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As they walk through the front door, visitors to the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Office in Sierra Blanca, Texas, get punched by the overpowering odor of marijuana.
During a recent week, the sheriff of this broke and scruffy high-desert town stored about 5,000 pounds of pot, contraband seized at the nearby U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint from the parade of road trippers, occasional celebrities and other outsiders ordered to stop there as they buzz through West Texas.
The inspection station stands on a sun-scorched stretch of Interstate 10, about 85 miles southeast of El Paso below the Quitman Mountains, and it has put Sierra Blanca on the map as the "checkpoint to the stars." Among those caught have been Willie Nelson, Snoop Lion, Fiona Apple and Armie Hammer of The Lone Ranger.
"We'd live in Mayberry if it wasn't for that checkpoint," says Mike Doyal, the county judge and a former chief deputy of the sheriff's office. "We'd just wait for the town drunk to show up once in a while."
In recent years, the busy immigration inspection station has put a severe financial strain on the county and, in the process, revealed the tough monetary consequences of America's massive expansion of border security and the government's strategy for curbing the nation's supply of drugs and illegal immigration.
Despite its remoteness, the Border Patrol's Big Bend sector, where Sierra Blanca sits, has seen small-time drug busts skyrocket in recent years. An influx of agents tripled the local sector's manpower, making the agency by far the biggest law enforcement presence around.
In 2011, agents in the Big Bend sector caught 2,102 people with drugs, the second-highest number of any sector nationwide and up more than 300 percent from 2009, according to an analysis of government data by The Center for Investigative Reporting. The Big Bend sector managed this with the fewest agents assigned to the southern U.S. border.
The Sierra Blanca station essentially has become an immigration checkpoint in name only, as the bulked-up Border Patrol has ensnared mostly Americans there — thousands of them.
Yet, the U.S. Justice Department generally declines to prosecute these low-level cases and has largely walked away from paying local authorities to pick up the slack.
Hudspeth County, population 3,337, is dependent on the federal dollars it receives to jail and prosecute the steady stream of busted motorists. The travelers and their contraband are turned over to the sheriff in Sierra Blanca, who has assigned two deputies to make daily runs to the checkpoint to pick them up.
But to county officials, it's a losing proposition. They estimate that for every dollar that comes to the county from handling federal border crimes and seized assets, it costs about $2 to detain, prosecute and process offenders.
Local officials say they don't want their county, which has 98 miles that front the Mexican border, to be known as a place where crimes go unpunished. But their relationship with the federal government has become too expensive. As a result, the sheriff here recently decided to kick the habit of prosecuting federal drug cases that have drained Hudspeth's paltry fortunes.
"We're arresting people for the federal government at my local taxpayers' cost, and that ain't right for them to burden this cost," says Sheriff Arvin West, who oversees about a dozen full-time deputies. "They're not going to pay. We're not going to play."
Hudspeth County isn't alone. In South Texas, Brooks County a few years ago stopped taking cases from the Falfurrias checkpoint. Neighboring Kleberg County commissioners recently voted to end their agreement to handle cases from the nearby Sarita checkpoint in Kenedy County.
Kleberg County Judge Juan M. Escobar, a former Border Patrol agent who once oversaw the Sarita checkpoint, said the county has lost about $2.1 million to handle federal cases in the last five years. The difficult decision came down to money for Kleberg, where county employees haven't received a raise in three years.
"Is it fair for us to continue to pay for this issue that the federal government is neglecting?" he asks.
But that still doesn't sit right with local law enforcement, says John Hubert, the district attorney for Kenedy and Kleberg counties.
"We're going to give up 300 miles of Texas to anyone who wants to transport less than 200 pounds of marijuana into the United States," he says.
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security declined interview requests from The Center for Investigative Reporting. In a written statement, Justice Department spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle said that officials have had to make difficult funding decisions because of tight federal budgets. He said local authorities have discretion to spend other federal grant money to support such prosecutions.
"Through increased coordinated investigations, information and technology sharing, and training, we are assisting our law enforcement partners, including the Department of Homeland Security and Mexican counterparts, to eliminate the threat posed by drug cartels and other organized crime efforts along the Southwest border," Hornbuckle wrote.
At the Sierra Blanca checkpoint, which stands roughly 15 miles from Mexico and has been in operation since the early 1970s, drug-detecting dogs regularly sniff the 15,000 to 20,000 trucks, cars and motorcycles that pass through on a typical weekday.
Along with a national hiring surge that began in 2006, the Border Patrol has nearly doubled the number of canines at its network of 33 permanent checkpoints that stretch from Southern California to Southern Texas.
Line agents don't care if they're busting people for small amounts of marijuana or 1,000-pound smuggling loads, says Lee Smith, local president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union that represents border agents.
"If it's out there, we want to catch it," he says.
Struggling With Funding
Like other border counties, Hudspeth County for years has ridden the highs and lows of Justice dollars paid to take its undesired cases.
Since 2002, the Justice Department has reimbursed the four states bordering Mexico roughly $300 million to handle cases that originate from federal law enforcement through a program called the Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative.
The program started after frustrated district attorneys, led by Hudspeth's top prosecutor, Jaime Esparza, complained to Congress that the Justice Department pushed more cases on them than they could afford.
More than a decade later, prosecutors are fed up with the department, which diluted the program and then slashed reimbursement payments, says Esparza, whose district includes neighboring El Paso and Culberson counties.
The four border states will receive less than $5 million in 2013 as reimbursement for handling the federal cases — down from $31 million in 2010. And the department didn't request such funding from Congress for 2014.
"They can't expect local counties along the southern border to carry their water for them," Esparza says. "They're going to have to fight this fight on their own."
In May, Hudspeth County and other border counties learned the Justice Department would reimburse local authorities only for prosecution of cases, but not the detention costs. That was a deal breaker for county officials — the biggest chunk of Hudspeth County's budget goes to the jail.
"It's devastating for us," says county auditor Yolanda Esparza, who is not related to prosecutor Jaime Esparza.
It might end up being too hard for Hudspeth County to walk away, however. With more square miles — about 4,500 — than residents, the county doesn't generate enough tax dollars to keep all of its government buildings lit or even pay some employees without the fines and court fees the checkpoint brings.
Treasa Brown, the deputy county clerk, has advice for travelers: Leave your drugs at home. Buy more when you get there. But if you can't do without, come on through.
"We're broke," she said. "We need your money, and when you come to court, bring lots of it, and I'll take every penny you have."
Charles Vital Jr., 35, of Hayward, Calif., learned that when he traveled with his girlfriend toward Louisiana before Thanksgiving 2011. Vital reviewed and rated their experience of getting busted on Yelp, a website usually known for customer reviews of restaurants and other businesses.
"Our California plates got us pulled over at the border. It also [could have] been the fact that the drug dog started whimpering when he got next to our car," wrote Vital, who gave the checkpoint two stars.
A cottage industry of defense attorneys has built up around the checkpoint, one of two in Hudspeth County, to handle the spike in out-of-state offenders. Most are charged with a misdemeanor and sent on their way to avoid overwhelming the county with a backlog of cases.
But fines and fees from those cases still aren't enough to cover the county's costs. Rarely has the federal government fully reimbursed its court or detention expenses. When the county complained that the funds weren't enough or timely, officials say the Justice Department's inspector general responded with an audit.
The watchdog office, which declined a request for comment, found in a 2010 report that the county wasn't totally fault-free. Hudspeth County received too much money — about $480,000 — because of improper claims for reimbursement between 2002 and the first half of 2008, out of nearly $6.2 million it received over those years.
County officials say the Office of Justice Programs changed its reimbursement guidelines, which weren't clear in the first place. The county reached a settlement in which the amount owed was reduced, some money was credited and the county paid back a small figure.
West, the sheriff, says the time has come for the country to make up its mind on marijuana policy.
"For 40-something years, we have lost our butts on this," he says, referring to the war on drugs. "Quit playing these damn political games – either legalize marijuana or do something about it."
Agustin Armendariz, Michael Corey and Tia Ghose contributed to this report. This story was edited by Robert Salladay and copy edited by Nikki Frick and Christine Lee.
This story was produced by the nonprofit The Center for Investigative Reporting. Contact the reporters at email@example.com and firstname.lastname@example.com. More at cironline.org.
Finally, this hour, we head to West Texas along Interstate 10 where the federal government runs an immigration checkpoint. It's one of 33 permanent checkpoints on highways across the Southwest from Texas to California. Technically, they're known as immigration stations, though some are as far as 75 miles from the Mexico border. And with illegal immigration at historic lows, the focus at these stations has shifted increasingly to drugs. This checkpoint in West Texas is catching lots of people with drugs, but now, because of a cut in federal funding, many will never see a jail cell. Andrew Becker of the Center for Investigative Reporting has our story from Hudspeth County, Texas.
ANDREW BECKER, BYLINE: On a sun-scorched stretch of Interstate 10, about 85 miles southeast of El Paso, two dozen tractor trailers are waiting to pass through a traffic checkpoint bristling with high-tech surveillance equipment. Border Patrol agents with drug-detecting dogs sweep through the area, sniffing for contraband and smuggled migrants. As many as 20,000 eastbound cars, trucks and buses pass through here each day.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (Unintelligible) station copy up here.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: All right.
BECKER: At a small command center, a tall sheriff's deputy in a cowboy hat has arrived to take a man to the local jail. Almost every day, deputies from the tiny high desert town of Sierra Blanca collect suspects from the checkpoint. The man is suspected of having outstanding warrants.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: Put your hands behind your back. Turn around. I'm taking you to Hudspeth County jail for processing, you understand?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #4: (Unintelligible).
BECKER: At the jail, dispatchers are busy handling calls, and the cells are packed, mostly with people caught at the immigration checkpoint. But it's not what you think.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #5: Everybody here because of the checkpoint. I'm from California too. I got my weed card. They got me in here for a paraphernalia charge. I'll be out in about a month.
BECKER: This man shouts from a holding cell, saying he was picked up for marijuana, and that's the case with most of the people who pass through the jail here. They're not foreigners who entered the country illegally. They're not drug mules or cartel operatives. They're U.S. citizens caught with small amounts of drugs as they drive across Texas. Eight out of 10 people busted at this checkpoint are Americans according to government data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. The parade of road trippers arrested here includes celebrities, says Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West.
SHERIFF ARVIN WEST: We've had Willie Nelson. We've had Snoop Dogg or Lion or whatever the hell he goes by. We've had that little pompous Fiona Apple.
BECKER: West says drug busts have skyrocketed since the Border Patrol expanded its presence here. And while he relishes his role in enforcing the state's tough drug laws no matter what, it might be too much of a good thing.
WEST: We're arresting people, but we're arresting people for the U.S. government, for the federal government at my local taxpayers' cost, and that ain't right for them to burden this cost.
BECKER: Here's how it's supposed to work. The overburdened U.S. attorney for West Texas often turns to local authorities to handle low-level busts made by federal agents at the checkpoints. So the Justice Department designed a program to reimburse police and prosecutors in the four states that border Mexico if they agree to handle the busts as local cases. District attorney Jaime Esparza says the program got off to a good start more than a decade ago.
JAIME ESPARZA: I think it was a program that worked for everybody. We had a good partnership, and we were being paid for the work we were doing.
BECKER: The money from the Feds did more than just cover the costs for checkpoint cases. It helped keep the lights on in Sierra Blanca. Esparza says it was a fair exchange until the Justice Department slashed reimbursements in half, sticking local governments with the bill.
ESPARZA: They're breaking the promise they made to us to reimburse us for the work that we do. They can't expect local counties along the southern border to carry their water for them.
BECKER: Justice Department officials declined requests for interviews. In a written statement, a spokesman said tight federal budgets are forcing officials to make difficult funding decisions. Local authorities, he said, have discretion to spend other federal grant money to support prosecutions. Meanwhile, cases keep rolling in. Just outside the county lockup, Sheriff West is sitting on a shaded bench talking with a woman who's here to post bail for her son.
WEST: Do a $3,500 bond on him. The bond is already in there. And get him out quick. They've been here all morning waiting.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Thank you.
WEST: My pleasure, ma'am. Beat the hell out of him when you get him home.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #6: Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Oh, you know...
BECKER: When the front door to the low-slung jail building swung open a few feet away, the pungent odor from two tons of marijuana floated out. West says a lot of the weed comes from states that have legalized medical marijuana. From time to time, the Border Patrol does snag large drug loads. But it's the mounting small-time busts and their growing cost to the county that have the sheriff in a bind.
WEST: It's a financial issue now. I'm at the crossroads of do I put the bad guy away or do I bankrupt this county? And the county is my first interest.
BECKER: Just a few weeks ago, Sheriff West cut the cord and stopped accepting Border Patrol checkpoint busts for prosecution. This is welcome news to some locals who say arresting people with small bags of weed is a waste of time and money. But for a man sworn to uphold zero tolerance drug laws, it was a touch choice to stop taking those federal cases.
WEST: My men are going to have to sit there and watch people that were trying to bring in drugs illegally or trying to bring in drugs, period, into this country, and I mean even from California. They're just going to walk down the road. They're going to walk away from it.
BECKER: And Hudspeth isn't the only county to make that choice. Two other counties in South Texas have stopped taking federal checkpoint cases, citing cost. For NPR News, I'm Andrew Becker.
CORNISH: Our story was co-reported by G.W. Schultz and produced in cooperation with the Center for Investigative Reporting. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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The Collection
There's never a dull moment in "The Collection," Marcus Dunstan's sequel to his little-seen, horror-cult favorite 2009 "The Collector." Early on rich girl Elena (Emma Fitzpatrick) heads out to an impromptu dance party where she becomes the latest victim of The Collector, a masked hulk of a man with a nasty grudge on the world that he acts out with icy, sadistic rage. (He's played by stunt man Randall Archer as a mute monster.)
Not having seen the first film, it is difficult to figure out what motivates him - a suffocating mother, steroids, Taylor Swift? But his viciousness is unparalleled, even by the standards of these kinds of gore fests. At that party, he activates a giant rotary blade - a very grim reaper that mows the dancing teens into a bloody mess of body parts. At first, Elena escapes, only to witness her best friend be crushed to death in an elevator and be collected by The Collector, who locks her in a red trunk and takes her away to the Hotel Argento. (Named for the famed Italian horror director. It's the only bit of humor in this otherwise mirthless thriller.)
She also manages to free Arkin (Josh Stewart), the victim tortured in the first film. But before he can recover from his horrific experience, he's kidnapped by a rogue-SWAT team hired by Elena's rich dad. Leading this alpha-male crew is Lucello (Lee Tergesen from HBO's "Oz"), the family's long-standing bodyguard, who will stop at nothing to locate Elena. Meanwhile she escapes her trunk, only to meet a batty blonde who may or may not be in cahoots with The Collector, and wanders through the maze that makes up this abandoned hotel.
Kudos to production designer Graham "Grace" Walker for creating the creepiest locale this side of "American Horror Story." Especially evocative are the life-size glass cases containing victims encased in liquid, as if from an avant-garde museum exhibit. That they also prove crucial to the film's climax is one of the few clever twists. Stlll the film's sleek, scary look and feverish editing makes it most watchable, even as what it is depicting is not.
That's because in lieu of a coherent plot is a catalogue of various types of carnage. Characters are dismembered, shot, crucified, impaled, tortured, suffocated and strangled with numbing regularity. Many simply pop-up to be meet a grisly end. Others appear to have some kind of plot function, but are so clumsily drawn as to not make much impact. Perhaps the film would be more interesting if The Collector wasn't little more than a masked enigma - a nightmarish figure that functions as a killing machine. His ruthlessness makes for uneasy viewing.
"The Collection" isn't as much suspenseful as distressing: the gore is relentless, but the plot is predictable - "Aliens" in a haunted house. The SWAT team is eliminated one-by-one in increasingly unpleasant ways; Arkin saves the day, despite having his already injured arm re-broken in a particularly graphic moment; and Elena is reunited with her dad, though it is doubtful that she'll be heading out to any secret raves anytime soon. As for The Collector, he gets his due... or does he? Fitting the illogic of the narrative, he reappears, despite being burned alive.
Dunstan and his co-screenwriter Patrick Melton first gained attention as winners of Season Three of "Project Greenlight" for their script for "Feast." Since then the team wrote scripts for a number of "Feast" sequels, as well as the last four "Saw" films, making them something of the Trey Parker and Matt Stone of Grand Guignol horror. Dunstan has a distinctive visual style that's fevered and expressive; if only he didn't focus his talents in a genre that fetishizes violence with such relish. It's all a bit of a joke in its extremes, if only there was faintest hint of anything funny.

