In the Hamptons, catering to the rich (and their dogs) is good business

By Beth Pinsker

EAST HAMPTON, New York (Reuters) - Judging by early demand for everything from doggie daycare to Ferrari rentals and fine art, rich Americans are going to make this a strong summer in one of their favorite playgrounds - the beach towns on the eastern end of Long Island collectively known as the Hamptons.

With stock prices surging, home prices recovering, and borrowing costs low, there is a renewed sense of confidence among the wealthy and the merely well off. It may not be conspicuous consumption of "The Great Gatsby" kind but it could be the best season since the financial crisis slammed the U.S. economy in 2008.

It is "new" money coming in that is making the difference, since the "old" money in the Hamptons never really stopped flowing, at least in terms of the ultra-wealthy spending on things like food, wine and household staff.

But discretionary spending did slow down over the past few years, so it's making a noticeable comeback now for vendors like Mark Humphrey, who has owned a gallery on Main Street in Southampton for more than 30 years.

"We had a good winter, and that just never happens. We are usually barely open," he says.

Last summer, he had a lot of browsers, but they rarely opened up their wallets. Suddenly over the past few months, he has been contacted by some of those window shoppers who were finally ready to buy, and he has sold 10 paintings at $5,000 to $10,000 since December.

It is a similar story for American Bull Rentals, which is for the first time expanding into the Hamptons with its rentals of mechanical bulls to bring the rodeo experience to house parties and fundraisers.

"I have a sliding scale, and for Hamptons calls, whatever amount I tell them, they say 'whatever, send the contract,'" says Mike Marrazzo, owner of Prestige Excursions, based in Bellmore, New York, which operates the service.

While rentals in other areas might run $1,400, he's getting $2,800 to $3,000 for his Hamptons bookings.

So far in 2013, luxury spending is correlating highly to the stock market. Both the latest study from the American Affluence Research Center and American Express's Survey of Affluence and Wealth in America, found that spending on second homes, vacation travel, dining in restaurants and new luxury cars is increasing.

BRING YOUR OWN STAFF

In the Hamptons, second homes can range from a cottage in East Hampton for $1.4 million to an 11,760-square foot mansion in Sagaponack for $13.5 million, with seven bedrooms, 10.5 baths, a swimming pool, tennis court, outdoor kitchen and lower-level entertainment center.

There are about 1,200 active sales listings right now. The Corcoran Market Report for the Hamptons for the first quarter of 2013 showed that the number of sales was up 20 percent over last year but average sale prices were down nearly 10 percent, because there haven't been a lot of high-priced sales so far this year. The next report comes out in July.

Prices may be hotting up. With locals whispering about Jennifer Lopez scouting properties in the area - and the New York Post reporting that she dropped $10 million on an estate in Water Mill - the summer season is just getting going.

As for rentals, there are still some available, but owners are not negotiating and they are going fast, says real estate agent Tom Friedman.

Friedman says his busy season started early this year - he usually doesn't get calls about summer rentals until mid-January, but this year they started in November, right after Hurricane Sandy, which largely spared Hamptons beaches. It didn't trickle off until mid-April, and now he's getting last-minute callers. They don't mess around with seeing dozens of places and looking for bargains, but instead jump on whatever is available - whether it is $20,000 per month for a small cottage or $550,000 for a beach-front estate.

That price probably includes a driveway, but in the Hamptons, there is daycare for your Bentley instead so it doesn't get damaged by the salt air. Good luck finding a space, though. The Bridgehampton Motoring Club, which has slots for 45 vehicles at two locations, is at capacity for now, says co-owner Adam Bellin,

The same goes for renting a Ferrari 458 Italia over the coming Memorial Day weekend for around $2,500 a day from Imagine Lifestyles Luxury Rentals, which services the northeast. The company is sold out of their entire fleet of Ferraris, Bentleys, Porsches and BMWs for the weekend. "We're definitely up this year. People are spending money, and demand is outweighing supply," says co-CEO Ryan Safady, who is based in Pennsauken, New Jersey

Also at capacity: doggie daycares and domestic services. "Memorial Day is busier than usual for us," says April Cullum, manager of the Hampton Pet Club, which has daytime care and overnight "hotel-like" accommodations for up to 35 dogs. She has her usual standing reservations that she's had for the past few years - dog owners who have an annual party and send the dogs out for the night, weekend Hamptonites who board their pets during the week - but also a whole influx of new dogs.

Hampton Domestics owner Vincent Minuto is turning away callers. New summer folk, he says, should bring their own help with them.

The rich are also spending on others. Lavish benefits are a hallmark of the Hamptons social scene, and so far things are going phenomenally well, according to Ruth Appelhof, executive director of Guild Hall in East Hampton, the area's chief arts venue. Overall, her fundraising is up 56 percent since 2009, and the big rise has come in the last year.

In March, a fundraiser honoring the retirement of the chairman of the board of trustees, Melville "Mickey" Straus, raised $2.5 million in one evening, when previous spring fundraisers only made about $500,000. "Mickey wanted to make sure we paid off the mortgage before he left," says Appelhof, noting the special draw of the event. Guild Hall was able to use $1.5 million to close out the balance of a $17 million renovation that it had been fundraising for since 2001, years ahead of schedule.

"We're feeling flush these days, but that's not to say we don't struggle every day to fundraise to keep our programs going," Appelhof says.

(Follow us @ReutersMoney or at http://www.reuters.com/finance/personal-finance; Editing by Lauren Young, Martin Howell and Claudia Parsons)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hamptons-catering-rich-dogs-good-business-051746552.html

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Mayor Suttle's plan to pay for Civic Auditorium study postponed

Read more about plans for the Civic Auditorium:

? Civic Auditorium will close in 2014

? City exploring options for Omaha Civic Auditorium's disposal

* * * * *

A proposal to have a large real estate firm help in redeveloping the Omaha Civic Auditorium site must wait.

The City Council unanimously delayed voting on a plan from Mayor Jim Suttle's administration to pay the CB Richard Ellis/Mega commercial real estate firm $300,000 to help create a vision for the site, as well as select a company to build a development.

