internet-five36: March 2012

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Miss Sonny and Cher? You've got this, babe

'the nick & jessica variety hour'

When: 8 p.m. Sunday on WLS-Channel 7

Starring: Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson

Guest starring: Kenny Rogers, Mr. T, Johnny Bench, Babyface,Jewel, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy

Does this sound familiar? "She was scamp, a camp and a bit of atramp. She was a v-a-m-p: Vamp!"

If you're too young to identify that little ditty as coming fromCher, planted atop a piano each week, on "The Sonny & Cher ComedyHour," then Sunday night's "The Nick & Jessica Variety Hour" on ABCmay well seem like a new idea.

Extremely odd, but new.

For the rest of us (and those youngsters who might have caught aglimpse of "Sonny & …

Actinomycin D binds strongly to d(CGACGACG) and d(CGTCGTCG)

ABSTRACT Earlier calorimetric studies had indicated that despite the absence of a GpC sequence, the self-complementary octamer d(CGTCGACG) binds strongly to actinomycin D (ACTD) with high cooperativity and a 2:1 drug/duplex ratio. A subsequent optical spectral study with related oligomers led us to suggest that ACTD may likely stack at the G - C basepairs of the duplex termini. New findings are reported herein to indicate that despite the lack of complete self-complementarity, oligomers of d(CGXCGXCG) [X = A or 11 motif exhibit unusually strong ACTD affinities with binding constants of roughly 2 x 107 M-1 and binding densities of 1 drug molecule per strand. The ACTD binding affinity for …

Wake Forest, Maryland meet for ACC division lead

Two-faced. Jekyll and Hyde. Schizophrenic.

Each can be used to describe the Maryland football team _ and to a lesser degree, No. 21 Wake Forest.

The Terrapins have won four straight against ranked opponents, including victories last month against California and Clemson. They have also lost to Middle Tennessee State, been manhandled 31-0 at Virginia and barely beat Delaware at home.

Sometimes, Maryland looks like a Top 25 team. Most times, not.

"We are 4-2 and I don't think we've even come close to playing at our potential as a team," coach Ralph Friedgen said. "We probably should feel fortunate to be where we are right …

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Magic Morris steals show

CARMARTHEN Quins Under-13s travelled to Furnace where they put inanother good performance, overwhelming a spirited home team.

The Quins forwards set a great platform with captain CeiranStephens providing inspiration with some great drives ably assistedby fellow prop Gareth Morris.

Dylan Gibby was everpresent on the flank, providing terrificsupport for his team-mates, and the Quins kept the scoreboardticking over.

Behind the …

Mitsubishi workers OK 4-year contract

Striking United Auto Workers overwhelmingly approved on Sunday anew four-year contract at the Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing ofAmerica plant in Downstate Normal.

The new contract was ratified by 83 percent of the roughly 2,200workers who voted, said Justin West, president of UAW Local 2488.

He said the contract covers about 2,900 full- and part-timeworkers, adding that Sunday's vote ended the first strike called bythe union at the Mitsubishi plant.

"We have a contract," West said. He said workers, who walked offthe job on Friday, were expected to begin returning to work Sundaynight.

The new contract includes a 3 percent raise that takes effect nextmonth …

Street battles in Somali capital amid famine help

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — African Union troops fought house-to-house battles with militants to clear space for aid groups bringing in food supplies after intelligence reports showed insurgents reinforcing for a possible attack on squalid camps of famine refugees.

Heavy fighting erupted Thursday on the line of control between the government side and territory held by al-Shabab, Somalia's dominant militant group.

At least six people were killed. The AU troops also paid a heavy price, with one official saying 19 were wounded, and some of them were put on an ambulance jet bound for Kenya.

Somalia's famine is unfolding in the middle of a war zone, greatly complicating …

Pfizer buying FoldRx for undisclosed amount

Pfizer says it will buy privately held FoldRx Pharmaceuticals for an undisclosed amount, expanding its pipeline of potential products.

FoldRx, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is developing potential treatments for diseases caused by protein misfolding, which is increasingly recognized as an underlying cause in many chronic …

AIR-SEA EXCHANGE IN HURRICANESL: Synthesis of Observations from the Coupled Boundary Layer Air-Sea Transfer Experiment

Combining airborne remote, in situ, and expendable probe sensors with air-deployed ocean platforms provides a strategy for expanding knowledge of illusive high-wind air-sea fluxes in difficult-to-predict storms.

The CBLAST (see Table 1 for a list of the acronyms and their expansions used herein) experiment was conducted during 2000-05 to improve our fundamental understanding of physical processes at the air-sea interface. We focus here on the CBLASTHurricane component, which included experimental observations of the air-sea exchange process in high winds suitable for improving hurricane-track and intensity model physics. Other CBLAST activities focused on low-wind dynamics (Edson …

Worries grow for twin evils of 'stagflation' _ stagnant economy, lost jobs, surging inflation

It is a toxic economic mix America has not seen in three decades: Prices are speeding upward at the fastest pace in a quarter century, even as the economy loses steam.

Economists call the disease "stagflation," and they are worried it might be coming back.

Already, paychecks are not stretching as far, and jobs are harder to find, threatening to set off a vicious cycle that could make things even worse.

The economy nearly stalled in the final three months of last year and probably is barely growing or even shrinking now. That is the "stagnation" part of the ailment. Typically, that slowdown should slow inflation as well _ the …

Perry pounds ton

DWAINE Perry smashed a rapid century as Biddestone overcameWestinghouse by eight wickets to move into third place in Division Iof the Wiltshire League.

Christian Fry top-scored with 40 in Westinghouse's total of 149which proved to be nowhere near enough.

In Division …

Biosolids monitoring program

The Metro Wastewater Reclamation District (MWRD) has started a $1.39 million biosolids monitoring program for its 50,000-acre farm in Elbert and Arapahoe counties 60 miles east of Denver. The program is also included in an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the two counties. Metro will pay for the program, but under the sixyear pact, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will monitor soils on the district's property on which biosolids are applied. Ground and surface water and biosolids quality at the point of production also will be analyzed. In addition to Metro's contribution of $1.39 million over six years, the USGS will contribute …

Jury to consider rape case against NYC officers

NEW YORK (AP) — Jurors are set to begin deliberations Wednesday in the trial of two police officers accused of raping a drunken woman after they were called to escort her home.

In closing arguments Tuesday, prosecutor Coleen Balbert said police officer Kenneth Moreno may not have believed that sex with the woman was rape, but it was because she was physically helpless. "It was a crime of opportunity," Balbert said.

Moreno denies having sex with the woman.

The two officers on trial were called to help the 27-year-old woman out of a cab and into her Manhattan apartment on Dec. 7, 2008.

