There’s a new place in Manton:  

          TONY’S   PIZZA

It is located across the street from the Shell station, next door to Manton Hardware store.   The only sign is from the old restaurant that said “Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner.”  But it  IS  Tony’s Pizza. 

“Pizza Tony” just opened up this past Labor Day in time for the parade.  A lot of people seem to have found his place.  It’s not fancy, but there is a big sign that says “Go Rangers” and a huge American Flag for the veterans!  You can sit down and eat your pizza or you can pick it up and take it home.  Tony also provides free delivery for a 5-mile radius.

The pizza Tony makes is better than anything my husband and I have tasted in either Cadillac or Traverse City.  The crust is classic and the cheese is top quality.  The prices are reasonable, too.  You can buy a whole pie or you can buy it by the slice — like the high school kids who come in every day for lunch.

My husband and I are originally from Chicago and one of the only things we really miss is the food, especially pizza.   But we really enjoyed Tony’s pizza — it was like going home!

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T A B L E    of     C O N T E N T S

     for   October  27, 2010 

1.  Bulletin Board
2. Letters, Opinions & Commentary
3. Local News
4. Michigan News
5. National News
6. World News
7. Special Report:  The S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald
8. GITCHEE GUMI:  There’s More to Explore in Michigan
9. U.S. Troops & Veterans News
10. U.S. Politics:  November 2, 2010 Election
11. Celebrities in the News
12. Rx:  Laughter prn

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  In Northern Michigan… 

           …deer hunting …vanishedamericana.com

                    It’s DEER  SEASON !

File:Overstekend wild.jpg … commons.wikimedia.org

… Deer Management Group… kingdowngeogblog.blogspot.

Chiefland, FL : Wild Deer at … city-data.com

Entry Title: ” Wild Deer“… photoawards.com

White-tailed Deer … loriaull.wordpress.com

wild baby deer playing dead … pixdaus.com

michigan,fauna,animals,wild … gather.com

 deer hunting…rack-max.com

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LETTERS_______________________________________________________

October 19, 2010

Commissioners released the Solid Waste Plan Amendment for approval and a handful of township boards and one village council have already voted on it.
   
The news that American Waste may drop flow control from their purchase agreement is a meaningless red herring. If this Plan is approved by townships and municipalities, any new owner becomes the automatic recipient of flow control. The Plan is a flow control plan. Period. Its provisions establish a monopoly market for the new owner.

The Plan being voted on allows garbage importation from 22 counties and those 22 outside customers are free to bargain for the best open market rates while flow control prevents Wexford customers from shopping for the best rates for themselves. And when the landfill is privatized, as commissioners say they intend, we’ll get the trash while a private company gets the cash. We’ll get the traffic, noise, pollution, odors, litter, road repairs, spills and cleanups, and negative impacts to land values while a private company pockets the profits. Why should we approve a Plan that turns us into a regional dumping ground without a guaranteed competitive rate?

According to commissioners, Plan approval is a pre-requisite to landfill sale and selling the landfill will solve all our problems. But legacy costs of nearly a million dollars a year remain whether we sell, close, or continue operations. Where’s the money coming from? Do commissioners plan to sell the landfill and then pass a millage to cover expenses?

Unless commissioners pull back the Plan and revise it, nothing’s changed. Those who say “Yes” to this Plan are saying “Yes” to flow control and unfair local rates. They’re saying “Yes” to a flawed financial recovery plan,  “Yes” to more landfills and lawsuits, and “Yes” to more trash and the liabilities that come with it.

Rita J. McNamara

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[Reprinted from CADILLAC NEWS,  October 19, 2010 issue.]

I write to encourage residents of Wexford County’s District 1 to vote for a write-in candidate for county commissioner:  Loretta Timlick.

Loretta is an excellent candidate.  She already is working on getting needed jobs in ur area as a local real estate broker and member of the real estate board.  Anyone who knows her can tell you she is honest and fair in her dealings with people and good at listening to people’s needs.  Her integrity won’t allow her to answer to anyone except the voters.

She is a Republican who is familiar with all the issues that affect residents of District  1  she has attended nearly all the Wexford County Board of Commissioners meetings for the last six years.  She also attends many other meetings, such as the Board of Public Works meetings as well as the board meetings in Cedar Creek Township, where she is a resident.

She works with the people in ur area every day and really understands the problems we face here.  She knows our biggest need is jobs, and she has some good, workable ideas for marketing our area for new businesses from the county level.

Tom Akers’ performance as our current District 1 county commissioners has been very disappointing.  Although Loretta is a late-comer to the commissioner’s race, she certainly is the most intelligent choice.  She is a hard-working, energetic person we can trust.  I really believe she can help this area if given the chance.

Write in your vote for Loretta Timlick for District 1 Wexford County Commissioner this November 2nd.

Sherrie L. Fuscone

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October 21, 2010

On November 2nd, 2010, I plan to write in Loretta Timlick’s name on my ballot for Wexford County Commissioner to represent District #1.

The reason I’m taking the time to vote for a write-in candidate is because she is the best person for the job.  Here are some of the reasons:

1.   Loretta is a Republican who really keeps up with local trends.  She is also a long-time area businesswoman and a member of the local real estate board.

2.   Loretta has attended all the Wexford County Board of Commissioners meetings for years, as well as many other county and local meetings.  So she is well up on all our local problems.

3.   Loretta is good at listening to people and discussing her views in a calm, reasonable manner.  I’ve never heard her shout at anyone.

4.   Loretta is smart, hardworking, and has been helping people in this area from outside the county board for a long time.  Her long experience as a real estate broker and her close attention to local problems has taught her a lot about getting badly needed grants for our area through state and federal funding as well.

For too long this county’s commissioners seem to be elected based on whom they know, rathat than what they know.  They just seem to go through the motions, and many problems people have complained about for years never get solved.

I think Loretta is a quality candidate who deserves a chance.

Joseph A. Fuscone, Jr.

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 WexfordLogo(Web).jpg web1.msue.msu.edu

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OPINION:

Trust the county?? What part of a flow control plan doesn’t Shari get? A flow control plan is a flow control plan. Period. American doesn’t NEED it in their purchase agreement if it’s in the plan … they would automatically become recipients of flow control.  What double-talk.  Unless the county pulls back the plan and removes the flow control provisions, it’s flow control for Wexford customers, plain and simple. They’re trying to hoodwink/confuse the voting units into thinking that flow control’s been removed as an issue.

Rita Mc
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 CADILLAC NEWS

October 19, 2010

Flow control dropped

as condition of landfill sale

By Jeff Broddle  Cadillac News  October 19, 2010CADILLAC – A draft purchase agreement governing the potential sale of the Wexford County Landfill to waste company American Waste will be presented for review to the Wexford County Board of Commissioners at its Wednesday meeting.County Administrator Ken Hinton said the BOC will likely give an up or down vote on the agreement Nov. 3.Both Hinton and Director of Public Works John Divozzo verified that one of the most contentious issues surrounding the sale – flow control – has been removed as a condition of sale.

Hinton and Divozzo said American Waste relented last week.

“I think it should diffuse some of the problems people have with the sale – directing the flow to a private entity,” said BOC Chairman Les Housler.

Under flow control, which is currently in effect, solid waste generated inside the county must be disposed of at a landfill within the county. The county does not have local enforcement authority to enforce flow control, however. The State of Michigan has enforcement authority through the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

The proposed SWMP amendment does not repeal flow control.

Should the county decide to do so, it would have to follow a state-mandated process which would at best take a minimum of 90 days, Housler said.

Flow control has been seen as a significant stumbling block to the potential landfill sale. The City of Cadillac has pointed to flow control as a barrier to being able to negotiate lower rates. Questions also have been raised as to whether flow control still would be enforceable if the landfill was operated by a private entity.

Members of the BOC are pitching the landfill sale as a way to rid the county of the need to supplement the landfill budget with money from the general fund, as much as $200,000 annually.

The county also is seeking to amend its Solid Waste Management Plan. One element of the plan amendment would increase the landfill’s market area by 22 additional counties. Both American Waste and county officials have said that increasing waste flow into the landfill is key to making it a profitable operation.

Dropping flow control as a condition of the landfill redefines terms for payments from American Waste meant to discourage the county from eliminating flow control. Under the terms of the sale, American Waste was to pay $75,000 annually to the county for 10 years if it did not alter the SWMP or strike down flow control.

According to Director of Public Works John Divozzo, the payments have been redefined to have the county receive the $75,000 payments if 80 percent of the county’s waste does get deposited in the landfill. The county also still will receive host fees.

The SWMP must receive the approval of 15 of the county’s 21 municipalities and the DNRE to be approved. According to Hinton, so far the townships of Slagle, Clam Lake and Cherry Grove have approved the amended plan. The Village of Mesick voted no.

Hinton said the county will continue to present the plan at township and city council meetings.

Divozzo also said the closing date for purchase has been pushed back six months since the sale is contingent upon the approval of the SWMP.

“That way the county doesn’t have to come back with extensions,” Divozzo said.

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CADILLAC  NEWS

Council tables decision on

solid waste plan amendment

By Kris Verhage  Cadillac News  )ctober 19, 2010

CADILLAC – The Cadillac City Council has put off a decision whether to support Wexford County’s proposed Solid Waste Management amendment in light of new information regarding the proposed sale of the county landfill.The council voted 4-1 on Monday to table the issue after learning just before the meeting that the county and Kalkaska-based American Waste reached a tentative sale agreement. Council member Douglas Mellema cast the lone dissenting vote.Flow control – prohibiting all waste generated in Wexford County to be transported outside the county – no longer is a condition of the sale, county officials said Monday. Bob Joseph, the county’s financial consultant for the proposed sale, said this action was a result of an Oct. 4 forum hosted by the Cadillac City Council, during which county and local officials presented information about the proposed amendment and landfill sale, and area residents spoke both for and against the amendment and sale. The plan was last updated in 2000.

However, flow control still is a part of the Solid Waste Management Plan, said John Divozzo, the county’s director of public works. It’s there in case the sale falls through. The sale likely will be completed in one year.

The Wexford County Board of Commissioners last month approved the plan amendment, which would allow solid waste to be imported from 22 additional counties to the county landfill and set the terms for a waste ordinance that would include the licensing of waste haulers.

The amendment must be approved by 67 percent of the county’s communities, which consist of 16 townships and the municipalities of Cadillac, Manton, Mesick, Buckley and Harrietta, as well as the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, before it can be implemented.

The city has been opposed to the amendment because it doesn’t allow for competitive rates or the exporting of waste outside the county should trash disposal rates increase.

County officials contend that selling the landfill – which for years has lost money and experienced a steady decline in waste volume since 2003 – and allowing the 22 counties to import waste will result in increased volume at the landfill and lower trash rates for five years following the sale.

Closing the landfill will cost $17 million and result in higher taxes for county residents, officials have said.

Joseph and Rexair Vice President of Operations Bruce Schafer were among those asking the council to trust the county and support the amendment and landfill sale.

“My nightmare is that the county will continue to operate the landfill,” Schafer said. “It won’t be competitive. They will continue to lose revenue.”

Rexair and other local manufacturers have decreased their waste volume in recent years, he added.

However, the council wasn’t ready to put its faith in the county just yet.

Mayor Bill Barnett, a former county commissioner who has followed the amendment issue for several years, said he’s been burned in the past by promises regarding flow control.

Although Shari Spoelman voted to table the decision, she expressed support for the landfill sale.

“I’m OK with relying on good intentions. Sometimes it’s all we have,” she said, later citing the lower trash rates communities would be paying. “It makes sense not to impede the sale of the landfill.”
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CADILLAC NEWS

October 26, 2010

Wexford County considers

landfill purchase agreement Wednesday

By Jeff Broddle  Cadillac News  October 26, 2010

CADILLAC – Years of discussion and months of negotiations will boil down to one decision Wednesday night when the Wexford County Board of Commissioners considers whether or not to approve the sale of the Wexford County Landfill to waste hauling company American Waste.

A copy of the definitive agreement for the sale was presented to the BOC at its regular meeting Wednesday. The definitive agreement nails down the conditions of the sale and, if approved, commits the county to selling the landfill to American Waste.

“If they sign that, then it will be a done deal,” said Wexford County Administrator Ken Hinton.

But although the BOC would be committed to following through with the sale, the transaction would still be subject to approval of the Solid Waste Management Plan Amendment. At least 15 of the county’s 21 municipalities must approve the amendment for it to pass. It also must have the approval of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. According to Hinton, seven townships have approved the plan amendment, and only one municipality, the Village of Mesick has voted against.

The SWMP amendment has been identified as crucial to the landfill’s financial success by both the county and the landfill’s potential new owners. Both American Waste and the county have expressed interest in expanding the landfill’s customer base as a way of bringing in more revenue. Should the SWMP amendment be approved, the number of counties authorized to export waste to the Wexford County Landfill would be increased from one, Missaukee County, to 22: Missaukee and the counties of Charlevoix, Otsego, Crawford, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Mason, Gladwin, Oceana, Newaygo, Mecosta, Isabella, Leelanau, Clare, Manistee, Osceola, Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Lake and Emmett.

Landfill operations fall short by around $250,000 annually, which must be made up out of the county’s general fund. Proponents of the sale have sold it as a way of halting the facility’s dependence on outside resources for support. The proposal would also free the county of commitments to pay landfill closure and post-closure costs estimated to be as much as $13 million. The terms of the sale restrict American Waste to charging no more than $39 a ton for waste disposal for Wexford County waste. After five years rates could increase in step with fuel and inflation, up to a maximum of $55 a ton. Tipping fees are currently $62 per ton.

The county would receive a payment of $1.2 million as part of the sale. American Waste will also place $1.1 million in escrow to fund a waste relocation project required by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment. In addition, the county will receive host fees for waste disposed of at the landfill, consisting of 65 cents per ton for solid waste generated outside of Wexford count and 55 cents per ton for waste generated inside Wexford County.

If the sale is approved, American Waste will have one year to perform due diligence, during which the county will continue to operate the landfill.

The county will retain all liability, including personal injury and property damage, connected to the county’s ownership of the property, for a period of five years. After five years, American Waste will assume responsibility, except for those issues that were already the county’s, including the Remedial Action Plan that addresses contamination issues including those arising from trichloroethylene contamination. The county will also be responsible for operating the municipal water system included as part of the RAP.

Hinton said the only substantial element of the terms of sale set forth in the July letter of intent that did survive to be included in the definitive purchase agreement is a mechanism encouraging the county to retain flow control. The county currently requires trash generated within the county be disposed of within the county in the interest of retaining local revenue to operate the landfill. As part of the sales agreement, American Waste would have paid the county $75,000 a year for ten years as long as the BOC did not rescind flow control. Flow control became one of the major stumbling blocks for closing the deal. The City of Cadillac was critical of an arrangement which did not allow it to shop around for the best price. The possibility of a private entity benefitting financially from public policy also raised the spectre of legal action.

