3:30 PM: Former Chicago White Sox & Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen tweeted about Dustin Pedroia signing a 7-year, $100 million contract extension with the Boston Red Sox: "congrats to pedroia for is new contract one of my favorite player can i have some change please lol lol"
3:15 PM: The South Alabama Jaguars unveiled new football uniforms for their 2013 season. Jaguars QB Ross Metheny said of the new duds: "They're pretty sweet. Not only do they look good but I think they're going to make us play better."
3:00 PM: KHOU-TV reports that former NFL QB Vince Young will have to have his personal items auctioned off to pay back a $1.7 million loan judgment against him. Police visited Young's home on Monday to evaluate the worth his belongings.
2:45 PM: UTEP defensive back Richard Spencer was arrested early Wednesday morning on assault charges for allegedly pushing a woman against a truck outside an El Paso bar and injuring her.
2:30 PM: Former Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson was sentenced to one year probation & fined $345 as part of a plea deal on charges that he beat & strangled his ex-girlfriend. Johnson was also sentenced to 48 hours of community service and told not to have any contact with the victim or her family.
2:15 PM: U.S. women's soccer player Abby Wambach tweeted her congrats to the men's team for defeating Honduras 3-1 & advancing to the CONCACAF Gold Cup final. The U.S. will face Panama, who defeated Mexico 2-1.
2:00 PM: The Chicago City Council on Wednesday approved a $500 million renovation plan for Wrigley Field & the surrounding area. But Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts is concerned about rooftop club owners suing the team if new advertising signs at the ballpark block the clubs' views.
1:45 PM: Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said Wednesday night that he's "sad" about the Ryan Braun suspension but plans to keep the outfielder: "He apologized again to me today. I also expressed the need for him to work to redeem himself. It's going to take some time and take some work."
1:30 PM: R-Sport reports that athletes at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia will have a chance to win gold medals containing bits of a meteorite. The medals will be awarded for events on February 15, the one-year anniversary of the Chelyabinsk meteor strike.
1:15 PM: Two cyclists that were part of a larger group on a cross-country trip through Canada were killed after being struck by a pickup truck near Nipigon, Ontario on Tuesday.
1:00 PM: L.A. Clippers player J.J. Redick went on Twitter Wednesday to deny reports that he signed a document in 2007 for his girlfriend to have an abortion: "Continued attention to these lies is severely damaging to myself and my family."
12:45 PM:Sylvester Stallone announced that UFC fighter Ronda Rousey & boxer Victor Ortiz are set to appear in "The Expendables 3", with the film scheduled to be released in August 2014.
12:30 PM: Film director Steven Soderbergh earned himself dinner & courtside seats at a Knicks game with Spike Lee after donating $10,000 to Lee's Kickstarter project for a new movie.
12:15 PM: A Windsor, Ontario man prompted an international rescue operation Monday night when he attempted to swim across the Detroit River. John Morillo admitted he was drinking when he attempted the swim, and he did manage to reach Detroit before running into problems on his swim back to Windsor.
12:00 PM: In order to convince people not to swim in one of its blue yet very toxic lagoons, the town of Buxton, England has dyed the blue lagoon black.
11:30 AM: WSPA-TV reports Spartanburg, South Carolina private basketball coach Anthony Bernard Jenkins was arrested Monday on charges of having sex with an underage female player. Police say the sexual assaults began when the player was 14 years old.
11:15 AM: Former Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb said it was a "sour day" for him returning to the team's facility after he was traded: "I would have loved to have had another couple years after that and just say 'Thank you, I'm done.' But it didn't happen that way."
11:00 AM: New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte moved past Sandy Koufax to 39th place on the MLB all-time strikeout list during Wednesday's game against the Texas Rangers. But the Rangers wound up winning the game 3-1
10:45 AM: German newspaper Bild reports that Dallas Mavericks player Dirk Nowitzki is a new father after wife Jessica gave birth Thursday to a baby daughter.
10:30 AM: Former Washington Redskins player Darren Green says he doesn't want to see the team change its name. Green said that the point he was making in an interview with Art Monk was that any offense over the Redskins name should merit at least a discussion: "Where it lands, that's another thing."
10:15 AM: Yahoo's Marc J. Spears reports that LeBron James won't play for Team USA in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain and is doubtful to play in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
10:00 AM: The Atlanta Braves said that pitcher Tim Hudson suffered a fractured right ankle after being stepped on by Mets baserunner Eric Young Jr. during Wednesday night's game. Hudson will undergo surgery once the swelling around the ankle goes down.
9:00 PM: After the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Boston Bruins to win the Stanley Cup, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick volunteered at a Chicago food bank on Tuesday to settle his bet with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, who was also at the food bank.
8:45 PM: Russian Olympic pole vaulter & world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva says she will retire from the sport following next month's world championships in Moscow.
8:30 PM: The Seattle Mariners announced that manager Eric Wedge, who was released from the hospital Thursday, had suffered a mild stroke and will be out for at least through next week.
8:15 PM: WBAY-TV reports that more than 13,000 people showed up at Lambeau Field Wednesday for the Green Bay Packers' annual shareholders meeting. At the meeting, general manager Ted Thompson said that he "thanks God every day" that Mike McCarthy is the Packers' coach.
8:00 PM: University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff linebacker Lydell Hartford Jr. died early Tuesday morning after being accidentally shot by a 16-year-old friend. The teen reportedly found a pistol while both were in a car belonging to Hartford's mother.
7:45 PM: Butler County, Ohio soccer coach Craig Rhodis was arrested on charges of secretly videotaping two female players who were changing clothes in his home.
7:30 PM: Paralyzed football player Eric LeGrand shares a message of support he received from Adam Taliaferro, a former Penn State football player who broke his neck in a 2000 game but was eventually able to walk again.
7:15 PM: The Oneida Nation released a statement praising Art Monk & Darrell Green after the former Washington Redskins players said the team should "seriously consider" changing its name if Native Americans are offended.
Choosing the right network marketing business for you will be one of the most important business decisions you will make. Your choice could easily be the difference in whether or not you succeed. So in this article We will look at what you need to understand in order tohelp you come to the right decision.
High Ticket Products:
High Ticket and high demand products should be the very first thing you should look for in a network marketing business. The niche that your choice of business is in should be reflected in their products, and the markeplace demand for them. e.g Travel, Weight Loss, and Home Business are ALWAYS in demand and most Network Marketing Businesses within these niches usually have high ticket products associated with them.
If there is not sufficient demand and/or the price point is set to low, you will find that you will have to sell a lot of products and recruit a lot of team members if you are to realise your income goals.
The compensation plan:
Seen by most to be the most important consideration of all, the compensation plan is something else that needs a thorough investigation, after all you need to ensure that you will be substantially rewarded for your business building efforts.
So make sure that firstly the compensation plan suits your vision and goals for developing your network marketing business. Investigate the one off payment you receive for each sale and also the residual payment you will receive EVERY month, as this is where the BIG money is usually made and normally provides the incentive for you to recruit and grow your business.
Leadership:
Your Network Marketing business choice SHOULD have great leaders. You see, network marketing IS NOT about making money fast (although compared to traditional business models it can seem sometimes like overnight success) so it takes real genuine leadership skills to help you excell and grow.
A mentor is imperative, providing of course that your mentor is succeeding and can help you duplicate their success. So make sure you check out the leadership within the business, if necessary try to meet with them personally, or at least talk with them and make sure?you are happy that they are the kind of people you would like to work with.
