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Long-gone lead factories leave poisons in nearby yards
Ken Shefton is furious about what the government knew eight years ago and never told him — that the neighborhood where his five sons have been playing is contaminated with lead.
Their Cleveland home is a few blocks from a long-forgotten factory that spewed toxic lead dust for about 30 years.
The Environmental Protection Agency and state regulators clearly knew of the danger. They tested soil throughout the neighborhood and documented hazardous levels of contamination. They never did a cleanup. They didn't warn people living nearby that the tainted soil endangers their children.
INTERACTIVE: Explore more than 230 lead-factory sites
PHOTOS: Historical photos of forgotten lead factories
VIDEO: Ghost Factories: A failure to protect the public
"I needed to know that," Shefton said. "I've got a couple of kids that don't like to do nothing but roll around in the dirt."
More than a decade ago, government regulators received specific warnings that the soil in hundreds of U.S. neighborhoods might be contaminated with dangerous levels of lead from factories operating in the 1930s to 1960s, including the smelter near Shefton's house, Tyroler Metals, which closed around 1957.
This 1940 photo shows Northwestern Smelting and Refining at 2523 Hiawatha Ave. in Minneapolis. State regulators told the EPA in 2002 they found no information that a smelter once operated at the site.
Despite warnings, federal and state officials repeatedly failed to find out just how bad the problems were. A 14-month USA TODAY investigation has found that the EPA and state regulators left thousands of families and children in harm's way, doing little to assess the danger around many of the more than 400 potential lead smelter locations on a list compiled by a researcher from old industry directories and given to the EPA in 2001.
In some cases, government officials failed to order cleanups when inspectors detected hazardous amounts of lead in local neighborhoods. People who live nearby — sometimes directly on top of — old smelters were not warned, left unaware in many cases of the factories' existence and the dangers that remain. Instead, they bought and sold homes and let their children play in contaminated yards.
PHOTOS: In the fallout zone: A Cleveland neighborhood
READ DAY 2: Some neighborhoods dangerously contaminated by lead fallout
The USA TODAY investigation shows widespread government failures taking several forms:
•A failure to look. At dozens of sites, government officials performed cursory inquiries at best. In Minnesota, Indiana and Washington, state regulators told the EPA they could find no evidence that some smelters ever existed.
Yet in those states and others, reporters found the factories clearly documented in old insurance maps, town council minutes, city directories and telephone books — even in historical photos posted on the Web.
•A failure to act. In Pennsylvania, Maryland and Wisconsin, the EPA sent investigators to scores of sites from 2004 to 2006 after verifying a lead smelter once operated. The investigators recommended soil tests in the neighborhoods. Most of the tests were not done.
•A failure to protect. Even when state and federal regulators tested soil and found high levels of lead, as they did around sites in Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago and Portland, Ore., they failed for years to alert neighbors or order cleanups. Some kids who played in yards with heavily contaminated soil have dangerous levels of lead in their bodies, according to medical records obtained by USA TODAY.
Read more
In response to the investigation and USA TODAY's soil tests in 21 neighborhoods, government officials are taking action at old smelter sites in 14 states, ranging from reopening flawed investigations to testing soil to cleaning up contaminated property. In March, New York City officials closed four ball fields in a Brooklyn park after learning from USA TODAY that the area was a former smelter site with elevated levels of lead.
"EPA and our state and local partners have overseen thousands of cleanups, through a variety of programs," said Mathy Stanislaus, an EPA assistant administrator. "Unfortunately, some of the sites USA TODAY identified have not yet been addressed or investigated by EPA. EPA will review USA TODAY's information to determine what steps can be taken to ensure Americans are not being exposed to dangerous levels of lead."
The EPA says it has worked with states to assess most of the sites on the 2001 list but that record-keeping is "incomplete" for many. Eighteen sites received some kind of cleanup but most weren't considered dangerous enough to qualify for federal action.
"I am convinced we have addressed the highest-risk sites," said Elizabeth Southerland, director of assessment and remediation for the EPA's Superfund program. "Absolutely and positively, we are open to reassessing sites that we now feel, based on your information, need another look."
EPA staff members said additional site reviews are underway, including checks of 48 sites the agency determined were never assessed. And the EPA said it will work with Ohio environmental regulators to re-examine the Cleveland neighborhood near Shefton's home to see whether a cleanup evaluation there is appropriate.
Ken Shefton and his family aren't waiting for the government to do a cleanup. His 6-year-old son, Jonathan, was diagnosed this spring with having an elevated level of lead in his body, Shefton said: "That was the last straw." He's in the process of selling his home. The family moved to another neighborhood last week. "Somebody needs to take care of this problem, or inform the people in this neighborhood," he said.
Concerns surfaced a decade ago
Most of the nation's lead factories — some huge manufacturing complexes and others tiny storefront melting shops — had been largely shuttered by the 1970s and 1980s. Often known as smelters, they emitted thousands of pounds of lead and other toxic metal particles into the air as they melted down batteries and other products containing lead.
The particles would land on nearby properties, potentially mixing with lead dust from automobile exhaust or paint chips — significant sources, says the government — to create a hazard. Children who play in lead-contaminated soil, sticking dust-covered hands or toys in their mouths, over time can suffer lost intelligence and other irreversible health problems.
Lead: The danger
Many people are aware of the risk of lead-based paint in older homes. Less known is that your home could be surrounded by lead-contaminated soil, even if you don't live near an old factory site. Lead particles can build up in the top few inches of soil from several sources: lead-based paint, factory emissions and exhaust from vehicles that once burned leaded gasoline.
What you can do
Create a barrier: Avoid letting children play in bare soil, especially in a city. Laying down a thick layer of sod, mulch or even a blanket can reduce their exposure to lead dust in soil. Consider replacing contaminated soil with clean dirt. Keep children's play areas and vegetable gardens away from the "dripline" around the base of homes or garages, where soil is more likely to be contaminated from airborne lead particles and flaking paint.
Wash up: Children are exposed to lead dust by putting dirty hands or toys in their mouths. Wash hands and toys frequently. "For lead, there's no five-second rule. If you drop a lollipop in the dirt or window well, you can't put it back in your mouth. Either wash it off or throw it away," said Mary Jean Brown, chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's lead poisoning prevention branch.
Eat well: Good nutrition can protect children from the effects of lead exposure. "If you don't have enough calcium or iron, your body will absorb (more) lead," Brown said.
Get tested: Pediatricians and local health departments can test children's blood to measure lead levels. Local health departments can provide advice on how to test homes, yards and gardens for lead.
Keep surfaces clean: Household dust can be a major source of lead exposure for children. "Contaminated soils do come into people's homes and get incorporated into house dust," said Miriam Rotkin-Ellman, an environmental scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. Leave shoes at the door to avoid tracking contaminated soil inside. Wet-mop floors and wet-wipe surfaces -- especially window ledges -- every two to three weeks, the CDC advises.
By Alison Young
In April 2001, environmental scientist William Eckel published a research article in the American Journal of Public Health warning about the dangers of old smelting factories. While working on his Ph.D. dissertation, Eckel had identified a historical smelting site unknown to federal and state regulators and wondered how many other sites had been forgotten over time, their buildings demolished or absorbed by other businesses.
Eckel used old industry directories, which he cross-referenced with EPA databases, to come up with a list of more than 400 potential lead-smelting sites that appeared to be unknown to federal regulators.
Eckel confirmed that 20 of the sites' addresses were factories — and not just business offices — using Sanborn fire insurance maps, which detail the historical uses of individual pieces of property. An additional 86 sites were specifically listed in directories as "plant" locations. He paid to have soil samples tested from three sites in Baltimore and five in Philadelphia. All but one of the samples exceeded the EPA's residential hazard level for lead in areas where children play.
Eckel's article warned that the findings "should create some sense of urgency for the investigation of the other sites identified here because they may represent a significant source of exposure to lead in their local environments." The research indicates "a significant fraction" of the forgotten sites will require cleanups — likely at state and federal expense — because most of the companies went out of business long ago.
Buried by bureaucracy?
Eckel's research caught the attention of the EPA, which in 2001 asked him for a copy of his unpublished list, then shared it with EPA regional offices.
Records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act offer few details of the exact instructions the EPA gave to those receiving the list. Southerland, the EPA Superfund official, said the agency didn't provide regional offices any additional money or people to evaluate the old smelter locations. It asked only that the sites be put in their queues for possible assessment.
"We only have about 80 people and $20 million each year to do our site assessment program," Southerland said. About half of that money is sent by the EPA to state agencies.
Cleaning up contamination left by a smelter can be expensive. In Omaha, the EPA has cleaned up 10,000 residential yards and spent nearly $250 million addressing a former smelter there that wasn't on Eckel's list because it was already known to the agency. Many of the factories on Eckel's list were smaller operations.
With limited resources and many contaminated sites, state and federal environmental officials have to prioritize assessing sites they consider of greatest risk, Southerland said, and drinking-water contamination tends to trump soil contamination.
In addition, Southerland said, the EPA is authorized to clean up contamination only if it can show it came from an industrial release. That can be tricky to determine in some urban areas, where the agency says it's not uncommon to find high levels of lead contamination in soil, "particularly in large cities … due to historic gasoline emissions from vehicles, aerial deposition from industrial facilities, and lead paint," the EPA said in a statement.
The government's efforts to investigate the sites on Eckel's list varied widely, records show. Dozens were never investigated. Others received a cursory records review or a "windshield survey" — a drive-by type of visit. Soil was tested at some sites, but the testing in some cases was limited to the former smelter's property boundaries and ignored where the wind might have carried airborne contamination; in other cases, testing was also done in nearby neighborhoods.
By 2005, concerned the list of 464 sites had been too large of a workload for the regions, officials at EPA headquarters launched their own assessment effort, Southerland said. The focus was on having regions examine a sampling of 31 sites from Eckel's list. They concluded many lacked evidence that they were ever smelters, according to a 2007 report obtained under FOIA marked "For Internal EPA Use Only." The report said only one of the sites determined to have been factories, Loewenthal Metals in Chicago, might qualify for a federal cleanup and the rest were being addressed by state regulators. Southerland said a North Carolina site ultimately received a federal cleanup.
