Vt. paper defends 'fry Rice' sign supporting team

A copy of the Caledonian Record lies on display, Friday, March 8, 2013 in Montpelier, Vt. The Vermont newspaper is being criticized for a poster designed to boost the local high school basketball team before it played in the state championship. On Thursday, the Caledonian Record of St. Johnsbury ran a full-page poster on the back of its main section that included the term ?Fry Rice? using a typeface that mimicked Chinese calligraphy. In a letter to the Caledonian Record publisher, the Asian American Journalists Association said it was appalled by the page?s racist undertones. The letter asked the paper to acknowledge its lapse in judgment. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

A copy of the Caledonian Record lies on display, Friday, March 8, 2013 in Montpelier, Vt. The Vermont newspaper is being criticized for a poster designed to boost the local high school basketball team before it played in the state championship. On Thursday, the Caledonian Record of St. Johnsbury ran a full-page poster on the back of its main section that included the term ?Fry Rice? using a typeface that mimicked Chinese calligraphy. In a letter to the Caledonian Record publisher, the Asian American Journalists Association said it was appalled by the page?s racist undertones. The letter asked the paper to acknowledge its lapse in judgment. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) ? A Vermont newspaper defended itself Saturday against accusations of racism over a poster it published in support of a local sports team that read "fry Rice" in type associated with Chinese calligraphy, saying it meant no offense and simply wanted to play on words.

The back-page poster, printed in Thursday's editions, was intended to support St. Johnsbury Academy's basketball team in its game against Rice Memorial High School in South Burlington, the Caledonian Record wrote in an unsigned editorial (http://bit.ly/Yj75aB ).

"We sought a simple play on words in support of an extraordinary group of local student athletes. Indulging our critics for a moment, the outcry reminds us that racial and ethnic stereotypes can offend ? regardless of intent," the editorial said.

The editorial acknowledged that the poster's wordplay, punctuated by the chosen font, "evoked a particular ethnic cuisine" but did not constitute racism.

"We don't concede, however, that the use of imagery with any racial, ethnic or religious inference is to inherently debase that race/ethnicity/religion," the paper said.

"A fair accusation of racism would at least pre-require the reference to actually be demeaning or degrading," the editorial said. "Simply invoking ethnic customs (food, dress, design) doesn't do that, nor does it suggest any kind of characteristic about the culture, its people or a history of oppression by the majority.

But the editorial missed the point, said the president of the Asian American Journalists Association, who had criticized the poster after it was published.

"I'm not criticizing the Caledonian Record for rooting for their home team," said Paul Cheung, the association's president. While Cheung does not believe the newspaper's intention was to be racist, it showed "a lapse of judgment and poor taste."

"It evoked a racial undertone and a negative stereotype," said Cheung, who is also interactive and graphics editor for The Associated Press.

St. Johnsbury Academy ended up losing the game to Rice Memorial.

A private school, St. Johnsbury Academy serves local students and also has boarding students from across the world, including Asia. Academy Headmaster Tom Lovett said Friday that none of the school's Asian students were offended by the poster.

"Overall, our students often see such things as a way to celebrate their culture, not demean it. And in this case, we chose to follow our students' lead and look at the Caledonian's intent, not taking offense where none was intended," Lovett said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-09-US-Poster-Complaint/id-5c0e3d61ad374c5589c46d1677cf544b

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Fierce brawl mars Canada's 10-3 win over Mexico

Canada's Jay Johnson, top left, and Mexico's Eduardo Arredondo fight during the ninth inning of a World Baseball Classic game, Saturday, March 9, 2013, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Canada's Jay Johnson, top left, and Mexico's Eduardo Arredondo fight during the ninth inning of a World Baseball Classic game, Saturday, March 9, 2013, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Canada's Tyson Gillies, right and Mexico's Alfredo Aceves fight during the ninth inning of a World Baseball Classic game, Saturday, March 9, 2013, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Canada's Jay Johnson, right, and Mexico's Eduardo Arredondo fight during the ninth inning of a World Baseball Classic game, Saturday, March 9, 2013, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Canada's Jay Johnson, bottom right, and Mexico's Eduardo Arredondo fight during the ninth inning of a World Baseball Classic game as teammates try to break them up, Saturday, March 9, 2013, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Canada manager Ernie Whitt (12) and Mexico manager Rick Renteria greet each other before a World Baseball Classic game on Saturday, March 9, 2013, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

PHOENIX (AP) ? A little bunt single turned this WBC matchup into a World Boxing Classic.