Business Systems:
Many people come into the network marketing business as complete novices in ANY sort of business. This can actually be a blessing if you align yourself with the right company, because you will have no pre-conceived ideas about how the business works and therefore you will be very receptive to the business model and plan.
However most people who fail with network marketing do so because of the lack of a system to follow, so the final check you should make is to whether or not the network marketing business of your choice has the following already in place:
1) Marketing Training. 2) Recruitment Training. 3) A Duplicable Business system. 4) Support from your upline.
Most great network marketing leaders understand that their success is your success, so ensure you do your due diligence and only align yourself with the network marketing business which has YOUR success as it?s main priority.
All the best.
?Make every Day an AWESOME Day?
Jon Leuty Online Marketing Specialist Empower Network
PS. Click on the image below to go to a ?Secret Webinar? were you will learn all about the most lucrative Business model on the Planet today!
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? LG Electronics' latest quarterly report underlined challenges facing global electronics makers as weak TV demand and stiffer competition in smartphones undermine profit.
The results Wednesday showed an 8 percent decline in April-June net profit to 155.5 billion won ($140 million) even as LG's revenue rose 10 percent from a year earlier to 15.2 trillion won ($13.6 billion). Operating profit fell 9 percent from a year earlier to 479 billion won.
LG's TV sales improved a bit and smartphone sales hit a quarterly high of 12.1 million handsets. The smartphone shipment figure was more than double from the year-earlier quarter.
But that was not enough to create bigger profits as consumers snapped up cheaper devices that have lower margins for manufacturers. LG said sales of LCD TVs rose but soft TV demand combined with competition from rivals depressed TV prices.
Even though LG turned around its loss-making mobile unit to the world's No. 3 smartphone supplier, its handset business is not a cash cow like Samsung and Apple's, which dominate the high-tier smartphone market. LG's cheaper smartphones are popular but also burden the company with heavy marketing costs.
To improve its bottom line, LG is rolling out high-end models for its core TV and handset businesses in the current quarter.
Earlier this week, LG began sales in the U.S. market of curved TVs that cost $15,000.
LG and Samsung Electronics Co., the world's two largest TV makers, have invested billions of dollars to make giant TVs with OLED screens, or organic light-emitting diodes, hoping to outclass the crispness and color saturation of other TVs. But there are still challenges to successful OLED mass production, accounting for their high price.
On the smartphone side, LG is set to introduce the latest iteration of its flagship Optimus G series phone globally by October. LG has not launched a new smartphone in the second quarter.
The G2 smartphone will be its first smartphone to have a debut event at Apple's home market. On Aug. 7, LG is announcing the G2 smartphone at the Lincoln Center in New York City.
LG said the G2 smartphone secured contracts with more global wireless carriers than its predecessors, including Verizon Wireless, which will help expand sales. Chief financial officer Jung Do Hyun said the company plans to spend big on marketing in the third quarter to promote the new phone as LG struggles to build premium brand in the mobile market.
The company needs a "mega hit smartphone to dramatically raise its profit," said So Hyun-chul, an analyst at Shinhan Investment Corp.
That is the same challenge facing other top smartphone makers.
While Apple and Samsung Electronics cashed in on the initial explosive growth in smartphone use, impressing consumers with new smartphones has become harder as top handset makers offer similar hardware features. Growth is stalling in developed countries where smartphone use has reached saturation point. Emerging markets are still growing but the demand is for cheaper phones that are less profitable for the handset makers.
LG said its second-quarter smartphone sales increased thanks to demand for middle-tier smartphones.
On Tuesday, Apple reported lower quarterly earnings for the second straight quarter as it increased sales of older, less expensive models of the iPhone instead of the latest version.
___
Follow Youkyung Lee on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/YKLeeAP
As the once-proud city of Detroit humbles itself in bankruptcy court, its financial future may hinge on this key question: Is the city obliged to its past? Or can Detroit renege on its promises to thousands of retirees for the sake of its present city services?
The legal question at the heart of Detroit's bankruptcy filing has never definitively been answered by the nation's highest courts. But it could become increasingly important as cities from coast to coast are grappling with shortfalls in pension funds that left unchecked could force cutbacks to police, firefighters and other essential city services.
A federal judge overseeing Detroit's bankruptcy case is to hold his first hearing Wednesday, as Detroit spars with its employees over whether state lawsuits from pension beneficiaries can proceed.
Some cities, like Detroit, are located in states where pension benefits are guaranteed in full according to state constitutions, statutes or court precedent. Yet Detroit's emergency manager is asserting that those guarantees go away in federal bankruptcy court, leaving retirees in the same pool as numerous other creditors who may get mere cents for each dollar they are owed.
"There's not a lot of previous case law that tells us what's going to happen here," said Paul Secunda, a Marquette University law professor who specializes in labor and benefits issues.
"It's not just an issue of bankruptcy law and pension law, it's also an issue of federalism," Secunda said. "Can a federal bankruptcy court basically ignore a state constitutional provision and allow a city like Detroit to ignore its previous promises concerning public employee pensions?"
The question matters because pensions pose a major liability for states, counties, cities, schools and other local governmental entities. A report released earlier this year by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that the nation's largest cities had a combined pension shortfall of almost $100 billion and an even larger shortfall in retiree health-care benefits as the nation's financial crisis peaked in the 2009 fiscal year.
Although municipal finances generally have improved since then, many local retirement plans remain on an unsustainable path, the Pew organization said.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr contend that retiree benefits should be able to be trimmed along with other debts to restore the city's finances. Detroit has about 21,000 retired workers who are owed benefits, with underfunded obligations of about $3.5 billion for pensions and $5.7 billion for retiree health coverage.
"There have to be concessions," Orr said earlier this week.
A similar situation is unfolding in Stockton, Calif., which entered bankruptcy in April after its property tax revenues were hit hard by the housing crisis. Stockton owes the California Public Employees' Retirement System about $900 million to cover pension promises, by far the city's largest financial obligation. The city already has tried to save costs elsewhere by slashing employment, cutting health benefits for current workers and limiting its police force to responding only to emergencies in progress.
Bond insurers contend that pension cuts should be part of Stockton's debt reduction plan to be submitted to a bankruptcy judge in September. Attorneys for the creditors argue that employees who benefited when economic times were good should have to share the pain now that times are bad.
But union representatives contend retiree benefits already have been earned and shouldn't be part of the discussion in bankruptcy court.
"It's essentially similar to salary ? you just don't reach inside somebody's savings account and take their pay back, nor should you reach inside their pension and deny them their pension benefits," said Steve Kreisberg, director of collective bargaining and pensions for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
The legal arguments could center on two provisions of the U.S. Constitution ? Article 6, which declares U.S. laws to be supreme; and the 10th Amendment, which reserves for states all powers not constitutionally delegated to the federal government.
Laws governing local public employee pensions are one of those areas left to state control.
Federal bankruptcy laws also require states to grant permission before their local governments can file Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy cases. Only about half the states have authorized municipal bankruptcy filings, and many of those have done so only in limited circumstances.
The question for courts is whether a state's pension laws take greater precedence because of their 10th Amendment powers, or whether states have essentially waived that right by agreeing to let cities to participate in federal bankruptcy proceedings.
"The cases in Stockton and Detroit are similar in that they will answer the question on how far the U.S. Bankruptcy Code goes and whether that trumps state law," said Karol Denniston, a San Francisco attorney who specializes in municipal restructuring and monitors bankruptcies across the nation. "There are a lot of cities watching how this plays out."
Other recent municipal bankruptcies provide only limited guidance.