They helped her into her apartment building — and then returned three more times. …

REDISCOVERY OF Baptisia tinctoria (L.) R. BROWN (FABACEAE) IN ILLINOIS

REDISCOVERY OF Baptisia tinctoria (L.) R. BROWN (FABACEAE) IN ILLINOIS-Thought to have been long extirpated from the state of Illinois, small scattered populations of Baptisia tinctoria (L.) R. Brown were recently discovered in sand communities in the southeastern corner of Kankakee County.

Baptisia tinctoria (yellow wild indigo) ranges across 25 states in the eastern and southeastern United States as well as Ontario, Canada (Gleason and Cronquist 1991, United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service 2002). It is a perennial forb that prefers dry, sterile, and sandy soils, often in dry, open woodlands, savannas, or clearings (Larisey 1940, Fernald 1950, Gleason and Cronquist 1991, Isely 1998). Considered common throughout most of its range, B. tinctoria is understandably less common near the limits of its distribution and is listed as endangered in Maine, threatened in Kentucky (Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission 2001, United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service 2002), on the watch list in Indiana (Yatskievych 2000, M. Homoya, pers. comm.), and of special concern in Iowa (Iowa Administrative Code 1999) and Wisconsin (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 2002) where its presence was documented for the first time in 1969 (Cochrane 1976). Minnesota holds one vouchered specimen from the late 1800's. During the past decade, B. tinctoria has experienced some declines in populations due to increases in commercial demands for its medicinal properties, thereby warranting its inclusion on a list of United States medicinal plant species that have been designated as 'priorities for further study' by The Nature Conservancy and TRAFFIC (a joint wildlife trade monitoring program of WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature and IUCN-The World Conservation Union) (Robbins 1999).

Three varieties have been described within Baptisia tinctoria (Fernald 1937, 1950; Larisey 1940), var. tinctoria, var. crebra, and var. projecta. Following the Larisey interpretation, individuals found in Illinois belong to var. crebra (L.) R. Brown. However, most recent floras and other treatments of North American Fabaceae recognize B. tinctoria as a variable species but no longer consider the varieties worthy of taxonomic recognition (Gleason and Cronquist 1991, Kartesz 1994, Isely 1998, International Legume Database & Information Service 2002, United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service 2002).

Baptisia tinctoria has an unfortunate history of imprecise, albeit interesting, documentation and vouchering in Illinois. Its early presence was noted from only general locations in northern Illinois with very few reports based on first hand field accounts. Babcock (1872) reported it as rare within a 40 mile region of Chicago, Patterson (1876) reported it from northern counties based on notes from Mary E. Holmes, and Brendel (1887) noted its presence in northern Illinois. Higley and Raddin (1891) reported it as infrequent along the north and south shores of Lake Michigan. Gleason (1901) noted that it was present in dry prairies, but did not occur south of Macon County. The four known voucher specimens of B. tinctoria (housed at the University of Illinois Herbarium [ILL]), Urbana, Illinois) are equally indistinct, each accompanied by very incomplete location and date information. Specimens referred to in Snare and Hicks (1898) and Fernald (1940) could not be verified.

Within about a decade after the early 1900's, Baptisia tinctoria seemed to disappear from the Illinois landscape. Early authors Gates (1914) and Fuller (1917) made no mention of the species. Pepoon (1927), Fernald (1945), Gambill (1953), and Jones and Fuller (1955) referenced or summarized historic accounts while commenting on its absence in the flora. Based on specimens collected in Indiana, Larisey (1940) reported the presence of B. tinctoria and B. tinctoria var. crebra, and first described the hybrid B. Xdeamii Larisey (cross between B. tinctoria var. crebra and B. lactea [Raf.] Thieret) but listed no accounts from Illinois. Bowles et al. (1991) found no populations or individuals during an intensive survey in 1987. Swink and Wilhelm (1994) commented on the absence of B. tinctoria in their region, but noted the first recorded presence of B. Xdeamii in Illinois discovered in 1992 by Gerould Wilhelm near St. Anne in Kankakee County (voucher specimens at the Morton Arboretum [MOR], Lisle, Illinois). Most recently, it remained included in Mohlenbrock (2002) with the comment "very rare, and probably extirpated from Ill."

On July 26, 2002, while conducting a vegetation survey of one of the Pembroke Savannas in Kankakee County, Illinois, approximately 2 miles south of Leesville, the authors came upon a small population of B. tinctoria at the edge of an oak sand savanna bordering an abandoned old (successional) field. The population was completely surrounded by almost head-high Quercus velutina shoots in an area approximately six meters in diameter. It consisted of three large bushy plants and half a dozen smaller individuals. The larger plants contained many blooms and legumes, allowing them to be identified in the field. Baptisia lactea individuals occurred in this same vicinity, along with intermediate plants that shared characteristics of the two species. Specimens of each were collected. The specimens of B. tinctoria (Feist #1900) and B. lactea (Feist #1899) conformed to the descriptions in Fernald (1937, 1950) and Larisey (1940) and matched herbarium (ILL) specimens from Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. The intermediate specimens were identified as B. Xdeamii based on descriptions in Larisey (1940). Wilhelm's specimen of B. Xdeamii had also been collected from this vicinity in 1992 (Swink and Wilhelm 1994, vPlants 2002). Species immediately associated with the B. tinctoria population included Quercus velutina, Q. alba, Rhus copallina, Rubus hispidus, Salix humilis, Scleria triglomerata, and Carex swanii. The woodlands edge was dominated by Quercus alba.

On January 9, 2003 the second author participated in the discovery of a second population of B. tinctoria in a sandy, successional old field approximately � mile northeast of the first population. Additional visits to this area during July and August, 2003 revealed several more individuals and small populations scattered throughout the field and along an old farm access lane, comprising a total of approximately 80 individuals. Dominant associated species for these populations included Quercus alba, Q. velutina, Schizachyrium scoparium, Rhus copallina, Rubus hispidus, Salix humilis, Vaccinium angustifolium, Solidago nemoralis, Sorghastrum nutans, and Carex pensylvanica.

Vegetation was quite tall and overgrown during the subsequent site visits possibly obscuring other populations. Future visits are planned during various growing seasons, which may aid in the detection of additional populations or individuals. Locations of populations are recorded with a global positioning system (GPS) unit to facilitate mapping and relocation. Genetic studies have been initiated to confirm the parentage of putative hybrids.

After a lapse of at least 70 years, Baptisia tinctoria can once again be included as an extant Illinois species-in a county where it has never before been documented. The populations in Kankakee County appear to be healthy and flourishing. With proper conservation and management, this spectacular species should remain a viable part of the Illinois flora.

