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“The only conclusion that I can draw is that the people of Congress are not as good a people as the people who are first responders,” he said.
House Speaker Paul Ryan has assured NBC News earlier this month, “We have not decided what vehicle it will be or what funding level but it is something we do intend to get done by the end of the year.” However, several of his Republican colleagues have not been as bullish, citing concerns over the health program’s cost.
Poll: Will pressure from Jon Stewart move Congress to act on the 9/11 first responders bill?
Twenty-Five Years Ago The arson suspect was 19 years old and had short black hair, brown-yellow eyes, and a wide, plump face. He was sitting in the visiting room of the Imperial County jail, a hundred miles east of San Diego. It was a Sunday morning in January 1977 and the weather was clear and still.
Fifteen Years Ago I'm from New York, where ferret owners routinely parade up and down the avenue with the perky little critters perched on their shoulders. So I know how to frolic with the beasts. I played bullfighter, using a crinkly plastic bag for the cape, and then let Harry scamper up my shoulders and kiss me, tentatively, on the lips.I picked him up in both hands and we rubbed noses. Flick, flick, flick, flick, flick.
Then -- snap -- his little cat-jaws clamped shut on my nostril. "Let go!" I screamed. I tossed my head, swinging the ferret from side to side like a purse.
Five Years Ago "What is it, Mom?" Rebecca began to tremble. "Do you hear a snake?" "No. Please let go of my shirt."
"But I'm scared. I want to go back."
"Me, too," Lucy looked at me with big, round eyes.
"I want to go all the way to the pond," Angela shouted back.
"Me, too," Johnny said. "I want to see the pond."
The stroller's front wheels stuck in the sand. I stopped. "What is it, Mom?" Rebecca's voice rose with panic.
"We're going back, Angela," I called. "The trail's too rough."
"What is it, Mom?" Rebecca and Lucy asked together.
Summer’s been shown the door, and the weather’s certainly gotten a little bit cooler. Sure, we could use some rain, but you better believe we’ll get some more of that sooner rather than later. Bow season kicks off Saturday in Alabama for buck hunting, with Zone B getting to harvest does starting Oct. 25. Of course, scouting is in full swing, and part of that is studying trail camera photos. One topic that’s always up for debate is how to properly age a buck, and just like anything else, it takes practice, experience and a pragmatic approach to really get good at it. That’s where Lindsay Thomas Jr. comes in, as he gives us a few handy pointers on what to look for and what to avoid when trying to age a buck.
For starters, make sure you have a good picture. Keep it at an even eye-level, with a good profile shot of the buck. While you can’t ask the buck nicely to pick a pretty pose for that camera, if you can get a good broadside photo of that buck, it’ll help tremendously with determining its age. Another important thing to remember is when the photo was taken; deer body shape changes drastically depending on the time of year, so you want to be checking out photos of prerut or peak rut bucks, as that’s when they’re the easiest to age.
Of course, as mentioned above, getting a good shot isn’t really something you can control, so be sure to keep track of multiple photos. Staring at just one photo may not give you the proper information, as bucks aren’t the type to normally sit still for long, resulting in some potentially misleading shots. Even something as simple as a buck taking a deep breath can change its body shape dramatically, throwing off your guess for age.
Another common problem is that most folks tend to concentrate on the antlers for aging, which isn’t very accurate. There’s a lot of crossover on rack size for bucks, as there are plenty of young bucks with great antlers, while there are older bucks with smaller, thinner antlers out there. With quality deer management as a focus, you’d want to harvest the older buck with a smaller rack, to help pull him out of the potential gene pool while letting that younger buck grow a little older, potentially improving the quality of bucks you get in years to come.
Of course, another thing to keep in mind is that buck body size can vary greatly depending on the environment that your deer live in. Lower quality soil and poor conditions can lead to lower muscle mass in a buck as it grows older, so you really have to get to know your area and your deer population, which takes follow-through. When you successfully harvest a buck, and have made your guesses at its age, pull the jawbone or extract an incisor from that deer. You can estimate the jawbone age, or even send the tooth off to a lab for study, and with the resulting information, see how far off you were in your guess. Through trial and error, you can really narrow down the finer details of your deer population, making for much more accurate guesswork with age. Yes, it’s guesswork folks; there’s no exact science, but we can become pretty proficient at it with practice and good follow-through.