Rhode Island lacked a pension-guarantee law similar to Michigan's when the city of Central Falls filed for bankruptcy in 2011. Under a settlement approved last year by a federal bankruptcy judge, some retired Central Falls workers took pension cuts of more than 50 percent. But the state created a fund to help offset some of those lost benefits.
The city of Vallejo, Calif., which filed for bankruptcy in 2008, had threatened to stop paying pension benefits, but an out-of-court settlement was reached that set no precedent on the issue.
If a federal bankruptcy judge in Detroit or Stockton overrules state laws against pension reductions, "we would have a constitutional crisis at that point," said Hank Kim, the executive director of the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems, a trade association for public pension plans.
But it also could provide a path to financial stability for other troubled cities.
"It could potentially have a large impact in how these pension obligations get treated," Secunda said.
___
Associated Press writer Tracie Cone contributed to this report.
Corey Crawford. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
(CBS)?Five Blackhawks were invited to Canada?s team orientation camp and three were invited to the United States? camp.
A total of 47 players were invited to Canada?s camp, including Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Corey Crawford. The Blackhawks invited to the U.S. camp were Patrick Kane, Nick Leddy and Brandon Saad.
The camps allow team management to acclimate the players with their plans for the Olympics in Sochi. The U.S. camp will be held Aug. 26-27 in Arlington, Va. while Canada will take the ice Aug. 25-28 in Calgary.
Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock will serve as head coach for the Canadian team, while Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma heads the U.S. squad.
View the entire roster for Canada?s team orientation camp here.
Want to know why it?s less important for Apple to have the top overall market share for smartphone sales? It?s all about the value that iOS devices can produce for the company and new data from Opera?s global advertising network shows that iOS is very valuable indeed. The Next Web reports that Opera?s latest figures show that iOS devices generate almost half of all mobile ad revenue across its network while Android devices account for just 28% of all mobile ad revenues. Things are even grimmer for other mobile platforms, however: BlackBerry generates 5.4% of revenues, Symbian generates 1.6% of revenues and Windows Phone generates a mere 0.3% of revenues. The iPad is obviously a big part of Apple?s dominance in the mobile ad world, but even when you take it out of the equation, Apple?s iPhone still generates 36.5% of all mobile ad revenues, which is more than Android?s total market share for both phones and tablets.
[More from BGR: Moto X leak may reveal Google?s plan to attack its own Android partners]
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling bloc won a decisive election victory on Sunday, cementing his grip on power but raising the possibility he could lose interest in difficult economic reform and shift focus to his nationalist agenda instead.
The win in the election for parliament's upper house gives the hawkish Abe a stronger mandate for his "Abenomics" recipe to revive the economy and sets the stage for the first stable government since popular Junichiro Koizumi left office in 2006.
But it also raises concern about him keeping his victorious party in line.
"The outcome of this election shows that the public wants politics that can make decisions and (a government) that can push forward policies," Abe told NHK public television.
The win spells a personal political redemption for Abe, who led his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to a humiliating defeat in a 2007 upper house poll in his first term as premier.
The ensuing parliamentary deadlock allowed the opposition to block legislation and led to Abe's resignation two months later. That "twisted parliament" has hampered policies for most of the six years since and led to a string of revolving-door leaders.
Abe, 58, who returned to power after a big win in December's lower house poll for his LDP and coalition partner New Komeito, reiterated that he would remain focused on fixing the economy with a mix of hyper-easy monetary policy, fiscal spending and a growth strategy including structural reforms.
"We've argued that our economic policies aren't mistaken, and the public gave us their support. People now want to feel the benefits. The economy indeed is improving," Abe said.
"We'd like to do our best to generate a positive cycle - in which job conditions improve and wages rise, boosting personal consumption and prompt companies to invest more - as soon as possible."
But concerns have already surfaced that the size of the LDP-led bloc's victory will weaken Abe's resolve for economic reform in the face of opposition to deregulation from LDP lawmakers with close ties to industries that would suffer from change.
"So far, Abe's opponents were opposition parties. But from now on, he might find himself having to fight with people within his own party," said Tomoaki Iwai, a political science professor at Nihon University in Tokyo.
"It is too early to tell if he can maintain his leadership as he did so far."
Critics also worry Abe will shift focus to the conservative agenda that has long been central to his ideology, and concentrate on revising the post-war pacifist constitution and recasting Tokyo's wartime history with a less apologetic tone.
Such a shift, along with moves to strengthen Japan's defense posture, would further fray ties with China and South Korea, where bitter memories of Japan's past militarism run deep. Tokyo is already engaged in tense territorial rows with Beijing and Seoul over tiny, uninhabited islands.
"One big question is how PM Abe wants to use this power he now has. Will he continue to focus on an economic agenda, or will be try to use the advantage on his pet projects like changing the constitution," said Takuji Okubo, chief economist at Japan Macro Advisors in Tokyo.
"Some people think, now that Abe has this very firm majority, both upper house and lower house, he might actually divert away from an economic agenda and spend his political capital on political issues," Okubo added.
OPPOSITION DRUBBING
Abe said more debate was needed to win public understanding on constitutional reform. "I would like to deepen proper debate in a calm and stable situation," he said.
Abe has declined to say whether as premier he will visit Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine for war dead, where Japanese leaders convicted by an Allied tribunal as war criminals are also honored. A visit on the August 15 anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War Two would spark outrage in the region.
A Reuters poll showed Japanese firms generally wanted the LDP to win the election but they worry a landslide victory would allow Abe to prioritize nationalist policies over the economy, as critics say he did during his troubled 2006-2007 term.
Media projections showed the LDP and New Komeito would win more than 70 of the 121 seats up for grabs in the 242-seat upper house. With the coalition's uncontested 59 seats, that hands it a hefty majority, solidifying Abe's grip on power and raising the chances of a long-term Japanese leader for the first time since the reformist Koizumi's rare five-year term ended in 2006.
No election for either house of parliament need be held until 2016.
Exit polls showed, however, that the LDP fell short of winning an upper house majority in its own right for the first time since 1989, although it could put in a better performance than in 2001, when the party was led by the popular Koizumi.
The LDP and two smaller parties that back Abe's drive to revise Japan's pacifist constitution to legitimize the military looked to fall short of the two-thirds majority needed to take revisions of the charter to a public referendum, the exit polls showed. Those parties have two-thirds of the lower house seats.
Despite the LDP-led bloc's win, the party's pro-nuclear power stance is unpopular, and plans to restart reactors that have been off-line since the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster could run into trouble.
Abe will also have to decide whether to go ahead with an increase in a 5 percent sales tax to 8 percent next April, the first stage in a planned doubling of the levy to rein in Japan's massive public debt.
Finance Minister Taro Aso told a G20 meeting in Moscow on Saturday the tax increase would be implemented but Abe said he wanted to decide later in the year whether to go ahead.
The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which surged to power in 2009 to end more than half a century of almost non-stop LDP rule only to be ousted last year, suffered its biggest drubbing since its founding in 1998. Exits polls showed the party winning 21 or fewer seats.
"Given that this government is getting a big mandate out of what seems to be a low turnout, it's not like there's a popular enthusiasm strongly behind Abe," said Kochi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University.
"It's sort of an empty victory that's exaggerated both by the electoral system and because of the low turnout, so we can talk about the crisis of Japanese democracy. It's unhealthy for any parliamentary democracy not to have opposition that would keep the government in check."
(Additional reporting by Leika Kihara, Chikafumi Hodo, Kaori Kaneko, Yuka Obayashi, Yoshiyuki Osada, Kiyoshi Takenaka and Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Police officers stand in front of the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, where Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge arrived to give birth in ...