Only six of EPA's 10 regional offices had undertaken some sort of smelter discovery initiative, according to the 2007 internal EPA report. Two of those initiatives — one by federal officials in Pennsylvania and Maryland, the other by EPA Region 5 and Michigan state officials — focused on sites from Eckel's list, the report said.
Michigan regulators took actions at some Detroit smelters after the Detroit Free Press in 2003 did historical research into 16 Detroit sites on Eckel's list and found smelting or foundry work at most of them. Only one site was being cleaned up at the time of the report. In 2006-07, cleanups occurred in two more neighborhoods, according to a state contractor's report.
But in scores of other cases, USA TODAY found government agencies didn't do much to protect families and children — even when their own tests showed dangerous levels of lead where people live.
Reporters scour 464 sites
The USA TODAY investigation set out to determine which sites remained unaddressed and to examine the depth and quality of any government assessments.
Reporters researched all 464 sites in 31 states that were on Eckel's list to determine how many were factories, rather than just business offices — and what, if anything, had been done to clean up those hazardous enough to threaten people living nearby.
Reporters spent weeks in the basement of the Library of Congress, researching its extensive collection of Sanborn maps. Maps showing smelting or factories were located for more than 160 sites — including many that regulators never looked for because they lacked exact street addresses. Reporters researched old phone books and city directories, archival photograph collections, old business directories, property records and corporation filings. They filed more than 140 federal, state and local public records requests with environmental, health and other government agencies to determine what, if any, assessments had been done of the sites and the risks posed to people nearby.
As a result, the investigation found evidence of smelting, foundries or lead manufacturing at more than 230 sites in 25 states on the list of forgotten factories.
The failure to protect
Ken Shefton, his wife and five boys lived until last week in a Cleveland neighborhood a few blocks northeast of the former site of the Tyroler Metals smelter. The area's two-story wood homes, mainly built around 1900, are flanked by factories, both operating and abandoned.
A smelter operated at the Tyroler site from about 1927 through 1957, according to the state's report. Smelting no longer occurs at the site, which is now a scrap yard with a different owner.
In 2002 and 2003, state regulators from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency— working at the request of the federal EPA — tested 12 samples of soil around the old site and in the nearby neighborhood. All but one showed lead contamination above the EPA's residential hazard level of 400 parts per million (ppm) of lead in bare soil where children play. Nine of the samples had lead levels ranging from twice to five times the hazard level, according to the state's report.
The results indicated a possible "airborne depositional pattern or plume towards the northeast," the report said. In layman's terms: a fallout zone.
The state's research also identified that other smelters had been on adjacent properties dating to 1912, as well as a currently operating lead-manufacturing plant nearby. "A problem interfering with future investigation is attribution of lead contamination, due to multiple sources," the state's report said.
No matter the source, regulators never warned residents about what they found, and no cleanup occurred.
State regulators at the Ohio EPA said that without a specific polluter to blame — and force to pay for cleanup costs — there was nothing more they could do. "There are no Ohio EPA monies set aside and dedicated for this type of cleanup," the agency said in written responses to questions. "Our enforcement program focuses on responsible parties with the authority to legally compel them to fund cleanup."
Still, state regulators said that more than seven years ago they "recognized there could be potential for a health concern based on the sampling results." They said they fulfilled their duty by putting their findings about the neighborhood in a report and sending it to the EPA's regional office in Chicago. The state says it sent the report about Tyroler Metals, along with reports on eight other historical Cleveland smelter sites, to the director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health in June 2004.
Either agency could have followed up, the state said. Neither did.
Officials at the EPA regional office said that because the site didn't meet criteria for federal Superfund action, it was the state's responsibility. Federal and state officials now plan to review the site to see whether a cleanup evaluation is appropriate, the EPA said in a written statement.
Current and former Cleveland health department officials — including Matt Carroll, who at the time was health director, and Wayne Slota, who at the time was in charge of the lead poisoning prevention division — said they don't remember receiving the state's letter and reports about Tyroler Metals.
The only smelter issue they remember involved a different site on Eckel's list: Atlas Metals, where a city park had been built atop the old smelter site and state investigators had observed children playing in dirt that tests showed was significantly contaminated.
Of the 17 Ohio sites on Eckel's list — in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo — Atlas Metals was the only one records indicate received a cleanup.
By Alison Young, USA TODAY
McKinley Woodby holds Damien next to the boy's mother, Erin Fink, at their home near an old smelter site in Cleveland in October 2011. Damien played in the lead-laden soil.
A neighborhood suffers
"I'm concerned. I really don't know what to do," said McKinley Woodby, as he held his then-15-month-old son, Damien, on his lap. "I'm just a renter. I'm on a fixed income, so it ain't like I can dig the front yard up and bring in new dirt."
"I'm not going to let (Damien) back in the yard, I know that," he said, sitting on the front steps of their home about four blocks from the Tyroler Metals site.
When USA TODAY tested soil in the family's yard where Damien played, the results showed potentially dangerous contamination in four of five samples, ranging from 577 to 1,035 ppm. Although the EPA uses 400 ppm as its residential hazard level, California's environmental health agency has set 80 ppm as the level it says will protect children who regularly play in the dirt from losing up to 1 IQ point over time.
Damien's blood was checked a few weeks before USA TODAY tested the yard. Health department records show he had a blood-lead level of 4. That's below the federal action level — set in 1991 — but current science indicates children with levels below 5 are at risk of having decreased academic achievement.
Blood test results filed with the Ohio Department of Health show that during 2007 through mid-2011 in the smelter's ZIP code about 350 kids under age 6 had reported blood-lead levels of 5 or higher. About the same number had blood-lead levels of 2 to 4. There is not a definitive way to know how prevalent lead poisoning is in the area because not all children are screened and some tests are less accurate than others.
How much the lead in the dirt is contributing to the children's blood-lead levels is unclear. But experts say that soil is an important component, along with deteriorating lead-based paint in older homes and contaminated house dust.
Bruce Lanphear, a leading expert on childhood lead poisoning, said his research has estimated that for the average child about 30% of the lead in the body comes from contaminated soil, about 30% from contaminated house dust — which includes particles of flaking paint — and about 20% from water.
"Those were the major sources, so they're all fairly important," said Lanphear, a professor of children's environmental health at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.
A child's lead exposure can be very individualized, he said, depending on geography. For some children, it might be all about paint. "If you were to look at a community that's adjacent to a smelter, it might be that it's 80% soil, or 90% soil."
'Oh, my gosh, no, I didn't know'
In Chicago, officials have known for years about a neighborhood where contamination could pose a danger and have done little to address it. Walsh Elementary School in Pilsen is just down the block from the former site of Loewenthal Metals.
Delinda Collier said she had no idea the site used to be a lead smelter and was contaminated. There were no warning signs on the property. "Oh, my gosh, no, I didn't know," said Collier, 38, who rents an apartment across the street and lets her dog play on the vacant lot. "I'll bet nobody else does either."
Federal and state regulators knew.
Tests by the state in 2006 found the former smelter's vacant lot contaminated with up to 5,900 ppm of lead — more than 14 times the amount the EPA considers potentially hazardous in areas where children play.
"Since this site is in a residential area, the possibility of exposure is high," according to the report state officials sent to the EPA, which commissioned the work. But the site wasn't bad enough to qualify for its Superfund list, and the report was archived.
State regulators at the Illinois EPA said Loewenthal Metals was one of about 50 old smelter sites in Chicago they reviewed to varying degrees at the request of the U.S. EPA. The Loewenthal site had even been highlighted in the 2007 EPA headquarters report as the only site examined under its smelter initiative that might need a Superfund removal action.
Still, it fell through the cracks.
"We never got any follow-up instructions from them on what additional things to do with the reports we sent up to them," said Gary King, who was manager of the state agency's division of remediation management until he retired in December.
"Nonetheless, as a result, frankly, of the (open records) request that came in from USA TODAY and going back in and looking at this information … we concluded that it would be best to send in what we call a 'removal action' referral," King said. That means the state is now formally asking the EPA to remove the contamination from the property.
The state also is formally asking the EPA to clean up a second Chicago site, Lake Calumet Smelting, where its tests in 2004 found high levels of lead — up to 768,000 ppm — on the former factory's property. The nearest homes are about a half-mile away, records show.
The failure to act
Even when officials did identify factory sites and nearby neighborhoods that could be contaminated, they failed to follow through.
The EPA's Philadelphia regional office developed one of the agency's most comprehensive smelter initiatives in response to Eckel's report. Officials there sent contractors in 2005-06 to visit most of the 71 factory sites listed in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.
The assessments confirmed dozens of the sites had had smelters, reports show, with 34 of them in troubling proximity to homes, parks and schools. As a result, EPA contractors recommended soils nearby be tested. Despite the passage of years, testing has been done at 10 sites, fewer than a third, records show.
The EPA now says the site assessment process is ongoing and the agency must prioritize its use of resources. In some cases, the EPA may not agree with its contractor's recommendations. Still, the EPA said it plans an additional assessment at several sites in late 2012 or early 2013. The "lead smelter sites at this time do not seem to pose the same threats we are encountering at other sites in the region," the EPA said.
The threat seemed serious to others in 2004.
At that time, state and federal health officials distributed a health alert to doctors with a map of the Pennsylvania locations on Eckel's list. The alert by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry recommended doctors consider doing blood tests on children living near the sites to look for lead poisoning.
The EPA's Philadelphia regional office, however, says it sees no need to put out general warnings to neighbors of old smelter sites. "This type of approach would unnecessarily alarm residents and community members," it said. The office also said it saw no need to tell Maryland's state environmental agency about the 11 smelter sites in its state on Eckel's list. Nor did the EPA region alert the state agency that federal contractors had recommended soil testing around five of them.
USA TODAY provided Maryland officials the locations of the sites — and copies of the EPA's reports.
The EPA's failure to share such information is unusual, said Art O'Connell, chief of the Maryland Department of the Environment's state Superfund program. "I don't know what happened in this particular case, but it's certainly not the norm," he said.