As a result, in latest agreement the $75,000 per year payments were severed from the requirement of flow control. Instead, the county will receive the annual payments as long as 80 percent of Wexford County’s solid waste is disposed of at the landfill.

Hinton said language clarifying the agreement may be added prior to Wednesday’s meeting. The 80 percent threshold may be clarified as 80 percent of the amount reported in the landfill’s solid waste receipt report for 2009-2010, which is 125,256 yards. The annual payments would also stop and the $55 per ton rate could be implemented if the BOC later switched course to prohibit the importation of waste from any of the 21 counties proposed to be added in the SWMP amendment.

The special meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday in the law library on the third floor of the Wexford County Courthouse, adjacent to the 28th Circuit Courtroom.

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summer2.jpg Wexford County Courthouse

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]]> http://cedarcreekvoice.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/local-news-90/feed/ 0 Sherrie http://web1.msue.msu.edu/wexford/4H/april2003.htm http://cedarcreekvoice.wordpress.com/ http://cedarcreekvoice.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/michigan-news-88/ http://cedarcreekvoice.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/michigan-news-88/#comments Wed, 27 Oct 2010 19:35:24 +0000 sherrie1690 http://cedarcreekvoice.wordpress.com/?p=9103 ]]> Traverse City RECORD-EAGLE

Hospital readmissions targeted

By JULIET WANG Special to the Record-Eagle The Record Eagle

Mon Oct 25, 2010, 07:14 AM EDT

LANSING — A project called MI STAAR, short for Michigan State Action on Avoidable Rehospitalizations, aims to reduce the chances that a patient will go back into the hospital.

Michigan was one of three states selected last year by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement to participate in the national initiative. Twenty-eight hospitals are in the program, but others are able to join. Among the participants are Allegiance Health in Jackson, Charlevoix Area Hospital and MidMichigan Medical Center–Gladwin.

“There’s 144 hospitals in Michigan and the remainder are eligible to participate,” said Sam Watson, senior vice president of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association.

MI STAAR is being coordinated by Michigan’s Quality Improvement Organization and MHA’s Keyston Center for Patient Safety and Quality.

“There is no fee for hospitals participating in this project” but they may incur some fees, said Watson.

Nancy Vecchioni, vice president of Medicare operations at the improvement organization, said a key component to reduce rehospitalizations is for hospitals to look at their own records.

“It really opened the eyes of the hospital staff to pull out the readmission data and also interview patients who had be readmitted to the hospital,” Vecchioni said. “No one knows what happens when they leave the four walls of the hospitals, so its very eye-opening to hear the real-life patient stories of how they fall through the cracks.”

Katie Flannigan, administrator director for the Department of Medicine at Sinai-Grace and project director for MI STAAR, said its mission is to reduce rehospitalization of heart failure patients. Sinai-Grace uses a technique called teach-back.

“Instead of a nurse or physician coming into the room and lecturing the patient on their medication and the need to check their weight daily, they now require the patient to answer questions and repeat back to them what they, the patient, has learned,” said Flannigan.

Communication between physicians and patients helps to lower rehospitalization rates.

“If after discharge the patient can repeat three out of four important facts concerning their illness, the teach-back was successful and the patient has a better chance of staying out of the hospital,” said Flannigan.

Sinai-Grace has been cited for lowering its heart failure readmission rate by 30 percent this past year.

“We started with one patient and one nurse, then two nurses and two patients, and it expanded to the whole hospital,” Flannigan said.

Juliet Wang writes for Capital News Service at Michigan State University.

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Witch of November

The Witch of November is the name given to the winds that blow across the Great Lakes in November. Gordon Lightfoot‘s song Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald makes reference to the term.

Sometimes the term is November Witch. When the History Channel featured Great Lakes shipwrecks, they used the term November Witch almost exclusively. Similar “witches” have caused numerous shipwrecks over the years.

The winds are caused by intense low-pressure systems moving near the Great Lakes. The system is often fueled by very cold Canadian/Arctic air pulled from the north or northwest meeting warm Gulf air pulled from the south. The systems can be as intense as hurricanes (the storm that wrecked the Edmund Fitzgerald was 978 mb^[1], equivalent to a borderline Category 1/2 hurricane). Another storm that hit in November 1998 was 967 mb^[2], equivalent to a borderline Category 2/3 hurricane.

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Traverse City RECORD-EAGLE

October 26, 2010

Storm, high winds forecast

BY ART BUKOWSKI The Record Eagle Tue Oct 26, 2010, 10:03 AM EDT

TRAVERSE CITY — The area likely will see a “one-two punch” of wild weather today, meteorologists said.

A large storm expected to bring rain and extremely high winds is bearing down on the area. A pre-front with rain and high winds should hit the area by mid-day, Gaylord-based National Weather Service Meteorologist Keith Berger said.

That should be followed by a lull in the evening, then another round of high winds and rain that could last through Wednesday, he said. Wind throughout the day could gust up to 60 mph.

“The big story is going to be the sustained wind,” Berger said.

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 October 26, 2010

Massive windstorm howls

across nation’s midsection

AP – A knocked down tree is shown Tuesday Oct. 26, 2010, after a tornado touched down near Racine, Wis. (AP …

CHICAGO – A massive storm with wind gusts up to 81 mph howled across the nation’s midsection Tuesday, snapping trees and power lines, ripping off roofs, delaying flights and soaking commuters hunched under crumpled umbrellas.

Spanning from the Dakotas to the eastern Great Lakes, the unusual system mesmerized meteorologists because of its size and because it had barometric pressure similar to a Category 3 hurricane, but with much less destructive power.

Scientists said the storm had the force of a blizzard minus the snow.

“If it were colder, we’d have a blizzard with this system,” said David Imy, operations chief at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. But temperatures were in the 50s and 60s, instead of the 20s.

The agency said the system’s pressure reading Tuesday was among the lowest ever in a non-tropical storm in the mainland U.S. Spokeswoman Susan Buchanan said the storm was within the top five strongest storms in terms of low pressure, but may not have been the strongest on record.

Earlier, the agency said the storm’s pressure was worse than that produced the Blizzard of 1978, the March 1993 “Storm of the Century” or the November 1975 storm that sank the Edmund Fitzgerald freighter, memorialized in a song by Gordon Lightfoot.

The storm blew in from the Pacific Northwest on the strength of a jet stream that is about one-third stronger than normal for this time of year, Imy said. As the system moved into the nation’s heartland, it drew in warm air needed to fuel thunderstorms. Then the winds intensified and tornadoes formed.

Add to that the fact the storm was moving fast, 50 to 60 mph, and the winds became even stronger, Imy said.

By Tuesday morning, sustained winds were about 35 to 40 mph and gusting much higher. A gust of 81 mph was recorded in Butlerville, Ohio, and 80 mph in Greenfield, Ind., according to NOAA.

At one point, more than 145,000 homes and businesses were without power in Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and the St. Louis area.

The storms were headed toward the East Coast by late afternoon, and winds were expected to subside in the evening. But forecasters said the winds could pick up again Wednesday.

Sheryl Uthemann, 49, was working first shift at the Case New Holland plant in Mount Pleasant, Wis., when the storm blew through about 8 a.m. and started to lift the roof.

“It was just a regular workday and all of a sudden that noise just came and (co-workers) said ‘Run! Run! Run!’ You didn’t have time to think,” she said. “I looked up where the noise was coming from and saw pieces of the roof sucked up. I’ve never been more scared, ever.”

In the Indiana town of Wanatah, about 60 miles southeast of Chicago, a pole barn at a hydraulics company was destroyed, and two homes were severely damaged, though no injuries were reported.

In the Chicago suburb of Lindenhurst, a woman was injured when a branch fell about 65 feet from a large tree, crashed into her car and impaled her abdomen. She was taken to a hospital in fair condition, authorities said.

Meteorologists said the storm’s barometric pressure readings were comparable to those of a Category 3 hurricane but with much weaker winds. The wind gusts were only as strong as a tropical storm. Category 3 hurricanes have winds from 111 to 130 mph.

Storm pressure works like this: The lower the pressure, the greater the winds. The higher the pressure, the calmer and balmier the weather is. If Tuesday’s low-pressure system had been over water — where winds get higher — it would have created a major hurricane, Imy said.

Tom Skilling, a meteorologist with WGN-TV in Chicago, said the size of the storm — 31 states were under some sort of weather advisory, from blizzards to thunderstorms to tornadoes — also was unusual.

Severe thunderstorm warnings blanketed much of the Midwest, and tornado watches were issued from Arkansas to Ohio.

Eleven states were under a high wind warning: Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Ohio and parts of Kentucky.

Meanwhile, a blizzard warning was issued for much of North Dakota, where the weather service said up to 10 inches of snow could fall in some areas into early Wednesday and into northern South Dakota. Wind gusts of more than 50 mph in many areas would make travel treacherous.

In the Chicago area, morning commuters faced blustery, wind-driven rain as they waited for trains. Some huddled beneath railway overpasses to stay out of the gusts, dashing to the platform at the last minute.

About 500 flights were canceled and others delayed at O’Hare Airport, a major hub for American and United airlines. The storms also disrupted flights at the Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Minneapolis airports.

Chicago’s 110-story Willis Tower, the nation’s tallest building, closed the Skydeck observatory and retracted “The Ledge” attraction — four glass boxes that jut out from the building’s 103rd floor.

In Michigan, wind speeds topped 35 mph on the five-mile Mackinac Bridge, which links the state’s Upper and Lower peninsulas. Traffic continued to cross, but escorts were given to “high-profile” vehicles such as large trucks, school buses and vehicles towing trailers.

In St. Louis, strong winds were blamed for a partial building collapse that sent bricks, mortar, roofing and some window air conditioners raining down onto a sidewalk. No one was injured, and officials were inspecting the 1920s-era building.

___

Associated Press writers Seth Borenstein in Washington; Karen Hawkins, Carla K. Johnson, Tamara Starks and Lindsey Tanner in Chicago; David Aguilar in Detroit; John Flesher in Traverse City, Mich.; Tom Davies in South Bend, Ind.; Jeannie Nuss in Columbus, Ohio; Doug Whiteman in Cleveland, Ohio; Gretchen Ehlke in Milwaukee and Jim Suhr in St. Louis contributed to this story.

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Traverse City RECORD-EAGLE

October 27, 2010

Feds OK big grant for high-speed rail

FROM WIRE REPORTS —- The Record Eagle Wed Oct 27, 2010, 07:33 AM EDT

DETROIT — Michigan will receive $150 million to develop a high-speed rail system between Kalamazoo and Dearborn.

Democratic U.S. Reps. John Dingell and Mark Schauer announced the $160 million plan. It also includes an additional $8 million to connect the Chicago-Detroit High Speed line to Detroit New Center Station.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is expected to make an official announcement Thursday.

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Traverse City Record-Eagle

October 27, 2010

GM to build Cadillac small car in Lansing

Associated Press

— DETROIT — Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero says General Motors Co. will announce Thursday it plans to build a new Cadillac small car at its Grand River plant in the city.

Bernero told The Associated Press on Wednesday the automaker will add 600-plus jobs to produce the new vehicle in the city about 80 miles west-northwest of Detroit.

Bernero, the Democratic nominee for governor, calls it “great news for Lansing and the state of Michigan.”

New GM CEO Dan Akerson is expected to make the announcement Thursday at the plant.

The Detroit News reported on the GM investment earlier Wednesday.

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October 25, 2010

MSU aims to stop water loss

Ogallala Aquifer stretches under 111 million acres

 The Record Eagle Mon Oct 25, 2010, 07:14 AM EDT

EAST LANSING (AP) — An underground water stock nearly equal to two of the Great Lakes doesn’t guarantee America’s High Plains will be able to fulfill the heavy demand of the region’s agriculture.

Despite its vast holdings, the Ogallala Aquifer is losing water, and Michigan State University scientists are looking for ways to halt that shrinkage and secure a future supply for the region’s farmers.

The vast underground water system lies under 111 million acres stretching as far north as South Dakota and as far south as Texas, and covers parts of Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

Researchers say the Ogallala Aquifer is one of the world’s largest aquifer systems, storing almost as much water as Lake Erie and Lake Huron together.

A $1.2 million, four-year National Science Foundation grant to Michigan State scientists aims to help plan for improved management of the Ogallala Aquifer. Michigan State hydrogeologist David Hyndman will lead the multidisciplinary team of researchers, and the Kansas Geological Survey will participate as well.

“For more than 80 years, the Ogallala Aquifer has been used for irrigation, and the withdrawals far exceed its ability to replenish itself,” Hyndman said. “We are on an unsustainable course and must make difficult changes if we are to keep using some of the best agricultural land in the country.”

According to the U.S. Geological Service, water levels in 1980 in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas had declined more than 100 feet from the 1930s.

In 2009, drought conditions led farmers to rely more on irrigation wells and a drop averaging 1.5 feet in the area within High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1, officials said.

“Researchers … will study the interactions between the region’s landscape, atmosphere and socio-economic systems,” Michigan State spokesman Layne Cameron said in a posting on the school’s website.

They hope to produce forecasts and projections based on a variety of potential solutions to the shrinking water source, the university said. That information should help people adjust land management policies and establish sustainable water-use.

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Forbes

October 20, 2010

The Best States For Business and Careers

Utah tops our fifth annual ranking, knocking longtime leader Virginia from the top spot.

When voters in 37 states select their governors next month, the overriding issue will be, of course, the economy.

A recent CBS News poll found that 54% of adults think the economy and jobs are the most important problem the U.S. is facing today. Health care ranked a distant second, with 7% of the tally. Almost every state experienced decreased output, a loss of jobs and budget shortfalls during the economic downturn. Nationwide employment has declined by 7 million jobs over the past two years while gross domestic product growth has been sluggish this year after a 2.6% drop in 2009. No state has emerged unscathed.

But some areas are doing better than others, and for many of them, it isn’t an accident. Who’s doing the best job when it comes to fostering growth? Utah, according to our fifth annual look at the Best States for Business. The Beehive State captured the top spot in our rankings for the first time, after a four-year run by Virginia at the head of the list.

Utah’s economy has expanded 3.5% annually over the past five years, faster than any other state except North Dakota. This is three-and-a-half times faster than the U.S. as a whole. Total employment in the U.S. has shrunk over the past five years, but in Utah it increased 1.5% annually, fourth-best in the nation. Household incomes have surged 5% annually, which is tops in the country and twice as fast as the national average.