We are very grateful to Dr. Loy R. Phillippe of the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) for project support, Dr. John Ebinger (Eastern Illinois University) for project assistance, Dr. Kenneth R. Robertson (INHS) for assistance with the manuscript, Dan Busemeyer and Paul Marcum (INHS) for field assistance, Brenda Molano-Flores, James Ellis, Greg Spyreas (INHS), and Jack White (Ecological Services, Urbana) for their comments and assistance.-CONNIE J. CARROLL, ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF, 607 E. PEABODY, CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS 61820 and MARY ANN FEIST, ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY, CENTER FOR WILDLIFE ECOLOGY, 607 E. PEABODY, CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS 61820. email address: carrollc@inhs.uiuc.edu

[Reference]

LITERATURE CITED

BABCOCK, H.H. 1872. The flora of Chicago and vicinity. The Lens 1:20-26; 67-71; 144-150; 218-222, 2:33-34; 96-98; 248-250.

BOWLES, M.L., J.B. TAFT, E.F. ULASZEK, M.K. SOLECKI, D.M. KETZNER, L.R. PHILLIPPE, A. DENNIS, P.J. BURTON, and K.R. ROBERTSON. 1991. Rarely seen endangered plants, rediscoveries, and species new to Illinois. Erigenia 11:27-51.

BRENDEL, F. 1887. Flora Peoriana: the vegetation in the climate of middle Illinois. J.W. Frank and Sons, Printers and Binders, Peoria, Illinois.

COCHRANE, T.S. 1976. Baptisia tinctoria (Leguminosae) new to Wisconsin. Rhodora 78:155-157.

FERNALD, E.I. 1940. Preliminary check list of herbaceous plants of Winnebago County Illinois. Rockford College, Rockford, Illinois.

FERNALD, M.L. 1937. Local plants of the inner coastal plain of southeastern Virginia. Rhodora 39:321-417.

FERNALD, M.L. 1945. Incomplete flora of Illinois. Rhodora 47:204-217.

FERNALD, M.L. 1950. Gray's manual of botany, 8th ed. American Book Company, New York, New York.

FULLER, G.D. 1917. The vegetation of the Chicago region, an outline of some of the principal plant associations together with lists of their principal species. University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.

GAMBILI, W.G. 1953. The Leguminosae of Illinois. Illinois Biological Monographs. Volume 22. No. 4. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois.

GATES, F.C. 1914. The vegetation of the beach area in northeastern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin. Bull. Illinois State Lab. Nat. Hist. 9:255-372.Champaign, Illinois.

GLEASON, H.A. 1901. The flora of the prairies. B.S. thesis, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois.

GLEASON, H.A. and A. CRONQOIST. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of the northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, 2nd ed. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York.

HIGLEY, W.K. and C.S. RADDIN. 1891. The flora of Cook County, Illinois and a part of Lake County, Indiana. Bulletin Chicago Academy of Sciences. Volume 2. No. 1. Chicago, Illinois.

IOWA ADMINISTRATIVE CODE. 1999. Chapter 77. Legislative Service Bureau, Des Moines, Iowa.

INTERNATIONAL LEGUME DATABASE & INFORMATION SERVICE. 2002. Version 6.05. (http://www.biodiversity.soton. ac.uk/ildis/). University of Southampton, United Kingdom.

ISELY, D. 1998. Native and naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the United States exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii. M. L. Bean Life Science Museum, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

JONES, G.N and G.D. FULLER. 1955. Vascular plants of Illinois. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, and Illinois State Museum, Springfield, Illinois.

KARTESZ, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland, 2nd ed. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon.

KENTUCKY STATE NATURE PRESERVES COMMISSION, 2001. Endangered, threatened, special concern, and historical biota of Kentucky. Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission, Frankfort, Kentucky.

LARISEY, M.M. 1940. A monograph of the genus Baptisia. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 27:119-245.

MOHLENBROCK, R.H. 2002. Vascular flora of Illinois. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, Illinois.

PATTERSON, H.N. 1876. Catalogue of the phaenogamous and vascular cryptogamous plants of Illinois, native and introduced. Spectator Print, Oqwaka, Illinois.

PEPOON, H.S. 1927. An annotated flora of the Chicago region. Chicago Academy of Sciences, Chicago, Illinois.

ROBBINS, C. 1999. Medicine from U.S. wildlands, an assessment of native plant species harvested in the United States for medicinal use and trade and evaluation of the conservation and management implications, (http://www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal/pubs/traffic.htm). TRAFFIC North America, Washington D.C.

SNARE, W. and E.W. HICKS. 1898. Check list of plants of northern United States in the Boardman collection of Toulon Academy, also a complete list of native plants of Stark County, Illinois and the most common cultivated plants of field and garden. Toulon, Illinois.

SWINK, F. and G. WILHELM. 1994. Plants of the Chicago region, 4th ed. Indiana Academy of Science, Indianapolis and the Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMKNT OF AGRICULTURE, NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE. 2002. PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

vPLANTS. 2002. A virtual herbarium of the Chicago region (http://www. vplants.org/). A cooperative project of the Morton Arboretum, the Field Museum, and the Chicago Botanic Garden, Chicago, Illinois.

WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES. 2002. The Wisconsin natural heritage working list (http:// www. dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/er/workingjist/taxalists). Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Wisconsin Natural Heritage Program-Bureau of Endangered Resources, Madison, Wisconsin.

YATSKIEVYCH, K. 2000. Field guide to Indiana wildflowers. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana.

Received April 21, 2003; Accepted November 7, 2003.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Icelandic government takes over bank

The Icelandic government says it has taken control of Glitnir bank, the country's third largest bank, after it suffered liquidity difficulties.

The government has bought a 75 percent stake in Glitnir for 600 million euros (US$878 million) to ensure broader market stability.

Monday's move is the first major Icelandic banking nationalisation in the current turmoil.

The government says that Glitnir, which has a presence in 10 countries, will continue to operate as normal. It added that it does not intend to hold its share in the bank for "an extended period."

Great Sky Woman

Great Sky Woman by Steven Barnes One World/Ballantine Books, July 2006 $24.95, ISBN 0-345-45900-8

The latest offering from speculative fiction writer Steven Barnes is set in prehistoric Africa and is the first of two novels about the Ibandi, a tribe of hunter-gatherers. In this first installment, the Ibandi live in the plains near Mount Kilimanjaro. Frog Hopping, a boy, longs to become a great hunter. T'Cori, an abandoned girl, is apprentice to the tribe's medicine woman. After centuries of peaceful coexistence with other groups, the Ibandi face possible annihilation at the hands of the Herculean, genocidal Mk*tk. The survival of the tribe ultimately depends on Frog and T'Cori.

