973, after Paul's apparent suicide. But when she asked CoG attorneys to assist in returning him to her, they told her that the cult didn't know his whereabouts. By that time, of course, he could have been anywhere around the globe.
Even if an ex-member managed to escape with his/her kids, the cult would sometimes kidnap the young from the parent's residence. In 1976, Una McManus left with her two children. Although she had legal custody of them, her husband, then still in the cult, abducted the kids with the help of other CoG members. The kids were never returned to her, but instead grew up in the cult. Like Sarah Berg, she could practically do nothing as the cult shuffled her offspring from one country to the next, so that local leadership could repeatedly say, "We don't know where they are." McManus subsequently won a $1 mill. lawsuit against Berg and the CoG in 1979, partly because neither Berg nor any CoG representative showed up to contest it. Berg's response?
She had joined the Family & claimed that it had harmed her irreparably, psychologically & blah blah, & she went to a System court & that stupid idiotic damn Satanic diabolical System judge awarded her the million dollars damages. Do you think I paid?--Of course not! They can't find me!--But I'd better never go to Ohio! ...
In a nutshell, these examples demonstrated how authorities fared when investigating, charging or even trying to convict Berg and members of his group. Step one was to evade the law by stalling for time, escaping, and outright lying. Step two consisted of maintaining an aggressive horde of attorneys.
Some people have alleged that a Step 3 required pressure on authorities by important people acting as CoG patrons. Gov. Rockefeller's investigation produced a report, but nothing else. A number of other investigations by the US Senate, as well as the states of California and Vermont, also failed to produce convictions, or even formal charges. But even if they wanted to arrest a CoG member for a crime, according to these authorities, there would probably not be a good chance of locating the individual(s), let alone bringing them to court and actually trying them.
Some believe that the investigations served only to mollify parents and concerned relatives of CoG members. Through FF-ing and other outreach ministries, the cult had found financial and legal support from very powerful people in government and media. As this particular story thread goes, the investigations were certainly half-hearted, with very little effort to follow through on them, or bring charges against the cult.
*From the report submitted by Asst. Attorney General Herbert Wallenstein presented to Lefkowitz on 30 September 1974.
Labels: CoG, cults, innocence, mind control
Friday, April 08, 2011
The Loving Children of an Ungodly Father: The Enemy Within
In his 2007 HBO documentary The Children of God: Lost and Found, Noah Thompson talked to his mother over the telephone about the cult. His mother, still in the Family International, tried to avoid many of the issues raised by her son, and when confronted directly often took a party line stance, denying flat out that anything untoward could have happened:
[Noah] Mom, I'm trying to make this documentary, and I need some help so I can tell all sides of the story.Thompson's mother has already set the dynamic: say positive things about us, or we will consider what you say as betrayal. Moreover, she issues a vague threat should he go ahead with his documentary, based on her interpretation of God's intention. Of course, here, the will of the Almighty seems tantamount to the PR concerns of the cult.
Thompson finds even more resistance from his mom when talking about the sexual aspects of cult life. She wants to know if he will mention anything about Flirty Fishing, to which he replies:
[Noah] FF-ing, Flirty Fishing, will be acknowledged, because it was a extremely--it was a huge part of the Family doctrine, you know what I mean? And it went on, for what, ten years? So I'm going to have to talk about that. And--Despite its hostility, his mother's response at least acknowledged that the practice went on, and that she participated in it. When Noah voiced his own experiences, however, she quickly went into denial.
[Noah] You know, as I look back at my childhood you were gone, you know, for a substantial amount. I've slept with plenty of my nannies.In an early post in this series, I pointed out, using David Berg's own words, the cult's position on honesty. For the most part, they were against it, and even made lying to protect the group a point of sacred policy. So, I would see the denial by Thompson's mother in that light. After all, there were numerous witnesses to the childhood sexual abuse.
Just as they starred in Berg's idealized child rearing publications, his own brood played the leading role in his exposure as a pervert. His eldest biological child, Linda Berg Davis (Deborah) led the charge in her 1984 memoir The Children of God: The Inside Story. Among other things, she claimed that, as a young girl, a drunken David Berg would try to wake her up in the middle of the night for sex. Feigning sleep, he would give up, and then molest his younger daughter, Faith.** As she explained to ABC's 20/20, "My dad was just an evil personality that was not hearing from God at all."