“We have a fiscally conservative government where we are trying to keep government off your backs and out of your wallet. We want the free market do what it does best,” says Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican running for a full term this year after taking over the job in August 2009, when then Gov. Jon Huntsman was appointed U.S. ambassador to China.

Utah lowered its corporate tax rate from 7% to 5% in 2008, to the delight of businesses. The rate is now one of the lowest in the country. The regulatory climate is also pro-business, with the Pacific Research Institute rating Utah second-best in the regulatory component of its U.S. Economic Freedom Index. “We want to make sure we don’t have any nonsensical regulations that inhibit the private sector from expanding and having a profitable bottom line,” says Hebert.

Other factors the state have going for it include energy costs 35% below the national average; an educated labor force, with 90% of residents holding a high school diploma (and 29% a college degree); a great quality of life with low poverty rates; a healthy populous; and ample recreational opportunities. Utah boasts a triple-A debt rating from Moody’s (NYSE: MCO – News), S&P and Fitch. Earlier this year Forbes crowned Utah the country’s most fiscally fit state government.

Companies across the country are taking notice. Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS – News) keeps expanding its operations in Utah, and its Salt Lake City office is now the company’s second-largest in North America. Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE – News) announced plans in August to build a new campus in Utah that will create 1,000 new jobs there, building on its $1.8 billion purchase of Orem-based Web analytic firm Omniture (Nasdaq: OMTR – News) last year. Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL – News) and eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY – News) are both building massive data centers outside Salt Lake City.

Our Best States ranking measures six vital categories for businesses: costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, current economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life. We factor in 33 points of data to determine the ranks in the six main areas. Business costs, which include labor, energy and taxes, are weighted the most heavily. We relied on 10 data sources, with research firm Moody’s Economy.com as the most-utilized resource.

Our former No. 1-ranked state, Virginia, falls to No. 2 this year. Virginia still boasts a very favorable business climate, with an educated labor supply and solid economic growth. But Virginia’s business costs (namely labor and energy) have crept up, which allowed Utah to leapfrog it. Rounding out the top five are No. 3 North Carolina, No. 4 Colorado and fifth-ranked Washington.

The Northeast isn’t dead yet, judging by our rankings, despite high business costs and crippling budget deficits. New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts all rank among the priciest states when it comes to labor, taxes and energy costs. Yet each state moved up the rankings this year, thanks to improving current economic climates and growth prospects relative to the rest of the country, compared with last year.

Massachusetts made the biggest move of any state this year, climbing from No. 34 to No. 16. Business costs in the Bay State are highest in the country: 22% above the national average. But venture capital continues to pour into the state, looking to take advantage of the bright minds at elite universities in and around Boston and Cambridge. VCs invested $2.9 billion in Massachusetts companies last year, second only to California. The state enjoys the highest college attainment rate in the country, with 38% of adults possessing a degree.

Bringing up the rear this year is Maine, which replaced No. 49 Rhode Island at the bottom of our rankings. Growth prospects in Maine have deteriorated relative to the rest of the country. Job growth is expected to increase 1.3% annually over the next five years–one of the worst forecasts in the country. The state has endured a rash of business closings the past three years as well.

Mainers head to the polls next month to choose a new governor. The state’s current chief, democrat John Baldacci, is off the hook though; thanks to term limits, Baldacci cannot seek reelection.

©George Frey/AP

 

No. 1 Utah

2009 Rank: 3
Business Costs Rank: 8
Labor Supply Rank: 5
Regulatory Environment: 6
Economic Climate: 1
Growth Prospects: 20
Quality of Life: 18

©Steve Helber/AP

 

No. 2 Virginia

2009 Rank: 1
Business Costs Rank: 24
Labor Supply Rank: 3
Regulatory Environment: 2
Economic Climate: 4
Growth Prospects: 14
Quality of Life: 6

©Chuck Burton/AP

 

No. 3 North Carolina

2009 Rank: 5
Business Costs Rank: 3
Labor Supply Rank: 15
Regulatory Environment: 3
Economic Climate: 18
Growth Prospects: 9
Quality of Life: 32

©Jack Dempsey/AP

 

No. 4 Colorado

2009 Rank: 4
Business Costs Rank: 33
Labor Supply Rank: 1
Regulatory Environment: 15
Economic Climate: 6
Growth Prospects: 6
Quality of Life: 9

©Stephen Brashear/Getty Images

 

No. 5 Washington

2009 Rank: 2
Business Costs Rank: 28
Labor Supply Rank: 2
Regulatory Environment: 5
Economic Climate: 11
Growth Prospects: 4
Quality of Life: 29

Sources: Moody’s Economy.com; Pollina Corporate Real Estate; Pacific Research Institute; Tax Foundation; Sperling’s Best Places; Better Government Association; Census Bureau; SBA; FBI; Dept. of Education; Forbes.

Click here to see the full list of The Best States For Business And Careers

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 October 26, 2010

Ruling strikes down part of

Arizona Voter ID law

By BOB CHRISTIE, Associated Press

PHOENIX – A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down a key part of Arizona’s law requiring voters to prove they are citizens before registering to vote and to show identification before casting ballots.

The decision by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the law requiring voters to prove their citizenship while registering is inconsistent with the National Voter Registration Act. That federal law allows voters to fill out a mail-in voter registration card and swear they are citizens under penalty of perjury, but doesn’t require them to show proof as Arizona’s law does.

The ruling left in place a requirement that voters provide proof of identity when casting ballots.

Lawyers for several civil rights groups that sued argued thousands of Arizonans have had their federal registration forms rejected because they failed to provide other documents required by the state. That violates the federal law, they argued.

The state law in question, Proposition 200, was passed by voters in 2004. It required proof of citizenship during voter registration and of identity at the polls, and also while receiving certain state benefits.

It has been upheld by state and federal courts until Tuesday’s decision.

In a statement, one of the attorneys who argued the case said his group was “elated” by the decision.

“This will enable the many poor people in Arizona who lack driver’s licenses and birth certificates to register to vote,” said Jon Greenbaum, legal director for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard’s office issued a statement saying it intends to ask a full panel of 9th Circuit judges to reconsider the case.

The ruling applies only to voter registration and the deadline for voting in the Nov. 2 general election has passed, so it will have no practical effect on voting, the statement said.

Appeals Court Judge Sandra S. Ikuta’s opinion was joined by retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who heard the case as a temporary appeals court judge. Ikuta said the federal voter registration law laid out specific requirements for the mail-in registration form that the state can’t make more onerous.

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McCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

 October 26, 2010

California court tosses suit

questioning Obama’s citizenship

Never miss a McClatchy story

By Denny Walsh | The Sacramento Bee

A state appellate court in Sacramento on Monday threw out a lawsuit claiming President Barack Obama is not eligible to occupy the White House because he is not a natural-born citizen of the United States.

The court did not deal with the citizenship issue, instead ruling that the California secretary of state, who oversees elections, and the state’s Electoral College members are not legally responsible to certify presidential candidates as qualified for the office.

Under the terms of the U.S. Constitution’s 12th Amendment, that responsibility rests solely with Congress, a unanimous three-justice panel of the 3rd District Court of Appeal declared.

“The members of the Senate and the House of Representatives are well qualified to adjudicate any objections to ballots for allegedly unqualified candidates,” the justices said.

In a lawsuit filed in Sacramento Superior Court shortly after the 2008 general election, the three plaintiffs, who are members of the so-called “birthers” movement, claimed there is persuasive evidence Obama was born in what is now Kenya, which was then (1961) the British East African Protectorate of Zanzibar. He would have automatically been a British citizen, based on his father’s citizenship, they claimed.

Obama says he was born in Hawaii, and available evidence supports him.

The plaintiffs in the Sacramento suit are Alan Keyes, a former member of President Ronald Reagan’s administration from Maryland, and Wiley S. Drake Sr., a Southern Baptist minister from Buena Park.

They were the 2008 American Independent Party candidates for president and vice president, respectively. They were joined in the suit by Markham Robinson, a Vacaville software firm owner who unsuccessfully sought the AIP’s nomination for governor in the June primary.

To read the complete article, visit www.sacbee.com.

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October 26, 2010

‘Phantom of the Fox’ fights

 to stay in apartment

AP – Joe Patten, 83, known as the ‘Phantom of the Fox’, who has lived above the historic Fox Theatre in Atlanta …

By KATE BRUMBACK, Associated Press - Tue Oct 26, 11:46 am ET

ATLANTA – Behind the faux Moorish splendor of Atlanta’s historic Fox Theatre lives the “Phantom of the Fox” — a beloved local figure who twice helped save the landmark from destruction and now is battling to stay in the place where he has lived for more than 30 years.

Joe Patten, 83, occupies a spacious dwelling nestled beneath the theater’s onion-shaped dome. His original lease, drawn up in the 1970s after he helped save the Fox from the wrecking ball, said he could live there for life.

Earlier this month his lawyer sued the nonprofit organization that runs the Fox, saying the trustees of Atlanta Landmarks are trying to unfairly evict Patten.

The conflict has struck a nerve in Atlanta, where Patten has long been treasured by supporters of the Fox.

“This is my home,” Patten said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “I would love to live here until my dying day and that’s it.”

There are websites devoted to his cause. His supporters can frequently be seen parading in front of the Fox, urging people to boycott the venue until the trustees agree to reinstate Patten’s original lease

“He just evokes the spirit of the past that you can’t find,” said Gordon Dyker, who waved a sign and urged passers-by to support Patten before a recent show. “He’s priceless and there’s so many people that love what he’s done for the city, and he’s actually become our friend, and we want to take care of him as best we can.”

The board of trustees voted to end Patten’s lease Aug. 30, just over two weeks after he returned home from a short stint in the hospital and a rehabilitation facility following a stroke in mid-July. The lawsuit claims that before the vote, while Patten was still recuperating, members of the board repeatedly visited and told him he couldn’t return.

The Fox said in a statement that the board has tried for nearly two months “to engage Mr. Patten and his attorney in an effort to negotiate a new agreement which would permit him to continue to live at the Fox Theatre. Unfortunately neither Mr. Patten nor his attorney has accepted any of our efforts in this regard.”

Patten has declined to sign the new agreement — which can be terminated at any time without cause on 60 days notice — saying he wants to be allowed to stay in his apartment under the original conditions.

Built in the late 1920s as a Shriners mosque, the Fox is lavishly decorated with minarets, arched doorways and terrazzo flooring. The auditorium, which has hosted countless movies, concerts and plays over the years, evokes the feel of an ancient Arabian courtyard, the ceiling painted a deep blue with small twinkling lights that mimic stars.

 When the Fox was threatened with demolition in the 1970s, Patten sprang to its defense. He is a founding trustee of Atlanta Landmarks, created to raise money to save the Fox.

Patten and his fellow activists succeeded and, in 1979, the board of trustees asked Patten to convert some unused office space into an apartment and live there as a caretaker, the lawsuit says. Under the terms of the 1979 lease, Patten agreed to spend at least $50,000 to renovate and convert a rundown office space in the theater into an apartment where he would live. The renovation costs would be considered his rent for the term of the lease, which was set to expire after his death.

Shortly after he moved in, Patten became the theater’s technical director, a position he held until he retired in 2001.

Patten became interested in theaters and pipe organs as a child in Lakeland, Fla., and a pipe organ turned out to be his entry into the Fox.

Enchanted by the theater when he first visited in 1946, he was disappointed its great pipe organ, known as “Mighty Mo,” wasn’t working. In 1963, after Patten had moved to Atlanta, he and a small group of friends persuaded the theater’s general manager to let them restore it.

“From that point on, I’ve had a very, very close relationship to the Fox Theatre here in Atlanta,” Patten said. “It was my intent to get everything in this theater working as it was originally designed to.”

He came to know the place so well that it sometimes seemed to people he would exit one door only to reappear right away in an entirely different location — earning him the affectionate nickname “Phantom of the Fox.”

From a door in his bedroom, Patten can enter a passageway and go up some stairs to a former spotlight platform that has served as his own personal box to see shows over the years. He couldn’t name a particular show that stood out as his favorite, but has many fond memories.

He tells stories of spending time with a young Angela Lansbury, helping Mick Jagger and the rest of the Rolling Stones sneak out a side door and escape to the airport in an ambulance after a concert, and giving then little-known Jay Leno a ride in some of the old cars Patten collects, including a 1937 Rolls Royce that he still owns.

Patten’s knowledge of the theater helped him save it a second time when a fire started in the early morning hours of April 15, 1996.

“One of the reasons he was so valuable to the saving of the Fox is because he knows this building better than any human being,” said Bob Foreman, a longtime Fox supporter and a friend of Patten. Foreman said Patten helped firefighters pinpoint the fire’s location and get there quickly.

Atlanta Landmarks has said the Fox is not an appropriate setting for round-the-clock care or assisted living.

Patten now hunches over when he walks but he still manages to climb the 70-plus stairs in his three-story apartment, decorated with family heirlooms and other pieces he has acquired.

With his original lease terminated, Patten is required to leave by Dec. 1 unless he reaches a new agreement with Atlanta Landmarks. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to keep Patten from having to vacate, plus punitive and compensatory damages and a jury trial.

Patten’s lawyer, Emmet Bondurant, claims in the lawsuit that Atlanta Landmarks is discriminating against Patten based on physical limitations, a violation of the Georgia Fair Housing Act.

Under the 1979 agreement, Atlanta Landmarks retained the right to terminate the lease if Patten became “totally and permanently disabled” and if a panel of three doctors determined that it would be in his best interest to be hospitalized or placed in a nursing home.

The original lease also says the board of trustees may terminate it if two-thirds of its members voted that it would be in Atlanta Landmarks’ best interest.

On Sept. 2, Atlanta Landmarks proposed a new agreement that would allow Patten to continue to live in his apartment “only on the condition that he agree to a series of restrictions tailored to make it impossible for a disabled person to live in the Residence,” the lawsuit says.

Bondurant filed the lawsuit on Oct. 4. A hearing is set for Wednesday.

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 October 27, 2010

New home sales rise 6.6 pct.

after dismal summer

AP – In this Sept. 21, 2010 photo, a

construction worker moves boards at a new home site, in West Des Moines, …

By ALAN ZIBEL, AP Real Estate Writer

 

WASHINGTON – Sales of new homes improved last month after the worst summer in nearly five decades, but not enough to lift the struggling economy.

The Commerce Department says new home sales in September grew 6.6 percent from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 307,000. Even with the increase, the past five months have been the worst for new home sales on records dating back to 1963.

Paul Dales, U.S. economist with Capital Economics, called the September home sales encouraging. But he said it doesn’t change the fact that activity remains at extremely low levels.