Thunderstorms flash flooding possible Monday | VIDEO
Baltimore Sun - Monday 22nd July, 2013
Fox 43 meteorologist Jeff Jumper says your Monday commute will start warm with a few stray drops of rain, then you might see scattered showers for the drive ...
Two dead in Baltimore fire
ABC 2 - Monday 22nd July, 2013
BALTIMORE, Md. - Two people are dead in an early morning fire in Baltimore. The fire broke out shortly before 3:30 am in the 800 block of Park Ave in the Mid-Town Belvedere neighborhood of Baltimore. Officials say two men are dead. There is no word on their identity at this time. While crews were battling the fire on Park Ave, a fire fighter was hurt fighting a fire near the intersection of East ...
MSU wants lawsuit thrown out
ABC 2 - Monday 22nd July, 2013
Lawyers for Maryland's Morgan State University are asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the school of negligence for ignoring escalating warning signs that one of its students was a threat to ...
Can Your Social Media Image Affect Your Chances of Getting Into College
CBS 5 - Monday 22nd July, 2013
How many admissions officers are using the internet to screen applicants? What kind of online behavior affects a student?s admission to the college of their choice, and how can students prepare their online footprint for inspection? According ...
Prince Williams pregnant wife Kate in hospital in labor
Reuters - Monday 22nd July, 2013
1 of 4. Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, meets scouts at the National Review of Queen's Scouts at Windsor Castle in Berkshire, near London in this April 21, 2013 file photo. Prince William's pregnant wife Kate has been taken to hospital ahead of the birth of the couple's first child who will be third in line to the British throne, his office said on July 22, 2013. ...
Sixteen Year Old Girl Found With Her Throat Slashed In Northwest Baltimore
Examiner - Monday 22nd July, 2013
According to published accounts, 16 year old Diamond William's father knew something was wrong when his typically homebody daughter who rarely ventured out after dark failed to come home on Thursday evening. He had just spoken to his daughter just two hours before he filed a missing person's report with ...
Baton passes to Feldman as hot Os go to KC
Baltimore Orioles - Monday 22nd July, 2013
The Royals will host the Orioles in the second series following the All-Star break. Both teams are coming off series wins, hoping to get on a post-break roll. The Royals lost five consecutive contests heading into the break, but then took two of three from the American League Central-leading Tigers. "Our guys come and play hard every day," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "We lost ...
Kamilah Madelyn Key Hair Stylist for Baltimore Fashion Week
Examiner - Sunday 21st July, 2013
Fashion Week, Sharan Nixon met at a fashion mixer a few weeks ago. The interview was set and the creativity began. During the event Kamilah was excited to discuss the possibilities with Ms. Nixon that it was somewhat clear that this was the correct ...
Chris Tillman guides the Orioles to a 4-2 win and a series sweep of the Rangers
Baltimore Sun - Sunday 21st July, 2013
Showalter often talks about how this group of Orioles players are easy to trust, so he saw quickly that there was no need to preach the importance of sustaining their level of play down the stretch in search of a second straight playoff berth. The Orioles kicked off the second half this weekend with their first road sweep of the season, relying on eight strong innings from All-Star ...
MLB Baltimore 4 Texas 2
Middle East Times - Sunday 21st July, 2013
Chris Tillman improved to 12-3 with eight efficient innings Sunday that propelled Baltimore to a 4-2 victory that finished a three-game sweep of Texas. Tillman controlled the Rangers who managed six hits and three walks but only two runs off the right-hander, who struck out seven. Tillman extended his dominance against American League West opponents, improving to 11-1 in 13 career starts. ...
Possible lightning strike ignites fire
ABC 2 - Sunday 21st July, 2013
SEVERNA PARK, Md. (WMAR) - A lightning strike may have been the cause of a fire in Anne Arundel County on Sunday. Anne Arundel County Fire officials say the fire broke out around 4:40 p.m. in the 700 block of Oak Grove Circle in Severna Park. A person who lives in the home believes the flames were sparked by lightning as storms moved through the area. The fire was contained to the roof off the ...
Weather Blog Wet Start To Work-week
WJZ 13 - Sunday 21st July, 2013
The start of the work-week looks to be pretty active weather-wise as a lingering frontal boundary continues to pour moisture into the mid-Atlantic. Starting tomorrow, the front is expected to push northward slightly into southern PA. This will not only increase shower and thunderstorm activity further north, but the humidity will also be on the rise. However, the oppressive heat does not look ...
Lightning photos and video around Baltimore from July 20 storm
Examiner - Sunday 21st July, 2013
The photos and videos attached here are from a cluster of storms that erupted during the evening. The main image here is over Annapolis from Jennifer Casey Photography and ...
Woman robbed at Maryland Live Casino
ABC 2 - Sunday 21st July, 2013
HANOVER, Md. (WMAR) - A woman was held at knife point and told to hand over her purse at Maryland Live! Casino. Anne Arundel County Police say the incident happened around 7:45 a.m. Sunday morning. When officers arrived on the scene, they found that a 71-year-old woman was approached by a man with a knife as she was about to get on an elevator. The man reportedly attempted to snatch her purse ...
Giant ?Corpse Flower? Blooms Next To U.S. Capitol
WJZ 13 - Sunday 21st July, 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The long wait is finally over for visitors who have been yearning for a whiff of a giant flower that smells oddly like rotting flesh. The giant rainforest plant known as a ';corpse flower'; for its terrible smell began blooming Sunday afternoon at the U.S. Botanic Garden next to the Capitol. Experts had been anticipating its bloom for more than a week and have ...
Wieters wielding hot bat out of second-half gate
Baltimore Orioles - Sunday 21st July, 2013
Email ARLINGTON -- Matt Wieters has traditionally been a second-half hitter, and the catcher has stayed true to form in Baltimore's first series after the All-Star break, going 6-for-10 with two RBIs and four runs after notching hits in his first two at-bats in Sunday's finale against the Rangers. "Just being able to stay locked in as the approach, where no matter how I feel, ...
BMore Green Group seeks to reclaim citys forests
Baltimore Sun - Sunday 21st July, 2013
A forest grows in Govans. As traffic rumbles by on busy York Road, cardinals flit about in a shady grove of trees sandwiched between a CVS drugstore and the Govans-Boundary Parish United Methodist Church. In a city where some neighborhoods are practically tree-less, Baltimore is surprisingly rich in forests like this one. They're not that big, most of them, or maybe much to look at right ...
Port administration wants to build auto terminal at Sparrows Point
Baltimore Sun - Sunday 21st July, 2013
The Maryland Port Administration wants to build an auto terminal at the former Sparrows Point steel mill in the next few years, speeding plans to bring jobs to an area hungry for ...
Community health centers brace for changes from health reform
Baltimore Sun - Sunday 21st July, 2013
Mount Vernon clinic at least once a month to pick up medications and get checkups. "It's a big difference," Townes, 49, said of the personalized treatment she receives compared with the care her friends get at hospitals. Community health centers such as Chase Brexton are about to play a far larger role in the nation's health care when the federal health reform law is fully ...
Baltimore choir offers a fresh and radical praise
Examiner - Sunday 21st July, 2013
Their names are Mia Miller, Sade Mcqueen, Ciera Monae, Adasha Smith, Michelle Manning, Shalena Harris, Tavon Charles, Jewyl Raikes, and Jennifer Harrison.Together they make up a group, under the leadership of director Daniel Curtis, called Radical Praise.The group has been in existence, under various names, for thirteen years. They are all young people ranging in ages from 20 - ...
