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Supreme Court Summaries
Opinions filed April 19, 2012
People v. Edwards, 2012 IL 111711
Appellate citation: Nos. 1-07-0714, 1-08-1089 cons. (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23).
JUSTICE FREEMAN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.
Chief Justice Kilbride and Justices Thomas, Garman, Karmeier, Burke, and Theis concurred in the judgment and opinion.
In 1998, a woman who was inside a building on South Exchange Avenue in Chicago was fatally shot in the face as she stood at a window. A group of armed gang members had gathered outside, intending to shoot the first member of a rival gang to emerge from the structure. This was recounted by the defendant, who was 15 at the time, in a transcribed statement which he made to police. He alleged that his fellow gang members, who were closer to the building, were the first to open fire, while he, stationed across the street, only shot his gun into the air to demonstrate that he had fired his weapon. He was charged with first degree murder, along with six other fellow gang members, and was unsuccessful in seeking to have his statement suppressed as involuntary. At his separate trial on an accountability theory, no other evidence placed him at the scene and no physical evidence linked him to the crime. He did not testify, and the defense rested without presenting any evidence. A Cook County jury convicted him, and he received a 28-year term. The appellate court affirmed, and the supreme court denied leave to appeal. Edwards then began seeking relief by way of postconviction petition.
Only one postconviction petition is contemplated by the Post-Conviction Hearing Act, and, to file a successive petition, leave to do so must be sought and granted. By this point, the initial standards for evaluating an original petition (which ask whether it is frivolous or patently without merit) are no longer applicable. Theories asserting otherwise, raised in this appeal, were rejected.
The matter before the supreme court here represents Edwards' last two pro se attempts to obtain leave to file a successive petition, both of which claimed actual innocence based on newly discovered evidence. Both were rejected by the circuit court and then consolidated in the appellate court before it, too, rejected them. While this matter was pending in the appellate court, the Illinois Supreme Court decided People v. Ortiz, 235 Ill. 2d 319 (2009), which held that the usual statutory requirement of showing cause and prejudice before being allowed leave to file a successive postconviction petition may be excused where actual innocence is alleged. The appellate court considered the Ortiz ruling but found, again, that Edwards was not entitled to leave to file, holding that further postconviction proceedings were unnecessary because he had failed to assert a colorable claim of actual innocence as a matter of law. The elements of a colorable claim of actual innocence are that the evidence must be newly discovered, material and not merely cumulative, and of such a conclusive character that it would probably change the result on retrial, i.e., raising the probability that it is more likely than not that no reasonable juror would have convicted in light of the new evidence.
Edwards had submitted the affidavits of two women who claimed he had been with them at their home at the time of the offense. They had refused to come forward earlier. The supreme court said that this information was not "new" because Edwards had always known about it and, in any event, it could not be viewed as having been unavailable where there had been no attempt to subpoena the witnesses and there was no explanation as to why subpoenas were not issued.
Edwards had also submitted the affidavit of a codefendant who now confessed that he was one of the shooters and who claimed that Edwards "had nothing to do with this shooting." The affidavit was not received by Edwards until May of 2006, and the affiant could have been considered unavailable at the time of trial because of the privilege against self-incrimination which the affiant had held at that time. However, because Edwards had been convicted on an accountability theory, these averments, which did not assert that he had not been present when the shooting took place, did little to exonerate him. The result on retrial would not be changed. The supreme court said that the supporting documentation was insufficient to justify further proceedings.
The denials of leave to file were affirmed.


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Tagged: Chone Figgins
Free Agency Kicks Off
Free agent signings officially kicked off today and one of the top needs for the Phillies is a third baseman. Although, do not expect them to jump too quickly; it will likely be a while before they settle on a player. The front runner appears to be Mark DeRosa (Cardinals). The Phils have courted him before and he should be within their price range. Plus, DeRosa is from the area, growing up in Passaic, New Jersey and attending the University of Pennsylvania.
The big free agent name at third appears to be Chone Figgins. However, Figgins also appears to be out of the Phillies price range. Placido Polanco is an option, but the Phillies would have to give up a 1st round draft choice to sign him. Adrian Beltre is another option, but he is defensively weaker than DeRosa. So, odds are pretty good on DeRosa, but who knows.
As for bullpen help, the pickings are slim. A few good options may be Mike Gonzalez (LHP) and Rafael Soriano (RHP), both from Atlanta. Rafael Betancourt, Jose Valverde, Octavio Dotel and Bob Howry are all good right-handers, but each is getting up there in age. Left-handed help is even scarcer, so let us hope Scott Eyre will return.
More Awards
You probably know by now that Charlie Manuel came in 6th place for the Manager of the Year voting. That's right, 6th place for taking his team to back-to-back World Series. But this is just one more revealing award that shows the idiocy of the voting process for these honors. No shock there. Jim Tracy of the Rockies took home the prize.
But if you would like to voice your opinion this awards season, log on at MLB.com and vote for the This Year in Baseball awards. Candidates include Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, JA Happ, Jayson Werth and even Emily, the cute little girl who tossed the ball her Daddy caught back towards the field. And of course, you can give props to Manuel for the TYIB manager award.
Photo by Jenn
*Read more about the Phillies at my other home page, Phightin' Phils Phorum in the My Team Rivals network*
Will There Be An Early Christmas Halladay For The Phillies?
Oh yes, here we go again… It is only mid-November and the Roy Halladay rumor mill is already in full swing. While the Phillies were unable to strike a deal with the Blue Jays in July for the star pitcher and instead wound up with Cliff Lee (and we are all ok with that, of course), the Jays may still be looking for a chance to get Halladay off their payroll.
If the Phillies can manage a deal for Halladay, odds are they will have to pay much less for him than they would have in July since now he is only good for one potential post-season instead of two. But the Jays are probably still interested in the Phillies top prospect, Kyle Drabek, whom the Phillies are unlikely to part with. In an interesting twist however, it has also been rumored that the Jays might be willing to take Cole Hamels. Can I get a Hallelujah and an Amen to that possibility?!!
Although Hamels is six years younger than Halladay, he had a terrible season for the Phillies and most fans are sick of his emotional issues, media faux pas and lack of composure on the mound. Odds are, not many people would be sad about such a trade. Sadly, if this were rumored last season, there may have been riots in the street full of angry fans unwilling to let the World Series MVP go. But now? Not so much…
Besides upgrading the pitching staff, it appears the Phillies now need a third baseman as Pedro Feliz did not have his option picked up. The Phillies can still sign him as agree agent if they come to an agreement, but it looks more likely that the Phils will look elsewhere.
Feliz had a decent season, but I think he really screwed himself in the playoffs where he hit only .167, made unproductive outs in crucial situations and hit into double plays that killed rallies. Plus, he is 34 years old, which does not help his case.
The top prospects for third base right now are Chone Figgins, Adrian Beltre, Mark DeRosa and former Phillie, Placido Polanco. Figgins would be the best choice, although fans loved Polanco when he was here and many were upset when Chase Utley took his job. Hind sight, as they say, is 20/20.
Back in 2005 when Polanco went to the Tigers, many Phillies fans felt he should have been moved to 3rd base to keep him on the team, myself included. As it turns out, had the Phillies done so, Polanco would likely still be with us. Up to that point, he had moved back and forth from 2nd to 3rd base for years. But after going to the Tigers, it was 2nd base all the way. The question then with Polanco is, could he transition back to 3rd after more than 4 years steady at 2nd? That may be too big a question for the Phillies to consider taking him.
So, third base is wide open right now and several other Phillies have filed for free agency; Chan Ho Park, Matt Stairs, Paul Bako, Pedro Martinez and Miguel Cairo. The Phillies will not likely sign Martinez again, as he will command too hefty a salary and they need a more consistent arm. Park is a possibility, Cairo and Bako will probably not be back and Stairs I am not too sure about. My feeling was that he might retire, but since he has filed, I now do not know what is on his mind. But this leaves the Phillies with the need for a back-up catcher, a right handed bat off the bench and a variety of pitching needs.
As for our walking wounded, both Scott Eyre and Raul Ibanez had successful surgeries yesterday and are expected to make recoveries before Spring Training. Eyre may or may not decide to retire so his future is uncertain. Ibanez, we hope, will be back to 2009 first-half form. Brad Lidge will have surgery tomorrow. What exactly is wrong with him will be an interesting revelation. We should have more information in the days to come.
Feliz photo by Jenn
*Read more about the Phillies at my other home page, Phightin' Phils Phorum in the My Team Rivals network*