Later, Merry Berg would affirm that CoG adults frequently abused children, including her. Moreover, her worst offender was none other than her Grandpa. As she told NBC News in 1993:
They'll be, now, 'Now smile children' if they put the kids on a show, or singing for someone. And they may be beating them, and abusing them in the back room, like they were to me. When I was nine-years old, they were sexually abusing me….According to her and Davida Kelley, Berg ordered Merry, then twelve, to lose her virginity by bedding her younger quasi-brother, Ricky Rodriguez. In truth, he wanted Ricky to knock her up that night. Because Berg regarded Rodriguez as his heir-apparent, he felt that a union with his biological granddaughter might bind the lad more to him--for only then would they have a common "blood" interest.
Rodriguez and Kelley (right) corroborated each other's claim that Berg and Karen Zerby would take them to bed. Moreover, they both said that Berg expected Ricky to have sex with his mother, while Davida performed sex acts on David. As she told CNN:
He [Berg] was a sick fucking pedophile. He was just a sick fucking pervert. He interpreted, like, the law of love and the Bible and religion into his own little sick perverted way, and that meant being able to violate, and abuse anyone and everyone….Natalie Raynes, a friend of Rodriguez, characterized molestation as typical within the CoG. As she wrote in a January 2006 article for the Australian edition of Cosmopolitan:
If someone touched you, you had no choice but to let them or they'd abuse you or a person you cared about in front of you, which was even worse.She also wrote that non-compliance to abuse led to more vicious punishment, or as phrased in the previous post, "discipline":
At nine, I was sent to a 'Victor Camp,' which was like a concentration camp for the cult's rebellious kids. I thought there'd be lots of other kids, but it was just me and one other boy. We were badly beaten, drilled with cult doctrines around the clock and made to clean up after everybody else. I was also on a 'silence restriction,' so I was forbidden to speak one word for three months or more.Although born into the cult, Merry, unlike most of the second-generation CoG members, did not grow up completely under its guidance. Her first real contact with it came when she accepted an invitation to visit her grandfather at his secret location. For most of us, the opportunity to meet a grandparent is a no-brainer decision. Unfortunately for her, it was a tremendous mistake, which trapped her inside the cult. And, because she didn't grow up in it, she knew that the lives of most of her peers on the outside differed vastly from those within the CoG colonies. Upon turning fourteen, she protested their ways, and the incestuous rape by her grandfather.
The cult's "discipline" of Merry was exceedingly harsh, consisting of nasty verbal and sexual abuse and torture in an effort to "exorcise her demons." Moreover, the cult openly admitted to it's brutal treatment of her in a Mo Letter titled "The Last State?--The Dangers of Demonism!" (DO, dated March 1987). Here, Berg recorded his tirade against the girl, punctuated by numerous slaps to the face, with the promise of starvation ("fasting") and more severe "discipline" to come.
In commentary to the previous post, Shrinky noted the lack of official or community concern about obvious criminal activity that included the rape of children. As we will see, the CoG/Family of Love enjoyed a number of political connections, and they could very well have shielded themselves from prosecution. But that protection began to break down during the 1990s. As more and more authorities commenced investigations against them for charges ranging from tax fraud to child pornography to kidnapping, the group defended themselves the best they could. On one front, they engaged in PR, depicting the investigations and subsequent raids as "persecutions."