Pair Of Armed Robberies Reported At Maryland Live Casino
WJZ 13 - Sunday 21st July, 2013
It happened in the parking garage of the casino. The suspect apparently fled after the woman turned over an undisclosed amount of cash. Police say the same man tried to rob an elderly woman at the casino just a few minutes earlier. No one was hurt in either incident. Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call Metro Crime Stoppers ...
Seychelles President James Michel met with the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Vuk Jeremic at State House this afternoon. Mr. Jeremic is in Seychelles to address the AIMS Regional Preparatory Meeting for the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
President Michel congratulated Mr. Jeremic on his dynamic presidency of the UNGA during the last year, where the interests of the developing world were often brought to the forefront of its discussions.
"Thank you for championing the cause of Small Islands Developing States and for the support you have given us in the AIMS Regional Preparatory Meeting. This will make a difference in the agenda which is set for the Samoa conference, and further promote our common aims for sustainable development, "said the President.
Mr. Jeremic said that the conference is timely and will provide an opportunity for SIDS to make their voices heard and ensure they have a constructive and active role in the development agenda in the UNGA.
" We will be discussing the post-2015 development agenda currently being developed in the United Nations, and in particular the priorities of the small island states.... We discussed how these priorities can be integrated in the broader goals of the international community," said Mr. Jeremic.
The President of the UNGA commended Seychelles for the progress it has made in its economic and social development, and added that Seychelles is making a strong impact with its work within the United Nations system.
"Seychelles is a small country but a very visible country in the international community...I think the Seychelles balanced very well the interests of various countries, like in the fight against piracy.... in development issues, renewable energy and the blue economy.... You do have a good image in the United Nations," said Mr. Jeremic.
Mr. Jeremic added that in the UN General Assembly each country has one vote, and by grouping together to form a common position on issues that are their priority, small island states, which are large in numbers, therefore have a serious negotiating power in the United Nations. Furthermore, Mr. Jeremic expressed his confidence that the Seychelles bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council 2017-2018 term would be successful in the vote in 2016.
? Vuk Jeremi? was elected President of the sixty-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly on 8 June 2012. At the time of his election, he was serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, an office he held starting on 15 May 2007. He ends his term in the UNGA in mid - September 2013. ? Present at the meeting were; Minister for Environment and Energy, Professor Rolph Payet, the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Barry Faure, the President's Diplomatic Adviser, Ambassador Callixte d'Offay, as well as the UNGA President's Chef de Cabinet, Mr. Zdravko Pono?.
Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Jean Segura cannot come up with a ball hit by Miami Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton during the seventh inning of a baseball game on Sunday, July 21, 2013, in Milwaukee. Segura was given an error on the play. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Jean Segura cannot come up with a ball hit by Miami Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton during the seventh inning of a baseball game on Sunday, July 21, 2013, in Milwaukee. Segura was given an error on the play. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Miami Marlins' Marcell Ozuna reacts after flying out during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Sunday, July 21, 2013, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Miami Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria makes a diving play on a ball hit by Milwaukee Brewers' Martin Maldonado during the fourth inning of a baseball game on Sunday, July 21, 2013, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Milwaukee Brewers' Jeff Bianchi (14) is out at second as Miami Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria turns a double play on a ball hit by Wily Peralta during the third inning of a baseball game on Sunday, July 21, 2013, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Miami Marlins second baseman Derek Dietrich makes a throw to first on a ball hit by Milwaukee Brewers' Logan Schafer during the third inning of a baseball game on Sunday, July 21, 2013, in Milwaukee. Schafer was safe at first on the play. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
MILWAUKEE (AP) ? Caleb Gindl hit his first career home run in the bottom of the 13th inning and the Milwaukee Brewers beat Miami 1-0 on Sunday, shutting out the punchless Marlins for the third consecutive game.
Miami has gone a club-record 37 innings without a run, the longest drought by a major league team in 28 years. The Houston Astros were held scoreless for 42 consecutive innings in July 1985, according to STATS.
The Marlins haven't scored since Derek Dietrich drove in two runs in the fourth inning of a 5-2 loss in 10 innings to the Washington Nationals on July 14.
Sunday's game was the longest scoreless game in the majors since Boston won 1-0 in 16 innings at Tampa Bay on July 17, 2011.
The Brewers were the last team in the majors to produce a shutout this season, but now have eight in the team's past 31 games. While the Marlins have been blanked 12 times.
James Woods went on a bit of a Twitter rant after President Obama yesterday addressed Trayvon Martin?s death and the George Zimmerman not-guilty verdict.
The president?s speech apparently did not sit well with the Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated actor in the context of economic issues.
During the course of his remarks about the controversial Florida case in which the Hispanic neighborhood watchman was acquitted of second degree murder and manslaughter, the president said ?And there are very few African-American men who haven?t had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me, at least before I was a senator.?
This portion of Obama?s address prompted the actor to tweet ?The only reason people lock their car doors when Obama walks by is they are afraid he?ll tax them to death.?
Among other things, Woods also asked on Twitter if the president could offer advice to other teenagers in America such as those injured in the line of duty while serving in the military (i.e., wounded warriors). Woods also insisted that jobs and skills training were among the best ways to address social problems in the country rather than reliance on a bloated welfare state.
Woods, 66, caused quite a stir on social media recently in connection with his social life. He recently ended his seven-year relationship with 26-year-old Ashley Madison and is now dating 20-year-old Kristen Bauguess who reportedly has had some recent run-ins with the law.
Known for playing many intense, over-the-top characters, James Woods has 134 entries at IMDB for acting roles and several entries for producing, directing, and writing.
Woods has claimed that he had an encounter with what he believes are some of the the 9/11 hijackers when they were doing a trial run on a flight from Boston to Los Angeles in August 2001. He reported it to law enforcement authorities at that time, but the FBI apparently never followed up.
What do you think of James Woods? Twitter criticism of the Obama Trayvon Martin speech?
Scott Huffman, Google?s engineering director, says the company?s intention is to ?transform the ways people interact with Google?. That means having conversations similar to those you would have with humans. No longer will we have to go to ?settings? to recalibrate our devices ? we will simply order them to make the desired changes. And those devices will not be in our pockets ? but all around us in every room.
?If you look back 10 years there was a computer on my desk and today there?s a computer in my pocket and it still has a screen and a keyboard,? says Huffman.
?But fast forward a bit and? I think there is going to be a device in the ceiling with microphones, and it will be in my glasses or my wristwatch or my shirt. And like the Google Glass it won?t have a keyboard? you just say ?OK Google, blah-blah-blah? and you get what you want.?
Where will it end? Gomes agrees that a chip embedded in the brain is far from a sci-fi fantasy. ?Already people are beginning to experiment with handicapped people for manoeuvring their wheelchairs,? he says. ?They are getting a few senses of direction with the wheelchair but getting from there to actual words is a long ways off. We have to do this in the brain a lot better to make that interaction possible. We have impatience for that to happen but the pieces of technology have to develop.?
Full article here
This article was posted: Saturday, July 20, 2013 at 6:33 am
Investigators look inside a recently opened container holding military equipment aboard the North Korean-flagged freighter Chong Chon Gang in Colon City, Panama, Wednesday.
By Ian Johnston, Staff Writer, NBC News
Leading Republican and Democrat senators called on President Barack Obama to act over a Cuban shipment of weapons and equipment to North Korea, as talks got under way about migration between the U.S. and Cuba.
A North Korean ship was stopped by Panama as it headed home with a cargo of rockets, missile parts and two Cold War-era fighter jets hidden among sacks of brown sugar.
