New Orleans' challenge: policing 2 huge parties

FILE -In this Friday, Feb. 1, 2002 file photo, National Guardsmen patrol the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. It's an unprecedented security challenge for New Orleans: the city's increasingly raucous buildup to Mardi Gras gets suspended for a week as 150,000 visitors flood the town for Super Bowl. Joining the police department's 1,200-plus officers for Super Bowl week are more than 200 state troopers and about 100 officers from surrounding local jurisdictions. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)

FILE -In this Friday, Feb. 1, 2002 file photo, National Guardsmen patrol the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. It's an unprecedented security challenge for New Orleans: the city's increasingly raucous buildup to Mardi Gras gets suspended for a week as 150,000 visitors flood the town for Super Bowl. Joining the police department's 1,200-plus officers for Super Bowl week are more than 200 state troopers and about 100 officers from surrounding local jurisdictions. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)

FILE -In this Friday, Feb. 1, 2002 file photo, a National Guardsman walks through a fence near the Louisiana Superdome, as security is tightened leading up to Sunday's Super Bowl XXXVI between the St. Louis Rams and New England Patriots. It's an unprecedented security challenge for New Orleans: the city's increasingly raucous buildup to Mardi Gras gets suspended for a week as 150,000 visitors flood the town for Super Bowl. Joining the police department's 1,200-plus officers for Super Bowl week are more than 200 state troopers and about 100 officers from surrounding local jurisdictions. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? The FBI says no credible threats of terrorist activity have been reported as New Orleans prepares for Sunday's Super Bowl.

The head of the New Orleans FBI office and other federal authorities, led by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, discussed security precautions at a news conference Wednesday.

The big game poses a challenge for the New Orleans police force. It coincides with the often raucous buildup to the Feb. 12 Mardi Gras celebration.

On game day, security precautions will include restrictions on air traffic in the vicinity of the Superdome, and pat-down searches of ticket holders entering the stadium.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-30-Super-Bowl-Security/id-3f3cf49b20d24f90bbf5940a8e439f12

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Video: Blumenthal: Common ground needed on gun show loophole

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/50642175/

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North Korean Gulags and 5 Other Secret Sites Exposed by Google Maps

On Monday, Google filled in one of the last blank spots on its digital map: North Korea, adding detailed imagery of the secretive country for the first time.

To build the map, a community of citizen cartographers came together in Google Map Maker to make their contributions such as adding road names and points of interest, Google said. The map isn???t perfect - crowd-sourced collections may not be - but any errors can be cross-checked by hundreds of eager eyes.

Google???s efforts are just the latest evolution of what is a full-time job for some, and a strangely compelling online hobby for others. In 2011, a number of amateur Internet sleuths began investing a series of mysterious lines that appeared in the Chinese desert. Numerous explanations were put forward: a signal array? A bombing range? To this day, the lines remain unexplained.

These unofficial investigators are now poring over the millions of square miles of satellite imagery Google accumulated via its partners, and collected within its Google Maps and Google Earth framework. With the addition of North Korea to the digital library, those interested in exploring the ???Hermit Kingdom??? have another locale to virtually explore.

Some locations come and go. ITSecurity compiled a list of locations that were blurred out in years past for either security or privacy reasons, including the roof of the White House. But today, the roof appears unobscured, although the building???s defenses still apparently remain digitally erased. And, of course, Area 51 can be digitally explored, at least from the air. Taiwan also reportedly asked that one of its military bases be digitally hidden from Apple Maps.

In the next few pages, we???ll show you a few locations governments want to keep secret, and what they might mean.

Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2414904,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05079TX1K0000992

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Boy snatched from school bus, held hostage in bunker

A school bus driver was fatally shot in Midland County, Ala., by a man who boarded the bus with children on board and then abducted a six-year-old student. He is holding the child hostage in an underground bunker. WSFA's Samuel King reports.

By Erin McClam and Matthew DeLuca, NBC News

An Alabama man was holding a child hostage in an underground bunker early Wednesday after he boarded a school bus, shot and killed the driver, and took the boy, authorities and witnesses said.

Witnesses told WSFA, a local NBC station, that the man was talking to authorities through a PVC pipe. The station reported that the child, age 5 or 6, was not hurt but that authorities were calling the situation delicate.