On another front, they tried to destroy evidence of past crimes by re-writing their history. It's in this vein that the Pub Purges, a systemic effort to root out controversial DO and other sensitive materials from their libraries, occurred. Likewise, they issued a 1992 statement on child abuse, claiming that they (a) loved their children; (b) neither condoned nor tolerated abuse of any kind; (c) abuse existing in the cult might have been done by some individuals acting on their own in violation of their beliefs; (d) there was no evidence to the contrary; (e) that most of the most controversial beliefs stemmed from their time as the Children of God, but were excised when the group reorganized as The Family of Love; (f) most of their sexually based ministries officially ended in 1987 because of the AIDS crisis; and (f) they really, really, loved their children:***
It has come to our attention that serious accusations of sexual misconduct involving children are being made against members of our fellowships, principally by some disaffected former members who are working in conjunction with various anti-cult organizations. In the absence of any medical or other tangible evidence to support these allegations, our adversaries have produced some rather extreme and outdated examples of literature published in the past by some in our former fellowships, maintaining that such literature accurately reflects the present lifestyle and practices of our membership. Nothing could be further from the truth. Therefore, we feel it necessary to confront and deal with this issue directly, in order to provide objective observers with an opportunity to hear all facts regarding this matter, that they may draw their own conclusions. [emphasis original]Now, I could cite more court-quality evidence of rampant childhood physical and sexual abuse occurring within the CoG. But if I documented a substantial portion, they would easily dwarf the current total contents of this blog. Therefore, the testimony of victims is overwhelming, consistent, redundant--in other words, the best type of eyewitness evidence one could present. On the other hand, the CoG/FoL flatly denied that any abuse existed. Despite the fact Berg wrote ML's and True Komix encouraging childhood sex; despite the fact they filmed and photographed children in stripteases and other sexually provocative circumstances; and despite the fact that leadership instructed members to lie to authorities in the case of trouble the Family International would seem to expect us to accept their indignant vehemence as evidence of religious persecution.
Under those circumstances, whom would you believe? The Family International, or its disgruntled former members?
In case you had just a brief notion to answer the former, let me point this out: the 1992 document said, "From that point on (1985), any adult member found guilty of having any kind of sexual contact with a minor was excommunicated from our fellowships." Problem is, Merry Berg was born in 1972, and her abuse continued until she left the group, at age eighteen, in 1990. That's five years of non-excommunicated folks, including the founder. Raynes was born in 1983, and her abuse continued until 1999, when she left. Yet she said (as have many others) that molestation was rampant in the cult long after this 1985 deadline, and those children who put up resistance to it faced "discipline."
*From the context it's difficult to ascertain whether she means there won't be any more Family International, or if she means that the Thompson family itself will cease to exist.
**While it appears to be common knowledge within the cult that they maintained an incestuous relationship for decades, Faith and David flatly denied the accusation.
***As mentioned in a previous post, the Children of God reorganized as the Family of Love in 1987, but the organization has always existed under various aliases. In order to cut down on confusion, I'm referring to all of these entities and incarnations as the Children of God, unless there is a specific reason to single out another name.
Labels: CoG, innocence, mind control
Monday, April 04, 2011
The Loving Children of an Ungodly Father: Controlling the Kids
In his conclusion to "The Lustful Prophet," Dr. Stephen Kent noted that while some aspects of Freudian psychology explain Berg, others do not. Most critically:
To Freudian psychohistorians, Berg is the 'primal father' ('Dad' to group members) who hoards the women of his 'clan,' often stealing them from his 'sons.' Unexpectedly, however, none of the younger "sons" kill him--a reality at odds with the classic primordial myth in which they commit patricide…. Here we see the first of several differences from Freudian themes that suggest the limited utility of classic psychoanalytic interpretations to this religious figure and his work. Berg survived, and seemingly thrived, in the open atmosphere of sexual noninhibition and antinomianism because of a practice that Freud had not considered possible: the primordial father gave his male underlings relatively equal access to a pool of women similar to his own. Under his edicts, these men acquired many more sexual opportunities with women than they ever could have had in regular society, since COG women were pressured against refusing the sexual advances of sexually desirous males.Here we can see Berg wielding sex as a weapon not only against females, but against the males in his flock. By heightening their identities as a function of their sexual attractiveness and availability, Berg reduced women to the status of almost physical organisms meant only to do domestic chores, have sex and bear children. Their acceptance of this policy meant that they had no choice in the selection of sex partners. Any man could have any woman he wanted--provided leadership approved, and usually they did. Consequently, the men in the CoG at this time had little inclination towards jealousy, and less desire to leave the group, or challenge Berg's authority within it.
Berg took great care to control the cult's future by manipulating the children born in it, and (like River Phoenix) very young children whose parents had joined. The first step that made this possible consisted of splitting families apart, so that many children grew up virtually parentless, reared and cared for by a series of nannies who rotated from one colony to another at the discretion of leadership.
The next step involved schooling that served very little purpose in terms of education. In fact, the cult really didn't want the next generation to have much more than an elementary school education--enough so that they could be useful to the cult, but not enough to make an appreciable living in the outside world. What formal schooling they actually got heavily leaned toward indoctrination to obey authority no matter what.
