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On my eleventh birthday I was finally old enough to join the Boy Scouts. Back then Troop 153 was led by Roy Barber, a local farmer, a Kansas Andy Griffith. To my mind, he was everything a Scout Master should be. My parochial school had no male teachers, and I had never bonded with a coach. They were always insisting that I catch, throw, or dribble a ball. "Why?" I'd ask. "They'll just throw, catch, or dribble it back. It's insanity!" None had a response.
But I loved scouting and eagerly joined-up with my best friend Steve Schachle. We faced our first challenge when we learned that we would be the founding members of a new patrol, one called "Buffalo." Until then, Troop 153 had had three patrols. First came "Cobra," composed of the oldest scouts, those already in high school. My older brother Harold and Don Peter, the nice, older guy across the alley, belonged to "Panther." (In my boyhood, anyone who didn't sit on me or beat me up was nice.) The next patrol was "Bob Cat," which Bobby Sauber and Richard Meyers, our own age, had been the last to join.
Play it out: "Cobra!" Strikes fear in the heart doesn't it? So does, "Panther!" Even "Bob Cat" carries a scent of danger, but who's afraid of a "Buffalo?" It's a prairie cow! Eventually there would be a fifth patrol called "Beaver." It truly occupied the pond-bottom of Scout society. Every one of those fellows is now institutionalized, either therapeutically or criminally. You were guaranteed a bull snake in your sleeping bag if you were Beaver Patrol. At least in Buffalo we stood a chance.
Fortunately, Mr. Barber had taught us how to distinguish venomous snakes. They had only two fangs, whereas non-poisonous snakes had a roll of teeth, although, as Steve always pointed out, "Are we going to wait for the snake to smile. Really? I don't think so!"
Thanks to Mr. Barber, if you leave me in a Kansas pasture, I can find Indian Root, which can be eaten, something like a turnip. This was important to know, because the Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood were always warning us that failure to say the rosary would mean the non-conversion of Soviet Russia, and that would lead to the eventual occupation of Kansas by the Commies. And scouting, not little league or basketball, would be our line in the sand.
Steve and I took our responsibilities as patrol leaders seriously. We'd go shopping to prepare for camp outs, out on Roy's wooded land. Patrol leaders had to make sure that the mess kits were stocked with food. This meant a trip to the grocery store for field rations, which never varied. We'd purchase a product called Randy's Frozen Steaks, breaded meat patties. We burned one after another. And we bought Jiffy Pop, because what's better than watching Jiffy Pop do its thing over an open fire? Unfortunately, Jiffy Pop requires a controlled flame. Years of scouting, and we never managed to pop a single pan. Basically we were good at sticking hot dogs and marshmallows on sticks. In fact, we were good at sticking anything into the fire. Life doesn't get much better than watching a Styrofoam cup melt on an open fire.
Breakfast was always a disaster. How were we supposed to know that you cook the bacon first so that you have something to fry the eggs in? We would have starved without Mr. Barber. We would have barely finished burying whatever crisp we had produced – a Boy Scout always leaves the campground better than he found it – than we would smell something like warm maple syrup over at Mr. Barber's campfire. There he would be, producing one fluffy pancake after another. "Sure smells good, Mr. Barber."
"You boys hungry?" "Would you like some pancakes?" Mr. Barber was our Moses, bringing forth manna in the desert (Ex 16: 13-15). Looking back, I realize that he always made enough pancakes, or lunch, or dinner for Buffalo Patrol to eat, but only after, over at our campfire, we'd desecrated the name of Betty Crocker.
The Israelites grumble about their next meal, forgetting the goodness of God. The disciples of Jesus follow him because of the wonders he works, rather than the true nourishment that he is. Both groups evince a faithless attitude that can creep into the life of any disciple: if you are God, you'll do what I want, when I want. That's magic, not faith. Magic seeks to control the supernatural; faith puts itself at the service of God, knowing that God is good, that God is present, that God will be faithful.
We could depend upon Mr. Barber, but he taught us to trust ourselves. As scouts, the things we did with him were simple enough, and the issue wasn't whether we did them perfectly or not. We were being changed each time that we tried. None of us could see it at the time, but we were growing into men under his tutelage. Square knots, first aid, learning to read a compass: that I know these things as an adult isn't nearly as important as the adult I became in learning them, which I did under his kind, manly presence.
In Eucharist, we do what Christ told us to do, without fully knowing why. Someone who knew nothing of Christianity would find what we do plain enough. We share bread and wine around a table, which we call an altar. What we do is simple; who we become in the doing is nothing less than sacred. Through the years we come to this altar in joy, in sadness, in melancholy, in fear, in boredom, in relief, in anticipation. We come with all the emotions and desires that make a life. We've come doing what he told us to do, simply because he told us to do it, trusting that God is good, that God is present, that God will be faithful. And we are changed in the doing.
Mr. Barber had a way of knowing when to show up, when to salvage a project we'd bungled. He knew when to call us in for Kool Aid on a hot Kansas afternoon, when to come looking if we didn't show up, when to pause the ice skating on his pond to call us in for cocoa, hot from the fire. In a life of faith, we tend to think it's all about what God does for us, but perhaps when God acts is more important than what God does.
Rev. Terrance W. Klein


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Jonathan Niese will be the Mets' Opening Day starter. How many of the following from today's line-up against the Braves be there with him?
Jordany Valdespin, 2b
Collin Cowgill, lf
Ike Davis, 1b
Marlon Byrd, rf
Zach Lutz, 3b
Landon Powell, c
Matt den Dekker, cf
Ruben Tejada, ss
Jonathan Niese, lhp

subset: commoncrawl


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Check out your friends, neighbors, work buds and anyone else who seems suspicious with the ATOS Video Camera Sunglasses. The 1.3MP camera records in VGA for about 80 minutes before needing a charge. Holding up to 8 GB memory, it can be extended 12GB with a microSD card. The VCS-8G will be available for ~$200.00 and is unisex for both budding James Bonds and Mata Haris.
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The following people were arrested on felony charges by law enforcement agencies in Davidson County, and, unless noted otherwise, were either placed in the Davidson County Detention Center or released from custody and are scheduled to appear in Lexington District Court on the date given:
• Melody Denise Nick, 23, of 812 Fisher Ferry St., Thomasville, was charged with felony second-degree burglary and felony larceny, $20,000 secured bond, April 3, Thomasville.
• Joseph Andrew Green, 32, of 964 Loflin Hill Road, Lot 54, Trinity, was charged with felony larceny defeat anti-theft device, possession of marijuana up to one-half ounce, possession of drug paraphernalia and injury to personal property, $1,000 secured bond, April 24, Thomasville.
The following larcenies more than $1,000 were reported to the Davidson County Sheriff's Office and the Lexington Police Department:
• A toolbox and quarter counter valued at $1,200 were reported stolen from a parking lot in the 6000 block of N.C. Highway 8 between 4:45 p.m. Friday and 9:28 a.m. Monday.
• A grass trimmer, chain saw, 10 fishing rods, two barbecue grills, fan, toolbox, riding lawn mower and bicycle parts valued at $1,830 were reported stolen from a parking lot on Denton Road near Thomasville between March 13 and 3:46 p.m. Monday.
• A laptop valued at $1,000 was reported stolen from a home on North Railroad Street between 4:15 and 7:10 p.m. Monday.