Great Sky Woman may have particular resonance for African American readers, helping us imagine the history (and prehistory) we lost when we were dragged to this land. But the novel doesn't just recall far-gone epochs. Given the genocide that has bloodied Africa in recent years, Great Sky Woman also speaks to our time.

No matter how much the world inside a fantasy or science fiction novel differs from our own, it is always similar in fundamental ways. After all, what writers of such books know about humanity and life, they know from living in this world.

While Barnes manages his narrative rather well on a macro level, there are flaws at the micro level. Too often, he tells us what a character is feeling, rather than showing us: "Al! night and day...she had felt her anxiety threaten to swirl out ot control." Dangling modifiers and clich�s trouble some of the sentences. There's also an inconsistency-at one point, Barnes forgets that Frog's stepfather has only one eye: "There was some hidden fire in Snake's eyes."

Despite these glitches, Great Sky Woman will not lose Barnes any fans. It will probably gain him some.

-Reviewed by Dana Crum

Mighty Avalanche unraveling

It was not the response - on the ice or in the locker room -expected from a team with the Colorado Avalanche's pedigree.

The Stanley Cup champion is beginning to display uncertainty inits first-round series against the Blackhawks.

Colorado was able to explain away its Game 3 loss as a lack ofintensity brought on by overconfidence, but Tuesday's 6-3 defeatwasn't so simple."We better be worried," center Joe Sakic said. "We let themback in it, and they have the momentum. This is verydisappointing."The Avalanche swaggered into town with a 2-0 series lead buthead back tied going into Game 5 on Thursday.No longer is Colorado talking about merely picking up theintensity, now the Avalanche is questioning some of its players andstrategy."We'll look at mixing things up a little and bringing in somefresh guys," coach Marc Crawford said. "Maybe that's what it's goingto take right now."Fresh guys? Against a team that finished 26 points behindduring the regular season?The Hawks are forcing the Avalanche into strange happenings,like pulling goalie Patrick Roy with 6:34 left in the third period."It was a gamble, and it didn't work," Crawford said. "We triedto get something going."Crawford also tried to get something going after the game bycomplaining about Eric Weinrich's knee-to-knee hit on Adam Deadmarshthat knocked the winger out of the game with 2:39 remaining."It was a flagrant knee," said Crawford, who isn't sure ofDeadmarsh's status for Game 5. "We'll see what the league does."Sakic said the Avalanche better do something about the number ofodd-man rushes that seem to be rattling Roy, who refused to talk tothe media after the game.Sakic went so far as to suggest Colorado adopt the Blackhawks'style of offense."We have to learn to dump the puck in," Sakic said. "(Theodd-man rushes) happen because we try to get too cute at the blueline."It's not clicking in our head that they play strong defense.And we're playing right into their hands with all of our cuteplays."Adam Foote wasn't worried about cute plays. The Avalanchedefenseman has knocked two rebounds past Roy, including the firstgoal Tuesday, but he claims the team doesn't feel unlucky."I don't believe in being unlucky," he said. "We've just hadsome bad bounces."Being bounced from the playoffs is still a long way away for theAvalanche, but the seeds of doubt might have been planted.

Andrew Bynum will undergo knee surgery Wednesday

More than four months after Andrew Bynum injured his left knee, it's been decided the Los Angeles Lakers center will undergo arthroscopic surgery.

The Lakers made the announcement Sunday, saying Dr. David Altchek will perform the procedure in New York on Wednesday _ the same day Bynum's team entertains San Antonio or New Orleans to begin the Western Conference finals.

An estimated timetable for Bynum's return will be provided following the surgery.

"I just hope for the best for him," teammate Luke Walton said following a light practice Sunday. "He was a huge part of our success early on and he's going to be a huge part of our future."

The Lakers said the procedure will entail a cleanup of some rough spots and fraying on the underside of Bynum's kneecap.

Bynum hasn't played since injuring his knee in the third quarter of a 100-99 victory over Memphis on Jan. 13 at Staples Center. The 20-year-old center averaged 13.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots in 35 games.

The Lakers estimated a day after Bynum was injured that he would be sidelined eight to 12 weeks. But coach Phil Jackson said April 21 that a return this season was remote, and Bynum said much the same thing shortly thereafter.

Dr. Altchek examined Bynum in New York on April 10 and declined to clear him for practice. The 7-footer was examined again May 7 in Princeton, N.J., by Dr. Steven Gecha, who said there had been some improvement in the knee, but recommended exploratory surgery if there wasn't more in the ensuing three to four weeks.

The decision was made a lot sooner than that.

"It's hard, I know that he is probably really frustrated right now," Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic said. "He's going through tough times. We miss him. Everybody knows he's going to have a good, long career in the NBA. He'll come back when he's ready."

Despite Bynum's absence, the Lakers went 57-25 to earn the top seed in the West, and 8-2 to eliminate Denver and Utah from the playoffs to reach the conference finals for the first time since 2004.

Strategies, publishing, communication, transportation and more

Two Harrisburg-area business leaders have been invited to take part in the Wharton Economic Summit in Philadelphia on April 12 and 13. Derek C. Hathaway, chairman and chief executive officer of Wormleysburg-based conglomerate Harsco Corp., will participate in a panel discussion that will center on crafting and implementing successful competitive strategies. John Resnick, creator and host of nationally syndicated radio program "Legends of Success with John Resnick," will moderate two of the summit's keynote addresses, including one featuring well-known financier Michael Milken. The event is organized by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. It is expected to draw more than 1,000 participants from throughout the U.S. and international business community, academia and government. For information, visit www.wharton.upenn.edu.

For the second year in a row, Fox Chapel Publishing of East Petersburg, Lancaster County, has been named a "Fast Growing Independent Publisher" by trade magazine Publishers Weekly. Alan Giagnocavo founded Fox Chapel Publishing 15 years ago. The publishing house specializes in do-it-yourself woodworking and crafts titles. It also publishes two quarterly magazines: Woodcarving Illustrated and Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts. In the Feb. 26 issue of Publishers Weekly, Fox Chapel ranks as the No. 5 Small Publisher Standout, up from No. 9 a year ago. The business posted 25 percent sales growth between 2004 and 2006. Visit the business online at www.foxchapelpublishing.com.

Verizon Wireless has boosted its power in the Harrisburg area. The firm says its new cell site increases coverage and capacity within city limits and provides enhanced inbuilding coverage at the Pennsylvania State Farm Show Complex. The network expansion is part of an ongoing multibillion-dollar investment in infrastructure, the company reported.