subset: commoncrawl


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Hometown favorites highlight U.S. squad
Cards prospects Wallace, Jones eye Futures glory at Busch
By Lisa Winston / MLB.com
Third baseman Brett Wallace, the Cards' first-round pick in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft, out of Arizona State, was one of 25 players named to the U.S. Futures Team on Thursday. He and promising outfielder Daryl Jones are the two Cardinals prospects who will be participating.
The game, which pits the best Minor League prospects from the United States against the best from the rest of the World, can be seen live on MLB.TV, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD and followed live on MLB.com's Gameday. MLB.com will provide complete coverage before, during and after the game.
Wallace is just a phone call away from the big leagues with the Memphis Redbirds in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. Having started the season at Double-A Springfield, the 22-year-old was hitting a combined .270 with eight homers and 25 RBIs between the two stops.
Wallace was thrilled by the news and looking forward to his first chance to play ball at what he hopes will be his future home.
"It's going to be such a great opportunity to get out there and play in that stadium," said Wallace, who visited Busch briefly when he signed last summer before heading off to Iowa to play for the Class A Quad Cities River Bandits. "I'll get to see the fans and interact with them, and let them see me. It's going to be a blast."
Wallace said he was both shocked and excited by the news, and thrilled to have been chosen to represent the Cards, especially in a year in which they're hosting the event.
"This is such a great organization with so much history, so their wanting me to represent them here, I just sat back and thought, 'Wow, that's a big honor,' " he said. "I'm just going to have fun with it and try to do them proud."
In his pro debut in 2008, Wallace hit .337 with eight homers and 36 RBIs in 54 games between Quad Cities and Springfield and was widely considered one of the most polished hitters in the Draft class.
Wallace joins a U.S. lineup that is loaded with both power and speed and becomes part of a corner infield quartet that should pack quite a punch.
Joining him are a pair of third basemen who rank among the top prospects in the Minors in recent first-rounders Pedro Alvarez (Pittsburgh) and Josh Vitters (Cubs), as well as power-hitting first baseman Chris Carter (Oakland).
Alvarez, one of the most highly touted players in the Minors, was taken No. 2 overall in 2008 out of Vanderbilt, while Vitters was the Cubs' first pick in 2007, taken third overall. Carter's 39 homers in 2008 ranked among the most in the Minors.
If the corners wield the power, the middle infielders bring the speed, led by big league legacy second baseman Eric Young Jr. (Colorado), who leads the Minors in runs scored (60) and is second in stolen bases with 43. Young, a switch-hitter at Triple-A Colorado Springs, has topped the 70-steal mark twice in his career, and appears on target to do so again.
Joining him up the middle are second baseman Jemile Weeks (Oakland) -- the younger brother of Milwaukee second baseman Rickie Weeks -- shortstop Danny Espinosa (Washington) and second baseman Scott Sizemore (Detroit).
The U.S. outfield features a Fab Five when it comes to athleticism in the Cardinals' Jones, Jason Heyward (Atlanta), Mike Stanton (Florida), Desmond Jennings (Tampa Bay) and Chris Heisey (Cincinnati).
Heyward, who ranked No. 3 overall on MLB.com's preseason Top 50 Prospects list, is a 19-year-old, five-tool talent taken with the Braves' first-round pick in 2007. Stanton, also 19, hit 39 homers in his first full season at Class A Greensboro last summer and already has 14 homers and 46 RBIs between Advanced A Jupiter and Double-A Jacksonville this season.
Behind the plate, the U.S. will turn to the duo of Jason Castro (Houston), a 2008 first-rounder out of Stanford, and Tyler Flowers (White Sox), a power hitter who led the Arizona Fall League in homers in '08.
The 10-man pitching staff is packed with some of the top young arms in the game, led by left-hander Madison Bumgarner (San Francisco), the 19-year-old 2007 first-round pick who led the Minors in ERA in 2008, when he posted a 1.46 at Class A Augusta. This year he's been equally impressive between Advanced A San Jose and Double-A Connecticut, with a 7-2 record and 1.88 ERA.
Joining him are other recent first-rounders in right-handers Jarrod Parker (Arizona), Kyle Drabek (Philadelphia), Casey Kelly (Boston) and Brad Lincoln (Pittsburgh), as well as southpaw Brian Matusz (Baltimore).
Parker, the D-backs' top pick in 2007, is not exactly the "hometown favorite" that Wallace and Jones will be, but he should have quite a cheering section of his own.
His hometown of Ossian, Ind., is just a five-hour drive from St. Louis, and his family and friends are already making plans to be there to cheer him on.
Being named to the team was not just a huge honor for Parker, but also the realization of a goal he set after watching last year's event, held at Yankee Stadium, on TV with some teammates.
"We were watching and I said, 'I want to pitch in this next year,'" said Parker, who has a 2.49 ERA in 13 starts between Advanced A Visalia and Double-A Mobile this season, "and my friends said, 'Hey, you may have a shot.' "
Rounding out the staff are four more pitchers who are off to terrific starts in 2009: right-handers Chris Tillman (Baltimore) and Mat Latos (San Diego) and southpaws Trevor Reckling (Angels) and Danny Duffy (Kansas City).
Lisa Winston is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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This study is provided by ICPSR. ICPSR provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for a diverse and expanding social science research community.
Carnegie Commission National Survey of Higher Education: Faculty Study, 1969 (ICPSR 7501)
Principal Investigator(s): Trow, Martin, et al.
This study presents information obtained from college and university faculty members on their social and educational backgrounds and professional activities. Respondents' views on a range of social and political issues were also assessed, including their opinions on educational policy. Demographic data cover age, sex, race, marital status, number of children, religion, income, and parents' levels of education and occupations. The 60,028 respondents to this study were weighted to 446,203.
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Trow, Martin, et al. Carnegie Commission National Survey of Higher Education: Faculty Study, 1969. ICPSR07501-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2008-01-25. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07501.v1
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Sample: The higher education institutions were selected by the American Council on Education using the stratified probability method. The institutions sample was representative of all types of American colleges and universities, two- and four-year, public and private. The units were stratified by institutional type, enrollment, and per-student expenditure. Finally, the entire faculty population from the approximately 300 selected institutions was included in the respondents sample.
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Phillies' reliever Eyre retires
Veteran pitcher leaving game after 13 seasons in Majors
By Todd Zolecki / MLB.com
He is loading the family into an RV and heading West.
"We're just going to drive through Utah, Oregon, Yosemite, Idaho," Eyre said. "We don't have anything planned. It's my wife, my two kids and four dogs in an RV."
Eyre, 37, will not be playing baseball this summer. He said in a telephone interview Thursday with MLB.com that he is retiring after 13 seasons in the Majors. He finished his career 28-30 with a 4.23 ERA in 617 appearances with the Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs and Phillies.
Eyre helped the Phillies win the 2008 World Series and the National League championship in '09. He also helped the Giants win the '02 NL pennant.
Eyre had said after Game 6 of the 2009 World Series against the New York Yankees that he would play for the Phillies in '10 or retire. He had minor elbow surgery following the season, which indicated that he wanted to play.
Eyre asked for the same $2 million contract he had in 2009, but the Phillies offered a Minor League deal. General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Tuesday that they probably had finished negotiations with Eyre, but Eyre said Thursday that even if the club had offered a Major League contract he likely would have retired.
"I had most of this retirement thing planned out," Eyre said. "I think even if he would have offered me a better contract I still don't think I would have taken it. My family took a trip to Disney before Christmas. We stayed in the RV. We didn't even go to the amusement parks. We fished. We hung out. It was fun. The more time I spent with the kids at home the more I realized I wanted to hang out. I've played long enough.
"I go out playing in back-to-back World Series. I won one of them. I lost two of them. I've been to three, so it's not like I didn't accomplish anything in my career. I pitched in a whole bunch of games and had a lot of fun doing it."
Eyre went 2-1 with a 1.50 ERA in 42 appearances last season with Philadelphia. He joined the Phillies in August 2008 after a trade with the Chicago Cubs. He went 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA in 19 appearances down the stretch. Because of his performance with the Phillies the past two seasons, Eyre acknowledged that it hurt a bit not to receive a Major League offer, but he also said he understood why he did not.
"I do understand Ruben's point of view," he said. "I'll be 38 in May. I've pitched in a lot of games. I've had elbow issues. I had the surgery to get it fixed, but nobody really knows if it's going to work or not. I can't guarantee it's going to feel great when I'm snapping off sliders. So I really do understand why he held back. He's trying to protect the organization in case I get hurt. It made the decision a little easier, but I don't think it would have swayed it."
Of course, Eyre said it will be strange to be at home in Sarasota, Fla., when Spring Training starts next month.
"Every day I think about what I'm going to miss," he said. "I'm going to miss going to the clubhouse. Being with the Phillies, I'm going to miss seeing Chad Durbin sitting at his locker doing the crossword puzzle. I'm going to miss watching Brad [Lidge] read his biblical books in his locker after batting practice, eating the biggest sandwich I've ever seen anybody eat. I've talked to guys about it. I talked to [Jon] Lieber about it. Basically, you miss the camaraderie with the guys. And the Phillies' clubhouse is great. That's one of the reasons why Cliff [Lee] didn't want to leave. It's one of the best clubhouses you could be in. I don't care what anybody says about theirs. I've been in a few of them. This is one of the best. I never once said, 'I don't want to go to the field today.'"
Eyre, who said he could see himself broadcasting in the future, joked that he will have to bum a few tickets off Amaro this summer.
That shouldn't be a problem.
"I hope not," Eyre said. "I'd like to be part of the Phillies franchise in some way, some day. But for this summer, I'm just going to hang out."
Todd Zolecki is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Plant City Strawberries
Passionate about Plant City Strawberries?
Plant City, Florida is known as the 'Winter Strawberry Capital of the World.' Their annual Strawberry Festival doesn't start until the end of February, but this year's harvest is ripe and delicious already. Plant City Strawberries are available in our area now, along with local crops of Tomatoes and Cabbages.
The Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City starts February 28 and runs through March 10. For more information, visit their official website at http://www.flstrawberryfestival.com.


text: 1228 Like KeePass Good alternative? YES NO KeePass is a free open source password manager, which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. You can put all your passwords in one database, which is locked... Free Open Source Mac Windows Linux BSD PortableApps.com Encrypted passwords Extensible by Plugins/Extensions Automatic Form-Filler Customizable ... Local Storage Multiple languages Plugin API Scriptable Add a feature


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This fierce advocate for those of us who are not part of the oligarchy reveals the fights that are taking place behind the scenes to prevent the oligarchy from gutting the measures she has proposed to give ordinary people the tools to avoid being suckered by the big financial interests.
She points out how the system really works. When debates are held in the open, ordinary people tend to win because their case is so obviously just. So what the oligarchy and its allies in government do is utter bland generalities in public and move the actual policy making into the back alleys where they can stick the knife in unseen and then pretend that they did not know what was going on. The metaphor is apt because the oligarchy are truly gangsters just with better clothes and manners.
The interview is in three parts and well worth watching in full. The latter parts are prompted after the first one.