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Jamie Blanks - Logos, Idents & Sound Effects
To visit my main music profile page on AudioJungle, click
Thanks for checking out my music and I invite you to scroll down to explore what is currently available in my portfolio. Check back frequently as there is more new music arriving all the time. Best of luck with your productions and I'd be delighted if my music helps bring them to life for you! JB
Additional Services
I'm available to make custom versions of the tracks available here, or for original freelance music assignments. Videohive authors are welcome to utilize my music in their productions, or to contact me for specific collaborations.
Many thanks for checking out my music! If you purchase a track please consider giving it a positive rating! It's greatly appreciated JB


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sbell22 needed a new stationery design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 39 designs submitted by 6 freelance designers.
Looking to create a more professional looking two-sided business card
layout. Please reference my website at ww w. be l l c. c o m
for the general corporate identity (see Banner, newsletter page).
Here is a draft business card design from an earlier, in-house attempt -
just to give you a starting point:
I have posted several other relevant files (descriptions and links in the "Description" below) which should give you a good running start at this contest, versus starting from scratch. I'm hoping that will allow a really slick entry to emerge, without it being too time consuming. I need to put this job into print at VistaPrint.com by Monday AM (Feb 18), so this is only a 3-day contest.
If the text fonts are too small, you can also visit my website's "Contact" page for the address information etc.
[some spaces added to keep the search engine spiders away, to the extent that's possible:)]
Desired Color Scheme:
blues - this will go on a glossy white business card
Desired Style:
Slick / corporate look
Accepted File Formats:
Standard Web Formats (.jpg, .gif or .png); Vector Formats (.eps, .pdf or .ai); Layered Formats (.psd or .tiff); winner to supply
The script FONT for my newsletter's name ("The B e ll Let ter") is "Tiger Let". I would also like to feature "Bell's Blog" in the same font somewhere on the card.
I have posted a jpeg image of a baseline design at this url:
Here is a .gif file with "The Bell Letter" graphic (larger) for the back side of the card:
Here is a photoshop layered file with the "Globe Graphic", if you want to
try and use that:
Here is an earlier attempted business card layout, it had a blue background for plastic cards; I've dropped that idea but this may help:
On the back of the card, the 'Tiger Tet' font should feature "The Bell Letter" and "Bell's Blog" too, if you can make it work. The byline material should be "Analyzing technology business trends impacting Silicon Valley startups and investors". If there is room, somewhere on the card it would be nice to work in "We help build next-generation networking, mobile computing, and telecommunications startups.". But that's asking for a lot:)
The stationary size will be on 8 1/2x11", and a small version about 3x5" (standard size) without as much info (just the company name at the top, and my name at the bottom?) NOTE: the business name SHOULD include "Inc." at the end, unlike on the example design above.
I'd like to get "The Bell Letter" and "Bell's Blog" graphic, at least 500 pixels wide, out of this contest if possible - for use on the website, etc - if you have the "Tiger" font or can re-create the missing two characters "o" and "g" to make the word "Blog" to create the new one.
I'm asking the contest winner to send me the business card layout in layered PSD format including the fonts (I use a Mac); as well as pdf and jpeg. I'd like to have the graphics in vector format so I can re-use them ("The Bel l Letter" and "B e ll's B lo g". Photoshop or Illustrator format ideal. I'm going to order the business cards from VistaPrint so I'll post their file format guidelines (bleed area).
I will respond to each and every post-submission promptly with detailed feedback. I've run several contests in the past and always get excellent feedback on how I run them. Payment to the winner will be made promptly via PayPal, the instant the agreed-upon final files come in. I am on the US/Pacific time zone and usually work till 1am PST, sometimes later.


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Universal honcho Ron Meyer hosted a dinner Thursday night for Graydon Carter that was one hot Hollywood ticket in advance of the Vanity Fair editor's annual starstudded Sunday bash. Guests spotted at the VIP party at a private home included "Les Misérables" star Russell Crowe, John Travolta, Barbra Streisand, Paramount exec Brad Grey and "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels. Also seen partying were Paul Rudd, Rob Lowe and Jason Bateman of Universal's current comedy hit "Identity Thief."
Graydon warms up
By PageSix.com Staff
February 24, 2013 | 5:00am


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Home » Books » Kosher Cookbooks
Passover is celebrated at the table with ritual words and food; this serious new collection does justice to both. And as Amster, a regular contributor to the New York Times food pages, points out, there's another tradition associated with Passover. Every year, home cooks eagerly await recipes, conforming with the holiday's dietary restrictions, published in the Times.
The 175 recipes reprinted from cookbooks by the paper's well-known food writers, as well as by celebrated chefs, range from the traditional to the innovative and are drawn from European, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern traditions. Anne Rosenzwieg offers a haroseth recipe that uses rhubarb. The section on gefilte fish includes Wolfgang Puck's variation, served in cabbage leaves, and Barbara Kafka's version, prepared in the microwave. In addition, Amster imparts seven ways to roast a chicken, including Chicken Breasts with Green Olives and Tomatoes. Paul Prudhomme serves up his Veal Roast with Mango Sauce, a dish he prepared in Jerusalem in honor of the city's 3000th anniversary. Nathan's knowledgeable foreword describes dietary restrictions and offers definitions and explanations of the symbolism behind the food.
Taken together, Amster has produced what may be the definitive word in Passover cookbooks, from recipes to the feelings evoked by sitting at a beautifully set, bountifully laden table.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Hardcover. 352 pages.
Email Friend
The Judaica House, Ltd. is America's premier Jewish bookstore and giftshop since 1974.
Copyright © - design byEnon Avital