“That’s unlikely to change for a few years,” Dales said.

Most major homebuilder stocks fell after the report’s release. Toll Brothers Inc. fell nearly 1 percent.

New home sales have risen 9 percent from the bottom in May but are still down 78 percent from their peak sales pace of nearly 1.4 million homes in July 2005. A healthy sales pace is around 800,000 new homes.

Builders are competing with millions of foreclosures and other distressed properties that show no signs of abating. They are unlikely to ramp up construction until those are cleared away and demand picks up.

High unemployment, tight credit and uncertainty about home prices have kept people from buying homes. Government tax credits propelled the market earlier in the year, but those expired in April.

The September sales figures were driven by a 61 percent monthly surge in the Midwest. Sales grew about 3 percent in the South and Northeast. They fell by nearly 10 percent in the West.

The median sales price was $223,800. That was up 3.3 percent from a year earlier.

The number of unsold new homes on the market fell to 204,000, the lowest since July 1968. At the current sales pace, it would take about eight months to exhaust that supply, compared with a healthy level of about six months.

The industry is suffering the fallout of a massive building boom, in which many homes were sold to speculators. They then resold the homes, often to borrowers who took out risky loans and defaulted. Those unsustainable boom times aren’t coming back.

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October 26, 2010

Tariq Aziz, Saddam’s foreign minister,

sentenced to death

By Jane Arraf | Christian Science Monitor

BAGHDAD — Iraqis thirsting for vengeance as much as justice welcomed the death sentence Tuesday of one of Saddam Hussein’s best-known officials, Tariq Aziz.

“The men of the former regime were all criminals – they killed many Iraqis, and it is about time to taste what the people were suffering,” said Kareem Ahmed Jassim, a retired government employee playing cards at a coffee shop in central Baghdad.

But some politicians condemned the sentencing of the former deputy prime minister as a politically motivated move that could drive even more of a wedge into efforts to form a new government.

The judge who handed down the sentence, Mahmoud Saleh al-Hassan, ran unsuccessfully for parliament as part of the State of Law coalition of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. A major part of the trial was related to main targets of Hussein’s campaign against Islamic parties – including Maliki’s Shiite Dawa Party.

“We believe that the sentences announced today are intended to serve the interests of nominating Maliki for the prime minister’s position,” said Maysoon al-Damluji from the rival Iraqiya bloc, a secular coalition with strong Sunni support. She said the sentence was also aimed at diverting attention from leaked U.S. military documents linking Maliki’s office to secret prisons and other abuses.

More than seven months after Iraqis went to the polls in national elections, Maliki is struggling to win enough support to lead a coalition government.

INTERNATIONAL CRITICISM OF TRIBUNAL

Aziz, who also served as foreign minister, is best known as the international face of the regime. A fluent English speaker, he was the only high-ranking Christian in Hussein’s circle.

The high tribunal ruled that Aziz was guilty of crimes against humanity related to murder, torture, and forced exile of members of Islamic parties opposed to Hussein’s leadership. Two other Saddam-era officials, including the former president’s chief aide, were also sentenced to hang.

Aziz looked ashen and clutched the handrail in front of him as Judge Hassan literally shouted out the sentence, at one point asking the former foreign minister if he understood.

International experts have criticized the proceedings, saying former regime officials should be tried in an international court, free from political influence and intimidation.

IRAQIS SHOW LITTLE SYMPATHY

But many Iraqis had little sympathy for Aziz, who is seen by some as having shown no remorse in the 10-month trial aired on Iraqi TV, during which he argued that he had not been involved in the regime’s decisions.

“Are you kidding? I would have executed them even without a trial,” said Younis Hassan, a butcher playing cards at the same coffee shop in central Baghdad.

“The videos that are being shown on TV every day are enough evidence against them,” he says, referring to footage of atrocities by the former regime played on Iraqi television stations. “They are criminals and they must be executed as soon as possible.”

Aziz is elderly and in ill health. His family and lawyer have argued that he should be released for humanitarian reasons.

The verdict is subject to automatic appeal.

AZIZ: OBAMA ‘LEAVING IRAQ TO THE WOLVES’

Aziz, who dealt extensively with the United States in the 1980s, when Washington backed Iraq during its war with Iran, gave himself up to U.S. authorities in 2003. He was believed to have surrendered in exchange for his family being flown out of the country to safety.

He has been in prison ever since and was handed over to the Iraqi detention system by U.S. authorities earlier this year, along with most of the other accused former officials.

Before this latest trial began, Aziz was sentenced last year to 15 years in prison for involvement in the sentencing to death of merchants convicted of price manipulation in 1992. He was also sentenced to another seven years for a campaign against Iraqi Kurds.

In an interview with Britain’s Guardian newspaper in August, Aziz said President Barack Obama was abandoning the country and “leaving Iraq to the wolves.”

(Special correspondent Laith Hammoudi contributed to this report)

McClatchy Newspapers 2010

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CUBA

 

AP – FILE – This image made from video broadcast

 on Sunday, Oct. 7, 2001 shows Osama bin Laden at an undisclosed …

In the tape obtained by satellite television station Al-Jazeera and then posted on its website on Wednesday, bin Laden said France was aiding the Americans in the killing of Muslim women and children in an apparent reference to the war in Afghanistan. He said the kidnapping of five French citizens in the African nation of Niger last month was a reaction to what he called France’s oppression of Muslims.

“How can it be right that you participate in the occupation of our lands, support the Americans in the killing of our women and children and yet want to live in peace and security?” said bin Laden, addressing the French.

“It is a simple and clear equation: As you kill, you will be killed. As you capture, you will be captured. And as you threaten our security, your security will be threatened. The way to safeguard your security is to cease your oppression and its impact on our nation, most importantly your withdrawal from the ill-fated Bush war in Afghanistan.”

The authenticity of the tape could not be immediately verified but the voice resembled that of the terror group leader on previous tapes determined to be genuine. France’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tapes by bin Laden and his top lieutenant, Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahri, have recently been posted on Al-Jazeera website rather than on sites run by militant Muslims as has been done for years. The shift appears to reflect the unexplained technical difficulties or closures experienced by the militant sites in recent months.

France has about 4,000 troops deployed in and near Afghanistan.

“You need to think of what happened to America as a result of that unjust war,” bin Laden said, again addressing the French and referring to the war in Afghanistan. “It’s on the verge of bankruptcy … and tomorrow it will retreat to beyond the Atlantic.”

France passed a law this month that will ban the wearing of face-covering burqa-style Muslim veils in public starting in April. Many Muslims have expressed fears the law would stigmatize them.

“If you deemed it your right to ban (Muslim) women from wearing the hijab, then should not it be our right to expel your invading men by striking their necks?” bin Laden said.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, an offshoot of bin Laden’s group, has claimed responsibility for the abductions of five French citizens in Niger and is believed to have taken them to neighboring Mali. The French hostages, as well as a Togolese and a Madagascar national were kidnapped on Sept. 16 while they were sleeping in their villas in the uranium mining town of Arlit.

“The kidnapping of your experts in the Niger is a reaction to your oppression of Muslims,” said bin Laden.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb grew out of an Islamist insurgency movement in Algeria, merging with al-Qaida in 2006 and spreading through the Sahara and the arid Sahel region. It has increasingly been targeting French interests.

In July, the group said it executed a 78-year-old French aid worker it had taken hostage three months before. It said the killing was retaliation for the deaths of six al-Qaida members in a French-backed military operation against the group.

Also in July, the French military said it provided technical and logistical assistance to help Mauritanian forces thwart an attack by suspected al-Qaida members in northwest Africa. It said the operation left six extremists dead.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy later described that operation as a “turning point” and said France would provide training, equipment and intelligence to local troops working to fight militants in the Sahel.

A series of warnings has put France and other European countries on high alert in recent weeks, prompting the U.S. State Department to advise American citizens living or traveling in Europe to take more precautions. Speculation on the source of a potential terror threat in France has focused on al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.

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INDONESIA

October 27, 2010

Indonesia struggles as

tsunami, volcano tolls rise

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono cut short a state visit to Vietnam to rush home to deal with the dual disasters that struck Indonesia within 24 hours, straining the country’s ability to respond.

The first aerial surveys of the region hit by the 10-foot (three-meter) tsunami revealed huge swaths of land underwater and the crumbled rubble of homes torn apart by the wave. One house lay tilted, resting on the edge of its red roof, with tires and slabs of concrete piled up on the surrounding sand.

Two days after an undersea earthquake spawned the killer wave, the casualty count was still rising as rescuers landed for the first time on the Mentawai island chain, which was closest to the epicenter and the worst hit. Bad weather had kept them away previously.

The first cargo plane loaded with 16 tons of tents, medicine, food and clothes arrived Wednesday afternoon, said disaster official Ade Edward. Four helicopters also landed in Sikakap, a town on North Pagai island, which will be the center of relief operations.

“Finally we have a break in the weather,” Edwards said, adding that he hoped search and rescue operations would finally pick up pace. “We have a chance now to look for the missing from the sky and also to survey the extent of the damage.”

About 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) to the east in central Java, disaster officials were scouring the slopes of Indonesia’s most volatile volcano for survivors after it was rocked by an eruption that killed at least 30 people, including an old man who refused to abandon his ceremonial post as caretaker of the mountain’s spirits.

Mount Merapi erupted at dusk Tuesday, sending up searing ash clouds and killing more than two dozen people.

Authorities warned the thousands who fled Merapi’s wrath not to return during Wednesday’s lull in volcanic activity, but some villagers were desperate to check on crops and possessions left behind. In several areas, everything — from the thinnest tree branches to chairs and tables inside homes — was caked with ash that looked like powdery snow.

Among the dead was Maridjan, an 83-year-old man who had been entrusted by a highly respected late king to watch over the volcano’s spirits. Maridjan, who for years led ceremonies in which rice and flowers were thrown into the crater to appease the mountain, has angered officials in the past by refusing to leave during eruptions.

“We found his body,” said Suseno, a rescue worker, amid reports that the old man was found kneeling face-down on the floor, a typical Islamic prayer position.

Authorities had accused him of setting a wrong example and stopping other villagers from leaving, but Maridjan always said he would only go if he got a sign from the long-dead king who appointed him.

The latest blast Tuesday night eased pressure that had been building up behind a lava dome perched on the crater. But experts warned the dome could still collapse, causing an avalanche of the blistering gas and debris trapped beneath it.

“It’s a little calmer today,” said Surono, the chief of Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation. “No hot clouds, no rumbling. But a lot of energy is pent up back there. There’s no telling what’s next.”

Even as rescue officials contended with the volcano — one of 129 under watch in Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago — officials hundreds of miles (kilometers) away were trying to assess the damage from the earthquake and tsunami.

Both the quake and the volcanic eruption fell along Indonesia’s portion of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a series of fault lines that are prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.

On Wednesday evening, disaster official Ade Edward nearly doubled the earthquake and tsunami casualty estimates to 272 dead with 412 still missing. He said the rescuers who landed Wednesday received new casualty reports from village chiefs.

With not enough people to dig graves, corpses littered beaches and roads, according to district chief Edison Salelo Baja. Fisherman were scouring waters in search of survivors.

Disaster officials were still trying to reach more than a dozen villages on the Mentawais — a popular surfer’s destination that is usually reachable only by a 12-hour boat ride.

But they were preparing for the worst Wednesday, with hundreds of body bags being sent to the area, said Mujiharto, who heads the Health Ministry’s crisis center.

The 7.7-magnitude quake that struck late Monday just 13 miles (20 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor was followed by at least 14 aftershocks, the largest measuring 6.2. The fault line on Sumatra island’s coast is the same one that caused the 2004 quake and monster Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

Officials say hundreds of wooden and bamboo homes were washed away on the island of Pagai, with water flooding crops and roads up to 600 yards (meters) inland. In Muntei Baru, a village on Silabu island, 80 percent of the houses were badly damaged.

Those and other islets hit were part of the Mentawai island chain, 175 miles (280 kilometers) from Sumatra.

___

Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini and Irwan Firdaus contributed to this report.

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HAITI

October 27, 2010

AFP/MINUSTAH – A young Haitian boy who just received bottled drinking water stands barefoot in contaminated mud created …

PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) – A cholera outbreak in Haiti which has left over 280 dead has yet to reach its peak, officials said Wednesday, warning the deadly disease could hit the capital, teeming with squalid tent cities.

“I don’t think that it is contained. We cannot say it is contained,” Claire-Lise Chaignat, the World Health Organization’s cholera chief, told journalists, disputing reports from Haiti that the outbreak was tapering off.

“I think we haven’t reached the peak,” she said, recommending Haitian authorities prepare for the “worst case scenario” — the spread of the disease to the capital Port-au-Prince.

Some 1.3 million people displaced by a January earthquake are still crammed into thousands of makeshift camps dotted around the capital, and aid agencies have voiced fears that cholera could spread like wildfire in such conditions.

More than 3,600 people have been infected in the sudden cholera outbreak in the impoverished Caribbean nation since last week, and the WHO’s cholera experts remain mystified by the origins of the epidemic.

“We are very surprised to see the epidemic in Haiti. We have never found cholera there before,” Chaignat told journalists in Geneva.

The acute intestinal infection is caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the Vibrio cholerae bacteria.

Although easily treated, it has a short incubation period of a few hours up to five days and causes acute watery diarrhea that can quickly lead to severe dehydration and death without treatment.

Haiti reported 25 more cholera deaths on Tuesday bringing the death toll to 284, with 3,612 reported infections.

In Arcahaie, a small coastal town south of the outbreak’s epicenter in the central Artibonite River region, Jacklin Anore, 24, lay on a bed in a darkened room of the Nicolas Armand hospital with a bucket by his side.

Barely able to raise his head, hooked up on a rehydration drip, he intermittently spat into a rusted bed pan and whispered thanks to the nurse treating him.

Patients have died here, but as in the case in Saint-Marc further north where most of the ill have flocked, doctors said the number of new cases was easing.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which has eight facilities open to cholera infections in Artibonite and around the capital, said that despite the fewer deaths the need for vigilance remains.

“The fact that we are seeing fewer severe cases is positive,” said Federica Nogarotto, the MSF field coordinator in Saint-Marc.

“It suggests that people are taking precautions and that there is a greater understanding in the community of the need to maintain strict hygiene and to seek medical assistance at the first sign of symptoms.”

So far, the Americas’ poorest country has managed to avoid the nightmare scenario of the epidemic taking hold in the unsanitary tent cities that cling to the hilly slopes of Port-au-Prince.