Council members wanted to be briefed on the proposal. The council will revisit the contract in about two months.

The selected developer for the site would pay either $1.5 million or 1.5 percent of the project's total cost to CB Richard Ellis/Mega. In turn, the real estate firm would refund half the city's $300,000 payment.

Downtown's 9,300-seat auditorium is set to shut down in summer 2014. It has struggled to keep up with the rise of the CenturyLink Center, the new Ralston Arena and Council Bluffs' Mid-America Center. Plans for the arena's closing, and that of its attached Music Hall and convention hall, followed years of studies and debates over the building's future.

The real estate proposal, pitched by the firm and the city's Planning Department, calls ?for a combination of strategic real estate consulting, planning, project management, development, research and marketing services.?

CB Richard Ellis/MEGA would take about four months to conduct a market study of the property and surrounding area, then develop at least three concepts for the site.

Assuming that the concepts are feasible, the firm would then issue a request for proposals from qualified developers to actually build a development.

The goal, according to the proposal, is to complete the selection process by summer 2014.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1068, johnny.perez@owh.com

twitter.com/PerezJr

Source: http://www.omaha.com/article/20130522/NEWS/705229851

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Tax official at center of scandal won't testify: lawyer

By Kim Dixon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lois Lerner, the Internal Revenue Service official at the center of a scandal about the targeting of conservative groups for extra tax scrutiny, plans to assert her constitutional right not to answer questions from a congressional committee on Wednesday.

"She has not committed any crime or made any misrepresentation but under the circumstances she has no choice but to take this course," Lerner's attorney, William Taylor, wrote on Monday to the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that is holding hearings into the IRS scandal.

Chairman Darrell Issa, a California Republican, has accused Lerner of providing "false or misleading" information to Congress last year about the IRS' treatment of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.

Since the targeting came to light on May 10, three congressional committees and the Department of Justice have started investigations into the matter.

Lerner's refusal to testify may only heighten interest over exactly which IRS workers in a Cincinnati, Ohio, office created partisan criteria, including search terms like "Tea Party" and "Patriots," to select certain groups' applications for special scrutiny.

Congressional investigators have said Lerner, the chief of the IRS tax-exempt unit, was the Washington-based official who learned in June 2011 that workers in a Cincinnati, Ohio, office were using such criteria and directed them changed.

Top IRS officials, however, have said they did not learn of the practice until nearly a year later.

In a May 14 letter to Lerner, Issa lists a briefing Lerner gave committee staff, a phone call between Lerner and staff, and two letters from Lerner to the committee. He said that Lerner told staff in early 2012 that criteria for tax-exempt applications had not been changed, and that the IRS's follow-up with conservative organizations was not unusual.

Issa stated that providing false or misleading information to Congress is a serious matter, with potential criminal liability. He cited Section 1001 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code, which generally prohibits materially false statements on matters under the jurisdiction of the federal government.

Lerner broke open the scandal by apologizing for the activity at an American Bar Association conference on May 10, in response to a planted question.

Lawmakers have criticized that disclosure strategy, saying they should have been told first about the findings of wrongdoing, considering their interest for more than a year in Tea Party complaints. It has come to light that White House and Treasury senior staff were consulted about the disclosure plan.

The rising political storm over the IRS has undercut President Barack Obama's second-term agenda as the president tries to negotiate a budget deal with Republicans and push a comprehensive immigration reform bill through Congress.

A report released May 14 by a Treasury Department internal watchdog said that for roughly 18 months starting in March of 2010, unnamed IRS workers in Cincinnati used the "inappropriate criteria." It also found that the criteria were changed back to include partisan terms in January 2012 after the office was ordered to stop using them in June 2011.

Staff for Issa and top panel Democrat Elijah Cummings on Tuesday questioned Holly Paz, a director in the Washington tax-exempt office.

Paz, among five mid-level IRS workers being interviewed by the panel's staff, confirmed the findings of the Treasury inspector general's report that the criteria was not directed by anyone outside the agency, according to a committee aide.

SUBPOENA

IRS spokesman Dean Patterson did not immediately have a comment on Lerner's status at the agency. Outgoing acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller told the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday that there were ongoing discussions about discipline for Lerner.

Lerner has secured a high-powered Washington lawyer in Taylor, of the firm Zuckerman Spaeder LLP. The law firm's website cites Taylor's experience with "high-profile civil and criminal matters, often under intense media scrutiny."

He defended Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, against criminal charges related to a sexual assault accusation. The criminal charges were dismissed, and a related civil suit was settled.

Issa's committee on May 17 issued a subpoena to compel Lerner to testify at the hearing on Wednesday, the third such hearing in less than a week since the scandal first erupted.

Taylor said he had advised Lerner to assert her Fifth Amendment right in part due to allegations made by Issa that she had provided false and misleading information on four separate occasions last year.

The Fifth Amendment provides individuals with protection against self-incrimination.

Issa spokesman Ali Ahmad said in a statement on Tuesday that Issa remains hopeful that Lerner will ultimately decide to testify on Wednesday.

OTHER OFFICIALS GRILLED

During the Senate panel hearing on Tuesday, top IRS officials testified they were unaware for nearly two years of the agency's targeting of conservative groups and did not deliberately mislead lawmakers about the practice.

Exasperated senators repeatedly asked former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, who led the agency from 2008 to 2012, and outgoing acting IRS chief Miller why they did not reveal the practice earlier. Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah accused Miller of a "lie by omission."

In his first public statements on the growing scandal, Shulman told a Senate hearing he did not have "the full set of facts" about the targeting until the watchdog report was released last week. Miller, who testified at a House of Representatives hearing last week, told Hatch sharply that "I did not lie, sir."

Shulman is due to testify on Wednesday before the House panel, along with Treasury watchdog J. Russell George and Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin.

(Reporting By Kim Dixon; Writing by Karey Van Hall; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tax-official-center-scandal-wont-testify-lawyer-002655927.html

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Genetic predictors of postpartum depression uncovered by Hopkins researchers

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The epigenetic modifications, which alter the way genes function without changing the underlying DNA sequence, can apparently be detected in the blood of pregnant women during any trimester, potentially providing a simple way to foretell depression in the weeks after giving birth, and an opportunity to intervene before symptoms become debilitating.