As a result of the information provided by the newspaper, O'Connell said, the state recently examined the sites and determined that two former factories in Baltimore warrant further investigation: Industrial Metal Melting and Dixie Metal Co. The state has asked the EPA for funding to do soil testing and other investigation at the sites this year.
As for the three other factory sites where EPA's contractors recommended tests, O'Connell said his department believes they were small operations and had little impact on soil.
The failure to look very hard
Philadelphia-based officials started investigations; other EPA regions did far less.
Of the 120 sites on Eckel's list in New York and New Jersey, the EPA office responsible for those states sent inspectors to 14 locations. (USA TODAY found historical fire insurance maps and other documents showing evidence of smelting at 53 sites in those states.)
And even though the entire focus of Eckel's list involved smelters that had closed long ago, the EPA in 2002-03 inexplicably sent inspectors looking for active smelters at only nine of the locations.
"On each occasion, upon reaching the site where the smelter was supposedly operating, the inspector found the smelter had been closed down long ago," said Philip Flax, an EPA senior enforcement team leader, in a letter to USA TODAY that accompanied copies of some inspection reports.
In 2005-06, the EPA visited four more sites in New York and one in New Jersey.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection had files on only five of the 31 sites listed in its state, according to the department's responses to 31 separate open records requests it required USA TODAY to file. Only two of the files showed evidence the sites were smelters or lead factories. Yet USA TODAY later found evidence that 12 additional sites were factories. The state is now working with EPA to investigate, DEP spokesman Lawrence Hajna said. He also now says the department has located case files on some sites it told USA TODAY it didn't have.
In 2002 and 2003, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation did an "informal investigation" at some of the 89 sites listed in the state, spokeswoman Emily DeSantis said.
Four sites were known to the department and undergoing cleanups. At the remaining sites, the department concluded there was "no evidence" of environmental impacts or "no apparent impact," according to information provided by DeSantis.
Yet the department provided records documenting staff visits to just 13 of those sites. Others were assessed by the department's regional offices, DeSantis said, but the department had no record of those evaluations. There was no soil testing at any of the sites, she said, but USA TODAY's findings will be reviewed for possible follow-up.
In other states, USA TODAY repeatedly located smelters that regulators said their extensive research found no evidence had existed.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management told the EPA in 2002 they could not find the site of the former Chas. Braman & Sons factory in the north-central Indiana town of Plymouth. The list provided to them by the EPA had only a post office box as an address. "Numerous historical industrial directories, as well as Sanborn maps, were consulted without finding any reference to the site," the state said in a 2002 report sent to the EPA.
The newspaper found a street address for the plant listed in a 1959 edition of Plymouth's telephone directory. A call to Plymouth's City Hall produced council minutes beginning in 1954 showing that emissions from the plant were a source of citizen complaints. According to a 1956 article from a local newspaper that Plymouth's city attorney found in the town's history museum, the Chas. Braman & Sons "smelting plant manufactured granular aluminum, solder and lead."
In response to USA TODAY's findings, state regulators sent staff to Plymouth and took 24 off-site soil samples from various locations near the former facility. Another six samples were taken on the factory site, which is now a granular aluminum company.
All the state's tests showed lead levels below federal guidelines; many did not detect any lead. "We did not see anything we were concerned about," said Mark Jaworski, a project manager in the state's site investigations section. The current owner of the aluminum company on the property, John Oliver Sr., said there has been no lead smelting since the Bramans' sold their factory around 1965.
Minnesota regulators told the EPA in a 2002 memo they were unable to confirm whether any of the seven sites in their state had been smelters. USA TODAY found evidence of historical smelting at two of them.
A state employee checked corporation records and did a drive-by of the former Hiawatha Avenue location of Northwestern Smelting & Refining in Minneapolis and noted a construction company and a bus line were among current businesses there. "No information available as to the operation of a smelter at this location," wrote Gary Krueger in his 2002 assessment.
The newspaper found photographs from the 1940s of the smelter in operation posted on the Minnesota Historical Society's website. A reporter located a historical Sanborn fire insurance map at the Library of Congress showing three smelters there at one time.
Krueger told the EPA in 2002 he couldn't find evidence of a National Lead smelter, which had been listed in St. Paul without a street address in old industry directories. "Additional use of state resources cannot be justified based solely on name of potential facility somewhere in St. Paul," says the state's report.
A reporter located the factory by searching through old indexes to Sanborn fire insurance maps. The map shows the National Lead plant was in a warehouse district near the Mississippi River and what is now Harriet Island Regional Park and describes it as a manufacturer of lead pipe, babbitt, solder and printers' metals; it also shows melting kettles.
After being given the photos and maps found by USA TODAY, Krueger recently visited the St. Paul site and made a second visit to the Minneapolis site. Krueger, a project manager in the state's Superfund program, noted the areas have undergone redevelopment.
"Quite honestly, it really doesn't change anything," he said. Without more proof of a danger, Krueger said, his department can't justify doing any soil sampling.
USA TODAY tested soil near the former National Lead site in St. Paul and found elevated levels in street-side public rights-of-way ranging up to 539 ppm. None of the three samples taken inside the park — which is in the river's flood plain — showed lead levels above 400 ppm, the EPA's hazard level for children's play areas. Near the Minneapolis smelter site, USA TODAY's tests found varying levels of lead.
•COMING NEXT: More tests, more contamination
Additional reporting by Peter Eisler. Contributing: Adam Kerlin, Brad Heath, Nicole Dao, Paul Monies and Barbara Hansen.
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On March 13, 2013 after 5 votes Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was voted the new pope of the Roman Catholic Church. While the library doesn't own any biographies of the newly elected Pope Francis, we do have books on the Catholic Church, and other notable popes. If you are interested in learning more about the subject check out our collection.
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WATCH: Britney Spears sniffs out the other woman in 'Perfume'
Listen to Britney Spears on iHeartRadio
(Yahoo!) - A story oft replayed, Britney Spears takes the role of the other woman in her sexy, yet down-to-earth music video for "Perfume." It's refreshing to see the singer away from the hyper-glam pop spotlight for once for a treatment that's more akin to a Miranda Lambert video than a Britney video.
We like to fantasize that if Brit Brit wasn't a pop singer, this video would be her life: Small town in Mississippi, romancing a ruggedly handsome man, driving around in vintage pick-ups. But perhaps the surprising element of the video is that it is bereft of her usual aggressive product placement, minus Brit Brit's own "Fantasy" perfume, of course.
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Best kiln shelf to buy?
Posted 02 February 2013 - 09:27 PM
Posted 02 February 2013 - 10:44 PM
Posted 02 February 2013 - 11:18 PM
Raku, Pit fired, Majolica, and Stoneware ceramic artisit
Posted 03 February 2013 - 08:17 AM
Posted 03 February 2013 - 05:22 PM
You can always get advancers later if you become full time and fire a lot.
Posted 04 February 2013 - 10:18 PM
Why is it, that you don't have to use kiln wash on them?
Posted 04 February 2013 - 11:11 PM
Phew, I just looked up the Advancer shelves. They sound great, but you're right Mark, they are pricey. They are a little out of my price range for my school or home studio, but still nice.
Why is it, that you don't have to use kiln wash on them?
They don't need kiln wash. Glaze doesn't soak in so you can just wipe (or at least knock) it off.
"But it does move," said Galileo under his breath.
Posted 05 February 2013 - 02:25 AM
I know some potters who fire B-mix on advancers and had some stick and use alumina in the wax to keep that from happening.I think its easier just to wash them and be done.
Glaze knocks right off most of the time-it never can soak in as the surface is smooth not like any other shelve-I've been using them since sometime in the 90s and they pay for themselves if you fire enough because of the space saved every fire.
They are to fragile for most school situations. I gained over 16-18 inches of horizontal stacking space when I switched over from 1 inch dry high alumina English shelves which I now use in the salt kiln.
This 16-18 inches is every bisque and every glaze in my car kiln and adds up fast for production potters.I average about 35 shelves per fire.A little less in the bisque.
These shelves also do not like thermal shock so no quick cooling and they need to be taken care as they are thin and fragile when cool..
Posted 05 February 2013 - 05:45 PM
Starting out, I'd recommend plain old kiln shelves or the corelite honey-comb shelves that are more light weight. Unless shelf weight is really a factor to you and loading the kiln, or you are in serious production mode, I'd hold off on the Advancers. They require a fair amount of care to prevent dampness, etc. and are rather pricey. Better to make your glazing mistakes on shelves that are less costly.
Posted 05 February 2013 - 05:46 PM
Posted 05 February 2013 - 05:47 PM
I like the corderite shelves from axner.com because they are pretty lightweight, sturdy, and very inexpensive. a 13" round (the size I use in my tiny kin) is only like $13! plus if there is a glaze drip you can sand it off in seconds.
Posted 05 February 2013 - 05:47 PM
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Treatment for ovarian cancer begins with a surgery called a laparotomy. The extent of the surgery from this point will depend on how advanced the cancer is. Even if the cancer has not spread outside of the ovary, radical surgery is usually the best first treatment for ovarian cancer. Generally, the fewer cancer cells left behind after surgery, the better the outcome.
The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends that all women with ovarian cancer have surgery performed by a gynecologic oncologist—a doctor with special training in the treatment of cancers of the gynecologic organs.
Laparotomy is the opening of your abdomen by traditional surgery. Depending on your situation, your surgical procedure may involve:
- Identifying exactly how advanced the cancer is and how far it has spread
- Removing only the diseased ovary through oophorectomy—uncommon
- Removing both ovaries, both fallopian tubes, the uterus, and as much suspicious-looking lymph nodes or tissue as possible if the cancer has spread to other organs in the pelvis
For some early tumors, surgery alone may be a cure.
Most of the time, an incision will be made up and down in the midline of your abdomen, through which the ovary or female organs will be removed. The vagina will be sewn closed from the inside in such a way that sexual intercourse will not be hindered.
Lymph nodes will be sampled routinely, and those appearing suspicious will be taken out. The omentum is a fatty tissue around the intestine. It will be sampled if not entirely removed, as this is often involved with tumor deposits. The liver and diaphragm muscle will be explored, as will the bowel and the fluid that is inside your abdomen. Organs and lymph nodes that are removed will be sent to the pathologist for analysis.
The goal of the surgery is to remove as much tumor as possible. This is called debulking. Some believe that optimal debulking is the most important intervention that results in a cure. Optimal debulking is currently defined as leaving no piece of tumor behind that is greater than 1.0 centimeter (cm) in size. In the rare situation where more limited surgery is performed, the extent of the surgery will be dictated by what the surgeon finds.
Revision Information
- Reviewer: Mohei Abouzied, MD
- Review Date: 12/2015 -
- Update Date: 12/20/2014 -