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Volume 7 Number 1 January 1, 2010
Dear Floridian:
As we enter the new year, our state faces significant challenges, but reflecting on some of our accomplishments in 2009 gives me motivation moving forward. Right here in our Department of Financial Services, we've been cutting wasteful spending, cracking down on fraud, and helping to hold government more accountable.
In 2009, our Department was able to cut millions of dollars in wasteful spending, with actions like consolidating our state's call centers, renegotiating our contracts, and looking for ways to lower cell phone bills. We brought more accountability and transparency to state government by launching Florida's Checkbook, a web site that allows Floridians to easily see how their tax dollars are being spent. And through our workshops to help seniors and Florida's homeowners, and the diligence of our insurance fraud investigators, we have made sure that Florida's citizens are helped and protected in so many ways.
We could not have achieved these successes without the hard work of the people who serve our state at the Department of Financial Services, and I can't thank them enough. I look forward to building on this work in 2010!
Wishing you a Happy New Year,
Alex Sink
State of Florida
Florida CFO Alex Sink today commended the Florida Supreme Court order recommending a statewide managed mediation program for Florida's homeowners. Given her previous work to aid Floridians struggling with foreclosure, CFO Sink was tapped by Chief Justice Peggy Quince to provide a delegate on the Task Force that developed these recommendations.
"With Florida facing the worst foreclosure crisis in the nation, our state must take meaningful action to help Floridians stay in their homes, and I commend the work of the Task Force and Supreme Court," said CFO Sink. "Requiring a uniform mediation program is an important step to improve communication between homeowners and their lenders, something vitally important as we work to provide real relief to struggling residents."
CFO Sink has started two initiatives to bring real, tangible help to Florida homeowners facing foreclosure, including the Florida Housing Help initiative that holds workshops for homeowners across the state. In 2009, CFO Sink's Department of Financial Services held 79 Florida Housing Help workshops across Florida, helping more than 12,000 Florida homeowners connect with their lenders or housing counselors.
CFO Sink also called for the creation of the Florida Attorneys Saving Homes program, which pairs volunteer lawyers with Florida homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments, to help these homeowners try and find solutions with their lenders. Over 1,000 lawyers across the state have volunteered their time for the program.
Details on CFO Sink's work to help Florida's homeowners and a calendar of upcoming Florida Housing Help workshops can be found at: http://www.MyFloridaCFO.com/FloridaHousingHelp.
With a new year around the corner, many Floridians will be making resolutions to improve their lives. Florida CFO Alex Sink recommends including resolutions to take control of your family's finances and better manage your money.
"The key to sticking with a New Year's resolution is to have a plan and to follow through," said CFO Sink. "By thoroughly reviewing your finances and following some easy tips, you can better manage your family's budget and keep more of your hard-earned money in your pocket."
CFO Sink offered the following advice to help Floridians keep those money management resolutions, especially when it comes to your insurance coverage:
Develop a personal financial plan – When putting together your personal financial plan you want to be sure to include a savings plan. First, take a look at your daily spending habits. Once you determine how much money you can save each week or month, change your habits and plan on setting up your own Individual Retirement Account or other personal retirement account, like a 401(k), that will not be taxed until you choose to begin drawing the money out. Remember the best rule of saving: Pay yourself first!
Evaluate Your Insurance Coverage –You may not realize this, but it is your responsibility to make sure your insurance coverage is adequate. Contact your insurance agent and make an appointment to discuss each coverage and provision of your policy. You may need to add or change a vehicle on your auto policy or you may have added an addition on your home. If so, your policy must be adequate to cover such changes or additions. Please keep in mind that the coverage must be in place BEFORE any loss occurs, giving even more credence to an insurance evaluation as a new year's resolution. Another plus is that you may lower your premium payments by increasing deductibles and/or reducing coverage!
Shop Around – To get the most out of your money, shop around for the best price and coverage. Every insurance company has different rates based on their experience and other factors. By shopping around for the best deal, you may save hundreds or even thousands of premium dollars. However, always work with a Florida-licensed company, and be sure to compare apples-to-apples when shopping for coverage.
Verify Before You Buy – You've worked hard for the money you are going to invest, or put into an insurance policy, so take a few extra moments to make sure the people investing your money or seeking to sell you insurance are licensed by logging on to www.MyFloridaCFO.com or calling our Consumer Helpline. Also, make sure you understand all of the risks involved before making any investment: ask questions, take notes, and get a prospectus. For an insurance policy, check the financial status of the company issuing the policy. Remember, verify every time!
Protect Your Identity – Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the country affecting an estimated 10 million consumers in the last year. If your identity is stolen, restoring it can be a tedious process, often taking months or even years to restore. Identity theft insurance is an option, but your resolution should include breaking old habits that may lead to you being affected by this crime.
Ask for Help – If you don't understand a policy, a term you are hearing, or what kind of coverage you need, ask for help. The Department offers an array of services on line including Consumer Help Online, an Insurance Library, and numerous consumer brochures. If your family is struggling to keep up with the mortgage, or is facing foreclosure, you can find help at one of CFO Sink's Florida Housing Help workshops. Consumers can also sign up for CFO Sink's weekly electronic newsletter to keep informed on the latest news and financial tips. Information and assistance are available to help you make the best decisions for you and your family.
CFO Sink urged consumers to visit www.MyFloridaCFO.com or attend one of her community outreach programs to learn more money management tips. For more information, Floridians can also call CFO Sink's insurance consumer helpline at 1-877-My-FL-CFO (877-693-5236) or (850) 413-3089.
Florida CFO Alex Sink last week announced the arrests of Melody Celec, owner of A Way Out Bail Bonds, and Jamie Ramirez, her employee, after it was discovered that Ramirez had a previous felony conviction, yet was working at the Ft. Myers bail bond agency. CFO Sink's Division of Insurance Fraud arrested Ramirez on Monday for working in a bail bond agency with a felony conviction and arrested Celec last week for knowingly employing a convicted felon.
Ramirez, 35, worked for the bail bond agency after her February 2008 felony plea, conducting administrative work in the office, which did not require a license. The Division of Insurance Fraud received a tip that Celec had an employee with a criminal record.
Celec was arrested for knowingly violating Florida law, which states that a convicted felon may not act in any capacity for a bail bond agency. She turned herself in to the Lee County Jail on December 16, 2009, and has since bonded out. If convicted, Celec will be barred for life to hold a bail bond agent license, or have any involvement at any bail bond agency in Florida.
Ramirez was arrested on two charges of unlawful employment at a bail bond agency and providing false information to Insurance Fraud detectives when interviewed. Ramirez was picked up on December 21, 2009 by the Ft. Myers Police Department and taken to the Lee County Jail where she currently is being held.
CFO Sink's Division of Insurance Fraud made over 800 insurance fraud-related arrests in the last fiscal year, and investigates various forms of insurance fraud relating to health, life, auto, property and workers' compensation insurance policies. Depending on the estimated loss amount, the Department of Financial Services will pay up to $25,000 for information directly leading to an arrest and conviction. Anyone with information about this or any other suspected insurance fraud is asked to call CFO Sink's Fraud Fighters Hotline at 1-800-378-0445 or visit www.MyFloridaCFO.com/fraud.
For several years, professionals and advocates in the mental health and substance abuse community have championed changes in the way insurance companies administer these benefits. Their efforts were rewarded in 2008 when the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act passed Congress and was signed into law by President Bush on October 3, 2008. Congress delayed the effective date of this new law until January of 2010 in order to give health plans time to implement the changes. This new law expands on the limited Mental Health Parity Act of 1996.
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the Public Health Service Act to prohibit employers' health plans from imposing any caps or limitations on mental health treatment or substance abuse benefits that aren't currently applied to medical and surgical benefits. This law requires that insurers treat mental health and substance abuse benefits the same as medical-surgical benefits.
Unfortunately, this act does not require health insurance plans to offer mental health and substance abuse coverage. However, those plans that do offer these benefits are required to do so in an equitable fashion. Additionally, the new law applies primarily to large group plans, those with 51 employees or more. For large group health plans that include mental health and substance abuse disorder benefits, the Act does require parity with medical - surgical benefits. The new law will allow plans that provide mental health and substance abuse benefits to be exempt from the federal law if it can demonstrate actuarially that implementing parity has increased costs by more than two percent in the first year or one percent in subsequent years. Continue reading here.
Many people are looking to the New Year to make a fresh start.
Some homeowners are dealing with the stress of making their mortgage payments in a time when many families are trying to rebuild their financial footing. If you are a homeowner struggling to make your mortgage payments, you don't have to be in foreclosure to receive help at a Florida Housing Help workshop.
CFO Sink has offered Florida Housing Help workshops to over 12,000 homeowners in 2009 and plans to keep up the effort in 2010.
Florida Housing Help workshops are designed to bring lenders and homeowners to the table to work out a solution and avoid the foreclosure process. Many people find that by coming to a Housing Help workshop, their financial stresses are relieved.
Details on CFO Sink's work to help Florida's homeowners and a calendar of upcoming Florida Housing Help events can be found at: http://www.MyFloridaCFO.com/FloridaHousingHelp.
Upcoming Florida Housing Help events:
Tuesday, January 19, 2010, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Cooperative Extension Service, Clayton Hutcheson Agricultural Services Center, 559 North Military Trail, West Palm Beach.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010, from 5:00-8:00 p.m. at the Joseph P. D'Alessandro Office Complex, 2295 Victoria Ave., Fort Myers.
Saturday, January 23, 2010, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at The University Area Community Development Center, 14013 North 22nd Street, Tampa.
Saturday, January 23, 2010, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Deltona City Hall, 2345 Providence Blvd., Deltona.
In March of 2006, the Coalition of Fire-Safe Cigarettes kicked off its national campaign for fire-safe cigarettes, calling for cigarette manufacturers to immediately start producing and marketing only cigarettes that would adhere to an established fire safety performance standard. The campaign also addressed every state in the country, urging their participation to actively work on legislation for fire-safe cigarettes in order to save lives and prevent fires and injuries.
After years of testing and talking to thousands of people including legislators, cigarette manufacturers, fire service organizations, medical groups, and many other heavily involved participants, the fire-safe cigarette concept was embraced and created.
Experts created a cigarette that would burn less when left unattended. It was determined that the most common fire-safe technology to use by cigarette manufacturers would be to wrap cigarettes with two or three thin bands of less-porous paper that would slow down a burning cigarette and ultimately self-extinguish.
In 2008, the Florida legislature passed the Reduced Cigarette Ignition Propensity Standard and Firefighter Protection Act (Florida State Statute 633.042), mandating that cigarettes sold in Florida on or after January 1, 2010, must meet specific requirements modeled after New York's legislation, which was the first state to pass fire-safe cigarette legislation in 2004.
As part Florida's legislation, State Fire Marshal Sink's Division of State Fire Marshal, along with the Office of Attorney General, Department of Business & Professional Regulation's Division of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and other local law enforcement agencies, will have the authority to enforce use of fire-safe cigarettes. The State Fire Marshal Sink's office will have the authority to conduct testing to determine the cigarette meets the compliance measures and provide written certification.
"The use of fire-safe cigarettes has the ability to reduce cigarette-related fires by 75 percent," said Bureau of Fire & Prevention Chief Jim Goodloe. "The new cigarette is made with rows of speed bumps that add paper between tobacco layers to allow the cigarette to extinguish on its own."
As statistics show, cigarette-ignited fires are the leading cause of residential fire deaths. Each year in this country, 700 to 900 people die in cigarette-ignited fires. One quarter of those people killed – often including children and the elderly – are not the smoker. Fire-safe cigarettes have been designed to self-extinguish if dropped or left unattended and are less likely to ignite clothing, bedding or other material. For more information on fire-safe cigarettes visit www.firesafecigarettes.org.
Business income protection provides a business with a stream of income following a major loss. Without an income stream, employees and bills don't get paid. And with no income or source of surplus capital, the business risks losing employees and business finances may suffer.
It is estimated that 75 percent of Florida's businesses that suffer catastrophic loss that causes temporary closure never reopen.
To make sure your business is not included in that 75 percent, start the New Year off by consulting a commercial general insurance agent and making sure coverage is adequate to carry the business until normal operations are resumed after a major loss. Also, get a list of the documentation the insurance company is going to request in the event of a loss that causes business income loss, items like: the previous year's federal corporate income tax return, invoices showing monthly equipment rental or leasing, monthly profit and loss statements, payroll journals, and quarterly payroll tax returns.
The above-mentioned items may or may not be items an insurance company will request; however, having the documentation may make the claims process less stressful and help get the claim paid correctly.
Many Americans seem to make the same New Year resolution each year. Recent polls show that more than 50 percent of Americans resolve to appreciate loved ones and spend more time with family and friends this year. Getting fit also ranks high up in the list each year.
While health-related and family resolutions remain strong for 2010, financial resolutions have become very popular, with 75 percent of respondents planning to make at least one financial-related resolution in 2010.
Of respondents who plan to make a finance-related New Year's resolution in 2010:
In addition, the poll determined these statistics:
Most people who made a resolution about their personal finances last year stuck with it – 60 percent are still going strong - so you should be confident making a finance-related resolution in 2010.


