172 Wife takes up husband's Army enlistment

2007-12-10T09:28:00.000-08:00

More than a year after Spc. Alejandro Albarran lost part of his right leg in an explosion in Iraq, he still hasn't decided whether he'll stay in the Army.

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"Right now, I'm leaning against it," said the 20-year-old infantryman, looking ahead with distaste to a possible desk job.

Whatever he decides, he won't be leaving Army life behind ― because his wife has enlisted to take his place in uniform.

"After everything he's gone through ― and he loves the Army ― he kind of inspired me," said Janay Albarran. "I made him a promise that I would finish what he started."

While he underwent five-day-a-week rehabilitation to recover his balance and strength on a prosthetic leg at an Army rehabilitation facility in San Antonio, she was in boot camp at Fort Jackson, S.C., learning to shoot a rifle and stand in formation.

Janay Albarran graduated from basic training on Friday, gaining the rank of private. The couple's 2-year-old daughter is staying with a grandmother in Arizona.

Roughly 24,000 of the Army's soldiers, about 9 percent of the force, are married to other soldiers. The Army doesn't have any statistics on how many join after a spouse or family member is badly wounded in combat, but a spokeswoman, Maj. Anne Edgecomb, said she's heard of people joining after the injury or death of a sibling and at least one woman who joined after her husband was killed in combat.

"The courage of our soldiers and their families is remarkable," she said.

Janay Albarran, 19, wasn't always thrilled with the prospect of Army life. She met her husband at a high school football game in Yuma, Ariz., near where they grew up, and learned later from his online profile that he had already signed up for the Army.

"I was like 'Well, I met somebody and he's about to leave.' I was a little upset," said Janay Albarran. "I knew he was joining the Army and we're at war."

The couple married in February 2006, and he was sent to Iraq six months later.

In November 2006, Alejandro Albarran was in a Humvee escorting a unit to the scene of a detonated bomb when a second bomb exploded. After that, he remembers only flashes: a medic over him, the helicopter.

Janay Albarran met him at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington several days later, and they went to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where some of the most severely wounded are treated.

Efforts to save Alejandro Albarran's lower right leg were unsuccessful. When the pain became too great, he told his wife to let the doctors amputate.

At first, Janay Albarran had to help her husband dress and get out his wheelchair.

"She had to be my memory. My short term memory is bad," said Alejandro, who also suffered a head injury in the blast.

As he regained more mobility, the teen wife who had been afraid of guns decided to take her husband's place in the ranks.

Strictly speaking, Janay Albarran will not be replacing her husband. He was an infantryman, a position not open to women, although he notes with chagrin that she outscored him on her basic training rifle test.

She expects to get a human resources assignment, one less likely to lead to deployment in Iraq.

"It's just another job," Alejandro Albarran said, taking a break between weight lifting sets at the large amputee rehab facility here.

However, a safe assignment isn't guaranteed, and Janay Albarran said she worries about possible deployment when she thinks about their daughter, Iliana.

"That's the only thing that scares me. He's already been hurt," she said. "If I do get deployed, I'm going to miss him so much. But it's nothing I can't handle."

wappingers schools

2007-12-10T09:23:00.000-08:00

Members of the Wappingers school community reacted sadly and quietly Tuesday as Mark Serrano was convicted of killing five members of the Morey family ― three of whom were children who attended school in the district.

Board of education Trustee Joseph Incoronato said the justice system worked.

"Due process has occurred and the facts spoke for themselves in this case, and the jury has come back with the proper verdict," he said.

The three Morey children � 13-year-old Antonio, 10-year-old Adam and 6-year-old Ryan � were found murdered along with their parents Jan. 19. Serrano was one of two men accused of killing the family and then burning down their home to cover up the crime. Suspect Charles Gilleo is still awaiting trial.

Trustee Joseph Porpora said he had no comment on the conviction as a board member. As a member of the community, he said he feels the entire case has been "the saddest thing in Dutchess County."

Brinckerhoff Elementary School Principal Ursula Platz said she will make sure her staff knows about the trial developments before classes begin.

"We'll meet as a team in the morning to make sure that everybody is aware," she said.
Adam and Ryan Morey attended the school. Adam's class has already moved on to Van Wyck Junior High School.

Van Wyck parent Wendy McNamara said she has been thinking of the family often lately, with the holidays and one-year anniversary approaching.

McNamara was one of many parents and community members who helped erect a memorial to honor the family at the school. Antonio Morey was a student there and played on the football and wrestling teams. Roslyn's Emily Lipari placed sixth with a time of 17:46 at the Foot Locker Cross Country National Finals in San Diego Saturday. The 5K race featured the nation's top 40 high school girls runners.

"Coming in sixth was amazing," Lipari said. "I was hoping for a top 15 spot. I didn't think I would place in the top six this year."

Lipari won the state Federation girls cross country title in a time of 17:58.1 in November. It was the fourth-fastest time ever run at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, NY.

The memorial includes a tree and two rosebushes, a stone bench, a memorial stone, and a birdbath. Children at Van Wyck designed the memorial.

"You're reminded at this time of year of the great loss," McNamara said. "We hope that what we did at Van Wyck would give some comfort to their families, let them know that they'll never be forgotten."
PALTZ ― The State University of New York at New Paltz will hold its December undergraduate and graduate commencement exercises Friday and Saturday in the Athletic and Wellness Center.

The total graduating class is 1,065, and about 510 candidates are scheduled to attend the ceremonies.

This will be first time the ceremonies, which recognize the achievements of August and December graduates, have been held on campus since the college's first December commencement took place on campus in 2000. Since 2001, these ceremonies have been held at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie.

The undergraduate ceremony for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the School of Education will take place from 6-8 p.m. Friday.

The undergraduate ceremony for the School of Business, the School of Fine and Performing Arts and the School of Science and Engineering will take place from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday.

The graduate ceremony will take place 2:30 to 4 p.m. Saturday.

The Provost's Office has announced a tie in determining the valedictorian. Both Mary Corbin, a communication disorders major from Wappingers Falls, and Florence Nelson, an electrical engineering major and computer science minor from Poughkeepsie, will share the honors. Each has a 3.99 grade point average.

cacee cobb

2007-12-10T09:18:00.000-08:00

Jessica's best friend, Cacee Cobb, couldn't be happier with Jess' decision to date NFL quarterback Tony Romo.

Donald Faison: Photo Credit: Jody Cortes/ WENNCacee, who has been friends with the pop singer since childhood, is dating Scrubs star Donald Faison, who also agrees that Jess and Tony make the perfect pair.

"I think it's great," says Faison, when asked about Jessica and Tony's relationship.

Jessica and Tony's first public makeout session took place at Cacee's 30th birthday party a few weeks ago.

The friendship between the four stars seems to be growing every week, although Donald is trying his best to keep his relationship with Cacee out of the limelight.

"CaCee and I prefer to keep our relationship away from the glitz and cameras," Faison told PEOPLE magazine on Sunday.

Jessica and Tony can try all they want to keep their relationship out of the public eye, but it's not likely to happen.

When something this big happens in Hollywood, people are going to talk.

Once again, Joe Simpson must be thrilled.

Now that Jessica Simpson is cozying up to Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, will they be double-dating with BFF CaCee Cobb and her boyfriend, Donald Faison?

"CaCee and I prefer to keep our relationship away from the glitz and cameras," the Scrubs star told PEOPLE at Hollywood Life magazine's Breakthrough of the Year Awards on Sunday. "But he is a great guy."

The friendly foursome did log some quality time last week, when they helped Cobb celebrate her 30th birthday at Teddy's nightclub. (As the bash wound down, Simpson and the NFL star, both 27, were spotted smooching.)

"I think he is really, really, really smart," added Faison, 33, who was on hand to host the awards show. "[He's a] really genuine guy."

video game awards

2007-12-10T09:12:00.000-08:00

Editor's note: John Gaudiosi is a national journalist who has been covering the video game business for more than a decade. In addition to blogging for WRAL.com, he also writes about gaming for Wired Magazine, The Washington Post, Xbox.com and Yahoo! Games.

LAS VEGAS - I've been a judge for the past three SpikeTV "VGAs" (Video Game Awards) and I have to say Las Vegas is definitely my preferred venue for this awards show, which aired Dec. 9 at 9 p.m. on SpikeTV and will get rotation for the next few weeks.

While this year's show didn't have quite the star power of the LA shows, most of the celebs that showed up were gamers. And the musical groups―Foo Fighters and Kidd Rock―were awesome this year.

Spending time in the green room this year was an interesting experience. Don King posed for pictures while Spider-Man creator Stan Lee sat by himself and Tony Hawk played Rock Band with some assorted comedians. Skateboarders were well represented with Ryan Sheckler of MTV's "Life of Ryan" attending as well as ? of EA's SKATE game.

The stars of NBC's hit show, "Chuck," Zach Levi and Josh Gomez--arguably the biggest gamers I've ever interviewed―played Rock Band on the red carpet (as many attendees did) as well as in the green room.

When it comes to games, EA had a great collection of games on hand for players to check out on Xbox 360, including a brand new build of Burnout Paradise chock full of new features, The Simpsons Game, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 08 and Rock Band. Nintendo had four Wii games set up, including Wii Sports' Boxing, which was a big hit. Every time I turned around, another four people were jamming on Rock Band.

Over at the beautiful Wynn Casino, which is where the attending VGA judges stayed, there was a hospitality suite over at the Tower Suites with every game console set up and a stack of games for each. SpikeTV definitely made sure there were games to play for everyone.

I have to say―and I'm not being biased because I'm one of the 40 judges who nominated and then voted on the winning games―that the VGAs, which celebrate their fifth anniversary with this telecast, are the most legitimate form of awards for the game industry today. Unlike the Interactive Achievement Awards, which aren't televised and require entrants to pay for consideration, the VGAs is a great representation of the top games of the year.

That's because SpikeTV got it right by turning to the gaming press―and not just the hardcore gaming magazines, but the mainstream press who cover games, as well―and letting them drive both the nomination process and (a first for this year) the voting for the top games.

What this means to gamers is that they truly have an awards show that matters. There's no Hollywood lobbying of lavish gifts like the Golden Globes and no ego-driven voting like at the Oscars. The best games of the year actually make it into the VGAs. The thing that's become hard, though, since so many good games shipped this year, is deciding which one is the best in each category.

But the important thing is that there won't be second-guessing like there is when movies are nominated, and others aren't. The VGAs get it right, and I'm glad SpikeTV has stuck with this show, although they've tweaked the format and the venue each year. I'm looking forward to many more great awards shows to come.

Spike Video Game Awards
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(Redirected from Spike TV Video Game Awards)
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The Spike Video Game Awards (VGA) is an award show that recognizes the best computer and video games of the year. Started in 2003, the Spike TV Video Game Awards garnered much attention, since video game awards were not common prior to its introduction.

Contents
1 Video Game Award Results
1.1 2007 Awards
1.2 2006 Awards
1.3 Previous Awards
2 Parodies
3 References

[edit] Video Game Award Results

[edit] 2007 Awards
Game of the Year: Bioshock

Studio of the Year: Harmonix

Best Shooter: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Best RPG: Mass Effect

Best Military Game: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Best Individual Sports Game: Skate

Best Handheld Game: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Best Graphics: Crysis

Best Game Based on a Movie or TV Show: The Simpsons Game

Best Rhythm Game: Rock Band

Best Driving Game: Dirt

Best Action Game: Super Mario Galaxy

Best Team Sports Game: Madden NFL 08

Best Soundtrack: Rock Band

Breakthrough Technology: The Orange Box

Best Xbox 360 Game: BioShock

Best Wii Game: Super Mario Galaxy

Best PS3 Game: Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

Best PC Game: The Orange Box

Best Original Score: Bioshock

Best Multiplayer Game: Halo 3

Most Addictive Video Game fueled by Dew: Halo 3

[edit] 2006 Awards
For more details on this topic, see 2006 Spike Video Game Awards Results.
Game of the Year - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Before PS3 Version (Bethesda Softworks)
Action Game of the Year - Dead Rising (Capcom)
Best Individual Sports Game - Tony Hawk's Project 8 (Activision/Neversoft)
Best Team Sports Game - NBA 2K7 (2K Sports/Visual Concepts)
Cyber Vixen of the Year - Alyx Vance - Half-Life 2: Episode One (Valve)
Best Game Based on a Movie or TV Show - Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts/Traveller's Tales)
Best Performance by a Human (male) - Patrick Stewart in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks)
Best Supporting Male Performance - James Gandolfini in The Sopranos: Road to Respect (THQ/7 Studios)
Best Performance by a Human (female) - Vida Guerra in Scarface: The World Is Yours (Vivendi/Radical Entertainment)
Best Supporting Female Performance - Rachael Leigh Cook in Kingdom Hearts II (Square Enix)
Best Cast - Family Guy Video Game! (2K Games/High Voltage Software)
Best Song - "Lights and Sounds" by Yellowcard in Burnout Revenge (Electronic Arts/Criterion Games)
Best Soundtrack - Guitar Hero II (Red Octane/Harmonix)
Best Original Score - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks)
Studio of the Year - Cliff Bleszinski / Epic Games (Gears of War)
Best Driving Game Award - Burnout Revenge (Electronic Arts/Criterion Games)
Most Addictive Game - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks)
Best Fighting Game - Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (Midway Games)
Best Shooter - Gears of War (Microsoft/Epic Games)
Best Military Game - Company of Heroes (THQ/Relic)
Best Graphics - Gears of War (Microsoft/Epic Games)
Best Handheld Game - New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo/Nintendo EAD)
Best Multiplayer Game - Gears of War (Microsoft/Epic Games)
Best Breakthrough Technology - Wii (Nintendo)
Best RPG - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks)
Best PC Game - Company of Heroes (THQ/Relic)
Best Wireless Game - SWAT Force (Vivendi/KAOLink)
Critic's Choice (released after 11/15/2006 and before 12/31/2006) - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo/Nintendo EAD)

[edit] Previous Awards
2004 Spike TV Video Game Awards Results
2005 Spike TV Video Game Awards Results

[edit] Parodies
The Video Game Awards were parodied on an episode of MADtv, highlighting the fictional 1st Annual Video Game Awards on June 21, 1977, hosted by Joe Namath (played by Michael McDonald) and Farrah Fawcett (played by Arden Myrin), musical guest The Jackson Five, and award presenter Mark Spitz (played by Ike Barinholtz). Pong and Asteroids were the only video games nominated for all of the awards presented, even though Asteroids wasn't released in the arcade until 1979. The categories shown in the sketch were "Best Graphics in a Video Game" (Asteroids wins), and "Most Realistic Sound in a Video Game" (Pong and Asteroids win in a tie). Bobby Lee accepts an award as a designer of Asteroids. Space Invaders is shown to display the future of video games, although it was released before Asteroids in 1978.[1]

donald faison

2007-12-10T09:03:00.000-08:00

Donald Faison
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Donald Faison
Birth name Donald Adeosun Faison
Born June 22, 1974 (1974-06-22) (age 33)
New York, New York, United States
Occupation Actor
Spouse(s) Lisa Askey (2001-?) (Filed For Divorce) 3 children
Donald Adeosun Faison (born June 22, 1974 in New York City, New York) of Nigerian descent is a television and movie actor, known for his role as Dr. Christopher Turk in the NBC television series Scrubs.

Contents
1 Career
2 Private life
3 Trivia
4 Filmography
4.1 Film
4.2 TV appearances
5 External links

[edit] Career
Faison's acting career began at childhood when he attended the Children's School for special Development in New York.

Before his debut on Scrubs, he became famous for his role as Murray Lawrence Duvall in Clueless, the 1995 movie and the subsequent television series, which ran from 1996 to 1999. In 1995, he appeared in Waiting to Exhale as Tarik, the son of Loretta Devine's character, Gloria. He was also featured in the 1995 movie New Jersey Drive. He had a recurring role as Tracy on Felicity, appeared in Remember the Titans as the ambitious running back Petey, and provided voice work for various characters in the MTV animated series Clone High. He had minor roles in the sitcoms Sister Sister and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and Josie and the Pussycats.

In 2005, Faison produced one episode of MTV's Punk'd involving his Scrubs co-star Zach Braff.

[edit] Private life
Faison has four children: his eldest son with childhood friend Audrey Ince, and three others with Lisa Askey, whom he married in 2001. The couple filed for divorce in 2005. He dated Minka Kelly after his marriage ended. In February 2007, he began dating CaCee Cobb, who was a former personal assistant of Jessica Simpson.

His younger brother is singer Olamide Faison, from the R&B group Imajin.

Zach Braff has stated that Donald Faison is one of his best friends.

[edit] Trivia
Jessica's best friend, Cacee Cobb, couldn't be happier with Jess' decision to date NFL quarterback Tony Romo.

"I think it's great," says Faison, when asked about Jessica and Tony's relationship.

Jessica and Tony's first public makeout session took place at Cacee's 30th birthday party a few weeks ago.

The friendship between the four stars seems to be growing every week, although Donald is trying his best to keep his relationship with Cacee out of the limelight.

"CaCee and I prefer to keep our relationship away from the glitz and cameras," Faison told PEOPLE magazine on Sunday.

Jessica and Tony can try all they want to keep their relationship out of the public eye, but it's not likely to happen.

When something this big happens in Hollywood, people are going to talk.

Once again, Joe Simpson must be thrilled

wpdh

2007-12-10T08:58:00.000-08:00

With the help of WPDH Morning Show personalities Mark Cooper and John Tobin, Dutchess County Sheriff Adrian "Butch" Anderson and Undersheriff Kirk Imperati will give away Thanksgiving turkeys at noon Wednesday at the Sheriff's Office, 150 North Hamilton St., Poughkeepsie.

The turkeys were donated by Anderson, Imperati, and Sam Reichelt and Jack Najarian of the Gun Depot in Pleasant Valley.