The findings of the small study involving 52 pregnant women are described online in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

"Postpartum depression can be harmful to both mother and child," says study leader Zachary Kaminsky, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "But we don't have a reliable way to screen for the condition before it causes harm, and a test like this could be that way."

It is not clear what causes postpartum depression, a condition marked by persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, exhaustion and anxiety that begins within four weeks of childbirth and can last weeks, several months or up to a year. An estimated 10 to 18 percent of all new mothers develop the condition, and the rate rises to 30 to 35 percent among women with previously diagnosed mood disorders. Scientists long believed the symptoms were related to the large drop-off in the mother's estrogen levels following childbirth, but studies have shown that both depressed and nondepressed women have similar estrogen levels.

By studying mice, the Johns Hopkins researchers suspected that estrogen induced epigenetic changes in cells in the hippocampus, a part of the brain that governs mood. Kaminsky and his team then created a complicated statistical model to find the candidate genes most likely undergoing those epigenetic changes, which could be potential predictors for postpartum depression. That process resulted in the identification of two genes, known as TTC9B and HP1BP3, about which little is known save for their involvement in hippocampal activity.

Kaminsky says the genes in question may have something to do with the creation of new cells in the hippocampus and the ability of the brain to reorganize and adapt in the face of new environments ? two elements important in mood. In some ways, he says, estrogen can behave like an antidepressant, so that when inhibited, it adversely affects mood.

The researchers later confirmed their findings in humans by looking for epigenetic changes to thousands of genes in blood samples from 52 pregnant women with mood disorders. Jennifer L. Payne, M.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Women's Mood Disorders Center, collected the blood samples. The women were followed both during and after pregnancy to see who developed postpartum depression.

The researchers noticed that women who developed postpartum depression exhibited stronger epigenetic changes in those genes that are most responsive to estrogen, suggesting that these women are more sensitive to the hormone's effects. Specifically, two genes were most highly correlated with the development of postpartum depression. TTC9B and HP1BP3 predicted with 85 percent certainty which women became ill.

"We were pretty surprised by how well the genes were correlated with postpartum depression," Kaminsky says. "With more research, this could prove to be a powerful tool."

Kaminsky says the next step in research would be to collect blood samples from a larger group of pregnant women and follow them for a longer period of time. He also says it would be useful to examine whether the same epigenetic changes are present in the offspring of women who develop postpartum depression.

Evidence suggests that early identification and treatment of postpartum depression can limit or prevent debilitating effects. Alerting women to the condition's risk factors ? as well as determining whether they have a previous history of the disorder, other mental illness and unusual stress ? is key to preventing long-term problems.

Research also shows, Kaminsky says, that postpartum depression not only affects the health and safety of the mother, but also her child's mental, physical and behavioral health.

Kaminsky says that if his preliminary work pans out, he hopes a blood test for the epigenetic biomarkers could be added to the battery of tests women undergo during pregnancy, and inform decisions about the use of antidepressants during pregnancy. There are concerns, he says, about the effects of these drugs on the fetus and their use must be weighed against the potentially debilitating consequences to both the mother and child of forgoing them.

"If you knew you were likely to develop postpartum depression, your decisions about managing your care could be made more clearly," he says.

###

Johns Hopkins Medicine: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org

Thanks to Johns Hopkins Medicine for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128331/Genetic_predictors_of_postpartum_depression_uncovered_by_Hopkins_researchers

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Apple's Cook to face Senate questions on taxes

In this Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012 photo, Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an introduction of the new iPhone 5 in San Francisco. Cook is scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill Tuesday May 21, 2013, to explain the company?s tax strategy, which a Senate subcommittee says lets it avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

In this Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012 photo, Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an introduction of the new iPhone 5 in San Francisco. Cook is scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill Tuesday May 21, 2013, to explain the company?s tax strategy, which a Senate subcommittee says lets it avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A Senate panel says Apple Inc. is avoiding paying billions of dollars in U.S. taxes by using a cluster of affiliates located outside the United States and is prepared to question its chief executive Tuesday about the "loopholes."

Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to explain the company's tax strategy to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which released a detailed report Monday on the company's practices.

The world's most valuable company says it is complying with the laws and pays "an extraordinary amount" in U.S. taxes.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the panel's chairman, says Apple's capitalizing on loopholes in the U.S. tax code is unique among multinational corporations.

"Apple is exploiting an absurdity," Levin said at the start of the hearing.

.

.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-05-21-Apple-Untaxed%20Profits/id-1167c178873146619843ef94a469f23e

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Live from the CTIA 2013 Day 1 keynote!

The liveblog kicks off at 9am PT right here

We're ready to go on the official first day of CTIA 2013, and the events kick off with the first of three keynote sessions. It is set to run from 9am to 11am PT, with several industry leaders expected to speak.

More: Android @ CTIA 2013

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/b_r-CQrT2YU/story01.htm

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Please check the URL for proper spelling and capitalization. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Yahoo!, try visiting the Yahoo! homepage or look through a list of Yahoo!'s online services.

Please try Yahoo Help Central if you need more assistance.

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Bae wins Byron Nelson for first PGA Tour title

IRVING, Texas (AP) ? Sang-Moon Bae won the Byron Nelson Championship on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title, beating Keegan Bradley by two strokes after blowing a four-stroke lead.

The 26-year-old South Korean closed with a 1-under 69 to finish at 13-under 267.

Bradley was trying to become the Nelson's first wire-to-wire winner since Tom Watson in 1980. Bradley set the TPC Four Seasons course record with an opening 60 even with two bogeys, but finished with a 72 on a day with wind gusting to near 40 mph at times.

Bae already had 11 international victories ? winning on the Korea, Japan and Asian tours.

Four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the front nine gave Bae a four-stroke advantage in the final group. But he struggled in the middle of the round, making a double bogey at No. 9 and a bogey at the next hole.