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On Saturday night, along the Southern Warren trails, Officers Greg Dunn and Ben Geisler of the Warren County Sheriff's Office Snowmobile Unit were in "cold" pursuit. They noticed three sledders riding on the Prospect Mountain Highway portion of the trail around 8:10 p.m.
The first snowmobiler refused to stop but instead accelerated, forcing Dunn to jump out of the way to avoid being hit, authorities said. The second snowmobiler also kept going. Both fled up the trail but the Officers were able to get the third snowmobiler stopped, they said.
Dunn then found one of the snowmobilers nearby and arrested 38-year old Ronnie Hendrick of Queensbury, operating a 2002 Ski Doo. He was ticketed for failure to stop at a road crossing. The rider of the other snowmobile that nearly hit Dunn was later arrested – 48-year old William Morehouse of Queensbury. The snowmobile he was operating, a 2004 Arctic Cat, was impounded. Morehouse is charged with Reckless Endangerment, failure to stop at a road crossing, failure to comply with the direction of a Police Officer and Reckless Operation of a snowmobile.
They were all due in Lake George Court.


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Sire: Indian Charlie
Dam: Cradlesong (by Pine Bluff)
Owners: Wounded Warrior Stables and Anthony Robertson
Trainer: Gary Contessa
Uncle Sigh lost a pair of photo finishes to Samraat in the Withers and Gotham before finishing fifth in the Wood Memorial. However, that race may be better than it looks on paper, as the colt missed the break and suffered from a wide trip. Irad Ortiz, Jr., will get his first Derby mount aboard Uncle Sigh, and he and his brother Jose (on Samraat) are the first group of brothers to contest the same Derby since the Maples (Eddie and Sam) in 1984.
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Makes 6 popcorn balls. Each serves 1.
In large microwave-safe bowl, microwave marshmallow cream 1 minute at 50% Power. Remove bowl from microwave. Gently stir in popcorn, mixing until evenly coated. Lightly spray hands with vegetable pan spray. Shape into balls or other shape; press mixture firmly into baking cups.
Sprinkle tops with various sugars or sprinkles. If desired, position icing decorations on top.