subset: commoncrawl


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Product Features:
Everything you need to start a student bar
Fridge uses thermoelectric cooling technology for efficent and quiet chilling
Interior light
Lockable door to stop thieves
Suitable for bottles and cans
Disposable red cups as seen in American movies
Great for serving beer or playing beer pong
Diposable Bomb Shotz let you create your own shooters
Beer bong fits most bottle necks for chugging beer fast
Fridge includes 1 year warranty
Pack Contains:
1 x ChillQuiet Mini Fridge 17ltr Black
50 x Red American Party Cups
50 x Bomb Shotz Clear
1 x Beer Bong
Party Cups: 455ml [16oz]
Bomb Shotz: 105ml [3.7oz]
ChillQuiet Specification:
Temp. Range: +5ºC to +18ºC
Ambient Temp.: 25°C
Capacity: 17ltr
Refrigerant Mass: 18g
Blowing Agent: Cyclopentane
Average Power Consumption: 0.39KWh/24h
Voltage: 220-240V
Frequency: 50Hz
Wattage: 50W
Climate Class: SN N
Noise Level: 30dB
Weight: 9.2kg
Manufacturer Part Number:
Mini Fridge: H 330mm W 384mm D 405mm
Party Cups: H 120mm Ø 98mm
Bomb Shotz: H 62mm Ø 91mm
Beer Bong: L 260mm Ø 30mm