Bradley, whose first PGA Tour victory came as a rookie at the Nelson two years ago, got even with a birdie at the 15th hole. But he missed a short birdie putt at the next hole to fall behind for good.

Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters champ, shot a 68 to finish third at 10 under. His only bogey Sunday came at the closing hole, where he hit his approach into a bunker and then hit through the green.

Bae won $1.2 million, nearly matching his PGA Tour career earnings of $1.6 million in his 42 previous starts. His best finish on tour had been a tie for second last year after getting into a four-man playoff at the Transitions Championship.

Bradley had a couple of incredible par saves on the back nine before finally making his first birdie of the round, a 17-footer that had just enough to get into the cup at the 463-yard 15th hole. That gave him a share of the lead when Bae missed a par putt there from just inside 6 feet.

After Bae sank a 5-foot birdie at the par-5 16th hole, and was already walking to the next tee, Bradley had a shorter putt on the same line ? it horseshoed around the hole and didn't fall. The par put Bradley a stroke back with two holes to play, and he then hit his tee shot at the par-3 17th over the green and was unable to save par. That made it irrelevant that he finally had a par at No. 18, the hole he bogeyed the first three rounds.

When Bae hit his tee shot at the 17th green that is fronted by water, he watched anxiously and finally let out an obvious sigh of relief, bending his knees and leaning backward when the ball landed on the front edge of the green about 24 feet from the cup. He made the par, and Bradley was unable to scramble again.

Players wore red ribbons during the final round in memory of Ken Venturi, the 1964 U.S. Open champion and longtime CBS golf analyst who died Friday.

Justin Bolli shot a bogey-free 65 for the best round of the day and matched his career-best finish of fourth. A stroke further back at 272 were Morgan Hoffmann (66), Martin Kaymer (68) and Scott Piercy (72).

Tom Gillis, making his 150th PGA Tour start since 1993 and still without a win, started the final round only two strokes out of the lead. But he was already 6-over for his final round after a triple-bogey 7 at the sixth hole. He went on to a 76 and finished tied for 12th.

At No. 14, Bradley drove into the left rough between some trees and missed the green before chipping to 5 feet to save par. On the par 3 just before that, his tee shot settled behind the green, but he hit from there to 8 feet and made that putt as well.

After Bradley's opening drive of the day landed in rough near a temporary lemonade stand, he hit over trees and a bunker to 15 feet and save par at the hole he bogeyed each of the first two rounds. His tee shot at the 202-yard second hole went into a bunker, but he made a 6-foot par putt.

Bae's long putt off the back edge of that par-3 green slid just past the cup, causing him to step back and turn around in disbelief. He knocked in a 4-footer that circled the cup before falling.

The lead swapped at the downwind, 502-yard third hole when Bradley's drive went left into the water. He bogeyed while Bae rolled in a 27-foot birdie putt and responded with a double fist pump.

Bae built his lead to four strokes with three consecutive birdies, getting to 16 under when he two-putted from 33 feet at the par-5 seventh.

One of Bae's biggest reactions came after he made his par-saving 11-foot putt at the 462-yard eighth hole, where he drove into a fairway bunker and then had to hit back into the fairway before his approach shot.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bae-wins-byron-nelson-first-pga-tour-title-215946199.html

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Chesapeake names Anadarko executive as new CEO

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ? Chesapeake Energy has named Anadarko Petroleum executive Robert Douglas Lawler as its new CEO.

The appointment of the 46-year-old Lawler comes after a tough year during which Chesapeake's board ousted its founder and the company worked to shore up its finances.

The new CEO takes over as Chesapeake continues selling assets to pare down an enormous debt burden. Chesapeake intends to sell $4 billion to $7 billion in assets this year. It has sold about $2 billion so far in deals that have either been signed or finalized.

Former CEO and Chairman Aubrey McClendon built Chesapeake into the nation's second largest producer of natural gas by aggressively acquiring drilling rights on land throughout the country. When natural gas prices slumped to decade-lows in early 2012, the value of those rights plummeted, as did the revenue generated from the gas produced from the land. That put Chesapeake in a financial bind that it has been trying to free itself from by selling drilling rights to other oil and gas companies.

It also exposed some controversial perks that McClendon had arranged, including the right to invest personally in all of the company's wells. Investor uproar in the spring of 2012 over the perks and the way McClendon financed his investments led the company to remove its founder from the position of board chairman.

Even though subsequent internal investigations into McClendon's activities turned up no improper conduct, the company announced early this year that McClendon would leave the company because of "philosophical differences" between McClendon and the board.

Lawler is senior vice president for international and deep-water operations at Anadarko Petroleum. He also will join the Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake's board. The appointments are effective June 17.

Lawler is a petroleum engineer with 25 years of experience in the exploration and production industry.

Chesapeake shares rose 1.5 percent to $20.57 in premarket trading Monday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-05-20-Chesapeake-CEO/id-b2d7fdee8f8b4dca815c71e129f3e8e6

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Actavis to buy Warner Chilcott in $8.5 billion stock deal

(Reuters) - Generic drugmaker Actavis Inc, which has been the subject of intense takeover speculation, said on Monday that it had struck a deal to buy specialty pharmaceuticals company Warner Chilcott Plc for $8.5 billion in stock.

The move comes as Actavis has spurned approaches from Canadian pharmaceutical company Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc and Mylan Inc. Analysts have said that if Actavis were to buy Warner Chilcott, it would kill the chances of its being taken over.

Warner Chilcott shareholders will receive 0.16 share of the combined company. The companies said that would equate to $20.08 per share, based on Actavis' closing share price of $125.50 on Friday.

The purchase price is a 34 percent premium to Warner Chilcott's closing share price of $15.01 on May 9, the day before the companies disclosed that they were in talks. Warner Chilcott shares have since risen and closed on Friday at $19.19, narrowing the premium to less than 5 percent.

Shares of Warner Chilcott were up 2.6 percent at $19.70 in trading before the market opened, while Actavis rose 2 percent to $128.

Warner Chilcott brings a portfolio of branded women's health pharmaceuticals such as the contraceptive patch to Actavis, which makes and sells generic version of drugs that are no longer protected by patents. Because Warner Chilcott is based in Ireland, the deal creates a money-saving lower tax rate for Actavis, analysts have said. The combined company would have $11 billion in sales.