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Logical Volume Management (AKA LVM) is a powerful, robust mechanism for managing storage space.
In TurnKey 11, instead of installing the root filesystem directly to a fixed size partition, we setup LVM by default, and install the root filesystem to a Logical Volume, which may later be expanded, even across multiple physical devices.
Unfortunately, as with anything powerful, to get the most out of LVM you first have to negotiate a learning curve. From the feedback we've been getting it seems that confusion regarding LVM is common with new users, so here's a quick "crash course"...
Low-traffic newsletter: up to one email a month.


text: This week's Friday thread comes off of a great suggestion from MeanDean. What are some things that you heard/read about when you were a child that you completely didn't understand? Here's Dean's example: For example, when I heard news about the White House, I wondered which of the white houses I'd see as we drove around, they were talking about. I also remember news about the presidential "race" and I, being about 4, thought it was literally a footrace. When I heard a couple days later about the presidential race I was impressed they could still be running after all that time.


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Dayton is under way. Justice French went 1-2-3 in the first inning.
Louisville is starting in about 5 minutes. Jeff Francis is starting.
Pensacola starts at 8:00pm. Pedro Villarreal is starting.
Bakersfield starts at 10:15pm. Daniel Renken is starting.
You can watch the Dayton game online for free here: http://www.whiotv.com/s/weather/7weathernow/