Six WPDH callers will be awarded the turkeys, as well as four local families in need of the donation.

"This is a great opportunity to give a little back to the community," Anderson said in a prepared statement.

Imperati said in the same statement, "We really want to thank Sam and Jack, as well as Coop and Tobin for helping make Thanksgiving a little easier this year."

Another turkey giveaway is planned for the Christmas Season.
WPDH
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WPDH
City of license Poughkeepsie, New York
Broadcast area Hudson Valley and Catskills
Frequency 101.5 MHz
First air date 1962
Format Mainstream rock
Power 4,400 watts
ERP 50,000 watts
HAAT 469 meters
Class B
Callsign meaning W Poughkeepsie Dutchess Hudson (River/Valley)
Owner Cumulus Media
Webcast Listen Live
Website www.wpdh.com

WPDH is a mainstream rock radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and serving New York's Hudson Valley and Catskills. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts on 101.5 MHz at 50 kilowatts ERP from a tower site on Illinois Mountain in Highland, New York. Since 1976, the station has had a rock format which has gone through several evolutions.

Though WPDH is one of only four Class B FM stations between New York City and Albany (WSPK, WHUD, and WFGB the three others), WPDH has two satellite stations which bring the signal to other areas.

106.1 WPDA Jeffersonville, New York (has simulcasted WPDH since its 1993 sign-on)
106.3 WFAF Mount Kisco, New York (has simulcasted WPDH since 2004)
Contents
1 History
2 Formatic evolution
3 Weekday airstaff
3.1 Current air staff
3.1.1 Past DJ's (aka the WPDH Airforce)
4 Notable alumni
5 External links

[edit] History
WPDH signed on as WEOK-FM in 1962 as the sister to WEOK and Poughkeepsie's second FM station after WKIP-FM (today's WSPK). The main purpose of the station at the outset was to provide Muzak programming to area offices and businesses via its subcarrier; as a result the on-air programming was limited to simulcasts of the AM's middle of the road format and block programming between the AM's signoff and 10:00 p.m.

In 1972, WEOK AM and FM were sold to the Dyson family (also owners of Dyson Racing) and with the sale came key changes to the FM side. The station moved from a site in Milton (now used by WVKR) to the current Illinois Mountain site, upgrading to a full Class B and adding stereo capabilities in the process, and at the end of these upgrades relaunched as country music formatted WPDH. At the time, this format was largely unproven and given the newness of FM at the time struggled to the point of being beaten by New York City signal WHN after that station flipped to country. At this time, the hole for an album-oriented rock (AOR) station in the Hudson Valley (where WPLJ and WNEW-FM were had multiples of WPDH's ratings with marginal signals) was seen and in 1976 WPDH abandoned country for rock which lasts to this day.

WPDH is know for their charity work, including the "famous" Roof-A-Thon, DJ's set up on the top of 7-11 in Wappingers for the weekend where they held a tell-a-thon to raise money for local charities. The "Road Warriers" stand out on Rt 9 and collect any donations that passerbys give.

[edit] Formatic evolution
In its three decades in rock radio, there have been several variations of WPDH's format. At the outset, it was a typical AOR for the period with a slight lean towards Top 40 and the occasional jazz track though as that format evolved the station tightened its focus. The splintering of rock in the 1980s and early 1990s had varying effects on WPDH, they were quick to integrate heavy metal into the playlist in moderation but were less open to early alternative rock. Nevertheless, the station remained successful and by the 1990s was alternating the #1 spot in the market with WSPK though the station's reluctance to incorporate much alternative into the playlist had an effect on its future.

In 1994, WPDH owners Crystal Radio Group (the Dyson family spinoff headed by now-family head Rob Dyson) purchased Middletown-based WKOJ and WALL from Orange & Rockland Utilities. With this purchase came an opportunity to both solve the new rock dilemma and to strengthen WPDH by taking out its only direct competition. WPDH spent the latter part of 1994 and early 1995 evolving to Classic rock while WKOJ flipped to alternative WRRV in April 1995.

WPDH's ratings went through some instability in the early years as classic rock, however being with no competition they became the regular #2 to WSPK's #1 by the turn of the 21st Century. It was at this time, amid consolidation, in which Rob Dyson sold the Crystal Radio Group to Aurora Communications in 2001 which, in turn was bought out by Cumulus Media in 2002. Amid an extended drop in ratings, WPDH was relaunched as a mainstream rock station over Labor Day Weekend in 2003 and has stabilized at the top of the ratings in both Dutchess and Orange counties.

ice storm

2007-12-10T08:49:00.000-08:00

Ice Storm Results in 11 Traffic Deaths
By KEN MILLER � 1 hour ago

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ― Commuters contended with treacherous roads Monday from the southern Plains to the Northeast as a storm spread a coating of ice and freezing rain linked to at least 11 deaths.

Thousands of people had no electricity and airline flights were canceled Monday in Oklahoma. During the weekend, hundreds of flights had been grounded because of the weather.

Ice storm warnings, freezing rain advisories, winter storm watches and winter weather advisories extended along a cold front from Texas to New Hampshire. The wintry weather was expected to continue through midweek.

Oklahoma was especially hard hit, with a quarter-million customers blacked out Monday morning and schools closed across the state. The Highway Patrol discouraged travel for the whole state.

Ice accumulations already a half-inch thick were reported Sunday in parts of Oklahoma and could build up to as much as an inch thick in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, the weather service said.

Most morning flights were canceled at Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport, where two of the three runways were iced over.

Oklahoma utilities said about 300,000 homes and businesses were blacked out Monday, mostly in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas.

There was no way to estimate when power might be restored, said Oklahoma Gas & Electric spokesman Gil Broyles. "It's a changing situation, almost minute by minute," he said.

The Oklahoma City suburb of Jones, a town of 2,500 people, had very low water pressure because there was no electricity to run well pumps, and firefighters said an early morning fire destroyed most of the local high school.

Blackouts affecting thousands of customers also were reported Sunday in parts of Missouri, Illinois and Kansas.

In the Northeast on Monday, many schools across upstate New York were closed or started late because of icy roads. Last Monday, a mixture of snow, rain and sleet closed schools across a large area of upstate New York state.

On ice-covered Interstate 40 west of Okemah, Okla., four people died in "one huge cluster of an accident" that involved 11 vehicles, including a tractor-trailer rig, said Highway Patrol Trooper Betsey Randolph. All 11 vehicles burned, she said.

Seven other people also died on icy Oklahoma roads.

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency Sunday and activated the National Guard to aid communities affected by the storm.

In Chicago, poor weather and low visibility forced the cancellation of more than 400 flights Sunday at O'Hare International Airport, authorities said. About two dozen flights were canceled at Kansas City International Airport, and 13 were canceled at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis.

A section of Interstate 70 in Missouri's Montgomery County was closed Sunday when a large power line fell across the highway. A nursing home in the county was without power, and its generator didn't work.

Associated Press writers Jeff Latzke in Oklahoma City and Cheryl Wittenauer in St. Louis contributed to this report.

The Ice Storm
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For other uses, see Ice storm (disambiguation).
The Ice Storm
First edition cover
Author Rick Moody
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Family, Drama, Tragicomedy
Publisher Little Brown & Co
Publication date 1994
Media type Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages 279 pp
ISBN ISBN 0316579211
The Ice Storm is a 1994 American novel by Rick Moody. The novel received large amounts of acclaim by readers and critics alike, widely hailed as a funny, acerbic, and moving hymn to a dazed and confused era of American life.[1]

In 1997, the novel was adapted into an acclaimed a feature film directed by Ang Lee, featuring a cast including Joan Allen, Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood and Tobey Maguire.

Contents
1 Plot summary
2 Characters
3 Themes and analysis
4 Critical reception
5 Film adaptation
6 References

[edit] Plot summary
The novel is set before, during and after Thanksgiving, leading up to a threatening ice storm and centers two neighboring families, the Hoods and the Williamses, and the difficulties they have dealing with the tumultuous political and social climate of the day, in affluent small town America, in 1973. The novel is narrated from four different perspectives, each of them a member of the two families, who are promoting their own opinion and views of the several complications that arise throughout the novel, including their encounters and daily life. The Hood family is overridden with lies: Ben is currently in an affair with his married neighbor Janey, his wife Elena shoplifts, her daughter ventures on her own sexual liaisons with both females and males of her age, including her neighbors Mikey and Sandy.

The Hoods are Ben, Elena, Paul and Wendy and the Williamses are Jim, Janey, Mikey, and Sandy. The story focuses on a brief period of time when a major ice storm hits their town of New Canaan, Connecticut, just as both families are melting down from the parents' alcoholism, escapism and adultery, and their children's drug use and sexual experimentation.

[edit] Characters
Ben Hood
Elena Hood
Paul Hood
Wendy Hood
Janey Williams
Jim Williams
Mickey Williams
Sandy Williams

[edit] Themes and analysis
The novel's central themes are the loss of innocence and moral compass in middle-upper class Americans, and the 1970s era. It also deals with several underlying themes, including the Watergate scandal and suburban secrets, such as sexual experimentation by youths, and the same thing being done by the adults who are failing to be role models for their children, as well as their absence from their children's lives, which causes the most significant problems in the novel. The novel is also set during the time of the sexual revolution, which is obviously a central part since a recurring theme is sexuality. The rapidly changing sexual era are reflected in the lives of both families, who, as the revolution approached, have experimented with new, taboo sexual acts, such as incest and adultery.[1]

[edit] Critical reception
The Ice Storm was largely commended for its audacity and the many daring subjects explored in the novel.[citation needed] Critic Adam Begley of the Chicago Tribune called the novel: "A bitter and loving and damning tribute to the American family.... This is a good book, packed with keen observation and sympathy for human failure"[citation needed] while The Guardian called it "one of the wittiest books about family life ever written."[citation needed] Amanda Heller of The Boston Globe stated "Moody brings this profusion of metaphor to order with a fierce, subversive intelligence. His characters, drawn with a manic acuity that isn't fully accounted for until the end, stay with us long after we've finished reading."[citation needed]

The novel was a moderate success commercially; however its sales were boosted in 1997 with the release of the film adaptation.[citation needed]

[edit] Film adaptation
The film adaptation of The Ice Storm featured a cast including Sigourney Weaver, Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Christina Ricci, Tobey Maguire and Elijah Wood. The film was a success d'esteem as an art house film and critically acclaimed despite a poor box office, however it gained a modest reception on subsequent home video releases.[citation needed] While remaining more or less faithful to the book, some details were changed. Most notably, Weaver and Jamey Sheridan's characters were named Janey and Jim Carver, while in Moody's book, their name was Williams.

ktvi

2007-12-10T08:42:00.000-08:00

KMOV Channel 4 and KSDK Channel 5 each claimed multiple ratings period titles during the November sweeps month, according to Nielsen Media Research.

KMOV took the top 10 p.m. newscast slot with a 14.3 rating compared to KSDK's rating of 13.0 and KTVI Channel 2's 4.3 rating. KTVI premiered its 10 p.m. newscast in September.

At noon, KMOV was also the No. 1 newscast in St. Louis. Its half-hour newscast drew a 6.7 rating. KSDK's full-hour noon to 1 p.m. newscast had a 6.6 rating. KTVI does not have a noon newscast. Its 11 a.m. to noon newscast drew a 3.3 rating.

KSDK was No. 1 in St. Louis for both the 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts. The station pulled in a 12.7 rating for its 5 p.m. newscast beating KMOV's 9.2 and KTVI's hour-long newscast rating of 6.4.

At 6 p.m., KSDK had a rating of 13.2 compared to KMOV's 8.7 and KTVI's 4.6.

KTVI's hour-long 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. newscast drew an 8.8 rating. The other local news competition during that period is CW 11, which had a 3.6 rating for its 9 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. newscast.

Regarding the morning newscasts, from 5 a.m. to 5:30 a.m., KSDK pulled in a 4.1 rating with KTVI's 2.3 rating in second. From 5:30 a.m. to 6 a.m., KSDK recorded a 4.7 rating compared to KTVI's 3.5. KMOV's hour-long broadcast from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. drew a 1.8 rating.

KSDK, KTVI and KMOV each have an hour-long newscast from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. During that period, KSDK was again No. 1 with a 7.5 rating followed by KTVI's 5.1 and KMOV's 3.8.

Each rating point represents 1 percent of viewers in the surveyed area. Ratings information from last year was not immediately available.

KTVI
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
KTVI

St. Louis, Missouri
Branding FOX 2
Slogan Coverage You Can Count On
St. Louis' Newsroom
The Most Powerful Name In Local News
Channels Analog: 2 (VHF)
Digital: 43 (HDTV, UHF)
Affiliations Fox (since 1995)
Owner Fox Television Stations
Founded August 13, 1953
Call letters meaning K
Tele-
Vision
Illinois
(station originally licensed to Belleville, Illinois)
Former callsigns WTVI (1953-55)
Former channel number(s) 54 (1953-1955)
36 (1955-1957)
Former affiliations CBS (1953-54)
ABC (1955-95)
DuMont(secondary, 1953-56)
ABC (secondary, 1953-55)
Website www.myfoxstl.com

KTVI is the Fox owned and operated station in St. Louis, Missouri. Its transmitter is located in Sappington, Missouri; in a field behind Lindbergh High School. Its studios are located off Interstate 64/U.S. 40 at the intersection of Berthold, Oakland, and Hampton Avenues in the Clayton-Tamm/Dogtown neighborhood of western St. Louis.

KTVI runs about 40 hours a week of locally produced newscasts, as well as first-run prime time and sports programming from Fox. It also runs off-network sitcoms, talk shows, reality shows, sports, and court shows.

KTVI broadcasts in stereo and broadcasts a Secondary Audio Program (SAP) channel, used mainly for Descriptive Video Service (DVS). KTVI airs also about 46 hours of local news per week.

Contents
1 History
2 News Operations
2.1 News Sets/Graphics Packages
2.2 News/Station Presentation
2.2.1 Newscast Titles
2.2.2 Station Slogans
2.3 Personalities
2.3.1 Current On-Air Talent
2.3.2 Former On-Air Talent
3 External links

[edit] History
KTVI began on August 13, 1953 as WTVI, channel 54 in Belleville, Illinois; a suburb of St. Louis. It was the St. Louis area's second television station. It was the original CBS affiliate for St. Louis, with a secondary ABC affiliation. Studios were located in Alton.

When KWK-TV (later KMOX-TV and now KMOV) signed on and took the CBS affiliation, WTVI dropped CBS and became a ABC affiliate. It moved its studios and license across the Mississippi River to St. Louis on April 9, 1955 changing its calls to KTVI. It also moved to channel 36. DuMont went off the air in 1956, making KTVI an exclusive ABC affiliate. KTVI moved to channel 2 on April 15, 1957; where it remains to this day. The station had actually tried to move to channel 2 soon after moving across the Mississippi; the channel 2 allocation had been moved from Springfield, Illinois under pressure from the White House.

The WTVI calls currently reside on the PBS member station in Charlotte.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Times Mirror owned the station. As part of a group deal, KTVI was sold to Argyle Broadcasting in 1993. In 1994, the Fox network took over the contract from CBS to carry the NFC game package. This inspired a conglomerate called New World Communications to reach an affiliation agreement with the network by switching all of its stations to Fox in the winter of 1994. Then New World bought out Argyle, and cut another deal to switch KTVI and sister stations KDFW in Dallas, and KTBC in Austin in the summer of 1995.

The new owners moved Fox programming to KTVI on August 7, 1995, allowing the former Fox affiliate, KDNL channel 30, to become St. Louis' ABC affiliate. New World merged with Fox Television Stations Group in 1996, and KTVI was the first major network O&O in St. Louis since KMOX-TV was sold by CBS to Viacom, and became KMOV in 1986. It stayed that way until 2003 when KPLR was sold to Tribune, a former stakeholder in The WB network. When that network merged into The CW (which Tribune did not hold stake in) in 2006, KTVI went back to being the only network-owned station in town.

KTVI didn't pick up Fox Kids at first, so it moved to KNLC. However, in the fall of 1996, due to Reverend Larry Rice's refusal to air commercials on Fox Kids (replacing them with ministry messages), Fox pulled Fox Kids from KNLC and moved it to KTVI. KTVI was the only New World station to take Fox Kids. Shortly thereafter, KTVI and the New World Fox affiliates were sold to Fox' parent, News Corporation, becoming Fox O&Os. However, the New World name still survives as a holding company under Fox' corporate structure, as evidenced by the fact that KTVI's licensee is officially "New World Communications of St. Louis." Programming changed very slightly as Fox began buying more expensive syndicated shows for KTVI.

In the fall of 1998, KTVI reduced the weekday Fox Kids programs to just two hours (from three) and, in 2000, dropped weekday Fox Kids completely while Saturday mornings were continued. At the end of 2001, Fox Kids weekdays ended nationwide, and the weekends were revamped as 4Kids TV. KTVI now airs Fox's entire schedule including 4Kids TV; as of Fall 2006 it airs 2 hours earlier than most affiliates now to accommodate an expanded newscast lineup on Saturday mornings.

KTVI's introduced its current logo on April 10, 2006. The station is the fourth to use this logo style (which is similar to that of the Fox News Channel), which is gradually being adopted by the other Fox O&Os.