(Reporting by Caroline Humer in New York and Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Lisa Von Ahn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/actavis-buy-warner-chilcott-8-5-billion-deal-112018951.html

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Don't let strangers in, even in Paris

When a man in work clothes showed up at her door, the Monitor's Europe bureau chief let him inside. But fortunately, he didn't get a chance to pull off a well-known Parisian scam.

By Sara Miller Llana,?Staff writer / May 17, 2013

People walk in the business district of La D?fense, Paris, Wednesday. The Monitor's Europe bureau chief learns not to let strangers through the front door, even in Paris.

Christophe Ena/AP

Enlarge

I let a stranger into our apartment.

Skip to next paragraph Sara Miller Llana

Europe Bureau Chief

Sara Miller Llana?moved to Paris in April 2013 to become the Monitor's Europe Bureau?Chief. Previously she was the?paper's?Latin America Bureau Chief, based in Mexico City, from 2006 to 2013.

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I suppose that in moving from Mexico City to Paris, and feeling a sudden burst of elation for not having to worry so intently about drug and gang violence and, worst of all kidnapping, I went to the extreme.

A man knocked on the door of our temporary apartment saying he needed to check on something and asked if he could come in. He must have said what he was checking but my French, only now on its way back after lying dormant for over two decades, missed the details. He was dressed in work clothes, and I let him in.

He first said he was looking for the heater panel, then started asking all kinds of questions about who we were and how long we?d been in France. I thought this was a bit bizarre, but didn't think much of it.

Then he spotted the chimney. He opened the screen: ?Oh no, look at all of this soot.? (I had to look up the word for soot, suie, on my laptop.)

?You have a small child,? he went on. ?If she breathes this in, it could be the end. I am obligated to fix this.?

In my daze of jetlag, living out of suitcases, with a mountain of bureaucracy to tackle each day, I actually thought this man might be from the city government, and he was doing his municipal duty, for free, to make sure no Paris residents ? even foreigners, God bless France! ? breathe contaminated air.

I almost let him get to work ? until my more rational husband said, ?Let?s call the owner first.?

The owner's response was immediate: ?Get that guy out of the house now.?

I learned later that it?s a well-known scam in Paris that plumbers or electricians and other workers will come in, and tell you you need X, Y, and Z fixed. A colleague told me one man entered her house, broke a pipe, and then tried to get them to pay to fix it. I told the guardian downstairs about our visitor, and she said any communal or municipal work to be done will always be posted in the building.

Some of these scams are actually done by thieves, she said, who might rob you ? or worse. ?Don?t let anyone in your house. It could be very dangerous.?

I did learn back in elementary school not to talk to strangers, and most definitely not to let them through the front door.

But I had a momentary lapse of judgment, a good reminder that you have to be careful anywhere ? even in Paris!

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/t71YicIf93A/Don-t-let-strangers-in-even-in-Paris

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Taylor Swift a hit, others miss at Billboard awards

Music

Ashley Majeski TODAY contributor

5 hours ago

Taylor Swift managed to pick up six awards before the Billboard Music Awards even started on Sunday night, so it's no surprise that she came away from the MGM Grand as the show's biggest winner. The pop/country superstar not only took home the most trophies -- eight -- but also the night's biggest honors: Top Artist and Billboard 200 Album of the Year for her mega-hit "Red."

In addition to Swift's winning spree, the night was full of crazy moments -- from Justin Bieber getting booed to Lil Wayne getting a lap dance from fellow performer Nicki Minaj, here's a look at some of biggest surprises and sour notes of one of the music industry's biggest nights.

Best performances

Swift kicked off her much-anticipated performance of her hit single "22" backstage in her dressing room. Dressed in a unicorn T-shirt that made her look more like 9 than 22, Taylor danced her way into a meeting room, whizzed around backstage on an office chair and entered the arena from a side door on a bike.

Pitbull who, like Bieber performed twice during the show, teamed up with a slim and sexy Christina Aguilera to perform their hit single "Feel This Moment." The pair got the crowd going more than any previous performer (Sorry Beliebers!) When surprise guest Morten Harket of A-ha emerged to sing the signature high-note snippet of 1980s band?s hit "Take on Me," the entire crowd seemed to be singing along.

Chris Pizzello / AP

Pitbull performs with a noticeably fit Christina Aguilera on Sunday.

Worst performances

Selena Gomez's robotic Bollywood-inspired dance moves during her performance of "Come & Get It" were more strange than sexy, and the long slices of white material hanging all over the stage made it look like Selena and her pals had gone toilet-papering before the performance.

Chris Pizzello / AP

Selena Gomez, center, performs at the Billboard Music Awards.

Chris Brown also earned a spot on the Worst Performance list for his rendition of ?Fine China.? While the special effects and dance moves were top-notch, Brown?s screeching high notes and all-over-the-place vocals made this performance hard to watch. In the words of ?American Idol? judge Randy Jackson, ?It was a little pitchy, dawg!?

Chris Pizzello / AP

Chris Brown leaps during his performance of "Fine China."

Most notable acceptance speeches

Swift's acceptance speech for the Top Artist award was arguably the best acceptance speech of the night The serial celebrity dater received deafening cheers from the audience when she told her fans that they are the "longest and best relationship" she?s ever had.

Bieber wasn't so lucky when he accepted the Milestone Award. During his speech, he congratulated himself for doing "a pretty good job" for someone who is 19, and made sure to let everyone know that he is a not a gimmick. "I'm an artist and I should be taken seriously and all this other bull should not be spoken of," Bieber said, which earned him a chorus of boos from the audience.

Ethan Miller / Getty Images

Justin Bieber accepts the award for top male artist.

Most jaw-dropping moment

While Miguel's failed stage dive resulted in one of the evening's most shocking moments, Minaj dropped plenty of jaws when she gave fellow performer Lil' Wayne a lap dance live on stage. Minaj's stripper-esque booty-popping certainly provided viewers with a good show, although the network's censors may not have been too happy with the sexy performance.