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The U.S. Justice Department seeks to upend a lawsuit intended to reveal who aided President Obama in drafting executive orders targeting gun-related violence.
The U.S. Justice Department seeks to upend a lawsuit intended to reveal who aided President Barack Obama in drafting nearly two dozen executive orders targeting gun-related violence.
Describing the accusations by the conservative group Freedom Watch as "bare," the administration's lawyers want a judge to toss the case, which was filed in Ocala, because it was launched in the wrong place and because its claims about Obama's supposedly unlawful behavior have been dismissed by other courts.
In an interview Wednesday, Larry Klayman, the founder of Freedom Watch, said he will soon answer the government's motion to dismiss.
"I've spent my career prying information out of government," he said. "I think we've got a good shot, and people on the left, right or center should be interested."
In his lawsuit, filed in January, Klayman maintains that Obama, in an attempt "to limit and infringe gun ownership rights under the Second Amendment," violated a federal law governing the formation of presidential advisory committees.
That refers to the effort Obama called for on Dec. 19 in the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.
He placed Vice President Joe Biden in charge of developing the recommendations, and on Jan. 16, Obama announced 23 executive orders that resulted from its work.
Klayman maintains that Obama formed an official task force to address the issue and thus was obligated by federal law to reveal the committee's membership.
In addition, Klayman argues that Obama failed to comply with federal open-government laws by not providing access to the committee's meetings and documents.
In court documents filed last week, the government's lawyers cite several reasons why the case should be thrown out.
For one thing, Freedom Watch filed the lawsuit in the wrong place.
Freedom Watch "does not have its principal place of business in this district, the relevant events did not occur in this district, and the subject records are not located in this district. Nor do the defendants reside in this district," argues Daniel Bensing, senior counsel for the Justice Department's civil division in Washington.
Bensing in this instance is representing U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill, the federal government's chief prosecutor in Florida's Middle District, which ranges from Fort Myers to Jacksonville.
Since none of the key players nor the records are located in Ocala, the case ought to have been filed in Washington, Bensing adds.
In his complaint, Klayman says he "conducts business and has a presence" in Ocala.
Klayman's presence in Ocala includes his self-appointed role as the "citizens' prosecutor" leading something called the "citizens grand jury," of which Marion County is the home.
The grand jury mimics one called by the court system. Last April, Klayman wrote on the group's website that it was the "only one strong legal mechanism" that could hold government officials accountable.
Ocala was also home to Klayman's campaign headquarters during his 2004 bid to be the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate.
Secondly, Bensing maintains that the lawsuit improperly invokes the 1972 Federal Advisory Committee Act, or FACA.
Courts have held that FACA cannot be enforced through legal actions brought by private citizens or groups, Bensing writes.
Bensing acknowledges that Freedom Watch could have challenged FACA under a different law — the Administrative Procedure Act — but he indicated that route would have been fruitless as well.
The U.S. Supreme Court, he notes, has determined that neither the president nor the vice president constitute a federal "agency" whose actions are subject to judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act.
Moreover, the Biden group is not subject to those laws because it was not created as a formal task force according to laws outlining the mandate of such committees, Bensing observes.
Rather, it exists only as an "unknown, imagined entity," solely defined by Freedom Watch, he adds.
Bensing notes that advisory committees composed completely of government employees are not subject to FACA, and that even if private citizens attended the meetings, Freedom Watch cannot demonstrate they were voting members, a level of participation that may invoke oversight under the law.
He writes that the courts set that standard in blocking the release of information about an energy-policy task force run by former Vice President Dick Cheney, who was sued by environmental groups and Judicial Watch, another Klayman-founded organization.
Bensing suggests that Klayman engaged in judge-shopping by filing the case in Ocala instead of Washington, where Klayman would have to submit to the threshold set in the Cheney case.
It's clear that Biden took advice from people outside of government.
In tasking Biden with developing the policy recommendations, Obama told reporters in December that this "team" would include members of the cabinet and "outside organizations."
In a Jan. 10 posting on the White House's official blog, staffers noted that Biden had met the day before with "victims' groups and gun safety organizations."
The vice president also had scheduled to meet with elected leaders at the state and local levels as well as "advocates for sportsmen and women and gun ownership groups" and representatives of the "entertainment and video game" industries, according to the White House blog.
Klayman said in the interview that recent history has shown presidents never designate these panels as official bodies, but they appoint and empower people outside of government as members and allow them to go forward with "presidential authority."
Those meetings lay the foundation for Biden's sessions amounting to an official advisory committee, he added.
"I'm very, very skeptical of excess government power, and this administration in particular is acquiring power like we've never seen before," Klayman said. "The government is delving more and more into people's private lives, and I see this as the first step to confiscating guns."
"I want to see what they're promising, the going back and forth. I want to see the quid pro quo for both sides," he said. "They brought in all these lobbyists, but they shut out the American people. That's a formula for corruption."
Contact Bill Thompson at 867-4117 or at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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September/October 2009
Vol. 38
"We all love animals. Why do we call some 'pets' and others 'dinner?'"
—k.d. lang
Latest News...
Food, Fun, Music Highlight VegFest 2009
Plant-based powerhouses to speak at VegFest
September Dine-outs at Papa G's and Proper Eats
Come cook with VegFest chefs
Great VegFest food will cost just $5 or less
VegFest to showcase variety of speakers
Listen up! New sponsors help VegFest thrive
Veg classes to return in October
Interview with Integrated Medicine Group's Dr. Richard Heitsch
Recipe of the month: Raw breakfast smoothie
Upcoming Events
Business Partners
Member Discounts
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Food, Fun, Music Highlight VegFest 2009
Saturday, Sept. 19, 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Oregon Convention Center (Hall A), 777 N.E. MLK Jr. Blvd. Admission: $5 (children 10 and under free.)
Everyone is welcome at VegFest! Ride the bus or take MAX directly to Portland VegFest's doorstep, Hall A at the Oregon Convention Center on Saturday, Sept. 19, from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Bring the whole family, as we have a day of fun planned for you and your children in our Family Area, with face-painting, crafts and games--plus, they'll especially enjoy our Music Stage during interactive and kid-friendly Seth Martin's 12:45 p.m. set.
After a day of nibbling on vegan free food samples, visiting with all our other vegan-savvy exhibitors and vendors, spending one-on-one time with our table of experts, attending cooking demos, interactive classes, and life-changing talks by Dr. John McDougall, Kathy Freston and Rip Esselstyn, save time to sit down to dinner with our participating restaurants and listen to our feature music entertainment by SweetJuice, led by vegan duo Adam and Kris. You'll leave with enough ideas and information to get you off to a healthy start or to recharge your veg batteries! Check out the full day's schedule of classes, cooking demos, experts, featured talks and music at
Plant-based powerhouses to speak at VegFest
Marsha Rakestraw, NW VEG vice president
This year's Portland VegFest features three speakers who rock the world of healthful living: Dr. John McDougall, Kathy Freston, and Rip Esselstyn.
"I'm the luckiest doctor in the world, because my patients get well. Other doctors give people pills; I'm the doctor who takes them off drugs."
-Dr. John McDougall
Our keynote speaker is John McDougall, M.D., a board-certified internist and nutrition expert who is renowned for his residential nutrition program focused on a healthy plant-based diet and lifestyle changes. Dr. McDougall has been speaking for more than three decades about plant-based health and the impact of our food choices on disease.
McDougall has heralded his program as not only a great strategy for maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle, but also as an important tool in the reversal of serious illnesses, such as heart disease and diabetes. McDougall grew up eating the Standard American Diet (SAD). Even a stroke at age 18 and a cholesterol level of 338 mg/dL at age 22 didn't spur him to change his eating habits. It wasn't until he moved to Hawaii to begin practicing medicine that McDougall became cognizant of the connection between diet and health.
Sept. Dine-outs at Papa G's and Proper Eats
VegFest is upon us, ladies and lads! We have two proud sponsors we can honor by attending a monthly dine out, as well as a meet-greet-and-eat! Let's meet for lunch on Sunday, September 13th at Papa G's on SE Division and 23rd. Grant Dixon, owner and chef extraordinaire, has added some outdoor seating. Shoot me an email if you're interested. So let's soak up some sunshine and chow on fresh, delicious, healthy vittles. Also, on Thursday, September 10th, Proper Eats, 8638 N. Lombard, has a jazz night. No need to reserve a spot, just show up if you'd like and thank the guys "properly" for their never ending support of VegFest. Look forward to seeing you either at Papa G's or Proper Eats! Salud! Email
or call 503.778.0223
Come cook with VegFest chefs
Steven Storla, Contributing Writer
See how professional veggie chefs prepare some of their finest culinary delights and enjoy scrumptious samples. You can learn a lot by watching a pro put a dish together. Our chefs begin a full day of demos, beginning at 11 am; visit the VegFest website for the day's demo schedule:
Gabrielle Chavez: "Wild green smoothie and banana bread"
Learn how to make a tasty, fast, local, sustainable superfood green smoothie with weeds from a backyard near you. Gabrielle will show how to recognize the wild green edibles around town and country and also discuss growing your own year round green smoothie garden. Gabrielle will also demonstrate and sample a simple dehydrated banana bread with only three whole food ingredients. Gabrielle Chavez is the author of The Raw Food Gourmet: Going Raw for Total Well Being. Gabrielle has been a pioneer in the local raw vegan community. In 2004, she founded the Raw and Living Spirit Retreat held in the Portland area each summer.
Wesley Gordon Hannah: "Vegan lasagna"
Wes Hannah is the chef de cuisine and proprietor of the Blossoming Lotus Pearl and Irvington. Wes has been cooking vegan food for 18 years and has been working as a vegan cook for fifteen. Wes was introduced to veganism and animal rights in Memphis, where he began his culinary education. Wes continued to work with vegan food in Georgia and California before moving to Portland. Check out many of Wes' specialties at Blossoming Lotus:
Great VegFest food will cost just $5 or less
This year's VegFest features both extended hours (10 a.m.-8 p.m.) and an expanded restaurant area to provide attendees with lunch, dinner, and everything in between!
This is your chance to try many different restaurants and cuisines, all in one setting, with a larger variety of offerings than in past years. Individual items will be priced at or under $5 in order to allow attendees to try several different restaurants throughout the day.
The follow restaurants are confirmed or anticipated, with more expected by the time of the event:
Blossoming Lotus
Proper Eats
Papa G's Vegan Organic Deli
Sweet Lemon Vegetarian Bistro
Vege Thai
Curry Leaf
Red and Black Cafe
Please visit the VegFest website,
, for more information. Menus will be available on the website just prior to the event.
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Germany, 1927, Directed by Fritz Lang, 153 minutes, silent with music accompanied live by The Alloy Orchestra.
The original German title, "Der Himmel über Berlin," translates literally as The Heavens Over Berlin.
1987, Germany, Directed by Wim Wenders, Rated PG-13, 128 minutes, 35mm print.
The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of the human inhabitants and comfort those who are in distress.
Even though the city is densely populated, many of the people are isolated and estranged from their loved ones. One of the angels, played by Bruno Ganz, falls in love with a beautiful, lonely trapeze artist. The angel chooses to become human so that he can experience the human sensory pleasures, ranging from enjoying food to touching a loved one.
The film is shot in both a rich, sepia-toned black-and-white and color, with the former being used to represent the world as experienced by the angels. Wikipedia©
Friday and Saturday at 7:00 & 9:30 pm, Sunday through Tuesday at 7:00 pm only, Saturday & Sunday matinee at 2:00 pm
With its dizzying depiction of a futuristic cityscape and alluring female robot, "Metropolis" is among the most famous of all German films and the mother of sci-fi cinema.
Directed by the legendary Fritz Lang, its jaw-dropping production values, iconic imagery, and modernist grandeur remain as powerful as ever.
Drawing on - and defining - classic sci-fi themes, Metropolis depicts a dystopian future in which society is thoroughly divided in two: while anonymous workers conduct their endless drudgery below ground, their rulers enjoy a decadent life of leisure and luxury.
When Freder ventures into the depths in search of the beautiful Maria, plans of rebellion are revealed and a Maria-replica robot is programmed by mad inventor, Rotwang, and master of Metropolis, Joh Fredersen, to incite the workers into a self-destructive riot.
Metropolis is presented here in a newly reconstructed and restored version, as lavish and spectacular as ever thanks to the painstaking archival work of the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung and the discovery of 25 minutes of footage previously thought lost to the world.
Lang's enduring epic can finally be seen - for the first time in 83 years - as the director originally intended, and as seen by German cinema-goers in 1927. Rotten Tomatoes©
Wednesday, January 30th at 7:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall in the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond. Tickets available only at the Redfern Arts Center Box Office.
This event is part of the Putnam Film event series.
To request accommodations for a disability, please contact the coordinator at least two weeks prior to the event.