Organizing expert Julie Morgenstern will be in the region April 19 to share strategies to help you excel at work without forfeiting your personal life. Her presentation is titled "Never Check E-mail in the Morning." She'll speak at Guthrie Memorial Library in Hanover at 11 a.m. At 7 that evening, she'll appear at Martin Library in York. Morgenstern is a columnist for O magazine and has been a guest on National Public Radio and numerous television shows, including "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "The Today Show" and "Good Morning America."

Red Rose Transit Authority's board of directors voted to extend RRTAs Access to Jobs program through June 30. The program provides door-to-door transportation to lower-income residents who have second- and third-shift jobs. Program users ride RRTA buses to or from work, then get a pass to take a cab for the half of the trip when RRTA buses are not in service. Customers' per-cab trip cost is $2.10. Friendly Transportation is the contracted carrier. Ninety customers use the service, RRTA said.

Multimedia retailer QVC, which has a distribution center in Lancaster County, shipped its billionth package in the U.S. March 22. West Chester-based QVC gave the Canton, Mich., customer who placed the historic order a 24-hour shopping spree and a $10,000 QVC gift card. QVC ships more than 100 million packages a year from four centers. In addition to its Lancaster County location, QVC has distribution hubs in Rocky Mount, N.C.; Suffolk, Va.; and West Chester.

Attention lead-footed commuters: PennDOT is expanding a program designed to curb aggressive driving. The agency is investing $2 million in an enforcement effort called Smooth Operator. During three periods this summer - July 1-7, Aug. 5-11 and Sept. 2-15 - state and local police officers will target aggressive driving behaviors such as speeding, tailgating and unsafe lane changes. PennDOT reported that aggressive driving played a role in 1,016 of 1,616 fatalities in Pennsylvania in 2005, the most recent year for which data is available. Smooth Operator had been a 12-county pilot program. Smooth Operator's success last summer - more than 18,000 citations and arrests - led the agency to take it statewide.

Cumberland Valley High School has a fresh new way to feed its students. In late March, the state Department of Agriculture presented the school with a vending machine stocked with PA Preferred products - foods produced in the Keystone state. The department launched the PA Preferred Healthy Vending Initiative last year after parents, teachers and students demanded healthier food alternatives. Cumberland Valley's machine features milk from Swiss Premium in Lebanon County, grape juice from Welch's in Erie County, apple slices from Appeeling Fruit in Berks County, and fresh fruits and sauces from Adams County's Knouse Foods Cooperative and Mott's. For more information, visit www.pa preferred.com.

Like to drive fast? Tone down your need for speed during PennDOT's Smooth Operator program.

Compiled and edited by Jason Klinger.

Spanish Football Results

Results from the 27th round of Spain's first-division football league (home teams listed first):

Saturday's Games

Xerez 2, Tenerife 1

Deportivo La Coruna 0, Valladolid 2

Athletic Bilbao 2, Getafe 2

Real Madrid 3, Sporting Gijon 1

Espanyol 2, Sevilla 0

Sunday's Games

Mallorca vs. Atletico Madrid

Osasuna vs. Racing Santander

Malaga vs. Villarreal

Valencia vs. Almeria

Zaragoza vs. Barcelona

Tuesday, March 23

Sporting Gijon vs. Deportivo La Coruna

Sevilla vs. Xerez

Wednesday, March 24

Almeria vs. Zaragoza

Tenerife vs. Villarreal

Valladolid vs. Espanyol

Racing Santander vs. Mallorca

Barcelona vs. Osasuna

Valencia vs. Malaga

Thursday, March 25

Getafe vs. Real Madrid

Atletico Madrid vs. Athletic Bilbao

Santana overcomes Mets errors, beats Red Sox 5-3

Johan Santana pitched out of trouble caused by Boston Red Sox hitters and his own fielders, and the New York Mets ended a four-game losing streak with a 5-3 win Friday night.

The Mets made three more errors behind Santana (6-2), bringing their total to 12 in his nine starts. They've made 35 all season. But only one led to a run Friday.

The game became testy in the fifth, when Santana hit Kevin Youkilis with a pitch and the players exchanged words. Youkilis struck out in his other three at-bats.

New York never trailed after Gary Sheffield's 502nd career homer and third of the season made it 1-0 in the second. Jason Varitek's eighth homer tied it in the bottom of the inning before New York took the lead for good against Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-2) with three runs in the fourth.

Matsuzaka was activated Friday after going on the disabled list April 15 following two poor outings.

Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his 12th save in 12 opportunities.

Santana had struggled in his other four appearances at Fenway Park with a 1-3 record and 6.89 ERA. But he came into Friday's game with an NL-best 1.36 ERA. He allowed two more earned runs while striking out eight and allowing six hits and one walk.

The first batter he faced, speedy Jacoby Ellsbury, beat out a high hopper to second baseman Luis Castillo. Then came the first error _ a tough bouncer that eluded third baseman David Wright. But Santana struck out the next two batters and ended the inning with a forceout at second.

The next error came in the fourth, the first of two by shortstop Ramon Martinez.

Jason Bay led off with a walk and was forced at second on J.D. Drew's grounder. Mike Lowell doubled Drew to third and both scored when Varitek's shot bounced off Martinez and into short left field. Varitek reached second, but Santana retired the next two batters, ending the inning with a 4-3 lead.

He got into trouble again in the sixth when Drew led off with a single. With one out, Varitek hit the ball in the hole to Martinez, whose throw to second was low and bounced into right field. That put runners at second and third, but, again, Santana escaped by retiring Julio Lugo on an infield pop and Ellsbury on a grounder.

He left after striking out the last two batters in the seventh.

The Mets took a 4-1 lead in the fourth on RBI singles by Wright, Omir Santos and Martinez. Their final run came in the seventh on a run-scoring single by Angel Pagan.

Notes:@ Pagan replaced RF Ryan Church, who left in the bottom of the fourth with a sore right hamstring. ... David Ortiz went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts and a double play. He is 1 for 8 in the two games since breaking his career-long 149-game homerless drought. ... Wright extended his hitting streak to 13 games and has reached base with a hit or walk in 26 of his 36 plate appearances in the first eight games of a 10-game road trip. ... To make room for Matsuzaka, the Red Sox optioned LHP Hunter Jones to Triple-A Pawtucket. ... Mets SS Jose Reyes is day to day with tendinitis behind his right calf.

The Bottom Line Per... W. Val Oveson

W. Val Oveson, Utah's chief information officer since January 2003, is responsible for carrying out the state's e-government initiatives. A Certified Public Accountant, he previously was PricewaterhouseCoopers' director of knowledge management and had been the national taxpayer advocate at the Internal Revenue Service.

Q. How do you evaluate bottom-line results?

A. [With] an ROI [return on investment] that's pretty traditional, but we struggle with it. We do have criteria on large projects: Are they completed on time and on budget?