Ethan Miller / Getty Images

Rapper Nicki Minaj dances for fellow rapper Lil Wayne.

Most awkward presenter

Kid Rock, who busted out his best hunting vest and coffee mug to present the Top Rap Song award, got a lot of nervous chuckles from the crowd when he decided to call out the performers who decided not to sing live, which was, unfortunately, nearly all of them.

Ethan Miller / Getty Images

Kid Rock speaks onstage before presenting to rapper Macklemore.

"Let?s give it up for people lip-syncing onto pre-recorded music!" Rock proclaimed. He then proceeded to choke on his own hair and mispronounce winner Macklemore?s name, making us wonder what was actually in that coffee cup!

Biggest diva

A pants-less Madonna, dressed in fur, fishnets and self-described pretentious sunglasses, arrived in full diva-mode to accept her award for Top Touring Artist. (She also took home the Top Dance Artist and Top Dance Album awards.) Using presenter will.i.am as a coat rack to hold her accessories, Madonna thanked her fans for supporting her for three decades, not-so-subtly reminding us that she?s owned the Billboard charts for more years than most of the other nominees have been alive.

Ethan Miller / Getty Images

Madonna accepts the award for touring artist of the year from will.i.am.

What was your favorite moment from the Billboard Music Awards? Tell us in the comments below.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/taylor-swift-hit-others-miss-billboard-music-awards-6C9993954

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Oceanographer Sylvia Earle kicks off Northeastern's Sustaining Coastal Cities Conference

Public release date: 20-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Lori Lennon
l.lennon@neu.edu
617-680-5129
Northeastern University College of Science

Sylvia Earle, National Geographic Society Explorer in Residence, called Her Deepness by The New Yorker and The New York Times, Living Legend by the Library of Congress, and first "Hero for the Planet" by Time Magazine, will be speaking at Northeastern University on May 22, 2013. Earle, a world-renowned oceanographer, explorer, author and lecturer, will deliver the opening address to the College of Science's Sustaining Coastal Cities Conference on the critical role and fragile state of marine ecosystems.

The event will also feature:

Larry Crowder, science director at the Center for Ocean Solutions; professor of biology at Hopkins Marine Station and a Senior Fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, both part of Stanford University

Steve Gaines, dean of the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at University of California Santa Barbara; former director of the UCSB Marine Science Institute

Stephen Hawkins, dean of Ocean and Earth Science at the National Oceanography Centre Southampton at the University of Southampton

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, inaugural director of the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland, an institute dedicated to providing a vehicle for collaborative research, learning, engagement and advocacy in major global change issues

NPR's award-winning journalist, Richard Harris, will moderate the Sustaining Coastal Cities conference.

What: Sustaining Coastal Cities Conference with an opening address by World Renowned Oceanographer Sylvia Earle.

When: May 22, 2013 (Keynote Address by Sylvia Earle)
May 23, 2013 (Full Conference)

Where: Northeastern University
360 Huntington Ave.
Boston, Massachusetts 02115

###

For more information about the conference and our invited speakers, please visit Northeastern.edu/cos/scc2013.

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES

Contact: Lori Lennon

May 22 & 23, 2013
Northeastern University College of Science
617-680-5129

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 20-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Lori Lennon
l.lennon@neu.edu
617-680-5129
Northeastern University College of Science

Sylvia Earle, National Geographic Society Explorer in Residence, called Her Deepness by The New Yorker and The New York Times, Living Legend by the Library of Congress, and first "Hero for the Planet" by Time Magazine, will be speaking at Northeastern University on May 22, 2013. Earle, a world-renowned oceanographer, explorer, author and lecturer, will deliver the opening address to the College of Science's Sustaining Coastal Cities Conference on the critical role and fragile state of marine ecosystems.

The event will also feature:

Larry Crowder, science director at the Center for Ocean Solutions; professor of biology at Hopkins Marine Station and a Senior Fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, both part of Stanford University

Steve Gaines, dean of the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at University of California Santa Barbara; former director of the UCSB Marine Science Institute

Stephen Hawkins, dean of Ocean and Earth Science at the National Oceanography Centre Southampton at the University of Southampton

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, inaugural director of the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland, an institute dedicated to providing a vehicle for collaborative research, learning, engagement and advocacy in major global change issues

NPR's award-winning journalist, Richard Harris, will moderate the Sustaining Coastal Cities conference.

What: Sustaining Coastal Cities Conference with an opening address by World Renowned Oceanographer Sylvia Earle.

When: May 22, 2013 (Keynote Address by Sylvia Earle)
May 23, 2013 (Full Conference)

Where: Northeastern University
360 Huntington Ave.
Boston, Massachusetts 02115

###

For more information about the conference and our invited speakers, please visit Northeastern.edu/cos/scc2013.

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES

Contact: Lori Lennon

May 22 & 23, 2013
Northeastern University College of Science
617-680-5129

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/nuco-ose052013.php

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Maths Jokes, Explained

If you have to explain a joke, that usually means it's not a very good joke. But, if you're telling a math joke, maybe it just means your audience never enjoyed algebra as much as you did. Either way, these videos help explain to the less able mathematicians out there why they're funny.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/hM7I0JG2pZc/maths-jokes-explained-508844190

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What the IRS scandal means for health-care reform (Washington Post)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/305978992?client_source=feed&format=rss

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CA-BUSINESS Summary

Bank of Canada should hike rates to pop bubble: former BoC aide

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada should raise interest rates now because five years of low rates are creating distortions in the economy, such as excessive debt and an overheated housing market, a former adviser to central bank Governor Mark Carney said on Wednesday. In a hawkish stand at odds with most economists and market players, Paul Masson, now a professor at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, said the central bank should tighten monetary policy to lean against asset price bubbles rather than focus exclusively on inflation.

Analysis - Blackstone and peers have a bargain for you: themselves

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Alternative asset managers such as Blackstone Group LP and KKR & Co LP have for decades scoured the stock market for undervalued companies. Now they are trying to convince investors that shares in their own firms are a bargain. As a group, their valuations tend to be weighed down by at least three factors. Because they have gone public relatively recently, their track record as public companies is relatively short. The presentation of their results is complicated and makes comparisons difficult. What is more, their founders and partners have retained significant stakes, which can be negative for their stock when investors fear a significant share sale.