Of course, I can’t help but mention that joining QDMA provides you with some more resources for learning how to age bucks, as well as some practice rounds. In the QDMA’s free weekly e-newsletter, they include a photo of a buck with a poll for you to estimate the buck’s age. In the next newsletter, QDMA’s experts provide feedback as to the age of that deer, as well as the defining features that lead to their estimate. Little things like this can help you drastically improve your aging technique, which can only help you make better informed decisions out in the field for managing your deer population. Simply hop onto QDMA’s website, at www.qdma.com, join up to start receiving the magazine, and sign up for the e-newsletter.
It may not always seem practical or useful to go through photos like a crime scene investigator, but when your focus is improving on your deer hunting for future years down the road, every little bit helps.
Aging deer is a good way to decide which buck you really want to harvest and which ones you should let walk, which does dramatically impact the quality of your herd. So get those trail cameras rolling, break out the photo book, and go get ’em!
This is in response to the article "Amputee Takes the DMV to Court for Right to Drive School Bus" by Jenifer Warren that appeared in The Times on July 20. People reading that article may be misled into thinking that the Department of Motor Vehicles discriminates against individuals because of physical impairments.
The Department of Motor Vehicles, in cooperation with the California Highway Patrol and the State Department of Education, has established certain medical standards for school bus drivers that have been in effect since 1976 and are equitably applied to drivers in California. They have been adopted as a model for licensing laws in a number of states across the nation.
Before a driver may be certificated as a school bus driver, he or she is expected to be exceptionally qualified, not only physically and mentally, but also well trained and of good moral character. Transportation of California's school students falls within special categories and demands that the Department of Motor Vehicles and each prospective bus driver undertake responsibilities. The unusual responsibilities of these drivers do not permit taking calculated risks for rehabilitation, as may be considered in some personal driving categories.
In Mr. Steve Gaut's case, his application for the school bus driver certificate was denied because the physical standards do not allow for the loss of a foot or a leg. Mr. Gaut requested, and was granted, an administrative hearing and the department referee recommended that he be issued the certificate. The referee's recommendation was based on review of the total evidence presented at the hearing that Mr. Gaut should be reasonably expected to safely operate a school bus, with few limitations, in considering his demonstrated ability to compensate for the loss of his foot and lower leg.
As required by statute, the report and evidence presented at Mr. Gaut's hearing were reviewed by the Certificate Action Review Board. This board, comprised of the appointed representative from the Department of Education, California Highway Patrol, and Department of Motor Vehicles, overruled the Department of Motor Vehicle's Referee and voted to not issue the certificate to Mr. Gaut. Mr. Gaut's next avenue of appeal was through the Superior Court, and his case is presently pending further deliberation. The court has ordered that a temporary certificate be issued to Mr. Gaut, which has been done. I have determined that there is a possibility the Certificate Action Review Board may reconvene to consider Mr. Gaut's special circumstances.
In summary, the Department of Motor Vehicles had not acted without cause, authority and concern for school pupil safety in initially refusing to issue Mr. Gaut a certificate. However, when circumstances allow, the department will review and reconsider the merits of each individual case, without prejudgment or discrimination.
Editor's note: On Aug. 13, the Certificate Action Review Board reversed its earlier decision and granted Steve Gaut a special permit to drive a school bus.
Which teams could round out the playoff picture in the East?
Well, the King isn’t actually dead. He’s very much alive. LeBron James is in Los Angeles with the Lakers. He’s just no longer with the Cleveland Cavaliers for a second time in his NBA career after leading the Cavs to four straight NBA Finals and a championship.
Like they did in 2010 when James took his talents to South Beach, the Cavs begin the post-LeBron era anew and hope this time turns out better than it did last time.