Alfredo Aceves and several players threw nasty punches when a fierce, full-scale brawl broke out in the ninth inning Saturday of Canada's 10-3 romp over Mexico in the World Baseball Classic, a melee that also involved fans and set off skirmishes in the seats.

"Whoever says that we're just here as an extra spring training game or we're just here to say we represented our country and then go home obviously didn't see how intense that game was and what it means to everybody that was involved," Canadian slugger Justin Morneau said.

Multiple fights erupted after Canada's Rene Tosoni was hit in the back by a pitch from Arnold Leon with the score 9-3 at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. It quickly turned into a wild scene, as chaotic as any on a major league field in recent years.

Even when the fisticuffs ended, Canadian pitching coach Denis Boucher was hit in the face by a full water bottle thrown from the crowd. Canada shortstop Cale Iorg angrily threw the bottle back into the crowd.

Several police officers came onto the field trying to restore order, and there were a few skirmishes in the decidedly pro-Mexico crowd of 19,581. Seven players were ejected after umpires huddled, trying to sort out the frenzy.

Canadian first base coach Larry Walker, a former NL MVP, said he held back Mexico star Adrian Gonzalez during the altercation. The solidly built Walker also tried to restrain Aceves.

"I had a hold of him and I thought I saw Satan in his eyes," Walker said.

There had already been several borderline plays on the bases when things got out of hand. A bunt hit by Chris Robinson heightened the tension ? a WBC tiebreaker relies heavily on runs and the Canadians wanted to score again in the ninth. Third baseman Luis Cruz fielded Robinson's bunt and seemed to tell Leon to hit the next batter.

Managers from both teams blamed the tiebreaking rule that uses run differential to determine what team moves on to the next round.

"It was just simply a misunderstanding," Mexico manager Rick Renteria said. "In a normal setting, a normal professional setting I should say, a 9-3 bunt in that particular fashion would be kind of out of the ordinary."

Right as the game resumed, someone in the crowd hurled a baseball that almost hit Walker in the head.

"That's when I went out to the umpire and I said, 'Another thing comes out, we're going to pull our team off the field," Canadian manager Ernie Whitt said.

The collision of WBC rules and the unwritten rules of the game led to the blowup, Renteria said.

"I think in just in the heat of the moment you lose sight of it," he said, "and maybe that's how it occurred."

Whitt said WBC officials need to look at the tiebreaking rule.

"There's got to be another method other than the scoring runs, running up the score on the opposing team," he said. "No one likes that. That's not the way baseball's supposed to be played. There's professionalism that we're all accustomed to here in North America. And unfortunately teams are knocked out of the tournament because other teams run up the score on them. Unfortunately that's what you have to deal with when you have that type of format."

Morneau, Gonzalez and Joey Votto were among the big-name, high-priced stars playing in the game. The fight was exactly the kind of thing that must have made major league managers and general managers cringe at the thought of one of their players getting hurt in such a fracas.

"There's a point you got to stand up for yourself," said Morneau, a former MVP with the Minnesota Twins. "We got hit for playing the game, and that happens, but at the same time you got to stand up for yourself. You can't just get pushed around."

"Obviously everyone wishes it didn't happen, but it happens in the game sometimes," he said. " I think we have all learned from being in the minor leagues that, especially in low-A ball, high-A ball, those things get real crazy. There's not as much security. It starts to get out of control pretty bad, and I think you learn from that, you learn to keep your head on a swivel."

Aceves was among four Mexican players thrown out ? the angry Boston reliever was tossed to the ground by Philadelphia minor league outfielder Tyson Gillies during the height of the fury, then rushed to rejoin the fray.

"I did it see it on video. I saw it afterward. I saw the altercation, yes," Red Sox manager John Farrell said after Saturday night's exhibition game against Baltimore in Fort Myers, Fla. "I think we all hope our players don't get injured when they go off to a tournament , especially in that type of melee."