The Dale County school system said 21 students made it off the bus safely. The abduction took place after school Tuesday in Midland City, a town of about 2,300 near the Alabama-Florida state line.

The Dothan Eagle newspaper quoted a neighbor, Michael Creel, as saying that the shooter was 67 years old. Creel described the bunker as a ?homemade bomb shelter,? roughly 4 feet wide, 6 feet long and 8 feet deep and covered by several feet of sand.

A second neighbor, James Edward Davis Jr., told the newspaper that the man would be ?outside in his yard digging dirt at 2:30 in the morning.? Another neighbor, Danny Dean, told NBC News that the man had dug up his own driveway.

?He?s always got a shovel,? Dean said. ?You would be amazed at the dirt he?s moved with a shovel by hand.?

A minister said that the man boarded the bus and told most of the students to get off. The man grabbed the boy, shot the bus driver several times and ran off with the boy, the minister said, quoting children he had talked to.

The bus driver, Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, had worked as a driver for the county since 2009. Linda Williams, a county tax clerk whose cousin was married to Poland, described him to NBC News as ?a good Christian man? who was active in church.

WSFA reported that the driver had tried to stop the man before being shot. The boy reportedly fainted before he was taken.

The minister, Michael Senn, told WSFA that the other children ran for safety and hid behind Destiny Church.

?All the kids are at a safe place,? he said, though he added that they all appeared to be in shock.

Dean said that the man had lived in the neighborhood a year and a half to two years. He said the man had been friendly to him but was not known in the neighborhood to socialize or go to church.

Claudia Davis, who lives on the road where the standoff was taking place, told The Associated Press: ?Before this happened, I would see him at several places, and he would just stare a hole through me.?

Creel told the newspaper that the man was ?the type that thinks the government?s out to get them.?

In addition to the county sheriff?s department, local police, the FBI and a SWAT team were on the scene. Authorities ordered people living nearby to leave during the standoff.

The office of Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said the governor was closely watching the situation.

?Prayers for law enforcement, this child?s family and the community are lifted up,? the governor?s press secretary, Jennifer Ardis, said on Twitter.

Rep. Martha Roby, who represents the area, also asked for prayers and added on Twitter: ?Let?s be patient as law enforcement officers do their best to get to the bottom of this and bring the person responsible to justice.?

Schools in Dale County and the nearby city of Ozark were closed for the rest of the week. Dale County schools said counselors would be available to help students, including those who were on the bus.

The Dothan Eagle via AP

A man boarded this stopped school bus in the town of Midland City on Tuesday afternoon and shot the driver when he refused to let a child off the bus. The bus driver died.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/30/16759153-boy-held-hostage-in-bunker-after-being-snatched-from-school-bus

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Nexus 4 trots out in white, sets unicorn fans aflutter

We're pretty fond of unicorns white phones here at Engadget, especially rare ones like the white Nokia N9. So you can imagine our excitement when we came across this photo of a white Nexus 4 over at Phone Arena. While rumors of a white Nexus 4 have been swirling around the intertubes for some time, a picture speaks a thousand words, right? We took a long, eagle-eyed look at this image and didn't see any signs of trickery. Obviously this doesn't mean a white Nexus 4 is on the way -- it could just be a dummy handset and / or a one-off prototype. Still, if last year's white Galaxy Nexus is any indication, there's a chance this is the real deal. We've reached out to Google and LG for comment, so stay tuned -- it sure would be lovely to add this beast to our stable.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google, LG

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Source: Phone Arena

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Low-Cost Mobile Device Uses the Cloud to Speed Up Diagnostic ...

Columbia engineering professor Sam Sia's handheld mobile device is a fast, low-cost device that uses the cloud to speed up diagnostic testing for HIV and other diseases.

Samuel K. Sia, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia Engineering, has taken his innovative lab-on-a-chip and developed a way to not only check a patient's HIV status anywhere in the world with just a finger prick, but also synchronize the results automatically and instantaneously with central health-care records?10 times faster, the researchers say, than the benchtop ELISA, a broadly used diagnostic technique. The device was field-tested in Rwanda by a collaborative team from the Sia lab and ICAP at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health.

In the study published online Jan. 18, 2013, in Clinical Chemistry, and in the print April 2013 issue, Sia describes a major advance towards providing people in remote areas of the world with laboratory-quality diagnostic services traditionally available only in centralized health care settings.