In the four seasons when James was with the Miami Heat – let’s call it the InterLeBron Period – the Cavs averaged just over 24 wins a season and missed the playoffs in every year. Sure, you could argue that said failure also led to three lottery wins resulting in Kyrie Irving and the pieces to acquire Kevin Love (Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins) that set the table for LeBron’s return and the franchise’s first title in 2016, but there will be no third act for LeBron in Cleveland. Nearly 34 now, James isn’t returning from the west coast and this separation is a permanent one. Ty Lue and the Cavs must make a fresh start.
But it doesn’t seem like everybody wants a new beginning. Tristan Thompson is perfectly fine with the status quo...even if such a thing doesn’t exist anymore.
As camp opened last month, the Toronto native gave his view of the Eastern Conference landscape and his reality seemed to be as specious as the kind peddled by the Kardashian family every Sunday night.
"We're still four-time Eastern Conference champions, so until you take us down from that, teams ain't got much to say," Thompson said as he pointed to the four Eastern Conference Championship banners at the club’s practice facility. "Boston, Philly, they ain't got much to say. Boston had home court Game 7 and lost. Philly, you guys almost got swept. Toronto -- we already know that story. Until someone takes us down there's not much they can really say."
Already young and hungry, the Celtics welcome back the injured Irving and Gordon Hayward to a team loaded with talent seemingly everywhere. The gifted Sixers are a year older and now playoff-tested. The Raptors rolled the dice and added Kawhi Leonard, now arguably the best player in the Eastern Conference. Thompson’s confidence would be admirable if the gulf in talent between his Cavs and the three teams he dismissed weren’t so stark.
Now, that isn’t to say the Cavs are untalented because that’s far from the truth. The likelihood of the team becoming bottom feeders like they did the first time the best player in the game up and left is low because the incumbent players remaining behind are skilled and experienced, just not to the level of the East’s beasts. But with the East as top-heavy as it is (I guess the NBA itself is pretty top-heavy, in general), there is a path for the Cavs to return to the postseason.
For the first time since leaving the T-Wolves, Love has the opportunity to once again be the man. Now 30, Love becomes the Cavs’ primary scoring option as the only remaining member of the triumvirate alongside James and Irving. It would be foolish to expect Love to post the kind of garish numbers that he did in the Twin Cities (in his last season there, he averaged 26.1 points and 12.5 boards a night), yet it’s important not to forget what he’s capable of doing on a consistent basis.
A career .444 shooter, Love has relied on an outside shot more and more as he’s gotten older. And that’s fine when you were .415 from three a year ago, but Love will need to rediscover his inside game – something he’s eminently able to do – in order to reassert himself as a primary scorer. A healthy Love firing on all cylinders is something that the East has yet to experience and that alone could be enough to buoy the Cavs to relevance in a division that seems to now belong to the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers.
The man now tasked with setting the table for the Cavs could be rookie Collin Sexton, taken with the eighth overall pick out of Alabama. Flashy, but durable, Sexton appears to be a natural playmaker, something the Cavs sorely need in LeBron’s absence. Speedy and unafraid of contact, Sexton isn’t necessarily a pass-first point guard in the vein of, say, Ricky Rubio, yet his ability to distribute in transition could make him indispensable to the Cavs offence in a hurry. Sexton will likely start the season on the bench behind the dependable George Hill, but could force his way into more minutes if he performs with the second unit.
Rodney Hood is another player who stands to benefit in LeBron’s absence, provided that he’s allowed to. When Hood came over last season from the Utah Jazz as part of the Cavs’ pre-deadline roster explosion, it never seemed like the Duke product looked settled in a Cleveland uniform. At the time of the deal, Hood was averaging a career-best 16.8 PPG, but that dropped greatly upon the move. Whether it was simply an inability to get on the same page as James or a level of unease with the player from Lue, Hood dipped to 10.6 PPG in Cleveland even as his actual minutes didn’t decrease drastically, from 27.8 to 25.3.
In the playoffs, the dropoff was even more dramatic. Hood was a virtual nonfactor for most of the posteason, averaging only 15.3 minutes a night and getting into a dispute over playing time with Lue during the second-round series with the Raptors. But his playoffs ended on a high, even if the team’s didn’t, by putting forth his best showing in Games 3 and 4 of the Finals.
