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She was grateful for birthday wishes she received. |
BRITNEY Spears may just be getting over Justin Timberlake – now we’ll see if the NBA can survive a love affair with the former N*SYNC-er. |
ABC Sports has made Timberlake a “special correspondent,” although nobody for the moment really knows what that means. |
But his tenure officially starts tomorrow night with ABC’s first NBA telecast of the year. |
“It’s a title that we gave for a position that we are still figuring out,” ABC Sports senior VP and executive producer Michael Pearl says. |
Timberlake will file a number of short features from the perspective of a sports fan, according to Pearl. “He’s an average fan who happens to be a celebrity,” says Pearl. |
He is not expected to appear on the telecast tomorrow – and his first piece won’t be for at least several weeks. |
Timberlake will do features that put him in places fans might like to go, says Pearl – practicing with a team, for instance. |
Hiring Justin is the latest twist in pro sports’ love affair with pop culture – a kiss-and-cuddle relationship that has included comedian Dennis Miller appearing on ‘Monday Night Football’ and conservative radio man Rush Limbaugh working the NFL pre-game show, amid some controversy. |
Both relationships ended badly, but that’s not always the case. |
Fox Sports flirted with Hollywood, too, granting comedian Jimmy Kimmel a short feature on “Fox NFL Sunday’s” pregame show for four seasons. |
Kimmel left Fox last season to concentrate on his late night talk show. |
“I would look at Justin Timberlake – and for that matter Dennis Miller and Rush Limbaugh – not as important parts of the color commentary, but as the half-time show entertainment that aren’t restricted to halftime,” says Dr. Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University’s Center for the Study of Popular Television. |
“If the expectation is that the core audience of Justin Timberlake’s recordings are now going to flock to NBA broadcasts thanks to Justin being on it, I think that’s asking a little more for Christmas than anybody, even Santa, could deliver,” says Thompson. |
Pearl says that he first noticed Timberlake when the singer played in the annual NBA All-Star/Celebrity game. “He did very well,” says Pearl. |
One of Timberlake’s agents, who used to represent Magic Johnson and had a prior relationship with Pearl, mentioned Timberlake’s obsession with sports and eventually landed the singer a gig with ABC Sports. |
Lisa Blount attends Silhouette at the Secret Room Events Academy Awards Style Lounge at Intercontinental Hotel on March 6, 2010 in Beverly Hills, California. |
Lisa Blount, an actress best known for her role in "An Officer and a Gentleman." was found dead in her home in Little Rock, Ark., on October 27. She was 53. |
According to the Pulaski County Coroner Garland Camper, Blount most likely died on Monday. No foul play was expected. |
Blount, who received a Golden Globe nomination for her 1982 role as Deborah Winger's best friend in "An Officer and a Gentleman," may have died from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a rare blood disorder in which low levels of platelets prevent the blood from clotting properly. The condition ... |
Her mother, Louise Blount, believes it contributed to her daughter's death. |
"I think that might have been part of the problem when she passed away because when I found her she had a purple look on her neck that looked like blood on the surface," she said. |
In addition to acting, Blount was also an Oscar-winning filmmaker. She and her husband, actor and director Ray McKinnon, shared the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film for "The Accountant" in 2001. |
MANCHESTER UNITED midfielder Nick Powell has vowed to show everyone he is not a 'dumb little kid' during his loan spell with Hull. |
Powell joined Steve Bruce's side on loan for the remainder of season earlier this month. |
The 21-year-old, who was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson in 2012, has had a frustrating time at Old Trafford and has only made a paltry nine appearances for the Red Devils. |
Powell, who spent the last two seasons on loan with Wigan and Leicester, is happy with his move to the KC Stadium and is eager to use his time with Championship side to prove his doubters wrong. |
"I have read papers, comments, pretty much everything said about me," Powell told the Hull Daily Mail. |
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just sent some more shade to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. |
In a “60 Minutes” interview, correspondent Lesley Stahl pointed out the different groups within the House Democratic caucus. “You have these wings — AOC and her group on one side,” Stahl said. |
“That’s like five people,” Pelosi interrupted. |