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sweet, glad to see a bag with my name on it, now if only my patience for this project had transferred to my love life, I'd be set.
sweet, glad to see a bag with my name on it, now if only my patience for this project had transferred to my love life, I'd be set.
embargo backwards = o grab me
"Guns dont kill people, husbands that come home early do." -Larry The Cable Guy
Dragun Drallion, nexus kit, tickler, e2, pysco 5" drop w/ on off, macroline, A+ bolt and back block, Oydessy 3 barrel kit, armson stealth, 15* ASA, Kapp pump arm, Black Magic, warp feed w/ 12v upgrade, halo b w/ vic&rip, 91/4500 bulldog
Tippmann 98C ebolt, lp kit, m-16 kit, palmer stabilizer
Am I the only one that thinks this was TMI (too much information) ?Originally Posted by UTDragun
Originally Posted by UTDragun
t33kyboy "So if a cat is dropped from 11 inches, it will most likely die."
Boards came back today.
I haven't tested any of them yet though.
We'll see how that goes.
Got a busy month coming up, so I may not be able to get on this like I want to.
Would any of you be opposed to me sending the electronics to someone else for assembly? Assuming, of course, that the boards work right and that this move would have them finished sooner than I could manage myself.
I know you guys bought into this partially for my craftsmanship, but solder is solder and shrink wrap is shrink wrap. So long as the other fellow does a good job, I don't foresee a problem, but I thought I'd better ask first.
I don't want to go springing surprises on you all this late in the game.
Let me know what you guys think.
Ryan Shanks
Logic Industries LLC
I vote for sending them to some one else. as long as it gets them back to us faster.
I second.Originally Posted by manwe33
just had to post and say those are some nice looking frames, and HOLY CRAP theres a lot of room in those babies....seeing that it next to the intelli really brings out the size difference
cant wait to see some pics of them assembled....they are looking good though!
Doesn't matter to me.Originally Posted by manwe33
Ditto. At this stage in the game if it means less headaches for you go for it.Originally Posted by smilestyler
If it goes out faster, send them to someone else. Lets get this ball rolling!
But what I do I do because I like to do.
any word on if the boards work correctly?
I have not gotten back to it yet.Originally Posted by fshrmn76
Everyone has been on vacation for the last three weeks, so I'm by myself babysitting two projects and trying to finish three sets of plans to boot.
Needless to say, I've been up to my *** in alligators for weeks on end now.
My help is coming back tomorrow, so hopefully things will calm down a bit and I can spend some time on this project again.
I'm also shopping for someone to do the assembly, so it's not dependant on my free time anymore. We're so close, I hate to continue to make you guys wait because I'm so damned busy. Plus, just between you and me, I'm getting very worn down on this project. I just can't force myself to be enthusiastic about it anymore. I just want it done and gone (I'm sure at least some of you guys have felt like that for some time now).
We'll get it, hang in there.
Thanks for the update. We all understand that work comes first and that this time of year is a big crunch for projects to be completed before it gets cold out. Make sure you take some time to
May we ask who you are looking at to finish things up?
YDNAOriginally Posted by smilestyler
Only the best for my men.
I haven't gotten the stuff to him though, so we're not making any progress just now.
That's my fault. Work got real ugly for a few weeks there, and I haven't gotten anything done except work and sleep (very little sleep I might add).
This morning, while I was combing my hair before heading out the door, I found not one, but four gray hairs.
I'm 28.
Could be worse I suppose. At least there's still hair there to be gray. . . . . . .
Just thought this was a funny post.......Originally Posted by Automaggot68
Due to the objections of a certain Canadian, this space is now for rent.
What? Do you just go around trying to stir up in random posts?Originally Posted by AirAssault
/Takes a quick glance at your post record.
Yup, pretty much.
In that case, let me be blunt:
Unless you have a spot in line, go away and leave us be.
This is getting close to the end now, and I'll not have some random misanthrope come in here and shake the bees nest just for kicks.
YDNA ?? who dat
Andrew "Ydna" DuBucOriginally Posted by smilestyler
ZDS Paintball
He's pretty sharp, he'll do very well.
Cool. I've been out of paintball for a couple years but I made mag that worked like that in a Y-grip, using a tiny solenoid valve and a clippard ram. 20+ bps and 20k+shots on a 9v.
Played many tournaments with it. Clearly the best way to electrify a mag. I mounted my LPR down on the tank, though.
Damn, all of you are going to be some lucky people when these come in.
If anyone already wants to part with theirs, just let me know, I'm your man.
I've pondered it, but I know when I get it I'll change my mind. I've even thought of shedding the SFL and xmag, but I can't bring myself to do it. It took a long time and lots of effort to land the mags I have now.Originally Posted by pito189
Bite me hero. I didn't say anything about anything, just that it was a funny post. I don't have a spot in line and I will post where I want....
Edit ................You have been warned before. Post where you want just not here for five days.
Last edited by Beemer; 11-21-2008 at 04:12 AM.
Man I'm really feeling sorry for ya... An SFL, X-Mag, and one of these babies, must be tough.Originally Posted by Papa_Smurf
Stuffs all packed up and will be heading to YDNA's place on Monday morning.
No idea how long it's going to take there, but I'm hoping it won't be but a week or three.
Hang in there guys, we're just about there.
W H A T ?Originally Posted by CoolHand
Say it aint so man ?
Originally Posted by CoolHandDont see that posted here or did I miss it?Originally Posted by going_home
Last edited by Beemer; 11-27-2008 at 10:13 PM.
Don't freak out, I'm not going anywhere.Originally Posted by going_home
I meant I'm not PLAYING anymore.
The fields have all closed up around here, and all my paintballing buddies have moved off or gotten married, or both, so my circle of people to play with has evaporated.
I'll still be finishing this project, and I may do others in the future (smaller in scope than this one, obviously ).
I had nearly 50 markers in my collection, and my job hasn't been bringing in any money for a few weeks now, so it's time to offload the ones I can live without, before they're totally worthless or too late to help.
If anything earthshaking were happening which would have effected you guys, I'd have posted it here first.
Originally Posted by CoolHand
I know how that is. My local field has closed up. I'm driving 90 miles into Kansas Saterday to play.


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When Gov. Pat Quinn and Union Pacific Railroad President and COO Lantz Fritz came to Rockford in May to announce the return of passenger train service after a 34-year absence, passenger rail advocates west of the Forest City were angry.
The new train, to start running in 2015, will go from Chicago to Rockford, where it will terminate, because that's where the UP's track ends. The line west of Rockford was torn up in stages in the 1970s and early 1980s.
People west of Rockford believed the Amtrak service would extend to their cities along the Canadian National's Iowa Division line, the only remaining track west of Rockford that runs through Freeport and Galena to Iowa.
They protested that they'd been forgotten. They hadn't been, but that was no consolation. Quinn's minions (Quinnions?) at the Illinois Department of Transportation worked for several years to reach an agreement with Canadian National Railway to run Amtrak trains from Chicago to Dubuque. That was the route favored by IDOT.
But CN proved difficult to deal with, Quinn said. So, he made the $223 million deal using Metra tracks to Elgin and the UP from Elgin, Huntley and Belvidere to Rockford.
Enter U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield. Durbin has been working on restoring passenger trains to northern Illinois ever since he took office in 1997. Durbin is frustrated with the gigantic transcontinental railway based in Montreal, Quebec. CN owns the tracks of the former Illinois Central.
Last Thursday Durbin wrote to the company's president, Claude Mongeau, about the passenger train situation.
"The State of Illinois and Amtrak have been trying to negotiate an agreement with CN to bring new passenger rail service from Chicago to Rockford and Galena. Last month, the State of Illinois announced it is pursuing an alternate route between Chicago and Rockford along Union Pacific tracks," Durbin said.
"This decision was due largely to the lack of cooperation from CN, which owns the originally selected route between those two cities. Unfortunately, the only feasible rail route west from Rockford to Galena runs along the CN. The State of Illinois and Amtrak will not be able to provide service to Galena as long as CN slow walks negotiations and makes unreasonable capital demands."
I asked CN spokesman Patrick Waldron about Durbin's letter. "CN has received the senator's letter and is preparing a response," Waldron said. Stay tuned.
I know it is not the state's fault that the one railroad that could serve northwest Illinois has been the impediment to getting the job done. Just the same, this situation illustrates once again that Illinois' government has neglected a part of the state in great need of infrastructure development.
The lack of progress on completing U.S. 20 as a freeway west of Freeport and around Galena is perhaps the leading example of that benign neglect. It has hurt economic development in a part of the state that desperately needs jobs.
My dad, who was born in 1907, had a good friend when he was in the Boy Scouts. Their troop used to go on adventures, including hiking to the Mississippi River from a railroad siding somewhere west of Freeport, where a train dropped them off.
That friend grew up to be a highway planner with the state. Decades after my father died, after I'd written one of many columns urging improvement of U.S. 20, he called me and said he'd been one of the men who had been planning the modernization of U.S. 20 to be a four-lane, divided highway — in 1937!
Of course, World War II got in the way and money was diverted to the war effort. Afterward, the project sat on the shelf.
To be sure, some progress has been made. The highway was turned into a four-lane between Rockford and Freeport in the 1950s. The Freeport bypass is complete. As for that remaining gap from east of Freeport and around Galena, we've had $1 billion worth of lip service from three generations of politicians, but no bulldozers.
Chuck Sweeny: 815-987-1366; email@example.com; @chucksweeny


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I say worry about the practicality later. This is a proof of concept, and a pretty awesome one. I'm sure Goatboy already has a more efficient loading system in mind.
For some reason I would like to see this load like a cap gun. Pump players carry dozens of 10 round tubes. Maybe this could have a 6 round preloaded ring that the player could carry a whole bunch of?
Just musing.


text:
Sponsored by Center for Ethics and Public life and Sustinable Communities
John Ikerd, professor emeritus of agricultural economics at the University of Missouri, Columbia, received a bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri. Before retiring in 2000, Ikerd spent his professional time in academic positions at multiple universities, and has written seven published books including two that can be viewed online at no cost on his personal website www.johnikerd.com.
Questions? Contact Jon Jensen Ph.D., 563-387-1696


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The plan to expand Chatfield Reservoir in South Jefferson County is regarded by some as the best environmental alternative, but others see the projected loss of habitat, flooding of 600 acres and impacts on recreation as too great a price to pay.
The proposed changes will have a significant effect on wildlife, as well as on the recreational amenities that are part of the surrounding Chatfield State Park.
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Yggdrasil may refer to:
- The object from Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.
- The location from Final Fantasy Dimensions.
- The weapon from Final Fantasy Explorers.
Yggdrasil is an immense tree that is central in Norse cosmology, in connection to which the nine worlds exist.In Norse mythology,
This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. If an internal link referred you to this page, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.