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[Video] Away in a manger
During this year's True Spirit of Christmas tour, you have seen our host Kris Allen learn about the life-giving benefits of clean water and the gift of chickens. You've even seen him herd goats.
What you haven't seen him do is the thing he is most known for -- singing.
Today, that changes. You get the chance to see Kris Allen share a song with Sylvia and her family.
* * *


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The projected operating budget for the current fiscal year, which started July 1, totals $94.5.
Although property tax revenue at $48.6 million was off by $116,000 from projections, slightly higher sales tax revenue of $19.1 million during the fiscal year along with increases in the business license and hotel taxes accounted for the gains.
Actual expenditures were $690,000 less than budgeted as city management kept purchases and hiring to a minimum, Wagner said.
Property tax revenue, the single largest revenue source for the city, accounting for approximately 53% of total revenues, fell slightly, but is projected to recover significantly in the current fiscal year because of increased housing sales.
Sales tax revenue is the second largest revenue source for the General Fund, accounting for about 21% of the total. They were up $102,977, or .5%, for the year and also are expected to increase this year.
Municipal reserves held steady during the year at $25.3 million.
Last month, Wagner used part of the budget surplus to pay off outstanding bonds used to finance the Callippe Preserve Golf Course, totaling $879,049. The City Council also agreed to increase a 10% budget reserve for economic uncertainties to 13% and to allocate another $1 million to the CalPERS stabilization fund to reduce the city's unfunded pension liability.
Wagner said that while operating revenues at Callippe were less than budgeted during the year by $131,500, expenses were down even further by $281,078. She said 56,104 rounds of golf were played in the 2012-13 fiscal year, down from 58,272 rounds played in the previous fiscal year.
In his "State of the City" address earlier this year, Mayor Jerry Thorne said that 2013 is turning out to be better in terms of municipal revenue, new businesses, retail expansion and housing gains than last year, and "everything is just getting better."
He said Pleasanton's economy has rebounded from the recent recession. The combined assessed value of the city's commercial and residential properties was just over $12 billion in 2012, resulting in property tax revenues coming in at higher than projected in fiscal 2012-13.
Building permit revenues are up 24% from last year and plan check revenues up 75%. Most of the activity is from the ongoing construction of the Stoneridge Creek retirement community on Staples Ranch and Pleasanton Gateway Plaza, as well as Clorox's relocation to Pleasanton and the Safeway Corporate expansion at the former Farmers Insurance Building off Dublin Canyon Boulevard.
"Pleasanton is in great financial shape, a position envied by communities around the Bay," Thorne said. "Our conservative fiscal policies and comprehensive budgeting approach enable Pleasanton to deliver the high quality of services our residents deserve."
Thorne said the city has an AA rating by Standard and Poor's with assets exceeding liabilities as of last June 30 by $872.4 million.
With the payoff last month of the golf course bonds, the city is construction debt-free.
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I do when I can make sure no one can look and see. I usually can't because the wifi is so on and off that its pointless. I could be in the middle of watching an episode of Bleach on my iPod and it freezes at the best part.
So then i just ransack the school library of manga, until they tell me I checked out too many books.
Yes, I go to a small town high school so I guess a proxy wasn't in the budget this year . When I have time or finish work early I like to pull out my phone and kick back. Of course this draws a crowd
Attack on Titan is over ;c
Yep, crash on the couch in the library and watch it in between classes.
watch it in college in my frees when i can
Back when I was in college.
"Watch! As I lead My Men Towards Victory!"- The Crimson King
Do anime clubs count? If so, definitely yes. If not, I guess I still watched stuff on my own, but usually just in my room.
t/ @ishikusui || PSN: ishikusui / XBL: TakenIdiot
Sometimes I'll watch anime on my phone if I have a free moment, and we have an anime club, so obviously I watch it there.
what is a JoJo
Yes, with my high school Japanese class. We're only supposed to be watching anime every other Friday or so, but my teacher really likes the one my friend and I introduced. Which is, ironically, Attack on Titan. We thought she'd yell at us for showing something with so much gore, but she loves it.
My friends mom worked at my school and we'd watch episodes of pokemon sometimes in the evening in classrooms or the library, but I don't think that really counts.
I have watched anime at work recently though. I work in video production so when I was caught up with work I'd just go off and watch CR streams while pretending to edit videos. Nice way to pass the time during the work day
Yea. I had long breaks in college so sometimes I bring my Ipad and watched anime to kill time
Catching up on some anime
Everyday, i try to arrive 30 minutes before my class starts in order to watch an anime. During lunch i go buy something to eat and watch a couple episodes, I'm glad people in my class aren't teasing me about it lol, most of times they come and take a look for a moment and i explain them what's going on.
La cucaracha o.O
well I didn't get into anime/manga until junior year of college and yeah I watched it there... i've yet to watch it at work though
you wouldn't believe your pants, if ten million fire ants
I watched an episode of Watamote with my girlfriend.
during lunch.
Kawaii on the streets. Senpai in the sheets.
I only managed to do it once recently. It was one of those "do whatever you want" days in computer class, and all the kids were playing math games despite the teacher saying we could do whatever we want and get on whatever websites we want as long as they were suitable for school. LAME. However, I'm known as the good kid and just entered a new school, trying to avoid the same types of people who bullied me for liking anime at my old school. So I kept a decoy math game tab open on the computer and was watching Keroro Gunsou on my school iPad with earbuds, with the iPad being covered from behind with my binder. I only got through half the episode though. :(
I also played anime music mixed in with other songs I like on Grooveshark with earbuds in when teachers said we were allowed to listen to music while we work; however, someone got the bright idea to block Grooveshark despite the fact that it wasn't harming anything. :|
The opinions on anime seem to vary in this school; I've seen people reading Hetalia and talking about "those anime books" the school library has, and we have an assembly on the community library every month which always has a few kids asking the lady what we're watching at Anime Club this month, and yet the other day in Reading class I heard a girl criticizing another girl for drawing big eyes on a doodle she was doing, because it looked like those "r*******d anime drawings." (And she managed to get out of trouble by blaming it on another kid when the teacher asked who kept using the word "r*******d".) I was right behind her and was trying to ignore her, but just couldn't.
So yeah, trying to keep it safe when it comes to anime around classmates...don't wanna be labeled for life...
When I have a free I do sometimes I do