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Wingmakers Material Validated & Verified! This is FIRST CONTACT People!
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[quote:Anonymous Coward 32938997:MV8yMjU1ODgzXzM4NzM5MTMzXzcyMjE3RDgw] I don't think Extra-Terrestrials are a threat. I believe it will be a series of events that bring about an apopalyptic nature...the sun, floods, economic collapse, WWIII...It's only a matter of time. I know it sounds dire, but Wingmakers is a catalyst for spiritual evolution. [/quote]
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Wingmakers Material validated & verified by former executive director of the American Association of Remote Viewers
"Much of this was already known to us in the early 90s, several years before
Jamisson Neruda
let the cat out of the bag to a journalist named Sara. Moreover, as a linguist,
direct contributions to the present effort have not extended beyond his initial exposition of the matter in his interviews with Sara and through the website subsequently set up to publicize the findings."
Source - [
link to www.agoracosmopolitan.com
Here are those actual Neruda interviews that this insider was speaking of.
The interviews contained in this section of the WingMakers' website are transcripts taken from a series of interviews between
Dr. Neruda
(the defected ACIO scientist) and Sarah the journalist he contacted shortly after his defection. These interviews provide provocative insights into the Advance Contact Intelligence Organization (ACIO) - the secret government organization responsible for reverse-engineering acquired extraterrestrial technologies.
The Neruda Interviews
also provide remarkable insight into a wide variety of topics, including the human genome, secret societies, new physics, cosmology, extraterrestrial influence on earth, and the spiritual nature and purpose of humankind. The interviews are recorded and then transcribed by Sarah exactly as they occurred. These are the original files. It is recommended to read them in the order they were recorded. Please note when you come across the word Corteum they are the Anunnaki.
There are .PDF file versions of the Neruda Interviews in both standard format and large font format available for free in the download section.
Here is a link to the Actual Dr. Neruda Interviews that the Insider/Author Was Speaking of.
link to wingmakers.com
Now you know.
Here is the big news, AR Bordon, the author of the article will speak to the the masses for the first time this October!
link to www.pythagorasconferenceglobal.com
Here is some of AR Bordon's work...
A.R. Bordon: Extraterrestrials on Earth: A Challenge We Can No Longer Ignore.
link to www.agoracosmopolitan.com
Like you, I keep my eyes and ears open and look far and near for pieces of the truth, which are indexed in my memory and subconscious and retrieved in a synchronistic, rational, spatial, and analytically intuitive manner, ultimately revealing a glimpse of the larger picture.
I was profoundly impacted by two documents regarding a certain working group that meets with off world entities. Coincidentally, I believe Charles is in contact with one group of off world entities that this working group studies. One document called "The Link – Extraterrestrials in Near Earth Space and Contact on the Ground," authored by A.R. Borden and company can be found here:
link to battleofearth.wordpress.com
It is a wealth of information, but not an easy read. The style of writing and arrangement of information is highly analytical and rigorous. But it is written in a way that enables individuals from all backgrounds to glean its contents and extract useful meaning from it.
THE LINK. This is a book that now is going to become three separate entities, as there is a great deal of information to be included, and a single one would be downright unwieldy. The term "link" is nothing but a moniker, a name for something that truly does not have one. It is also a referent term to line-of-sight, gnosive, and email experience with people who are not from Earth.
The trouble with acceptance of this work is that it does not fit the Strieber mold: zeta-type sauroids with large black eyes and 3+ feet in stature. Our experience, especially in the upper midwest and northwest of the United States, has been that if one of "them" sat across from you at a Denny's or Marie Callender's, you would not recognize him/her as being not human from Earth. Many look exactly like us, some a little bluish of skin and perceivably evident Meissner field emanation (auric field), other greenish, and others silverish-white. Some are extremely tall (6'10+), some are like us (6′ or less) and some pigmy-like (some Asian-looking, some large round head Afro-black-like) some with skin near pink to red. Then there are people with very advanced biomolecular capabilities – abilities that include biomimic of the ambient environment and the ability to shift in form without changing size, abilities to migrate to electrostatic/energetic avatars that look very much like biological forms/bodies, abilities to migrate through what we can at this juncture only grasp as "moving through a microwormhole that naturally occur on Earth-surface spacetime, and finally, people who can become manifest right before your eyes and desynchronize and disappear in the middle of a conversation (quite disconcerting!). Yes, there are zeta-types with abilities quite advanced from our current viewpoint. However, it is possible to interact and interface with any of them, provided one has some working knowhow of topological thinking and one can follow a conversation at all possible levels of meaning and one does not yield to fear (i.e., 64 beats per second, high alpha/low beta, and other skills).
Also look at the discussion people interested in life physics are having at our forum, [
link to lifephysicsgroup.org
] or at the blog, [
link to lifephysicsgroup.org
] A great deal of what we are now placing in the public domain stems from assists we've received from people who are not from here, including the basic technology to set up extension neurosensing (ENS) to leave the body with a sustainable avatar and a pov that is useful in moving spacelike (moving in time) as well as moving timelike (going to places where spacetime is similar to ours, and to others that are not). - A.R. Bordon
The second document called "Between the Devil and the Returning Rock," authored by A.R. Borden and company can be found here:
link to battleofearth.wordpress.com
Both documents are very well written. They trigger many questions. They are also both works in progress. My understanding is that the authors are currently working on their completion.
I have read these documents and combed the text. Where possible, I have cross referenced much of the information. A.R. Borden and company are very serious individuals with incredibly good primary and secondary contacts within intelligence agencies and with seemingly off world entities. Their manner of writing, analysis, and methodological research process is uncannily similar to what you would find in an academic journal. Thus, you can infer that their group is highly sophisticated and intelligent. Moreover, they are not caught in a Hegelian dialectic. It appears they have traversed the boundary between fear and doom and love and light to reach a view point that incites rational and intuitive dialogue on some very important issues, many of which are discussed on this forum.
I have not paid much attention to the Annunaki and their operations on earth, until I got to know Ar Bordon and set about trying to see if I could find cases that would back up his story. I recently wrote up a small Facebook note as follows:
I got Ar Bordon's permission to post this in order to clear up some misperceptions about him and give folks an idea of what he is about as best I can tell. He said it was accurate and concise.
Ar Bordon (pen name) is the most public individual node in a network of people who have had direct contact with various individual extraterrestrials and groups, both of a human nature and non-human nature. This exopolitical network, in which Ar is a part, has direct face to face and telepathic contact and communication with ETs but is independent of National military and intelligence groups. Its parallel is the emerging exopolitical community that is much larger, but mostly without the extensive direct access to extraterrestrials as does Ar's network.
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To boost his spirits after his wife died 2½ years ago, Leon Shaposhnikov wrote a list of everything for which he is grateful.
He is thankful he returned in one piece from serving in the Soviet military during World War II. He feels lucky that his wife waited with his mother nearly five years for his return from that war despite being notified that he was missing in action.
And he's fortunate, he wrote, that he immigrated to Salt Lake City in 1979, where the Jewish community at Congregation Kol Ami embraced him.
"I feel a big support from the congregation," Shaposhnikov said. "I feel like around me, this is my family."
It's a family and a congregation that will help Shaposhnikov on Saturday celebrate a somewhat-unusual undertaking for a 93-year-old: his bar mitzvah.
Saturday is the 80th anniversary of Shaposhnikov's first bar mitzvah in Romania at the traditional age of 13. It's also his birthday. In Judaism, a bar mitzvah marks the entry of a Jewish child into the adult Jewish world.
To honor that day, his Jewish faith and the freedom to worship that he's enjoyed in America for more than 30 years, Shaposhnikov will lead the synagogue service Saturday, chanting Hebrew blessings and readings much as he did 80 years ago.
Shaposhnikov remembers his first bar mitzvah as pretty typical. But that event was before he had really lived, before he knew how dramatically his life would change. It was before he saw his homeland taken over by Soviets, before he had his own family and before he felt the need to escape to the U.S. for his children's sake.
"That he's been through war and all these trials and tribulations in his life and yet we get to celebrate with him," said Kol Ami Rabbi Ilana Schwartzman, "is incredible."
A time of change, war • The drastic changes to Shaposhnikov's life began about seven years after his first bar mitzvah. That was when Romania ceded territory to the Soviet Union.
"We went to bed Romanian Jews," said Shaposhnikov in accented English, one of five languages he speaks, "and we woke up Russian Jews."
Shaposhnikov was quickly drafted into the Soviet military and forced to leave Sonia, his wife of just four months who was pregnant with the couple's first child.
Shaposhnikov would never meet that boy. Sonia gave birth during her husband's absence, and their son died at age 2. The couple had no idea they would go nearly five years without laying eyes on each other.
"We didn't know the war would be so long," Shaposhnikov said.
He wasn't allowed to return home for visits and couldn't write letters for three years. At one point, Sonia even received a correspondence stating that her husband was MIA. But she remained steadfast, living with his mother. They held out hope for the return of Shaposhnikov, an only child, even as they moved around, trying to evade the advancing German army.
For Shaposhnikov, it was a tough five years. He carried a grenade during the war so he could end his own life if need be rather than be captured. But he rose quickly through the ranks and became a captain.
After the war, Shaposhnikov reunited with his family. He stayed in the military for a number of years, and the family eventually moved back to his hometown of Kishinev.
There, the couple reared two daughters, Rita and Alexandra. Shaposhnikov went to school to study finance and became a banker.
But the family still lacked one major thing: freedom.
A tremendous journey • When Kishinev, Romania, fell under Soviet control in 1940, religious freedom ceased to exist, Shaposhnikov said.
He and his family could not openly practice Judaism, and, through the years, anti-Semitism there grew. By the 1970s, it was difficult for Jews to get into college to become professionals, and they were discriminated against in the workplace.
Shaposhnikov had made a decent life for himself in Kishinev working in finance, but he and his grown children worried for their future.
That's why at age 60 a time when many think of retirement Shaposhnikov, accompanied by his wife, his two grown daughters and their families, immigrated to Salt Lake City, where one of their in-laws already lived.
"We really were scared, with no money coming to a new country, no language," recalled Shaposhnikov's daughter Alexandra Mitelman, who was 27 at the time and now lives in New York.
Shaposhnikov couldn't take his money with him, and his training and former military status in Russia meant little in the U.S. He knew three words of English: hi, bye and OK.
"I left everything for the future of my children, not for me," said Shaposhnikov, now a grandfather of five and great-grandfather of four.
Ten days after moving to Utah, he was offered a job as a custodian at Kol Ami, a position he now jokingly refers to as "maintenance engineering."
"I said I will do [anything], but I have to survive."
The congregation soon fell in love with Shaposhnikov, a friendly man, quick with a smile, and his wife, who worked in Kol Ami's kitchen. Shaposhnikov labored at the synagogue for 17 years.
But even in his late 70s, he wasn't ready to retire. He worked for another eight years, including as an office clerk for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
When it came time for his SLOC colleagues to decide who among them would carry the Olympic torch along part of its journey to Salt Lake City, they chose Shaposhnikov. They paid his way, determined to see the kind former Soviet who had moved to America in search of freedom bear the flame.
"He had very prestigious jobs he gave up to come here for freedom," said close friend Ed Bronsky, who was part of a committee that helped Russian Jews resettle in Utah. That's how he met Shaposhnikov more than 30 years ago. Like so many others who have encountered Shaposhnikov, he became a lifelong friend.
Deep roots • Now, more than a decade after the Salt Lake City Olympics, the torch stands displayed in a corner of Shaposhnikov's modest but tidy Sugar House apartment.
It's the same small apartment where he's lived for 32 years, and its walls tell the story of his life here and in the Soviet Union.
A large black-and-white photo of his family taken after the war hangs above his bedroom dresser. A smaller picture, taken during the war, of Sonia and their young son hangs beneath it. Another wall bears a plaque of appreciation awarded to him by Kol Ami for his years of service there.
"I'm lucky I came to Utah," he said. "I'm lucky I worked for the community, and I became a part of the community."
For years, his family members were forced to keep their Judaism concealed. But when they moved to Salt Lake City, they were suddenly free to worship again.
For Shaposhnikov, that faith all came rushing back.
"They tried to uproot my religion," he said of the Soviet leaders. "They tried to cut the branches. They cut the trunk, but the roots [were] left. I arrived here, and it began to get new sprouts."
In 1988, about nine years after his arrival to the U.S., Shaposhnikov exercised his newfound religious freedom by chanting a reading, at Kol Ami, from his original bar mitzvah on the anniversary of it. It was a ritual he would repeat a dozen times in the years to come.
He still remembered how to read Hebrew, a skill he learned attending religious school before Romania fell under the Soviet grip.
"I feel like awake after 39 years," he said of experiencing religious freedom after living for nearly 40 years under communist rule, "and now I want to dedicate my bar mitzvah in memory of my parents, my grandparents, because they gave me the Jewish education."
This year, he planned to do the reading again just as he had in years past. But when his Kol Ami friends learned this year would mark the 80th anniversary of his first bar mitzvah, they wanted to ensure it didn't go unnoticed.
"We said, 'Leon, we should make a big deal of this,' " Rabbi Schwartzman said.
In honor of the big anniversary, Shaposhnikov will chant the full readings. The congregation has ordered yarmulkes (in green, Shaposhnikov's favorite color) inscribed with his name and the date to honor the occasion. After the Saturday service, they'll hold a celebration in his honor.
To prepare for the event, Shaposhnikov has been practicing the readings twice a day, five days a week for months.
In one of the readings, the prophet Isaiah warns the Jewish people to stop straying so far from the ways of God, though they're exiled from the holy land. Isaiah tells them that when they have full faith in God and heed his commandments, they can return to God and he'll accept them.
It's something Shaposhnikov has, in a sense, experienced personally.
Though exiled from Judaism for decades, it was there waiting, ready to embrace him when he returned.