United Nations sanctions ban the export of most military equipment to North Korea, though Havana said it was sending ?obsolete? hardware to be repaired and then returned to Cuba.
Sen. Robert Menendez, the Democrat who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement that the shipment was ?a grave violation of international treaties.?
?Weapons transfers from one communist regime to another hidden under sacks of sugar are not accidental occurrences, and reinforces the necessity that Cuba remain on the State Department?s list of countries that sponsor state terrorism,? he said.
A ship stocked with weapons and missiles was intercepted near the Panama Canal traveling from Cuba to North Korea.
?In addition to possible violations of Panamanian law, the shipment almost certainly violated United Nations Security Council sanctions on shipments of weapons to North Korea and as such, I call on the Obama administration to submit this case to the U.N. Security Council for review,? he added.
Sen. Marco Rubio, who gave the Republican response to Obama?s State of the Union address this year and is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry that the discovery of the shipment should ?finally prompt the administration to re-calibrate its misguided and na?ve Cuba policy.?
He said the U.S. should ?immediately reverse its January 2011 decision easing restrictions on people-to-people travel and remittances sent to Cuba; as well as immediately halt granting visas to Cuban government officials.?
Rubio said Cuba?s actions were a ?flagrant violation? of U.N. sanctions and ?the latest reminder of the true nature of the Cuban regime.?
?I urge the Administration to take meaningful action to send a clear message that Cuban collusion with North Korea to undermine the international nonproliferation system carries heavy consequences,? he said.
Like Menendez, he also said the U.S. should raise the matter at the U.N. Security Council.
Both Rubio and Menendez are Cuban-Americans known as tough critics of Cuba's communist government.
Their comments, on Wednesday, came as Cuba?s delegation to Washington issued a statement saying talks with their U.S. counterparts took place in a ?climate of respect.?
?A review was made of the evolution of the migration accords in force between the two countries and the main results of the individual and joint actions undertaken by the Parties to cope with illegal migration and alien smuggling,? the Cuban statement said.
It said also Cuba had ratified protocols to prevent people trafficking and smuggling of migrants.
U.S. officials said that they had used the meeting to again press Cuba to release jailed American contractor Alan Gross.
Gross is serving a 15-year sentence for installing Internet networks for Cuban Jews as part of a U.S. program that Cuba considers subversive.
Gross' arrest in late 2009 and sentencing in March 2011 halted a brief thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations after Obama took office in January 2009.
U.S. officials have said they plan to raise the issue of the weapons shipment to Cuba soon.
Meanwhile, international vessel tracking monitor IHS Fairplay said that it had established that five North Korean cargo ships had made similar journeys since 2010, including the O Un Chong Nyon Ho, which docked in Havana, Cuba, in May last year.
Related:
This story was originally published on Thu Jul 18, 2013 6:21 AM EDT
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The Emmy Awards are television's biggest celebration of itself, but this year's ceremony will face an intruder: "House of Cards," the first online series to nab a top nomination with its best drama series.
Netflix's triumph on Thursday, which includes nods for its revival of "Arrested Development," is putting a further squeeze on the broadcast networks that already have lost substantial Emmy ground to cable. New network offerings were almost completely shut out and, like last year, no network drama made the nominations cut.
Kevin Spacey, the nominated star of the political drama "House of Cards," reveled in its impressive nine bids and role as a groundbreaker.
It's "really, in many ways, kind of a new paradigm," he said. "It's just a great, great thing for all of us."
The major networks, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, likely have a different viewpoint. Cable channels over the year have sharply eroded their share of the audience, and now the Internet is nibbling away and will only become more robust as viewers turn increasingly to computers and other devices to consume video.
A 6-year-old TV academy rules change allows online entries to compete with cable and broadcast programs, but until Thursday online shows popped up only in lower-profile categories.
"It's really groundbreaking," said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. "It's beyond our most bold expectations. We were thinking a single nomination would be a win... It's as much a win for Internet television as it is for the content creators."
Networks still field the most-watched series ? such as top-rated series "NCIS" and the 20 million-plus viewers it delivers weekly to CBS ? and enjoy the rich opportunities they represent.
"There's nothing more profitable than having a big broadcast television hit that can be exploited on multiple platforms," including syndication and online, said Garth Ancier, a former executive for both broadcast networks and cable.
But when the Emmys are presented this fall on CBS, it will surely be irritating to serve as a promotional vehicle for the competition. The ceremony rotates among the big four broadcasters who, with the exception of basically flat NBC, saw their number of Emmy bids decline this year.
Besides the showing by Netflix, the leading number of nominations went to a cable miniseries, FX's "American Horror Story: Asylum." HBO fielded the next top nominees: "Game of Thrones" with 16 nods and the Liberace biopic "Behind the Candelabra" earned 15 nominations.
NBC's "Saturday Night Live" came in with 15 as well, but it, outgoing "30 Rock" (also NBC, 13 bids) and "Modern Family" (ABC, 12 nominations) had the only impressive tallies for broadcast.
The bonanza of nominations for "Game of Thrones" is the swords-and-fantasy show's most-ever and includes a best drama series nod and three acting bids, including one for Peter Dinklage.
Recognition went to a number of other primarily big-screen actors who have migrated to TV for powerhouse projects, with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon for "Under the Candelabra" among them.
Joining "House of Cards" and "Game of Thrones" in the best drama series category are "Breaking Bad," ''Downton Abbey," ''Mad Men" and last year's winner, "Homeland."
"Mad Men," which last year missed out on the best drama trophy that would have been its record-setting fifth, eclipsing fellow four-time winners "Hill Street Blues," ''L.A. Law" and "The West Wing," gets another shot this year.
"Mad Men" and its creator failed to receive any writing nominations for the first time in the series' six-year history.
Besides "American Horror Story: Asylum," others nominated in the miniseries or movie category are "Behind the Candelabra," ''Phil Spector," ''Political Animals," ''Top of the Lake" and "The Bible," which was a hit for the History channel and is getting a sequel on NBC.
Hot British actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who gained fame in "Sherlock" and played the villain in "Star Trek Into Darkness," is nominated as best lead actor in the movie and miniseries category for "Parade's End."
In the comedy series category, nominees are "The Big Bang Theory," ''Girls," ''Louie," ''Modern Family," ''Veep" and "30 Rock," recognized for its final season. Another outgoing comedy, "The Office," didn't receive a best series nod.
Joining Spacey in the contest for best drama series actor are Hugh Bonneville, "Downton Abbey"; Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"; Jeff Daniels, "The Newsroom"; and Damian Lewis, "Homeland," last year's winner.
Kevin Bacon, one of the big-screen stars trying their hand at TV, was not recognized in the category for "The Following."
"Breaking Bad," now in its final episodes on AMC, goes out with a best drama Emmy nomination.
"What's so great about this thing is it's going to bring us all back together. A little family reunion. So we get to come back together and celebrate the time we had together and the work that we did. It's very exciting," said "Breaking Bad" actor and best supporting nominee Aaron Paul, who co-hosted the award announcement with Neil Patrick Harris, a last-minute substitute for "House of Cards" actress Kate Mara.
Actresses nominated for their drama series work include Robin Wright, "House of Cards"; Vera Farmiga, "Bates Hotel"; Michelle Dockery, "Downtown Abbey"; Elisabeth Moss, "Mad Men"; Connie Britton, "Nashville"; and Kerry Washington, "Scandal." Claire Danes, last year's winner for "Homeland," also got a nod.