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Although Section 285 of the Patent Act provides district courts with discretion "in exceptional cases to award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party," such sanctions are too infrequently levied. That may change as a result of two Section 285 cases pending before the U.S. Supreme Court: Highmark Inc. v. Allcare Health Management Sys. and Octane Fitness, LLC v. ICON Health & Fitness, Inc. These two cases could significantly impact the current litigation landscape, especially in the technology sector, which is saturated with patent trolls that exploit baseless infringement litigation to extract large settlements from the industry's leading companies. The Supreme Court's granting of certiorari in both Highmark and Octane has generated optimism that bad faith patent assertion will be deterred by changes in the law that enable more frequent and more significant sanctions. That optimism has been heightened both by recent commentary from the Federal Circuit's Chief Judge Rader, and by the inclusion of fee-shifting provisions in pending proposed Congressional legislation.
Under the current legal framework, after finding that the party seeking attorneys' fees has prevailed, the district court uses a two-step process to determine whether to award fees, per Forest Labs., Inc. v. Abbott Labs. First, the court must find that the moving party has proven by clear and convincing evidence that the case is, in fact, "exceptional." If so, then the court must determine the propriety of an award, and the amount, if an award is deemed appropriate. Absent litigation misconduct, sanctions should be imposed only if both "(1) the litigation is brought in subjective bad faith, and (2) the litigation is objectively baseless," per Brooks Furniture Mfg., Inc. v. Dutailier Int'l, Inc.
In Highmark Inc., a divided Federal Circuit panel affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded the district court's finding of an exceptional case under Section 285 and violation of FRCP Rule 11, which had led to sanctions in excess of $5 million. Highmark Inc., which runs a non-profit Blue Cross Blue Shield entity, sought declaratory judgment of noninfringement, invalidity and unenforceability of a patent covering a healthcare management system belonging to Allcare Health Management Sys., Inc. Allcare, a non-practicing entity, counterclaimed for infringement of three claims. Following Highmark's summary judgment motion of noninfringement against all three claims, Allcare withdrew its allegations as to one claim, claim 102. After the district court entered a final judgment of noninfringement of the two remaining claims, Highmark moved for Section 285 attorneys' fees and Rule 11 sanctions.
Allcare appealed the district court's finding of exceptionality under Section 285 and award of attorneys' fees and costs to Highmark. On appeal, the Federal Circuit held that the standard of review for the objective prong of Section 285 is de novo. The Court concluded that Allcare's claim 102 infringement claims were objectively unreasonable on the grounds that the preamble limited the claim's scope, and Highmark's method did not meet the claim's requirements, and brought in subjective bad faith because that "objective unreasonableness 'was either known or so obvious that it should have been known'" to Allcare. However, with regards to the other pending claim, claim 52, the appeals court found that Highmark had failed to show that Allcare's claim construction positions were objectively unreasonable. On remand, the district court was ordered to recalculate the award based on the appeals court's holding. The Federal Circuit denied subsequent petitions for a panel rehearing and en banc rehearing.
In Octane Fitness, LLC, the Federal Circuit affirmed in one paragraph the district court's findings that the case was not exceptional under Section 285 and stated that it "ha[d] no reason to revisit the settled standard for exceptionality." On appeal, Octane Fitness, LLC had argued that the district court had "applied an overly restrictive standard" regarding exceptionality and that ICON Health & Fitness, Inc.'s "unreasonable claim construction positions, [] privilege assertions . . ., and emails allegedly supporting bad faith litigation" warranted a finding of exceptionality.
On Oct. 1, 2013, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to review one question from each of these cases: whether a district court's finding of exceptionality under Section 285 is entitled to deference and whether a district court should determine exceptionality using equitable factors, instead of the two-pronged test that requires both objective baselessness and subjective bad faith. Various technology companies have filed amicus briefs, and oral arguments in both cases are scheduled for Feb. 26, 2014. More recently, the Solicitor General moved for leave to participate in oral argument as amicus curiae.
Most industry observers believe that the Supreme Court would not have granted certiorari in Highmark and Octane unless it were inclined to make it easier for district courts to levy sanctions under Section 285. That optimism is fueled by recent commentary from Chief Judge Rader of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. After lamenting in a June 2013 New York Times editorial that "fees were shifted under Section 285 in only 20 out of nearly 3,000 patent cases filed in 2011," and urging district courts to impose such sanctions more often in the face of "bully" tactics by patent trolls, Judge Rader "endorse[d]" two sanctions-friendly changes in the law: dropping the "subjective bad faith" requirement, such that sanctions could be levied upon a sole showing that a litigant had taken an objectively baseless position; and lowering the burden of proof from "clear and convincing evidence" to a mere preponderance. Similar sentiments have been voiced in Congress, including via proposed legislation H.R. 3309 (the "Goodlatte Bill"), which would go even farther by forcing the nonprevailing party in patent litigation to pay the attorney fees of the prevailing party unless the nonprevailing party's positions and conduct were "reasonably justified in law and fact" or "special circumstances (such as severe economic hardship to a named inventor) make an award unjust."
While a combination of legislative and judicial proactivity will likely be required to deter bad faith litigation tactics by patent trolls, increasing the discretion of district courts to award Section 285 sanctions would be a great start.


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Micah Muscolino
Associate Professor of History at Georgetown University. Muscolino's area of expertise is the environmental history of late imperial and modern China. He teaches undergraduate courses on Global Environmental History, Chinese Environmental History, Modern World History, and the Pacific World. He also teaches a graduate class on China in World History and a research seminar on topics in East Asian History. Before coming to Georgetown he taught for two years at Saint Mary's College of California, where he offered classes on Chinese History, East Asian History, and World History. He spent 2010-2011 as a member of the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ with support from a Mellon Fellowship for Assistant Professors. He has also been awarded fellowships and grants from Fulbright (IIE), the Center for Chinese Studies at the National Central Library in Taiwan, and the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation.


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From the Poem: Gracious Gratitude
From the Poem: Gracious Gratitude
Holding Forth the Word of Truth
Rooted in faith, open to the Spirit, curious about everything
my personal blessings from studying the Psalms
Navigating the world with the help of a book and the help of a Healer
Seeing the Joy and Praise of the Psalmist
Jesus Is The Reason
Considering the Christian life, the Bible, and the Church
By Dan Sims
Which hope we have as an anchor to the soul, both sure and stedfast...Hebrews 6:19
A Bible Reading Devotional
Love People. Do good. Live Simple.
Thinking about all the reasons we have for praising our LORD.
An Appeal to Heaven
Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth & the Life
a chapter a day to shape our lives for God
"Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming." -1Peter 1:13
Word of GOD
The Mind: Christian and Ameircan
With God all things are possible never stop believing!
Unleashing the Truth
Wait on God. Walk in His Power. Possess His Promises.
And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Daniel 7:14,27
"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper..Psalms 1:3
Thoughts Shared from the heart.
The heart always knows the truth
An iPhone Pastor for a Typewriter Church
. . . brings joy to my soul
Shining the Spotlight of My Life On Jesus...
Thoughts on Living the Faith
Life Perspectives From A Follower Of Jesus
My Digital Devotional Journal of Bible Readings
A place where prophets, apostles and poets meet in the lessons for each Sunday of the church year
Proclaiming the Messiah & His Kingdom to a Hurting World
"Let's seek the truth. Let's share in Christ."
Crusade of Prayer Groups
Medievalism Today, Yesterday, and Tomorrow
We won't always understand the journey, but if we hold tight the hand of the one who created the path designed for us then we can rest assured that we will end up at the right destination.
Finding Beauty through the Grace of God
Creative writing by Hayden Church
Deuteronomy 32:10: In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye.
Your Home Of Christian Devotionals, Bible verses, Prayers, Hymns and News.


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Everlasting love… Whether you believe in it or not, our new online exclusive bead will make you want to shout LOVE from the rooftops and wear your heart on your arm! This bright silver limited edition bead features swaying curves and hearts accented with clear Swarovski Elements.
Style it with a contrasting bracelet or take the theme and march with it – straight down the aisle that is, just in time for wedding season!


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In case you haven't noticed, there is a lockout going on. As the league continued to chop of more bits from the 2012-13 NHL season the fans are getting increasingly frustrated. During work stoppage, those frustrated people tend to talk about various things. One of those things is
pending expansion. As Ken Campbell wrote in the latest edition of the Hockey News, the league has gone 12 years without expanding, making it the longest expansion drought since it grew to 12 teams.
Sure enough, there are plenty of reasons in favor of not expanding. The league needs to control its suffering markets before it can ever think about adding teams in new ones. It also needs to accept that appeasing the fan bases deprived of hockey to lessen the negative impact of the lockout isn't really a solid motive for expansion.
This list is long and could go on for another few paragraphs so let's end it here.
Instead, let's try to look at expansion in a different light. In some of my previous pieces, I've argued that the salary cap has diluted the NHL talent pool. My main assumption remains that premium NHL talent earns as much money as it did in the pre salary cap era, if not more. Mats Sundin had a salary of (around) $9,000,000 in 2002-03 in the highest spending hockey market, with the highest spending hockey team in the world. Today, Eric Staal gets paid 250 000 dollars more while his cap hit remains a steady $8,250,000 for the duration of the contract. In Carolina.
This is why the addition of a fixed salary ceiling did nothing to dilute the talent pool of the top six NHL units. That said, it had tremendous impact on the bottom six. Take Carolina as yet another example. The Hurricanes have a top six which consists of Eric and Jordan Staal, Jeff Skinner, Alexander Semin, Tuomo Ruutu and Jussi Jokinen. Their combined cap hit is $34,750,000. Cam Ward's cap hit alone stands at $6,300,000 and their top two earning defensemen (Pitkanen and Gleason) have a combined cap hit of $8,500,000.
The point is that there isn't much cap spending room for talent on the bottom two lines at this day in age. Carolina couldn't possibly afford to keep say, a Maxim Afinogenov (a slightly earlier version) on their bottom two lines which hurts the overall talent pool of the league.
This is where expansion could come in. Now, what I'm definitely not saying is that it would be a major boost to the overall quality of the league (it hardly needs boosting because NHL hockey today has achieved a level that trumps all previous incarnations) because the same thing would happen with those expansion teams (they would also be restrained by the cap's top six and bottom six NHL) but it would provide room for talent which now plays its hockey outside of it. It would make the NHL a better league because of it. Talent being spread out is still better than the talent being elsewhere.
I don't know about you, but I miss watching Maxim Afinogenov and Alexander Radulov. I regret not seeing what Sergei Mozyakin or Patrick Thoresen could do in the league in their prime. Those are supremely gifted players who are currently a gift to other leagues. Besides bringing the joy of hockey to people in Quebec and other neglected NHL hockey cities, expansion could also change that and bring more talent back to the NHL.