Haitian officials said Monday they believed the outbreak had been contained and was limited to central areas near its believed source on the Artibonite River.But worryingly for doctors, a number of the patients in Arcahaie said they had drunk only treated water before falling ill.The treated water, albeit taken from the infected Artibonite River, is the main source of “clean” water for most of the population, and is put into small blue plastic bags carted around town and distributed by hand.Gabriel Thimote, director general of Haiti’s health department, has said the water in the plastic bags — which bear a label describing the contents as “purified” — may not be safe to drink.Rumors were swirling in Haiti Tuesday that cholera-carrying Nepalese troops with the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) were the origin of the outbreak.The mission rushed to deny the claims, insisting the mission “uses seven septic tanks” situated far away from the river.Haiti’s more prosperous neighbor, the Dominican Republic — with which it shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola — has meanwhile tightened border security to keep the disease at bay.

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… Edmund Fitzgerald Photo800 x 534 | 88KB

Edmund Fitzgerald, Edmund …jachinger.powweb.com

… Edmund Fitzgerald sinking…underworldtales.com

Edmund Fitzgerald bell … mightymac.org

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The sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald -

 November 10, 1975

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior 20 years ago. Gordon Lightfoot’s song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” (1976, Moose Music, Ltd.) is a tribute to this ship wreck and the men who lost their lives. Some of the lyrics of the song are given below along with descriptions of related events.

• Nov. 11, 1913: eighteen ships were lost killing 254 people.
• Nov. 11-13, 1940: 57 men died when three freighters sank in Lake Michigan.
• Nov. 18 1958: 33 men died on Lake Michigan with the sinking of the Carl D. Bradley.
• Nov. 29, 1966: Daniel J. Morrell sank in Lake Huron killing the 28 crew members.

“The ship was the pride of the American sidecomin’ back from some mill in WisconsinAs the big freighters go it was bigger than most…”The Fitzgerald weighted 13,632 tons and was 729 feet long. In 1958, when it was first launched, it was the largest carrier on the Great Lakes, and remained so until 1971. The Fitzgerald was labeled “The Pride of the American Flag”. In 1964 it became the first ship on the Great Lakes to carry more than a million tons of ore through the Soo Locks. On November 9, 1975 she departed from Superior, WI with approximately 26,000 tons of ore bound for Detroit MI. Shortly after leaving, the Fitzgerald made contact with the Arthur M. Anderson bound, on a similar route, for Gary IN.

On November 8 a storm was brewing in the plains and proceeded northward towards the Great Lakes. It appeared to be a “typical November storm”.

“…and late that night when the ship’ bell rangcould it be the north wind they’d bin feelin’.”On November 9 at 7 p.m. the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a gale warning for Lake Superior. In a gale, the wind speeds range from 34-40 knots. The NWS predicted east to northeasterly winds during the night, shifting to NW to N by the afternoon of November 10. At approximately 10:40 p.m. the NWS revised its forecast for eastern Lake Superior to easterly winds becoming southeasterly the morning of the 10th. At about 2:00 am November 10 the NWS upgraded the gale warning to a storm warning (winds 48-55 knots) with a prediction of “northeast winds 35 to 50 knots becoming northwesterly 28 to 38 knots on Monday, waves 8 to 15 feet”. Around 2 a.m. the Captains of the Anderson and Fitzgerald discussed the threatening weather and decided to change their route. This safer route would take them northward, toward the coast of Canada. The northern route would protect them from the waves that the storm generated.

Winds generate waves; the size of the wave depends on:

• The wind speed: The stronger the winds, the larger the force and thus the bigger the wave. The wind must also be steady – a constant wind speed. 
• The duration of the winds: The longer the wind blows over the open water, the larger the waves.. 
• The fetch: This is the distance of open water over which the wind blows. The larger the fetch the larger the waves. 

At 3 am the winds were reported as coming from the northeast at 42 knots. The Fitzgerald and Anderson proceeded together, the Fitzgerald ahead of the Anderson. They had radio contact and the Anderson‘s radar located the position of the Fitzgerald.At 7 am. the storm passed over Marquette MI and started across Lake Superior.“The wind in the wires made a tattle tale soundand a wave broke over the railing….”On the afternoon of November 10 a wind shift was evident. At 2:45 p.m. the winds had backed to NW and were 42 knots. Steady winds at 43 knots and waves of up to 12 and 16 feet were reported by the Anderson. At around this time the Fitzgerald contacted the Anderson and reported “a fence rail down, two vents lost or damaged and a list”. A list is when a ship leans to one side. Also around this time, the storm’s fury had closed the Sault Ste. Marie locks.A shift of winds to the NW is very important, as this increased the fetch, allowing large waves to build. The Fitzgerald and Anderson were no longer protected by land.Late on the afternoon of the 10th, the captain of the Fitzgerald made radio contact with another ship, the Avafor, and reported that they “had a bad list, had lost both radars, and was taking heavy seas over the deck in one of the worst seas he had ever been in.” Captain McSorely was a seasoned sailor of the Great Lakes with 44 years of experience.“…At seven p.m. a main hatchway caved in he said ‘fellas it’s bin good to know ya’The captain wired in he had water comin’ inand the good ship and crew was in periland later that night when ‘is lights went out of sightcame the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”At 7 p.m. the Anderson made radio contact with the Fitzgerald and had her on their radar. When asked how the Fitzgerald was making out they replied “We are holding our own”. This was around 7:10 p.m.. Shortly afterwards the Fitzgerald disappeared from the Anderson’s radar screen.This phrase of the song, while romantic, makes it sound as if the crew knew they were doomed. In reality the sinking of the Fitzgerald was very rapid and it is likely they did not know the seriousness of their condition. Indeed, after the wreck a severely damaged life boat was found, and only part of the second. The conditions of these lifeboats suggests that no attempts were made to leave the ship. No distress signals were ever issued.“…They might have split up or they might have capsizedthey may have broke deep and took water….”What caused the ship to sink? There are a couple of theories cited in the “Marine Casualty Report” by the US. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation Report. Since there were no survivors nor witnesses, their report is based on testimonies and an underwater survey of the wreck. This report suggests that the Fitzgerald was taking on water due to earlier damage from the storm and that around 7:15 p.m. it plunged headfirst into a large wave and sank abruptly.

Factors contributing to the sinking:

Raising the wintertime load line.

When a ship is filled with cargo, there is a level at which the ship rests in the water. This level is referred to as the load line. The height load line is set as a function of season and determines the weight of the cargo the ship can transport. Between the time of her launch and its sinking, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald load line was raised 3 feet 3 1/4 inches, making her sit lower in the water. This increased the frequency and quantity of water that could flood the deck during a rough storm.

Leaking Hatchways

The ore was loaded through hatchways located top side. On October 31 routine damage was noted during an inspection and were scheduled for repair after the 1975 shipping season. The hatch covers were not sealed properly and were therefore not water tight, thus allowing water to enter the cargo areas. Once water entered it could migrate throughout the hold. There was no way to determine if flooding was occurring in the cargo bay until the ore was saturated, much like a sponge. Throughout the storm the ship was probably taking on water in the cargo hold though the hatches. Increased water loading, and the lower load line, made the ship sit lower in the water, allowing more water to board the ship. Eventually the “bow pitched down and dove into a wall of water and the vessel was unable to recover. Within a matter of seconds, the cargo rushed forward, the bow plowed into the bottom of the lake, and the midship’s structure disintegrated, allowing the submerged stern section, now emptied of cargo, to roll over and override the other structure, finally coming to rest upside-down atop the disintegrated middle portion of the ship” (Marine Accident Report SS Edmund Fitzgerald Sinking in Lake Superior). This sequence of events would lead to a rapid sinking, with no time to make a distress call or attempt life-saving operations. The conditions of the recovered lifeboats support this in that they appear to have been torn from their storage racks.“Does anyone know where the love of God goeswhen the waves turn the minutes to hours? “

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Lake Superior
Landsat image
Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes
Location	North America
Group	Great Lakes
Coordinates	47°42′N 87°30′W / 47.7°N 87.5°W / 47.7; -87.5 (Lake Superior)Coordinates: 47°42′N 87°30′W / 47.7°N 87.5°W / 47.7; -87.5 (Lake Superior)
Lake type	Glacial
Primary inflows	Nipigon, St. Louis, Pigeon, Pic, White, Michipicoten, Kaministiquia Rivers
Primary outflows	St. Marys River
Catchment area	49,305 sq mi (127,700 km2)
Basin countries	United States  Canada
Max. length	350 mi (560 km)
Max. width	160 mi (260 km)
Surface area	31,820 sq mi (82,400 km2) [1] Canadian portion 11,081 sq mi (28,700 km2)
Average depth	482 ft (147 m)
Max. depth	1,332 ft (406 m)[1]
Water volume	2,900 cu mi (12,000 km3)
Residence time	191 years
Shore length1	2,725 mi (4,385 km)
Surface elevation	600 ft (180 m)[1]
Islands	Isle Royale, Apostle Islands, Slate Islands
Settlements	Thunder Bay, Ontario Duluth, Minnesota Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Marquette, Michigan Superior, Wisconsin Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Superior (French: Lac Supérieur) is the largest of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area (but only if Lake Michigan and Lake Huron aren’t considered one lake) ^{[2] [3] [4]} and is the world’s third-largest freshwater lake by volume.^[5]

 Name

The Ojibwe call the lake Gichigami, meaning “big water.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the name as “Gitche Gumee” in The Song of Hiawatha, as did Gordon Lightfoot in his song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald“. “The first French explorers approaching the great inland sea by way of the Ottawa River and Lake Huron during the 17th century referred to their discovery as le lac superieur. Properly translated, the expression means “Upper Lake,” that is, the lake above Lake Huron. The lake was also called Lac Tracy by 17th century Jesuit missionaries.”^[6] The English, upon taking control of the region from the French in the 1760′s, following the French and Indian War, anglicized the lake’s name to Superior, “on account of its being superior in magnitude to any of the lakes on that vast continent.”^[7]

Hydrography

Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area, and empties into Lake Huron via the St. Marys River and the Soo Locks. Lake Baikal in Russia is larger by volume, as is Lake Tanganyika. The Caspian Sea, while larger than Lake Superior in both surface area and volume, is brackish; though presently isolated, historically the Caspian has been repeatedly connected to and isolated from the Mediterranean via the Black Sea.

Lake Superior has a surface area of 31,820 square miles (82,413 km²)^[1], which is approximately the size of South Carolina. It has a maximum length of 350 miles (563 km) and maximum breadth of 160 miles (257 km). Its average depth is 482 feet (147 m) with a maximum depth of 1,332 feet (406 m).^[1] Lake Superior contains 2,900 cubic miles (12,100 km³) of water. There is enough water in Lake Superior to cover the entire land mass of North and South America with 1 foot (30 cm) of water.^[8] The shoreline of the lake stretches 2,726 miles (4,387 km) (including islands).

American limnologist J. Val Klump was the first person to reach the lowest depth of Lake Superior on July 30, 1985, as part of a scientific expedition, which, at 733 feet (223 m) below sea level, is the lowest spot on the continental interior of the United States and the second-lowest spot on the interior of the North American continent after the much deeper Great Slave Lake in Canada (458 metres (1,503 ft) below sea level). (Though Crater Lake, not Lake Superior, is the deepest lake in the United States, Crater Lake’s surface elevation is much higher and its deepest point is 4,229 feet (1,289 m) above sea level.)

The average temperature of the lake during the summer is about 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 °C). Lake Superior is the largest, deepest and coldest of the Great Lakes. Superior could contain the volume of all the other Great Lakes and three more Lake Eries. Because of its size Superior has a retention time of 191 years.^[9]

Annual storms on Lake Superior regularly record wave heights of over 20 feet (6 m).^[10] Waves well over 30 feet (9 m) have been recorded.^[11]

 Tributaries and outlet

The lake is fed by over 200 rivers. The largest include the Nipigon River, the St. Louis River, the Pigeon River, the Pic River, the White River, the Michipicoten River, the Bois Brule River and the Kaministiquia River. Lake Superior drains into Lake Huron by the St. Marys River. The rapids on the river necessitate the Sault Locks (pronounced “soo”), a part of the Great Lakes Waterway, to move boats over the 25 feet (8 m) height difference from Lake Huron.

 Water levels

Lake Superior in winter, as seen from Duluth, Minnesota in December 2004.

Ice on Lake Superior as seen from space (MODIS, March 3, 2009).

The lake’s average surface elevation is 600 feet (183 m)^[9] above sea level. Until approximately 1887 the natural hydraulic conveyance through the St. Marys River rapids determined outflow from Lake Superior. By 1921 development in support of transportation and hydropower resulted in gates, locks, power canals and other control structures completely spanning St. Marys rapids. The regulating structure is known as the Compensating Works and is operated according to a regulation plan known as Plan 1977-A. The current water levels, including diversions of water from the Hudson Bay watershed, are governed by the International Lake Superior Board of Control which was established in 1914 by the International Joint Commission.

Superior’s water levels temporarily reached a new low in September 2007, slightly less than the previous record low in 1926.^[12] However, the water levels returned within a few days.^[13]

Historic High Water The lake fluctuates from month to month with the highest lake levels in October and November. The normal highwater mark is 1.17 feet (0.36 m) above datum (601.1 ft or 183.2 metres). In the summer of 1985, Lake Superior reached its highest level at 2.33 feet (0.71 m) above datum.^[14] The winter of 1986 set new highwater records through the winter and spring months (January – June), ranging from 1.33 feet (0.41 m) to 1.833 feet (0.559 m) above Chart Datum.^[14]

Historic Low Water The lake fluctuates from month to month with the lowest lake levels in April and March. The normal lowwater mark is 0.33 feet (0.10 m) below datum (601.1 ft or 183.2 metres). In the winter of 1926 Lake Superior reached its lowest level at 1.58 feet (0.48 m) below datum.^[14] Additionally, the entire first half of the year (January – June) saw record low months. The low water was a continuation of the dropping lake levels from the previous year, 1925; which set lowwater records for October through December. During this nine-month period (Oct 1925-June 1926) water levels ranged from 1.58 feet (0.48 m) to 0.33 feet (0.10 m) below Chart Datum.^[14] In the summer of 2007 monthly historic lows were set; August at 0.66 feet (0.20 m), September at 0.58 feet (0.18 m).^[14]

Climate change

According to a study by professors at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Lake Superior may have warmed faster than its surrounding climate.^[15] Summer surface temperatures in the lake appeared to have increased about 4.5 Fahrenheit degrees (2.5 Celsius degrees) since 1979, compared with an approximately 2.7 Fahrenheit degree (1.5 Celsius degree) increase in the surrounding average air temperature. The increase in the lake’s surface temperature may be related to the decreasing ice cover. Less winter ice cover allows more solar radiation to penetrate the lake and warm the water. If trends continue Lake Superior, which freezes over completely once every 20 years, could routinely be ice-free by 2040.^[16] These warmer temperatures can actually lead to more snow in the lake effect snow belts along the shores of the lake, especially in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

 Geography

The largest island in Lake Superior is Isle Royale in the state of Michigan. Isle Royale contains several lakes, some of which also contain islands. Other large famous islands include Madeline Island in the state of Wisconsin and Michipicoten Island in the province of Ontario.