As for Aceves, "it looks like he came out of it OK, with the exception of a couple of welts on his head," Farrell said. "We had a message from their trainer that he came out of it OK despite taking a couple of left hooks to the head."

Also ejected were Leon, Oliver Perez and Eduardo Arredondo of Mexico and Tosoni, Pete Orr and Jay Johnson of Canada. A statement from organizers said tape of the incident would be reviewed for possible disciplinary action.

All in all, it was far from the worldwide goodwill that is supposed to accompany this competition, where players exchange team hats with opponents before the start of each game as a sign of sportsmanship.

A day earlier on the same field, Mexico posted an emotional 5-2 over the United States in a game without incident. Canada, meanwhile, absorbed an embarrassing 14-4 loss to Italy.

Mexico finished its Pool D play at 1-2. Canada is 1-1 going into a game Sunday against the United States.

Whitt said he hoped any decision on suspensions would take into account that Mexico has finished its pool play, while Canada has a big game remaining.

Canada scored four times in the first inning, and Mexico cut the lead to 4-3 with two runs in the fourth.

Karim Garcia, Edgar Gonzalez and pinch hitter Sebastian Valle started the inning with singles. Garcia tried to score from second on Valle's single and was thrown out from center field by Gillies.

Robinson, the catcher, held on to the ball in a collision with Garcia down the third-base line. Garcia never did touch the plate.

Gil Velazquez followed with an RBI double and Arrendondo's sacrifice fly cut Canada's lead to one.

Robinson's hard slide into second broke up a potential double play and allowed a run to score in a two-run seventh inning that put the Canadians ahead 7-3.

Morneau, who had four hits and drove in three runs, doubled in a run, then Michael Saunders walked and Robinson was hit in the foot by a pitch. With one out, pinch hitter Jimmy Van Ostrand grounded to second.

But Robinson took the legs out from Velazquez at shortstop to prevent the relay throw and a run scored.

"'We want to play the game hard. We want to play it properly. You get an opportunity to help a team, help your teammates, by breaking up a double play or something, that's something we do," Robinson said.

All that led up to the ninth, with Mexico trailing badly and facing possible elimination despite the big win over the United States.

Robinson bunted because Canada wanted to widen the margin.

Two pitches came close to Tosoni and the next one hit him in the back. He dropped the bat and walked toward the mound.

When the players all rushed onto the field. Some just shoved, other threw wild haymakers. And just when it seemed things would calm down, more skirmishes ensued.

When the bottle was thrown from behind the Canadian dugout, one Canada player had to be restrained from going into the stands.

No player seemed to be hurt.

"I know the bodies kept moving everywhere but there was a lot more people holding people back than there was real action going on," Renteria said, "as is always the case."

As for his team, Whitt said, "You can't hurt Canadians."

___

Follow Bob Baum at www.twitter.com/Thebaumerphx

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-09-WBC-Canada-Mexico/id-4b2a3afbe5794a62aea1e0f72c2ee8cc

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Penny C. Sansevieri: "I Have a Ton of Reviews for My Book, but It's Not Selling!"... and Other Mysteries of Book Marketing

Over the years I've heard this phrase thousands of times. Authors getting great reviews, getting awards, even local media and still, book sales aren't happening. When you have external validation, it's hard to really understand where the disconnect is, isn't it? Sometimes though, it may be just a matter of taking a closer look and analyzing your marketing using a different lens. Let's take a look at some things that you may want to consider:

1. Leverage: First and foremost is leverage. How are you leveraging all of these other things? If you're not, you might consider it. It's easy enough to slap an award sticker on your book, but what else have you done to promote this? Consider:

• Announce it locally: Especially if you won the award. Honorable mentions are great, but not as appealing to local media.
• Contact your local bookstores. If they've said no before perhaps adding an award to your resume might entice them. Remember people like what other people like. The same goes for bookstores.
• Add it to your website. That's a given. Same for your email signature line.
• Reviewers: If you have reviewers that are pending, meaning you're targeted them with no response, why not make a second (gentle) sweep and let them know you won this award?
• Endorsements: If you've been after high-profile endorsements for your book but they keep eluding you, you may have a better chance of it with an award in your pocket, so try pitching them again.