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A Limoges enamel plaque
Louis XIII, King of France and Navarre French, Limoges, attributed to Jean Limosin, c.1627-c.1630
This beautifully painted small Limoges enamel plaque depicts the French King Louis XIII (1601–43), as a fashionably dressed young man in his prime. He wears a white fallen ruff, a purple paned doublet with gold embroidery and buttons over a white under garment, and the blue sash of the Ordre du Saint-Esprit, the senior order of chivalry in France. Louis' thick, dark hair is cut in a fashionably asymmetrical style. Circumstances had obliged Louis XIII to take on the responsibilities of adulthood at a remarkably young age. His father, Henri IV, was assassinated in 1610, so Louis, the second Bourbon king of France, inherited the throne at the age of eight. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as Regent until his majority in 1614. His reign was dominated by the Thirty Years' War, rivalry with the Habsburg Empire, the political intrigues of his mother and brothers and the renewal of the Wars of Religion, in which key events were the defeat of the Huguenots at the siege of La Rochelle in 1628 and their disempowerment with the Peace of Alais in 1629.
Limoges, in central France, was the major centre for the production of painted enamels from the late-15th to 17th centuries. For this technique, enamel colours are applied to a copper base and fused during a series of kiln firings. Flesh tints and gilding enrich the surface and enlevage (scraping away an upper layer of enamel to reveal a contrasting colour beneath) often provides fine detail.
Although many portrait plaques depicting members of the French court and the wider community had been produced in the second half of the 16th century, demand for contemporary portraits in Limoges enamel had declined significantly by the early-17th century and there are relatively few French court portraits from this period. This is a rare example of an enamel portrait of Louis XIII in adulthood.
The delightful, jewel-like border ornament, comprising translucent enamel flower heads on silver foil set amidst delicate stylized gilt foliage, is characteristic of Limoges enamel decoration during Louis XIII's reign.
This composition, with Louis' portrait encircled by an inscribed white border and set within a rectangular frame, follows a popular format for contemporary portrait prints. The source is an undated engraving by Michel Lasne. The inscription below the image in the print is repeated on the enamel, where the enameller, almost certainly Jean Limosin (d.1646), has added his own initials, 'I L', separated by a fleur-de-lis. The use of the fleur-de-lis denoted that an artisan was in the king's employment. The first member of the Limosin family to use it was Jean Limosin's grandfather, Léonard Limosin, whose small portrait of Henri d'Albret, King of Navarre, is also displayed in this case. Jean Limosin was the official enameller to the king during the 1620s. He requested that the fleur-de-lis be incorporated into his coat of arms for his burial.
Gallery Talks
Suzanne Higgott will discuss the plaque on Tuesday 6 and Monday 12 July at 1pm.
Further Reading
Erika Speel, 'Dictionary of Enamelling', London, Ashgate, 1998.
Limoges Enamels in other London Collections
The British Museum; Ranger's House, Blackheath; Victoria and Albert Museum.
© Trustees of the Wallace Collection 2010.Text by Suzanne Higgott.
To buy prints of works of art from the Collection please visit www.wallaceprints.org


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Sorry I havnt been able to report much this year, work has been crazy! Now that the season has slowed down though, its time to pick up on my fishing where I left off. Just in time for the flounder run! Many of you know how crazy I am for flounder fishing..... and soon sheepshead, and then schooling reds, and then spring cobia fishing, okay, you get the point, Im crazy about fishing period. Watching all of my friends get to fish way more than me this year has made me a very jealous man! But enough of that, time to get back on the water.
Disclaimer: I am no "expert", just offering what little help I can.
This years flounder run has been very confusing. Ive been trying to keep tabs on my friends since Ive been too busy, and the information they are giving me has been wierd. I finally got out on the water to see for myself on tuesday, and yup, things are not going as expected. First of all, the "thick" of the flounder, is still way up river. "Up river" to me, is downtown. A few friends have been stomping them hard up there, so we went into unfamiliar territory to check things out. We fished several places that looked fishy, you know, docks, rocky areas, coves, creek mouths, etc. and found some fish..... but heres were things get wierd. If downtown is "up" river, and mayport is "down" river, than you guys can figure out what I would mean by "mid" river. Last year "mid" river turned into the slaughter area for flounder, we were limiting out with stud fish every trip. From up river, we followed them through the mid section, then finally started wearing them out in mayport. This year, they seemed to have skipped mid river, at least so far, that is. The few spots mid river that we destroyed them in last year, dont seem to be holding any fish. However, we are already catching plentiful fish in mayport. Very strange IMO. So in short, they are being slayed right now up river, an example would be Luis, who is getting limits in an hour. We cant find a fish mid river, but have started to see numbers in mayport. I hope that helps your search.....
As for baits, if you've been on this forum since last year, you know my affliction with spinner baits. I can catch more fish on spinner baits than 90% of folks with perfect finger mullet. Here is a post from last year that went over 13,000 views were we talked a lot about spinners, how to use them, etc.
You can cover lots of ground fast with these spinner baits, and they are as deadly as a bait can be for flounder. Work your spinner back to the boat with a slow retrieve, bouncing it along the bottom back to you. You usually get hit as the bait falls back down. I choose white curly tail or paddletail grubs on the jig, but a finger mullet on that same spinner rig is the deadliest combo of all. Where there is one flounder, there is almost always more, so concentrate your efforts in the same spot several times before moving on, if you want to limit out. Another note is the hook set.... I set the hook immediatly when fishing spinners instead of waiting like I do with live mullet ff rigs. Dont be surprised when you catch flounder nearly as small as the rig its self, and you will catch em all the way up to the doormats.
One of the better ones from tuesday-
We did a bunch of exploring new spots on tuesday up river, and only ended with 10 fish. But if the plan works out, we are going to pound some known spots this weekend to get the freezer filled back up. Ill update very soon, and as always, feel free to ask any questions I may be able to help with! Untill then, tight lines my friends!


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On Monday, January 19, the Cleveland Museum of Art will open its doors for a free daylong celebration of art, music, and film in celebration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Family-friendly activities, storytelling, and song will fill the galleries to honor Dr. King's vision of altruism and acceptance. The day will culminate with a special screening of Hate Crimes in the Heartland, a groundbreaking documentary that explores media coverage of hate crimes in America. Following the film, a panel of religious, civic, and activist leaders as well as the film's producer and writer, will discuss local challenges to diversity and share thoughts on service-related responses to hate. We caught up with Rachel Lyon, writer and producer of Hate Crimes in the Heartland before the Cleveland screening to get some insight on why she decided to make this film.
The Thinker: A CMA Blog
Bookmark our blog and stay connected with our new Five Things You Need to Know updates from the Cleveland Museum of Art. This week, enjoy live music in our atrium and Gartner Auditorium with Intonarumori: Orchestra of Futuristic Noise Intoners, "Express Yourself" with Totally Tubular Trivia Night, and more!
As the first career-based, college preparatory high school internship program of its kind, Trinity High School's Pre-Professional Internship Program places students in grades 10, 11, and 12 in professional settings one full day each week throughout the school year. This season, three students from Trinity High School are interning in the curatorial department at the Cleveland Museum of Art, each focusing on a different project. We sat down to talk to them on their individual interests and experiences related to their internships so far!
Through 167 photographs and illustrated books, Forbidden Games: Surrealist and Modernist Photography tells the story of a radical social, political, and cultural moment in early twentieth-century art, documented by those such as Hungarian photographer, Brassaï. Photographing night clubs in Paris after-hours, Brassaï captured what Curator of Photography Barbara Tannenbaum calls the "shadow world."
Happy New Year! Bookmark our blog and stay connected with our new Five Things You Need to Know updates from the Cleveland Museum of Art. This week, enjoy Forbidden Games one last time, get inspired with our writing workshop, bring your children to Family Day on Sunday, and more!
Forbidden Games: Surrealist and Modernist Photography, is on view now through Sunday, January 11 at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Through 167 photographs and illustrated books, the collection tells two stories: one of a radical moment in early twentieth-century art and the other of impassioned collector David Raymond, whose adventurous spirit and vision harmonized perfectly with his subject. In our ongoing video series surrounding the exhibition, we take an inside look at Forbidden Games and examine the definition and influence of surrealist photography.
Inspired by the museum's current special exhibition, Forbidden Games: Surrealist and Modernist Photography, this year's holiday film festival, titled The Persistence of Surrealism, features essential classics from nine decades of surrealist cinema. In this podcast, we caught up with the museum's Curator of Film, John Ewing, for some insight into each of these films. Take a listen to learn more, and check out the films December 26 through 31 at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
The library's rare book collection includes a deluxe edition of the catalogue for the Marcel Duchamp exhibition at Ronny Van de Velde, Antwerpen, in 1991. We've installed the volume in the display case in the reference room of the Ingalls Library to celebrate the museum's fall exhibition Forbidden Games: Surrealist and Modernist Photography in the Kelvin & Eleanor Smith Foundation Exhibition Hall.
'Tis the season for festive decorations! Taken from this month's Make & Take: Craft with Style program, learn how to craft your own pompoms with our tutorials, and spruce up your holiday gift wrapping or décor!
The Cleveland Museum of Art's latest acquisitions include a Virgin and Child, a rare 13th-century wooden sculpture from the Mosan region of Europe; a Standing Female Figure, a clay figure representative of the Classic Veracruz period on Mexico's Gulf Coast; and Just the two of us, one of contemporary artist Julia Wachtel's first paintings to employ cartoons. The museum also announced the addition of eight photographs by Ansel Adams, a gift from Frances P. Taft, a longtime museum supporter and trustee.