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Architect Engineering University UNI and Engineering, National University of Engineering, with experience in planning and project development with emphasis on tourism and environment, architectural and site design, supervision and execution of projects. Dynamic person with ability to
lead teams under pressure. Easy adaptation to different work environmentsand compliance-oriented goals.EXPERIENCE:Date: February 2008 to 2010
Company Name: AITOTAL S.a. 505 84653808City, Country: Managua, NicaraguaJob Title: Project Development ManagerSeveral projects in the company: Design and development of hotel in Ometepe, FormulationXilo Homes, Housing Budgets number, Tourism Marketing Project ImplementationTurismoNicaragua.com today the second best site POSITION Tourism Promotion starting in April2010, Design and Urban Design Project Two Volcanoes Rivas tourism executives and plans firstphase, design Fourplex Apartments, Duplexes and Single Family, conceptual plan MirafloresResort, Phase and Huehuete Beach general plan, design Main restaurant in Punta Teonoste,Design Hotel Cabanas on Ometepe, Rivas, Project Beach House in Rancho Santana, ProjectConsultancy social housing for market research and construction costs for the implementation ofconstruction systems, Pre economic feasibility and cost review, Restoration of structure two-storyhome in Granada. Co designer draft parking building.Summary of post:• Conduct pre-feasibility studies and project feasibility.• Coordination, review and approval of the multidisciplinary team (studies, designsand final draft).• Analysis, assessment and design alternatives. (economic, technical, legal andpermits, time, and projected market gains and prestige).• Design and implementation of Management in the project life (actors,responsibilities, programs, actions, permissions and / or requirements of law,monitoring and evaluation).• Supervision of construction projects (aimed at quality control and solutions tounforeseen circumstances).• Make progress reports, meetings and advice to clients.• Expand customer base.
Date: 2007 to 2008Company name: Beach Development - Panama)City, Country: Panamá, Panamá.Job Title: Project Development Manager.Project: Saboga Island, The Charm.Summary of post:• Business Plan• Develop economic base, updating it with market research• Design plan and execute it (from manual tasks, communication mechanisms,controls• Document project for purposes of control and funding permits.• Develop terms of reference for hiring.• Outsourcing consulting services for project bids.• Prepare reports, records, financial controls for the projectDate: 2005 to 2007Company Name: Grupo del SolCity, Country: Tola, Rivas, NicaraguaJob Title: Management engineering and architecture.Project: Sand Bay, Buccaneer, The Castil, Arcadea.Summary of post:• Project Management Buccaneer.• Planning for construction sites.• Quality Control Monitoring Evaluations.• Coordination of preparation of construction plans and terms of reference• Checks purchase orders for materials.• Making contracts with suppliers and subcontractors.• Preliminary designs and project managers.• Design Master Plans, and multidisciplinary coordination.Date: 2004Company name: Self-employedCity, Country: NicaraguaVarious projects:• Survey of homes in fifth glory Ticuantepe (Claudio Cuadra).• Participation in UNI fair with slabs draft Formaletas for 3d and social interesthousing modulated with concrete shells (made for Cadur)• Design and project development of the first mosque in Managua, Reparto San Juan.• Drawing & Remodeling Xolotlan mall project• Assisting structural design of commercial building where Banic was the garden city.• Video Production Xolotlan virtual mall in Managua ..• Produce video sharing virtual mosque John in Managua.
• Production of virtual video rental modules where was the garden city Banic inManagua.• Virtual video production houses for 10 km new road developments Leon.• Remodeling beautiful country house (design and budget) Mr. Fausto Carcabelos.• Consulting for functional analysis, markets Somoto Ocotal and executed withHersen murillo for FISE• Video Production Virtual square taurine, support to municipalities with Penut UNI.• Participation in project development monument to Mr. Rigoberto Lopez Perez lion.• Design of housing development on the road Leon.• Perspectives and virtual videos Arq sub contract Scarleth Balmaceda, housing,Nicaragua's national assembly.• Consulting in topography, for the development of altimetry and ground planes in 3dround the beach in the Pacific.• Virtual video production, perspectives, the project gives the comptroller general ofthe republic of the design of Architect Luis Chavez Quintero• Teacher time in late 2004 Autocad UNI - RUPAP• Participation in earthquake resistant engineering congress UNI - RUPAP• Teacher of statics and strength of materials at the national university ofengineering. UNIDate: 2003Company name: Zamora y Associates SA.City, Country: Managua, NicaraguaJob Title: Design AssistantVarious projects:• Design assistant with Zamora and associates sa Architect and Engineer JorgeZamora Jairo Zamora.• Remodeling in Roberto Teran Gutierrez (drawing)• Rotunda shopping center and access Managua (drawing and design)• Reforms in store free port (drawing)• Virtual animations of various projects• Design of single-family house in Nindiri Deysi Castillo.PARTICIPATION IN PROJECTS BY REPRESENTATIVE ACTIVITIES:• Master Plans, Business Plan and Feasibility: Contracts with projects in PanamaSaboga master plan, and executive levels CHARMING first stage with Grupo El Sol,.Master Plan and Development Projects Playa La Leona Mr. Mike Miles. TwoVolcanoes Rivas housing project from blueprint to construction project executive forSeven Treasure Sa Preliminary Miraflores Resort, for Mr. Ismat Kahtib.• Draft Restaurant Design and preparation of construction plans of Punta Del Mr.Walter Bühler Teonoste together with ing. Carlos j. Perez Fajardo, President ofANIA. Preliminary Hotel Cabanas for Mr. Heirich Roland Scheufler. Tree HouseModel Cabin for the Charm. Saboga.


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Hawthorn Suites Richland Hills hotels are listed below. Search for cheap and discount Hawthorn Suites hotel rooms in Richland Hills, TX for your upcoming individual or group travel. We list the best Hawthorn Suites Richland Hills hotels + motels so you can review the Richland Hills Hawthorn Suites hotel list below to find the perfect place.
This website will also provide discounted Richland Hills, TX hotels/properties that have a comparable rating of a Hawthorn Suites.
How should we direct your call?


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613 items
613 items
Standard, wide angle, telephoto, macro and more—there's a camera lens out there for every style of photography, and all of them can be found right here at CameraPro. Whether you want pin-sharp portraits against dreamy, blurred out backgrounds; telescopic reach to snap the action at an event or on safari; or a wide angle of view to embrace the most epic of landscapes, CameraPro offers all the equipment and advice you need to turn your photographic visions into reality.
High-performance camera lenses are a vital part of your camera system. When it comes to equipment, few things affect image quality as much as the optical quality of the camera lens you're using. Good lenses are a worthy investment for any photographer and, if properly cared for, may serve you well for years and years.
Before you buy a camera lens, you'll need to think about the types of images you want to create, and how you prefer to shoot. Different camera lenses yield differing levels of creative freedom. Deciding whether you want to shoot landscapes, portraits or macro can therefore have a big impact on your lens purchasing decision.
Two key characteristics to look out for when buying a camera lens are the focal length and the maximum aperture.
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As for aperture, a lens' maximum aperture value (marked on the lens barrel in f-stops) indicates how bright or 'fast' the lens can go; the smaller the f-stop number, the more light the lens can let through, and the faster and more usable it is in low light situations.
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CameraPro stocks a wide range of lenses ranging from entry level to professional. And, as professional photographers, we know exactly which lenses to recommend to suit your style, kit and vision. We have camera lenses for sale from leading brands including Canon, Olympus, Sony, Fujifilm, Panasonic, Tamron, Nikon, Sigma, Zeiss and Samyang. Our camera lens selection includes prime and zoom lenses for mirrorless, DSLR and medium format cameras, as well as adapters and teleconverters.
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All right. As you can see, I still have not been at the business end of a smiting.
I've discussed with some fellow non-believers about the possibility that there's a bit of a game of prayer-hockey going on, between people who are praying for me to be smote (smited?) and people who are praying for God to deliver me from certain smitage. It's now going on four and a half days since I first called out God in a local newspaper forum, in defiant response to some looney suggestion that atheists are afraid of God:
In fact I'm so unafraid of God that I'll call the sadistic SOB out right here and right now. Come and get me. Hit me with that lightning bolt. Or that heart attack. It's not like you don't know where I am.
So now that you're pretty well up to date, there's still some business to which I want to attend.
A fellow member here at Think Atheist suggests that in order to increase the likelihood of a proper smiting--one which many will likely agree that I have coming--that more people should have the opportunity to sign up for the smiting. That way, if the people praying for me to be delivered from smiting are successful, but someone else gets a smiting, it's still sufficient evidence of someone there to smite us.
Now before you jump on board, I want to share some guidelines that my fellow blasphemers and I agreed to ahead of time. We don't want to be accused of moving the goal posts after the fact, after all; we want to play fair.
And so, be it known, that we, the Undersigned, are not afraid of God in the slightest (as we find it impossible to fear that which doesn't exist), and are willing to prove our lack of fear by setting our hand blah blah blah forasmuch legalspeak goes here... SMITE US.
So let it be posted, so let it be done.
Think you're the only atheist in Maine? Think again! http://centralmaineatheists.blogspot.com or follow @CMEAA on Twitter. Central Maine Atheist Alliance: Wicked good without god since 2010.
Views: 1726
Silly atheist thinks that god-fellow will smite him if he says please, of course he won't, he likes to watch us squirm in out disbelief...
I'm just pulling your leg, I'm in, but we will all have to get medical check ups before doing this. We don't want some inherited immune diseases proving god exist.
I am so in for this, i am always keen for a good old fashioned old testament style smiting!
I actually have requested a smiting before, in a church of all places and im still waiting!!! Its been like 7 years! Perhaps heaven is like a badly run government organisation and they just have a bad back-log of smites?
Too funny! I know this is an old thread, but I'm trying hard to keep my chest from exploding, I was laughing so hard.
Would that count? My chest exploding? Probably not.
Nah, just like dying during sex doesn't count either. Don't ask how I puzzled that out.
Still going strong.