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SCHLADMING, Austria -- Lindsey Vonn will miss the rest of the ski season after tearing knee ligaments and breaking a bone in her leg in a high-speed crash Tuesday at the world championships. The U.S. team expects her to return for the next World Cup season and the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Vonn lost balance on her right leg while landing a jump in the super-G. She flipped in the air, landed on her back and smashed through a gate before coming to a halt.
The four-time overall World Cup winner and 2010 Olympic downhill champion received medical treatment on the slope for 12 minutes before being taken by helicopter to a hospital in Schladming.
The 28-year-old star tore her anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in her right knee. U.S. team medical director Kyle Wilkens said in a statement. The broken bone in her lower leg was described as a "lateral tibial plateau fracture."
Christian Kaulfersch, the assistant medical director at the worlds, said Vonn left the Schladming hospital Tuesday afternoon and will have surgery at another hospital.
"She first wanted to go back to the team hotel to mentally deal with all what has happened," Kaulfersch said.
Team physician William Sterett was with Vonn but declined to offer any more information when contacted by The Associated Press.
This is the sixth straight major championship in which Vonn has been hit with injuries. The crash in the opening event of the championships came almost exactly a year before the Olympics.
"She will be out for the remainder of this season but is expected to return to racing for the 2013-14 ... World Cup season and the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi," the team said.
Vonn returned to the circuit last month after an almost monthlong break from racing to fully recover from an intestinal illness that put her in a hospital for two days in November.
The start of Tuesday's race was delayed by 3½ hours because of fog hanging over the course and the skiers began in waning light at 2:30 p.m. Even before Vonn's crash, a course worker fell and also had to be airlifted. He was reported to have broken his nose.
All the delays made for flat light when Vonn raced.
"Lindsey did a great job on top and Lindsey has won a lot of races in flat light so the flat light was definitely not a problem," U.S. Alpine director Patrick Riml told the AP.
"We are upset obviously with what happened, but if you don't know the facts and why they decided to start and what the weather forecast was it's hard to say without any reasoning," Riml said. "And they probably had a reason, otherwise they wouldn't have started."
It was difficult to pinpoint when Vonn lost control as she came off a left turn into the jump.
"She jumped a little bit in the wrong direction and started to correct that a little bit in the air and put a lot of pressure on the outside ski exactly in the landing and she couldn't hold the pressure and then (she crashed)," International Ski Federation women's race director Atle Skaardal said.
The conditions varied from racer to racer.
Former overall winner Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany started immediately after Vonn and skied off course.
"It's not a very difficult course but in some parts you couldn't see anything," said Fabienne Suter of Switzerland, who finished fifth.
However, Vonn teammate Julia Mancuso thrived in the difficult conditions and won the bronze medal.
"It's the same for everybody," U.S. speed coach Chip White said. "Everyone had to wait for a long time and that's always difficult. And the holds were every 15 minutes so it really doesn't give you a chance to go and do something else. You're always kind of on edge at the ready. It's a difficult situation but everybody had the same difficult situation."
Alpine World Championship
At Schladming, Austria
1. Tina Maze, Slovenia, 1 minute, 35.39 seconds. 2. Lara Gut, Switzerland, 1:35.77. 3. Julia Mancuso, United States, 1:35.91. 4. Sofia Goggia, Italy, 1:35.96. 5. Fabienne Suter, Switzerland, 1:36.25. 6. Ilka Stuhec, Slovenia, 1:36.28. 7. Daniela Merighetti, Italy, 1:36.32. 8. Viktoria Rebensburg, Germany, 1:36.33. 9. Andrea Fischbacher, Austria, 1:36.40. 10. Dominique Gisin, Switzerland, 1:36.57.
11. Nicole Schmidhofer, Austria, 1:36,64. (tie) Elisabeth Goergl, Austria, 1:36.64. 13. Lotte Smiseth Sejersted, Norway, 1:36.85. 14. Marie Marchand-Arvier, France, 1:37.02. 15. Jessica Lindell-Vikarby, Sweden, 1:37.07. 16. Leanne Smith, United States, 1:37.08. 17. Regina Sterz, Austria, 1:37.09. 18. Elena Curtoni, Italy, 1:37.12. 19. Fraenzi Aufdenblatten, Switzerland, 1:37.36. 20. Carolina Ruiz Castillo, Spain, 1:37.58.
21. Nadia Fanchini, Italy, 1:37.63. 22. Marion Rolland, France, 1:37.90. 23. Larisa Yurkiw, Canada, 1:38.14. 24. Chemmy Alcott, Britain, 1:38.18. 25. Klara Krizova, Czech Republic, 1:38.22. 26. Laurenne Ross, United States, 1:38.37. 27. Tessa Worley, France, 1:38.73. 28. Marie-Pier Prefontaine, Canada, 1:38.88. 29. Maria Bedareva, Russia, 1:39.64. 30. Lena Duerr, Germany, 1:39.66.
Did Not Finish
Anna Fenninger, Austria; Lindsey Vonn, United States; Maria Hoefl-Riesch, Germany; Tina Weirather, Liechtenstein; Veronique Hronek, Germany; Ragnhild Mowinckel, Norway.


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An interview on Gamasutra chats with Chris Avellone of Obsidian Entertainment about their upcoming Project Eternity, as well as some of the old school RPGs that inspired this upcoming release and the successful Kickstarter that got the project underway. He offers the following outlook on what RPGs like this fell out of favor with publishers:
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Showtime's Beat the Insiders website is finally operating, so as planned Batman set up a league that will keep track of the results for those of us matching wits at picking NFL games this season. Opening night is tomorrow night, and I'll post another reminder, but hurry if you want to participate (it's all free). Bats has been busy, as he also set up a Blue's News GTA5 Crew on the Rockstar Games Social Club, so those planning on being a friend of ours can sign up there.
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text: I don't have anything to go by as this is the only RM kit I have. I know that the stock AM kit that I have fits totally flush with the bottom of the rail and so does the XM15 kit. I did get a PM back from him saying that he thought the rail channel might be too narrow since his pump rod/arm whatever is thicker than the AGD one. I personally don't think that's it. When I pull the assembly apart and slide the pump arm in and out, it slides freely. As soon as I put everything together and snug up the front mounting screw it binds.


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Well I have been going over what those 3 days were like and how the event evolved. I wanted to put down my general thoughts on the meet and open the floor to you all to comment and suggest ideas for the next one
First off the even I would say was an overall resounding success. We CLEARLY had over 100 people out there which was more than I hoped for; the weather was great, no one got hurt and people seemed very happy.
I also want to tell you all what you already know. The AO population is a really amazing group Many of you don�t know but a bunch of of the AO guys and gals got together and made a donation to me to help cover the costs of the last-minute generator costs that I took. I mean I did not even get up and ask for it, you put it together without encouragement. That says a lot about you all. And it was not limited to that, everyone gave when and what they could to help each other out. It was about as close to Communism as I think you can get and still have fun.
That being said I want to go down the list of problems that I saw and now know how to avoid for the next NorCal SoCal Day.
First and by far the most obvious was the generator. Having no compressor to fill over 100 people is NOT a good thing and I learned REALLY fast about how much power you need to drive a 5.5hp engine. Basic rule of thumb: 2Kw per 1Hp. I ended up going through 4 different generators but I finally learned.
This problem can be avoided next time either by me bringing down our 15Kw generator or renting one for the event but that should take care of the air.
Second was really no having made an itinerary for the event. In my naive state, I figured we could all just �go somewhere.� Let me tell you that 30+ people never just go anywhere. We need directions, maps, phone numbers and reservations. This too can be easily solved by simply planning for it. In addition we need backup plans because Murphy�s Law is something you can rely on in an event like this
I know to watch for it now so it�s taken care of now. I think what Ill end up doing is delegating out small portions of that for a few willing people so no one has a big load and can do a good job on a small part.
Next was field organization. Though many people offered to ref for long periods of time, we really needed to have some �official� form of reffing planned out. I was very happy to see that even without refs, people played very honestly and it appeared that it was a very fair day.
Next time we do this, I will make up a tim slot list for the day(s) we play. Since few if any of us come to AO Days to ref, I think that breaking it into 1-4 hour shifts would be best. People can sign up as they wish, but the big help is that its a commitment by the person on record and should ensure that we are reffed the whole day. As far as a tourney goes, I am happy to help plan one but it seems to me that an AO Day is so much fun when you can simply play random games all day as you feel like it.
Then there was the food issue. I had wanted to plan out some kind of food at the field but that never got finished up. Preplanning it could be tricky as it�s hard to please everyone and no one wants to get stuck footing the bill I am open to suggestions on this one. Ideally I would like to get a BBQ truck out to the event and let people buy stuff as needed. It would be nice to NOT have to leave the field to get food as all your stuff is lying there and it takes longer.
Hotel reservations. We needed to centralize that. It�s to be expected that many people will crash at friends houses or some favorite place, but having one �AO Hotel� is a wise move because it puts the majority of us together (sorry Tom, I spoke too late on that one). Ill also try and secure a conference room so we can talk all night and what not.
AO Shirts. This one I need suggestions on. I know that if I di it again, Ill commit earlier so I dont blow my mind but how would you all respond to the following thoughts?
-1 logo or 3 (like you saw; NorCal, SoCal and nor vs So)?
-heat pressed shirts or silk screen?
-Personalized? (AO/real name and all that)
-how much would you pay? $10 $15 $20?
-should I consider making other event logo apparel or stickers or something that I am missing?
Now of course, silk screening would raise the price and probably mean that I could only make one logo with no names but I thrown it out there.
Photos and media. I am still collecting images from the event and I am sure I will never have them all (but most of them is good enough). Did those of you who got my CD that I made for you like that? I think that if everyone got the photos of the event then there is not this overwhelming force demanding photos . Next time Ill have to get 2 or 3 computers to burn fast enough (unless someone wants to bust out one of those mass burning towers )
Oh and I am hoping that SoCal will muster their forces for the next AO Day. I would like to play a NorCal vs. SoCal game.
Those were the big problems that I could see happen during the event. Now what else would we want to add (if anything) to enhance this even more?
Some of you suggested making this a 2x a year event?
I suspect that the next time we have it we may do it at Breakout�s soon-to-exist commercial field. This would be nice because it would be setup to take an AO Day and would be less work to prep. No solid dates one when but I know this has to be at LEAST an annual event.
Sorry to cram so much into so small a space but this will be the thread of long replies (perhaps).