Reviews: If you have a lot of reviews and aren't seeing a lot of sales, I would say take a lesson from the "leverage" piece above and see if any of it applies to your pulling in more reviews. For example, if you have endorsers who haven't responded to your requests, or bookstores that have given you the brush-off, this could be a great way to gain their attention. The same doesn't apply to reviewers, however. Most reviewers aren't swayed by books that have tons of reviews. They either select the book or they don't, so don't push this one too hard.

Engagement: Sometimes when we get a "hit" somewhere we tend to focus all of our energy there. That's a great thing, but maybe now it's time to step back and see what else you can do that you haven't focused on. Try engaging readers. When was the last time you sent a round of thank-you notes to reviewers who reviewed your book, or posted a thank-you on their blog? If you're getting a lot of comments on your website, or on blogs or interviews you've done elsewhere, I would encourage you to connect with readers there, too. Additionally, have you considering getting onto GoodReads, Library Thing or Wattpad and building readership there? And a final note on engaging: If you're a fiction author perhaps you should consider engaging your readers with your characters . If you can get your readers to fall in love (or in hate) with your characters, you can really build a strong audience that way.

Media gets media: Some authors also come to me saying, "I've gotten tons of local media but nothing nationally." This is also pretty typical but here's something you can do. Media loves media and the more media you get, the more you'll get -- if that makes sense. When you pitch yourself to national media, include a one-sheet of all of the places you've been featured. Even if it's in your own town.

The plight of book reviews: Do book reviews really sell books? Candidly, it's hard to know. I do know that lots of exposure sells books but it's really about the right kind of exposure and, beyond that, it's about exposure in a myriad of areas. If you've been heavily focused on getting a ton of book reviews, and your Amazon page is populated with more fond words than you know what to do with, maybe it's time to move into a new area of promotion. Content, content: There was a discussion around content during a recent event I attended at both Digital Book World and Tools of Change. Both of these programs had folks talking about the importance of free and also of putting out frequent content. Don't wait 18 months to release a book which leaves your reader hanging for more from your characters.

Realigning your perspective on book sales: Truth is, most of us think we should be selling more than we are. We hear the "average" in book sales and then on the flip side, we hear about folks like Hugh Howey who is selling zillions of copies of his book. Where's the reality? Well, the answer is somewhere in between. If you have all these awards and are selling a book a day, I would say that depending on your market that may not be a bad start. For example, if you're sitting in the contemporary romance market, that's a pretty cluttered category so you may not sell as many as if you were in something more niche. I've seen some authors who can't get beyond selling a book a month. Seriously.

Reviews, awards, and nods from important people in your industry are fantastic, but like a tree falling in the forest if you don't tell folks about it, no one will know. Yes, you do often have to hit readers over the head with things if for no other reason than people are busy. Got an award? Shout it from the rooftops. Got tons of great reviews? Let's see if that can be a stepping stone to something else.

In the end, everything is a pathway to something else. If you get a bunch of awards for your book and figure your work stops there, that's a big mistake. Follow the path to something else, which will take you to something else, and so on. At some point at the end of that road you may very well find a pot of gold, and, you'll likely be selling more books.

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Follow Penny C. Sansevieri on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bookgal

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/penny-c-sansevieri/book-marketing-tips_b_2805483.html

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2 Ohio football players face trial in rape case

FILE - In this Friday, Jan. 25, 2013 file photo, defense attorney Walter Madison explains why he withdrew his motion to have the rape trial of his client closed to the public, after a hearing at Jefferson County Juvenile Court in Steubenville, Ohio. A West Virginia judge has rejected requests that three juveniles be called to testify at the Ohio trial of two high school football players charged with raping a 16-year-old girl, a decision Madison says puts his client in "a tough situation." (AP Photo/Andrew Welsh-Huggins, File)

FILE - In this Friday, Jan. 25, 2013 file photo, defense attorney Walter Madison explains why he withdrew his motion to have the rape trial of his client closed to the public, after a hearing at Jefferson County Juvenile Court in Steubenville, Ohio. A West Virginia judge has rejected requests that three juveniles be called to testify at the Ohio trial of two high school football players charged with raping a 16-year-old girl, a decision Madison says puts his client in "a tough situation." (AP Photo/Andrew Welsh-Huggins, File)