Q. What do you struggle with?

A. Putting a value on citizens' time. That's a customer-service kind of measurement - determining how much time is saved [by an e- government initiative] and putting a value on that.

Q. How far did you get with this idea?

A. In discussions. We actually do the more traditional kinds of ROI: how much we'll save the state, how much it will cost versus the benefits.

Q. How does that apply to what you are working on?

A. Our major emphasis has been on e-government. We are measuring usage, and that's very important. It [usage] is not as high as we'd like and we're working on getting it higher.

Q. For example?

A. Online motor-vehicle [renewal] applications for licenses and registration have moved from 12% to 20% in some higher populated counties. Considering that people don't like to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles, you'd think it would be 100%. For years, we've had a mail registration and that's never hit more than 20%. We need a combination of advertising and PR [public relations] to change people's habits.

Q. What did you work on at the IRS?

A. I headed a team of 2,500 employees solving systematic taxpayer problems including the earned income tax credit, which is extremely complicated.

Q. Were you involved in any information-technology projects at the IRS?

A. At one point, we had employees with three terminals on their desks. It was a security issue because some systems needed [in our unit] were not allowed on the main IRS system. I fought hard to consolidate those systems so we'd have only one terminal. We made some progress.

Q. What did you learn from your experience at the IRS?

A. Sociology is more important than technology. There are a lot of things we can do with technology, but dealing with organizational politics - communication and interpersonal relationships - are big issues. Getting people to collaborate. The major challenge of any CIO, both in public and private organizations, is to get information above the silo so you can share it across boundaries.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Rogers Park housing advocates charge TIF task force with racism

Residents of Near North Side Rogers Park are charging that Loyola University officials are scheming to push through a Tax Increment Financial district that would benefit the university and drive out low-income residents from the heavily minority-based community.

But Loyola University spokeswoman Jennifer Clark said Wednesday that Loyola hired the consultant to study the project proposal.

She said student diversity is a huge attraction of the university, and no university official hopes anyone is driven out of the neighborhood.

The Task Force conducted four large public meetings to solidify input from the broader community about redevelopment, she said, adding, "The principal interest of people who worked on this are commercial redevelopment and vitality."

That means more jobs for residents and better retail businesses and services for the Loyola community.

She said charges by RPCAN about the all-white, no-renter composition of the Task Force, "I think they legitimately found a flaw. The principal thing the aldermen were looking for is geographic representation. I'm not saying it was the smartest thing." Leaders of the Rogers Park Community Action Network (RPCAN) are conducting "house meetings" to determine what residents believe will benefit the community, while they charge a whites-only planning group has taken charge of the TIF process.

RPCAN member Audrey Avila, a Loyola University student, said the planning group, led by Ald. Joe Moore and Pat O'Connor, personifies a fundamental example of racism.

"They should be ashamed of themselves and apologize to the community," Avila, a political science major, said.

Avila said she is seeking dialogue with the aldermen, Loyola officials and the community.

"There has been no effort to include minorities in the planning group. It's all white. It's awful.

"Apparently they don't know any good members of the minority community for membership on the planning group," she said.

The Task Force oversees redevelopment related to the proposed TIF in a community 75 percent of whose residents are renters, according to RPCAN.

RPCAN said in a statement that many residents fear they will be squeezed out by Loyola, although the task force is charged with the duty to protect the economic and racial diversity of Rogers Park, more than half of whose population is Black, Hispanic or Asian.

"TIFs are supposed to redevelop a blighted area," RPCAN Board Chairman Francis Tobin said.

"State statutes specify they can only be used that way, and this area of Rogers Park is not blighted," he said of the proposed TIF district that encompasses the Devon Avenue and Sheridan Road neighborhood.

"Whether the Loyola TIF meets the standard is not clear. Property values would go up, diverting money from taxes for schools, libraries, water service and other needs, and not developing new revenue, as TIF is intended to do in theory," he said.

He believes the university wants to build dormitories and parking lots that would alter and replace the current housing mix.

Residents are proposing through RPCAN that 30 percent of TIF revenue be dedicated to affordable housing to promote diversity and that it create more housing for low- and moderate-income households.

RPCAN also proposes that any company with 10 or more employees benefiting from the TIF pay a "living wage", that construction jobs use union workers and that TIF funds support job training and placement.

It must also minimize displacement of homeowners and renters as well as small businesses and fund community services, such as day care programs and youth and park facilities, RPCAN said.

"You're talking about race," Tobin said of plans emanating from the TIF.

"The effect on the minority community would be huge. It would increase disparities and reduce affordable housing.

"It would result in displacement of nonwhite people unless there is some kind of commitment on the TIF to save low cost housing and diversity.

"The result would be the whitening of the neighborhood. The TIF should promote diversity and economic justice," he said.

RPCAN said in its statement it is campaigning for residents to start over and bring "real democracy into the process, with an expanded task force that looks and sounds like Rogers Park."

Said RPCAN's Tobin, "A key issue is that people of color have been excluded entirely by Loyola and the two Aldermen (Moore and O'Connor) from the `Task Force', even though everyone says saving diversity is a key thing for our community."

As for the Network's charge that the aldermen have "assembled an all-white, no renter group to oversee planning" of the TIF, Michael Land, a spokesman for Alderman Joe Moore (49th), disagreed.

He said, "The TIF task force was a group of community leaders that were directors of community organizations, block club presidents or business owners. They were selected by both both aldermen.

Were they all white? Were they all owners? Yes."

Article copyright Sengstacke Enterprises, Inc.

House Dems close to climate agreement

The nuclear industry, ethanol producers and rural electric cooperatives are among those who stand to benefit from eleventh-hour deals made by House Democrats in search of enough votes to pass a sweeping climate bill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has made passage of the legislation, which would for the first time set limits on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, one of her top priorities.

The California Democrat said progress so far has been "a wonderful collaboration" among lawmakers with different regional interests and said she hoped for a House vote on the bill Friday, before lawmakers depart for their July 4 recess.

While most Republicans remain strongly opposed to the bill, calling it a huge energy tax, support among House Democrats appeared to be growing.

Even so, Democratic leaders and key sponsors of the bill were still meeting with fence-sitting Democrats to try to get their support. And Pelosi met late Wednesday for a second time with a small group of moderate Republicans to try to persuade them to support the measure.

"This is historic legislation," she said at a news conference. "You want to have a good, strong committed vote."

To try to get that vote, the bill's sponsors have been horse trading with a succession of Democratic lawmakers.

As a result, the nuclear industry stands to gain from an added provision that would make nuclear reactor projects eligible for loans from a new "green" energy development bank. The bill also would make it easier to obtain loan guarantees for new reactors.