text: Brooke Burke has been teaching exercise classes part-time. It now appears she can move that to full-time if she wants because she has been dumped as co-host of Dancing With The Stars. Brooke has co-hosted the show since she won the competition back in season 7. She says that she was shocked to be fired from the job but the ratings decline of the show after the past couple of seasons necessitated the move. Knowing ABC they will probably try and find some former Bachelor contestant to move into the co-host slot. Last season the producers moved the program from twice weekly to once a week and there were not many other changes they could make except to change hosts or judges.


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This event is in the past.
Category: Other
Location: Gold 'n' Greens
Cost: Free
Calendars: Main Events Calendar, Housing
Audience: Alumni, Community, Current Graduate Students, Faculty, Parents, Prospective Students, Staff
Please be advised, Gold 'n' Greens will be closed from March 25 – 29, 2013 for Passover.
We will reopen for full service on Wednesday April 3, 2013.
Please visit Towers Café for your dining needs.
Thank you.
The eight-day festival of Passover is celebrated in the early spring. It commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. The highlight of Passover is the Seder, observed on each of the first two nights of the holiday. Matzo is eaten throughout to commemorate the unleavened bread the Israelites ate when they left Egypt on their exodus to Mount Sinai.
For more information about this event, please contact Office of Housing & Residential Life at 313-577-2116 or email@example.com.


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For the Little Ones on Your List!By Sadie Stein
Here at The Paris Review, we have all your holiday shopping covered! And for the youngest Parisians among us, we bring you our adorable onesie, in 100% cotton, with a hand-drawn logo. Your choice of custard or baby blue. Get yours here!


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When you join as a new member now, you'll get 14 months of membership for the price of one year! Sign up now for a membership that's good through August 31, 2018.
The BBA's Public Service blog, Beyond the Billable is your one stop shop for everything Public Service at the BBA. Check it out here.
Friday, February 22, 2013
12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
Boston Bar Association - 16 Beacon Street, Boston, MA
Jennifer Jones
BBA Event Calendar


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Students travel to the Dominican Republic to study higher education
Eighteen graduate students in Carolina's Higher Education and Student Affairs Program returned to the University from Spring Break with more than just a tan after taking part in a study abroad experience in the Dominican Republic.
The students observed the Dominican Republic's higher education system, its policies, and practices, by participating in meetings and lectures with host university faculty and students.
The intent of the experience was to develop a basic understanding of societal issues in the host community while comparing and contrasting the Dominican culture with American culture.
"When students go to another country they see how another system of higher education operates and they come back and look at their own system with a newer perspective, realizing that as good as it may be, there are perhaps things that could be different," said Christian Anderson, the assistant professor of higher education and student affairs who accompanied the students on their Dominican Republic experience.
Christian Anderson
"They also understand how much culture affects higher education and that it doesn't exist in a vacuum."
An additional benefit of the trip, said study abroad advisor Sarah Langston, is that it allowed students to develop a better understanding of their own country's culture and how it relates internationally to the world.
"Students also learn adaptability and flexibility," said Langston, adding that an advantage of conducting a study abroad experience in the Dominican Republic is that it is close and affordable. "We didn't want to travel too far, and Christian Anderson had contacts with university staff members and faculty there that facilitated the trip."
Students visited local universities for lectures and meetings, including the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC), Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (Santo Domingo and Santiago campuses) and the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo.
Students also met with the minister and vice minister of education, Ligia Amada Melo de Cardona, and Rafael González, respectively, and went on excursions and tours to historic sites around Santo Domingo and the Dominican Republic, including the site of the first university in the Americas.
While abroad, each student worked individually on a project related to higher education in the Dominican Republic. Topics included its history, student mobility, government policy, faculty issues, finances, and student life.
Students had the opportunity to meet in groups and individually with faculty members, administrators, government officials, students, or others with whom they could discuss their projects.
Carolina offers a multitude of study abroad experiences for its students, said Langston, noting that another USC student group from the School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management also visited the Dominican Republic during Spring Break.
During the Maymester and summer, Carolina students will take part in USC-sponsored study abroad programs in Tanzania, Costa Rica, Germany, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, England, Ecuador, Germany, and Taiwan.


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The share market is higher after a late rally boosted most sectors.
Shares opened more than half a per cent higher, before the market lost most of those gains after the release of data showing a weaker trade surplus in March.
The Reserve Bank's decision to leave rates on hold momentarily weighed on the market, but it did not have a large impact, Bell Direct equities analyst Julia Lee said.
A late surge in prices then saw the main indices close 0.35 per cent higher.
"It's been a quiet session with Korea, Hong Kong and Japan on holidays, but most sectors are trading in the black," Ms Lee said.
"The only sector that's down is the property sector."
Healthcare stocks were among the strongest performers, with blood plasma producer CSL adding 79 cents to $69.64 Sonic Healthcare gaining 17 cents to $17.82.
Three of the major banks rose, with Westpac adding 24 cents to $34.69, ANZ gained 11 cents to $34.08 and Commonwealth Bank was 35 cents higher at $79.29.
But National Australia Bank dropped nine cents to $34.11.
Miners were also mixed, with BHP Billiton up 17 cents at $37.66, Rio Tinto down 15 cents at $61.50 and Fortescue Metals six cents weaker at $4.80.
* At the close on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 19.2 points, or 0.35 per cent, at 5,481.4.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 19.3 points, or 0.35 per cent, at 5,462.7.
* The June share price index futures contract was 17 points higher at 5,472, with 17,078 contracts traded.
* The price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEST was $US1,311.40 per fine ounce, up $US12.40 on Monday's price of $US1,299.00.
* National turnover was 1.5 billion securities worth $3.3 billion.