If there was an unfamiliarity between Lue and Hood, that’s gone now as the fourth-year coach expects Hood to slot in just behind Love in terms of offensive output.
Ideally, Hood comes into the season with a chip on his shoulder, ready to prove that the first half of last season in Utah was only a taste of the heights he’s capable of reaching.
And if his players have something to prove this season, then so does Lue.
Mocked incessantly over his tenure as Cavs bench boss for being nothing but a paper coach while LeBron drew up the X’s and O’s in actuality, Lue has the opportunity to put his stamp on this team as the Cavs try to reinvent themselves. There are no championship expectations for Lue here now and the pressure cooker that was his first three years in charge has its lid off, giving him some time and leeway to experiment and find the right combination of players and minutes allotment to creep back up on the Eastern Conference. If Lue is able to get the Cavs into the playoffs the season after the departure of the game’s best player, there would be more than a few Coach of the Year votes heading his way.
Whatever happens for the Cavs this season will be interesting, but likely far away from the spotlight that LeBron commands and to which Cleveland has grown accustomed. And that won’t be a bad thing. There should be a looseness about these Cavs that shouldn’t be mistaken for disinterest. There is too much talent here to sleep on and it would be foolish for a team rolling into Quicken Loans Arena to expect an easy night. While it won’t dominate the headlines, the Cleveland Cavaliers carving out a new identity will be an absolutely fascinating storyline to follow this season.
Josephine Baker was a superstar on the French stage. But she was also a member of the French resistance in World War II and an American civil rights activist. A new graphic biography chronicles her many identities.
In Georgia, some undocumented students are turning to civil rights-era leaders to fight for education rights. They say restrictions they face now still smack of Jim Crow. Not everyone agrees.
Looking back to the US incarceration of Japanese Americans and how, as one historian puts it, people can "lose sight of our important national values of justice and rule of law."
Americans were discriminated against and incarcerated during World War II because of their ancestry. Which in turn created a generation of their descendents who don’t want to see it happen again.
Mythili Sampathkumar says “extreme vetting” would affect us all. Here's why she says we need to resist.
The US has already tried registering Muslims. It didn't work.
In the months after 9/11, the US government set up a system to register and interview men from Muslim-majority countries in an effort to combat terrorism. It was quietly shelved after a few years mostly because it didn't work. Trump’s advisors want to bring it back.
Just one day before the killing of Emmett Till, a championship black Little League team from South Carolina was invited to the Little League World Series — but wasn't allowed to play.
1963 was a momentous year in many ways, from the Beatles to James Bond, and from African independence to Vietnam.
Ever wonder how South Africa's former leaders justified apartheid?
Veteran BBC reporter John Humphrys recalls interviewing former South African President P.W. Botha, who saw nothing wrong with treating blacks differently than whites.
A top court in Europe ruled Tuesday that individuals there can ask search engines to remove links to online data they find objectionable. But the decision has left experts with more questions than answers.
Jennifer was once named Edward, a hard-boiled Army sergeant and career soldier in the infantry. But now that her service is done and she's transitioned to being a woman, DOD policies keep her from taking full advantage of veterans benefits unless she reveals that she has transitioned from the other gender.
We all know about the so-called ‘Great Firewall of China,” the half-joking term for the barrier set up to prevent Western media from being consumed in China. And most of us assume there is a great deal of additional censorship with China itself. But until Gary King of Harvard University found a way to peer directly at the inner workings of Chinese censorship, no one knew exactly how it was done or what the Chinese were most serious about censoring.
Washington has taken an increasingly harder line with China on the issues of computer hacking and online censorship. But when the country’s top official for Internet policy – Mr. Lu Wei – visited the office of Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, he got a warm reception.
Turkey is already one of the world's leading jailers of journalists, and it added to that score on Sunday by arresting media employees across the country. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says the arrests are part of a coup plot, but political motives seem more likely.