ECB rate cut talk pressures euro, lifts Bunds

LONDON (Reuters) - The euro slipped against the dollar and German bond prices rose on Thursday on investor positioning for more monetary easing by the European Central Bank following a run of weak economic data. Those expectations are likely to be reinforced when euro zone inflation data for April is released at 0900 GMT (5 a.m. EDT), which is expected to show an annual rate of just 1.2 percent, well below the central bank's target range.

Chief executives and the itch to quit

LONDON (Reuters) - On approaching his 60th birthday this year, long-serving Tullow Oil boss Aidan Heavey told staff he felt "like two 30 year-olds". A handful of recent shock departures by 50-something chief executives at European blue chip companies - none of them under any obvious pressure to quit - suggest some of his peers either lack that vigor, or want to channel it elsewhere.

Insight: Dimon has big say over who serves on JPMorgan board

(Reuters) - For years, JPMorgan Chase & Co Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon and other executives have hand-picked new directors, in a practice that is now unusual for a major U.S. bank. The JPMorgan board's governance committee, responsible for hiring new members, relies almost entirely on referrals from management to find director nominees, according to two sources familiar with the bank's practices and a review of bank regulatory filings. All of the other 10 largest U.S. banks say they use executive search firms, which have knowledge of a range of possible candidates.

JPMorgan presses Bloomberg on reporters' access to data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co , one of the biggest customers of Bloomberg LP, said on Wednesday it has sent a formal legal request asking the financial data and news company to provide details of what bank information Bloomberg News reporters had been able to see. JPMorgan's statement comes after Bloomberg acknowledged late last week that its reporters had limited access to data about clients' terminal usage, such as when a customer logs in, contacts the help desk or delves into the system for information about assets, such as equities or bonds.

Judge orders Dow Chemical to pay $1.2 billion in price-fixing case

(Reuters) - A federal judge in Kansas City, Kansas, ordered Dow Chemical Co on Wednesday to pay $1.2 billion in a price-fixing case involving chemicals used to make foam products in cars, furniture and packaging, according to court documents. Dow was one of several chemical company defendants named in a 2005 class action lawsuit alleging a conspiracy to fix urethane chemical prices, but it was the only defendant not to settle.

BP to ask UK government to intervene on Gulf spill payments: BBC

LONDON (Reuters) - British oil company BP wants Prime Minister David Cameron to intervene with the U.S. government over the escalating cost of compensating U.S. companies for the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster in 2010, the BBC reported Thursday. BP is still fighting a court battle in New Orleans over fines and other potential spill liabilities, but it struck a deal last year with a wide range of compensation claimants, including businesses.

Global growth jitters trigger TSX drop

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index slumped on Wednesday, with every major sector trading in the red, after sluggish data from Europe and the United States renewed fears about the global economic recovery. Investors were discouraged by data showing U.S. factory output dropped in April and manufacturing activity in New York state contracted this month. Further, wholesale prices recorded their largest decline in three years.

Quebec seeks fracking moratorium in shale gas rich area

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian province of Quebec, citing public concerns, unveiled a bill on Wednesday to impose a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, in a region rich in shale gas deposits. The province's minority Parti Quebecois government needs opposition support to adopt the moratorium - which would last a maximum of five years. It would ban gas exploration and extraction in the Lowlands region of the St Lawrence River, site of the rich Utica and Lorraine shale gas formations.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-business-summary-015618024.html

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Restaurant Equippers to Open Equipment Warehouse in Philly ...

Restaurant Equippers has announced plans to open its third warehouse store this summer to serve the Northeast region of the country. ?

The Columbus, Ohio?based company has begun construction on the 40,000-square-foot state-of-the-art store at The Point in Pennsauken, New Jersey.?

Restaurant Equippers? focus on strategic expansion led to the selection of the Greater Philadelphia market for its newest location.

Restaurant Equippers operates warehouse stores providing name-brand manufacturer-warranted foodservice equipment, buyouts and special purchases, and a complete inventory of restaurant supplies.

The company already has a strong customer base in the region with clients from Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Maryland.?

In addition, the warehouse can be serviced from Restaurant Equipper?s 200,000-square-foot distribution center in Ohio.? ?

While the company?s primary customer base is the foodservice industry, it makes products available to the general public, as well. In fact, the family-run business is well known to the mom and pop and independent restaurants owners that it has been catering to for more than 40 years.?

Restaurant Equippers offers a large inventory of in-stock items to help customers get up and running fast and to maintain their businesses with the equipment and supplies when they need them.

Customers can visit one of the three warehouse stores located in Columbus, Ohio; Southfield, Michigan; and now Greater Philadelphia. The can also shop online or call their National Order Office. The company mails more than 3 million catalogues to more than 800,000 businesses annually.?

?The Greater Philadelphia store will provide tremendous opportunities not only to expand our presence in the region, but also to deliver our brand of service and product offerings to a broader base of customers looking for a reliable supplier,? says Restaurant Equippers president Larry Dach. ?We currently work with a number of independent restaurants in the region and are confident others will shop our store for our expansive inventory, competitive pricing, and exemplary service.?

A tentative opening date is set for late July 2013.?Restaurant Equippers expects to employ 15?20 people at the new store.

Source: http://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/restaurant-equippers-open-equipment-warehouse-philly

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U.S. agency backs lower alcohol limit for drivers

May 13 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $5,849,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $3,388,064 3. Kevin Streelman $2,572,989 4. Billy Horschel $2,567,891 5. Matt Kuchar $2,493,387 6. Phil Mickelson $2,220,280 7. Adam Scott (Australia) $2,207,683 8. D.A. Points $2,019,702 9. Steve Stricker $1,977,140 10. Graeme McDowell $1,910,654 11. Jason Day $1,802,797 12. Webb Simpson $1,759,015 13. Dustin Johnson $1,748,907 14. Hunter Mahan $1,682,939 15. Charles Howell III $1,561,988 16. Russell Henley $1,546,638 17. Martin Laird $1,531,950 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-agency-mulls-lower-blood-alcohol-limit-drivers-154718804.html

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IRS Has Long History of Dirty Tricks (ABC News)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/306056357?client_source=feed&format=rss

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CNN anchor Sambolin has cancer, is getting double mastectomy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - CNN anchor Zoraida Sambolin said on Tuesday that she had breast cancer and was getting a double mastectomy, following an announcement by actress Angelina Jolie that she had undergone that procedure.