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Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's policy director said Friday he is resigning from his post at City Hall to take a job in the private sector.
Ryan O'Doherty has served as Rawlings-Blake's chief spokesman for five years, since her time as City Council president.
O'Doherty, 35, has accepted a job as the director of external affairs and strategic communications at Mercy Health Services. His last day at City Hall will be July 30.
O'Doherty was a key adviser to Rawlings-Blake and helped craft the administration's agenda, including the goal of growing Baltimore by 10,000 families, an increase in the bottle tax to help fund school construction and cuts to the property tax.
A fierce defender of the mayor's policies, O'Doherty sometimes clashed with members of the news media and elected officials.
"In politics you have no permanent friends and no permanent enemies," said City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young, who has sparred with O'Doherty in the past. "We didn't see eye to eye on some things. The administration didn't like it that I spoke out about some issues, but he was just doing his job. I wish him the best."
In a statement, Rawlings-Blake said O'Doherty has been a "diligent public servant."
"He's a very talented, hardworking individual," said Deputy Mayor Robert Maloney. "The entire time I worked with him, he never lost focus of supporting the mayor's efforts and doing everything he could to make the people around him better."
In the interim, Travis Tazelaar, Rawlings-Blake's campaign director, will handle press inquires.
"To me, Ryan was always helpful and always forthcoming with information," said City Council member Brandon Scott.
O'Doherty's annual salary was $107,000.


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The rapid rise in farmland values in Minnesota and other areas of the Upper Midwest are discussed quite often by farmers and other rural residents across the region. Many times the extremely high value land sales generate most of the discussion. Of course, there are many other land transactions that take place throughout the year that are recorded at county offices, but are not usually made public. When looking at trends in land values, it is important to look at all of land sales data.
Based on a University of Minnesota analysis of the average county assessor's value of tillable farmland in eight south-central Minnesota counties, the average value on Sept. 30, 2011 was $5,086/tillable acre. This is an increase of only 4% from the average land value of $4,877/tillable acre on Sept. 30, 2010, but represents an increase of 48% compared to the average farmland value in the region on Sept. 30, 2007.
Farmland values reported by county assessors tend to lag slightly behind actual trends in land sales, due to the timeline required to report final land sales, and the timing of the county data. However, there is a definite trend of significant increases in farmland values in all counties in the region during past five years, and the upward trend in farmland values has continued since Sept. 30, 2011. Land sales across the entire region have been very strong in recent months, with many reported sales for high quality farmland in the $7,000-9,000/acre range, or higher.
The Federal Reserve Bank reported a 28% increase in the Minnesota land values at the end of 2011, compared to a year earlier, with an 8.2% increase in the third quarter of 2011 alone. Most private land companies reported land sales prices at 15-20% higher at the end of 2011, compared to a year earlier. A survey of land managers In southern and western Minnesota at the end of 2011 showed that well over half of those surveyed felt that the average farmland value was $6,000-7,999 for high-quality land, with less than one-third of respondents indicating less than $4,000/acre.
Iowa State University also does a land value survey each December, which is usually quite revealing on trends in farmland sales. In December 2011, the average value per acre of Iowa farmland was listed at $6,708, an increase of $1,644/acre, or 32.5%, from December 2010. This was the highest annual percentage increase since Iowa State started the land value survey in 1950, with the previous high being 31.9 % in 1973. Average Iowa land values in 1973 were $635/acre.
Since 2004, the annual average farmland values in Iowa have increased by a double-digit percentage from one year to the next in every year except 2009, when there was a slight decrease. The average Iowa farmland values at the end of 2011 became the highest of all time on an inflation-adjustedbasis as well, topping the previous high land value set in 1979. Northwest Iowa had the highest average land values at the end of 2011, with an average of $8,338/acre.
According to most farm real estate experts, there is a big difference in land quality with regard to current trends in farmland values in south-central Minnesota. It is not unusual to hear land sales of $7,000 or more/acre for tillable land with top quality soils and good to excellent tile drainage. However, poorer quality land in the same area, with lighter, more sandy-type soils, or with medium to poor tile drainage, may only be selling for only $4,000-6,000/acre, or less. Similarly, the 2011 Iowa State University Study found that average land values for high quality land was $8,198/acre, compared to $6,256/acre for medium-quality land, and $4,257/acre for low-quality land.
One of the best sources of farm real estate values in Minnesota is the U of M's Land Economics website.This site is updated annually after Sept. 30, and accesses a data base of various land values, based on farmland valuations reported to the state revenue office by county assessors offices throughout the state each year, which are adjusted annually based on actual land sales in a given county. This website allows for selected sorts by county, state economic regions, watersheds, etc., as well as by types of land.
What About Future Land Values?
There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about continued strength in future farm real estate values, especially on a short-term basis. Farmers are poised to have another profitable year in 2012, which should create continued interest in land purchases. Long-term interest rates remain quite low and demand is quite strong for medium- to high-quality farmland in most areas. Total volume of land sales was down in 2011 compared to previous years. Rapid increases in cash rental rates for farmland have also made purchasing land more viable compared to renting additional land.
On the flip side, there are also reasons to be more pessimistic about the future farmland values, especially beyond the next 12 months. The prospects for corn and soybean prices later in 2012 and beyond appear much more questionable, crop input costs are fairly high, and profit margins in corn and soybean production are likely to get much tighter in the next few years. These economic challenges in the farm sector are likely to cause farm operators to become much more conservative on land purchases, compared to recent years. There is also potential for higher long-term real estate interest rates in the future, along with an increase in the amount of land being offered for sale, both of which could soften future demand for farmland.
Editor's note: Kent Thiesse is a former University of Minnesota Extension educator and now is Vice President of MinnStar Bank, Lake Crystal, MN. You can contact him at 507-726-2137 or via e-mail at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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I know I keep promising to post more but summer is here and I have been traveling and having tons of fun. I plan on having more fun in the sun with this leather bikini I purchased. Oh, I know I shouldnt really wear it out but I will anyway… I am just bad that way! I will be the hottest girl on the beach and who cares if I can't swim. I may get a latex bikini too just to solve that issue.
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NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Following an impressive start to the women's basketball season, MIT freshman Maya Ramachandran (Fremont, Calif.) was voted the New England Women's Basketball Association/PrestoSports Rookie of the Week. Through four games, she has averaged 9.3 points, 13.8 rebounds, 5.0 blocks, 1.8 assists, and 1.8 steals for the Engineers.
Ramachandran nearly posted a triple-double in her intercollegiate debut as she racked up 19 rebounds, 14 points, eight blocks, and four steals in a 66-55 loss to Salem State University. The next day, she totaled 15 boards, 11 points, seven blocks, and five assists in a 74-51 win over Bates College while picking up Salem State Tip Off Tournament all-tournament team honors. Last Tuesday, Ramachandran compiled 18 rebounds, six points, four blocks, and two assists in a 48-46 loss to Endicott College before closing the week with six points, three rebounds, and one block in 21 minutes off the bench in a 61-43 win over Emerson College.