Figure 1. Child discipline tape
The above clip comes from an actual child discipline tape produced by the cult for instructional purposes. The theme of complete and unquestioned obedience is front and center, with the threat of punishment first and foremost. In one example, we see a teacher taking away privileges for a minor infraction, with the threat of more serious punishment if the individualistic behavior continued.
While the children later on refer to spankings, it's unclear as to the harshness of this form of corporal punishment. After all, there's some difference between a single half-hearted swat and a score of home-run swings. Berg freely discussed corporal punishment in the context of his own upbringing. The type of punishment Berg recalled receiving from his father seem excessively brutal--perhaps even sadistic. But unlike his mother's punishments, which tended to the psychological and verbal, Berg had high praise for his father's harshness, saying that it was really good for him.
Consequently, Berg expected his followers to exact corporal punishment. He also expected the children receiving to express their gratitude and joy at receiving it. Towards the end of the child discipline tape, we hear an interviewer ask some of the kids for their opinion on spankings. Knowing they were on videotape, what else could they do but declare it the best thing since unsliced bread. One exchange I found particularly chilling:
[Interviewer]: Do you think you get too much discipline here, sometimes?
[Seven-year old girl]: No, we just get as much as we need.
[Interviewer]: So you get enough, then?
[Girl]: Yes.
[Interviewer]: Do you like getting discipline?
[Girl]: (pauses) Well, sometimes it's hard to understand, but then I think about it, and…I sorta… I like discipline, a little.To any kid in the CoG, this message would be fairly clear: "You will do as we say, and like it. Otherwise, we will punish you. And you will like that." Later in the interview:
[Interviewer]: If we do naughty things, and we get disciplined, then why do you think we still do naughty things, even if we know we're gonna get disciplined for it?
[Girl]: (immediately) 'Cause we don't have a fear of the Lord.Given the degree to which David Berg and his agents conflated their own orders and authority with that of God and Christ, we can easily see that these children were to fear and obey the dictates of the leadership. Also, the quickness of this child's reply gives me cause to believe that it was a programmed response, which she internalized well. Had she not, they wouldn't have used her for the clip.
Berg took an active role in determining the cult's policy on children. After all, one of the perks of promoting free sex and flirting fishing is that these activities produced children. The more children, the more the organization could expand and maintain viability in the future. In a number of family publications, Berg used his own household as a blueprint for how a family should run. His biological children long since grown up, his new family consisted of himself, his girlfriend/common-law wife Karen Zerby, Zerby's daughter Christina Zerby (called 'Techi' by the cult), her son Ricky Rodriguez (called "Davidito"), and Davida Kelley, daughter of Berg lieutenants Alfred and Sara Kelley. Later, Merry Berg (called Mene) lived with them for a four-year stretch. Merry was Berg's biological granddaughter, the offspring of his late son Paul and his 'betrothed' Judy Helmstedler.* Christina's father was Michael Sweeny (called Timothy Concerned), at the time Berg's second-in-command. Ricky was produced as a result of flirty fishing, and from birth Berg groomed him to be his heir-apparent.
Berg started the Life with Grandpa comic book series, in which he explained to children various aspects of cult life. Each issue focused on either Davida, Davidito, Techi or Merry. Whereas these often stressed the themes of discipline and obedience present in other cult material meant for kids, they also introduced to them the cult's sexual mores. In explaining flirty fishing and resultant families to the young, Berg wrote in one titled "Real Fathers" (GP, date unknown):
See, God just used Timothy and Carlos [Ricky's father] only to fuck Mama [Zerby] so that I could have you both. They were both just an instrument or tool that Jesus used to help create you wonderful children for His Kingdom! Praise the Lord!You read that right. The above was intended for children.
Christina and Ricky also played center stage in childrearing books for adults.** In these, the sexualization of both children is candidly on display. In one titled Techi's Life Story, Christine, as a toddler, appears nude several times. Berg called further attention to her various states of undress writing a caption reading "A drape to cover her pubic area would have been better." Later, she would videotape one of the cult's notorious kiddie stripteases. The Story of Davidito featured a number of photos ranging from suggestive to, well, softcore, where Rodriguez posed with a number of nannies, often in some stage of undress, or sharing some intimate moment with him.