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Heart to Heart Child Advocacy Center is celebrating a special milestone today: The organization has earned re-accreditation status from the National Children's Alliance.
The National Children's Alliance has awarded re-accreditation to Heart to Heart following an extensive application and site review process. As the accrediting agency for Children's Advocacy Centers across the country, the National Children's Alliance awards various levels of accreditation and membership to centers that respond to reports of child abuse. Accredited Children's Advocacy Centers must undergo a re-accreditation process every five years.
"Primarily it means that we will maintain the highest service that we have done for the past five years," said Marlene Lemmer Beeson, executive director of Heart to Heart.
Heart to Heart is hosting a re-accreditation open house from 4 to 6 p.m. today at the center (702 N. Main in Newton). The public is invited to help the organization celebrate during this come-and-go reception.
Heart to Heart opened a center in Newton in 2001 and now has two child advocacy and forensic interviewing centers, one in Newton and the other in McPherson and serves Harvey, Marion and McPherson counties. Heart to Heart was first accredited by the National Children's Alliance in 2007.
"As an organization and team of individuals dedicated to responding to child abuse, we recognize the importance of maintaining the 'accredited' status. Re-accreditation not only validates our organization's dedication to proven effective approaches of child abuse intervention and prevention, but also contributes to consistency across the child advocacy center movement as a whole," said Beeson.
For more information about Heart to Heart, visit www.hearttoheartcac.com.
Local organization to host open house
Heart to Heart Child Advocacy Center is celebrating a special milestone today: The organization has earned re-accreditation status from the National Children's Alliance.


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Middletown High School's award winning marching band received a royal invitation Monday to perform in the London New Year's Day Parade Jan. 1, 2014.
Middletown High School's award winning marching band received a royal invitation Monday to perform in the London New Year's Day Parade Jan. 1, 2014.
Lord Mayor of the City of Westminster in London, England Angela Harvey, visited the high school Feb. 25 and extended the formal invitation to the more than 50 students who participate in the marching band and color guard.
This is the first time that the Cavalier Marching Band has been invited to perform outside of the United States. Each member will have to raise about $3,000 through fundraising to embark on this life-changing experience.
"It is a great privilege to ask you to perform in the New Year's Day Parade, in London," Councillor Harvey told the students. Then she asked, "Do you want to do that, Middletown?"
The auditorium erupted in applause.
"It's not just an opportunity to take the band to London; it's about teaching out students to set goals and work hard," said Middletown High School Band Director Brian Endlein.
Drum Major, Katie Sharpe, a senior, said she was speechless after the presentation – where she was presented with the opportunity to present Councillor Harvey with a gift basket of Delaware and Middletown memorabilia.
"It's really cool to get to experience this and something I will never forget," Sharpe said.
As Councillor Harvey entered the auditorium for the noon time assembly, the Cavalier Marching Band played a tribute.
The reason the Lord Mayor traveled to Middletown is because, "your band is every good," Executive Director of the London Parade Festival Robert Bone told the students. "But that is a considerable understatement."
Bone spoke highly of the high school's choir as well, which performed a choral salute to their guests.
"I don't think I've heard voices like that in a high school choir, ever," he said.
Directed by Endlein, the Cavaliers recently took first place in the Tournament of the Bands Competition.
Now he will travel with his students across the Atlantic Ocean where they will march more than two miles through the streets of London New Year's Day in what is called the largest New Year's parade in the world.
"The parade is the greatest event in the greatest city in the world," Bone said.
With twice as many performers than the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, at least 8,500 people from across the globe take place in the London New Year's Day Parade.
About 620,000 people take to the streets to watch, but Bone noted that it is quite difficult to fit two-thirds of a million people in the narrow, historic streets of Westminster.
He did guarantee though that the Cavaliers Marching Band will be famous though, as people around the world tune in to watch the nearly four hour parade, which is in its 28th year.
"It's a fantastic honor for the Cavaliers to go overseas and represent the United States and Delaware," said Delaware Lt. Governor Matt Denn.
Denn also extended an invitation to the first citizen of Westminster, England.
He told the Lord Mayor that she had an open invitation attend Middletown's notorious New Year's Day Hummer's Parade.


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Tim Sylvia
TRAINING: I usually get up at 8am, get into the gym, run two or three miles and work on technique with Pat. I'll then do my plyometric or agility training, make sure I eat a couple of times, and then go back in the evening and work out.
When and why did you start training for fighting? I started a few years ago. I wrestled a little bit in high school, and always did martial arts like karate. I had the opportunity to start grappling for fun and to stay in shape. I enjoyed it a lot. I did a couple grappling tournaments and took first place in them. I got invited to an amateur MMA fight (open hand rules). I went down there and knocked the guy out in 12 seconds. I loved it, and have been doing it ever since.
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redhawk253 wrote:yes alexander had a great o line.. but he still had to make the plays.. lynch is a good running back too.. but he doesn't put up even close to the numbers alexander did.. i love both of them but they are completely different runners.
for you guys that are saying its not even close.. lynch all day.. i'd first ask how old you are and how much you actually watched alexander the great play.. then i'd say go watch some youtube highlights.. it aint the o line choosing what hole to run through or gliding by guys like they are standing still or juking in the open field.. dont be confused by alexanders ailments late in his career and the fallout from the beginning of our o line woes.. he is an alltime great with borderline HOF numbers.
to pick one or the other is silly because this run game was designed for lynch so lynch performs better in it.. i guarantee if you put lynch behind alexander's line the great still comes out ahead simply because of his vision and the way he could cut once and be gone.
I watched every run both running backs ever made with the Seahawks. Alexander was infuriating at times when he would just fall down or run out of bounds to avoid contact. Alexander left A LOT of yards on the field by doing so. I saw many weak arm tackles bring Alexander down between the 20's and rarely see them bring Lynch down. Alexander only stepped it up and got tough when a score was to be had. Alexander seemed to be a "me" guy. Alexander seemed more concerned with self preservation than he was winning. Lynch at times does too much. Sometimes, I wish I could combine the two and make the best running back in the history of the NFL.
Don't get me wrong, I loved what Alexander did. I just think he could have been a WHOLE LOT better. I don't think Alexander gave his all.


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Can you really combine special needs parenting with Twitter?
(and why would you want to?)
The simple answer is that we all need someone to talk to.
Sometimes, though, in the move to super-mom or -dad we become isolated. Old friendships fade in importance under the pressure of therapies and specialist appointments. Old friends and even family, busy with their own lives, just don't have time to


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The 35th and last edition of the Keys Fillauer Invitational Golf Tournament and Clambake came to a close on Aug. 3 but not after raising a record $51,000 for the Ronald McDonald House.
The 35th and last edition of the Keys Fillauer Invitational Golf Tournament and Clambake came to a close on Aug. 3 but not after raising a record $51,000 for the Ronald McDonald House.
Fillauer said the tourament has now reached a grand total of $704,000 in donations.
Ronald McDonald Houses offer a home away from home to families needing to be near their seriously ill or injured children while they're being treated at hospitals.
Fillauer said "there were many winners during the two-day event," but the actual golf winners included Mark Greer, the men's champion, and Sharon Kelly, the women's champion. Greer had a gross score of 66 and Kelly had a gross score of 75.
A gross score is the number of strokes it takes to hit the ball, while a net score refers to the score after handicap strokes are deducted.
Blake Greer took the award for Men's Long Drive; Kelly won the Women's Long Drive; and Ron Matthews took the award for the Senior Long Drive.
Tom Gardner was the winner of the Super Senior Long Drive and Charles Piper was the Legend's Long Drive winner.
Glen King won the putting contest.
Closest to the pin wiinners were: Fred Smith (No. 3); Matt Reat (No. 8); Brett Jaffrey (No. 15); and Blake Greer (No. 17).
Other winners:
• Senior Flight: Mitch Smith (59 net), Tony Wright (60 net), Michael Gresham (61 net), and Larry Garner (61 net).
• Super Senior: Fred Smith (61 net), Don Norris (63 net) and Jerry Prudom (65 net).
• Legends: Pete Ruyl (60 net), Bob Cooney (61 net) and Ted Murray (63 net).
• 3rd Flight: Sonny Rogers (57 net), Scott Chandler (62 net) and Billy Clabough (63 net).
• 2nd Flight: Bill Eby (62 net), John Kenny (62 net) and Scott Hinton (62 net).
• 1st Flight: Jim Charles (59 net), Virgil Waddell (63 net), Bob Eby (64 net).
• Men's Championship: Mark Greer (66 gross), Hughie Thomas (62 net), Keith Bryson (64 net).
• Women's Championship: Sharon Kelly (75 gross), Barbara Headrick (58 net), Billie Carrington (63 net).
• Women's Team: 1st place (46 net), Cricket McKamey, Paula Gresham, Marge Courville and Diane Carter; 2nd place (47 net), Peggy Adcock, Brenda Davis, Billie Carrington and Barbara Headrick.
• Men's Team: 1st place (49 net), Keith Bryson, John Kenny, Mike Stevens and Mitch Smith; 2nd place (50 net), Ty Tauberham, Bob Eby, William Eby and Bill Eby.
• Men's Team: 1st place, Jim Swafford, Charles Busler, Michael Gresham and Mike Bundy; 2nd place, Richard Hall, Michael Bath, Tom Hilton and CB Chitwood.
• Women's Team: 1st place, Peggy Adcock, Ann Ramsey, Pat O'Neal and Kathy Kilby; 2nd place, Karen Rogers, Paula Browning, Diane Carter and Billye Carrington.