"We've built a handheld mobile device that can perform laboratory-quality HIV testing, and do it in just 15 minutes and on finger-pricked whole blood," Sia says. "And, unlike current HIV rapid tests, our device can pick up positive samples normally missed by lateral flow tests, and automatically synchronize the test results with patient health records across the globe using both the cell phone and satellite networks."

Sia collaborated with Claros Diagnostics (a company he co-founded, now called OPKO Diagnostics) to develop a pioneering strategy for an integrated microfluidic-based diagnostic device?the mChip?that can perform complex laboratory assays, and do so with such simplicity that these tests can easily be carried out anywhere, including in resource-limited settings, at a very low cost. This new study builds upon his earlier scientific concepts and incorporates a number of new engineering elements that make the test automated to run with data communication over both cell phone and satellite networks.

"There are a set of core functions that such a mobile device has to deliver," he says. "These include fluid pumping, optical detection, and real-time synchronization of diagnostic results with patient records in the cloud. We've been able to engineer all these functions on a handheld mobile device and all powered by a battery."

This new technology, which combines cell phone and satellite communication technologies with fluid miniaturization techniques for performing all essential ELISA functions, could lead to diagnosis and treatment for HIV-infected people who, because they cannot get to centralized healthcare centers, do not get tested or treated.

"This is an important step forward for us towards making a real impact on patients," says Jessica Justman, MD, senior technical director at ICAP and associate clinical professor of medicine in epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health. "And with the real-time data upload, policymakers and epidemiologists can also monitor disease prevalence across geographical regions more quickly and effectively."

Working with ICAP, OPKO, the Rwandan Ministry of Health, and Rwandan collaborators at Muhima Hospital and two health clinics?Projet San Francisco and Projet Ubuzima, Sia and his team assessed the device's ability to perform HIV testing and then synchronized results in real time with the patients' electronic health records. They successfully tested over 200 serum, plasma, and whole blood samples, all collected in Rwanda.

The mobile device also successfully transmitted all whole-blood test results from a Rwandan clinic to a medical records database stored on the cloud. The device produced results in agreement with a leading ELISA test, including detection of weakly positive samples that were missed by existing rapid tests. The device operated autonomously with minimal user input, produced each result in 15 minutes (compared to 3 hours with the benchtop ELISA), and consumed as little power as a mobile phone.

This latest study builds on previous work from the Sia Lab on building a lab-on-a-chip for personal health diagnosis. For this earlier device, Columbia University was named a Medical Devices runner-up in The Wall Street Journal's prestigious Technology Innovation Awards in 2011.

This research has been funded by a $2-million Saving Lives at Birth transition grant (United States Agency for International Development, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Government of Norway, Grand Challenges Canada, and the World Bank).

Sia's next step will be to implement an antenatal care panel for diagnosing HIV and sexually transmitted diseases for pregnant women in Rwanda. He is also exploring the use of this technology for improving personal health for consumers in the United States.

"The ability to perform state-of-the-art diagnostics on mobile devices has the potential to revolutionize how patients manage their health," Sia says. "I'm pleased with the progress we have made so far, and we are working hard with our collaborators to bring this technology to clinicians, patients, and consumers."
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Source: http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/news/2013/01/lowcost-mobile-device-uses-the-cloud-to-speed-up-diagnostic-testing-for-hiv.aspx

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SA's Integr8 Goes Global With Fax Unplugged | TechMoran

• By?TechMoran
• January 28, 2013

Read 667 times!

Ashleigh Whitfield, COO, Fax Unplugged

The Integr8 Group, South Africa?s leading ICT managed services provider, is going global and? re-branding Integr8 Fax to Fax Unplugged.

Integr8 Fax is a well established and renowned leader in innovative cloud-based technologies around paper to electronic based unified communications, with Fax to email as one of its core offerings.

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The company is one of a handful of providers that own and manage their own platform, with a substantial base of resellers that offer fax to email services under their own white labelled brand.

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Robert Sussman, joint CEO of Integr8, explains that Fax Unplugged offers precisely the same level of performance, reliability and ease-of-use that customers have come to expect from the company?s fax2email service ? only that it is now being managed under a different brand.