The larger cities on Lake Superior include: the twin ports of Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin; Thunder Bay, Ontario; Marquette, Michigan; and the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Duluth, at the western tip of Lake Superior, is the most inland point on the St. Lawrence Seaway and the most inland port in the world.

Among the scenic places on the lake are: the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Isle Royale National Park, Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, Pukaskwa National Park, Lake Superior Provincial Park, Grand Island National Recreation Area, Sleeping Giant (Ontario) and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

 Great Lakes Circle Tour

The Great Lakes Circle Tour is a designated scenic road system connecting all of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.^[17]

 Climate

Lake Superior’s size creates a localized oceanic or maritime climate (more typically seen in locations like Nova Scotia).^[18] The water surface’s slow reaction to temperature changes, seasonally ranging between 32°-55°F (0°-13°C) around 1970,^[19] helps to moderate surrounding air temperatures in the summer and winter, and creates lake effect snow in colder months. The hills and mountains that border the lake hold moisture and fog, particularly in the fall.

The lake’s surface temperature has risen by 4.5 Fahrenheit degrees (2.5 Celsius degrees) since 1979.^[20]

Bedrock geologic map of the U.S. area bordering Lake Superior: Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

North American cratons and basement rock, showing the formation of the Midcontinent Rift containing today’s Lake Superior.

 Geology

The rocks of Lake Superior’s North Shore date back to the early history of the earth. During the Precambrian (between 4.5-billion and 540-million years ago) magma forcing its way to the surface created the intrusive granites of the Canadian Shield.^[21] These ancient granites can be seen on the North Shore today. It was during the Penokean orogeny, part of the process that created the Great Lakes Tectonic Zone, that many valuable metals were deposited. The region surrounding the lake has proved to be rich in minerals. Copper, iron, silver, gold and nickel are or were the most frequently mined. Examples include the Hemlo gold mine near Marathon, copper at Point Mamainse, silver at Silver Islet and uranium at Theano Point.

The mountains steadily eroded, depositing layers of sediments which compacted and became limestone, dolostone, taconite and the shale at Kakabeka Falls.

The continent was later riven, creating one of the deepest rifts in the world. The lake lies in this long-extinct Mesoproterozoic rift valley, the Midcontinent Rift. Magma was injected between layers of sedimentary rock, forming diabase sills. This hard diabase protects the layers of sedimentary rock below, forming the flat-topped mesas in the Thunder Bay area.

Amethyst formed in some of the cavities created by the Midcontinent Rift and there are several amethyst mines in the Thunder Bay area.^[22]

Lava erupted from the rift and formed the black basalt rock of Michipicoten Island, Black Bay Peninsula, and St. Ignace Island.

During the Wisconsin glaciation 10,000 years ago, ice covered the region at a thickness of 1.25 miles (2.01 km). The land contours familiar today were carved by the advance and retreat of the ice sheet. The retreat left gravel, sand, clay and boulder deposits. Glacial meltwaters gathered in the Superior basin creating Lake Minong, a precursor to Lake Superior.^[23] Without the immense weight of the ice, the land rebounded, and a drainage outlet formed at Sault Ste. Marie, which would become known as St. Mary’s River.

History

Pictographs at Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario

The first people came to the Lake Superior region 10,000 years ago after the retreat of the glaciers in the last Ice Age. They are known as the Plano, and they used stone-tipped spears to hunt caribou on the northwestern side of Lake Minong.

The next documented people were known as the Shield Archaic (c. 5000-500 BC). Evidence of this culture can be found at the eastern and western ends of the Canadian shore. They used bows and arrows, dugout canoes, fished, hunted, mined copper for tools and weapons, and established trading networks. They are believed to be the direct ancestors of the Ojibwe and Cree.^[24]

The Laurel people (c. 500 BC to AD 500) developed seine net fishing, evidence being found at rivers around Superior such as the Pic and Michipicoten.

Another culture known as the Terminal Woodland Indians (c. AD 900-1650) has been found. They were Algonkian people who hunted, fished and gathered berries. They used snow shoes, birch bark canoes and conical or domed lodges. At the mouth of the Michipicoten River, nine layers of encampments have been discovered. Most of the Pukaskwa Pits were likely made during this time.^[25]

The Anishinaabe, also known as the Ojibwe or Chippewa, have inhabited the Lake Superior region for over five hundred years and were preceded by the Dakota, Fox, Menominee, Nipigon, Noquet and Gros Ventres. They called Lake Superior Anishnaabe Gichgamiing, or “the Ojibwe’s Ocean”. After the arrival of Europeans, the Anishinaabe made themselves the middle-men between the French fur traders and other Native peoples. They soon became the dominant Indian nation in the region: they forced out the Sioux and Fox and won a victory against the Iroquois west of Sault Ste. Marie in 1662. By the mid-18th century, the Ojibwe occupied all of Lake Superior’s shores.^[26]

Reconstructed Great Hall, Grand Portage National Monument, Minnesota

In the 18th century, the fur trade in the region was booming, with the Hudson’s Bay Company having a virtual monopoly. In 1783, however, the North West Company was formed to rival Hudson’s Bay Company. The North West Company built forts on Lake Superior at Grand Portage, Nipigon, the Pic River, the Michipicoten River, and Sault Ste. Marie. But by 1821, with competition taking too great a toll on both, the companies merged under the Hudson’s Bay Company name.

Many towns around the lake are either current or former mining areas, or engaged in processing or shipping. Today, tourism is another significant industry; the sparsely-populated Lake Superior country, with its rugged shorelines and wilderness, attracts tourists and adventurers.

Shipping

Lake Superior has been an important link in the Great Lakes Waterway, providing a route for the transportation of iron ore and other mined and manufactured materials. Large cargo vessels called lake freighters, as well as smaller ocean-going freighters, transport these commodities across Lake Superior.

Shipwrecks

According to shipwreck historian Frederick Stonehouse, the southern shore of Lake Superior between Grand Marais, Michigan, and Whitefish Point is known as the “Graveyard of the Great Lakes” and more ships have been lost around the Whitefish Point area than any other part of Lake Superior.^[27] These shipwrecks are now protected by the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve. The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was the last major shipwreck on Lake Superior, sinking 17 miles (27 km) from Whitefish Point on November 10, 1975.

According to legend, “Lake Superior seldom gives up her dead”.^[28] This is because of the unusually low temperature of the water, estimated at under 36 °F (2 °C) on average around 1970.^[19] Normally bacteria feeding on a sunken decaying body will generate gas inside the body, causing it to float to the surface after a few days. The water in Lake Superior is cold enough year-round to inhibit bacterial growth, and bodies tend to sink and never surface.^[29] This is alluded to in Gordon Lightfoot‘s ballad, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald“. The Edmund Fitzgerald’s 29 crew members all perished. Edmund Fitzgerald adventurer Joe MacInnis reported that in July 1994, explorer Frederick Shannon’s Expedition 94 to the Fitzgerald discovered and filmed a man’s body near the port side of her pilothouse, not far from the open door, “fully clothed, wearing an orange life jacket, and lying face down in the sediment.”^[30] No crew members were ever recovered. The Fitzgerald was swallowed up so intensely by Lake Superior that the 729-foot (222 m) ship split in half. Her two pieces are sitting approximately 170 feet (52 m) apart in a depth of 550 feet (170 m).

Storms that claimed multiple ships include the Mataafa Storm on November 28, 1905, and the Great Lakes Storm of 1913.

In August 2007 wreckage was found of the Cyprus, a 420-foot (130 m) ore carrier which sank during a Lake Superior storm in 460 feet (140 m) of water. All but Charles G. Pitz of the Cyprus’ 23 crew perished on October 11, 1907. The ore carrier sank in Lake Superior on her second voyage, whilst hauling iron ore from Superior, Wisconsin, to Buffalo, New York. Built in Lorain, Ohio, the Cyprus was launched August 17, 1907.^[31]

Bedrock shoreline, Neys Provincial Park, Ontario

Over 80 species of fish have been found in Lake Superior. Species native to the lake include: bloater, brook trout, burbot, cisco, lake sturgeon, lake trout, lake whitefish, longnose sucker, muskellunge, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, round whitefish, smallmouth bass, walleye, white sucker and yellow perch. In addition, many fish species have been either intentionally or accidentally introduced to Lake Superior: atlantic salmon, brown trout, carp, chinook salmon, coho salmon, freshwater drum, pink salmon, rainbow smelt, rainbow trout, round goby, ruffe, sea lamprey and white perch.^[32][33]

Lake Superior has fewer dissolved nutrients relative to its water volume compared to the other Great Lakes and so is less productive in terms of fish populations. This is a result of the underdeveloped soils found in its relatively small watershed.^[9] However, nitrate concentrations in the lake have been continuously rising for more than a century. They are still much lower than levels considered dangerous to human health; but this steady, long-term rise is an unusual record of environmental nitrogen buildup. It may relate to anthropogenic alternations to the regional Nitrogen Cycle, but researchers are still unsure of the causes of this change to the lake’s ecology.^[34]

As for other Great Lakes fish populations have also been impacted by the accidental or intentional introduction of foreign species such as the sea lamprey and Eurasian ruffe. Accidental introductions have occurred in part by the removal of natural barriers to navigation between the Great Lakes. Overfishing has also been a factor in the decline of fish populations.^[5]

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan

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 This photo is dedicated to:

               RAY  NELSON,

               Korean War veteran with the U.S. Army,

                        Founder and Co-coordinator, 

             CADILLAC HONOR GUARD  

  Korean War Memorial, Washington…

from US Army Korea – IMCOM

        We all love ya, Ray!   HAPPY VETERAN’S DAY!

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October 25, 2010

8 enemy deaths, 46 shootings:

War by the numbers

 AP  – Afghan war enters its 10th year

AP – In this Sept. 25, 1010 photograph, U.S. Marines

with the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines’ Echo Company’ Echo …

MARJAH, Afghanistan – In the first two months of a seven-month tour, U.S. Marine Cpl. Chuck Martin has been in 16 firefights.

He’s done laundry twice, mailed five letters and received two. He’s spent 378 hours on post and 256 hours on patrol. He’s crossed 140 miles (230 kilometers) of thorny bomb-laced farmland and waist-high trenches of water on foot.

Along the way, he’s ripped eight pairs of pants, ruined two pairs of boots, and downed 1,350 half-liter bottles of water. His platoon has killed at least eight militants in battle and nine farm animals in crossfire. The rugged outposts he’s lived in have been shot at 46 times.

“Tiring would be the best word to describe it,” the lanky 24-year-old native of Middletown, R.I., said, summarizing his time in the insurgent-plagued southern Afghan district of Marjah so far. “There’s no downtime. It’s a constant gruel.”

Martin’s list, stored on spreadsheet on his laptop, offers a snapshot of American military life in this rural battlezone, where a new generation of young troops are growing up thousands of miles from home.

Since arriving in mid-July, troops from the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines’ Echo Company have spread out across 13 small, spartan outposts in northern Marjah, a vast patch of fields and ancient hardened mud homes without running water or electricity that one company commander likened to “200 B.C.”

At one outpost called Inchon, a droning generator provides power for laptops loaded with movies and iPods, and just two lights — one for the Americans, the other for their Afghan counterparts. Troops have knitted together several shaky chairs from the metal fencing of discarded Hesco barriers.

At many bases, Marines sleep outside on cots inside hot-dog shaped mosquito nets. There are no toilets — just “wag” bags, no showers — just pouches you can fill up with water warmed by the afternoon sun. Fleas are such a problem, many Marines have taken to wearing flea collars made for cats or dogs around their wrists and belts.

“It’s definitely a culture shock,” Lance Cpl. Benjamin Long, 21, of Trussville, Ala. said of life for incoming troops. “Some people come here and they think we’re living like cavemen.”

For Sgt. Jeffrey Benson of Medina, Ohio, the hardest part is being away from his wife and two-year-old son.

“Every time I call home, I feel like I’m missing something, missing another milestone,” said Benson, 34-year-old squad leader.

On the front, Benson said, his biggest fear is of making a decision that will lead to one of his Marines getting hurt. He said he worries about varying routes and patrol patterns to avoid insurgent attacks.

“I’m constantly double-checking things,” he said. “Marines want to get into gunfights. But it’s the small details — running into an ambush or running over an IED (bomb) — that I worry about most.”

The dangers of Marjah became apparent shortly after the Marines touched down. On one early patrol, six of them were wounded when guerrillas sprayed machine gunfire down a canal they were moving through.

The first time Benson led troops outside the wire, a Taliban fighter set off a fragmentation charge that blew up an Afghan soldier and wounded his radio operator. A few minutes earlier, he had been squatting on a knee in the same spot as his squad passed by.

There have been many more close calls, including one Marine who walked into a trip wire across a canal that didn’t go off. Another survived a burst of gunfire where a bullet pierced his radio and then the Camelbak hydration pack strapped to his back, before finally stopping at his armored plate.

Lance Cpl. Patrick Cassidy remembers bullet rounds kicking up dust just six inches from his head during a morning firefight — after he had already hit the ground to take cover at the start of an ambush.

“Some days it sucks, but I can’t complain,” said the 23-year-old native of Stroudsburg, Penn., after lugging around a mortar tube for hours on a patrol that thankfully turned out quiet. “I signed up for it. I knew what I was getting into.”

At one patrol base, a dinnertime conversation turned to this: is it better to be blown up or shot?

The two American Marine battalions deployed in Marjah since this summer have lost 20 men so far, according to a Facebook page that tracks casualties.

Lance Cpl. Damon George, 21, of Northville, Mich., remembers two of them in particular. As he walked away seconds after a military memorial service for a fallen friend, he was told by his commanding officer that another comrade had been killed.

Despite the danger, George, a driver, said it was crucial to ferry supplies to the troops. “Even if it’s Pop Tarts or Rip-its … or mail … It’s a morale factor.”

Lance Cpl. Matthew Gallant, 21, of Cape Cod, Mass., was in a convoy that hit two roadside bombs in 24 hours, one of which was the biggest blast his unit has seen. That explosion broke his ankle, ripped the driver’s leg apart, and severely wounded his truck’s gunner, who was hurled into the road.

“It’s not fun,” Gallant said of driving on Marjah’s roads. “It’s waiting to get blown up again for the most part.”