[edit] News Operations
For most of the time since joining Fox, KTVI has led the 9 p.m. news ratings race against KPLR-TV. KTVI is able to emphasize a broad array of stories from major national and local reports to small-town local stories/investigations because of the many extra hours of news (7.5 hours per day as opposed to 5 on KSDK and KMOV) that need to be filled. Also because of this, the station features more regular segments such as The Jaco Report, a segment where noted reporter Charles Jaco gives either an editorial or introduces an investigative piece, or You Paid For It, where Elliot Davis finds tax abuse in local governments and closes the segment by giving the phone number of the mayor's office in that municipality, signing off with the locally famous line "Call and speak your mind: after all, you paid for it." KTVI devotes a larger segment of its sports coverage to local high-school sports (once joining with the Post-Dispatch to air the "Prep Sports Show" on Saturdays, now cancelled) and is the home of Scott Linehan's weekly St. Louis Rams review show on Mondays. The station's morning news program is 4 hours, 5:00am - 9:00am and another hour from 11:00am-12:00. Since 1998, Fox 2 News In The Morning has been the fastest growing newscast in St. Louis morning Television.[citation needed]

Before Dick Ford retired in December 2005, all four of KTVI's main male anchors (Dick Ford, Tom O'Neal, Dan Gray and John Pertzborn) were once anchors at KSDK.

[edit] News Sets/Graphics Packages
On March 31, 2006, KTVI used their set, originally constructed in 1998, for the last time; at 10:00 p.m. crews began tearing down the set and weather center. Fox 2 broadcast from the newsroom and a temporary set while a new set and weather center were under construction in the old studio. The old news desk was donated to Southern Illinois University Carbondale and the old weather center was donated to the University of Missouri�St. Louis. The new set, along with new graphics, music, and a new logo, debuted for FOX2 News at 9 on Monday, April 10, 2006.

The theme music that KTVI uses is OSI Music's FOX O&O News Theme. This theme is being used by other FOX O&O stations that have made identical modifications to their identity.

With the new set, music, and graphics that first aired in April 2006, the weather graphics were altered in September 2006 with a new background, and other features to better fit the MyFox theme.

Northern Illinois University

2007-12-10T08:38:00.000-08:00

NIU on high-alert after threats

December 10, 2007
FROM STNG WIRE REPORTS
Northern Illinois University will be closed Monday, partially because of threatening graffiti discovered Saturday.

The university will be closed Monday because of "icy streets and sidewalks and poor travel conditions, coupled with concerns and questions related to the … campus alert," according to NIU's Web site, which said Monday's finals have been rescheduled for Friday.

RELATED STORIES
• NIU: Campus alert updates
Late Saturday, an unknown person posted bathroom graffiti in the Grant Towers D complex residence hall that included a racial slur and a reference to the Virginia Tech shootings that killed 33 students in April, according to an alert released by the university.

The black ink on the stall read, "Tell those n---ers to go home," and "ME/OUT…Die Sem Burr 10th … Hmz Sdn Cr," which officials believe refers to "December 10" and "Holmes Student Center," the alert said. Letters underlined in the first entry spell out "WATCH."

Another set of comments scrawled beneath the first entry reads, "What time? The VA tech shooters messed up w/ having only one shooter…"

University officials notified all students, facility and staff about the threat via email, through their website and are working on distributing fliers throughout the campus.

Security school-wide has been increased and NIU has called upon local law enforcement to assist them in making sure the campus stays safe.

"We are aware of the threat and will assist NIU," a DeKalb police dispatcher said. Police from other communities surrounding the university will be assisting as well, he said.

Throughout the week the university will offer assistance for concerned students. Officials called for a meeting of residence hall advisors Sunday to keep them informed and make sure they can help dorm students frightened of the threats, according to a NIU student.

"My primary concern is for the safety of all members of our campus community and to that end, we err on the side of caution in all our actions," NIU President John Peters said in a statement. "We will not tolerate threats against individuals or groups nor will we tolerate 'hate speech' of any type on this campus."

A NIU student said Sunday he thinks the school being forthright with information and hopes the threats are unfounded.

The alert stated that the school community should remain "calm and vigilant" and anyone with information about the threats should call the NIU Tipline at (815) 753-TIPS or local police.

Northern Illinois University in DeKalb has been closed on Monday, following a threat written on a bathroom wall, which includes a racial slur and reference to the Virginia Tech shooting.

"Tell those n---ers to go home," and "ME/OUT…Die Sem Burr 10th … Hmz Sdn Cr," read the black ink on the wall, which officials believe refers to "December 10" and "Holmes Student Center" the alert said. The whole note had as headline the word "WATCH."

"What time? The VA tech shooters messed up w/ having only one shooter…" was written beneath the first entry, making reference to the April 16 Virginia Tech massacres, where a gunman killed 32 students before killing himself.

All the students, facility and staff were announced about the threat via email, through the university's website, university officials said. They already are working on distributing fliers throughout the campus.

"Only essential service personnel should report to work on Monday," the statement of the university said. Exams scheduled for Monday will be held on Friday.

The authorities increased the number of police officers assuring the security of the university to make sure that the campus stays safe. Moreover, police from other communities surrounding the university will be present as well.

"My primary concern is for the safety of all members of our campus community and to that end, we err on the side of caution in all our actions. We will not tolerate threats against individuals or groups nor will we tolerate 'hate speech' of any type on this campus," NIU President John Peters said in a statement.

The alert also said that members of the community should remain "calm and vigilant" and asked anyone who could provide information about the threats to call the NIU Tipline at (815) 753-TIPS or local police.

ktts

2007-12-10T08:32:00.001-08:00

one of the best Christmas traditions at the Hall! Each year, on a Saturday night in mid-December, an audience of all ages returns to hear America's favorite cowboy singer, with his Christmas show that celebrates the holidays in a heartwarming, old-fashioned style. Michael Martin Murphey and his band recall celebrations from days gone by – with rollicking old-time dance music, traditional Christmas carols, cowboy poetry, stories, and a message of Christmas cheer. There's dancing by the performers onstage, and the audience down front – and Michael's hits like "Long Line of Love" and "Wildfire". The whole family – kids, parents, grandmas and grandpas – will enjoy the show. Underwritten by: Clarion Hotel • Southwest Community Bank Media underwriters: Country's Best 94.7 KTTS and News Talk KSGF 104.1 FM and 1260 AM • OnMedia, a Mediacom Communications Company KTTS - KDE Text-to-Speech System
[ What is KTTS? | How does it work? | Why? Who needs it? | Requirements | Where can I get it? | What documentation is available? | Too late to get into the Handbook | How can I contribute to KTTS? ]
What is KTTS?
KTTS -- KDE Text-to-Speech -- is a subsystem within the KDE desktop for conversion of text to audible speech. KTTS is currently under development and aims to become the standard subsystem for all KDE applications to provide speech output.

How does it work?
Applications send text they wish spoken to KTTSD via DCOP. For example, in a terminal window, you can type the following commands to start KTTSD and speak "Hello World".

# Start KTTSD (if not already running)
kttsd
# Send "Hello World" to KTTSD for speaking in English.
dcop kttsd KSpeech setText "Hello World" "en"
# Speak the text.
dcop kttsd KSpeech startText 0

For a complete description of these and other commands, see the KDE Text-to-Speech API.

KTTSD takes care of queuing the speech job and sending the text to the speech synthesis engine. KTTSD is not a speech synthesis engine itself. You must install one of the compatible speech engines listed below. KTTSD is designed with a plugin architecture that makes it easy to write new plugins for other speech engines.

Why? Who needs it?
KTTS provides a common interface for all KDE applications to use for speaking. Programmers need not concern themselves with the details of the particular speech synthesis engine(s) used.

User Features
Speak any text from the KDE clipboard.
Speak any plain text file.
Speak all or any portion of a text file from Kate, including instances where Kate is embedded in another KDE application.
Speak all or any portion of an HTML page from Konqueror.
Use as the speech backend for KMouth and KSayIt.
Speak KDE notifications (KNotify).
Long text is parsed into sentences. User may backup by sentence or paragraph, replay, pause, and stop playing.
Audio output via aRts, GStreamer (version 0.8.7 or later), or aKode.
User-configurable filters for substituting misspoken words, choosing speech synthesizers, and transforming XHMTL/XML documents.
Programmer Features
Priority system for screen reader outputs, warnings and messages, while still playing regular texts.
Plugin-based architecture for support of a wide variety of speech synthesis engines and drivers.
Permit generation of speech from the command line (or via shell scripts) using the KDE DCOP utilities.
Provide a lightweight and easily usable interface for applications to generate speech output.
Applications need not be concerned about contention over the speech device.
FUTURE: Provide support for speech markup languages, such as VoiceXML, Sable, Java Speech Markup Language (JSML), and Speech Markup Meta-language (SMML).
FUTURE: Provide limited support for embedded speech markers.
Asynchronous to prevent system blocking.
It is hoped that more programmers will begin adding speech capabilities to their KDE programs using KTTS. Eventually, when Qt 4 is distributed, it is hoped that Screen Readers will be adapted to use KTTS.

KTTS actually consists of several programs:

KTTSD
The KDE Text-to-Speech Deamon, a non-gui application that runs in the background, providing TTS support to KDE applications. Applications initiate TTS by making DCOP calls to kttsd.

KTTSMGR
An application for configuring the KTTS System and for managing in-progress speech jobs. kttsmgr provides an icon in the system tray for performing these functions as needed.

kttsjobmgr
A KPart for managing in-progress speech jobs.

kcmkttsd
A KControl module for configuring the KTTS System. kcmkttsd runs in the KDE Control Center or start it with the command "kcmshell kcmkttsd".

ktexteditor_kttsd
A plugin for the KDE Advanced Text Editor that permits you to speak an entire text file or any portion of a file.

libkhtmlkttsdplugin
A plugin for Konqueror that permits you to speak all or any portion of an HTML web page.

Requirements
KDE 3.2 or greater and one of the following speech synthesis engines:

Synthesizer Languages Supported Information
Festival American English, British, Spanish, German, Finnish, Czech, Polish, Russian, Italian, French Canadian, Vietnamese, Kiswahili, Zulu, and Ibibio Festival v1.43 or 1.95beta can be obtained from http://www.cstr.ed.ac.uk/projects/festival/. Festival is distributed with most Linux distros. Check your distro CDs.
Debian users: apt-get install festival festival-voice
Festival Lite (flite) English http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/flite/index.html

Debian users: apt-get install flite
Hadifix (MBROLA and txt2pho) German, Hungarian mbrola can be obtained at http://festvox.org/mbrola/. txt2pho can be obtained at http://www.ikp.uni-bonn.de/dt/forsch/phonetik/hadifix/HADIFIXforMBROLA.html

Epos Czech, Slovak Download epos from http://epos.ure.cas.cz/

Debian users: apt-get install epos
FreeTTS English Also requires JAVA

KTTS can also use any engine that can be run from a command line.

For additional instructions on downloading and configuring these engines for use in KTTS, see Appendix A of the KTTS Handbook.

You will also need at least one of these audio subsystems:

aRts. The KDE sound system, which is distributed with KDE.
ALSA. Advanced Linux Sound Architecture is included with most recent Linux kernels ( http://www.alsa-project.org ).
GStreamer version 0.8.7 or greater ( http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org ).
aKode. The aKode decoder library is usually distributed with KDE.
Where can I get it?
Version 0.3.5 of KTTS was released concurrently with KDE 3.5. Therefore, the most straight-forward way to obtain KTTS is to install KDE 3.5.x including the kdeaccessibility package. See http://www.kde.org for instructions. It contains the following enhancements:

Better KNotify event support
"Rich Speak" conversion of XHTML to SSML
Support for ALSA and aKode audio output and allow build --without-arts
Option to autostart KTTSMgr whenever speaking
Add support for Russian, Hungarian, Kiswahili, Zulu, and Ibibio languages
Add support for Cepstral commercial voices via Festival
Version 0.3.0 of KTTS was released concurrently with KDE 3.4. Therefore, the most straight-forward way to obtain the older version of KTTS is to install KDE 3.4.x, including the kdeaccessibility package.

KTTS is part of the kdeaccessibility module. You can download the sourcecode for version 0.3.5 using Subversion. See Retrieving the source for instructions. Important note: Obtain version 0.3.5 from /branches/KDE/3.5/kdeaccessibility. Do not download /trunk/KDE/kdeaccessibility as this version is currently being converted to Qt4/KDE4 and is very unstable.

Note that you will need the kdelibs developmental files in order compile KTTS. You should be able to successfully build KTTS against KDE 3.2 or greater developmental files.

Once you have the kdeaccessibility module downloaded, you would build KTTS with the following commands.

cd kdeaccessibility
echo kttsd>inst-apps
make -f Makefile.cvs
./configure --enable-debug=full --with-akode=check --with-gstreamer=check
cd kdeaccessibility/kttsd
make
make install

As a temporary service to the community, we are making the following SuSE RPMs available for the latest Festival speech engine. Once RPMs are more widely available, these will be removed from ftp.kde.org. Maintained by Jorge Luis Arzola (arzolacub at gmail dot com). These packages work with SuSE 9.2 or SuSE 9.1. They might work with SuSE 9.0, but that has not been tested.

festival-1.95beta-2.i586.rpm 7.4 MB Festival Speech Engine plus American Male voice (kal).
festival-1.95beta-2.nosrc.rpm 8.1 MB Festival Speech Engine source code plus American Male voice (kal). (see note below)

md5sum files for the RPMs are also on the ftp site. For additional voices and latest information, see the Festival website.

What documentation is available?
KTTS Handbook.
KDE Text-to-Speech API. This is the programmer's API for generating speech from a KDE application using KTTS.
KTTS README
Too late to get into the Handbook
New Festival Vietnamese Voices
Two diphone Vietnamese voices for the Festival Interactive plugin are available at

http://sourceforge.net/projects/vietnamesevoice

To use these voices, choose Other language when adding a Talker. Choose Vietnamese as the language and Festival Interactive as the plugin. In the Talker Configuration dialog, enter the following settings:

Voice code: wow_vi_ptn_diphone or wow_vi_liz_diphone
Character Encoding: UTF-8

The volume and speed may be adjusted, but not pitch.

The Festival Interactive plugin will recognize these voices if you add the following lines to file $KDEDIR/share/apps/kttsd/festivalint/voices

jerboa

2007-12-10T08:15:00.000-08:00

A bizarre creature dubbed the Mickey Mouse of the desert has been filmed in its natural habitat for the first time as part of a project to save it from extinction.

Giant ears and kangaroo legs lend the long-eared jerboa a comic quality and conservationists are anxious to save it from a tragic end.

A scientific expedition to the Gobi desert in Mongolia has now succeeded in capturing video footage of the nocturnal and little-known animal.

Related Links
Looks won't save them
Dune roaming
Multimedia
Video: Mickey Mouse of the desert
"The long-eared jerboa is a bit like the Mickey Mouse of the desert, cute and comic in equal measure," said Dr Jonathon Baille of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).

"It's an extraordinary animal that looks as if it's been designed by committee - kangaroo legs, snowshoe feet, huge ears and a pig's nose.

"It represents millions of years of evolutionary history and while it looks like a small rodent it's very, very distinct. There's no other animal of its type."

It lives in the deserts of Mongolia and China where it is thought to use its enormous ears to pinpoint and catch insects in the dark. The ears are so big that they are about 35 per cent longer than its head.

Specially adapted hairs on their elongated feet make the jerboas even more unusual and appear to help spread the animal's weight to allow it to hop confidently over shifting sands just as snowshoes make it easier to walk on snow.

Long-eared jerboas are described as "mouse-sized kangaroos" because of the way they jump on two legs instead of scampering on four.

The stretch feet enable it to leap upwards and other jerboa species have been found to be able to leap more than three feet into the air.

Jumping and hopping are assumed to have evolved as a technique to evade predators, which can include wildcats, lynx, grey wolves and Pallas's Cat.

It was identified earlier this year by the ZSL as one of the 100 most evolutionarily distinct and endangered mammals in the world.

Being one of the least understood creatures scientists selected it as one of their ten priority species for conservation under the Edge (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered) project.

As part of conservation effort to learn more about the long-eared jerboa, Euchoreutes naso, and highlight its plight zoologists were keen to get the first video footage of the endangered animal in the wild.

During a recent ZSL expedition to the Gobi desert in Mongolia to study the species and learn more of its needs and habits, scientists managed to capture it on film.

Dr Baillie, who led the expedition, added: "They can be quite agressive little creatures. They have a good bite and for their size can defend themselves well. We wore thick gloves when handling them."

As part of efforts to safeguard the creature's longterm future ZSL and Mongolian academics have begun a programme
Jerboa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Jerboa
Fossil range: Middle Miocene - Recent

Jaculus jaculus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Rodentia

Superfamily: Dipodoidea

Family: Dipodidae
Fischer de Waldheim, 1817

Genera
10 genera in 5 subfamilies

Jerboas are the members of the family Dipodidae; they are small jumping desert rodents of Asia and northern Africa that resemble mice with a long tufted tail and very long hind legs. The small forelegs are not used for locomotion. In general, Asiatic jerboas have five toes on their hind feet and African jerboas have three; the shapes of their ears vary widely between species. Jerboa fur is long, soft and silky. Diet varies considerably: some are specialist seed, insect, or plant eaters, others are omnivores.

The English word jerboa may have been derived from the similar sounding Arabic word jerbu'a (جربوع) or the Hebrew word yarboa (יַרְבּוֹעַ) which denote this animal.

The ancestors of the modern jerboas probably separated from the more generalised rodents about 8 million years ago on the arid plains of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, and then spread to Europe and northern Africa. With the exception of Europe, where they died out, this remains their current range.

Their ability to hop is presumed to be an adaptation to help them escape from predators, and perhaps to assist with the longer journeys a desert-living animal must make to find food. Although jerboas are not closely related to the hopping mice of Australia or the kangaroo rats of North America, all three groups have evolved a similar set of adaptations to life in the deep desert.

Jerboas are nocturnal. During the heat of the day, they shelter in burrows. They create four separate types of burrow: two temporary, and two permanent. The temporary burrows are plain tubes: those used to escape from predators during the night are just 10 to 20 cm deep, unsealed and not camouflaged; the permanent daytime burrows are well-hidden and sealed with a plug of sand to keep heat out and moisture in, and are 20 to 50 cm long.