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Executive management believe the Fax Unplugged brand has global appeal and also the technical clout to be established more independently and aggressively in the market.

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?This will further cement our fax-to-email offering as a corporate service which differentiates itself from casual, non-established email providers in that it is an enterprise grade service. Platforms globally are hosted in carrier grade data centres with full triangulation and redundancy,? Sussman continues.

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All communication through the fax servers is recorded via an advanced algorithm which allows for archiving and indexing according to the South African ECT Act or regulatory compliance in the respective country.

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Management at Integr8 believe the offering empowers global consumers of solutions that facilitate the transition from paper-based fax to electronic communication.

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They also emphasise the opportunity and growing requirement for this level of technology and support within the government sector.

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?Whilst it is tricky to quantify the size of the market with total accuracy, there is said to be in the region of almost 13 million email users in South Africa alone. There is definitely growth within the international fax-to-email market and an increase in awareness and interest in this technology on the domestic front,? comments Ashleigh Whitfield, COO, Fax Unplugged.

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?This growth is being driven by the advantages this system offers users, including the fact that there is no limit on the number of faxes that can be received, the speed of operation and cost saving due to the automated process that is involved,? she adds.

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Fax Unplugged is already available through Integr8. For more information, click through to www.faxunplugged.com

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Founded in 2001, Integr8 (www.integr8group.com) organically grew to become the largest privately owned ICT infrastructure management and managed services company on the African continent.

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In 2013, Integr8 was acquired by BCG (the holding company of Business Connexion (BCX), and is now part of the largest JSE listed IT company on the African continent with over 7,000 professionals and a turnover over R 5.5 billion.

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As a result, Integr8?s customers benefit from a healthy balance of entrepreneurial innovation.

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Integr8 own and operate the only South African based Nerve Centre? (www.nervecentre.co.za).? This digital hub of technology, skilled personnel and ITIL processes, manage and regulate the complete ICT environment of many of the country?s leading organisations.

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Integr8 is vendor agnostic, choosing the very best solution for each client and can deliver managed ICT services through the cloud to customers of any size and in any location.

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The company supports multiple charitable organisations. In fact, the Integr8 Group found itself sponsoring so many initiatives it has created the Integr8 Foundation, which will act as a central facilitator for all CSI in future. It is supported both by the company and by the directors in their personal capacity.

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Read 667 times!

Source: http://techmoran.com/2013/01/28/sas-integr8-goes-global-with-fax-unplugged/

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'Blood-biting' predator identified

27 January 2013 Last updated at 21:00 ET

Prehistoric remains discovered more than a century ago have been identified as a new species of marine super-predator.

Researchers said the 165-million-year-old creature was distantly related to modern-day crocodiles.

Parts of its skeleton were found near Peterborough in the early 1900s and are held at Glasgow's Hunterian museum.

The species has been named as Tyrannoneustes lythrodectikos, meaning "blood-biting tyrant swimmer".

Scientists found that the partial skeleton - including a jawbone and teeth - belonged to a group of crocodiles that were similar to dolphins.

The animal's pointed, serrated teeth and large gaping jaw meant it would have been suited to feeding on large-bodied prey.

A team of experts led by the University of Edinburgh said it would help scientists better understand how marine reptiles were evolving about 165 million years ago.

'Missing link'

The researchers believe the species represents a missing link between marine crocodiles that fed on small prey, and others that were similar to modern-day killer whales, which fed on larger prey.

Their findings have been published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.

Dr Mark Young of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, said: "It is satisfying to be able to classify a specimen that has been unexamined for more than 100 years, and doubly so to find that this discovery improves our understanding of the evolution of marine reptiles."

Dr Neil Clark, palaeontology curator at the Hunterian, said little research had been done on the specimen since it was first listed in 1919.

He added: "It is comforting to know that new species can still be found in museums as new research is carried out on old collections.

"It is not just the new species that are important, but an increase in our understanding of how life evolved and the variety of life forms that existed 163 million years ago in the warm Jurassic seas around what is now Britain."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-21220499#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Spotlight: Leaders in Commercial Banking in 2013 ? North Bay ...

Individuals are alphabetized by name of institution.