FILE - This Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013 file photo shows activists from the online group KnightSec and Anonymous protest at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Steubenville, Ohio. Two high school football players go on trial this coming week on charges of raping a nearly passed-out-drunk 16-year-old girl during a night of partying in Steubenville. Around the football-powerhouse city, some are demanding to know why at least three other teens aren't facing charges, too. (AP Photo/Steubenville Herald-Star, Michael D. McElwain, File)

FILE - In this Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013 file photo, activists from the online group KnightSec and Anonymous protest at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Steubenville, Ohio. Two high school football players go on trial this coming week on charges of raping a nearly passed-out-drunk 16-year-old girl during a night of partying in Steubenville. Around the football-powerhouse city, some are demanding to know why at least three other teens aren't facing charges, too. (AP Photo/Steubenville Herald-Star, Michael D. McElwain, File)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) ? Two high school football players go on trial this coming week on charges of raping a nearly passed-out-drunk 16-year-old girl during a night of partying in Steubenville. Around the football-powerhouse city, some are demanding to know why at least three other teens aren't facing charges, too.

After the athletes' arrest last summer, one of the many rumors that swirled around town proved all too true: Three boys, two of them members of Steubenville High's celebrated Big Red team, saw something happening that night and didn't try to stop it.

Instead, two pulled out their cellphones and took video and a photo.

The allegations shocked and roiled the city of 18,000, but prosecutors brought no charges against the witnesses, fueling months of furious online accusations of a cover-up to protect the team ? something law enforcement authorities have vehemently denied.

One blogger wrote a post was headlined: "Steubenville Big Red Rape Accusations: The Other Perpetrators."

"Anyone that they can show had firsthand knowledge and was partly in some way responsible for the event, the rape, they should be charged," said Jackie Hillyer, president of the Ohio chapter of the National Organization for Women. She is among those pressing, at a minimum, for charges of failure to report a crime, which is punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $250 fine.

Longtime Steubenville resident Willa Wade said: "I feel personally that if they were there, they knew it had happened, they did not report it or stop it, then they ought to be brought up on the same charges as anybody else."

The Ohio attorney general's office, however, told the three witnesses in a letter last fall that while they may not have conducted themselves "in a responsible or appropriate manner," their behavior "did not rise to the level of criminal conduct," and they would not be charged.

Legal experts said it is clear prosecutors sorely need the witnesses' testimony to make their rape case because there is little physical evidence against the defendants and the girl may have been too intoxicated to remember much.

"This prosecutor more than anything else wants to get a conviction of the culprits and he does not want to jeopardize that single-minded goal," said Christo Lassiter, a University of Cincinnati criminal law professor. "That's the conservative approach. Above all else, get the main culprit. If you can get the other folks along the line, fine."

Ma'Lik Richmond, 16, and Trent Mays, 17, go on trial Wednesday in juvenile court in Steubenville. They are charged with digitally penetrating the girl, first in the back seat of a moving car after a mostly underage, alcohol-fueled party Aug. 11, and then in the basement of a house. Witnesses said the girl was so drunk she threw up at least twice and had trouble walking and speaking. She was also photographed being carried by the two young men.

If convicted, they could be held in a juvenile jail until they turn 21. They have denied any wrongdoing.

The Associated Press normally does not identify minors charged in juvenile court, but Mays and Richmond have been widely identified in news coverage, and their names have been used in open court.

They were charged 10 days after the party, after a flurry of social media postings about the alleged attack led the girl and her family to go to police.

The scandal brought a barrage of accusations and insinuations, mostly online, with some townspeople supporting the defendants and others complaining that the football team has unusual sway over the city. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's office took over the case after the local prosecutor stepped down because her son is a football player at 700-student Steubenville High.

Big Red football is a big deal in Steubenville. The stadium, dubbed Death Valley, sits on a hill above town, and the team is a nine-time state champion, with back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006. Man O' War, a red statue of a rearing stallion, shoots flames from its mouth each time a touchdown is scored.