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The Sound of Fun and Games
Principal Composer – Korby Sears
Located in Seattle, WA, TEJAS TUNES has provided quality composition, sound-design, and voice-over production for some of the top gaming and advertising companies in the business. Clients include Cranium, Becker & Mayer, Oberon Media, Ubisoft, Square Enix, Wunderman, Forrest-Pruzan, Sierra, and others.
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Beginning Jan. 1, all Medicaid service in the state of Kansas will be provided through KanCare health plans. KanCare is Kansas' innovative new system to provide Medicaid services with a proactive approach toward health care.
Beginning Jan. 1, all Medicaid service in the state of Kansas will be provided through KanCare health plans. KanCare is Kansas' innovative new system to provide Medicaid services with a proactive approach toward health care.
And, according to the KanCare website, the state's 395,000 beneficiaries won't receive any fewer services than they did in past years. But is that statement true for Ford County residents who rely on Medicaid for coverage?
Current beneficiaries received information packets in the fall, and have been pre-enrolled in one of three managed health care plans with which the state is contracting. The plans are Amerigroup Kansas, Inc., Sunflower State Health Plan, and United Healthcare of the Midwest.
However, beneficiaries have until April 4, 2013 to choose which plan they want to be in. Any choices made after Jan. 1 will take effect the first day of the following month, according to a statement from KanCare.
In Dodge City, both Western Plains Medical Complex and Dodge City Medical Center accept all three plans. The same is true for Family Practice Associates of Western Kansas and Medical Heights Medical Center.
The three KanCare managed care organizations (MCOs) are required to meet federal and state distance or travel time standards in ensuring specialty care is available for all members. If an MCO does not have a specialist available to members within those standards, it must allow members to see out-of-network providers. Similarly, emergency services are not limited to in-network hospitals.
And although a majority of Dodge City health care providers take all three insurance plans, KanCare beneficiaries should take a close look at which plan they have been assigned and contact their doctors to double check coverage. A patient who stays with a plan with which an office is not contracting will be expected to pay for services up front, according to KanCare.
KanCare is set up to cover all services previously provided by Medicaid, as well as some "value-added" services that may vary with each plan. Coverage for children will be provided under KanCare; HealthWave is now out of the picture. For all KanCare members, the three MCOs must honor all plans of care, prior authorizations and established provider-member relationships during the transition to KanCare; even if an established provider is not in a health plans network, the provider will still be paid at 100 percent of the Medicaid fee-for-services rate through the first 90 days (until April 4).
Current Medicaid beneficiaries who have yet to receive a new KanCare card by Jan. 4 should contact the MCO using the number on the back of the packet mailed out in November.
Helpful numbers for KanCare beneficiaries
- KanCare Consumer Assistance Line; 1-866-305-5147
- KanCare Ombudsman James Bart: 1-855-643-8180. Bart can help with unresolved access, service and benefit problems, especially for beneficiaries in the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Waiver program and others receiving long-term care services.


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By Trevor Villers
Venue: The Tuning Fork. Auckland
Libel bring you the latest music news, reviews, interviews and competitions. Based in New Zealand, covering entertainment both locally and internationally.
Wellington five-piece Anxiety Club are hitting the road for a three-date nationwide tour in support of their recently released debut EP, BLACK HEART.
Australian indie-folk outfit The Paper Kites are returning to New Zealand shores.
Legendary, GRAMMY-award winning band FLEETWOOD MAC today announced an Australian and New Zealand tour, set to kick off on August 9 with two shows in Auckland on September 16 and 19, along with a welcome return to Dunedin on September 21.
Cirque du Soleil is returning to New Zealand, this time bringing their show KOOZA to Auckland this February and we have a double pass to giveaway!
By Janine Swail
Artist: Mumford & Sons featuring guests Tiny Ruins, Angie McMahon, Michael Kiwanuka & Leon Bridges
Date / Venue: Saturday January 12th, 2019 - Western Springs Outerfield, Auckland
By Lisa Diedricks
Artists: Nicki Minaj, Lil Pump, Mura Masa, Kali Uchis, San Holo, Montell2099 and The Katayanagi Twins
Date / Venue: Wednesday January 9th, 2018 - Spark Arena, Auckland
Julia Holter is heading to New Zealand to play one show at The Tuning Fork in Auckland and we have a double pass to giveaway!
By Mark Derricutt
Starting his professional career as a member of The Cab, Frank Sidoris soon found himself among the ranks of The Conspirators, touring and recording alongside Myles Kennedy and guitar legend Slash.
Soaked Oats have already begun their 13 stop tour around Aotearoa, spreading their slinky sludge pop across our shores with a mixture of festival appearances and headline shows.
One night
Three cities
Four venues
Over twenty artists in celebration of International Women's Day Friday March 8th 2019.
Event: Falls Festival, Marion Bay, Australia
Date: 29th - 31st December 2018
Photos by - Stephen Boxshall
Photos by Trevor Villiers
Date / Venue: Monday December 31st, 2018 - Silo Park, Auckland
The Auckland Folk Festival will be back this summer with an interesting, both ethnically and gender diverse line-up of local and international artists.
Phoebe Bridgers has shared the music video for 'Killer,' a song featured on her acclaimed 2017 debut album, Stranger In The Alps.
Irish dynamite Wallis Bird has announced her debut New Zealand tour in March 2019.
Auckland Laneway has added three more artists to the already stellar 2019 festival line-up, with sensational Kiwi pop singer Robinson
Timaru's iconic Soundshell in Caroline Bay will host two of the most well-known bands in New Zealand in a one-day entertainment extravaganza this January. Katchafire and The Black Seeds will headline the R18+ event at the Soundshell on Saturday, January 26, 2019. They'll be joined by The Butlers.
Haken, one of progressive music's most exciting bands, recently released their much-anticipated and highly praised fifth studio album titled 'Vector'.
Zeal & Ardor is the one-man brainchild of Manuel Gagneux, a Swiss-American formerly based in New York City.
Hypnotic trance-pop group My Baby, will be hitting our shores for a nationwide tour between Dec-March. This will be their fourth return after their Prehistoric Rhythm album pre-release tour in 2017.
By Shawn Moodie
Artist: 21 Pilots
Date / Venue: Friday December 21st, 2018 - Spark Arena, Auckland
1000 Doors is heading to Aotea Square in Auckland from January 10 - February 6, and we have a double pass to giveaway!
Melbourne post-punk trio Cable Ties are delighted to be making it across for their first tour of Aotearoa New Zealand. Playing songs from their self-titled debut album and a whole bunch of new stuff on a lightning-quick four-day charge down the north island.
By Janine Swail
Artist: Shania Twain
Date / Venue: Tuesday December 18th, 2018 - Spark Arena, Auckland
One of New Zealand's most-loved live acts, The Black Seeds, will play a one-off show at Black Barn Vineyards in Havelock North on Saturday, January 19, with special guests, L.A.B.
See your festival favourites perform twice or schedule your weekend around the exclusive one-off performances.