Larry Tidwell

AltaPacific Bank

3725 Westwind Blvd., Ste. 100, Santa Rosa 95403,?apbconect.com, 707-236-1521

Larry Tidwell

Larry Tidwell has served as the executive vice president in the real estate industries group at AltaPacific Bank in Santa Rosa since April 2009. He oversees all construction lending, a responsibility he held in his previous position as executive vice president in the real estate industries group at Temecula Valley Bank.

Mr. Tidwell was born in Roswell, N.M., and has lived in the North Bay for 30 years. He cited the retention of customers over more than 15 years as a major accomplishment.

?I think one thing we will see in 2013 is more banks throwing their hat in the ring with regards to lending,? he said.??This will lead to healthy competition amongst lenders, which will be good for borrowers as they will have more choices.?

AltaPacific Bank was founded in 2006 and has assets of $222 million.

Gus Zijlstra

American River Bank

90 S. E St., Ste. 11, Santa Rosa 95404, americanriverbank.com, 707-528-6300

Gus Zijlstra

Gus Zijlstra is vice president and relationship manager at American River Bank and has 16 years of experience in commercial lending.

A native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mr. Zijlstra has a management and accounting degree from Sonoma State University and a master?s degree from the University of San Francisco. He moved to Santa Rosa in 1985 after graduating from the Argentine Naval Academy and a successful naval career.

Mr. Zijlstra said the one-on-one customer service he provides is what clients expect from a community bank, and those interactions are enhanced by his experience in the banking industry. He is also a frequent volunteer for community organizations, including his work to help mentor elementary school students through Operation Getting Together and to teach financial concepts at the junior high level through Junior Achievement of the Redwood Empire.

American River Bank is a 30-year-old regional business bank with $585 million in assets.

David Meddaugh

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

10 Santa Rosa Ave., Ste. 210, Santa Rosa 95404,?bankofamerica.com, 707-293-2553

David Meddaugh

David Meddaugh is the senior vice president and market manager of the North Coast commercial banking office of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He has been with the bank for more than 30 years. In his current capacity, he manages the unit?s largest client relationships, with particular focus on the wine and specialty food and beverage industries.

Mr. Meddaugh also serves as the bank?s liaison with the California wine industry. He has presented at the Wine Industry Financial Symposium, Unified Wine and Grape Symposium, Leadership Forum, Sonoma State University Economic Outlook and Moss Adams Wine Industry Roundtable.

He earned bachelor?s degrees in both economics and finance from California State University, Chico, and holds an MBA in corporate finance from the Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington.

Mr. Meddaugh was raised in Santa Rosa. He lives there with his wife and two children at their Buckshot Ranch property, which has been planted to Italian varietal olive trees.

Beth Reizman

Bank of Marin

504 Redwood Blvd., Ste. 100, Novato 94947,?bankofmarin.com, 415-763-4520

Beth Reizman

Beth Reizman?is a seasoned lender and manager who has held various positions over her 17-year tenure at Bank of Marin. As commercial banking manager, she is based in?the bank?s headquarters in Novato. She also is a member of the senior management team, helping set the strategic direction of the bank. Ms. Reizman claims her greatest banking accomplishment is helping contribute to the growth and success of Bank of Marin.

Ms. Reizman is currently treasurer of the Marin Workforce Housing Trust Board and serves on their finance committee. She has served on numerous local non-profit boards in the past, including Novato Human Needs Center, North Bay Children?s Center, and Novato Sunrise Rotary. She has also been a long time community volunteer with Lucas Valley Swim Team, Lucas Valley Community Church, and Marin Catholic High School.

Born in the Philippines, she attended the International School in Manila then graduated with a degree in economics from Stanford University. Ms. Reizman started her career at Crocker Bank in the Asia Pacific division then held numerous private and commercial banking positions with Crocker, Hibernia Bank and Bank of California.

Larry Fletcher

Bank of Napa

2007 Redwood Rd., Ste. 101, Napa 94558,?thebankofnapa.com, 707-257-7777

Larry Fletcher

A 30-year resident of Northern California, Larry Fletcher is the executive vice president and chief credit officer at Bank of Napa. He has more than 30 years of experience as a banking executive, 26 of them in Napa and Solano counties. He is responsible for all aspects of the bank?s loan portfolio.

Born in Southern California, Mr. Fletcher graduated from Long Beach State University in 1974 with a degree in business administration. He graduated with honors from the Pacific Coast Banking School in Seattle in 1988.