“Well, I’m progressive — I’m a progressive, yeah,” Pelosi responded. |
The Congressional Progressive Caucus has 98 members and is the second largest group of Democrats in the Congress. Ocasio-Cortez is one of the group’s most recognizable freshman members. |
Seven Democratic House members, including Ocasio-Cortez, are supported by the progressive political action committee the Justice Democrats, which Pelosi could also have been referring to. |
On several occasions now, Pelosi has downplayed any splits within her ranks — and also tried to dim some of Ocasio-Cortez’s star power. |
In a recent interview with USA Today, the House speaker pointed out that votes are more significant than Twitter followers — a remark that was also interpreted to be a dig at AOC. |
“While there are people who have a large number of Twitter followers, what’s important is that we have a large number of votes on the floor of the House,” Pelosi said. |
On “60 Minutes” Pelosi said her Democrats weren’t fractured by those loud voices on the left. |
“By and large, whatever orientation they came to Congress with, they know that we have to hold the center. That we have to … go down the mainstream,” Pelosi said. |
When asked by Stahl if they really know that, Pelosi answered in the affirmative. |
Wildfire Threatens More Than 1,500 Homes In Northern California : The Two-Way The largest, spreading through the Sierra Nevada forest east of Sacramento, has engulfed more than 18,000 and is only 5 percent contained. |
A photo from Sunday shows a wildfire as it approaches the shore of Bass Lake, Calif. Several blazes are being fueled by record drought conditions. |
The largest of several wildfires in California, the so-called King Fire in the Sierra Nevada forest east of Sacramento, is threatening 1,600 homes as it continues to spread almost unchecked. |
According to the latest information, the King Fire, one of several that California firefighters are battling, has engulfed more than 18,500 acres and is only 5 percent contained. |
As recently as Monday, the fire, which started Saturday near the community of Pollock Pines, was one-third its current size. The fire has forced the evacuation of 700 homes. |
"The advance prompted specially trained federal firefighters to take command of the fire early Tuesday morning. |
"By nightfall, groups of firefighters were setting off small burns to try to slow the spread, anxious to prevent one flank of the fire from crossing south of Highway 50 from the canyon along the south fork of the American River to the small community that lives in the scenic, heavily wooded area." |
Elsewhere, Jefferson Public Radio reports: "Fire officials say the destruction in Weed is worse than earlier estimates. Cal Fire public information officer Daniel Berlant says at least 150 homes and structures were burned when a fire ripped through the town Monday afternoon. The Boles Fire reduced entire neighborhoods ... |
" 'I mean it was devastating,' said Campbell, who was baptized, confirmed and married at the church, along with her children. She also lost her home to the fire. |
" 'The house up there is no big deal. It can be rebuilt,' she said. 'But this is my family church, you know? It's much more endearing to me.' " |
"In Oakhurst, a foothill community south of Yosemite National Park, a 320-acre fire that damaged or destroyed 71 structures — 37 of them homes — was 50 percent contained. About 600 residents from 200 homes remained evacuated, Madera County sheriff's spokeswoman Erica Stuart said. |
"More than 4,000 wildfires have burned in California this year." |
For more on fire conditions in California and across most of the U.S., check out NPR's Fire Forecast app, which is updated daily. The interactive (above) should take you right to Weed, Calif., but you can change the location by entering a new ZIP code or city. |
The Atlanta school board is considering a resolution that will attempt to restrict further use of school taxes to fund redevelopment on the city's Westside, including the massive Gulch project. |
The board has called a special meeting at 8 a.m. Friday to vote on a resolution that would require written approval before school property tax dollars can be used to fund future development in an area known as the Westside Tax Allocation District or TAD. The vote comes just days before a Fulton County Superior Court he... |
Three bond lawyers who were unable to comment on the record because of client conflicts told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution it’s unclear what the resolution would accomplish. Atlanta Public Schools agreed in 1998 and again in 2005 to forego future tax dollars within the district until 2038 to help fund redevelopment. |