Three students ? Anthony Craig and football players Mark Cole and Evan Westlake ? testified at a hearing in October, just days after receiving the letters assuring them they would not be prosecuted. Prosecutors said at the hearing that Cole and Craig would have been charged if they hadn't deleted the images on their cellphones.

At the same proceeding, Westlake was asked by a prosecutor why he didn't stop the alleged attack.

"I was stunned at what I saw," he said. "I just wanted ? I wanted to get out of there and I ?I ? I didn't know what to do, I mean."

The defendants' lawyers also raised the possibility that the witnesses did not know what they were seeing that night. Under questioning, the teen witnesses said that the girl was able to tell some of the boys the password to her smartphone and that they never heard her say "no" or "stop."

"So, you don't consider it a sexual assault?" attorney Adam Nemann asked Cole.

"I feel it's not my place to make that decision on whether it was or wasn't," Cole responded. "I can just tell you what I witnessed."

"And if this was a sexual assault I'm sure you would have called and told someone, right?" Nemann said.

"I would assume, yes," Cole said.

On a blog run by former Steubenville resident Alexandria Goddard, some anonymous posters have demanded others at the party be charged, including football player Cody Saltsman. Saltsman sued Goddard for defamation, and the case was settled with Goddard saying there was no evidence Saltsman was involved in the alleged attack.

Then, in January, a YouTube video was posted featuring another student, Michael Nodianos, apparently cracking jokes about the alleged rape just hours after it occurred, while others in the background chimed in. NOW is demanding prosecutors charge Nodianos with failure to report a crime, but Nodianos' lawyer said the young man had no "firsthand knowledge of the facts."

___

Andrew Welsh-Huggins can be reached on Twitter at https://twitter.com/awhcolumbus.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-09-Football%20Players-Rape%20Charges/id-b4b337b2e9cc4b75a3e8ebf991abbc63

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Legislator Seeks Improvement in Government Communications ...

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Legislator Ed Day (R-New City/Pomona) said on Thursday that Rockland County government falls short when it comes to providing up-to-the-minute and accurate information to residents during emergencies. Day arranged for a review and evaluation of the county?s emergency communications system policy and methodology at Tuesday?s Public Safety Committee meeting. Day said he felt an assessment was needed after receiving numerous complaints from residents about the difficulty they encountered in obtaining local information during Hurricane Sandy.

?To be blunt, Superstorm Sandy, was the third time in a year that the citizens were crying out for timely and critical information during an emergency, and that is totally unacceptable, ? said Day. ?While communications from utilities such as Orange and Rockland are an important part of the discussion, the first line of information flow lies with government, and too many feel that government continues to come up short on the matter.?

Day noted that the county emergency radio system at 1640 AM and InfoRock, ?its information and referral service are the backbone of the county?s communications system with the public. Day, a former law enforcement executive, said he thinks both system have limitations. InfoRock is available at 845-364-2020 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and its database can be searched anytime.

?The county radio system not only has ?dead spots,? but cannot even be received in certain parts of our county, and InfoRock while well intentioned and reasonably effective for routine matters, it is not a 24/7 operation and by definition cannot be fully relied upon during times of crisis,? said Day. ?Some callers were even told to call their local radio station, WRCR 1300 AM, for information.?

The county does provide emergency information to other services ? Nixle and NY Alerts ? that residents can subscribe to.

The first of two hearings before the Public Safety Committee will bring in officials from the Office of Fire & Emergency Services to explain the operations and challenges of the emergency communications system. ?At the second hearing in either late March or April, United Way officials have been invited to explain and demonstrate the ?2-1-1? information and referral service.?

In addition to calling for an analysis of existing communications, Day suggested possible improvements could include an interface between the county?s information system and ?211? plus a formal agreement of service with the local radio station.

?My goal is simple and direct,? said Day on Thursday. ?Where we are now is unacceptable.?

Day said the intent of the hearings is to assess the status of emergency communications in the county, what options there are to improve and expand them and what the county needs to do to achieve that. The first hearing scheduled for the March 12 meeting of the Public Safety Committee begins at 5 p.m. and is open to the public.?