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Sets up in minutes--no tools needed. Packs compactly and can be folded and taken into most small cars. Extremely sturdy aluminum construction. Utility tray is 21 in. wide with palette holder; supports canvases up to 48 in. high. Rubber tips on legs. Extensions for larger canvases available. Ideal for home, school, or studio.
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This is my first easel, aside from a small table-top one. I bought it on the recommendation of Jerry Yarnell in one of his books. I like it most because of the price. I wasn't sure I needed or would...[more]
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Jeffco schools should save Outdoor Labs, find other areas to make cuts
Of all the cuts that Jeffco Schools can make, I find it hard to believe that suspending the Outdoor Lab Program is a best option. When you look at all the waste and unnecessary positions within the Jeffco school district, I am appalled that you would choose to single out this amazing program.
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Second annual event aims to bring community together
WESTPORT — Reel 2 Real's second annual Holistic & Wellness Faire will take place Saturday, July 19, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (rain or shine) at the Holy Ghost Club, 171 Sodom Road.
"Being that our agency works closely with holistic providers, it's not unusual for us to seek out new avenues for community outreach," said Keith Dias of Reel 2 Real. "And in our search last year, we uncovered a void here in the Southcoast. Although there are events similar in theme happening around us in Providence and Boston, there was nothing like this here in our community."
This free event will feature live entertainment, free health screenings and immunizations with SouthCoast Hospital Group's Health Van, food, prizes, and more than 35 vendors.
"The Holistic & Wellness Faire is a celebration of mind, body and soul; it's a perfect fusion of all elements demonstrating that there are many paths to wellness," said Dias. "It's most definitely a journey; the Faire is just designed to make it a fun and educational one for all."
The event will feature free mini Zero Balance sessions, an innovative body-mind system of hands-on therapy developed in the 1970s by Dr. Fritz Smith, a pioneer in the field of integrative medicine. "The practitioner uses comfortable finger pressure and gentle traction to engage body structure and body energy," Dias explained. "Clients experience deep relaxation, internal organization, and improved function. Sessions are done while fully clothed."
Grum's Family Restaurant, the official food provider, will be serving up fresh selections from the dining hall, with Like No Udder providing non-dairy soft serve and vegan treats from the world's first all-vegan soft serve ice cream truck.
Entertainment will be provided by DJ Zak Rioux Entertainment; Hoopnotica demonstration by Shooper Nerd at 1:30 p.m.; Belly Dance performance by Sacred Flames at 2 p.m.; "The Journey" dance performance by Mill City Dance Fitness at 2:30 p.m.; sound healing session with SoundScapers at 3:30 p.m.; Music Together demonstration with Rhonda Matson at 4:30 p.m.
"More and more people are beginning to seek out alternatives to traditional medicine. And by no means am I devaluing the need for traditional medicine. But personally, I believe the mind, body and soul are far more powerful than we know or understand," explained Dias. "Our bodies have the miraculous ability to heal themselves of most ailments. But first, we must learn to connect with ourselves and the energy that fuels us."
Vendors include reiki and chakra therapy; psychics and mediums; beauty and skin care; massage therapy; aura photography; and henna.
There will be raffles every hour.
"We believe the Southcoast is a great place to live. But we also believe the Southcoast needs more to do," said Dias. "Events like the Holistic & Wellness Faire not only support our local businesses and economy, but also bring together our wonderful community."
For more inforamtion, visit the Faire's official portal on Reel 2 Real Studios' website at www.carnivaleofthearcane.com/#!holistic-wellness-faire/c1ed0.


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Owner, Packer Shoes


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Huzzah and kudos to Chatbear's Bagpuss for taking a bunch of time yesterday to iron out a few things on the forums here that have helped smooth out their operation a bit. He's quite a busy guy with enough on his plate to keep him altogether too occupied to start with, and I can't thank him enough for his efforts.
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text:
guards platoon
Table of Contents
Point Value: 1
Side Attributes:
Can belong to the following sides: Russia.
Actions and Action Points (ACP):
Receives basic allotment of 2 new ACP per turn.
Movement, Movement Points (MP), and Speeds (MP/ACP Ratios):
Uses a minimum of 1 ACP per move.
Needs MP to enter terrain: 1 by default, 99 into water, 0 into road.
Needs MP to leave terrain: 1 by default, 0 in road.
Needs MP to traverse terrain: -1 by default, 1 across road.
Hit Points (HP): 2. Recovers by 0.50 HP each turn.
Vanishes if in: false by default, true for water.
Can attack (ACP 2 by default, 0 vs block, wreck).
Hit chances are 100% by default, 50% vs halftrack(g), SdKfz 234/1, Puma, SdKfz 234/4, Maultier, Wespe, Hummel, Gw 38, Wirbelwind, Stu H 42, Marder III, StuG III, Hetzer, Nashorn, Jgd Pz IV, Jgd Pz V, Jgd Pz VI, Lynx, PzKpfw IV, Panther, Tiger I, Tiger II, 0% vs minefield, wreck.
Damage is 1 by default, 0 vs minefield, wreck.
If attacked, ACP to defend is 2 vs all unit types.
Can capture (ACP 0 vs all unit types).
Chance to capture: 0% by default, 100% vs town.
0% chance to be seen at outset of game.
0% chance to be seen at outset of game if independent.
Not always seen even if terrain has been seen.
Occupants not seen even if unit has been seen.
Can see units up to 8 cells away.
Vision is line-of-sight.
Effective eye height is 2 in all terrain types.
Chance to see if adjacent is 100% by default, 50% for minefield.
Chance to see in general is 100% by default, 0% for minefield.
Fate if side loses: 100% chance to vanish.
AI Attributes:
Requires >= 30 accessible, liquid cells to build naval units.
Requests a total wartime garrison of 1 units.
Range within which enemies will cause an alert is 6.
Basic tactical computation range is 12.
Table of Contents
File produced by Xcscribe for Xconq version 7.5pre (July 2004).


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Connor Wood was named the starting quarterback by Colorado football coaches as expected over the weekend putting the fourth-year junior at the helm of two revival efforts here in Boulder.
Not only is Wood trying to lead the Buffs out of a dark period of seven consecutive losing seasons, he is directing an effort to restart the Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter that has been dormant at CU.
Wood, who transferred to CU two years ago this week from the University of Texas, said making that move was 'a leap of faith.' He said something gave him a good feeling about choosing to come to CU, when he had multiple options from which to choose back in 2011. Monday morning he said he felt his leap of faith had been rewarded.
"It's an amazing, amazing feeling," Wood said. "My family has been so instrumental in keeping my head above water when it sometimes feels like I can't do it any more and helping me stick through it.
"The last four years have not been very easy for me. To get this position is such a huge honor. I'm so very blessed and thankful, but at the same time, it's my job to keep. I've got to work to keep my job. It's not mine for the whole year. I have to work every game to earn it."
Coach Mike MacIntyre, who coincidentally earned the Grant Teaff National Coach of the Year Award from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes last season at San Jose State, said Wood won the job this month by building on his work in the spring.
"We feel like he gives us the best chance right now," MacIntyre said. "We're excited about what Connor has done."
True freshman Sefo Liufau will serve as Wood's backup. Liufau out-performed junior college transfer Jordan Gehrke and third-year sophomore Stevie Joe Dorman during fall camp.
Wood was thrilled to be discussing his confirmed status as starter on Monday morning after practice, though it was long suspected he would win the job. But it's also clear Wood does not believe he is in Boulder for football reasons alone.
On Monday night, Wood and eight other CU student-athletes, who comprise a leadership council, held the first meeting of the FCA at CU in years. They held a similar event without the FCA moniker earlier this year and it attracted 80 student-athletes or roughly 25 percent of those in the athletic department.
Wood said he asked former long-time CU linebackers coach Brian Cabral about the Boulder FCA chapter when he transferred here and Cabral told him it hadn't been active since the late-1990s.
"The best possible way for success at FCA that I've learned from the past at Texas -- FCA is really, really big at Texas -- is it has got to be student-athlete driven," Wood said. "Kind of like a football team has to be player driven. That's how it's going to really blossom."
Back in March when the Buffs began spring football under a totally new coaching staff, Wood was just a face in the crowd of a gaggle of six quarterbacks trying to make an impression. Wood proved to be the most dedicated to earning the job. Three other quarterbacks on the roster at that time left the program and another -- last season's starter Jordan Webb -- was charged with assault in the spring for an off-campus incident that came not long after he blew out his knee in spring practice.
Wood was the only quarterback on the roster in fall camp who had playing experience at this level of the college game. He appeared in seven games last fall throwing four interceptions with just one touchdown pass. The majority of that work came in mop-up duty in ugly losses.
Wood did start one game late last season, but he was replaced when it didn't go well.
Wood started a Bible study for members of the football team not long after coming to CU because faith is such a big part of his life. Wood said Monday that he believes his work to restore FCA at CU helped him on the football field as well. And he has no reason to believe it won't continue to help him thrive as he tries to lead the Buffs back to the glory days.
"It's everything," Wood said of the role faith plays in his life. "It's amazing how I can see how my life has made a turn for the better once I turned my life to the Lord."
Contact staff writer Kyle Ringo at email@example.com or twitter.com/kyleringo.
Did you miss our CU football preview section on Sunday? If so, scroll over the image below for links to all the stories in the section.


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I predict that:
If Denver goes pass heavy, Manning could be done by the first half, and KC wins.
If Denver goes run heavy, Denver will be called for holding so often, they have to abandon the run game. But by the time they switch back, the damage has been done.
Just goofin!
Whats yer call for the game?
(I just know Manning after the Diego game, as hobbled as he was, this Defense has started licking their chops)


text: Save This Event For Later Trooper David Brinkerhoff Memorial Race Series Coxsackie, NY, Sat Mar 23 - Sat Apr 6, 2013 Who's Registered? | Contact Event | Event Website | Google Calendar Start line address: 26 Sunset Boulevard (Coxsackie-Athens High School), Coxsackie, NY 1205 Presented by Capital Bicycle Racing Club (CBRC) USA Cycling Permit # 2013-362 This is a past event. If you wish to see the details for this event click, "Continue" below. If you are looking for a current event, please search the event calendar .