For years, Stephen Colbert's conservative parody showed how satire and ridicule can be powerful forms of expression. Now with Sony canceling "The Interview" in the face of apparent North Korean threats, his show's ending seems like an even bigger blow for free speech.
For more than a year, journalists and rights advocates around the world have campaigned on behalf of three Al Jazeera journalists behind bars in Egypt. Today, a court in Cairo ordered a new trial for the three men. But they are not being released.
THIS picture shows the opening of the Newport Transporter Bridge on 12th September 1906 by Godfrey Morgan, Viscount Tredegar. Despite the heavy rain the crowds were not deterred and Hundreds went over on the gondola and walked over the top of the bridge. A cigar cutter, in silver was presented to Viscount Tredegar as a memento of the occasion – this can now be seen in Newport Museum. The bridge was designed by Ferdinand Arnodin and representatives from Newport Borough Council went to Rouen, in France to see his bridge there before they decided to have one in Newport. Prior to this, a ferry operated between the banks of the Usk but in 1897 six men were drowned when the ferry was swamped – too many men had jumped on after their last shift.
Earlier in 1889, Newport Council had been discussing a tunnel under the Usk but the cost was prohibitive.
More facts about the Transporter Bridge and open days can be found on the website of the FONTB.
The Now and Then picture shows Newport Transporter Bridge. it’s an important landmark.. as it brings in tourists to the city. There used to be a park called Coronation Park near the bridge, and I used to take my children there. I regularly used the bridge to go to work, nearby in the picture is the entrance to Newport Docks. The Waterloo Hotel is situated by the bridge and there used to be a few factories in the area too.
The bridge was closed for a long time, but I think it’s working again now.
The Now and Then picture shows the Transporter Bridge, the then picture must be on the opening day with several dignitaries posing in the picture. It was built originally for workers who live on one side of the River Usk to reach their workplace on the other side. It was a useful shortcut for the same purpose even in later years.
This is Newport’s famous Transporter Bridge spanning 645 feet of the River Usk. It’s great height of 177 feet was necessary to allow the passage of sailing ships. It was opened by Viscount Tredegar on the 12th of September 1906, work started in 1902. It was designed by M Ferdinand Arnodin the French engineer who built a similar bridge in Rouen. You can walk over the top of the bridge via steps on both sides. At one time – to the delight of small schoolboys – there was a workman’s toilet on the girders alongside the walkway, it consisted of a small hut containing a plank with a hole in it – nothing else – after all, there was the river below! Let us be thankful that there is a dedicated Friends of Newport Transporter Bridge to look after its interests and preserve it for future generations.
I would like to comment on the previous week’s picture of FW Woolworths. I think in the early 60s the building was The Talbot Hotel and the South Wales Argus salesman used to sit in the foyer. I used to work on Stow Hill at the time and I remember anewspaper headline of the time being ‘Newsman makes news’ after the salesman became trapped in the foyer.
NOW AND THEN: Where is this Gwent scene?
NOW AND THEN: Where is this Newport scene?
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State has raised the alarm that the the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) led by Governor Adams Oshiomhole was working on a plan to rig the September 10 governorship election in the state, calling on government institutions and security agencies to beware and not work with the APC in subverting the will of the Edo people.
At campaign rally for the party’s governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, in Uzebba, Owan West Local Government Area, the party also challenged Oshiomhole to tell Edo people how much a company, Afrinvest, owned by the APC governorship candidate, Godwin Obaseki, has invested in the the Edo University, Iyamho (EUI).
State chairman of the PDP, Dan Orbih, who made the remark, said Governor Oshiomhole has boasted that he was working on a plan to perfect the rigging of the election in conjunction with INEC officials, police, army and other security agencies.
He said it was morally wrong for Oshiomhole to use unappropriated funds to build the EUI in his hometown, accusing the governor of spending over N18 billion in the university, and was planning to hand over power Obaseki.
He said, “President Buhari has never intervened in any election before now, so we hope Edo State will not be an exception. Nobody can use INEC, police, army or EFCC to rig the PDP out.