Permanent burrows are also sealed and camouflaged, and often have multiple entrances. They are much more elaborate structures with a nesting chamber. The winter burrows have food storage chambers 40 to 70 cm below ground level, and a hibernation chamber an astonishing 1.5 to 2.5 metres down.

Perhaps the best-known species is the Lesser Egyptian Jerboa (Jaculus jaculus) which occupies some of the most hostile deserts on the planet. It does not drink at all, relying on its food to provide enough moisture for survival. Found in both the sandy and stony deserts of north Africa, Arabia and Iran, this small creature estivates (a form of hibernation) during the hottest summer months, and has the ability to leap a full metre to escape a predator.

Two species are considered threatened: the Five-toed Pygmy Jerboa and the Thick-tailed Pygmy Jerboa, which are both classified as vulnerable (VU). Many other species have been placed in a "lower risk" category, and one species (Thomas's Pygmy Jerboa) lacks the data for assessment.

[edit] Classification

seth warner

2007-12-10T08:09:00.000-08:00

Blackanthem Military News

Rebecca Wingfield, a project engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, counts Robert E. Lee as her great, great, great uncle. "I think it's three greats," she said, noting proudly that Lee was an engineer officer.
TALLIL, Iraq - Maybe you have to come to a military base in southern Iraq to find three people in such close proximity who are related to different famous people from the annals of American history.

Lee is perhaps the most celebrated general in American history, all the more remarkable because his generalship was exercised on behalf of the Confederate States of America against the United States of America. Called by Theodore Roosevelt "the very greatest of all the great captains that the English-speaking people have brought forth," Lee first achieved prominence as an engineer officer in the Mexican-American War. He went on to become superintendent of West Point, from which he graduated without a single demerit.

Wingfield noted that Lee was offered command of the U.S. Army but turned down the offer and resigned his commission to offer his services to his native Virginia. "It wasn't about slavery for him," said Wingfield. "It was about states' rights." Indeed, Lee never owned slaves and freed those from his late-father-in-law's estate before Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. The book "April 1865: The Month That Saved America" by Jay Winik credits Lee with preventing a protracted guerrilla war after defeat of standing Confederate armies by adopting a stance of reconciliation.

Wingfield also is related to another Confederate general, Sterling Price, who led the remnants of his last Civil War command to Mexico rather than surrender. He served as a member of the House of Representatives and as governor of Missouri before the Civil War.

Warner's famous forbearer, Seth Warner, was a cousin of Ethan Allen, the founder of the Green Mountain Boys.

The group was created to fend off New York encroachment on Vermont and acted as Vermont militia before the Revolutionary War. Warner headed the Green Mountain Boys during the Revolution and served with distinction in several notable battles.

Lt. Col Warner's first name, Doran, by the way, was picked by his mother from an article about a pilot of that name who flew Dwight Eisenhower when he was president and had a heart attack and passed away in the early years of Eisenhower's presidency.

Capt. Delucchi's family tree includes both Burr and Henry. Burr was the third vice president of the United States. He also was the man who mortally wounded Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, in one of the nation's most famous duels. Henry was the renowned Virginia patriot who declared, "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death."

When asked about the famous members of his family, Capt. Delucchi commented: "It really doesn't matter how many important figures are in our families, and it really doesn't matter where our families come from. What matters most is the dream they fought, and sometimes died, to defend, and the hope in the preservation of those ideals for all who follow."

Note: John Connor is a Public Affairs Officer with the Gulf Region South district, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, IraqSeth Warner
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This article is not about the mathematician Seth Warner, author of several textbooks, in particular about topological rings.
The Bennington Battle Monument with the statue of Seth Warner in frontSeth Warner (May 17, 1743 - December 26, 1784) was born in Roxbury, Connecticut. In 1763, he removed with his father to Bennington in what was then the 'New Hampshire Grants'. He established there as a huntsman.

Warner proved his qualities to the local community, and was elected Captain of the Green Mountain Boys, the local militia formed to resist New York authority over Vermont. With his cousin and the militia's founder, Ethan Allen, he was outlawed, but never captured.

During the Revolutionary War, he fought on the side of the Continental Army, though later in the war as a foreign unit under the Republic of Vermont, and was granted a commission as a colonel. He made a mark in such engagements as the Battle of Crown Point, the Montreal campaign, the Battle of Hubbardton and-�most famously-�the Battle of Bennington. Then, in 1782, with his health failing, he returned to Roxbury. Warner was never skilled in financial matters, and failed to make money on land speculation like so many others in the new territories. At the end of his life, his wife Hester had to apply to Congress for charity. After a long delay a grant of 2,000 acres (8 km2) in the northeast of the state was made, the so-called Warner's Grant. The grant, however, came too late; Warner had already been dead for four years. A further honor came with the Bennington Battle Monument in Bennington, Vermont, which includes a sculpture of Warner on its grounds.

Warner's great-grandnephew Olin Levi Warner, was a well-known sculptor.

Categories: 1743 births | 1784 deaths | Continental Army officers | Vermont colonial people | People of Vermont in the American Revolution | People from Vermont | Bennington, Vermont

sidekick 3

2007-12-10T08:04:00.000-08:00

We're in the midst of the holiday season, which means that conversations have turned from "events" to "stuff." As in, stuff kids want from their parents (or Santa, or whatever). Over the past few years, cell phones have made their ways onto Christmas and Hanukkah lists. While before they were merely devices to talk and text with, they're turning into multipurpose devices. And as we see the increase in functionality, we see an increase in demand for these fancier phones. Atop this years list are phones like Verizon's LG Voyager and AT&T's Apple iPhone, but those aren't the only shiny objects that kids are clamoring for. Don't forget T-Mobile and their Sidekick series.

There's been much hoopla about T-Mobile's new Sidekick offerings, the Sidekick Slide and the Sidekick LX, both next-generation upgrades over the Sidekick iD. We can also lump the Sidekick 3 into this group, since it's T-Mobile's prepaid Sidekick option.

Common upgrades

A couple of new features really stick out on the Sidekicks Slide, LX, and 3. All of them are Bluetooh-compatible, a feature sorely lacking from the iD. But, perhaps the most heralded upgrade is the addition of a camera with video capabilities. It's one of the features that kids want most on a phone, so you can bet T-Mobile is going to sell a few of these puppies based on that feature alone.

Other than that, though, the only upgrade is the ability to roam internationally, a feature not exactly at the top of kids' wish lists. Unfortunately, WiFi was not added to any of the new Sidekicks, which would have brought the benefit of HotSpot @Home, T-Mobil's WiFi home calling service.

Sidekick 3

We'll start with the Sidekick 3, which is a featured phone for their To Go prepaid offering. Why do kids want this one? The simple QWERTY interface is certainly one of the main draws, as it has been since the inception of the Sidekick. But let's not forget something else kids covet: size.

What's a quick way to get razzed by your friends? Easy: Wear your phone on a belt clip. We even made fun of our friends in college who did this, so imagine what high schoolers are like. (And yes, we understand the belt clip in a professional setting; just not for kids.) Thankfully for them, the Sidekick 3 is just as small as many other popular phones. At 5.1 x 2.3 x .09 inches, it can fit into any size purse, and slides snugly into jeans pockets.

The only issue we see with size is the weight: seven ounces. While that might not seem much, it's actually up there as far as cell phones go. It's the price you pay, though, for having a full-QWERTY device with such small dimensions.

With an expandable microSD slot and a media player, kids can download and share their favorite music with ease. And if you have friends with a Sidekick — or really any other phone that uses microSD — you can swap cards and share even more. You can share pictures, too, as the Sidekick 3 comes with an on-board 1.3 megapixel camera.

Kids nowadays (and adults, too) want to keep connected. This is a major draw of the Sidekick, since it offers full-range Internet access along with real-time email capabilities. Another big thing among youths, instant messaging, is also made easy with the Sidekick. It comes with easy access to Yahoo, MSN, and AOL messengers. And, of course, for an additional fee you can download games, ringtones, wallpaper, and all that fun stuff.

For the more age-advanced Sidekick users, there is the Personal Information Manager, which provides access to your address book, contacts, calendar, which you can sync with your PC.

The only thing holding this back from being a completely ideal phone for youngsters is the price tag: $399.99. Why so expensive? After all, you can get an iPhone for that. Unfortunately, as we see far too often, there is no subsidy on this phone, because you're not signing a two-year agreement. It does come with $10 of airtime, which amounts to little more than a pittance, considering service rates.

On that front, it will cost you $1 per day for the Web and email access, plus prepaid airtime. This isn't T-Mobile's normal prepaid program, where you can buy a $100 card and get calls for 10 cents per minute. When you sign up for the Sidekick plan, your calls are locked in at 15 cents per minute. So it's not terrible, but if you're using 500 minutes per month plus data, it's going to run you north of $100.

Sidekick Slide

Once a recall item because of a faulty battery, the Sidekick Slide is back on the market, and all is well. The only problem with this and the other new Sidekick offering, the LX, is that neither is available with a prepaid plan. Tried as we may, we couldn't get T-Mobile's website to do this for us. Even if they could, we're not sure it's such a hot idea, considering the two-year contract prices for each phone — $199 for the Slide, $299 for the LX.

On the size front, it's smaller and lighter than the Sidekick 3: 4.6 x 2.4 x 0.7 inches, and 5.3 ounces. The other differentiating factor is, as the name implies, that it's a slider phone. Rather than the screen flipping around, as with other Sidekick models, the Sidekick Slide's screen shifts up and down, like any other slider phone.

There are a few other marginal upgrades, like picture caller ID and a currency converter. But really, it matches up with the Sidekick 3 with all other features beyond size and slide function. It's still Bluetooth-compatible, and has the same 1.3 megapixel camera. Games, ringtones, wallpapers, and more are also available. And yes, it has an expandable microSD slot, along with a media player.

Sidekick LX

Surely, the Sidekick LX must be loaded if it costs $100 more than the Slide, right? At first glance, it might not seem so. It's got basically the same features as the 3 and the Slide: Bluetooth, 1.3 megapixel camera, microSD, and all that jazz. Heck, it's bigger than the Slide: 5.2 x 2.4 x 0.7 inches, and 5.8 ounces. So what makes this Sidekick stand out?

It's all in the screen. Instead of boasting the VGA-quality of the previous models, the Sidekick LX offers high-definition LCD technology, making pictures clearer and videos crisper.

Upon review…

If you're on a T-Mobile postpaid plan, both the Slide and the LX make strong cases. At $199, the Slide is a good value, and with the LCD screen, the LX makes for an ideal viewing experience. However, we're a bit disappointed that they're relegating these to postpaid, while making only the Sidekick 3 available on prepaid.

Not that we have a problem with the Sidekick 3. Yeah, at $399 it's a bit expensive, and it isn't rife with all of the new features of the LX and Slide. But it's still a strong offering. Once you get past the exterior — the dimensions, weight, and screen — the three phones are remarkably similar. Definitely similar enough to warrant taking a look at this if you're with T-Mobile To Go.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Having averaged 78.5 catches, 1,103.3 yards and 8.3 touchdowns in the past four seasons as a starter, wide receiver Reggie Wayne wasn't quite sure how much more he could do to further establish himself as one of the NFL's premier playmakers.

And then eight-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Marvin Harrison suffered a debilitating knee injury in the Colts' victory over the Denver Broncos on Sept. 30, and everyone found out.

That's because when Harrison went down, Wayne's production went up. And the player considered by many to be the best No. 2 wideout in the league demonstrated that he is more than just a complementary component in the Indianapolis passing attack. He's no longer the "other" guy for quarterback Peyton Manning.

He's the go-to guy.

INSIDE TIP SHEET
Here's some of what you will find in this week's Tip Sheet notes.

• Details on Henry appeal
• Ware ahead of the pack
• Smith mulling options
• Pair of costly QB injuries
• Still waiting for classic Seymour
• Surprising demotion for Forney
• Petrino remains in rumor mill
• Colts adjusting to loss of Freeney
• Reliant on rookies
• End of eras in Miami?
• Texans' Williams emerging
• Karmelowicz a name to consider
• Martz on shaky ground?
• Harrison, Glenn share recovery track
• Tucker, Morris' profiles on rise
• Jones-Drew was a Colts' favorite
• The List
• Stat of the Week
• Stat of the Weak
• Punts
• The Last Word

"He became the absolute biggest piece of our passing offense," tight end Dallas Clark said. "Right now, everything revolves around him. I mean, Marvin, with everything that he's done and accomplished, and probably going into the Hall of Fame some day, he casts a big shadow.

"But the past six or seven games, or whatever it's been, Reggie has shown that he doesn't have to play in anyone's shadow."

In every NFL season, there are players who step up to compensate for the loss of injured or departed teammates, or who simply seize the opportunity for quality playing time and then emerge as standouts in their own right. This year is no different.

The 2007 season has produced potential stars, such as running backs Justin Fargas (Oakland), LenDale White (Tennessee) and Ryan Grant (Green Bay), safety O.J. Atogwe (St. Louis), defensive end Trent Cole (Philadelphia), weakside linebacker James Harrison (Pittsburgh) and wide receiver Brandon Marshall (Denver), among others.

Wayne, though, was already well-known. He was a first-round draft choice in 2001 (from the University of Miami), and he posted three straight 1,000-yard seasons and went to his first Pro Bowl in 2006. So based on his résumé alone, Wayne was expected to have a good season. But no one expected such a big season, especially without Harrison lining up across the formation from him.

For the season, Wayne, 29, has 76 catches for 1,169 yards and eight touchdowns. At his current pace, he would finish with 101 receptions, 1,559 yards and 11 scores. That would be 15 more catches and 200-plus more yards than his career bests.

And if he indeed reaches those numbers? Consider it remarkable, simply because there is basically no other viable wide receiver in the lineup to draw the coverage away from him.

Clark has enjoyed a career season, too, and his versatility creates matchup problems for every Colts' opponent, because he can align in the slot or as a traditional in-line tight end. But with Harrison out of the lineup, and rookie first-rounder Anthony Gonzalez just now getting up to speed after rehabilitating from a broken finger, secondaries have focused their efforts on stopping Wayne.

And, for the most part, have failed.

"No doubt about it, he has stepped up his game, gone to another level with [Harrison] out of there," said Jacksonville cornerback Brian Williams, who was torched for a 48-yard touchdown catch by Wayne on Sunday. "He's taken [it] on himself to get better, and he has. He just keeps getting open. It's kind of frustrating not being able to stop him, because you know on the big downs that Manning is looking his way."

Stepping It Up

Besides Reggie Wayne, here are five other veterans who, given more playing time and responsibility, have dramatically increased their production and raised their profiles in 2007:

Trent Cole, DE, Philadelphia: Always an effective situational rusher, the three-year veteran (in photo above) moved into the starting lineup this season when the coaches decided that Darren Howard and Jevon Kearse were in decline. Cole has 9-1/2 sacks.

Justin Fargas, RB, Oakland: Pretty much an afterthought when the season began, he was buried behind LaMont Jordan and Dominic Rhodes on the depth chart -- Fargas has rushed 181 times for 863 yards and three touchdowns, and has four 100-yard outings.

James Harrison, LB, Pittsburgh: Took over the weakside vacancy created by the offseason release of Joey Porter and has been a monster in the Steelers' 3-4 front, with 75 tackles, 8-1/2 sacks and seven forced fumbles.

Brandon Marshall, WR, Denver: With star wideout Javon Walker sidelined much of the year by a knee injury, the second-year speedster from Central Florida has flourished, and has 65 catches for 914 yards and four touchdowns.

LenDale White, RB, Tennessee: Out of shape, overweight and frequently injured as a rookie in 2006, the former Reggie Bush running mate at Southern Cal started the year on the bench, and no better than No. 3 on the depth chart. But when starter Chris Brown was injured, White became the Titans' power back, and he's rushed for 754 yards and six scores.

-- Len Pasquarelli

In the eight games since Harrison was injured, Wayne has 55 catches for 862 yards and five touchdowns. In the seven games that Indianapolis has played without Harrison -- the Colts' star played a limited number of snaps in the Oct. 22 contest at Jacksonville, but mostly as a decoy, catching only three passes for 16 yards -- Wayne has 46 receptions for 731 yards and five touchdowns.

"I think I've always been a hard worker," Wayne said. "But, if possible, I've forced myself to work even harder the past month or two. We're the defending Super Bowl champions, and we want to repeat.

"Sure, it's a little harder with Marvin not out there, but we've got guys who can make plays. You don't want to let guys down. I'm just trying to play my part, that's all."

In terms of production from the Indianapolis wide receivers, though, Wayne is virtually playing all the parts.

He has registered three 100-yard outings in the seven games in which Harrison has not played. In fact, three of the six career games in which Wayne has more than 140 receiving yards have come in the past six weeks with Harrison out of the lineup. In that same stretch, all the other Indianapolis wide receivers have totaled just 34 catches and 350 yards -- and no touchdowns.

Wayne is blessed with deceptive speed and has matured as a technically solid route runner. Manning loves to throw the ball to spots and counts on his receivers to get there, and Wayne has become increasingly polished at finding the open spaces. He isn't quite as precise as Harrison but is adept at double-move routes, and he works well off the sleight-of-hand play fakes at which Manning is so adroit. Oh, and Wayne has excellent burst to the ball when it's in the air.

On his 48-yard touchdown reception Sunday, which came one snap after Manning had absorbed a sack and faced a third-and-16, the Colts' quarterback was just trying to get some yardage back so that Adam Vinatieri would have a makeable field goal. But then he spotted Wayne streaking past the Jacksonville secondary. For a second or so, it appeared Manning's pass might be a stride two long, but Wayne accelerated and caught it on his finger tips.