The nominees for best actor in a comedy are Jason Bateman, "Arrested Development"; Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory"; Matt LeBlanc, "Episodes"; Don Cheadle, "House of Lies"; Louis C.K., "Louie"; and Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock."
Jon Cryer, last year's surprise winner for "Two and a Half Men," didn't make the cut this year.
Actresses competing for top comedy acting honors are Laura Dern, "Enlightened"; Lena Dunham, "Girls"; Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie"; Amy Poehler, "Parks and Recreation"; and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who claimed the trophy last year for "Veep."
Most of the 2012 trophy holders have a chance to repeat.
Maggie Smith was nominated again as best supporting actress in a drama for "Downton Abbey," which has brought her two trophies. Julie Bowen is up for supporting actress in a comedy for "Modern Family."
However, Eric Stonestreet, who claimed the supporting actor award last year for the show, was snubbed while castmates Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ed O'Neill and Ty Burrell got nods.
HBO received a leading 108 nominations, up a third over last year, followed by CBS and NBC with 53 each, ABC with 45, Showtime with 31 and AMC and FX Networks with 26 each. PBS has 24 and Fox received 19.
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Emmy ceremony, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, will air Sept. 22 on CBS.
___
AP Entertainment Writers Sandy Cohen and Anthony McCartney contributed to this report.
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There was plenty of star power on the red carpet Wednesday night (July 17) as some of the biggest names in the sports and entertainment worlds arrived at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles for the ESPY awards.
Basketball MVP LeBron James, "Mad Men's" Jon Hamm and pop star Selena Gomez were among the eclectic group to walk the red carpet.
"It is an evening of celebrating what we've accomplished throughout our careers and this past year," explained tennis champion Maria Sharapova. "It is so rare, that we never get the chance to sit down in one room and get to see the the video montages of the plays and the beautiful moments of all the different athletes, present and receive awards for their accomplishments. It is all very special."
The ESPYs, in their 21st year, are given out by ESPN to the best athletes, plays, teams and moments in sports, and are attended annually not just by top athletes but Hollywood stars.
"I just met Gabrielle Union and she was with Dwayne Wade." said an excited Gabrielle Douglas, the gold medal winning gymnast. "I love them both and that was my first time meeting her and she is amazing."
This year's ESPYS were hosted by actor Jon Hamm with stars Ben Affleck, Kevin Bacon, Don Cheadle, Selena Gomez and Sharapova acting as presenters. The show also featured a musical performance by the band Vintage Trouble.
The Miami Heat were the big winners of the night as they were honored as the year's Best Team for the second consecutive year. While star LeBron James won for Best Championship Performance, Best NBA Player and Best Male Athlete. This marks the second consecutive year that LeBron James won all three of those awards.
Swimmer Michael Phelps collected the award for Best Record-Breaking Performance for setting the all-time record for most Olympic medals with 22. (He also won this award in 2009.)
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) -- Representatives of Exxon Mobil Corp. were scheduled to appear at a Wednesday hearing with federal regulators to contest $1.7 million in proposed civil penalties for a Montana oil spill.
The penalties stem from a 2011 Exxon pipeline break that spilled an estimated 63,000 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone River near Laurel.
Federal regulators charged in March that Exxon failed to take sufficient steps to protect the 12-inch Silvertip pipeline against erosion caused by flooding. They also say the company did not close an upstream safety valve quickly enough, making the spill much worse.
Exxon's attorneys have said in paperwork submitted to the government that the company took reasonable precautions, including surveying the riverbank in the weeks before the spill to make sure the line was still buried. They want the penalty reduced.
A U.S. Department of Transportation spokesman said Wednesday's closed-door hearing in Denver would be presided over by a representative of the chief counsel's office within the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
A ruling in the matter is expected within the next six months, according to pipeline regulators.
Exxon spent an estimated $135 million on cleanup and repair work after the accident fouled an estimated 70 miles of riverbank with crude oil. That included replacing the damaged section of Silvertip with a new length of pipe installed dozens of feet beneath the river.
The spill has prompted other pipeline companies to take similar measures to prevent their lines from being similarly exposed and damaged.
The Montana Land Board on Monday approved a temporary construction license to Phillips 66 to replace a petroleum pipeline crossing the Yellowstone River near Lockwood with a new one that runs 40 feet below the river's bottom.
A temporary license was granted because the company and state officials are still negotiating whether to leave the abandoned Glacier Transfer pipeline where it is or to remove it. But the company must begin work on horizontally drilling the new pipeline now so that it is operating by spring, when the river level rises, Department of Natural Resources and Conservation director John Tubbs said.
Tubbs said the agency would like to see the old pipeline removed because erosion in the river channel may eventually expose it.
Company officials would prefer to leave it in place, as it runs below an irrigation system on one side of the river and would be difficult to remove, Tubbs said.
The company and state officials plan to come up with criteria on when the company would be required to remove the abandoned pipeline.
A secret to making macrophagesPublic release date: 18-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Deborah Williams-Hedges debwms@caltech.edu 626-395-3227 California Institute of Technology
Caltech researchers find a key in cell-cycle duration
Biologists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have worked out the details of a mechanism that leads undifferentiated blood stem cells to become macrophagesimmune cells that attack bacteria and other foreign pathogens. The process involves an unexpected cycle in which cell division slows, leading to an increased accumulation of a particular regulatory protein that in turn slows cell division further. The finding provides new insight into how stem cells are guided to generate one cell type as opposed to another.
Previous research has shown that different levels of a key regulatory protein called PU.1, which is involved in the new cycle, are important for the production of at least four different kinds of differentiated blood cells. For example, levels of PU.1 need to increase in order for macrophages to form, but must decrease during the development of another type of white blood cell known as the B cell. Precisely how such PU.1-level changes occur and are maintained in the cells has been unclear. But by observing differentiation in both macrophages and B cells, the Caltech team discovered something unusual in the feedback loop that produces macrophages. Their findings appear in the current issue of Science Express.
"Our results explain how blood stem cells and related progenitor cells can differentiate into macrophages and slow down their cell cycle, coordinating these two processes at the same time," says lead author Hao Yuan Kueh, a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech who works with biologists Michael Elowitz and Ellen Rothenberg, who were both principal investigators on the study. "We are excited about this because it means other systems could also use this mechanism to coordinate cell proliferation with differentiation."
In the study, the researchers captured movies of blood stem cells taken from transgenic mice. The cells expressed a green fluorescent protein that serves as an indicator of PU.1 levels in the cell: the brighter the cells appeared in the movies, the more PU.1 was present. By measuring PU.1 levels over time using this indicator, the scientists were able to monitor changes in the rate of PU.1's synthesis.
PU.1 can work through a positive feedback loop, binding to its own DNA regulatory sequence to stimulate its own production in a self-reinforcing manner. This type of loop is thought to be a general mechanism that allows a stem cell to switch into a differentiated state. In the case of PU.1, the process cranks up to produce macrophages, for example, and turns down to produce B cells.
And, indeed, when the researchers looked at B cell development, they saw what they expected: developing B cells decreased PU.1 levels by putting the brakes on the production of the protein.
The surprise came when they observed macrophages. Although the amount of PU.1 in the cells increased when the stem cells became macrophages, the researchers saw no change in the rate of PU.1 synthesis.
So where was the increase coming from? Upon investigation, the researchers observed that cells increased their PU.1 levels simply by slowing down their rate of division. With fewer cells being produced as the rate of PU.1 production marched steadily on, higher levels of the PU.1 protein were able to accumulate in the cells. Indeed, by slowing down the cell cycle, the researchers found that they could raise PU.1 levels enough to prompt the generation of macrophages. This result suggested that a different type of positive feedback loop might be responsible for the decisive final increase in PU.1 levels during macrophage differentiation.