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Waterford® Glass Sunflower
A gift of a sunflower is a sure way to brighten anyone's day with the floral equivalent of a smile. Capture this timeless feeling forever with an exquisite glass sunflower crafted by the experts at Waterford®. Beautifully rendered in fine clear glass, it makes a stunning and graceful display of cheer no matter where it's displayed.


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Circa 1920
A beautiful, finely-detailed copper and gilt brass cigarette box. The action of lifting the lid cleverly places a cigarette on the small middle recess when it is reset. The top is detailed with facing female angels. Signed by the New York maker Sterling Bronze Co.
Overall: 3" h. x 5" w. x 3-5/8" d.
1 fixture total available.
Please contact your local showroom about viewing this item.


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Date: Thursday, November 21, 2013
Time: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Building: Woldenberg Art Center, Newcomb Art Gallery
Location: uptown campus
Organized by the Newcomb Art Gallery and the Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Service, Women, Art, and Social Change: The Newcomb Pottery Enterprise is the largest presentation of Newcomb arts and crafts in more than twenty-five years.
Works from various periods will examine the role that the enterprise played in promoting art for the betterment of women, and in turn, New Orleans' business and cultural communities, still struggling from the effects of the Civil War. The exhibit will feature significant examples of the iconic pottery, including the recently acquired daffodil motif vase by Harriet Joor, as well as lesser known textiles, metalwork, jewelry, bookbinding and historical artifacts.
Women, Art, and Social Change: The Newcomb Pottery Enterprise will offer new insights into the Newcomb community—the philosophy, the friendships, the craftsmanship, and the women who made an enduring mark on American art and industry.
A 360-page, full-color book will be published by Skira Rizzoli in conjunction with the exhibition. Opening in conjunction with Tulane's 2013 Homecoming & Family Weekend, the exhibition will be on view through March 2014 after which it will tour nationally to several prominent art institutions. For booking information, visit the Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Service's website.
Sponsored by: Newcomb Art Gallery Exhibit
Admission: Free
Attendance: Open to the public
Open to: Alumni, Faculty, Graduate students, Parents, Prospective undergrads, Staff, Undergraduates, Visitors
For more information contact Beau Box via email to email@example.com or by phone at 504-865-5328
Additional information may be found at the event website at http://www.newcombartgallery.tulane.edu/futureex_new.html
Calendar of Events, Tulane University 504-865-5000 email@example.com


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Im in the process of doing R&D on the classic RT to make it lighter, accept autococker barrels and Angel feednecks/detents.
With a main focus on weight reduction i have made a prototype vert feed classic RT body out of aluminum and made it accept an x valve instead of doing an over the valve design that uses the stock stainless steel RT valve. I HAVE REDUCED THE WEIGHT OF THE GUN BY 1LB 1OZ SO FAR!!!!! The next phase of the R&D project is to develop ULE rail milling to reduce the weight even more.
Is there more interest in doing a body that accepts the stock Classic RT valve? The downside is there is only a 7 ounce weight savings by doing this. The stock valve is heavy.....there are also allot of guns out there that are leaking because the bore in the rail that the banjo bolt goes through is worn out.
Participate in the pole and let me know if you would be interested. I will do a run if we can get 15 units sold.


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Skip to comments.Adolf Hitler's Plot To Bomb New York (w/Rocket Propelled Space Shuttle Carrying Radioactive Payload)
Posted on 01/04/2013 12:13:30 PM PST by DogByte6RER
Newly discovered papers reveal the Nazis most bizarre plan sending manned rockets into space to attack America.
The head of the Luftwaffe Hermann Goering banged his fi st on the table in anger.
He needed a dynamic new scheme to catch the Fuhrers eye. In the warped world of the Third Reich, competition between the German army and the German air force the Luftwaffe was fierce. Under Adolf Hitlers power-crazed dictatorial leadership senior Nazis vied and tussled for infl uence throughout the Second World War.
At the end of 1941, Goerings Luftwaffe was on the back foot. It had lost the Battle of Britain, while the German army was according to Nazi propaganda from the eastern front rampaging triumphantly across Russia. Goering was looking for anything and everything to redeem the apparent failings of his Luftwaffe, says space historian Dr David Baker.
The United States had just joined the war following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Fu?hrer was keen to build a long-range bomber that could attack Americas eastern seaboard. Hitler was bitterly contemptuous of America, Dr Baker adds.
By successfully attacking the US, Goering could consolidate his position within the Third Reich.
But the Luftwaffe relied on slow, piston-powered aircraft with limited range and a round trip from Berlin to New York was more than 7,000 miles. The US was simply too far away. A major technological innovation was required and Goering sent his technical staff scurrying away to find solutions.
A few years earlier, a maverick Austrian engineer named Eugen Saenger had published a paper proposing a manned, rocket-propelled space-plane that could in theory fly anywhere in the world.
Saenger was the first to look into the technicalities of building a winged, reusable sub-orbital vehicle, says Dr Asif Siddiqi, an assistant professor in space history at Fordham University. His work was extremely far-sighted.
How much Goering actually understood of Saengers ideas is unclear but he was hired and put to work at a laboratory near Hamburg with a small support team including physicist Irene Bredt, who would become his wife and told to come up with a blueprint for an inter-continental bomber.
Saenger was a fantastic mathematician, says aviation historian David Myhra. But his first love was space. He wanted to explore the universe in rockets. He was obsessed with science fiction. He was a dreamer.
The 900-page plan that Saenger eventually submitted to the Air Ministry could have flown straight out of the pages of Flash Gordon. In order to bridge the Atlantic he proposed sending a manned, rocket-powered jet into the lower reaches of space. The sub-orbital bomber was to be named the Silverbird because of its metallic appearance.
The Silverbird was to be launched on a huge sled attached to a twomile monorail powered by 36 V-2 rocket engines. This awesome, fiery blast would propel the craft forward at a coma- inducing 1,200 miles per hour. At the end of the rail, the space-plane would start climbing.
Thirty seconds after liftoff the crafts own 100-tonne thrust motor would kick in.
Eight minutes after ignition the Silverbird would have reached an altitude of more than 80 miles above Earth the commonly accepted boundary between Earth and space is 62 miles above sea level allowing it to in theory skip across the atmosphere like a stone bouncing over a pond.
The standard aircraft of the day could not fl y from Europe to the US because they could not carry enough fuel, explains Myhra, who has written a book on the Silverbird.
But by reaching sub-orbital altitude the Silverbirds fuel life would be extended allowing it to bomb anywhere in the world.
If the space-plane concept wasnt far out enough, the bomb it was carrying was out of this world. The plan was to wrap the bomb with radioactive sand and have it explode high above New York casting a radioactive cloud over the city, Myhra says. It was a kind of prototype dirty bomb.
The Silverbird would have been travelling at a jaw-rattling 13,000 miles per hour.
Once it had dropped its payload the Silverbird would descend under the pull of gravity, re-enter the atmosphere and glide back to Japanese territory in the Pacifi c.
It was wild science fiction, Myhra says.
But Saenger had worked out all the mathematics. He was certain it would work. Goering, however, struggled to get his head round the concepts.
By spring 1942 the rotund art-lover had a lot on his plate. The war in Europe was not going well and he was under intense pressure to stop Allied bombing raids on German cities.
Goering saw the Silverbird as an implausible scheme with too many uncertainties, Dr Baker says and the plan was left on the shelf.
The Silverbird idea was theoretically possible, Myhra adds. Post-war analysis indicated that the space-plane would have burnt up during re-entry but this could have been overcome with thermal shielding. The underlying concept was sound but it was many years ahead of its time.
The Nazis would look to other schemes to bomb the US but never succeeded. Saenger carried on tinkering with his concept and an abridged, 125-page outline was submitted to the Air Ministry in 1944 as the confl ict entered its final stages. A copy of this top-secret document would fall into the hands of the Americans and the Russians who were advancing on Berlin.
At the end of the war in 1945 Saenger fled to France but his bizarre story doesnt end there. By this stage, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin had taken a n interest in the Silverbird. The Cold War was just beginning. Stalin ordered his agents to kidnap the Austrian and bring him to work in the Soviet Union. But the bungling agents failed to locate him and he stayed safely in the West.
The Soviets would spend a lot of resources trying to build a copy of the bomber. But by the early Fifties, Russian engineers gave up, concluding that the technology required to build it was yet to be invented.
In America Saengers work on the Silverbird was scrutinised.
Saenger would greatly influence post-war thinking about space travel in the United States. A whole series of highly classified spaceplane concepts were developed based on his theories, says Dr Baker. His work certainly had an infl uence on aspects of the Space Shuttle programme.
Saengers legacy is still felt today.
In December the US military launched its secretive X-37B unmanned space-plane on its third test flight.
The ideas developed by Saenger during the war have led the US through a succession of spaceplane prototypes that ultimately led to the X-37B, says Dr Roger Launius, senior curator at the Space History National Air and Space Museum in Washington.
Eugen Saenger died in 1964. He did not live to see the wide-ranging infl uence his visionary ideas would have on aviation, rocketry and space travel. The whole concept of space-plane technology was really started by Saenger, Dr Baker adds. He played a vital role in space aviation development.
But it was the aerospace experts misfortune to spend the most productive years of his career living under the 20th centurys most notorious dictatorship and, as farsighted as his work was it will always be associated with Nazi tyranny.
The Japanese used hot air balloons to drop bombs on North America. People were killed (4 or 5?) in Oregon.
Relations Between Nazi Germany and the Arab World--Wikipedia
"Hitler wanted to bomb this quadrant in his initial plan to destroy New York, however..."
"Yeah, well Hitler was a fool. He had to deal with crossing the Atlantic. I don't plan on using a bomb."
What on earth does the UN have to do with it? They kill innocents, too. Or at least countries operating under their auspices have.
Oh, I forget, everyone unpleased by thoughts of children roasted alive on city streets because of whom their patents voted for for is a limp-wristed, lillywhite world government leftist.
Yes, the Nazis bombed civilians. Two wrongs don't make a right. Also, the British started it.
It would have made a whole lot more sense to upgrade the Condor than to try to make a ANYTHING launched on huge sled attached to a two mile monorail powered by 36 V-2 rocket engines work.
You're aware that those German factories we bombed were full of civilians (largely slave labor) aren't you?
Too bad you and Gandhi weren't there to negotiate a peaceful settlement for us. The war couldn't have gone on for much more than another decade or so.
ding! Yep, you right. They used hot air balloons. Killed a family in Oregon.
Brit tabloids just love to extend WW-II into perpetuity.
God forbid they turn their focus to the abyss the UK is spiraling in to today. The muslim invaders must be laughing their heads off.
Yeah and it is well known that goat skin tents burn like hell.
Are you under the impression that they only bombed factories directly involved in armament production, or is it that anything connected to the economy which somehow down the line contributes to killing on the front is fair game? That's been our policy, if not officially, since Sherman, so I guess yours is the established opinion. But it still seems uncivilized and frankly criminal to me.
By the way, I suggest you read up on what "strategic" bombing actually entailed. That factory business is a myth, by the way. They deliberately targeted barracks, apartment complexes, homes, etc. The only way you can accurately call it strategic bombing is if strategy was to kill as many civilians as possible to frighten the nation into surrender. And that's what it was, essentially: a terror campaign.
You can say it would've drug on for a decade. Don't ask what would happen if we demanded something else than unconditional surrender. Modern warfare means unconditional surrender, and peace is something to worry about afterwards, perhaps shortly before the next war. I bet if they had instituted the barbaric Morgenthau Plan you'd say that was necessary, too.
Run along boy, you're a joke.
Before I run I want one of you Death From Above cheerleaders to tell me outright that terror bombing is good, and that there's no such thing as a civilian, with no qualifications. I want to know whether you really know that's what you believe in.
It's because of people like you that some wars go on and on and on... There needs to be a clear winner and the people need to feel it, unpleasant as that is.
Don't want you to miss your Klan Pink rally.
Not really "news", except to people who don't read history. The Nazis were famous for drawing-board plans that never materialized.
Soft war is never won.
I remember hearing a recording of a message broadcast across Germany after the surrender. It began with the line "We aren't here to be your friends". It then explained that any further resistance would be met with overwhelming force of arms. Then there was a round of trial free executions for low level nazis who thought that they could just blend in and disappear.
The allies weren't completely lawless at the end of the war either. My grandfather said that there were a fair number of allied troops who were charged with crimes against the German people. Apparently it was a big deal when a soldier got dunk and opened fire on a bunch of German POWs.
That's great. When your arguments are stupid, you can always fall back on name-calling. Are you going to threaten violence next keyboard commando? In case you miss the subtlety, you're an ill-informed dumbass.
Pathetic pieces of trash get all the respect from me that they deserve.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.