It was, Manning acknowledged, the kind of play the Colts have come to expect from Wayne on a regular basis. And have come to increasingly rely on, since Harrison remains out of the lineup while rehabilitating for what the Colts hope will be a late-season return.

Time was when Wayne was viewed as the sidekick part of the Indianapolis wide receiver equation. Now he's the one kicking the butts of opposition cornerbacks when the Colts need a big, vertical play.

"He's definitely a playmaker," Manning said. "You can see how much he wants the ball and how much confidence he has. There's a big element of trust involved
Were you to set the Canon DC230 right next to its little brother, the DC220, you would be hard-pressed to tell them apart. Besides slightly darker accents, the DC230 looks identical to its little brother. Both DVD camcorders

sandra nilsson

2007-12-10T07:57:00.000-08:00

EDMONTON - It didn't take Robert Nilsson long to figure out there was going to be a price to pay for his shortcomings.

Once the third period got underway and the left-winger found his butt parked on the Edmonton Oilers bench, he knew it was going to be a long night -- not just because the game went into overtime and then into another shoot-out, but because he had no idea what the next day would bring.

But when he returned to Rexall Place on Sunday, Nilsson found himself back on the top line, skating alongside Shawn Horcoff and Ales Hemsky.

Robert Nilsson, left, is knocked off his feet against the Canucks in a recent game.
Reuters

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Font:****"It's up to me. I need to find a way to keep my consistency up," he said after the practice session. "At least I'm not out of the lineup. I have another chance.

"But I played bad, real bad -- and right from the start of the game."

Nilsson, who played just seven shifts in the 3-2 shootout victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, will get a shot to make amends tonight when the Oilers host the Columbus Blue Jackets. In part, it's because he has the tools to complete the dynamic duo but, more importantly, there aren't many other options available to head coach Craig MacTavish.

Hemsky and Horcoff have been stellar of late, Sam Gagner and Andrew Cogliano have proven to be a good fit with Dustin Penner and the checking line -- the Geoff Sanderson-Marty Reasoner-Kyle Brodziak unit -- has been so good that MacTavish is hesitant to break it up. At least not yet.

So Nilsson, who has shown a propensity to let his performance tail off, will get another chance to prove himself.

He has already made one trip back to the American Hockey League this season because he couldn't sustain any consistency, so he is well aware of the alternatives.

"Sandy (Sanderson) is outplaying a lot of guys on the left side so what you wrestle with is having a good fourth line, or taking an element or two away from that line to try and get a second or third line," MacTavish said. "We have two-thirds of a first line and a fourth line. I am pretty happy with the way the kids are playing, too, so outside of that, it's up to the players to start stepping up and making a case for themselves.

"I don't have a lot of alternatives right now -- outside of trying to get Robert playing better. For him it's all skating," MacTavish continued. "If he's able to skate and his legs are feeling good then he's able to play there.

"It's just getting pretty predictable. He comes up after playing a bunch of games in the American League and his legs are good, his confidence is good, then it starts to wane.

"He just needs to start well because it is a stretch to have a guy with those numbers playing with your best players. We're just not getting a lot of productivity out of the left side."
real estate - Loveland Herald
LOVELAND (CLERMONT COUNTY)

110 Mission Court, Mark Bradley Homes LLC. to Wilmer & Sharon Smith, 1.314 acre, $736,989.

LOVELAND (HAMILTON CO.)

120 Carrington Lane: Koonce, J. Eric to Evans, Kristine A.; $94,300.

236 Cordero Trail: Diangelis, Linda S. Tr. to Oberson, Henry B. & Rita Vig; $241,500.

438 Park Ave.: McEntee, Timothy J. & Sharon C. to Powers, Chadwick M. & Jennifer M.; $131,250.

820 Carrington Place: Curtsinger, William S. Jr. & Alison S. to Molloy, Sarah B.; $94,000.

1300 Bellwood Drive: Nolen, David S. to McMullen, Tracy L.; $126,500.

1731 Pheasant Hills Drive: Kandil, Pamela K. to Fannie, Mae; $175,000.

MIAMI TOWNSHIP

5804 Ashby Court, Robert & Maribeth Brakvill to Jana Barnett & Benjamin Beal, $99,000

6318 Ashford Drive, M/I Homes of Cincinnati LLC. to Ryan Schatzle & Monica Hanson, 0.229 acre, $200,002

5530 Betty Lane, Martha Farrahi to Raymond & Carmen Saylor, $108,500

6021 Delfair Lane, Matrix Financial Services to Joseph & Melissa Land, 0.197 acre, $171,500

1169 Eagle Ridge, Sunshine Land Co. LLC. to Robert & Rebecca Guinan, 1.82 acre, $195,000

5755 Hanley Close Unit 138, Catherine Ivers to James & Rosalee Planck, $72,500

5661 Happy Hollow Road, Anna Herking to Janet Messer, 5.155 acre, $139,000

1098 Hayward Circle, White Farm Development LLC. to NVR Inc., 0.3043 acre, $48,500

705 Middleton Way, The Philcon Group LLC. to Christopher Lohr, $191,132

1760 Millbrook Lane, Paul Garay & Todi Zanetti to Paul Garay, $325,000

5807 Monassas Run, James & Patricia Combs to Jerry & Lynn Cummins, 0.29 acre, $163,400

6643 Palmer Place, Kenneth & Nina Theile to Thomas & Kristin Lally, 0.972 acre, $417,000

6665 Paxton Guinea, Hyllgarth Properties LLC. to Jason & Stefanie Bullock, 0.525 acre, $72,000

1238 Retswood Drive, Wilmer & Sharon Smith to Robert & Sheila Stebbins, 2.75 acre, $375,900

6719 Sandy Shores Drive, Zicka Walker Builders at Eagles Pointe LLC. to Peder & Gail Nilsson, 0.469 acre, $796,719

6579 Seay Court, Shaun & Kurt Whitehood to Prudential Relocation Inc., 0.424 acre, $630,000

6579 Seay Court, Prudential Relocation Inc. to Ronald

fox 2 news

2007-12-10T07:52:00.000-08:00

Acouple of months back, this column predicted that if a writers strike did come to pass, the networks would soon turn to two Rs: reality and repeats.

Guess what? Soon is here.

'American Idol'
click to enlarge

Photo Gallery
Webisode interlude
Talks between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down again late Friday, leaving no end in sight for the 5-week-old writers strike.

Viewers have already seen the strike's effect on late-night shows -- most of which have been in repeat mode since Nov. 5 -- but when the typically rerun-heavy holiday month of December ends, they'll start seeing major disruptions in prime time as well. The supply of scripted shows has run out on such popular fare as "Heroes," "Private Practice" and many others that premiered in September. So a few weeks after Christmas, flat screens across the land will start filling with such quality fare as "American Gladiators," "Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann" and "Power of 10."

As one media buyer told this column last week, it's going to look a lot more like July, when reruns and cheapo unscripted stuff typically rule, than January.

The strike always threatened to roil midseason programming, and now it's poised to cause dismay and dyspepsia in both broadcasters and viewers -- everyone except for Fox, of course, whose behemoth "American Idol" is set to return Jan. 15.

Other networks, which are used to the "Idol" problem, are now adjusting to the fact that they're going to have to make do for a long while with a sharply diminished arsenal of fresh scripted shows.

A few debuts will crop up here and there, such as Fox's "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" (its two-night premiere starts Jan. 13), NBC's "Lipstick Jungle" (Feb. 7) and ABC's "Cashmere Mafia" (no premiere date announced yet). And then there's a lucky case like CW's sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris," which wrapped its season of 22 episodes early, leaving an enviable supply of 12 episodes still unaired.

But for the most part, schedulers are being forced to make like a jazz combo and improvise, not just for midseason but also for next fall. The pilot season, when new programs are traditionally developed and tested, will have to be scuttled if the strike isn't settled by mid-February at the latest, network execs agree. New York's so-called upfront market, where the bulk of ad time is sold starting in May, might be threatened too.

And the industry faces questions about the fate of next month's Golden Globes on NBC, as well as February's Oscar telecast on ABC, if the Guild does not grant waivers that would presumably keep pickets away from the ceremonies.

A long strike would be "not only truncating the current season but significantly shifting the next one as well," said John Rash, senior vice president at ad firm Campbell Mithun.

What's making the networks especially nervous are this fall's ratings, which were dismal even without the strike. In the most recent "sweeps" period, which ended Nov. 28, every network except Fox logged dizzying declines among the critical demographic of viewers ages 18 to 49 compared with the year-earlier period, according to Nielsen Media Research. Third-place NBC shed 13% as heavily promoted entries such as "Bionic Woman" sputtered. (First-place ABC shed 10% in that demographic, while runner-up CBS was down 8%. Fox was fourth but gained 3%.)

And the bad news keeps coming. On Thursday, new episodes of two tent-pole dramas -- ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and NBC's publicity-drenched 300th episode of "ER" -- dipped to the series' lowest-ever ratings in the 18 to 49 demographic.

True, some of the slippage may have to do with the fact that networks are hanging tight with new shows that normally would have gotten the ax after a few outings, such as CBS' soap "Cane" and NBC's time-travel drama "Journeyman." Once the strike began, execs figured there was no point dipping into the stockpile of midseason replacements any sooner than absolutely necessary.

But that's not easing broadcaster anxieties over what to do this winter.

"We're kind of in the same boat everyone else is in," said one network executive who was granted anonymity to discuss an uncomfortable topic some rivals wouldn't broach even under "deep background" reporting rules. "You do the best you can. We're all fighting the same battle."

So far, NBC has the most aggressive midseason war plan, based on the schedule it proffered last week. The network's strategy is to limit repeats as much as possible by loading up on game and reality shows. "Deal or No Deal" will kick off Mondays and Wednesdays. Tuesdays will have a two-hour block of the weight-loss contest "The Biggest Loser." And on Mondays it'll take a whack at reviving that old staple of down-market syndication, "American Gladiators," with wrestler Hulk Hogan.

And to think: People once thought Brandon Tartikoff was tarting up NBC by buying "The A-Team."

NBC will also have some fresh scripted material for the first quarter of 2008 -- a total of 85 hours, according to network executives. "Law & Order" will start its 18th season Jan. 2, and "Medium" will begin its fourth the next week. And because of accelerated production, "Friday Night Lights" and "Las Vegas" will be able to stay in new episodes longer than most dramas.

Vince Manze, NBC's president of program planning, scheduling and strategy, said to me, "We're coming out of the blocks right on Jan. 1 with original programming."

The thinking is much more conservative at CBS, where execs will try sticking with encores of repeat-friendly procedurals such as "NCIS" and the "CSI" franchise.

The network will have some originals too, but it's mostly back-of-the-pantry stuff. "Jericho," last year's flameout drama, will return for a second season in February, and the struggling sitcom "The New Adventures of Old Christine" is headed back as well. Drew Carey's hit summertime game "Power of 10" returns Jan. 2, but those additional episodes were ordered pre-strike.

Beyond that, CBS will hang its hopes on the 16th edition of "Survivor" (Feb. 7) and the first-ever winter outing for "Big Brother" (Feb. 12), which it can air several times a week.

The biggest question mark is ABC, which as of Friday hadn't announced a midseason schedule and was chary even with whispered speculation. Its 8-10 p.m. Tuesday block is unaccounted for, with "Dancing With the Stars" not slated to return till March.

The spinoff "Dance War," with "Dancing With the Stars" judges Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba, is slated for Mondays starting Jan. 7. Production on the "Sex and the City"-style "Cashmere Mafia" was hampered by the strike, reportedly yielding just seven completed episodes, although insiders insist the series will bow in January regardless.

It's a subject of much industry debate what ABC will decide to do with the half-season of "Lost" that's presumably been finished -- Fox put the similarly serialized "24" on hold until it could complete more episodes. However, the network is expected to have 13 episodes of writer-producer Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim's quirky legal drama "Eli Stone."

If all this is sounding grim, well, there's always the chance that one of the networks' new game shows or midseason replacements could somehow defy the odds and pop big.

Sure. Just like there's a chance the strike could be solved in top-secret Christmas Eve talks, and that Sanjaya could return to claim his rightful SYDNEY, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Farm chemicals maker Nufarm ended talks on a possible A$3 billion ($2.6 billion) bid from a group including China National Chemical Corp after the consortium was unable to make a formal offer, lopping 14 percent off its shares.

The surprise move comes as bidders find it more difficult to fund multi-billion dollar deals amid uncertainty in capital markets. Also on Monday, Australia's SP Ausnet (SPN.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) ditched plans to pay A$8.3 billion for assets of former energy firm Alinta, blaming a market slump. [ID:nSYD6854]

China National Chemical (ChemChina) and two U.S. private equity firms, Blackstone Group (BX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Fox Paine Management, were given exclusive access to Nufarm's (NUF.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) books last month after approaching the Australian company with a plan to create the world's largest generic crop protection firm.

"You just have to put it all in the context of the global credit markets right now. It really has taken a nosedive for the worse in the last three weeks," a source close to the deal said.

Nufarm said it had been advised the consortium would not be able to formalise its offer by midnight on Monday, when the exclusivity period was due to end.

The source said Nufarm would still look at any proposal, but it appeared the consortium may not have been able to reach agreement on its bid structure and levels of debt.

Analysts said ChemChina and its partners might renew their interest, noting the failure to meet the deadline underlined increasing difficulties for private equity funding.

cotton plantations

2007-12-10T07:45:00.000-08:00

The National Australian Cotton Trade Show, which is scheduled in last week of May each year, will miss out in 2008, an official from the Show confirmed this to Fibre2fashion.

According to the official, meager rain, low irrigation allocation leading to less cotton plantations acreage and draught situation are responsible for the cancellation of this show.

The two-day event at Moree would have celebrated its 11th anniversary on May 30 and 31, 2008, however, the decision to drop out the show next year was taken by the organizers. This would allow farmers and potential exhibitors to focus on strengthening their businesses at these challenging times.

The National Australian Cotton Trade Show will now be held in May 2009.'stakeholders' meeting is planned for next month at the University of West Alabama in Livingston as the next step in getting 19 Alabama Black Belt counties declared a National Heritage Area by Congress.

'We are inviting public officials and concerned citizens from all 19 counties, as well as the public,' Tina Narremore Jones, the director of UWA's Center for the Study of the Black Belt, said Thursday. 'We want it to be a town hall-type meeting so we can get as much input as possible.'

U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala, who represents many of the counties in the region, said he will host the meeting. The date has not yet been determined.

'Getting Congress to designate a National Heritage Area can be a long, arduous process, but the folks in Livingston are already off to a good start, and I plan to get a bill ready for introduction in the next session,' Davis said. 'Calling stakeholders together to discuss the direction we want to go is the next natural step.'

Davis said a designation as a National Heritage Area brings benefits, including federal funding for sites in the area and recognition that draws tourism.

Plantation
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This article is about crop plantations. For plantations of people (a 17th century meaning), see Plantation (settlement or colony). For the record label, see Plantation Records. For the city in the United States, see Plantation, Florida.
Fundamentally, a plantation is usually a large farm or estate, especially in a tropical or semitropical country, on which cotton, tobacco, coffee, sugar cane, or trees and the like are cultivated, usually by resident laborers.

A plantation is an intentional planting of a crop, on a larger scale, usually for uses other than cereal production or pasture. The term is currently most often used for plantings of trees and shrubs. The term tends also to be used for plantings maintained on economic bases other than that of subsistence farming.

Crops may be called plantation crops because of their association with a specific type of farming economy. Most of these involve a large landowner, raising crops with economic value rather than for subsistence, with a number of employees carrying out the work. Often it referred to crops newly introduced to a region. In past times it has been associated with slavery, indentured labour, and other economic models of high inequity. However, arable and dairy farming are both usually (but not always) excluded from such definitions. A comparable economic structure in antiquity was the latifundia that produced commercial quantities of olive oil or wine, for export.

Contents
1 Forestry
1.1 Industrial plantations
1.1.1 Criticism of industrial plantations
1.2 Farm or home plantations
1.3 Environmental plantations
1.4 Ecological impact
1.5 Plantations and natural forest loss
2 Other types of plantation
2.1 High value food crops
2.2 Sugar
2.3 Rubber
2.4 Orchards
2.5 Arable crops
3 Slavery, para-slavery and plantations
3.1 Related matters
4 See also
5 References and external links

[edit] Forestry

A plantation of Douglas-fir in Washington, U.S.

[edit] Industrial plantations
Industrial plantations are established to produce a high volume of wood in a short period of time. Plantations are grown by state forestry authorities (for example, the Forestry Commission in Britain) and/or the paper and wood industries and other private landowners (such as Weyerhaeuser and International Paper in the United States, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) in Indonesia). Christmas trees are often grown on plantations as well. In southern and southeastern Asia, rubber, oil palm, and more recently teak plantations have replaced the natural forest.

Industrial plantations are actively managed for the commercial production of forest products. Individual blocks are usually even-aged and often consist of just one or two species. These species can be exotic or indigenous. Industrial plantations are usually large-scale.

Wood production on a tree plantation is generally higher than that of natural forests. While forests managed for wood production commonly yield between 1 and 3 cubic meters per hectare per year, plantations of fast-growing species commonly yield between 20 and 30 cubic meters or more per hectare annually; a Grand Fir plantation at Craigvinean in Scotland has a growth rate of 34 cubic meters per hectare per year (Aldhous & Low 1974), and Monterey Pine plantations in southern Australia can yield up to 40 cubic meters per hectare per year (Everard & Fourt 1974). In 2000, while plantations accounted for 5 percent of global forest, it is estimated that they supplied about 35% of the worlds roundwood [1].