"This work shows the amazing power of movies of individual cells in deciphering the dynamics of gene circuits," says Elowitz, who is a professor of biology and bioengineering at Caltech and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. "Just by following how the amount of PU.1 protein changed over time in a single cell, one can see directly that cells use a very different kind of feedback architecture than we usually associate with cellular differentiation."
To test what kind of positive feedback loop might control these events, the researchers forced cells to express extra PU.1, and measured its effect on the cells' own PU.1. They found that the extra PU.1 did not boost the cell's own PU.1 synthesis rate any further, but instead slowed the rate of cell division, causing PU.1 to accumulate to higher levels in the cellsan effect that slowed the cell cycle further.
"The key to this mechanism is that PU.1 is a very stable protein," says Rothenberg, the Albert Billings Ruddock Professor of Biology at Caltech. "Its central role in blood cell development has come from the fact that it collaborates with different regulatory protein partners to guide stem cells to make different cell types. We've known for some time that the exact ratios between PU.1 and its partners are important in these decisions, but it has been hard to see how the cells can manage to control the balance between so many of these different regulators with such precision. The beauty of this mechanism is that this ratio can be controlled simply by altering cell-cycle length. This shows us a new tool that factors like PU.1 and its collaborators can use to guide stem cells into precise developmental paths."
The team also used mathematical modeling to test the properties of a feedback loop that relies on the length of the cell cycle. They were able to show that a system that incorporated both the new loop and the PU.1-production feedback loop was able to account for three distinct levels of PU.1one corresponding to B cells, one to progenitor cells, and one to macrophages.
"That was a proof-of-principle that this type of architecture can work," Kueh says. "The modeling will also help us to generate predictions for future studies."
###
In addition to Kueh, Elowitz, and Rothenberg, the paper, titled "Positive feedback between PU.1 and the cell cycle controls myeloid differentiation," is also coauthored by Ameya Champhekar, a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech, and Stephen Nutt, head of the Division of Molecular Immunology at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Parkville, Victoria, Australia. The work was supported by a CRI Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship, an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship, the Victorian State Government Operational Infrastructure Support, the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the National Institutes of Health, the Albert Billings Ruddock Professorship, the Al Sherman Foundation, and the Louis A. Garfinkle Memorial Laboratory Fund.
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A secret to making macrophagesPublic release date: 18-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Deborah Williams-Hedges debwms@caltech.edu 626-395-3227 California Institute of Technology
Caltech researchers find a key in cell-cycle duration
Biologists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have worked out the details of a mechanism that leads undifferentiated blood stem cells to become macrophagesimmune cells that attack bacteria and other foreign pathogens. The process involves an unexpected cycle in which cell division slows, leading to an increased accumulation of a particular regulatory protein that in turn slows cell division further. The finding provides new insight into how stem cells are guided to generate one cell type as opposed to another.
Previous research has shown that different levels of a key regulatory protein called PU.1, which is involved in the new cycle, are important for the production of at least four different kinds of differentiated blood cells. For example, levels of PU.1 need to increase in order for macrophages to form, but must decrease during the development of another type of white blood cell known as the B cell. Precisely how such PU.1-level changes occur and are maintained in the cells has been unclear. But by observing differentiation in both macrophages and B cells, the Caltech team discovered something unusual in the feedback loop that produces macrophages. Their findings appear in the current issue of Science Express.
"Our results explain how blood stem cells and related progenitor cells can differentiate into macrophages and slow down their cell cycle, coordinating these two processes at the same time," says lead author Hao Yuan Kueh, a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech who works with biologists Michael Elowitz and Ellen Rothenberg, who were both principal investigators on the study. "We are excited about this because it means other systems could also use this mechanism to coordinate cell proliferation with differentiation."
In the study, the researchers captured movies of blood stem cells taken from transgenic mice. The cells expressed a green fluorescent protein that serves as an indicator of PU.1 levels in the cell: the brighter the cells appeared in the movies, the more PU.1 was present. By measuring PU.1 levels over time using this indicator, the scientists were able to monitor changes in the rate of PU.1's synthesis.
PU.1 can work through a positive feedback loop, binding to its own DNA regulatory sequence to stimulate its own production in a self-reinforcing manner. This type of loop is thought to be a general mechanism that allows a stem cell to switch into a differentiated state. In the case of PU.1, the process cranks up to produce macrophages, for example, and turns down to produce B cells.
And, indeed, when the researchers looked at B cell development, they saw what they expected: developing B cells decreased PU.1 levels by putting the brakes on the production of the protein.
The surprise came when they observed macrophages. Although the amount of PU.1 in the cells increased when the stem cells became macrophages, the researchers saw no change in the rate of PU.1 synthesis.
So where was the increase coming from? Upon investigation, the researchers observed that cells increased their PU.1 levels simply by slowing down their rate of division. With fewer cells being produced as the rate of PU.1 production marched steadily on, higher levels of the PU.1 protein were able to accumulate in the cells. Indeed, by slowing down the cell cycle, the researchers found that they could raise PU.1 levels enough to prompt the generation of macrophages. This result suggested that a different type of positive feedback loop might be responsible for the decisive final increase in PU.1 levels during macrophage differentiation.
"This work shows the amazing power of movies of individual cells in deciphering the dynamics of gene circuits," says Elowitz, who is a professor of biology and bioengineering at Caltech and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. "Just by following how the amount of PU.1 protein changed over time in a single cell, one can see directly that cells use a very different kind of feedback architecture than we usually associate with cellular differentiation."
To test what kind of positive feedback loop might control these events, the researchers forced cells to express extra PU.1, and measured its effect on the cells' own PU.1. They found that the extra PU.1 did not boost the cell's own PU.1 synthesis rate any further, but instead slowed the rate of cell division, causing PU.1 to accumulate to higher levels in the cellsan effect that slowed the cell cycle further.
"The key to this mechanism is that PU.1 is a very stable protein," says Rothenberg, the Albert Billings Ruddock Professor of Biology at Caltech. "Its central role in blood cell development has come from the fact that it collaborates with different regulatory protein partners to guide stem cells to make different cell types. We've known for some time that the exact ratios between PU.1 and its partners are important in these decisions, but it has been hard to see how the cells can manage to control the balance between so many of these different regulators with such precision. The beauty of this mechanism is that this ratio can be controlled simply by altering cell-cycle length. This shows us a new tool that factors like PU.1 and its collaborators can use to guide stem cells into precise developmental paths."
The team also used mathematical modeling to test the properties of a feedback loop that relies on the length of the cell cycle. They were able to show that a system that incorporated both the new loop and the PU.1-production feedback loop was able to account for three distinct levels of PU.1one corresponding to B cells, one to progenitor cells, and one to macrophages.
"That was a proof-of-principle that this type of architecture can work," Kueh says. "The modeling will also help us to generate predictions for future studies."
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In addition to Kueh, Elowitz, and Rothenberg, the paper, titled "Positive feedback between PU.1 and the cell cycle controls myeloid differentiation," is also coauthored by Ameya Champhekar, a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech, and Stephen Nutt, head of the Division of Molecular Immunology at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Parkville, Victoria, Australia. The work was supported by a CRI Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship, an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship, the Victorian State Government Operational Infrastructure Support, the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the National Institutes of Health, the Albert Billings Ruddock Professorship, the Al Sherman Foundation, and the Louis A. Garfinkle Memorial Laboratory Fund.
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Public release date: 18-Jul-2013
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