In a nod to farm groups and the ethanol industry, the bill's sponsors agreed to bar the EPA for at least six years from considering international land use changes when determining whether corn ethanol is a climate-friendly fuel. Environmentalists have argued that corn ethanol emits more greenhouse gases than conventional gasoline if global land use changes as a result of greater corn demand are taken into account.

Those seeking greater commercial access to federal forests also won a prize in the last-minute negotiations. Inserted into the climate bill was an expanded definition of "biofuels" to include salvage lumber and brush from federal forests.

Rural electric cooperatives, who had argued they were being treated unfairly in the distribution of emission allowances, won an agreement to funnel more allowances their way.

And farmers were assured more favorable treatment in how so-called pollution "offsets" are managed. These are credits farmers can sell in exchange for planting trees or adopting practices that sequester carbon in the ground.

Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, said those and other changes turned him from one of the bill's sharpest critics to an advocate.

"We think we have something here that can work with agriculture," Peterson told reporters. "I think we'll be able to get the votes to pass this."

The House bill, covering more than 1,100 pages, would require a 17 percent reduction of greenhouse gases _ mainly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels such as coal _ by 2020 from 2005 levels and about an 80 percent reduction by mid-century. While it would cap climate-changing pollution it also would allow polluters to buy and sell emission allowances as a way to ease the cost of compliance.

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that three-quarters of Americans think the federal government should regulate the release of greenhouse gases, and 56 percent said they would approve such measures even if it increased their monthly electricity costs by $10.

While sponsors of the bill acknowledge that putting a price on carbon emissions will lead to higher energy production costs, they say costs to consumers will be modest because the bill also calls for free emission allowances, incentives for energy efficiency and direct price relief for low-income households.

While environmental groups as well as a number of business organizations and corporations have endorsed the bill, other industry groups, including the American Petroleum Institute, have called for its defeat. Despite the concession to farmers, the American Farm Bureau Federation said Wednesday it remains opposed, calling the bill "seriously flawed."

"What we see is a job killer," Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the second-ranking Republican in the House, said at a news conference Wednesday. "There's no question the cap-and-trade will cost millions of jobs" and higher energy prices.

The Paranoid Mind A Harvard Business School professor decodes the DNA of one of Silicon Valley's living legends.

ANDY GROVE

Richard S. Tedlow

Penguin Portfolio

Pp: 568

Price: Rs 695

In the late 1950s, there were thousands of penniless immigrantsstill pouring into the United States from Europe. Many of them alsomoved to the west coast, which was beginning to emerge as a centrefor computing technology. But only one man went on to become AndyGrove. He did not found Intel (Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce did),but went on to become its most famous employee (he offered to tagalong when Moore told him he was quitting Fairchild Semiconductor tostart a new company). The 'how' of it is what preoccupies RichardTedlow in his fascinating biography of Grove, who drove Intel todizzying success before stepping down as the CEO in May, 1998.

No doubt, there's plenty already written about Intel and Grove,but Tedlow, he says, did not set out to write a catch-all story ofthe man. The Harvard Business School professor, who is clearlysmitten by Grove, decided to attempt a page-turner instead, builtaround three key questions about the man: "I want to know how hethinks"; "I want to know how all these decisions really did getmade"; "I want to know all the stuff that he won't tell you about".Now, turning a biography into a page-turner is a tall order for anywriter, even if your subject is Grove, but Tedlow manages admirably.

Part of that is due to the rich detail he is able to provide aboutGrove and his times, starting with his family in Budapest, where hewas born in 1936, to his coming to America in 1957 and hisspectacular rise thereafter. The other part is, of course, due to thehappy trot at which Tedlow's narrative moves, and the ease with whichhe is able to dissect Grove's personality. Here's a sample: "Grove'simpact lies not only in the fact that he is both smart andrelentless. It also resides in a certain pattern that asserts itselfwhen you get into an argument with him. You can feel quite trapped.He not only argues, he seems to be able to control the terms of thedebate. You can feel yourself being manoeuvred into agreeing withthat he is right and you are wrong. Once that point is reached, hebecomes dismissive".

But as Intel's "floating point" disaster (only in terms of publicrelations and financial write-offs) of 1994 proved, even a brilliantCEO like Andy Grove has his blind spots. In this case, it was hisrefusal to acknowledge the inconsequential flaw in the Pentium chipas something that Intel's customers had a right to get worked upover. Intel today is under pressure and its market cap has dropped toabout $122 billion from historical highs four times higher, butGrove's reputation not just endures, it grows. And it is to Tedlow'scredit that he has been able to add richly to a understanding of aphenomenon called Andy Grove.

IT'S ONLY BUSINESS

By Meera Mitra

Oxford University Press

Pp: 192

Price: Rs 395

One of the things late management guru Peter Drucker said ofbusiness was that in the 21st century, profit-making would cease tobe the sole raison d'etre of private enterprises. Instead, the mostsuccessful corporations would be those that are seen as beingresponsible to the communities in which they operate. In a countrylike India, where the disparity between the rich and the poor isembarrassingly stark, corporations have a special responsibility toensure that some of their profits flow back directly to the society.Meera Mitra's book is, therefore, not just timely, but a valuableaddition to the growing body of work in this area. Mitra, adevelopment specialist and independent consultant (also wife ofFICCI's Secretary General, Amit Mitra), begins her book by outliningthe philosophical and political aspects of corporate socialresponsibility (CSR), goes into the historical origins of theconcept, moves to current trends, and finally wraps up with hersuggestions on how to embed CSR in India. Corporations, students andanyone else interested in CSR will find It's Only Business "avaluable handbook", to borrow the words of Infosys TechnologiesChairman, N.R. Narayana Murthy.

Zoeggeler extends perfect record on Turin track

Armin Zoeggeler extended his perfect record on the 2006 Turin Olympics luge track with his 43rd World Cup victory Sunday _ his third straight this season.

The Italian won in a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 45.071 seconds.

Felix Loch of Germany finished second, 0.041 seconds behind, and Daniel Pfister of Austria was third, 0.083 back.

Zoeggeler has now won eight times on the Cesana track.

"I love this track," said the 35-year-old Zoeggeler, who also increased his lead in the overall standings. "I'm very pleased because I'm still able to beat such young and strong opponents as Loch and (fourth-place finisher David) Moeller."

Durbin urges VA to create a `common sense' proposal

U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary Togo West Jr. is being challenged by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) to craft a plan for the four Chicago-area veterans' healthcare facilities that would pass the test of "common sense."

Durbin fired off a letter to West asking him to take a "critical look" at the data, assumptions and recommendations of the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 12 Delivery Systems Options Study which would consolidate the four VA hospitals.

"Secretary West should throw this study in the trash and apply common sense and some creative thinking as he draws up his own plan," Durbin said. "This study looked at facilities, but lost sight of the veterans those facilities serve.