Figure 2. Rodriguez with nanny Angela Smith (née Susan Kauten) in The Story of Davidito
Heavily implied here was that the nanny or mother should include sexual play in the care giving of little boys--much as Maria the maid did to him, at that age. As for little girls, we can see them as sexualized very early as well. The difference here was that little boys were reared to expect sexual pleasure. The little girls were reared to give it.
Moreover, if mothers followed the "suggestions" put forth in The Story of Davidito, that would require having sex with their sons. Berg did not consider incest a taboo, as we can see from his relationship to his cousin, and his amorous feelings towards his mother. While Christina Zerby and Berg's daughter Faith, both still attached to the cult, swore that their father never molested them, Merry, Ricky and Davida, and his daughter Linda Berg Davis--all of who left the cult--unequivocally stated that, like charity, sex in the Berg house began at home.
*At the time of betrothal, Paul was still married to his first wife, Sarah. He died in France after falling off a cliff in 1973. Police ruled his death a suicide.
**These books were much like comic books, except that they mostly used photographs instead of drawings. In many of these photos, however, the cult superimposed drawings over the faces of the women engaged in sexual conduct with these children. One could speculate that they deliberately did this to hide their identities from law enforcement, should this DO material reach outsiders.
Labels: CoG, cults, espionage, innocence, mind control, political theory
Friday, April 01, 2011
Legends, Hoaxes and the Big Lie: Delayed Fools
Normally, I run a gag piece on April 1. To celebrate the day this year, we'll try something a little different. So I hereby interrupt the current series to bring you a previous one.
Anglia Television, now an ITV franchise, started out as an independent local station serving the East Anglia region of England. One of their 1970s series, Science Report, featured weekly documentaries on scientific topics in a very calm, rational manner. The program was stuffy, high-brow and all that--the last show you'd imagine pulling off some sort of April Fools prank.
But pulled it off, they did. With music produced by Brian Eno, Science Report filmed a 1977 episode titled "Alternative 3." Meant as an April Fools Day gag, "Alternative 3" flatly announced that top scientists around the world had suddenly vanished. Science Report reporters then took it upon themselves to find out (1) if their disappearances were connected; and (2) if so, where did everyone go. Through a bit of sleuthing and luck, the journalists discover this huge US/UK/USSR conspiracy to whisk the world's top minds away to a lunar moon base. Their goal: to colonize Mars for the wealthy, while the poor masses would be stuck on Earth where climate change would eventually kill off most of the population.
You'd think that the intellectually curious viewers who normally comprised Science Report's audience would have recognized this as a hoax. You'd also think they would call the station in droves wondering why they would ruin a decent show by airing a joke episode.
Viewers flooded the Anglia TV swtichboard immediately after "Alternative 3's" first (and last) broadcast, all right. But instead of decrying an obvious con, they demanded more information.
In other words, no one got the joke. Of course, the show was always so deadly serious. And this one seemed no different than the others in this regard. But you'd still think that the audience would have put two and two together. They would have said, "Okay. This is April 1st. This has obviously got to be some sort of April Fools joke, right?"
Given the smarts of the show's primary audience, they probably would have pegged it for an April Fool's Day joke--if, in fact, the program aired, as intended, on April 1st. For some inexplicable reason, Anglia TV decided not to air "Alternative 3" until some two months later, in June 1977. Thus, no one connected it to April Fools Day, and consequently the audience saw it as another serious episode.
The problem expanded when Anglia let the public in on the ruse. Many people didn't believe the hoax explanation, among them Jim Keith, Mae Brussell, and, curiously, the author hired to novelize the television show. Leslie Watkins published Alternative 3 (the book) in 1978, and immediately found himself besieged by critics for fear-mongering. At the same time, he received a number of fan letters of support. Both groups, it would seem, took the story at face value. Watkins knew that his book was fiction. However, subsequent events gave him reason to suspect that he might have unwittingly stumbled onto a true story--in whole or part:
I'd written a work of fiction, yet vast number of readers were insistent it was fact. 'Insistent' is the right word. I was denounced as a coward and a liar when I explained that I'd dreamed up the controversial scenario….Watkins planned to use all the evidence given to him in a sequel titled Backlash to Alternative 3. But movers lost the chest containing it when he relocated shortly thereafter.
Coincidence? Conspiracy? Could this be the hoax that ultimately punked itself?