Marjah has no paved roads and 90 percent of U.S. military operations are on foot.

Troops routinely patrol weighed down with 80 or 90 pounds of gear — armored jackets, rifles — traversing a harsh terrain of water-filled trenches. The canal system was built by American aid money half a century ago; today both insurgents and coalition forces use them as cover to avoid or stage attacks.

“All the guys out here have lost weight,” Martin said, speaking of the pace doing three patrols a day, then back-to-back six-hour post shifts the next. It “really beats you up.”

**********************************************************************************

McCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

October 25, 2010

After 66 years, WW2 veteran

brought home for burial

Never miss a McClatchy story

Bill Poveromo of Charlotte never knew his uncle, John Simonetti – only the stories.

Long before Poveromo was born, Uncle John died at 26 in a French cow pasture on June 16, 1944, 10 days after the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

No one ever found a body, so Simonetti’s parents never held a funeral. They died in the late 1960s, still hoping that their son would one day come home alive.

It was as if that bullet from a German sniper’s gun opened a family wound that would never close.

On Monday, it will.

That’s when 120 far-flung members of Uncle John’s family will gather at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., to bury his remains – miraculously found in late May 2009, days before the 65th anniversary of D-Day.

A road construction crew unearthed the full skeleton and Simonetti’s two Army dog tags.

After 65 years, a 15-year-old business card with outdated information brought Uncle John back to his family. Now he’s bringing his once close-knit family back together.

“The tragedy of Uncle John resonates with every member of this family,” said Poveromo, a Myers Park High grad and a former TV journalist who recently returned to Charlotte. “They’re coming out of respect for him, for my grandparents who never gave up – and out of respect for our family.

“His remains have been in a cow pasture in France for 65 years. He deserves a proper burial.”

Read the complete story at charlotteobserver.com

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October 22, 2010 

Boehner offers plum committees

to GOP challengers

  AP – FILE – In this Sept. 30, 2010 file photo, House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio addresses the American …

Minority Leader John Boehner promised this week that if southwest Georgia residents unseat Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop, he will support placing GOP challenger Mike Keown on the House Agriculture Committee. It’s a promise designed to get Keown votes in a red-soil district that harvests the nation’s largest peanut and pecan crop.

As Republicans campaign to win a majority in Congress, Boehner has dangled similar promises in Georgia, Arkansas, Missouri, Minnesota and Hawaii, sometimes in districts where single economic interests like farming or defense dominate regional economies.

Such pledges are not unusual in an election year, but they contradict GOP messages about fiscal austerity.

For example, Boehner promised newly elected Republican Rep. Charles Djou of Hawaii his support for a seat on the House Appropriations Committee. Democrats are making a special effort to unseat Djou after he won a special election in May when two Democrats on the ballot split the party’s vote.

The committee’s perk is the power to dole out money for projects in members’ districts. But Djou criticizes the federal government for taxing and spending too much. In one breath, he said the committee seat would give Hawaii “a huge amount of influence.”

In the next, he added: “We’re spending too much money, and I think appropriations fits with what my goals and objectives are — to fix this broken system in the United States Congress.”

Boehner, of Ohio, generally offers his “full support” for putting a local candidate on a given committee, but he could effectively guarantee those assignments if Republicans take the House and he becomes speaker. The strategy may also allow him to call in favors from freshman lawmakers if the Republican whip, Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, challenges him for the job.

Democrats are trying counteroffers. Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he spoke with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about getting Djou’s Democratic opponent, Colleen Hanabusa, on the appropriations committee if she’s elected. Inouye said Pelosi “didn’t say no.”

Boehner has promised two more agriculture committee slots to Republican candidates Rick Crawford of Arkansas and Randy Demmer of Minnesota and a seat on a veterans affairs committee to GOP candidate Ed Martin in Missouri.

He supports putting Republican challengers Austin Scott of Georgia and Vicky Hartzler of Missouri on the House Armed Services Committee. Hartzler is running against the committee’s Democratic chairman, longtime Rep. Ike Skelton. The district includes Whiteman Air Force Base, Fort Leonard Wood and the headquarters of the Missouri National Guard. Its population of military veterans is more than one-third greater than the national average.

Skelton has based his re-election campaign on his support for military troops and veterans and has questioned Hartzler’s commitment to them in TV ads.

“He has emphasized how important the military is and his accomplishments, and I wanted as well to let them know my commitment to the military and representing them in Congress,” Hartzler said.

Skelton questioned whether Boehner could follow through on his promise.

“The armed services committee now is a prime committee — people want on it, both Democrats and Republicans — and sometimes, when there is vacancy, people stand in line,” Skelton said.

In south Georgia, Boehner’s tactic targets Bishop, who calls himself “The Peanut Congressman” to tout his support for the district’s signature crop. He sits on an agriculture subcommittee of the House Appropriation Committee, which doles out tax dollars that Bishop describes as American pie.

“I’m in a position not only to have a seat at the table, but to help slice that pie into portions worthy of the needs of the people of the 2nd Congressional District,” he said at a recent debate.

But Boehner’s strategy is helping Keown make that promise too.

“We need to make sure we have someone on the agriculture committee who will support the farming community,” Keown said.

Local residents like Isaiah Thomas, 68, a Bishop supporter who talks politics with his farming friends, have noted the offer.

“There are a whole lot of folks thinking about it,” he said.

___

Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Mo. AP reporters Mark Niesse and Herbert A. Sample contributed from Honolulu. Martiga Lohn contributed from St. Paul, Minn.

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CQPolitics

October 22, 2010

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AP/Jae C. Hong

 

 October 23, 2010

On the road again: Obama campaigns

for Minn. Dems

AP – President Barack Obama departs the Minneapolis St. Paul Joint Air Force Reserve Station, Saturday, Oct. …

Obama closed a four-day campaign swing ahead of the Nov. 2 elections with a spirited rally imploring supporters to defeat the conventional wisdom that Democrats face steep losses. He cast the choice Election Day as one between the economic policies “that got us into this mess” and the policies leading the nation out.

“All they’ve got is the same old stuff that they were peddling over the last decade,” he said of Republicans. “I just don’t want to relive the past.” He said: “The other side is betting on amnesia. It is up to you to show them that you have not forgotten.”

Obama rallied in Minneapolis to help former Sen. Mark Dayton in his race for governor against Republican state legislator Tom Emmer and the Independence Party’s Tom Horner, a public relations executive and political pundit. Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s second term runs out in January.

“Mark Dayton has spent his life working for Minnesota and now I need all of you to fight for Mark Dayton,” Obama told a crowd estimated at 11,000 by the University of Minnesota, where he spoke.

It’s been a grueling four days of campaigning and fundraising by the president, who since Wednesday had touched down in Oregon, Washington state, California and Nevada. He has been helping congressional allies, such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, in tight races.

Cheered at large rallies at every stop, Obama begins his basic speech with some flattering talk about the local candidate. Then he launches into his message that voting Republican would be a mistake for the country.

“This election is a choice between the policies that got us into this mess and the policies that are leading us out of it,” he told the Minnesota rally.

Voters are angry about the economy, unemployment and other issues and, according to polls, seem intent on taking out their frustrations on Democrats — the party in power at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue — on Nov. 2.

But Obama is trying to remind the broad coalition that helped elect him in 2008 — women, Hispanics, minorities, and young voters — that change has always been slow to come but is coming, so they should not give up.

“Don’t let them tell you that change isn’t possible,” Obama said. “It’s just hard, that’s all.”

Pawlenty, who has said he’ll decide next spring whether to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, released a video welcoming Obama to Minnesota with a tongue-in-cheek vocabulary lesson in the use of local expressions like “uffdah” and “yikes.”

“As in the sentence, ‘The federal deficit was over a trillion dollars the last two years, and will be next year, too. Yikes!’” Pawlenty said. The video was posted on YouTube.

Before leaving Minneapolis, Obama also was helping to raise about $600,000 for House Democrats at a fundraiser attended by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., chairman of the House Democratic campaign effort, and others.

Obama was returning to Washington late Saturday and will head out again next week for more campaigning.

On Monday, he’ll be in Rhode Island to help raise more money for House Democrats. He is scheduled to spend the rest of the week in Washington, including an appearance Wednesday on “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart.

He plans to travel again the weekend before the election, making a final get-out-the-vote push at events in Bridgeport, Conn., Chicago, Philadelphia and Cleveland.

___

AP Writer Brian Bakst contributed to this report.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October 23, 2010

Tightening Senate races

give pause to upbeat GOP

 

AP – In this photo taken Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010, Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate, Rep. Joe Sestak, …

Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak has trailed Republican Pat Toomey for months, and a GOP victory always has seemed likely, given that it’s a Republican-trending year in this perpetually contested state. Yet recent polls suggest Sestak has closed the gap, and Republican leaders are imploring supporters not to panic even as they ask themselves: What’s going on?

The Sestak-Toomey race mirrors other Senate contests that are making this one of the most intriguing and unpredictable midterm elections in years.

Just as in Nevada, Colorado, Kentucky, and perhaps Alaska and Connecticut, each candidate is an accomplished but imperfect politician, and the tea party movement is playing a big but uncertain role.

In most of those states, plus Washington and California, Senate races are tightening to nail-biting margins. That means Republicans might pick up a few seats or as many as 10, which would give them the majority. Democrats privately concede they may be unable to keep their House majority, but losing the Senate would be devastating.

President Barack Obama’s travels now focus largely on trying to save Democratic senators in Washington, California, Nevada and Wisconsin, a clear sign that his party is still playing defense.

While California and Washington see Senate GOP challengers creeping up on Democratic incumbents, it’s embattled Democrats who seem to be rising elsewhere. They have seized on a common claim: A dangerous fringe movement, the tea party, has taken over the Republican Party.

Unlike the Republican nominees in Colorado and Nevada, Pennsylvania’s Toomey fits more comfortably in the GOP’s business-friendly, low-tax tradition than in the hot-blooded, anti-establishment tea party model. Still, he has accepted tea party champion Sarah Palin’s endorsement.

Sestak is using that fact — plus, curiously, the notoriety of tea partier Christine O’Donnell, the GOP Senate nominee in neighboring Delaware — to paint Toomey as a pilot of a new and scary Republican Party veering dangerously to the fringe.

In speeches and ads, Sestak ties Toomey to O’Donnell, the headline-grabbing upstart who trails by double digits in Delaware polls. In a debate Wednesday, Sestak said he worries about “those extreme candidates” who take advantage of “the extreme fringe of the tea party. There are those that are running with Congressman Toomey. Miss O’Donnell next door, for example.”

While many analysts have predicted a tightening of Senate races, the strategy might be working. If that perception spreads, it will embolden Democrats making similar claims against tea party Republicans in Nevada, Colorado and elsewhere.

It might even give hope to Democratic Senate nominee Jack Conway in Kentucky, where Republican Rand Paul has not quite sealed a victory.

In Alaska’s complex race, Sen. Lisa Murkowski is slapping the too-extreme label on Joe Miller, the tea party favorite who denied her the Republican nomination. Murkowski is trying a write-in campaign, while the Democratic nominee, Scott McAdams, seems to be running third.

Some analysts see two other factors helping Sestak, and perhaps Democrats elsewhere:

_Democrats are thought to have a superior get-out-the-vote operation here and in other states, and the latest polls might be reflecting the heavy contact of voters by phone and door-knocking.

_Obama and others have said Democratic voters will “wake up” when they realize what’s at stake, and some analysts think that’s happening now.

Many Republicans scoff at these claims, saying a powerful tide of voter anger still runs heavily in their favor.

To be sure, Sestak has his own problems, just as Sen. Harry Reid has poor approval ratings in Nevada, and Sen. Michael Bennet struggles to defend his support of Obama in Colorado.

Pennsylvania Republicans say the intense former Navy admiral is too liberal for this centrist state. They note that Sestak, a two-term House member, wanted a public insurance option in the new health care law, a larger stimulus package than the $814 billion plan Congress approved, and a tougher cap-and-trade energy bill than the House passed.

A TV ad by the National Republican Senatorial Committee rattles off those points with machine-gun speed, part of a torrent of campaign attacks by both parties that assault Pennsylvania viewers daily. Plenty of anti-Toomey ads air, too. Some voters say they now tune out the entire avalanche of commercials for and against House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates.

In a televised debate in Pittsburgh on Friday, Sestak defended Obama’s stimulus spending. He said mainstream economists believe 8 million more jobs would have disappeared without the blend of middle-class tax cuts and help for cash-strapped state governments and the unemployed.

Toomey said three years of halving payroll taxes would have been more effective, by making it less costly for businesses to hire new workers.

As elsewhere, the Pennsylvania political debates and TV ads specialize in guilt-by-association.

One 30-second anti-Sestak ad ties him to Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Reid on the issues of stimulus spending, bank bailouts and energy.

Sestak sandwiched his opponent between the most famous tea party figures, alluding to “Palin, Toomey, O’Donnell” as if they were a law firm.

Toomey was in the House from 1999 to 2005, but Sestak invariably calls him “congressman” in this anti-insider year.

Toomey is trying to blunt the attacks by saying Sestak is the extremist in the race. His allies run TV ads attacking Sestak for saying suspected terrorists should be tried in federal courts, not military tribunals.

The GOP nominee is trying to keep some distance from tea party activists while embracing more traditional Republicans. He welcomed former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani at a small rally Friday in a fire station in Blue Bell, northwest of Philadelphia. But speaking later with reporters, Toomey was expressionless when asked if Palin is qualified to be president, a question he sidestepped in Wednesday’s debate.

“Politicians don’t decide who’s qualified for office,” he said. “Voters decide.”

Ed Rendell, a former Democratic Party national chairman who is retiring after two terms as Pennsylvania governor, said in an interview that he thinks the specter of an ascendant tea party is lighting a fire under Democratic voters.

“Democrats are getting scared by all the craziness out there,” he said moments after campaigning for Sestak at Temple University. He cited Republicans who want to subpoena scores of Obama administration officials and who would outlaw abortion for rape victims. That message, plus the party’s get-out-the-vote push, might help candidates such as Sestak pull off upsets on Nov. 2, Rendell said. Or maybe not.

“It’s all coming together,” Rendell said. “Now will it come together fast enough to make a difference? I can’t predict that.”

___

Associated Press writers David Espo, Jim Kuhnhenn and Liz Sidoti in Washington and Marc Levy in Pennsylvania contributed to this report.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October 23, 2010

AP – Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, center, talks to reporters after attending a fundraiser, …

WASHINGTON – In the most favorable political environment for Republicans in decades, GOP chairman Michael Steele ordinarily might be lavished with praise for leading his party to the brink of a historic triumph.