Prior to joining Bank of Napa, Mr. Fletcher was the manager of the commercial lending hub for Vintage Bank. He also held the previous role of chief credit officer for Solano Bank, a subsidiary of Vintage Bank in Vacaville, and began his banking career as a consumer loan officer for United California Bank in Los Angeles.

Outside of the bank, he serves on the board of directors for Child Start, a nonprofit that operates the Head Start child-development organization in Napa and Solano counties.

Tom LeMasters, president and CEO, credited Mr. Fletcher with helping the bank to grow a strong portfolio during tumultuous economic times. The bank reported nearly $150 million in assets at the end of 2012.

Don Mercer

Bank of the West

20 S. Petaluma Blvd., Petaluma 94952,?bankofthewest.com, 707-778-3313

Don Mercer

Don Mercer, senior vice president and national sales manager, has been with Bank of the West for 13 years. In this role for the bank, he manages the region?s SBA team for small business and commercial lending.

Previously, Mr. Mercer served as a branch manager, regional business development officer and regional manager at the bank. He began his banking career while in college, and assumed his current position in 2007.

A graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School, Mr. Mercer also holds a bachelor?s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. Born in Anaheim and raised in Fullerton, he has lived in the North Bay for more than 10 years. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking and reading.

Founded in 1874, $63 billion-asset Bank of the West operates 700 branches and offices in 19 states. The bank has several branches in the North Bay, including a commercial lending office in Petaluma and a wine-focused lending office in Napa.

Michael Silva

Comerica Bank

2 Embarcadero Ctr., Ste. 300, San Francisco 94111, comerica.com, 415-477-3274

Michael Silva

Michael Silva is a senior vice president at Comerica Bank, heading the bank?s commercial lending group in San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma and Mendocino counties. He has served in his current role for nine years and has been with Comerica for a total of 15 years. That followed 12 years at Union Bank.

Mr. Silva has a bachelor of science degree in finance from Santa Clara University?and is a graduate of Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington.

Comerica serves a number of specialty food manufacturers in the North Bay, and the wine industry represents about 25 percent of the bank?s regional portfolio, he said.

?There are a lot of companies in the region that are emerging from a smaller size and looking to grow,? Mr. Silva said.

He said that the bank also sees growth opportunities for other sectors in the region, such as helping to finance the purchase of the North Bay Business Journal, Santa Rosa Press Democrat and the Petaluma Argus-Courier last year.

?You?re seeing the impact of local business people owning their local newspaper,? he said.

Comerica Bank had $63.3 billion in assets in its most recent report.

Steve Herron

Exchange Bank

545 Fourth St., Dept. 410, Santa Rosa 95401,?exchangebank.com, 707-524-3102

Steve Herron

Steve Herron has served as senior vice president and manager for commercial lending at Exchange Bank since 2000. He focused on business lending for seven years prior to that as a business development officer at the bank.?

Mr. Herron?s banking career began in Los Angeles, where he participated in a commercial lending training program for Union Bank. The program included a one-year assignment in Sacramento, which led to his transfer to the bank?s small banking office in Santa Rosa as a commercial lender in 1987.

Since 1996, Exchange Bank has steadily developed?its?growing?niche as a commercial lender catering to Sonoma County?s artisan?winemakers, growers and vineyard managers, growing that portfolio?to more than $150 million.?

A resident of the North Bay since 1987, Mr. Herron grew up in Fresno. In his spare time he loves to listen to music, read business periodicals, follow the stock markets and collect fine wine.

?I personally think there is a reasonable level of pent-up demand within the business community ? most sectors ? for growth in hiring, capital expansion and expanded business lending,? he said.??I think it will start slowly in 2013, held back by the second phase of the fiscal/budget cliff, but accelerate during the second quarter and into the back half of 2013.?

Exchange Bank was founded more than 120 years ago and reported more than $1.6 billion in assets in its last financial filing.

Barbara Larson

First Community Bank

438 First St.,? Santa Rosa 95401,?fcbconnect.com, 707-636-9711

Barbara Larson is vice president and commercial loan officer at First Community Bank.