Growth cycle
In the first year, the ground is prepared (usually by some combination of burning, herbicide spraying, and/or cultivation and then saplings are planted by human crew or by machine. The saplings are usually obtained in bulk from industrial nurseries, which may specialize in selective breeding in order to produce fast growing disease- and pest-resistant strains.
In the first few years until the canopy closes, the saplings are looked after, and may be dusted or sprayed with fertilizers or pesticides until established.
After the canopy closes, with the tree crowns touching each other, the plantation is becoming dense and crowded, and tree growth is slowing due to competition. This stage is termed 'pole stage'. When competition becomes too intense (for pine trees, when the live crown is less than a third of the tree's total height), it is time to thin out the section. There are several methods for thinning, but where topography permits, the most popular is 'row-thinning', where every third or fourth or fifth row of trees is removed, usually with a harvester. Many trees are removed, leaving regular clear lanes through the section so that the remaining trees have room to expand again. The removed trees are delimbed, forwarded to the forest road, loaded onto trucks, and sent to a mill. A typical pole stage plantation tree is 7-30 cm in diameter at breast height (dbh). Such trees are sometimes not suitable for timber, but are used as pulp for paper and particleboard, and as chips for oriented st
rand board.
As the trees grow and become dense and crowded again, the thinning process is repeated. Depending and so is ready for the final harvest. All remaining trees are felled, delimbed, and taken to be processed.
The ground is cleared, and the cycle is repeated.
Some plantation trees, such as pines and eucalyptus, can be at high risk of fire damage because their leaf oils and resins are flammable to the point of a tree being explosive under some conditions. Conversely, an afflicted plantation can in some cases be cleared of pest species cheaply through the use of a prescribed burn, which kills all lesser plants but does not significantly harm the mature trees.

[edit] Criticism of industrial plantations
In contrast to a naturally regenerated forest, plantations are typically grown as even-aged monocultures, primarily for timber production.

Plantations are usually monocultures. That is, the same species of tree is planted across a given area, whereas a natural forest would contain a far more diverse range of tree species.
Plantations may include tree species that would not naturally occur in the area. They may include unconventional types such hybrids and genetically modified trees. Since the primary interest in plantations is to produce wood or pulp, the types of trees found in plantations are those that are best-suited to industrial applications. For example, pine, spruce and eucalyptus are widely planted far beyond their natural range because of their fast growth rate, tolerance of poor or degraded agricultural land and potential to produce large volumes of raw material for industrial use.
Plantations are always young forests in ecological terms. Typically, trees grown in plantations are harvested after 10 to 60 years, rarely up to 120 years. This means that the forests produced by plantations do not contain the type of growth, soil or wildlife typical of old-growth natural forest ecosystems. Most conspicuous is the absence of decaying dead wood, a crucial component of natural forest ecosystems.
In the 1970s, Brazil began to establish high-yield, intensively managed, short rotation plantations. These types of plantations are sometimes called fast-wood plantations or fiber farms and often managed on a short-rotation basis, as little as 5 to 15 years. They are becoming more widespread in South America, Asia and other areas. The environmental and social impacts of this type of plantation has caused them to become controversial. In Indonesia, for example, large multi-national pulp companies have harvested large areas of natural forest without regard for regeneration. From 1980 to 2000, about 50% of the 1.4 million hectares of pulpwood plantations in Indonesia have been established on what was formerly natural forest land.

The replacement of natural forest with tree plantations has also caused social problems. In some countries, again, notably Indonesia, conversions of natural forest are made with little regard for rights of the local people. Plantations established purely for the production of fiber provide a much narrower range of services than the original natural forest for the local people. India has sought to limit this damage by limiting the amount of land owned by one entity and, as a result, smaller plantations are owned by local farmers who then sell the wood to larger companies. Some large environmental organizations are critical of these high-yield plantations and are running an anti-plantation campaign, notably the Rainforest Action Network and Greenpeace.

[edit] Farm or home plantations
Farm or home plantations are typically established for the production of timber and fire wood for home use and sometimes for sale. Management may be less intensive than with Industrial plantations. In time, this type of plantation can become difficult to distinguish from naturally-regenerated forest.

[edit] Environmental plantations
These may be established for watershed or soil protection. They are established for erosion control, landslide stabilization and windbreaks. Such plantations are established to foster native species and promote forest regeneration on degraded lands as a tool of environmental restoration.

[edit] Ecological impact
Probably the single most important factor a plantation has on the local environment is the site where the plantation is established. If natural forest is cleared for a planted forest then a reduction in biodiversity and loss of habitat will likely result. In some cases, their establishment may involve draining wetlands to replace mixed hardwoods that formerly predominated, with pine species.

If a plantation is established on abandoned agricultural land, or highly degraded land, it can result in an increase in both habitat and biodiversity. A planted forest can be profitably established on lands that will not support agriculture or suffer from lack of natural regeneration.

The tree species used in a plantation is also an important factor. Where non-native varieties or species are grown, few of the native fauna are adapted to exploit these and further biodiversity loss occurs. However, even non-native tree species may serve as corridors for wildlife and act as a buffer for native forest, reducing edge effect.

Once a plantation is established, how it is managed becomes the important environmental factor. The single most important factor of management is the rotation period. Plantations harvested on longer rotation periods (30 years or more) can provide similar benefits to a naturally regenerated forest managed for wood production, on a similar rotation. This is especially true if native species are used. In the case of exotic species, the habitat can be improved significantly if the impact is mitigated by measures such as leaving blocks of native species in the plantation, or retaining corridors of natural forest. In Brazil, similar measures are required by government regulations.

[edit] Plantations and natural forest loss
Many forestry experts claim that the establishment of plantations will reduce or eliminate the need to exploit natural forest for wood production. In principle this is true because due to the high productivity of plantations less land is needed. Many point to the example of New Zealand, where 19% of the forest area provides 99% of the supply of industrial roundwood. It has been estimated that the worlds needs for fiber could be met by just 5% of the world forest (Sedjo & Botkin 1997). However in practice, plantations are replacing natural forest, for example in Indonesia. According to the FAO, about 7% of the natural closed forest being lost in the tropics is land being converted to plantations. The remaining 93% of the loss is land being converted to agriculture and other uses. Worldwide, an estimated 15% of plantations in tropical countries are established on closed canopy natural forest.

In the Kyoto Protocol, there are proposals encouraging the use of plantations to reduce carbon dioxide levels (though this idea is being challenged by some groups on the grounds that the sequestered CO2 is eventually released after harvest).

[edit] Other types of plantation

Tea plantation in Cameron Highlands Malaysia
Crops may be called plantation crops because of their association with a specific type of farming economy. Most of these involve a large landowner, raising crops with economic value rather than for subsistence, with a number of employees carrying out the work. Often it referred to crops newly introduced to a region. In past times it has been associated with slavery, indentured labour, and other economic models of high inequity. However, arable and dairy farming are both usually (but not always) excluded from such definitions. A comparable economic structure in antiquity was the latifundia that produced commercial quantities of olive oil or wine, for export. one plantation crop is bananas and there are others as well.

[edit] High value food crops

covered bridges half marathon

2007-12-10T07:32:00.000-08:00

Signal Features Editor Jim Walker spent several months training for the Santa Clarita Marathon - with the help of the Sunday runners group of the Santa Clarita Runners. This column has appeared every other Friday in our Healthy Living section, and followed his struggles during that training. Walker ran the Santa Clarita Marathon on Nov. 4. This, final, Runnin' Scared column is the story of how that "race" turned out for him.

If you've taken this journey with me, I owe you the bottom line right off. Against all conventions of "good writing" I will tell you the end, at the beginning. You can go away with that and make your own conclusions, or read on and see how it happened and how I feel about it. Either way, I thank you for coming along.

Fact: I completed the full 26.2 miles of the Santa Clarita Marathon on Nov. 4. It took me five hours and 33 minutes, which was more than an hour longer than I'd hoped for and more than 80 minutes longer than when I ran it in 1996.

Yes, I was disappointed.

Fact: As stated in my very first column, one of the primary reasons I wanted to tackle the marathon again was because I had walked some of it in 1996. I wanted to "run it all the way" this time. As it turned out, once again, I had to walk quite a bit on the second half of the course.

Yes, I was very disappointed.

On the One Hand: I did not get what I wanted from this experience - what I had worked so hard for, what I still feel I earned. There is no arguing with that. My stated objective was not reached. Viewed in that way, I failed - and in my mind, miserably.

On the Other Hand: A whole lot of good things came out of this struggle. If you can get through the whining, you'll find out what those were.

11/4/07 Marathon Day

Pre-run: I feel good, even at 4:30 a.m. I have my Naked Juice P-Zone. I pack sugar pills, salt pills, two Advil, water and six runner's gels. After two weeks of rest, my legs feel strong and any aches and pains are only dim reminders of what they have been. I'm snorting like a racehorse, ready to go.

My daughter Lauren is in town for the weekend on a job interview and said she will join me on the run somewhere. It's something to look forward to.

With the sun coming up, I park on the top level of the structure near the finish line on Theater Drive. Oops. I realize I didn't take any Advil yet. Decisions, decisions - whether to take my two that were meant for the mid-point, or save them for then. I take them.

The mood at the start is upbeat and festive. Some high clouds lie that things won't get too hot. The Santa Clarita Runners are all anxious and ready and everyone is encouraging.

As we get ready to start, I move back in the pack a couple hundred people. I don't want to start out too fast and I don't want to get trampled. There are 351 full-marathon runners and more than 1,000 half-marathoners.

The chip attached to my shoelaces will ensure that my official time doesn't start until I actually cross the start line, so no time will be lost starting in back.

The Start: Young Pilar Penaranda (a family friend, I might add) sings a beautiful rendition of the national anthem and, close to 7 a.m., the starting gun sounds. As I try to avoid tangling feet with anyone, I nearly stumble over some tiny Toto-dog on a leash. I can't imagine what the inconsiderate woman on the other end of the leash could be thinking, and I move away, half-hoping someone else flattens her dog for her.

First 6 Miles: Things thin out a little as we round the first turn from McBean onto Valencia. Ed catches up with me and hands me two Advil, which I stash for the mid-point. I'm all covered now. I feel good. This is going to be great. "Just don't go too fast," I tell myself.

Some guy running sideways through the crowd stumbles over Rawlins' heel and they both nearly go down. No harm done, though.

I'm running off-and-on with some of the ladies from the Sunday group and being very careful to stick to the plan and not go too fast. As I cross Mile Marker One, and then Two, my time is right on at about 10 minutes per mile. I feel great. I pump my fist. "Yeah, baby!"

Somewhere in the industrial park, the ladies do their planned pause at a water station and I keep going. "Should I have stopped for a brief rest? No, I feel good and am right on schedule."

While at the water stations, I do walk while I drink my water or Gatorade, but that is part of the plan.

Somehow, the silly woman with the Toto-dog has found me again. Click-click-click go its little nails on the asphalt. I decide to let bygones be bygones and ask her how far the dog can go. She ignores me - and makes an enemy for life. I leave them behind.

Later, somehow they are with me again. I hear her tell someone else the dog can run 40 miles. "Yeah, sure," I think. I wonder how the dog gets its water. I don't really care though.

At the first electronic time check at 5.5 miles, there is a sharp U-turn over the sensor mats. Cute kids in green volunteer shirts are cheering and I just have to tip my Signal hat to them as I do the turn.

Big mistake. I pull my left hamstring.

It's not too bad, though, and I keep going, pretty soon forgetting about it. As long as I keep my regular, short strides, I'm fine.

Miles 7 - 13.1: Now the work begins. The runners have thinned out and the isolated spots of cheering, water stops and bands only pep you up for awhile. It seems an endless uphill run to Copper Hill and my "fresh" leaves me on the way.

Somewhere in here dog-lady passes me or I pass her, I forget. I notice with satisfaction that the little mutt is now dragging behind her on the leash. "Forty miles, my backside. Shouldn't the ASPCA be notified?"

As I make the Copper Hill turn at nine miles, my wife Debbie and daughter Lauren drive by, honking the car horn, and Lauren is shouting out the car window "Go Jim Walker!" It gives me energy - for about a minute.

I'm OK on the bike path run back toward town, which is downhill. I keep it all in check, take my waters and gels, as necessary.

I'm getting a little tired as I reach the 12 mile mark, where we cross under McBean to go along the Creekside bike path. The family cheers me as I turn, but the running group ladies pass me when I stop for water. I plod along to where the half-marathoners turn off at the Creekside bridges - and now my mind starts to go south. I wish I were one of them and don't want to run as far as I just have - all over again.

I keep pushing, though. It's getting warm now. Why is it always hot on marathon day?

The Choice: I'm still running near 10 minutes per mile, but I'm getting on the long-side of 10. As I come up on the timer for the official mid-point, at 13.1 miles, just after going under Valencia Boulevard, my will fails.

All alone, I stop for pills and gels, but really want to just stop running. So, I walk a little.

I tell myself that I'm not really "walking" yet, that it will all be OK. But, deep inside, I know better. Here, at this moment, I've given in. From here on it will be easy to stop running every time I'm uncomfortable.

Should I have kept running? Could I have? I will never know. Like Vince Lombardi said, "Fatigue makes cowards of us all." For whatever reasons, real or imagined, I have made the coward's choice - again. All that I have put into it, all the people counting on me, even the embarrassment I will feel when I have to admit it in the newspaper - none of it makes any difference. I need to rest.

Miles 14 - 17.5: I keep it going off and on, though, and am running up the dreaded South Fork trail, just past the water stop near Magic Mountain. Then I see the Mile 14 sign. Somewhere in my addled brain I think it's been a full mile since the water stop. "Hey, these are going by fast, now," I think. Then I realize it's only been one mile since the half-way timer, which seems like an hour ago. My will fails again - all because of the freaking sign.

I'm walking again when Lauren joins me on the South Fork. A college cross-country runner, she's all fresh and spunky and young and encouraging. I feel like bawling. This is not how I wanted her to see me. With her help, I give it a go, running at a fast shuffle for about a minute at a time, walking for about the same.

We talk. I complain, she encourages. I curse the world, she cajoles. I try to explain how devastated I am to be failing - and how my life has always been a waste and will forever be, now. She just tells me I'm tired and to get running again. If I had a rock I'd hit her with it. But I try again.

We do a dance with a couple other runners. I die, they pass. They die, we pass. It's the brotherhood of the doomed, and it feels like we've been doing this dance for years. I know they are hearing every personal, quitter's thought I'm sharing with Lauren, but I don't care.

Later, I'll learn my overall pace was close to 12 minutes per mile by this point. That means my pace in these latter miles was really slow.

My fevered brain wanders. The paseos are so calming and beautiful. It's like traveling the Yellow-brick Road. The grass is so inviting. I want to lie down on it and go to sleep. I share this with everyone within earshot - and then mention that the Flying Monkeys should be arriving soon. I'm looking forward to when they carry me off.

Time for a Change: This is the first day after the time change, so the day seems already later than it is. My mind is groggy and I've lost my sense of direction. The morning sun seems like the afternoon sun and I think I've been running all day.

My watch is only displaying run-time now and I don't want to mess with the buttons. So I ask Lauren what time it is and she says 11:30 a.m. "What?! It's only about mile 17.5, and I should be close to finishing by 11:30! This is going very badly," I think out loud.

Not long after that Lauren realizes she never changed her watch to the new time. That means it was only 10:30 a.m. That means I've only been running for three and a half hours - and am only about a half-hour slow. But there is a long way to go.

Miles 18 - 23: Eventually, we come out of the paseos, onto the South Fork, briefly. I accept one of the double-espresso gels they are passing out at Mile 18, desiring the caffeine. It is gawd-awful, but I finish it.

I try to run whenever we pass a band or a group of little cheerleaders, but the walking is getting more and more frequent. I curse as each new mile-sign tells me how far I still have to go. "Only Mile 20?!"

Lauren is encouraging me as we get into the higher miles. "You've almost done it," she says.

We walk, we run. We run and smile as we pass Debbie, standing by the trail on Soledad. It's all for the photo she's taking, and I walk right after.

The "wilderness" run out to the bowling alley, and the timer-turn at 21.5 miles get done.

My legs are swollen and my "running" is more like plodding, now. Lauren says it looks painful. It is.

I'm seeing the same people a lot now as we cross paths on turn-backs. We're all struggling. The happier runners have all gone ahead. If I remember right, the dog lady and Toto are behind us. That crazy little dog is still going, though. I don't remember seeing them again. They may have passed me, or may have quit, I don't know. Maybe the woman was arrested for animal cruelty.

There's this crazy-looking runner wrapped head-waist-and-feet in rags and bandanas. He reminds me of nothing so much as those Japanese soldiers they found in the jungle 40 years after the war. He must be soaking himself at every water stop because he leaves wet footprints for many hundreds of yards after.

Miles 24 - 26: We're on the home stretch now, at about mile 24, going past Bridgeport Park. I know I will make it, but it doesn't make me feel better. Because I've walked so much, I feel I have already failed.

Then this woman we formerly passed, passes us while I'm walking. God bless her, she looks about 60 and also looks like she's carrying 50 extra pounds and has never run before in her life - but she's leaving me behind. I point her out to Lauren and hang my head in shame.

Lauren is trying to get me to run from here on, but I know I can't. I want to run at the finish, so more off-and-on walking is necessary.

At about mile 25, just before we turn onto McBean, Frank from the runner's group joins us. He had finished the half-marathon long ago and was beginning to get worried about me. So he ran a mile back up the course to check. He didn't know Lauren was with me. A grand, foolish gesture, but just the kind of camaraderie you find in the Santa Clarita Runners. God bless them.

The three of us talk. I whine some more, run a little, walk some. Frank suggests I run to the Creekside bridges, walk over them, and run the last 0.2 miles to the finish. Sounds like a plan. "I can do that," I say.