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First Baptist Church, Kyle TX
Saturday, January 19, 2019
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Date: Sunday, August 26, 2018
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Location: FBC Kyle
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ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) – Britain's Prince Harry is paying tribute to America's war dead at Arlington National Cemetery.
The prince walked Friday morning through Arlington's Section 60, the resting place of many who died in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
He placed a wreath and note at the grave of one Army soldier, Michael L. Stansbery Jr. The note reads: "To my comrades-in-arms of the United States of America, who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the cause of freedom. Captain Harry Wales."
The 21-year-old Stansbery died July 30, 2010, while serving in Afghanistan. He was from Mount Juliet, Tenn.
Prince Harry has served twice in Afghanistan, most recently on an attack helicopter.
He left the site to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, representing all of America's unidentified war dead.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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Mike Modano remains face of Stars franchiseby Dan Rosen
Dallas Stars president Jim Lites tells the story as if it happened yesterday. That's how well he remembers it. That's how much the conversation Lites had with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones nearly 20 years ago resonates with him.
"I remember Jerry Jones saying to me about two years into our stay here, 'Jim, I can't believe how much success you guys have had, I never would have thought hockey would be successful in Dallas,'" Lites told NHL.com. "And then he said, 'That Mike Modano is as important to this community as Troy Aikman. I can't believe how dynamic he is.'
"I mean, the Cowboys are the Cowboys and Troy Aikman is Troy Aikman, but Mo was that good, that big," Lites continued. "He's the guy every man wants to be and every woman wants to be with."
Modano, with his chiseled face, blond locks, flapping jersey, incredible skill and all-American soul, was, and still is, the perfect guy to sell hockey in Texas. Twenty years after the Minnesota North Stars became the Dallas Stars, Modano remains the one and only face of the NHL's franchise in the Lone Star State.
"He is the Dallas Stars," former teammate Steve Ott said.
Modano was honored Saturday night in a ceremony to retire his No. 9 to the rafters at American Airlines Center. But before he could get there, to the podium with the spotlight on him and his climbing jersey, Modano went through a number of chapters in his hockey career. Each defined who he is as a person and a celebrity, and what he was as a player.
He still sells hockey in Dallas, but Modano's rise to stardom started in the Detroit suburb of Westland, Mich.
Modano was 16 years old and at a crossroads. He was too young to be recruited by colleges and too good to play another year of Midget hockey in Detroit. He wasn't sure if he wanted to pursue a career in hockey but knew he had to try. He just needed some direction.
Enter Rick Wilson, coach of the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League.
Wilson caught a glimpse of Modano at 15 during a tournament in Calgary. A few months later, shortly after Modano's 16th birthday, Wilson called with an invitation to come Prince Albert, Saskatchewan to check out the junior program there and to see if he wanted to try the WHL.
One of three Major Junior leagues in Canada, the WHL, the Ontario Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League formed the primary pipeline of players into the NHL at the time.
"So I packed up and figured I'm probably going to like it no matter what," Modano said. "I took everything and that July I headed up there. That was that. It was a tough decision, but I knew it was one I needed to make to figure out if hockey was something I wanted to do."
It was a bold choice. The road to the NHL for an American player did not go through places like Saskatchewan.
A couple of highly rated American-born players had gone to Canada to pursue their hockey careers in the past. Pat Lafontaine and Jimmy Carson went to the QMJHL; Al Iafrate, Kevin Hatcher and Craig Wolanin played in the OHL. But for a player of Modano's stature to go west, to the rough and tumble WHL, to a province as remote as Saskatchewan, it was sort of mystifying.
Prince Albert was more than 1,600 miles from Modano's childhood home in Michigan.
"It was not the thing to do for an American to go play in the Western League," said Jack Ferreira, a former Minnesota North Stars general manager. "He was a target. He was a target; they couldn't catch him."
Modano's decision was met with skepticism among his peers in the United States.
"It was real different," said Jeremy Roenick, who grew up playing against Modano in minor-hockey tournaments. "To us, as USA Hockey players, that was like going to play for the Charlestown Chiefs. It was physical, mean hockey. You're playing against a bunch of angry and mean Canadians. Mike put himself out there because that's what he wanted to do. We knew he was going to jump ahead of all us, and he went No. 1."
Before he did go No. 1, to the North Stars in the 1988 NHL Draft, Modano had to overcome animosity in Prince Albert. A skilled, highly scouted American was not always welcome in those parts.
"There were some guys that liked it, some that didn't, but over time I created some friends," Modano said. "I stuck up for myself at times, but they understood that to make a decision like that, to move away from home and go play hockey in Canada, Prince Albert of all cities, that says a lot about your love of the game."
Modano had 62 points in 70 games his first season. He scored 32 goals, but nothing came easy.
"It was tough," Modano said. "We had a couple of gifted guys around that I was able to play with, but you were playing against 20-year-olds, guys who were bigger and stronger and could push you out of the way at times. But still things were going pretty good productively, and the next year-and-a-half things just kind of took off up there."
In 1987-88, Modano dominated the WHL with 47 goals and 127 points in 65 games. He was fast, skilled, an electric player. And he was 17 years old.
Four days after he turned 18, the North Stars selected Modano with the No. 1 pick, but not before they had some internal debate about taking Trevor Linden instead.
On his last day as the North Stars' president and general manager, Lou Nanne made the decision to take Modano because of his talent and charisma. It was a decision that changed the franchise.
"We weren't selling out our games and Modano was a very charismatic player with tremendous speed and puck handling," said Nanne, who resigned earlier in the year but promised owner Gordon Gund that he'd work through the draft. "He was a guy that not only brought people to the building, but he would bring them out of their seats. We needed that type of franchise player."
He wasn't alone in that thinking.
Ferreira, who was announced as Nanne's replacement three days after the draft, said Gund called him the morning of the draft to check to see if he was on board with selecting Modano over Linden. Ferreira said if he had told Gund to take Linden the North Stars probably would have taken Linden, but there was no debate in his mind. Modano was the right pick, the right guy for the franchise.
"I had never seen someone dominant the juniors the way [Modano] had," Ferreira said. "He had so much upside. He had it all. He was an American kid that went to Canada, played in a tough Western Hockey League, and I just thought he was one of the best players I had ever seen. If you're going to build a franchise, he was the one guy to start the franchise with."
Nanne agreed, so much so that after seeing Modano play in Prince Albert he decided not to make any trades that could have helped the North Stars make the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 1988. It wasn't that Nanne wanted the North Stars to tank in order to get the No. 1 pick, but he didn't necessarily do anything to help them either because of how much he valued Modano.
"In February, after I announced I was quitting, I said I would stay to the draft so my scouts told me I needed to fly up to Prince Albert to see him," Nanne said. "I flew up to Prince Albert, came back, and we were two or four points out of a playoff position. I told Gordon we had a lot of injuries, we're a couple points out, I could make a deal and we might make the playoffs, but I have seen a kid that might change this franchise. I told him I don't want to make a deal, I want to let it play out, and I could take the heat.
"I asked, 'What do you want to do?' he said, 'Do what you think is best for me.' So we never made a deal, we missed the playoffs, we ended first and we picked Modano."
Modano would play one more season in Prince Albert before arriving in Minnesota as a 19-year-old savior.
Former North Stars forward Neal Broten remembers Modano as an impressive but reticent guy when he walked into Minnesota's dressing room for the first time in 1989. Here was the No. 1 pick in the draft, someone who scored 232 points in 106 games the previous two seasons in the WHL. But Modano wasn't puffing out his chest or acting like a star even though he pretty much always had been treated like one.
"He had a little shyness to him, which is great in a first-year or second-year guy," Broten said. "You don't want to come in there and beating out your chest. You want to be quiet, reserved. Mike was. He wasn't bragging about himself. His head wasn't big."
But the expectations on him were huge.
Modano lived up to them as a rookie, scoring 75 points in 80 games, losing the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year to 31-year-old Sergei Makarov of the Calgary Flames.
"I was really lucky in that sense because I didn't have to try to focus on being quiet and just doing my job, that was just kind of how I was," Modano said. "I was raised that way. I was just quiet, very shy. That was my personality. Once I got there it was pretty intimidating, you're scared a little bit, but when I got on the ice that was my escape."
The North Stars reached the Stanley Cup Final in 1991, where they lost in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins, but questions about whether Ferreira made the right pick choosing Modano instead of Linden were cropping up as Modano clashed with his coach, Hall of Fame forward Bob Gainey.
"Bob really tried to install some of the things he felt were important to get into my system at an early age, but for me coming out of juniors and being out there the way I was, everybody was expecting statistics, scoring, so I was more concerned about that," Modano said. "He always stressed that he never wanted to take that aspect of my game away; he just wanted a little more stop-and-start to my game, a little bit more facing the puck, being around it a little bit more. He explained if you do these things you're going to have more success offensively because you're going to have the puck a lot more.
"That sounded all good and great, but until I had results and I saw things happen for me, I didn't believe it. So there were moments when we really butted heads, to the point where he told me flat out that he wasn't going to play me unless I started changing."
Gainey had that kind of cachet, and Modano knew it. Gainey was a five-time Stanley Cup champion with the Montreal Canadiens, a four-time Selke Trophy winner, a stern coach. He wasn't in awe of Modano's speed and shot and skill.
"He doesn't have to say much when he gets [angry]," Modano said. "He just gives you that look, kind of like your dad looking at you when you know you [messed] up."
Gainey didn't want to clash with Modano. All he wanted to do was show him the proper way to be a team player.
"It was pretty easy for me to see his physical ability, his athleticism, his size, but I was still in position where I had seen a lot of young players come in and I could try to pinpoint where he was at least on my gauge of maturity and understanding how to use all his skills, how to get them all into the game, and have an impact on the game," Gainey said. "He had a lot going for him, but he had a lot to learn."
Modano needed to learn how to play without the puck. He also needed to learn how to get the puck back when it was possessed by the opposition. Gainey wanted Modano to have a better understanding of the opponent, of the time and space available on the ice. He wanted Modano to improve to the point where he had enough trust to put him on the ice late in a tie game.
It took a while.
"There was a time around 1995 or 1996 when not only was he doing more of these things, like participating in killing penalties, play along the boards, in the areas that previously hadn't been on his to-do list, but he was doing it and gave to me a sign that he was enjoying it," Gainey said. "For me that's the final light bulb. If you have to be pushed into the tough situations and held there, then as soon as somebody leaves you're going to walk away. But if you find out that you enjoy it, then it changes that whole dynamic and you start looking for tough situations to test yourself in."