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Home | Senior Living | Indiana | Washington
senior living communities in Washington offers senior citizens a safe and comfortable housing option. We allow you to quickly and easily find all the Washington senior living locations and services in your area. Search the listing below to get details that include contact information, addresses and more for senior living communities in Washington, IN.


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Brad Paisley takes selfie as Westboro Baptist Church members picket his concert
Listen to Brad Paisley on iHeartRadio
Brad Paisley snapped a selfie as Westboro Baptist Church protestors — in the background — picketed his concert in Kansas on Sunday.
The country star took to Instagram to share a photo of himself posing in front of the group as they held signs with messages like "God hates drunks" and "sin breeds violence."
Paisley captioned the photo, "Westboro Baptist Selfie!! Or west-Burro(a**) selfie. Hopefully they can hear the show out here. We'll play loud."
He also posted two videos of himself as he prepared to take the snapshot with his haters.


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Beaumont/Port Arthur
Texans no longer have to drive across the Louisiana border to get their gambling fix. Now, in the heart of The Big Thicket, just 17 miles east of Livingston, is a 15,000-square-foot gaming facility operated by Naskila Entertainment on the Alabama Coushatta Indian Reservation. A soft opening was held Tuesday, May 17, and a grand opening is set for Thursday, June 2.
As five Beaumont businesses prepare to answer charges related to illegal gambling following an October 2014 raid, other local proprietors charged with violating a Beaumont ordinance are saying they had no idea the ordinance applied to them or, in some cases according to the city attorney's office, that such an ordinance even existed at all.
Last week, The Examiner revealed the problem of numerous illegal gambling dens spreading throughout the area and their negative impact on the community, particularly gambling addicts and the area's most vulnerable residents. But the poor and the elderly are not the only ones affected by the area's saturation of game rooms, which are filled with machines known collectively as eight-liners. Legitimate owners of legal businesses also suffer.
Not-so-booming business
Several months of investigation by Examiner staffers have revealed a saturation of illegal casino-style gambling outlets in Southeast Texas, with some game room owners grossing $3 million or more in unreported earnings a month. Dozens of game rooms have been identified all over the Golden Triangle, raking in thousands of dollars a day in proceeds for the business owners, and paying out cash under the table to patrons. Still, local law enforcement officers say they are limited in what they can do to stop it.
The problem
While we harbor no disrespect for the Wall Street Journal who called us "that scrappy little paper from Southeast Texas," we prefer to think of ourselves as simple seekers of the truth. We're of the opinion that headlines and sound bites never tell the whole story. Our readers demand all the facts, facets and flavors of every story or event. And, they expect to be informed, educated and stirred to action.
For this week's New York Times crossword puzzle, pick up a copy of this week's The Examiner on newsstands now.


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1000 Facials Sophia Gently - Sophia gets a nice ride
Added: Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Loading 1000 Facials Sophia Gently - Sophia gets a nice ride Video
1000 Facials Sophia Gently - Sophia gets a nice ride
Sophia is not just some regular girl. This is a professional party girl who has made an entire career out of being at all the hottest dance clubs private parties and celebrity events. She has 'dated' more famous people than you can count and now we have her here showing you what it's like to be a VIP. Her perfect body and willing attitude make her one of the best wettest and wildest women you will ever get a chance to slide your dick into! All holes are available for your fingers or anything else you feel like pushing past her pink pussy lips and soft round asshole. Sophia never says no she loves ass to mouth and the filthier you ask her to be... the hornier she gets! The one thing you don't want to do with Sophia is forget to do something you always dreamed of... because while she is all yours right now she never stays with anyone for long. So get her now and get her good! Sophia gives you the chance to leave her a facial to remember you by- Relentless
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In their attacks against Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney's running mate, the Obama campaign and Democratic allies have been repeating a familiar word: vouchers.
Do Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to turn Medicare into a voucher program? (Truth-O-Meter: Mostly True)
Current Status: Blessed (1)
Seeded on Thu Aug 16, 2012 3:45 PM
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International journalists to share world views at USC in October
Contact: Peggy Binette 803-777-5400 firstname.lastname@example.com
Two international broadcast journalists will visit the University of South Carolina in October to speak as part of the Walker Institute's 50th anniversary.
Turkish CNN correspondent Fatih Turkmenoglu will speak Thursday, Oct. 6, and Dr. Marvin Kalb, a Harvard University professor and former CBS and NBC broadcast journalist for 30 years, will speak Monday, Oct. 24.
Both talks are free and open to the public.
Turkmenoglu's talk, titled "The New Turkey at the End of the American Century," will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Gambrell Hall, Room 153. Host of the Istanbul-based CNN Turk, he will discuss the future of Europe from a Turkish perspective. His talk is co-sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences' European Studies Program and department of languages, literatures and cultures.
Kalb will discuss how Vietnam continues to shape American policy. His talk is set for 7 p.m. in Lumpkin Auditorium on the eighth floor of the Darla Moore School of Business. Kalb is the Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice (emeritus) at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and founding director of the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. His career included stints as bureau chief in Moscow and host of NBC's Meet the Press. Kalb will sign copies of his latest book, "Haunting Legacy: Vietnam and the American Presidency from Ford to Obama," after his talk.
For more information, call 803-777-8180 or visit the Walker Institute website.
About the Walker Institute of International and Area Studies
Founded in 1961, the Walker Institute promotes student and faculty research, scholarship and public service programs in international affairs and the comparative cross-cultural study of societies. The institute also conducts research projects for governmental and nongovernmental organizations, foundations and public sector agencies.
News and Internal Communications


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The season is (dead or) alive with the spirit of All Hallows' Eve! Have your own DOA5U Halloween bash with sweet and wicked disguises for each fighter. Please install the latest title update (ver. 1.03 or higher) in order to use this content. This costume is also included in the Trick-or-Treat Set. Get all 28 Halloween costumes in one convenient set for a special price!
Click to create and send a link using your email application


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Results 1 to 1 of 1
Thread: Ectopic pregnancy
2nd April 2012 08:46 AM #1
- Join Date
- Jan 2012
- Posts
- 54
Ectopic pregnancy
Ectopic pregnancy happens when implantation occurred outside the uterus. The usual site is the fallopian tube, however, it may also occur in the ovary, cervix and abdominal cavity. There are a lot of factors that increases a woman's risk for ectopic pregnancy. Some are: prior history of an ectopic pregnancy, disruption of the normal structure of the fallopian tube (which could be a risk for tubal or ectopic pregnancy), infection, & etc.
The classical signs & symptoms of ectopic pregnancy are:
- abdominal pain
- amenorrhea (absence of menstrual periods)
- vaginal bleeding or spotting (intermittent bleeding)
This condition is life threatening. And some affected with this may find it hard to accept. Full support must be given esp emotional support. Once you suspect that you might be experiencing ectopic pregnancy, never hesitate to approach your healthcare provider.
Has any one of you experienced this? If yes, please share and enlighten us.