Also speaking, Ize-Iyamu described as sheer wickedness the total neglect of Owan people politically and economically by the government of Oshiomhole and promised to focus his attention on proper development of the locality if he gets elected.
He promised that a PDP government will tar the Uzebba and Okpujie township roads which he said have been abandoned, just as he promised to employ more teachers in the schools in the locality.
Florida Governor Rick Scott announced a "major action plan" to keep Florida students safe following the school shooting in Parkland.
"Unfortunately, none of the plans I’m announcing today will bring any of them back, but it’s important to remember them. The seventeen lives that were cut short and all the hopes and dreams that were ruined have changed our state forever. Florida will never be the same," Scott said after naming the 17 victims killed.
To read the Governor’s full major action plan, click HERE .
By Ross Elliott - posted Wednesday, 28 May 2014 Sign Up for free e-mail updates!
Discussions about housing affordability focus almost exclusively on the price of the real estate, movements in which are monitored by multiple organisations on a seemingly daily basis. There is comparatively little discussion about people's incomes, which are equally as important as prices in determining what can and can't be reasonably afforded. The income profile of what most Australian's actually earn paints a sobering picture which could more often be taken into account in debates about housing and affordability.
It's becoming fashionable again for business lobbies to complain about Australia's high wage structure. It explains, they'll argue, why we lost Holden, Ford, Toyota, and (almost) Qantas, among other things. And yes, Australia's wages are high by competitor standards - but so are our costs. One of the most fundamental of needs, along with food and clothing, is shelter. And it's the cost of shelter relative to incomes which has been stretched to beyond reach for a large proportion of young Australians.
Reducing minimum wages or reducing wage growth further, if at the same time allowing housing costs to further escalate, will only make this situation worse. Arguably, if we could substantially reduce the cost of supplying new housing, this would relieve upward pressure on wages and work towards improving our global competitiveness – along with repairing living standards for working and middle class families, rather than eroding them.
First, here are some of the facts on the infrequently discussed income side of the equation. (I am again indebted to the team at Urban Economics for making these available. These are top line numbers only: if you want more detailed analysis, please contact Kerrianne Bonwick).
Nearly two in three of all Australians earn less than $52,000 per annum. It doesn't much matter whether it's Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne; the proportion is roughly the same. It's not much. Slightly more than another one in every eight earn from $52,000 to $78,000 per annum. Roughly eight in ten Australians earn less than $78,000 per annum.
Problem? It is if you're trying to buy into the housing market. Take a modest house of say $400,000 (very modest depending on location). A worker on $50,000 – and these represent nearly two thirds of all workers remember – is facing a price multiple which is 8 times their gross pre-tax income. Basically, two thirds of us are stuffed in terms of affording even a modest $400,000 property if we weren't already in the market. A more reasonable price multiple of say 5 times income would require an income of $80,000 per annum or more. But there are less than 15% of Australians who fit this category.
But wait, shouldn't we count household, as opposed to personal, incomes? A good point, particularly for younger families and young couples, where dual incomes are the norm due to necessity.
But even based on combined household incomes, a third of all households earn less than $52,000 per annum. Another 14% to 15% earn between $52,000 and $78,000 and another 11% or 12% earn between $78,000 and $104,000. A reasonably healthy 30% of all households bring in a combined $104,000 per annum or more, but seven in ten bring in less than that.
Taking our modest $400,000 home again, and roughly half of all household incomes fall short of the $80,000 mark required for a price-to-income multiple of five. For one in three of every households, their combined income means a price to income multiple of eight times. They are pretty much stuffed, still.
The sophomore kicker became the first female in VHS history to score, kicking an extra point in last week's win over Bridgeton.
VINELAND - When soccer just couldn’t provide enough kicks, Carli Kling made the decision to try something new.
Last Friday, she kicked her way right into the Vineland High School football record books.
With a braided ponytail splitting the numbers down the back of her No. 13 jersey, the sophomore booted an extra-point in the fourth quarter of the Fighting Clan’s 27-8 season-opening victory over Bridgeton, becoming the first female in the program’s history to notch a point.

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