Modano didn't have to look for his next big test. It came to him when the North Stars moved to Dallas for the 1993-94 season. He went from being a budding star in a hockey hotbed to the face of a franchise in a brand new market.
The Stars were heading to Texas. Modano had to be front and center.
Jimmy Johnson's Cowboys had won their first Super Bowl with Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin shining brighter than the stars on their helmets. Nolan Ryan was in the final year of his Hall of Fame baseball career. Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez were becoming stars for the Texas Rangers.
"This is a star town," Lites said. "It's not like you could just walk in here and say, 'We're a good team, look at us go.' You needed a face and a star."
Modano, the 23-year-old with the good looks and celebrity mentality, had to be that guy if hockey was going to work in Texas. So Lites and Jeff Cogen, the Stars' vice president of marketing, sold Modano's look.
"We rode him like a rented mule," Lites said. "If we needed a season-ticket holder flier, a face on the program, a face on the yearbook, a guy to parade out to the media, it was Mike Modano. We used Mike left and right and all over the place, but it was easy to do because what you see is what you get with Mo. It was true when he was 21 and it's true now. He was confident, unassuming and boyish, but now glib and confident and candid. His style in life is what you want your own children to emulate. He was our guy. He meant everything to us. He could do it all."
The only problem was Modano was not a natural publicity seeker. He didn't grow up as one, and his reticent style followed him to Dallas.
Modano went along with the program created for him by Lites and Cogen because he trusted them, knew how important he was to the Stars, and the kind of impact he could have if hockey eventually did sell in Texas.
Modano agreed with Jones: He felt his impact in the community should be as great as Aikman's. It needed to be.
"There are a lot of comparables to the impact Troy had with the Super Bowl years they had, his impact on the town," Modano said. "I felt in some sense I could have that same impact, so there was a little extra effort to try to make that happen."
The effort started on the ice, where Modano's unbelievable speed made his jersey flap in the back. Every kid wanted that look.
"It's called the Modano jersey flap," said Vancouver Canucks center Ryan Kesler, who, like Modano, was born in Livonia. "His jersey used to flap in the wind when he used to wind it up."
Zach Parise, a Minnesota native, idolized Modano.
"It always made him look like he was going so much faster than everybody else," said Parise, a Minnesota Wild forward.
Modano was as dynamic as he was dominant. He scored 50 goals and 93 points in the first season in Dallas. He had 29 points in 30 games during the shortened 1994-95 season. Seasons of 81 points, 83 points, 59 points in 52 games, and 81 followed. Modano's line, with Brett Hull and Jere Lehtinen, was one of the best in the NHL, and the Stars became great.
"I've just never seen a guy be able to go at such top speed and look so graceful, make things look so easy and do things at such a high level of speed with a high level of talent as Mike did," Roenick said. "If Mike had any knock against him it would be that he wasn't a physical force, that he wasn't a physical-type player, but he fought through it. He's the elite."
The Stars were one of the elite teams in the NHL in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They won the Stanley Cup in 1999 and came within two wins of repeating in 2000 before losing to the New Jersey Devils in the Final.
Hockey was the rage in Dallas; Modano was the biggest star. He would date and eventually marry actress/model Willa Ford. Fans loved him. Women fawned over him. Kids wanted to be him.
"In that market, getting the state of Texas on board with hockey, you needed the good-looking face and the character, the playboy bachelor, to keep people interested," said Brenden Morrow, a former captain of the Stars who plays for the St. Louis Blues. "He was the perfect guy with the skill he played with and the good looks he has. He was perfect for that market."
Modano was so good his aura extended far beyond Dallas. He was a global sensation as one of the most unique players to wear the USA Hockey sweater.
Roenick was a gritty, physical, grinding goal-scorer. Hull's slap shot was as powerful as his personality. Keith Tkachuk was a behemoth power forward who would drop the gloves as quickly as he shot the puck. Bill Guerin got by because he was a battler willing to wear his scars on his face.
Those players were the core of a new generation of American hockey players, a band of young men who would revitalize the national program with a combination of skill and charisma.
Modano was in that group, but he wasn't like the others. He was different. He was clean-cut, with a mouth full of teeth and flowing blond locks.
"He was the pretty boy with the big smile and the Beach Boy look," Roenick said. "You never saw Mike cut up or bloodied or teeth out or anything like that. He found a way to make sure he stayed away from that stuff and let his talents out. I think that's a tribute to him. It came easy to Mike. It came so much easier for Mike than it did a lot of us. He stood out wherever he was. He's such a good dude, such a good guy's guy. Not many did it better."
In an age when American players had a reputation for being tough and physical and committed to playing a north-south game, Modano bucked the trend. He was skilled, fast, and incredibly dangerous with the puck on his stick, comfortable playing a more creative east-west style. He was exactly what the Americans needed to build on the miracle of 1980 and bring USA Hockey into the 21st century.
Modano, the All-American boy living in Texas by way of Michigan, helped the U.S. win the World Cup of Hockey in 1996, the most significant victory since the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, and the silver medal at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics.
"He brought that flair and stability that you needed," Tkachuk said. "He really changed things with skill as an American hockey player. This is no disrespect to guys who came in to the League before us, but ultimately he was the most athletic and skilled American player ever to play the game, and I think he still is. He was the first guy that the Americans put on the ice that could play the skill European/Canadian game. He was the first guy that changed that. He fit in perfectly on the American team. He was the guy that could beat a guy 1-on-1 to score that big goal for you.
"You look at guys like Patrick Kane and Phil Kessel, they are obviously, in my mind, similar to a guy like Mike Modano, and I'm sure they grew up watching him and wanted to play like him. Mike made a big impact on American hockey, there's no question about it."
Modano's superstar qualities also made him a bigger target for Tkachuk and Guerin, arguably the two biggest jokesters in the American dressing room. They would razz Modano about everything and wouldn't let up, especially if they knew it was starting to bother him.
"He's just a nice guy in that laid-back mentality. He was good, but Billy and I used to attack him," Tkachuk said, laughing. "I can't remember any specifics, but we did a good job, trust me. Nobody is safe with Billy Guerin. You just gotta be quiet around Billy."
Modano remembers the so-called attacks starting during the '96 World Cup. He laughs about how relentless Guerin and Tkachuk were.
"Those guys were really tough, but I think it was just their nature, their personality," he said. "They liked giving me grief about everything. But they never told [coach Ron] Wilson to get them on a different line, so I knew I was doing something right. Nobody got any star treatment with them though."
Modano always had the star treatment in Dallas, until he didn't. He eventually had to leave, and he still isn't over it.
It began with a change in the Stars leadership group in 2006. Morrow recalls the situation that could have diseased his relationship with Modano.
Morrow was an alternate captain behind Modano until the start of the 2006-07 season. Then, overnight, Morrow was the captain. Management shook up the room, demoting Modano to alternate in the process, stripping him of the captaincy he inherited three years earlier when Derian Hatcher left the team.
Modano signed a five-year contract extension in 2005 and figured he'd be the captain until his career was over. He figured wrong.
"It was a little bit awkward knowing that he wasn't completely on board with it, but in saying that, he was the first person that congratulated me and told me if there was anything I needed or help and he would help me out," Morrow said. "He handled it with a lot of class with me and made me feel comfortable, but it was awkward for both of us. I knew he wasn't completely on board with it."
Modano said he still doesn't completely understand why Doug Armstrong, the Stars GM at the time, made the decision to give the "C" to Morrow.
For Armstrong, it was the right time for a leadership transition, so some of the Stars' younger players could take on bigger roles. He pegged Morrow, then 27, for the task. Modano said he felt the decision divided the room.
"Guys on the team really didn't understand what was happening," Modano said. "Armstrong had a feel for the team at the time and he felt this was an important thing that had to happen, but it was tough. That was always a little bit of a hard spot for us to be put in because you had to be politically correct, you had to say that it was a move to benefit the team, but it was a little bit of a split group with what was happening."
Modano felt for Morrow too. He knew it was a tough spot for his friend and teammate.
"It really wasn't celebrated as it should have been," Modano said of Morrow's ascendance. "No press conference, no nothing. I just feel it was transferred in the middle of the night and he woke up with it on. It was done real quietly, and I think he didn't have that opportunity to enjoy it, embrace it. I think sometimes he might have been embarrassed by the way it got handled."
Morrow and Modano continued their friendship. They continued to train together in the offseason, golfed together, ate meals together.
Modano would score his 500th goal on March 13, 2007. Four days later, he passed Joe Mullen for the most goals scored by an American-born player, a record he would eventually leave at 561. Early the following season (Nov. 7, 2007), he broke Phil Housley's record for most points scored by an American-born player; it stands at 1,374. The closest active player is Scott Gomez, who has 709 points.
"It was strange, but we were close enough that he made it not be a big deal between the two of us," Morrow said. "It may have carried more weight with him and management, but there wasn't a rift between the two of us."
Eventually, Modano's relationship with the Stars would break. It still bothers him even though he's back with the organization, working alongside Lites and owner Tom Gaglardi on the business side.
At the end of his NHL career, Modano wanted to play his final season with his only franchise. He felt he deserved the chance to have a swan song season in Dallas. Joe Nieuwendyk, the general manager at the time, did not agree. He decided it was in the best interest of the club to not re-sign Modano, a free agent, after the 2009-10 season.
"I felt I should have probably been able to make that choice myself, but Joe made it for me," Modano said.
Modano entertained the idea of retiring until Ken Holland, the general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, called with a one-year contract offer. This was Modano's chance to complete the circle, to go back to Detroit, his hometown, where his hockey life began, where he made the decision to go to Saskatchewan.
He couldn't pass up the opportunity. He wouldn't dare.
But it didn't work out. Modano played 40 games for the Red Wings, scoring four goals and 16 points. He was besieged by bad luck and injuries, including a severed tendon in his right wrist that required surgery and kept him out of the lineup for three months. He was never the same. His career was over without ever giving the OK.
"I'm still frustrated at being injured and missing most of that season," Modano said. "I just feel to this day I left the game with a bitter taste in my mouth. It's just really hard to accept that you didn't have a chance to retire on your terms. I still feel if I didn't get injured I might still be playing."
That itch hasn't gone away.
"There is still that part of you that feels that you'd like to go back and finish it a different way," Modano said. "It ticks away at me, still haunts me."
Some closure came Saturday night when Modano watched his No. 9 rise to the rafters. The Stars gave him a night to remember. It's the least they could do for a superstar who continues to give them a face to sell hockey in Texas all these years and all these chapters later.
"Dallas is heartland, and Mo fits it," Lites said. "He's free-spirited, good looking, new, fresh and cool. He's perfect for Dallas."