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Columbia River K401BXP Ken Onion Ripple 2 Frame Lock, 2.78" Plain Acuto Steel Blade, Bronze Stainless Steel Handles
|Part Number:
|Columbia River (CRKT)
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$69.99On Sale: $39.95
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CRK401BXP: K401BXP Ripple 2 - Ken Onion Design
The Ripple™ folding pocket knife has become the anchor of the popular "gentleman's tactical" knife series from Ken Onion and CRKT.
These 2013 stainless steel handle versions ride low profile due to the considerate clip position and are designed to be used as an everyday carry pocket knife.
With their distinct look these knives will complement the refined taste of the distinguished gentleman. They slide in and out of a suit pocket easily and are also comfortable at home in your jeans in the garage.
Stylish curves and smooth flowing lines help to create the Ripple™ effect that defines the look of the handle. These distinctive frame locks feature an ambidextrous blade flipper for easy opening. The flipper style opener moves the blade with ease thanks to the smooth IKBS™ pivot system. The IKBS™ innovation is arguably the strongest, smoothest pivot system on the market.
The Ripple™ modified drop point blade with its high hollow grind affords the user a razor sharp edge with plenty of utility to cut across a wide variety of everyday tasks.
The Ripple™ - Stainless comes in 2.78 blade length (5.56 overall), Razor Sharp Cutting Edge version in both Gray and Bronze colors. There also is a larger blade size available in 3.16 (6.38 overall) with options of Razor-Sharp Cutting Edge or Veff™ Flat Top Serrations. All in Acuto 440 Steel 57-58 HRC.
- Dimensions
- Open Overall Length: 5.56 inches
- Closed Length: 3.76 inches
- Weight: 2.3 ounces
- Blade
- Length: 2.78 inches
- Thickness: 0.1 inches
- Material: Acuto 440
- Blade-HRC: 57-58
- Finish: Satin
- Grind: Hollow
- Style: Modified Drop Point
- Edge: Plain
- Handle
- Material: Bronze Titanium Nitride Coated 420J Stainless Steel
- Lock
- Type: Frame Lock
- Carry
- Carry System: 1 Position Clip
- Made in Taiwan
UPC Code: 794023940107
Developed by Chris Reeve, it functions like a liner lock but the lock is comprised of one of the handle scales. It's an extremely strong and easy to manipulate lock.
Includes a pocket clip for easy accessibility and a more secure carry.
Stainless Steel knife handles provide strength and durability and look and feel great.


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'"Obviously the shot blocking of the entire team is great tonight and we did a really good job of just moving our feet, especially in the D zone," said Miller. "It's exciting that we can play this well when we have to."'
Bouncing puck, Sabres' D force Game 7
May 31, 2006 Submitted by
Via: The Sports Network


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Keep track of all the delicious Slow Food URBAN San Diego events here!
And look at our blog for past events!
You can sign up for our newsletter here.
From event website:
Spend a night with us on Coronado Island, indulging your senses and enjoying amazing bites prepared by our local chefs. Take a culinary trip around the world sampling from our local bistros. Meander along Orange Avenue or take a ride on the complimentary trolley. This will be a night to remember so come and bring your friends!
Fifth Annual Taste of Coronado
Wednesday, October 15th, 2014 5:00pm-9:00pm
Tickets are $40 in advance and $45 the day of the event. Tickets are sold at the following locations…
Glorietta Bay Inn
1630 Glorietta Blvd
Coronado, CA
(800) 283-9383
Be Polished
131 Orange Ave
Coronado, CA
(619) 437-1440
Tickets are open to all ages but you must be 21 or older to participate in the alcohol tastings. On the day of the event, please bring your e-ticket print out to on our our ticket locations on Orange Ave.
+ Location #1 Rotary Plaza at the 1000 block of Orange Ave
+ Location #2 101 B Avenue, across from the Ferry Landing
We will exchange your ticket for a tasting card. You can start your tastings from either end of Orange Avenue.
Raise a glass for the next Science on the Rocks party!
The Science of Spirits: Craft Cocktails
Thursday, October 16, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
We're stirring up the fun at our next party, The Science of Spirits: Craft Cocktails. We'll tantalize you with sips and stories from San Diego's best bartenders and reveal the chemistry behind your favorite whistle-wetters. You'll enjoy sweet and savory food and drink samples, intriguing activities and fascinating chats with experts among the interactive exhibits of the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center.
- Be tempted by sinful sips from Twisted Manzanita Spirits, Old Harbor Distilling Co. and Ballast Point Brewing and Spirits.
- Sample bites courtesy of local restaurants. Try chicken wings from South Park Abbey, octopus salad from The Patio Restaurant Group, artisan bread by Sadie Rose Bakery, a mushroom phyllo purse from Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina, octopus carpaccio from Glass Door and Southwestern Chicken Sliders by Terra American Bistro and Catering.
- Shake, stir and swizzle! Join Polite Provisions owner, Erick Castro, as he reveals the craft of cocktails and the elements that distinguish a handmade libation from a run-of-the-mill drink.
- Explore the distilling process with experts from Old Harbor Distilling Co., The Twisted Manzanita Spirits and Ballast Point Spirits. From ingredient selection to bottling the finished product, craft distilling combines art and technology to create pure cocktail pleasure.
- Join the Spirit Society for a special class and learn to make the perfect cocktail, courtesy of the expert bartenders from Polite Provisions. $15 for the 30-minute class—and students get to drink their creations.
- Get your Bond on. Local scientists delve into shaking vs. stirring and how those motions affect your cocktail.
- Investigate infusion! Bacon vodka? Cucumber gin? Local scientists dispel confusion and explain the art of infusion.
- Put on beer goggles and attempt to complete our sobriety tests.
- Learn the truth about proof. If a whiskey is 90 proof, what does that mean? Local scientists explain.
- Discover density. Local scientists challenge you to experiment with different liquid densities and how they affect cocktail mixing.
- Take it slow and make your own Super Slo-Mo Video, thanks to A Little Scene.
- Shake your groove thing to Engage Drumbeats by Dre, a dynamic DJ and drummer duo.
- And dive into DNA in our new exhibition, Genome: Unlocking Life's Code.
Advance sales end at 4 p.m. the day of the event. Tickets at the door, if available, are $30 and $45, no discounts.
This event is open to savvy adults ages 21 and over only. I.D. is required. A cash bar features beer, wine and select cocktails. Tickets for this event are on sale now.
– See more at: http://www.rhfleet.org/events/science-rocks
From event website:
Join us for a great day of family fun at Suzie's Farm for Pumpkin Palooza, our annual Pumpkin u-pick event. Along with more than 10 varieties of pumpkins in our pumpkin patch, there will be live music, a costume contest for the kids, pumpkin carving station, food vendors, and more fun than you can imagine.
Live Music from:
The Big Decisions (10:30am – 12:30pm)
Jimmy Ruelas (1:30pm – 3:30pm)
Food Vendors:
God Save the Cuisine
The Meat Men
Calexico Creamery
Cafe Virtuoso
Or bring a picnic!
Terra Madre and Salone del Gusto 2014
October 23-27, 2014 in Turin, Italy
From SLOW FOOD USA Website:
The Olympics of Food
By Ellen Freytag, Slow Food USA Delegate
Individuals from all over the world who are passionate about good, clean and fair foodmake a pilgrimage to Turin/Torino every two years to be a part of the world's largest food and wine fair, Salone del Gusto, and the concurrent world meeting of food communities, Terra Madre.
The best way I know to concisely describe Slow Food's biggest international event is to tell you that it's an Olympics for Food — except instead of the competitive "Faster, Higher, Stronger," the motto of this Food Olympics is "Slower, Slower, Slower." The convening begins with an opening ceremony, held in Turin's Olympic Stadium. Official delegates from more than 100 countries gather to represent the very best of what their country's food systems have to offer.
Join us for Slow Sips on November 4th, 6-8pm, in Balboa Park at Panama 66, one of our newest membership benefits partners!
As always, you'll be able to learn more about getting involved in our grass-roots organization, sign up to be a volunteer, and meet and mingle with like-minded friends. There will be a cash bar and full menu available for ordering, and Slow Food Urban San Diego members will receive a 10% discount off food and drinks! Please let us know that you're coming: RSVP here!


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Endosymbiosis observed, according to a report in Science vol 310, p287, 14 October 2005 and New Scientist, 22 Oct 2005, p23. Endosymbiosis is the theory that cells containing complex membrane bound structures cells such as chloroplasts and mitochondria evolved as a result of one type of single cell engulfing another. In a evolutionist's "little green dream come true" Japanese scientists have observed a single celled organism engulf another cell, which then continues to live in a symbiotic relationship with the engulfing cell. Noriko Okamoto and Isao Inouye of University of Tsukuba have studied a single celled organism named Hatena, which has photosynthetic "plastid" (membrane bound structure) within it. When the cell divides the whole plastid stayed in one of the daughter cells. The other cell develops an engulfing apparatus and engulfs an algal (single celled plant) cell. The algal cell loses its flagellum and some of its internal membranes and support structures, but keeps its nucleus and mitochondria. Thus, the "plastid" in the Hatena is actually an internal symbiotic cell. Debashish Bhattacharya of University of Iowa commented, "If this cell is in any way typical, endosymbiosis was an amazingly strong and immediate force in photosynthetic cell evolution."
Editorial Comment: The process described here may be "endosymbiosis", a symbiotic cell living within another, ("endo" means "within") but it does nothing to explain the origin of mitochondria, chloroplasts and other complex cellular structures. Neither does it explain the evolution of photosynthesis. The algal cell already has mitochondria and photosynthetic apparatus. (Ref. symbiosis, photosynthesis, microbiology)