The Gulch deal is backed by Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and was approved last month by the Atlanta City Council. Future school taxes from the Westside TAD could be over $300 million of a public financing package that could rise as high as $1.9 billion for the downtown mini-city, which will stretch from Mercedes-Benz Sta... |
Since 1999, APS has contributed hundreds of millions of school tax dollars to support development projects included in five TADs, areas where property tax collections are frozen for a period of time. Future increases in tax collections from rising property values as the area redevelops are used to help pay for developm... |
In theory, after the TAD expires, the participating government bodies such as school systems reap the financial benefit of new, higher property values. |
But current APS board members, who were not in office when the Westside TAD was created, are concerned about diverting tax dollars that could help students. For at least the last year some school leaders have said they want to renegotiate the terms of the TADs in which the district participates. |
School board Chairman Jason Esteves said the board has not had a big voice in the Gulch deal and wants APS to be part of the process. |
“We want to resolve outstanding issues that we have with the five TADs that APS participates in before having a conversation about the Gulch or any other economic development project,” he said. |
Esteves said the board’s action isn’t to oppose the Gulch but instead to ensure “everyone is being good stewards” of school taxes. |
APS spokesman Ian Smith declined to answer questions about potential legal action or what the district’s next steps might be. Superintendent Meria Carstarphen, who was not in office when the TADs were approved, declined an interview request through Smith. |
Bottoms’ office interpreted the resolution as the school system’s intent to withdraw from the TAD, calling it “disappointing” after the city has worked with the schools, the state and Fulton County to revitalize the Gulch. |
The Friday school board meeting comes before an expected hearing Monday before a judge to “validate” bonds to be used to help start development of the Gulch property. Under Georgia law, a validation hearing is required before a governmental entity can issue bonds. It’s typically a routine matter in which a judge assure... |
But in recent years, taxpayers and other groups have attempted to challenge bonds for major projects, including Mercedes-Benz Stadium and SunTrust Park, though those objections have failed. |
APS, as a participant in the TAD, might have standing to contest the bond validation. |
On Nov. 5, the City Council approved a complex financing package allowing California-based developer CIM Group to use future sales and property taxes generated within the Gulch to help fund the project. The proposal drew significant opposition from the public during council meetings, and the city revised the proposed p... |
“The school board has not formally consented to the Gulch TAD but has directed the superintendent to negotiate with the city as to future use of the education taxes for redevelopment purposes in the Westside TAD,” the school board’s proposed resolution states. |
The language also notes various financial pressures the district faces, including a school property-tax millage rollback approved by the board that will cost the district $25 million a year, and the passage by voters in November of a measure that provided school tax relief to some homeowners. |
This isn’t the first time APS and the city have tussled over the use of school taxes for development projects. Talks between the school district and former Mayor Kasim Reed turned testy over the Beltline TAD. The school system was supposed to get a portion of its tax money returned to it in payments. |
But because of financial hardship, in 2016, the two sides agreed to a new deal that called for Atlanta to pay back less money than previously agreed upon. At the time, a school official heralded the conclusion of that conflict as a signal of a “renewed partnership” with the city. |
During the 2017 mayoral campaign, Bottoms said she’d be willing to renegotiate the TADs that APS participates in. The school district is part of, and the largest contributor to, five TADs, which have collected almost $434 million in school taxes from 1999 through June 30. Nearly $100 million of those school taxes have ... |
APS wanted the Eastside TAD closed as part of its terms for signing on to the Gulch deal, according to text messages between Bottoms and Carstarphen that The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained in June. |
CIM did not make an executive available for an interview. |
Under the plan, CIM would buy the bonds initially and recoup its investment from future tax revenue created by the development. |
“CIM, its partners, and co-investors will be the sole initial purchaser of the bonds and will assume all of the bond repayment risks,” the statement said. |