Keep an ear to the ground. Meanwhile, get some popcorn and watch the show.
Figure 1. Alternative 3
Labels: April 1, inaccuracy, media, political theory, ufology, urban legends
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Ross The Boss
New Metal Leader
November 2008
Released: AFM , n/a
Rating: 2.0/5
Reviewer: Anders Sandvall
Guitarist and songwriter Ross the Boss is back with a new album and a new band that partially consists of the German power metal act Ivory Knight. The members of Ivory Knight also have a tribute band called Men Of War where they cover the music of Manowar. Ross the Boss and his band have toured a lot together and now it's time for the guys to release their debut album.
NEW METAL LEADER is a well-played heavy metal album and there are quite a few influences of Manowar heard here and there. Unfortunately, the music sounds like pretty much every other act in this genre and the group doesn't have a unique approach at all. However, Ross hasn't lost his talent for playing guitar and his riffing sounds actually really good as he is both technical and fast. He delivers some really impressive axe-work thoughout the entire album.
A huge weak link in this chain is the lead singer Patrick Fuchs who has major problems with delivering anything at all. It sounds awful when he takes on the higher notes, which only turn out to be plain screams. He is not Rob Halford even though it seems like he thinks he is. Another huge problem is the plain and boring material. The lasting impressions of the songs are that they are un-inspired, boring, and pale. This is not an album I would go out and buy that is for sure.
The only tracks that actually feel OK are "Blood Of Knives", "God Of Dying", "We Will Kill" and "Matador". Those are fast, heavy and aggressive epic heavy metal tunes with brilliant guitar work by Ross The Boss. NEW METAL LEADER is an anonymous album that you might as well do better without having. A few good tracks do not make an album and this disc is a disappointment.
Track Listing
Ross The Boss – guitar
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ATLANTA – Michigan's third-round game against VCU was expected to be one of the more intriguing matchups of the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament.
Michigan's high-octane offense against VCU's suffocating defense. Michigan's prized guards against VCU's swarming full-court press.
It was strength versus strength -- and the Wolverines flexed their muscles, unraveling the "Havoc" defense and turning the game into a 78-53 laugher.
Now here they are, preparing to play in the national championship game Monday night (9:23 p.m. CBS) against a Louisville team that also likes to press and feasts off turnovers.
"It reminds me of VCU, just a little more amped up," freshman forward Mitch McGary said. "Their pressure is a lot more intense, and how they match up with different guys and bring different guys and back off. It's kind of hectic. They kind of bring the havoc.
"It'll be a difficult challenge for us, but if we scout it well and take care of the ball, then we should be in good shape."
Louisville has created a turnover on 27.3 percent of opponent possessions, second only to VCU. But Michigan is the best in the country at hanging on to the basketball, turning it over on just 14.5 percent of possessions.
Michigan's game against VCU will help it prepare for Louisville's intense pressure on the short turnaround from Saturday night's semifinal win against Syracuse. VCU coach Shaka Smart, in fact, is a second-hand disciple of Louisville coach Rick Pitino.
Smart developed his press principles while working at Florida under Billy Donovan, who once was a Kentucky assistant under Pitino in the early 1990s.
Now, Michigan will face the father of the modern-day press himself, Pitino. Although the the Cardinals insisted this week they are not VCU, and that their press is different than the Rams' trap-heavy scheme.
"What they did against VCU was something amazing, but we just have to play better defense," Louisville point guard Peyton Siva said. "We full-court press, but we don't press like VCU. I think, honestly, we rely on our half-court defense more. Our thing is, we don't trap every single play. We like to run and jump, we like to trap sometimes, we just like to keep the offense on its toes and always ready.
"We know we might not turn them over at the beginning, but we just have to wear them down and wear them down, and continue to just play our game."
Siva's matchup against Michigan point guard Trey Burke will be one to watch in this game, as the Cardinals search for ways to make Michigan uncomfortable.
One way to do that is keep the ball out of Burke's hands, which Louisville says it will try to accomplish.
"Our press is very funny," Louisville forward Wayne Blackshear said. "We have different types of presses. If we make a 3, we're in the 'White' press, make a 2-pointer and it's '22.' So I mean, whatever they give us, we'll give them a different press, so it kind of confuses the other team.
"We know their No. 1 ballhandler is Trey Burke. So if we can get the ball out of his hands, I think we can cause a lot of problems for them."