The Finish: As I drop from the last bridge onto Magic Mountain, I take up the strong stride that will make it look like I ran well. Even with only 0.2 miles to go, I have to keep telling myself I can make it. Lauren and Frank peel off as I round the turn to the finish. My chip (or someone) tells the announcers who I am and "Jim Walker from Canyon Country" crosses the finish line with a chip time of 5:33:17.

I'll later learn I was runner 307 out of 351 that ran the full marathon. I was 236 out of 265 men. I was 13 out of 16 men in my age group. It all screams "failure."

I smile and pose for photos with Lauren, have some orange slices and sit down. My legs are swollen. I have a slightly pulled left hamstring and my left heel is bloody, where I've worn through the lining of my shoe. But it's over and I really don't feel that bad physically. Problem is, I ran it like a chump. I failed, blew it, s__d the pooch, whatever.

Lauren and Debbie are proud of me, anyway.

Post-run: I feel pretty good at the runner's group dinner at BJ's Sunday night. I smile and accept everyone's congratulations. They all say it's a great thing just to finish, but I know better.

Monday at work I have to answer the questions over and over. Again, everyone feels finishing was a great thing. But I'm tired, cranky and depressed. My left hamstring is stiffening up and that evening there is a spreading bruise back there. I guess it was a worse pull than I'd thought.

The really frustrating thing is that the weather on Monday is about 10 degrees cooler than Sunday was. Ten degrees might have made all the difference for me. Success and failure, 10 degrees of separation.

As I write this, more than a week after the marathon, I haven't been able to run yet. The hamstring is still a bit swollen and sore and the hole in my heel hasn't healed yet. But I have got a bit of positive perspective back.

The Good News

n My overall health is better for the experience. I lost 12 pounds (which are trying to come back on now). My heart is in better shape and I feel tighter and more alive, overall. It's a feeling I'd like to hang onto.

n I met some great people - people I call my friends now. No, we don't hang out together outside the running days, but I believe we all "pull" for each other. And when we get together, it's for something healthy and positive. For them it's even fun. Maybe it will be for me now that the pressure is off.

n I got to share my struggles through my columns in the newspaper. From the comments I have received, most of you enjoyed "being there" with me. For a writer, this is always good. But, beyond that, I got to vent to what I assumed was a huge sympathetic audience. Free therapy for me - and it gave my family a break.

n While all of the above might have been foreseeable, there was one important benefit from this experience that would never have occurred to me in the beginning. Regardless of what my stated goal was, I think my daughters are proud of me for getting off the couch. In particular, I got to share some of the experience with Lauren. As you know, she joined the runners group for a couple Sundays, and she "towed" me through the second half of the marathon. While I wouldn't say I was the best of company, that was one morning we shared something special, something we may never find the time for again. And it came out of the blue. She would never have been home on Nov. 4 except for a sudden job interview bringing her back to L.A.

n Finally, I believe I clawed my way back a little from the edge of oblivion. I covered 26.2 miles in one morning and survived. Regardless of what I had hoped for, at age 55, that is an accomplishment. Even I have to admit that.

But I know I could do better. And the crazy thing is, I might even try.

I do know I'm going to be back out there on Sundays with my friends from the Santa Clarita Runners. I'll still be runnin', but maybe not so scared.

War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it," Union Gen. William T. Sherman wrote Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood in early September 1864. "You might as well appeal against the thunder storm as against these terrible hardships of war." Sherman, who had just taken Atlanta in a brutal four-month campaign, had asked Hood for a ten-day truce to evacuate civilians from the city. Hood agreed, grudgingly, complaining that "the unprecedented measure you propose transcends, in studied and ingenious cruelty, all acts ever before brought to my attention in the dark history of war." Over the next three months, Hood would no doubt revise that opinion. On December 10, 1864, 143 years ago today, Sherman's army reached the outskirts of Savannah, having visited the full force of its thunder on the state of Georgia. Barreling across the countryside in a 60-mile-wide front of fire and destruction, the army moved with one purpose, as summed up by its commander: to "make Georgia howl."

Sherman's army teemed with healthy soldiers, and back in September they had seemed to be preparing for a nice long stay in the richest, most populous state of the Deep South. Hood wanted Sherman out of the Confederacy. But with only about 30,000 men to Sherman's more than 80,000, he couldn't risk a direct attack. Instead he headed northwest, to sabotage the 120-mile Federal supply line from Chattanooga. On October 4 the Rebels ripped up nine miles of the Western & Atlantic Railroad before Sherman, marching north from Atlanta, could catch up. For the next several weeks, the Yankees chased the Confederates around northern Georgia. Hood never did manage to sever Sherman's supply line, and Sherman never cornered Hood for a decisive blow.

By the end of October, Sherman was fed up. He had just spent a month fighting over a region he had won in May, and for what? His army was wasted guarding this railroad, just to supply a city whose greatest value to the Union lay in keeping it from the Confederacy. "Damn him," he fumed of Hood. "If he will go to the Ohio River I will give him rations. . . . Let him go north. My business is down South."

Sherman had always planned to end the campaign at "salt water," as he put it, though his original objective had been Rebel troops along the Gulf of Mexico. Now that he had injected his army straight into the heart of the Confederacy, though, the stakes had changed. He had a huge, flexible force apparently free to tear through the South at will. Perhaps its best use came not in chasing Hood but in striking at a bigger target: Confederate morale. Instead of battling an army, Sherman would wage war on the South itself.

Since the middle of September, he had been trying to persuade Gen. Ulysses Grant to let him march through Georgia to the Atlantic. In a message sent September 20, he proposed that the navy provision a base on the coast, where he and his men would arrive after a "sweep through the whole state." The Confederates "may stand the fall of Richmond," he argued, "but not of all Georgia."

Grant had serious doubts, as did President Lincoln. Diverting the ships necessary to capture a Southern port would require months of effort with no guarantee of victory. Worse, the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, had hinted during a recent speaking tour that Hood would soon take the fight north, toward Gen. George Thomas's Union forces in Tennessee. Without Sherman to block him, Hood might defeat Thomas and seize Federal territory as far north as Cincinnati. Grant wanted Sherman to obliterate Hood's army.

"We cannot remain on the defensive," Sherman countered. He was confident Thomas could handle Hood, especially with the 30,000 reinforcements Sherman would send up from Atlanta. Meanwhile, he had expanded on his plan. "By attempting to hold the roads, we will lose a thousand men each month and will gain no result," he wrote to Grant. He expected "plenty of forage in the interior of the state." So why not abandon the precarious supply line and move forward, untethered, to feast on the abundant countryside?

The new strategy dovetailed perfectly with Sherman's larger goals. Of course, as he told Grant, "the utter destruction of [Georgia's] roads, houses, and people will cripple their military resources." But, more important, the marchers would deliver a much-needed shock to the Southern people. If the war in all its horror were brought to their doorsteps, perhaps they would not be so fervent in its support. And if the Union army could rampage throughout the state unmolested―if the Confederacy could not even protect its citizens' homes―perhaps the young proclaimed nation would finally be exposed as too powerless to survive.

In a sense, this was a negative image of future "hearts and minds" campaigns: an attempt not to win Southerners to the Union's way of thinking but to kill their faith in their own. By mid-October, Grant informed Sherman he was starting to "think better of your proposition," and on November 2 the general-in-chief wired his full consent. Sherman had begun to prepare weeks in advance, assembling supplies and ferrying trash and unfit men north to Chattanooga. Now the commissary stockpiled 20 days' rations, including 3,000 beef cattle. The Western & Atlantic ran its final trains November 12; the last cars had not chugged out of sight before Yankee crews tore up the tracks, torched the ties and trestles, and made curlicues of the rails.

The final task was to dispose of anything in Atlanta the Confederates might find useful. As the leading elements set out for the coast on November 15, the remaining soldiers got some practice with what would, in the coming weeks, become one of their favorite tools: fire. Sherman's orders were to destroy only public buildings and military assets, but a Union chaplain noticed that the prevailing spirit proclaimed, "Leave not one stone upon another." Blazes spread from neighborhood to neighborhood, consuming entire blocks. A party of staff officers capped a feast in an abandoned home with a bonfire: "The furniture was piled up in the center of the dining room," wrote one of the officers, "a match applied and soon that stately mansion, once the shelter of wealth, beauty and refinement, had paid the penalty of its owner's disloyalty." As the sun set over the flames of Atlanta, the band began playing "John Brown's Body." Come sunrise, more than a third of the city had been reduced to cinder.

By then, the bulk of the army was on its way south. Sherman paused that morning to look back on "Atlanta, smouldering and in ruins, the black smoke rising high in air and hanging like a pall over the ruined city. Away off in the distance . . . was the rear of [Union Gen. Oliver] Howard's column, the gun barrels glistening in the sun, the white-topped wagons stretching away to the south." Within hours Sherman's entire army was on the road: 62,000 of the fittest men in the Union, most of them three-year veterans. "What they did not know about campaigning was not worth inquiring into," one marcher wrote of his fellow soldiers. "Such was the ratio of casualties that [each] may be said to be the sole survivor of four men who had set out . . . in 1861."

As the soldiers left Atlanta, they tried not to dwell on the risks they faced. With winter looming, rain or snow could block the roads. The army's supply and communication lines had been severed; not even Grant and Lincoln would know where they were until they reached the Atlantic. Sherman was betting on what the historian (and late American Heritage editor) Bruce Catton called "a move to sweep the chips." If a concentrated dose of bloodless violence could end the war's wholesale slaughter, Sherman had to attempt it. So, without a lifeline, the general and his men plunged deeper into enemy territory.

He divided the troops into two equal columns, each of which stretched along some 12 miles of Georgia's rural roads. The columns traveled separate routes about 20 miles apart, to ease traffic, confound the enemy, and widen the area of destruction. His was an army built for speed―he planned to make about 15 miles a day―and it traveled light. The artillery brought only 65 cannon, and the commissary kept just five days' grain for the eight horses that hauled each gun. With so little ordnance, the force could not endure sustained fighting, which speaks volumes about Sherman's intentions. This army's casualties would be bricks and mortar and tracks and acres, not enemy soldiers.

Sherman chose his route to follow Georgia's railroad lines, which his men shredded as they marched. Hood had turned toward Nashville in a vain effort to lure Sherman north, and now a meager 13,000 Confederate soldiers remained in the state. The Rebels tried to predict where the tidal wave of bluecoats would strike, only to be fooled by feints on Augusta and Macon. In the early weeks of the march, Union cavalry along the outside of each column traded bursts of rifle fire with Rebel horsemen and militia; just once would one of these hit-and-run skirmishes develop into full-blown battle.

Meanwhile, the marchers were eating better than they had for the past three years. Sherman's orders, released November 9, directed the army to "forage liberally on the country," although soldiers "must not enter the dwellings of inhabitants or commit any trespass." Specially appointed foraging parties from each brigade were to fan out and collect food each day; if civilians hindered their efforts, "then army commanders should order and enforce a devastation more or less relentless, according to the measure of such hostility."

In practice, the fine nuances of Sherman's instructions dissolved before the lure of looting. Although the official foraging parties did bring back cartloads of freshly harvested corn, sweet potatoes, and ham, they were soon joined by unappointed hordes of soldiers and civilian hangers-on, whose haul rarely ended up in brigade coffers. As homeowners watched, bands of barefoot, raggedly clothed marchers ransacked parlors and stabbed at flowerbeds in search of buried treasure. More often then not, they found it. In stolen wagons and silver-topped carriages, a typical expedition brought back, according to one source, "a looking glass, an Italian harp, sweetmeats, a peacock, a rocking chair, a gourd, a bass viol, sweet potatoes, a cradle, dried peaches, honey, a baby carriage, peach brandy, and every other imaginable thing a lot of foot soldiers could take in their heads to bring away."

Presumably Sherman's quartermasters had little use for cradles, string basses, or peacocks. And the soldiers usually abandoned most of their swag within the first few miles of the next day's march. So why take it in the first place? Some foragers wanted revenge against the Southern women thought to be urging their husbands and sons into war; others took a liberal interpretation of Sherman's vaguely worded orders. Many just felt entitled to grab what they wanted. But the overriding motivation seems to have been, simply, that plundering was fun. "This is probably the most gigantic pleasure expedition ever planned," one soldier wrote. The troops were, for the most part, in their late teens and very early twenties; even the commanders averaged only 40 years old. A century and a half later, their heirs might be caught smashing suburban mailboxes or torching cars at fraternity parties; fueled by the same youthful appetites (and, often, confiscated liquor), Sherman's men tore through central Georgia.

"The destruction could hardly have been worse if Atlanta had been a volcano in eruption and the molten lava had flowed in a stream sixty miles wide and five times as long," one veteran boasted. Of course, devastation was Sherman's primary objective, and his men fulfilled it with relish. Western & Atlantic rails were heated and twisted around tree trunks to form "Sherman neckties." In each town, men dumped courthouse files from high windows into the streets. In private homes, as their comrades cheered and residents cried, soldiers hurled china against kitchen walls and sent the contents of feather beds avalanching down stairwells; the rear guard denuded the gardens of Madison, Georgia, and marched out of town with roses in their hats and musket barrels. Although the arsonists spared most of the private homes along their route, enough factories, trestles, and granaries were set ablaze that the two columns no longer had to send up flares to announce their position; the commanders just looked for the trail of smoke. "We had a gay old campaign," a New Yorker enthused. "Destroyed all we could not eat, stole their niggers, burned their cotton & gins, spilled their sorghum, burned & twisted the R. Roads and raised Hell generally."

For an army to forage in the surrounding country was nothing novel; the strategy had been a staple of recent campaigns. However, this was despoilment on a brand-new scale. Traveling virtually unopposed, the army could afford to direct all of its energy toward sacking Georgia. What's more, Sherman's foraging system brought the army into close contact with civilians, presenting soldiers with more than the usual temptations. "The nature of the march," remarked Union Gen. Alpheus Williams, "was calculated to remove discipline." (Mercifully, rape appears to have been rare; only two cases were reported during the army's time in central Georgia.) The judge advocate Henry Hitchcock accused Sherman of turning a blind eye to the sins of his men, and many historians have since agreed. Sherman was never a disciplinarian, and he seemed loath to punish his troops for doing, ultimately, what he wanted. "This may be a hard species of warfare, he wrote, "but it brings the sad realities of war home to those who have been directly or indirectly instrumental in involving us in its attendant calamities." Or, as he put it 20 years later, the rebels "deserved all they got and more."

On November 22, the Yankees reached the state capital, Milledgeville. A group of officers took over the abandoned Hall of Representatives and, in a marathon session, repealed the ordinance of secession and sentenced Davis and Gov. Joseph Brown to kicks in the behind. That same day in nearby Griswoldville, a brigade of Federal infantrymen fought the only real battle of the campaign (up until that day, the majority of their ammunition had been fired at chickens). Fifteen hundred of the rear guard had taken a defensive position on a hill just outside town, protected by swamps on either side. Suddenly Georgia militiamen stormed forward in a frontal assault, barreling straight into a cloud of Yankee rifle fire. The Rebels quickly fell back, reformed, and charged a second time. "With more courage than discretion," as one Federal soldier remembered, the Confederates continued to attack head-on, again and again, for hours. When sunset finally ended the battle, the Northerners counted just 62 dead. They swarmed jubilantly from the hill, only to find the field below strewn with the bodies of more than 600 preadolescent boys and old men; this was the force Georgia had mustered to oppose them. "I was never so affected at the sight of dead and wounded before," an Illinoisan wrote. "I hope we will never have to shoot at such men again. They knew nothing at all about fighting and I think their officers knew as little."

As Sherman's columns filed out of Griswoldville and Milledgeville, the soil underfoot changed from clay to sand, a reminder that every day they were drawing closer to the sea. The bountiful harvests dwindled in swamp country, though, and the foragers began to have trouble finding food. Sherman complained about the hordes of stragglers trailing behind his columns, particularly the thousands of slaves who had fled their plantations to follow him to freedom. Although he believed blacks should be free, he deemed them "not fit to marry, to associate, or vote with me, or mine." Now, with forage growing scarce, he wished to rid himself of what he called "useless mouths." As it happened, one of his generals accomplished that for him. After the corps under Gen. Jefferson C. Davis (no relation to the Confederate president) finished crossing 100-foot-wide Ebenezer Creek, 35 miles west of Savannah, they hastily took up the pontoon bridge, stranding 500 black refugees on the opposite bank. Terrified of the approaching Confederate horsemen, they plunged en masse into the frigid stream. Most could not swim. Astonished Federals waded in to help, and some slaves made it safely across. Many more drowned; the rest were rounded up by Rebel soldiers and returned to their owners.

On December 10, Sherman's army plodded through the flooded rice fields around Savannah, where they confronted the city's outermost defenses. A few miles down the coast, Yankee cavalrymen set fire to a church on St. Catherine's Sound as a signal to waiting gunboats. This was the first communication with the Union the army had had since leaving Atlanta four weeks earlier. On December 13, Sherman climbed onto the roof of a rice mill to survey Fort McAllister, which guarded the Ogeechee River at Ossabaw Sound. A Union steamer plied the sea on the horizon, and Sherman's lookouts noticed a signalman sending a wigwag message from the deck. "Who are you?" the sailor asked. "General Sherman," a flagman responded. "Is Fort McAllister taken?" wondered the ship's signalman. "Not yet," came the reply, "but it will be in a minute."

It actually took 15 minutes, but Sherman's troops captured the fort with only 134 Union casualties; the 250-man Confederate garrison lost 48 killed or wounded. That night, Yankee ships began steaming up the Ogeechee River, bringing rations and weeks' worth of mail for the soldiers. Rather than storm the city and its 15,000 regulars and militia, Sherman took position for a siege. But on the night of December 20, while he was in Hilton Head asking Maj. Gen. John Foster for reinforcements, the Rebel force slipped out of the city and into South Carolina. The next morning, the Federal columns marched into Savannah without their leader. A windstorm had waylaid Sherman on his return trip from Hilton Head, forcing him to miss the denouement of his historic march.