"It's based on a vision of veterans healthcare in the future that congress hasn't endorsed and on assumptions that veterans will need hospital care at half the rate of seniors under Medicare. That's not the kind of treatment I want for our veterans," Durbin said.

To prove his point, Durbin and his peers pointed out several problems they have with the VISN study. They said it does not make sense to close down the state-of-the-art North Chicago VA Medical Center when $100 million renovations were completed there just eight years ago.

Durbin said it also does not make sense to send all inpatient care to Lakeside because that center "would be bursting at the seams to accommodate veterans who are now served by Hines and North Chicago."

Article Copyright Sengstacke Enterprises, Inc.

Business must be legislative priority for fall session

The Pennsylvania General Assembly has much work to do in a short amount of time as legislators return to work this month and Gov. Tom Corbett and the Republican majority anxiously push their agenda items before the Dec. 15 holiday break.

Top priorities include: a Marcellus Shale severance tax or impact fee; liquor sales privatization; transportation funding; corporate tax reform; private school vouchers; prevailing wage laws; a health insurance exchange; and thanks to the indecisiveness and lack of cohesion in Harrisburg, an Act 47 takeover plan for third-class cities that can't get their own acts together.

We've opined on more than one occasion that an impact fee or severance tax on shale extraction would stunt growth of a burgeoning industry still in its infancy. Criticizing international energy companies with billions in profits each year is nothing more than reaching for low-hanging fruit in a pedestrian argument. It's estimated that drillers added more than $15 billion in capital investment to the commonwealth and provided more than $1 billion in state and local revenue since drilling began. They've also added more than 70,000 jobs, 71 percent of which went to Pennsylvanians.

We've also put our weight behind privatizing state alcohol sales. The state Liquor Control Board claims it brought in $488 million in wine and liquor taxes last year. House Majority Leader Mike Turzai claims the state would garner at least $500 million in annual taxes and fees and an additional $2 billion by auctioning liquor licenses on the wholesale and retail markets.

Transportation funding is an issue that is impossible to ignore. Gov. Tom Corbett proposed a five-year, $2.5 billion funding package that would include increasing vehicle registration fees, uncapping the oil company franchise tax and removing state police funding from the transportation budget. Tolling, again, may emerge as a solution. It's estimated the commonwealth needs some $3.5 billion annually to repair transportation infrastructure. This will be a tough decision; however, as a transportation hub where the midstate economy lives and dies by its highways, a commitment must be made.

Critical legislative priorities must also once and for all complete the phase-out of the capital stock and franchise tax by 2014, reduce the corporate net income tax, remove the cap on net operating loss deductions, address e-commerce collection of sales taxes, repeal the inheritance tax, expand research and development tax credits and continue job creation tax credits.

These priorities would have a very positive effect on midstate business, and they need to be addressed immediately. The legislature also must continue to consider pension reform and initiatives for Third- Class cities, as well as decide how the state will take over Harrisburg and implement the Act 47 plan.

Solving the commonwealth's short- and long-range problems won't come without pain; however, allowing business to grow stronger without hampering it with taxes and regulations is the sure-fire way to grow a stable and sustainable economy.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Hall takes in sons' game, then a Hollywood hike

ANITA HALL flew to L.A. to watch her twin sons, Joshua and Matthew Hall-Juntilla, both linebackers, play in Golden West Junior College's 33-17 homecoming win over Orange Coast Junior College Saturday. The next day Hall, her boys and their roommate, Todd Takanishi, hiked up to the Hollywood sign, where Todd took their photo. The three boys are 2009 Kaiser High grads. Anita will sing at the Opera Ball Nov. 20 at the Sheraton Waikiki and at the free Toys for Tots concert Dec. 10 at the Blaisdell Concert Hall. ...

NATIONAL Rifle Association past president Sandy Froman visited singer-composer Audy Kimura at Hy's Steakhouse Saturday night. Froman came here for Sunday's annual Hawaii Friends of NRA Dinner organized by chairman Kimura and treasurer Dawn Horn. The event raised $25,000 for local high school shooters and teams. University of Hawaii grad Kimura competed at the collegiate level and placed in the National Rifle Championships. The Friends donated four air rifles to local high school students for competitions. Froman was moved by students' reactions. She took the stage and announced to the crowd of 250, including 30 students, that she was buying a precision air rifle, the type used in the Olympics, to donate as well. ...

QUEENIE Ventura Dowsett will be honored Nov. 20 as Hula Grill's I Ola Mau Ka Hula recipient for individuals who perpetuate the finest traditions of Hawaii through practicing and teaching hula. Queenie will be recognized at a private event for her family and friends at the grill. ... Pro surfer and Haleiwa resident Jaime O'Brien was the guest of honor at a party at Waikiki Parc's pool deck Oct. 23 for the Hawaii premiere of his new surf movie, "Who is J.O.B.?" Andy Irons, the great Hawaii surfer who died Nov. 2, is not in the film but his brother, Bruce Irons, is featured. About 150 people attended, many from the surfing world. "Hawaii Goes Fishing" host Cindy Paliracio was in the crowd. The party was sponsored by Red Bull. ...

GOOD TO SEE "Hawaii Five-0" using local actors such as Kelly Hu, Kim Gennaula and Jason Scott Lee. Halekulani and Parc hotels' public relations boss Diane Ako, former KHNL anchor, has a role in Monday's show, playing -- you guessed it -- a TV reporter. ... Some of KGMB "Sunrise" host and anchor Grace Lee's interview with Grace Park of "Five-0" was shown on CBS' "Early Show" Monday. ... Clint Eastwood was pictured in Lahaina waters directing "The Hereafter" on "The Insider" last month on KGMB. He and star Matt Damon, on dry land, joked about how tough it was for Eastwood to be in Hawaii directing beautiful Cecile De France. ...

HONOLULU Community College's Music and Entertainment Learning Experience (MELE) program unveiled its newly renovated state-of-the-art recording studio last Friday. In recognition of a substantial donation from the Mike Curb Family Foundation, the facility is named the Mike Curb Music and Entertainment Learning Experience Studios. Two years ago the MELE program, founded by then-chancellor Ramsey Pedersen, opened with 27 students. Since then, more than 300 students have taken MELE classes. The first associate degrees will be awarded this spring. ... The I CanCERVIVE event to raise funds for families whose children are battling cancer will be held at 6 p.m. next Friday at the Royal Hawaiian. Starr Kalahiki stars. Call 528-5161 for ticket info. ... The Carmen Haugen Quartet -- Carmen U'ilani, Frank Uehara, Ron Miyashiro and Keith Haugen -- will perform from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. tomorrow on the Food Court Stage at International Market Place. ...