That puts more pressure on secondary ballhandlers such as Tim Hardaway Jr., Nik Stauskas or even point guard Spike Albrecht off the bench.
Albrecht played 14 minutes against VCU, much of it with Burke on the floor as well. Michigan could again deploy that kind of ball-security lineup to help counter the Cardinals' pressure.
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They leveled it in about two hours, wrapping and labeling holiday gifts for children they've never met with an alacrity that would make Santa's elves nod their heads in approval. Miniature mountains -- these made from empty rolls of gift wrap -- sprang up around the room.
The 120 or so volunteers, about half of them from local Nestle Waters North America bottling plants, were on hand to prepare for the 20th annual Spirit of the Lehigh Valley. The gifts, as well as thousands of cookies baked tonight, will be presented to 4,500 needy families at the Christmas Eve event.
Local service agencies refer families who attend the holiday celebration, which will also include dinner, live entertainment and, of course, a visit from St. Nicholas.
At one table, Northampton resident Marguerite Figueriedo wrapped an oddly shaped toy with speed that bespoke her status as a mom and veteran Christmas-gift giver. Beside her, David Cardona, of Bethlehem, joked, "They don't know it, but I slipped in my grandkids toys so they could get wrapped."
At another table, Parkland High School sophomore MacKenna Bonawitz painstakingly folded paper and applied tape to her toy like the resulting package would be graded.
Figueriedo and Bonawitz may have different styles, but offered the same explanation when asked why they sacrificed valuable shopping time to wrap a stranger's presents.
"It's the season of giving," Figueriedo said. Plus, "It's fun," Bonawitz said.
Figeriedo was joined at her table by other folks who learned about the event through Lehigh Valley Fun with Friends, a Meetup group. Bonawitz came with Ali Pany and other members of Parkland's Key Club.
Like the ballroom, the hotel kitchen buzzed with activity and good cheer as volunteers baked roughly 10,000 cookies from dough donated by Nestle Waters, which also supplied bottled water and paid for Spirit of the Lehigh Valley's posters and promotional materials this year.
Al Weaver, a Nestle Waters facility manager who lives in Berks County, said he brought his family along tonight to join in the fun. His children, coworkers and other volunteers formed an assembly line to transfer baked treats to storage containers and refill the newly empty baking pans with more dough.
"We're just helping out our neighbors," Weaver sad of volunteering for Spirit of the Lehigh Valley.
For David Anselm, of Allentown, joining others to prep for Spirit of the Lehigh Valley is part of his holiday tradition. He's helped out in one way or another for each of the last 13 years.
Anselm enjoys volunteering for the same reason he enjoys his job as a paratransit bus driver for Easton Coach. "I love helping people," he explained.
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Barbers at Mane Source Barbershop on Palisade Avenue in the Jersey City Heights raised $4,400 for the American Red Cross relief efforts in the Philippines. At Liberty State Park, a group of Filipino photographers with the Bergenfield-based MPW Media Group also donated their services to raise money for Typhoon Haiyan victims.
Dozens of people waited for their turn to pay a $20 donation to get a haircut. The barbershop also sold merchandise and collected clothing, blankets and other donations for the victims of the historic typhoon.
"It's indescribable to see all this support," said Marte Alejandro, a Filipino who owns the shop with Hector Santana. "We have seven barbers, a stylist and at least 10 volunteers here. There's a U-Haul truck parked outside that's going to drop off all the donated things we get today (to an air cargo transporter)."
Jersey City Council President Rolando Lavarro got a shape-up for the cause.
The photographers, meanwhile, charged customers $50 for a photo session, the proceeds of which were sent to Calvary Full Gospel Church in Pennsylvania, which is engaged in the relief effort. Stationed near the Empty Sky 9/11 memorial near the banks of the Hudson River, the dozen photographers snapped away from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
"We got the word out through Facebook," said Clarinda Maningas, 37, one of the organizers of the event. "We were holding two events. One in Pennsylvania (today) and the other here."
Maningas hoped to raise about $2,000 in Jersey City.
"We're here for a family picture and to help out the Philippine victims," said Union County resident Will Alcala, accompanied by his wife Elaine and their baby.
Photographer Nathan Supan, 38, said, "It feels great to give back.
To help, visit www.redcross.org.