When he entered Savannah on December 22, it was to a hero's welcome, from both his men and the Northern press. That day he cabled Lincoln the good news: "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the City of Savannah with 150 heavy guns & plenty of ammunition & also about 25,000 bales of cotton." With the loss of only 381 killed or missing, Sherman had covered 300 miles in 24 days, seized 13,000 cattle, 9,000 horses and mules, and 9.5 million pounds of corn. The columns destroyed 320 miles of railway and ravaged about 12 percent of Georgia's total area. "There was hardly a fence left standing all the way from Sparta to Gordon," a visitor noted just before Christmas. "The fields were trampled down and the road was lined with the carcasses of horses, hogs, and cattle that the invaders, unable either to consume or to carry away with them, had wantonly shot down to starve out the people." Above all, central Georgia was quiet, the winter silence unbroken by lowing cattle or clucking chickens. There weren't any left.

As for Sherman, history has yet to reach full agreement on whether he was an ingenious hero or a shameless sadist. Either way, his campaign had the intended effect. Georgians fell into despair, and people across the South began to lose hope. He had ended a year-long stalemate, and by January 1865 he was

pittsburgh news

2007-12-10T07:17:00.001-08:00

Huskies make defensive gains in loss to Pittsburgh
By DAN RALEY
P-I REPORTER

One problem was fixed when guard Ryan Appleby and his surgically repaired broken thumb were given medical clearance for the Pittsburgh game last Saturday, assuring the Washington basketball team of a significant offensive boost.

Yet there was that other matter of chief concern: When was someone, anyone, in a Huskies uniform going to drop into a defensive stance, move his feet and get in another guy's way?

"After the Oklahoma State game, it hit me right between the eyes," UW coach Lorenzo Romar said. "We're not going anywhere if we don't defend."

His Huskies resembled nothing remotely close to an NCAA or NIT tournament participant while in Stillwater, Okla., on Dec. 1, permitting 96 points, 58 percent shooting and getting embarrassed in a 25-point loss.

Romar addressed the sore subject of defense in a team meeting, and then he took the issue a step further in practice.

"The first two days, there was no offense at all," Appleby said. "It was all defense. It was a lot of running."

"Defense was our focus, and he said we had to improve it to win any games, that it was our identity," junior center Artem Wallace said.

Romar then went even more radical, choosing his lineup for the Pitt game based on defensive performance in practice alone. He made 7-footer Joe Wolfinger and transfer Tim Morris UW starters for the first time, and restored Joel Smith as one after a three-game layoff.

The weekend returns showed that the Huskies lost again, 75-74, when Justin Dentmon's last-second shot was waved off by the officials after a lengthy delay to check the TV monitor, that Romar's team had fallen to 4-4, that it had lost every game that might have given it some postseason weight later.

Romar, after huddling with visiting recruit Tyreese Breshers, stood on the floor at Edmundson Pavilion, maintaining that hope for this season remains if his players will continue to make defensive sacrifices.

"If we will be committed in practice and play like we did (Saturday), we will become a good defensive team," he said. "I thought for a lot of possessions we played good defense."

Appleby's first appearance of the season was more than enough to boost the UW's flagging offense. He led the Huskies in scoring with 18 points. He connected on 6 of 12 3-pointers for a team averaging 36 percent behind the line coming in. He had the Panthers on their heels in the first half. He pulled his team back into a game that was slipping away in the second.

"He's a great player," junior forward Jon Brockman said of Appleby. "Obviously, he's going to help us a lot."

While his accuracy was hardly surprising, the fact the senior guard was able to log 25 minutes against the Panthers after such a long layoff was not readily anticipated.

"I was more impressed with how he didn't tire quickly," Romar said.

The UW coach also said his lethal shooter, even with his slight build, will provide a needed upgrade for the team's work-in-progress defense, based on veteran savvy.

"Ryan Appleby rarely makes mistakes on offense or defense," Romar said. "While a guy may score over him, he's always in the right position. When he was injured, we didn't have anyone who would do that on both ends of the floor. Pitt had four guys who did that."

So the Huskies press on, banking on Appleby swishing them and opening up offensive space, while everyone is asked to concentrate more on the game's unattractive end.

"It's been an emotional week," sophomore forward Quincy Pondexter said, mulling the transfer of teammate Adrian Oliver and his own changing role to former starter. "From losing one of my closest friends to practicing hard on defense and not having the opportunity to start because of my lack of experience and talent on the defensive end, it really hurt."

Yet eight games into the schedule, feelings don't matter anymore. The message to the Huskies is loud and clear: Appleby and the others can hit all the 3-pointers they want, but the season is a total loss if they don't play defense.

"It was obvious in each game that we hadn't been able to stop people," Appleby said. "(Pittsburgh) was the first time when everybody had each other's back."

The New England Patriots have a guarantee of their own for the rest of the NFL: If you waste your workweek talking trash, you will regret it.

The Patriots beat the Steelers 34-13 Sunday to improve to 13-0, finding in Pittsburgh safety Anthony Smith's guaranteed victory the inspiration they needed to return to their dominating form after close calls in consecutive games.

Tom Brady threw four touchdown passes ― two of them to Randy Moss, and two of them burning Smith. One TD was a quick-strike 63-yarder after Moss ran past Smith and cornerback Ike Taylor on his way into the open field.

With 2 minutes left, the crowd reacted to a picture of Smith on the scoreboard with a mocking chant of "Guarantee!"

"When something like that is said, it's either going to be really good for you or really bad. I think we all saw how it turned out there," New England offensive lineman Matt Light said. "The big man upstairs, they say he has a sense of humor."

Today in Sports

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The Patriots were laughing openly after a flea-flicker that went from Brady to Moss, off the turf, and back to Brady, who heaved a 56-yard floater to a wide-open Jabar Gaffney in the end zone. Smith was sprinting to catch up.

"We've played against a lot better safeties than him, I'll tell you," New England coach Bill Belichick said with a smile, adding later: "The safety play at that position was pretty inviting."

After winning their previous two games with a pair of fourth-quarter comebacks, the Patriots clinched a first-round playoff bye. They play the New York Jets (3-10) and winless Miami Dolphins before wrapping up the regular season against the New York Giants (9-4).

New England refused to consider the prospect of going 16-0 ― or 19-0, if they win the Super Bowl: "14-0 means something to me. I think that's about as far as I would go," said Brady, who completed 32-of-46 for 399 yards.

Moss and Brady are on track for records of their own.

Moss, who caught seven passes for 135 yards, needs four more touchdown catches in the last three games to break Jerry Rice's record of 22 in a season. Brady needs five more TDs to break Peyton Manning's record of 49 set in 2004.

"I told him I hope he breaks the record next week, because it's so much fun watching him play," said Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who completed 19 of 32 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown. "I don't like him playing against us and how well he played, but it truly is an honor to watch such a great quarterback play the game."

The Steelers would have clinched a playoff berth with a victory, but still lead the AFC North.

"We are still writing our story," coach Mike Tomlin said. "This is not the final chapter in our story, and it wasn't going to be whether we won or lost."

The Steelers led 3-0 on Jeff Reed's 23-yard field goal, then fell behind 14-3 on the two touchdowns by Moss, for 4 and 63 yards, just 1:59 apart. Roethlisberger's 32-yard scoring pass to Najeh Davenport cut that to 14-10. Reed added a 44-yard field goal just before the 2-minute warning, but Steven Gostkowski kicked a 42-yarder with 42 seconds left in the second quarter to make it 17-13 at halftime.

Then the Patriots blew it open in the second half and held the Steelers scoreless.

The flea-flicker made it 24-13, Brady hit Wes Welker from 2 yards out to make it 31-13 and Gostkowski added a 28-yard field goal with 7:00 left.

Notes:@ Gaffney caught seven passes for 122 yards. ... New England ran for just 22 yards in the game. ... Willie Parker rushed for 124 yards on 21 carries for Pittsburgh. ... Belichick improved to 100-39 as Patriots coach, including the playoffs. ... Brady wasn't sacked. In 476 pass attempts this season, he's been sacked just 16 times. ... Pittsburgh played without starting safeties Ryan Clark, on injured reserve, and Troy Polamalu, who has a knee injury. ... The Patriots became the fifth team with a 13-0 record, joining the 1934 Chicago Bears, 1972 Miami Dolphins, 1998 Denver Broncos and 2005 Indianapolis Colts.

MATTOON, Ill. and GIBSONIA, Pa., Dec. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. ("Consolidated") and North Pittsburgh Systems, Inc. ("North Pittsburgh") announced today that the deadline for North Pittsburgh shareholders to elect the form of merger consideration they wish to receive in connection with the pending merger between North Pittsburgh and a subsidiary of Consolidated will be 5:00 p.m. New York City time on Thursday, December 27, 2007 (the "Election Deadline"). The companies have scheduled Monday, December 31, 2007 as the closing date for the merger.

The companies also announced that on December 5, 2007, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (the "Pennsylvania PUC") approved the transfer of control to Consolidated of North Pittsburgh's subsidiaries that are regulated by the Pennsylvania PUC, North Pittsburgh Telephone Company and Penn Telecom, Inc. This approval satisfied a condition to the completion of the merger.

Pursuant to the merger agreement between North Pittsburgh and Consolidated, each record holder of North Pittsburgh common stock may submit an election, at or prior to the Election Deadline, to have the holder's North Pittsburgh shares converted at the effective time of the merger into the right to receive either:

-- $25.00 in cash, without interest, per North Pittsburgh share ("cash
consideration"), or

-- 1.1061947 shares of Consolidated common stock (including cash in lieu
of any fractional Consolidated share), per North Pittsburgh share
("stock consideration"), or

-- cash consideration with respect to a portion of the shareholder's
North Pittsburgh shares and stock consideration with respect to the
balance of the shareholder's North Pittsburgh shares,

in each case subject to proration so that 80% of the North Pittsburgh shares outstanding immediately prior to the effective time of the merger are converted into the right to receive cash consideration and 20% of the North Pittsburgh shares outstanding immediately prior to the effective time of the merger are converted into the right to receive stock consideration.

In order to make an election, the properly completed and signed Form of Election and Letter of Transmittal must be received by the Exchange Agent for the merger, Computershare Trust Company N.A., at or prior to the Election Deadline in accordance with the instructions accompanying the Form of Election and Letter of Transmittal. The Form of Election and Letter of Transmittal must be accompanied either by certificate(s) representing all the shares of North Pittsburgh common stock covered by the Form of Election and Letter of Transmittal or by a properly completed and signed notice of guaranteed delivery, as described in such instructions.

If a record holder of North Pittsburgh common stock submits a Form of Election and Letter of Transmittal at or prior to the Election Deadline that is accompanied by a notice of guaranteed delivery, the Exchange Agent will consider such Form of Election and Letter of Transmittal to be effective only if the certificate(s) representing the North Pittsburgh shares for which such election was made are received by the Exchange Agent by 5:00 p.m. New York City time on Wednesday, January 2, 2008 (or if confirmation of a book-entry transfer of such shares into the Exchange Agent's account is received by such date and time).

If a North Pittsburgh shareholder does not submit a properly completed and signed Form of Election and Letter of Transmittal (together with any stock certificates representing the shares of North Pittsburgh common stock covered by the election, or a properly completed and signed notice of guaranteed delivery as described above), the shareholder will have no control over the type of merger consideration received. North Pittsburgh shareholders who fail to make an election are likely to receive the form of consideration having the lower value.

Any North Pittsburgh shareholder who holds North Pittsburgh shares in "street name" through a bank, broker or other nominee should follow the instructions given by such bank, broker or other nominee for making an election with respect to those shares.

Any North Pittsburgh shareholder of record who has properly made an election may change the election by submitting a revised and later-dated Form of Election and Letter of Transmittal, properly completed and signed, that is received by the Exchange Agent at or prior to the Election Deadline. Any North Pittsburgh shareholder of record who has properly made an election may revoke the election by written notice that is received by the Exchange Agent at or prior to the Election Deadline. North Pittsburgh shareholders who hold their shares in "street name" should contact their broker for instructions regarding changes or revocations of their existing elections.

Record holders of North Pittsburgh common stock may obtain additional copies of the Form of Election and Letter of Transmittal prior to the Election Deadline by calling MacKenzie Partners, Inc., collect at (212) 929-5500 or toll-free at (800) 322-2885.

North Pittsburgh shareholders are encouraged to obtain current market quotations for Consolidated common stock before deciding what elections to make.

Proxy Statement/Prospectus

This material is not a substitute for the proxy statement/prospectus of North Pittsburgh and Consolidated dated October 9, 2007 which was declared effective on October 9, 2007. Investors are urged to read the proxy statement/prospectus, which contains important information, including detailed risk factors. The proxy statement/prospectus is, and other documents which will be filed by North Pittsburgh and Consolidated with the Securities and Exchange Commission will be, available free of charge at the Securities and Exchange Commission's websiter by directing a request to North Pittsburgh's proxy solicitors, MacKenzie Partners, Inc., collect at (212) 929-5500 or toll-free at (800) 322-2885. The definitive proxy statement/prospectus was first mailed to shareholders of North Pittsburgh on October 12, 2007.

This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

In addition to historical information, this information may contain forward-looking statements regarding, among other things, the anticipated closing of the proposed merger of North Pittsburgh with Consolidated. Such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions, estimates and/or current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties, such as a failure to consummate or a delay in consummating the merger, and other factors referred to in filings made by North Pittsburgh or Consolidated with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Neither North Pittsburgh nor Consolidated undertakes to update any of these statements to reflect the impact of circumstances or events that arise after the date the statement was made. This information should be read in conjunction with the proxy statement/prospectus of North Pittsburgh and Consolidated dated October 9, 2007 and their respective periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the most recent of which are North Pittsburgh's and Consolidated's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2007

pittsburgh newspapers

2007-12-10T07:06:00.000-08:00

Crosby draws headlines, crowds on western tour but not always story on the ice
18 hours ago

VANCOUVER - The NHL's crown prince has finally completed the tour of his domain.

A huge media circus rolled through Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver last week as Sidney Crosby played his first games in the three Western Canadian cities as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

At every stop the 20-year-old with the kid's smile and veteran's manner faced television cameras and microphones. His 100-watt grin was splashed across the front pages of newspapers. His each word was recorded and analyzed.

For fans, Crosby's first appearance in their towns was the highlight of the season. For the well-spoken native of Cole Harbour, N.S., it was another day in what has become his life.

"It was great to play in some new places," said Crosby, after the Penguins completed their sweep of western teams with a 2-1 shootout victory against the Vancouver Canucks Saturday.

"To come here and get all six (points), it's huge. I think we're all excited for the fact we played in some new places against some quality teams and got some wins."

It's taken three years, but Crosby has now played in all 30 NHL cities. Will the hoopla be less the next time Pittsburgh comes to down?

"We'll see if it's like that," Crosby chuckled. "I guess there is no new surprises or anything like that. It's good it get it out of the way."

Crosby is following in the steps of hockey superstars like Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr. They were players who combined skill with personality to transcend the game. Even people who aren't hockey fans know their names.

Being the face of a game can be a heavy load. Some people crumble under the pressure, but Crosby doesn't seem to struggle with the weight.

"It's easy for him," said teammate Georges Laraque, who was traded to the Penguins from Phoenix in February. "It's like this every game. It's not just like this on this tour.

"Everywhere we go he gets this attention. He's a great ambassador. Hockey is lucky in the fact Mario and Wayne were great ambassadors on and off the ice. Crosby is taking over from them. He handles himself really good in front of the cameras. We're just lucky the NHL has such a great kid to be the face of the NHL."

Crosby understands his role. In Calgary, he signed autographs at the airport at 2 a.m.

He went to Edmonton knowing there would be the comparisons with Gretzky.

"I don't think anybody is Gretzky," said Crosby, who was nine months hold when Gretzky won his last Stanley Cup with the Oilers.

The fan crush was so huge in Edmonton Crosby was forced to stay in his hotel with two security guards outside the door.

Any resentment Vancouver fans had for Crosby not playing in the January 2005 CHL Top Prospects game was forgotten. One young woman appeared at the rink with a sign that said "I'd give a kidney to makeout with Sidney."

"It's part of it," he shrugged.

While Crosby made the headlines in each city he wasn't always the story of the game.

He didn't score a goal all trip and was held pointless after collecting three, third-period assists in the Penguins 4-2, come-from-behind victory against the Oilers. He didn't register a shot on goal in a Pittsburgh's 3-2 shootout win over the Flames.

Crosby had the chance to write a Hollywood ending against the Canucks.

He was awarded a penalty shot in overtime after being hauled down by defenceman Aaron Miller on a breakaway, but failed to score.

He could have won the game for Pittsburgh in the shootout but again was denied by Canuck goaltender Roberto Luongo.

"Those are opportunities you thrive on," said Crosby. "You hope to get those, unfortunately they didn't go it."

He was satisfied with his play Saturday.

"I thought I created a little more than in Calgary," said Crosby, the NHL's scoring leader and most valuable player last year, who has gone five games without a goal. "I'm a lot happier with this game than Calgary for sure."

While Crosby may not have played his best hockey no one complained. There's little doubt his presence brings the best out of not only his teammates, but the opposition.

"Just playing against those kinds of guys you want to have your best effort," said Alex Burrows, part of the checking line that shadowed Crosby all night in Vancouver. "You don't want to be looking dumb out there. If you don't have your A game, he will just walk all over you."

Penguins coach Michel Therrien was pleased his team won its fourth consecutive game and improved its record to 15-12-2.

"For him (Crosby) to come out West was really demanding with all the attention he got," said Therrien. "He played hard."
Crosby draws headlines, crowds on western tour but not always story on the ice
18 hours ago