Instead, he heads an organization that trails Democrats by $15 million in fundraising, is in debt and largely has been overshadowed by third-party groups that, in a few months, have raised almost as much as Republican National Committee has since January 2009.

Frustration with the chairman is evident in some states.

In Ohio, where the governor’s race is in doubt and Republicans are challenging some Democratic House members, party chairman Kevin DeWine recently wrote Steele that the $566,900 the RNC had transferred to date “simply pales in comparison” with 2004, 2006 and 2008.

DeWine begged Steele on Oct. 11 for the full amount of $1 million-plus and then another “emergency appeal” of a million on top of that. The RNC this past week sent $284,400 to Ohio as part of a round of $2.8 million to states.

Steele’s gaffes and missteps have clouded his nearly two-year tenure. In the past few weeks, he has been content to steer clear of the nation’s capital, making a 48-state tour to help GOP candidates. He was in New Hampshire on Friday and joined Sarah Palin at a Florida rally Saturday, where he praised tea party supporters as a group that “restored our faith in the Constitution.”

If Republicans make major gains on Nov. 2, Steele certainly would claim part of the credit as he considers whether to seek another term at chairman.

“Whether or not I run for a second term has nothing to do with winning on Nov. 2, it has absolutely nothing to do with that,” Steele told The Associated Press in an interview Friday in Concord, N.H.

The RNC has raised more than $79 million this year and has spent all of it — and then some. The RNC ended September with about $3.4 million in cash on hand and $4.6 million in debt. The RNC also took out a $2.5 million loan in September.

Steele had started the job with a $23 million surplus. That money is long gone

Still, he may receive favorable reviews from the 168-member central party, in part because of his spending. Steele has doled out cash to some state parties. He’s paid the salaries of more than 350 operatives beyond Washington. He’s sent money to places that typically don’t benefit from the party’s donors, such as Democratic-leaning Illinois. That has left Steele with plenty of good will from state leaders

But operatives in Washington are frustrated that Steele has spent so much time on the bus tour rather than focusing on the committee’s finances. The role of party chairman typically is behind the scenes coaxing millions.

“I’ve learned how to multitask in this job,” Steele said. “You can continue to raise money. There’s a little thing called a cell phone, so I can call a donor while I’m on the bus.”

Steele’s early actions made him toxic to some donors.

One national committeeman resigned in disgust over the lavish spending and inadequate financial oversight, including a donor party at a lesbian bondage club in West Hollywood, Calif. That outing at the Voyeur nightclub, which Steele did not join, forced the ouster of Steele’s chief of staff, chief consultant, finance director, deputy finance director and liaison to young Republicans.

Donors dismayed with Steele’s stewardship gave to groups such as American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, a political committee and affiliate led by veterans of President George W. Bush’s campaigns, or the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. American Crossroads has spent a combined $27.7 million; the Chamber $23.7 million so far.

“The party committees, they’re hurting. The RNC has done terribly,” said Chris Maiorana, a strategist who worked on Republicans Senate efforts. “It’s not through lack of effort or smarts that they are running into problems.”

Maiorana said the energy among activists is for House and Senate candidates, not the party leaders who work out of a massive headquarters on Capitol Hill.

RNC officials insist they welcome the outside efforts and explain the groups’ spending on ads has allowed the central party to focus on its get-out-the-vote operation.

Few Republicans have rushed to oust Steele, the party’s first African-American chairman, or begin a public campaign to challenge him when he faces the committee at a yet-unscheduled meeting next year.

Steele’s situation is comparable to former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, whose 50-state strategy and largesse won him scores of friends in state parties but angered Washington Democrats.

___

Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington, Holly Ramer in Concord, N.H., and Mike Schneider in Orlando, Fla., contributed to this report.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October 23, 2010

  Reuters  – Obama tub thumps for Reid in Nevada

AP – President Barack Obama speaks at a rally for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., at Orr Middle …

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says consumers would lose if Republicans regain power in Congress and try to roll back his hard-won Wall Street overhaul.

He says the GOP’s promised repeal of the law would mean the return of a financial system whose near-collapse led to the worst recession since the Depression.

“Without sound oversight and commonsense protections for consumers, the whole economy is put in jeopardy,” Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address. “That doesn’t serve Main Street. That doesn’t serve Wall Street. That doesn’t serve anyone.”

The law passed despite nearly unanimous Republican opposition. It sought to rein in a financial system that had sped ahead of outdated rules, allowing banks, traders and others to take increased risks.

Separate legislation tackled bank overdraft fees and abuses such as retroactive interest rate increases on credit card balances.

The financial overhaul law came in the wake of a $700 billion bank rescue passed in the final months of George W. Bush’s presidency. While the bailout is credited with providing stability, it’s deeply unpopular with voters angry of taxpayer money being used to help prop up huge banks.

Obama promised that the measure ensures that taxpayers will “never again be on the hook for a bailout.”

Obama’s address came less than two weeks before elections in which Republicans have a good chance of taking over the House, if not the Senate. The financial regulation measure hasn’t been a central campaign issue.

House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio has called for a repeal, as have top Senate Republicans. But Obama still would stand in the way through his veto power.

In the GOP’s weekly message, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota denounced Obama’s economic stimulus bill, overhaul of the health care system and plans to allow Bush-era tax cuts for wealthier people to expire.

“We have learned the lessons not only of what hasn’t worked over the past two years, but what didn’t work the last time Republicans controlled Congress,” Thune said. “We are determined to take this country in the right direction.”

Added Thune: “Are you better off today than you were two years ago?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Associated Press

October 24, 2010

Gay voters angry at Democrats

could sway election

 

By TAMMY WEBBER, Associated Press Writer – Sun Oct 24, 2:38 pm ET

CHICAGO – Kate Coatar is seriously considering voting for Green Party candidates instead of Democrats, whom she normally supports. James Wyatt won’t cast a ballot at all because he no longer trusts anyone to fight for causes important to him.

If Democratic candidates are counting on long-standing support from gay voters to help stave off big losses on Nov. 2, they could be in for a surprise.

Across the country, activists say gay voters are angry — at the lack of progress on issues from eliminating employment discrimination to uncertainty over serving in the military to the economy — and some are choosing to sit out this election or look for other candidates.

President Barack Obama’s hometown of Chicago, with its large, politically and socially active gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, offers a snapshot of what some are calling the “enthusiasm gap” between voters who came out strong for Obama and other Democrats in 2008 and re-energized Republican base voters, including tea party enthusiasts who say they are primed to storm the polls.

It didn’t help that the controversy over the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gays erupted less than two weeks before the election, when a judge overturned it, then Obama’s justice department decided to fight the judge’s decision. On Thursday, the Defense Department declared that “don’t ask, don’t tell” is official policy but set up a new system that could make it tougher to get thrown out of the military for being openly gay.

“It’s all talk and nothing’s happening, and I’m just over it,” said Coatar, 62, a church business manager who said she’s as concerned about health care and homelessness as about gay issues. “I don’t know who to vote for and the election is a week away.”

Wyatt, 35, a maintenance worker at the Center on Halsted, a community center serving Chicago’s GLBT community, said politicians only court gay voters at election time.

“Once they’re elected, they’re not fighting for things like civil unions or same-sex marriage or ending ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ because they’re hot-button issues,” said Wyatt, who usually supports Democrats. “We’re just used as a piggyback for them to get into office. It’s absurd.”

Whether or not that’s the case, Wyatt isn’t the only one who feels that way.

And in places like Cook County, Ill., where the gay population represents about 7 percent of voters, that could mean the difference between victory and defeat in some races, said Rick Garcia, director of public policy for Equality Illinois. One of those races is a much-watched and close battle for Obama’s old Senate seat between Democrat Alexi Giannoulias and Republican Mark Kirk.

“If (candidates) can mobilize the gay community and get them out to vote, it could make all the difference in the world in some of these key races,” said Garcia.

But volunteers who’ve been calling the 18,000 or so members of Equality Illinois to urge them to vote have been getting an earful. Many members say they won’t vote or will vote against incumbents, regardless of their party affiliation or stance on gay issues.

This year’s election is a stark contrast to 2008, when the gay community turned out in droves to elect Obama and help Democrats regain control of Congress.

“People were clamoring and very excited about the change that then-candidate Obama promised America,” Garcia said. “Now I see lethargy at best and disgust at worst.”

He said gains won under Obama, including in fighting housing discrimination, have not filtered out to many in the gay community because “the big issues have not appeared to change at all.”

“But change takes time; sometimes it takes a lot of time. A lot of folks just don’t understand that,” said Garcia. “I am older and more seasoned, but most people are very disturbed with the administration … and they’re the hard ones to get out to vote.

“The message is huge: Don’t take us for granted.”

Tracy Baim, publisher of Windy City Times, Chicago’s oldest and largest GLBT newspaper, and author of the new book “Obama and the Gays,” said disappointment is showing up in another way: Some are refusing to donate money to candidates until they see progress, although it’s difficult to gauge how much that has affected fundraising.

A message left Friday with the Democratic National Committee seeking comment was not immediately returned.

But many gay organizations are working hard to get voters to the polls, fearing they could face setbacks if Republicans retake control of Congress. Baim said Democrats and Obama still enjoy widespread support in some parts of the gay community, particularly among African-Americans and Latinos, and she believes the majority still will vote.

“People are disappointed but understand that this really is the best hope for significant change over the next several years,” she said. “But at the same time, the anger is very real.”

Robin McGehee, co-founder and director of the national gay-rights organization GetEQUAL calls the mood among gay voters a “disappointment canyon” but said they have no choice but to go to the polls.

She, however, is refusing to donate to or volunteer for any candidate this year. And members of her group are protesting wherever Obama appears on the campaign trail.

“We can’t not take advantage of the right to vote, but that doesn’t mean we can’t vote smartly,” said McGehee, of Fresno, Calif. “If I was a leader in the Democratic Party, I would be worried.

“Either we’re important enough to fight for our equality or we’re worth losing,” she said. “Right now we’re being treated like we’re worth losing.”

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   October 24, 2010

Black GOP Candidates Accuse Party

of Ignoring Them

 By Anna Palmer, CQ-Roll Call – Sun Oct 24, 6:59 pm ET

 Three long-shot African-American Republican House candidates are fuming at national party leaders for not doing enough to help get them elected.

Campaign managers for Chuck Smith in Virginia, Charlotte Bergmann in Tennessee and Marvin Scott in Indiana all said the support they’ve received from GOP leaders this cycle has been dismal. They added that there could be consequences for the party if they are elected to Congress next year.

Smith’s campaign manager, Lisa Creeden, said she wishes her boss could count on the party’s help; no Republican has held Virginia’s 3rd district in 18 years.

“I think the Republican Party is going to damage themselves with the African-American community,” Creeden said. “I understand part of it is they are focused on races they can win easily, but our point is we couldn’t necessarily win this easily, but we can still win it. The effort to reach out to the African-American community will pay out in future elections.

“If they drop the ball now, they will have to start all over again,” she added.

Smith is running against nine-term Rep. Robert C. Scott (D). Scott won the 2008 election with 97 percent of the vote.

Still, Creeden said she believes that this year is different for a Republican.

“We’re looking at pastors who have stepped away from the Democratic Party machine to say we can’t support this man anymore and we want the Republican,” Creeden said.

She added that the GOP has created challenges for Smith, including pulling the campaign’s access to a voter vault earlier this year.

“We have repeatedly asked them for support,” Creeden said. “It would have been nice if we could have counted on the Republican Party to deliver the voters.”

Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell headlined a breakfast fundraiser for Smith earlier this month, and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele held an event for Smith. A campaign spokesman for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) did not respond to a request for comment.

Garren Shipley, spokesman for the Virginia Republican Party, said the state party has helped Smith by providing media relations counsel, technical assistance and access to the state party’s offices.

“We really don’t understand what would make folks in the Smith campaign say that,” Shipley said. “We’ve done everything we can to help them.”

Jerry Alexander, campaign manager for Marvin Scott, who is challenging Rep. Andre Carson (D), said the Scott campaign has received virtually no help from state or national GOP leaders.

“If you call getting no support, not even a phone call, not even a how are you doing kind of support, then I would have to say that is a pretty accurate assessment,” Alexander said.

Alexander said that he has talked with the other 14 African-American Republican candidates’ campaigns, and each has similar complaints.

“It’s been a bunch of guys grumbling that they are getting no support,” Alexander said of a slew of e-mails that were sent back and forth this week.

Alexander, who served as Rep. Mike Pence’s political director for nearly seven years, said his former boss is the only Republican who has helped the Scott operation. Pence, who represents Indiana’s 6th district, is the GOP Conference chairman, the No. 3 Republican leader.

“Our campaign didn’t even know there was a Boehner. Now what’s his job?” Alexander jokingly asked of the House Minority Leader, who is in line to become the next Speaker.

In particular, the Scott campaign is miffed that Steele traveled last week with his bus tour to Rep. Dan Burton’s nearby 5th district but didn’t stop at Scott’s district, about 3 miles away.

“It doesn’t take a lot of money, it just takes people saying we are in this, and the reality is I think Dr. Scott can win in spite of the challenges that we’re experiencing,” Alexander said.

Scott faces an uphill battle to beat Carson, who won the seat in 2008 following the death of his grandmother, Julia Carson, who represented the district for 10 years. The younger Carson won with 65 percent of the vote two years ago.

RNC spokesman Doug Heye pushed back against criticism that the GOP has not done enough for minority candidates this cycle. Heye said the bus tour has traveled to at least nine African-American candidates’ districts.

“We’ve been on this Fire Pelosi bus tour that has gone to all 48 states,” Heye said. “It doesn’t mean that we’ve been able to go to all 435 Congressional districts.”

The RNC has also featured African-American candidates on its blogs and in e-mails, Heye said.

But Bergmann’s political director, Howie Morgan, isn’t sold, and he said the lack of interest in African-American candidates’ races could cause problems for the leadership down the road.

Bergmann’s campaign had hoped Boehner would stop by its district when he was traveling in Tennessee on Thursday. Boehner’s advance staff said Boehner’s schedule didn’t allow for it, according to Morgan.

“I think anybody would imagine if someone was to drive by your house and would like your support for something in two months, you might want to come by and say hello,” Morgan said, alluding to the upcoming House leadership elections.

“I’m sure Charlotte will be looking at everyone,” Morgan said. “We need new leadership.”

Boehner has been financially supportive of several African-American candidates this cycle, including Allen West, Ryan Frazier and Tim Scott. He has also done at least one campaign visit for West, who is trying to unseat two-term Rep. Ron Klein (D-Fla.).

Still, that isn’t enough for Morgan.

“I was surprised they couldn’t spend 15 minutes when they are literally driving by my office,” Morgan said.

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