Source: http://newcity.patch.com/articles/legislator-seeks-improvement-in-government-communications-during-emergencies

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From 'Moneyball' to Money Bombs: What Sports Analytics Can Teach Political Nerds (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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On the trail of mucus-eaters in the gut

Mar. 5, 2013 ? The microbiology team of David Berry, Alexander Loy and Michael Wagner from the Faculty of Life Sciences, in collaboration with scientists at the Max F. Perutz Laboratories (University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna) and with the help of NanoSIMS technology, has for the first time succeeded in directly observing microorganisms feeding on the intestinal mucosa.

The results of this research project appear in the current issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

To understand the research project by Michael Wagner and his team, one must be ready to follow the microbiologists into the depths of mouse intestine. Michael Wagner, Professor for Microbial Ecology, provides this analogy: "Much like cows grazing in a meadow, intestinal bacteria can feed on mucus secreted by the mucosal tissue. There are a group of microorganisms that do not nourish themselves from mouse food, but rather are specialized in feeding on the secreted products of their host." The intestinal mucus layer is a vital barrier to block pathogenic microorganisms from entering the body and also plays a major role in inflammatory bowel disease. That is why scientists are very interested to know which bacteria inhabit the mucus layer in healthy organisms and thus may suppress the colonization and degradation of this barrier by pathogens.

Cooperation: Department of Microbial Ecology and Max F. Perutz Laboratories

The team led by Michael Wagner and Alexander Loy wanted to know as part of their activities supported by the Austrian Genome Research Program GEN-AU: Which organisms in healthy mice consider the mucosa and intestinal mucus layer a delicacy? "We've come up with an experimental setup that allows us for the first time to look into the intestine and directly observe organisms grazing on the mucus and measure how much mucus they have taken up," said team leader Alexander Loy from the Department of Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna. To do this, the microbiologists in collaboration with the teams of Thomas Decker, Department of Microbiology, Immunobiology and Genetics at the Max F. Perutz Laboratories and B?rbel Stecher of the University of Munich, labeled an amino acid with stable isotopes that once in the bloodstream mostly ends up in the mucus. Wagner explains, "It became clear from the isotope ratio mass spectrometry measurements made by our collaborators Andreas Richter and Wolfgang Wanek from the Department of Terrestrial Ecosystems Research, University of Vienna, that after only a few hours the isotopes had arrived in the intestinal mucosa, where they were broken down by bacteria." A method was now established to identify bacteria feeding on the mucus layer with single-cell resolution.

Research success through the NanoSIMS-Facility of the University of Vienna

The key tool in the investigation was the high-resolution secondary ion mass spectrometry, or NanoSIMS for short. It is a device that cost more than 2 million euros and since its installation in February 2010 at the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Vienna has been in use by the team led by Michael Wagner for applications in microbiology and ecology. "This technology allows us to exactly quantify the amount of stable isotopes taken up by each microbial cell in a gut sample," says Arno Schintlmeister, who operates the unit at the Faculty.

"The investment costs for the NanoSIMS device were high, and it took some time before we were able to integrate this highly complex device completely in our research. Now however, our patience will be rewarded: The University of Vienna has the world's first study in which one does not have to indirectly infer the function of individual intestinal bacteria cells but can measure it directly," said microbiologist Michael Wagner This research approach has great potential and is a topic that will continue to be a research priority in the working groups led by David Berry and Alexander Loy in the coming years.

Gut microbiota is hot research topic

The bacterial cells measured by NanoSIMS facility were identified using fluorescence in situ hybridization -- FISH for short -- in the confocal laser-scanning microscope. "We have identified a number of mucus-eating microorganisms and clearly the most important players are Akkermansia muciniphilia and Bacteroides acidifaciens," explains Wagner, "The gut microbiota is a very hot research topic worldwide because the composition of our gut microbial communities appears to correlate with many diseases -- from obesity and autism to inflammatory bowel disease."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Vienna, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. D. Berry, B. Stecher, A. Schintlmeister, J. Reichert, S. Brugiroux, B. Wild, W. Wanek, A. Richter, I. Rauch, T. Decker, A. Loy, M. Wagner. Host-compound foraging by intestinal microbiota revealed by single-cell stable isotope probing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1219247110

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/wOF8tlMcezw/130305131036.htm

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