Barbara Larson

Ms. Larson has been in the banking industry since 1996, and joined First Community Bank in 2008. She specializes in commercial lines of credit, equipment financing and SBA financing. The bank describes her as a client favorite who brings a wealth of business expertise and customized personal service to each relationship.

?I love working for a community bank, and First Community was the perfect fit for me professionally and personally,? she said.

The bank encourages community service, and Ms. Larson shares her time and talent in through a number of community organizations. She is the current treasurer of the Santa Rosa West Rotary Club, a position she has held for nine years. As a longtime advocate for children, young adults and seniors, she also serves as the treasurer for the Elder Care Expo board of directors.

Carol Landry

First Northern Bank

555 Mason St., Ste. 100, Vacaville 95688,?thatsmybank.com, 707-447-8600

Carol Landry

Carol Landry is the senior vice president and western region commercial loan manager for First Northern Bank. She has been with the bank for eight years. In her current position, Ms. Landry manages commercial loan activities in Solano and Yolo counties.

She has more than 30 years of experience in commercial lending, including several community and national banks in Solano, Yolo and Napa counties.

Ms. Landry is past chairman of Vacaville Chamber of Commerce and Vacaville Library Commission. She has been a board member of several community organizations in Solano County. Ms. Landry holds a bachelor of arts degree in economics from the University of California, Davis, and is a graduate of Pacific Coast Banking School at University of Washington.

First Northern Bank was founded in 1910 to provide better banking services to the Solano agribusiness community. Today, in addition to operating lines of credit and equipment lines and leases, the bank offers commercial solar financing and commercial real estate loans to small- and medium-sized businesses and farms. The 10-branch bank is a preferred SBA lender and reported $805.6 million in total assets on Sept. 30.

Ruth Edwards

Mechanics Bank

433 Soscol Ave. Ste. 161, Napa 94559,?mechanicsbank.com, 707-256-4343

Ruth Edwards

Ruth Edwards, senior vice president and corporate banking regional manager for the Napa region of Mechanics Bank, has spent more than a decade as a North Bay banker. A longtime wine country resident who grew up in Santa Rosa, she joined the bank?s Napa corporate banking office in 2006. Previously, she was part of the Santa Rosa regional commercial banking office of?Wells Fargo. She lives with her husband, Gary, and two small children in Sonoma.

Mechanics Bank has been a North Bay fixture for 17 years. Its Napa client relationships, however, date back to the early 20th century, when it was a well-known lender to the wine industry. The bank has continued to lend during the economic downturn and focused on furthering its customer relationships as industries weathered the so-called Great Recession.

The 107-year-old bank passed the $3 billion asset mark last year with significant deposit growth. Offices throughout Northern California include Napa, a St. Helena and San Rafael. A new Napa office is set to open in late spring.

Mike Ledwich

Rabobank, N.A.

700 Trancas St., Napa 94558,?rabobankamerica.com, 916-797-8286

Mike Ledwich

Mike Ledwich is vice president and commercial banking officer for Rabobank, N.A. He is responsible for fostering new business relationships and providing solutions to meet the banking needs of business customers in Napa and Sonoma counties.

A banker for 26 years, Mr. Ledwich has spent his entire career in Napa. Before joining Rabobank, Mr. Ledwich was senior vice president and client relationship manager at Bay Commercial Bank as well as senior vice president and relationship manager at Charter Oak Bank.? He also served as vice president and senior relationship manager at Mechanics Bank in Napa for 10 years.

Mr. Ledwich earned a bachelor of science degree in finance and economics from Sacramento State University?and an MBA from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. ?A lifelong resident of Napa, he is a member and past president of Napa Sunrise Rotary Club.

Rabobank is a California community bank with nearly 120 branches, including branches in Napa and Sonoma and a branch and agribusiness lending office in Santa Rosa.

Michael Downey

Redwood Credit Union

3033 Cleveland Ave., Santa Rosa 95403,?redwoodcu.org, 877-545-4100

Michel Downey

Michael Downey is senior vice president of business services for Redwood Credit Union, where he has managed the credit union?s business programs since 2006. He has a bachelor?s degree in business administration from Chico State University?and served on the city of Santa Rosa Board of Public Utilities for nearly 24 years.

Mr. Downey has many years of business management and financial services experience in Sonoma County. He owned a local business for 30 years. Recognizing the unique financial needs of small businesses, Mr. Downey started a financial services career more than 10 years ago to provide custom financial solutions to help local businesses grow and thrive.