Sambolin, who anchors CNN's "Early Start" morning show, discussed her condition on the show while talking about Jolie's preventive double mastectomy.

"I struggled for weeks trying to figure out how tell you that I had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was leaving to have surgery," Sambolin, 47, said in a posting to her Facebook page. "Then .. Angelina Jolie shares her story of a double mastectomy and gives me strength and an opening."

Sambolin told viewers she was scheduled to have the surgery on May 28.

In a New York Times op-ed piece on Tuesday, Jolie, 37, said she had a preventive double mastectomy after learning she carried a gene that made it very likely she would get breast cancer.

The Oscar-winning actress said she hoped her story would inspire other women fighting the life-threatening disease.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Scott Malone and Lisa Von Ahn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cnn-anchor-sambolin-cancer-getting-double-mastectomy-124119466.html

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Franklin gets ready to walk down high school aisle

Missy Franklin is starting to feel like a grown-up.

"I don't know where the time went," she said, breaking into a bubbly laugh. "We just went to the bank the other day and signed everything over. It's crazy. I do feel a little bit older."

Sure, the star of the London Olympics still has much of her life in front of her. But Franklin reached one important milestone last week, celebrating her 18th birthday, and she'll mark another Monday when she graduates from her Denver-area high school.

"It's been absolutely incredible, so much fun," she told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "It's impossible to believe it's almost over."

Since returning from London, where she won four gold medals and five medals overall, Franklin has been able to meet everyone from Justin Bieber to Ben Affleck to Prince Harry ? heady stuff, indeed. But she's just as thrilled about being able to relish many of the normal activities of a senior at Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, Colo.

Franklin led a retreat at the beginning of the school year (it's kind of secretive, so don't ask for details). She attended the winter formal, not to mention a couple of proms (one at her school, the other at her date's school). She served as co-president of a club that organized various activities for the senior class, such as hot chocolate and cookies during a finals study breaks. She swam on the high school team, not surprisingly leading Jesuit to a state championship.

"We had so much fun," Franklin said. "Everything was perfect. It was an incredible senior year."

While most Olympians rightfully attempt to cash in on a triumph that comes only once every four years, there was never any doubt that Franklin would finish up high school after her remarkable performance in London. In fact, she said the thought of returning for her senior year at Regis was a big reason she did so well at the Olympics, becoming one of the breakout stars of the U.S. team with both her performance in the pool and exuberant personality.

Unlike so many young athletes, she didn't want to miss anything along the way.

"I think it's such a vital part of growing up, such a huge thing for me," Franklin said. "My parents and I put so much emphasis on just staying normal. I wanted those experiences. I don't want to look back 10 years from now wishing I had done my senior year of high school, wishing I had gone to my prom, wishing I had experienced those things. The people we meet, the experiences we go through, that's what makes us the people we are, the people we are growing into. This is our time to make mistakes, to learn from them, to learn to shine. It's such a beautiful time in your life."

She'll head to the University of California at Berkeley in the fall, still not ready to become a professional athlete. She plans to swim for her college team the next two years, finally turning pro after the 2015 NCAA championships, which will give her a chance to earn some of the big endorsement dollars leading into the Rio Olympics.

"If I do all four years of college, that would be the biggest financial mistake of my life," she said. "As much as I would love to do four years, in terms of myself, my welfare, my family's welfare, that wouldn't be the smartest decision."

Before college, there's another bit of business to take care of this summer ? the world championships in Barcelona.

For Franklin, the meet has special meaning because it will mark the end of her partnership with longtime coach Todd Schmitz. They want to go out with a bang before she leaves for college, where she'll begin working with Cal coach Teri McKeever, who also headed the U.S. women's team in London.

"We both really want to end it on a great note," Franklin said. "It's going to be really emotional, really sad. But I know we'll maintain a great relationship through college. He'll never be out of my life. It's awesome to know that. But we're ready to get back out there and show people that London wasn't it, that I have a lot more offer."

She expects to swim the same seven events she competed in at the Olympics ? the 100- and 200-meter backstrokes, the 100 and 200 freestyles, along with all three relays ? as well as a non-Olympic event, the 50 back.

If she wins them all, she would join Phelps as the only swimmers to win eight gold medals at a major swimming meet.

Just as impressive as Franklin's swimming is how she's handled her Olympic success. A couple of months ago, at a Grand Prix meet in Orlando, she remained on deck for nearly an hour after her last event, standing barefooted on a concrete floor, signing everything that was given to her for an autograph.

When Schmitz says she hasn't changed a bit since London, it's easy to believe.

"She doesn't let things go to her head," the coach said. "She's very humble. She would never tell you how good she is. That's the best thing about her. She always wants to get back in the pool the next day and get better."

While Franklin dismisses any comparisons to the now-retired Phelps, fellow Olympian Jessica Hardy believes the teenager is the perfect swimmer to lead the U.S. program into a new era.

"She's an amazing athlete," Hardy said. "She also the best person I know. That makes it even better. It's good for the sport of swimming, good for the American team, good for her."

Besides the obvious physical talent ? the 6-foot-1 height, the size-13 feet ? Franklin seems to have that intangible that all the great ones have. While her persona on deck is much more laid back than the intensely focused Phelps, they both have the ability to perform their best in the biggest events.

"If she can do what she did at the Olympics, she can do anything," Hardy marveled. "By Rio, she'll be ready to kick butt."

But Franklin will never forget that senior year at Regis.

"It's really hard to put words to it," she said. "It's just been incredible."

___

Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/franklin-gets-ready-walk-down-high-school-aisle-213429656.html

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