text:
Ribbon Square Bath Rug
Overview & Details
- Reversible bath rug.
- Crafted of luxe long staple cotton.
- Intersecting lines create a colorful border treatment.
- Reverses from springy loops to cut pile.
- Available in your choice of cool blue or warm coral.
- Complete the look with our matching Ribbon Square Shower Curtain (sold separately).
- Coordinates with our Company Cotton Towels and Bath Rugs (sold separately).
- Machine wash.
- Made in India.
- Exclusively ours.
Intersecting lines add a bright border treatment to our plush bath rug. Offered in your choice of cool blue or warm coral, the long-staple cotton bath rug reverses from springy loops on one side to soft cut pile on the other. Complete the colorful look with the coordinating Ribbon Square Shower Curtain (sold separately).
Crafted exclusively for The Company Store – providing luxe home fashions, made from the finest materials in the world, for more than 100 years.


text:
Jason Feifer's "Selfies at Funerals" Tumblr has pushed all the Internet's rage levers: In photos culled from Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, the Tumblr shows us oblivious teens, dressed in black, pouting for their iPhones as their relatives are laid to rest somewhere outside the frame. The images have hashtags like #funeral, #grandad, #sadday, and #RIPAuntTookie. Descriptions include, "this was a funeral selfie am I going to hell ((yes))" and "Love my hair today. Hate why I'm dressed up #funeral."
Freaking out over teen-age stunts like this is what the web was made for, so the backlash was fierce: Business Insider decried the "narcissistic impulse to take and post a gratuitous photo . . . in the name of Instagram validation" and the Huffington Post took the images as "evidence the apocalypse can't come soon enough." Then came Sober Reflection. What if society has failed these kids by refusing to "engage with the real processes of death," wondered


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Suspects tried to flee on foot after vehicle crashes
Two men were arrested following a short vehicle pursuit, foot chase and struggle with Kern County Sheriff's deputies in Ford City Wednesday night.
A news release from the KCSO gave this account:
It started about 8:30 p.m. when deputies were sent to a home on the 100 block of Harrison Street on a peace disturbance call for the second night in a row.
On Tuesday, deputies went to the home on a peace disturbance call.
When they arrived, they learned a subject came to the home, pounding on the door of the home and yelling at the subjects inside. The subject who had been pounding on the door was not identified and fled in a green Ford Expedition before deputies arrived.
Deputies were unable to locate this subject or the green Expedition at that time.
8:30 pm, Taft deputies were sent to the same home on Harrison Street again on another peace disturbance call.
When the deputies arrived, they saw a green Ford Expedition fleeing from the area and attempted to stop it.
The driver, identified as Humberto Guzman, 25, of Taft, did not stop for the red lights and siren of the deputy.
A short vehicle pursuit took place with Guzman running a stop sign and driving on the wrong side of the road at one point.
The pursuit lasted 2-1/2 blocks and ended when Guzman lost control of his Expedition and it came to rest against a the bank of Sandy Creek near Ash and Tyler streets.
Guzman and his passenger, Miguel Hernandez, 26, also of Taft, ran from the car in different directions.
Guzman was taken into custody after resisting attempts to arrest him.
Hernandez swung his fist at a deputy, but was taken into custody.
The investigation revealed Guzman and Hernandez came to the home on Harrison to fight one of the occupants and were challenging the occupant to fight by shouting at the occupant to come out and fight before the deputies arrived.
Guzman was booked into the Taft Jail for felony evading arrest in a vehicle, resisting arrest, conspiracy, challenging to fight, driving under the influence of alcohol and reckless driving.
Hernandez was booked into the Taft Jail for resisting arrest with force or violence, resisting arrest, conspiracy, challenge to fight and public intoxication.
The deputy who arrested Miguel Hernandez suffered scratches to his wrist.
He treated the scratches with first aid and returned to work.


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Circa 1930
An antique holophane pendant on nickel fittings made in the Remains Lighting workshop. Due to the antique nature of this fixture, there are some nicks and imperfections in the glass as well as variations from piece to piece. One unit with a purple tint to the glass.
Current height: 25"
Minimum height: 10"
Overall: 6" diameter
Can be UL listed for use in dry or damp environments.
Single Edison socket, maximum 75 watts
Available in several of our standard finishes; please contact your salesperson for pricing.
6 fixtures total available.
On display at our Greenwich showroom.


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Patrick Mullins was one of 34 players named to the 2013 MAC Hermann Watch List, announced Tuesday.
Mullins became only the second Terrapin to win the MAC Hermann Trophy in 2012. A forward from New Orleans, Mullins led Maryland's high-scoring attack with 17 goals and 10 assists as a junior. He tallied seven game-winners to lead the Terps to the best winning percentage in the country (20-1-3).
Maryland won the ACC championship and advanced to the College Cup for the 12th time in program history in 2012. A NSCAA First Team All-American, Mullins' 2012 season ranked sixth in points and goals, and eighth in assists in Maryland program single-season history. The captain was named ACC Offensive Player of the Year and tabbed Most Valuable Player at the ACC Championship.
The MAC Hermann Trophy is the highest individual award in intercollegiate soccer presented annually in January during a banquet at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.
Each list will be narrowed down by NSCAA members from Division I programs to 15 semifinalists in November. NSCAA member coaches and fans will then vote for their top three choices and the finalists will be announced in December. The winners will be announced at the awards banquet at the Missouri Athletic Club in January.


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They say art is in the eye of the beholder — even when what the eye beholds is giant Laughing Buddha butt.
Giant naked Buddha sculptures in Jinan have been removed after online debate (photo from http://t.co/qF29bWIytL) pic.twitter.com/MIks6FRzsd
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) January 21, 2014
In Jinan, a restaurant owner thought he'd be clever and literal at the same time when he decided to install two giant naked Buddhas on the walls of his hot pot restaurant.
As you can see, one of the giant Laughing Buddhas dangles his booty over the street as he clambers atop the restaurant. His friend has already made it on top of the restaurant and waits there serenely, his hands clasped in prayer.
The installation references "fo tiao qiang," an exotic Fujian dish that translates to, "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall." The high-end dish includes a slew of the most expensive ingredients in Chinese cooking, among them: abalone, sea cucumber, dried scallops and fish maw.
Netizens over the weekend started calling the installation by this nickname, which is no doubt what the restaurateur had in mind.
Last Sunday, a photo of the Laughing Buddhas made it to Sina Weibo, China's Twitter, and the rest was viral history. The state-run China News widely circulated the pictures, causing quite the social media stir.
As you may imagine, some Buddhist practitioners were not amused.
The South China Morning Post cited the microblog of Miaoming from the Beihai Zen Monastery in Qinghai province:
"I burst into tears when I saw naked Buddhas climbing over the wall! How come a nation with a thousand-year history has so little respect for its own culture?"
By Monday morning, the sculptures were gone. Local authorities apparently ordered them dismantled.
But like any mooning, the image stays with you long after the trousers have risen. Jinan residents may not have wanted to take the statues at butt value everyday, but they do appreciate the effort.
On a microblog they wrote: "[T]hanks to the sculptures, our conservative Jinan city finally made headlines!"