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ROCHESTER — Veterans Day will be marked on Sunday, Nov. 11 in the city with an 11 a.m. ceremony on Rochester Common and a special service in the First United Methodist Church at 7 p.m. The public is warmly invited to both occasions. Rochester Middle School also will hold their annual ceremony Friday, Nov. 9.
The event on the Common will be held rain or shine. The various components of Rochester Veterans' Council will muster at 10:30 a.m. in front of the Veterans' Memorial, with Al Benton acting as the Officer of the Day. During this short ceremony, Robert Crout-Hamel, as chaplain will offer a prayer and Benton will read a proclamation from President Barack Obama.
At noon, there will be a free meal for all veterans at American Legion Post 7, on Eastern Avenue. Guests will be asked for a $5 donation.
VFW Post 1772
George J. Maxfield VFW Post 1772 and Ladies Auxiliary will also be hosting their annual Veterans Day Dinner on Sunday Nov. 11. The dinner will be at 1:30 p.m. This year they will be honoring veterans from all wars. Over the past three years the Post has honored vets from World War II and Korea and last year they honored the Vietnam veterans. All veterans are always welcome each year.
There is no charge for veterans; a $5 donation for families and friends. Once again Donna's famous Pot Roast dinner will be served. Please join us as we pay tribute to our heroes who have and continue to defend our country. For more information please call 335-2878
Evening service
The Veterans' Council will muster again before 7 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church on South Main Street and this group, representing many organizations throughout the city, will be joined by other groups and by local dignitaries.
The colors will be posted by several veterans' groups.
Following welcoming remarks from Pastor Jeff Hunt and opening prayer, the choirs from Spaulding High School and First United Methodist Church will begin the ceremony with the National Anthem.
The Veterans Day Message will be delivered by Lt. Cmdr. Kris Furtney (Ret.) of the United States Coast Guard. Prayers and singing will follow Furtney's address.
The Armed Forces Tribute (A Post Everlasting} will be presented by Chaplin Robert Crout-Hamel, after which the 394 Marine Seacoast Detachment will fire three round volleys between the two buildings of the church near the rear parking lot.
The ceremony should be completed within one hour. Then light refreshment will be served at the Church directly afterwards.
Rochester Middle School event
Rochester Middle School will hold their fourth annual Veterans Day Assembly Friday, Nov. 9, beginning at 1 p.m. in the school gymnasium. It will be followed at 2:15 p.m. with a reception honoring veterans.
The theme this year will center around the Revolutionary War and the school is expecting hundreds of veterans to celebrate with them. Local veterans interested in participating in the celebration are urged to sign up by calling Sue Gill at 603-332-4090 at the Rochester Middle School.
Milton Memorial VFW Post 8393 will host a program for the observance of Veterans Day, Nov. 11.
The program will be Sunday, Nov. 11, at 1 p.m. at the Veteran's Park in Milton (on the Main Street, Route 125).
Burroughs-Drew VFW Post 7663, Union, invites all to this year's Veterans Day celebration in Milton, as well. Add this to your to-do list! The townspeople of Milton always do this right.
Nute High School will be holding their Veterans Day Program this year on Thursday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. All veterans are invited! It has always been a very good program and they make a special effort to welcome veterans. Uniforms/dress is discretionary.
Services, meals planned to mark Veterans Day
ROCHESTER — Veterans Day will be marked on Sunday, Nov. 11 in the city with an 11 a.m. ceremony on Rochester Common and a special service in the First United Methodist Church at 7 p.m. The public is warmly invited to both occasions. Rochester Middle School also will hold their annual ceremony Friday, Nov. 9.


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GoodLookinRooster knows exactly what to buy Republicans this holiday season:
I would make them responsible for buying their own gift.
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