The Atlanta City Council in November approved a public financing package for developer CIM Group to revitalize the Gulch, a 40-acre tangle of parking lots and rail lines between the Five Points MARTA station and Mercedes-Benz Stadium. |
The council agreed to a package of up to $1.9 billion to support a $5 billion project to build a mix of offices, apartments, hotels and retail. |
MEMP has an average dollar-volume (as measured by average daily share volume multiplied by share price) of $15.1 million. |
MEMP has traded 84,982 shares today. |
MEMP is up 3% today. |
MEMP was down 14.5% yesterday. |
Memorial Production Partners LP, through its subsidiary, engages in the acquisition, development, exploitation, and production of oil and natural gas properties. The stock currently has a dividend yield of 20.1%. MEMP has a PE ratio of 34. Currently there are 7 analysts that rate Memorial Production Partners a buy, 1 a... |
The average volume for Memorial Production Partners has been 760,300 shares per day over the past 30 days. Memorial Production has a market cap of $921.7 million and is part of the basic materials sector and energy industry. The stock has a beta of 0.25 and a short float of 3.1% with 1.46 days to cover. Shares are down... |
TheStreet Quant Ratings rates Memorial Production Partners as a hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its good cash flow from operations and notable return on equity. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, generally higher deb... |
Net operating cash flow has increased to $71.96 million or 49.85% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, MEMORIAL PRODUCTION PRTRS LP has also vastly surpassed the industry average cash flow growth rate of -48.80%. |
Despite the weak revenue results, MEMP has outperformed against the industry average of 37.8%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues fell by 20.6%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share. |
The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 394.2% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from -$32... |
Currently the debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74 is quite high overall and when compared to the industry average, suggesting that the current management of debt levels should be re-evaluated. Along with this, the company manages to maintain a quick ratio of 0.46, which clearly demonstrates the inability to cover short-term c... |
Recently at the farmers market, I scored spinach in many forms. A sack of baby spinach at one stand, sturdy and juicy tiny leaves that were painstakingly harvested from young plants. Elsewhere, I acquired a bundle of spinach plants, bunched together like at the supermarket but with no broken stems, ripped leaves or fes... |
Every leaf would go in service of an extra-puffy inside-out spinach omelet. |
This omelet. As I’m writing, I’m literally cooking another one, because it’s impossible to think about it, let alone describe it, and not want it. |
The spinach is carefully arranged on the pan so that, when the time comes, it will do what nori does to a sushi roll. Eggs — separated, beaten and recombined — are applied to the spinach matrix, along with flavorful toppings. It puffs up like a souffle, and is somehow folded in half. |
We begin by preparing the stuffing, which doubles as pan crusting, browned bits of goodness that stick to the outside of the omelet. This is the one spot in the recipe where I won’t be micromanaging you, so now is your chance to get creative. Bacon, chopped into little pieces, is a classic thing to include here, as it ... |
Fry the browned bits slowly, never burning, adding oil if necessary. Add chunks of garlic if you wish. It will sweeten if cooked slowly. When the browned bits of goodness are nearly done, consider adding greens here. I had some watercress, which added a nice spice to the filling. Another time I used baby bok choy. |
While that is going, work on the eggs. The fresher the eggs are, the better. Separate the yolks from the whites of two eggs, storing them in separate bowls. Don’t let any yolk or water get into the whites. And if you wash your hands after separating the eggs, make sure they are very dry before proceeding. Using an eggb... |
When the pan goodies are done, add a little soy sauce and garlic powder, and stir it around to mix and absorb. Remove half from the pan and set aside. Spread around the portion that remains in the pan so it’s evenly dispersed. Add butter or oil if the pan isn’t very oily, then begin arranging the spinach leaves. All of... |
Set the heat on low-ish, and remove the egg bowls. Using a spoon or rubber spatula, gently fold the egg yolk into the stiff whites. Don’t mix completely. Leave areas of pure white, and let the yolks run around and gather at the bottom a little. |
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