Aging baby boomers will play a prominent role in commercial lending in 2013 as they execute business-exit strategies and transfer assets, he said.

?We are entering a period of the largest transition of generational wealth in the history of our country,? he said.

In 2008, Mr. Downey helped start Redwood Credit Union?s SBA program, which has ranked among the top lenders in the North Bay for the past four years. The credit union is a Small Business Administration preferred lender with more than $2 billion in assets and in excess 220,000 members.

Sunny Lapham

SAFE-BIDCO

1377 Corporate Center Pkwy., Ste. A, Santa Rosa 95407,?safe-bidco.com, 707-577-8621

Sunny Lapham

Sunny Lapham joined SAFE-BIDCO as a loan officer in 2004. Ms. Lapham?s current responsibilities include underwriting and financial analysis of loan requests and overseeing the corporation?s Small Business Loan Guarantee Program and the Energy Efficiency Loan Program.

Ms. Lapham works extensively with community lenders to facilitate their small business lending. Under her stewardship, the Small Business Loan Guarantee Program tripled in volume this past year.

She has 25 years of experience in north coast banking and financial development, including stints at Exchange Bank and Redwood Credit Union. She has a degree in social psychology from University of Nevada?and trained to administer loan programs backed by the Small Business Administration, as well as general banking. Ms. Lapham has served on the board of directors for a number of businesses, nonprofits and educational organizations in the North Bay.

Rob McMillan

Silicon Valley Bank

899 Adams St., Ste. G2, St. Helena 94574,?svb.com/winedivision, 707-967-1367

Rob McMillan

Rob McMillan is the founder of the?St. Helena-based?Wine Division of??Silicon Valley Bank. Starting in 1992, he developed the division from the idea and startup phase to the point where it?s now regarded by many as the leading provider of financial services to the fine wine business on the West Coast.

Mr. McMillan?s banking career has spanned more than 30 years, over 20 with Silicon Valley Bank. In that time, he has moved though roles of increasing responsibility including a term on the bank?s Managing Committee.

Today, Mr. McMillan supports Silicon Valley Bank?s continuing growth and success in the wine business assisting the rest of the division?s clients and bankers: sharing views on the macro factors impacting the fine wine business, offering customized management presentations for clients, writing, speaking and managing a portfolio of client relationships.

He has published reports of varied and emerging trends to the wine industry over the past decade and is author of the bank?s annual Wine Industry Report. Mr. McMillan?s perspectives regarding the direction, opportunities and threats in the fine wine business continue to be cited in regional, national international and the wine trade press.

Mr. McMillan received a bachelor?s degree in finance and economics from Sacramento State University and an MBA from Leavey School of Business at?Santa Clara University. He is affiliated with, and supports numerous charities and industry associations both in and outside of the wine industry.

He is the father of two, enjoys the outdoors and travel, and takes any opportunity to play percussion and drums in live settings.

Jamie Williams

Sonoma Bank

1101 Fifth Ave., Ste. 360, San Rafael 94901,?sonomabank.com, 415-747-3202

Jamie Williams

Jamie Williams has been senior vice president and commercial banking regional director for Sonoma Bank since he was hired two and a half years ago. His focus has been on building strong commercial banking teams in Marin County, East Bay and Santa Rosa. He said hiring high-performing, well-known veteran bankers are key in the success of the bank?s commercial teams in the region.

Along with traditional business banking products and services, Sonoma Bank has experienced tremendous growth in owner-occupied commercial real estate lending.

Mr. Williams was born in Marin and has lived in Novato for more than 21 years. He has been in the banking industry for more than 30 years, always on the commercial or corporate banking side. Prior to joining Sonoma Bank, he was a founder of Greater Bay Bank Marin and was regional vice president for Westamerica Bank. His first position was in 1978 as a management trainee for Wells Fargo after graduating from Santa Clara University with a degree in economics.

Sterling Bank of Spokane, Wash., does business in California as Sonoma Bank.

Bill Fogarty

Summit State Bank

500 Bicentennial Way, Santa Rosa 95403,?summitstatebank.com, 707-568-6000

Bill Fogarty

Bill Fogarty is senior vice president and chief credit officer at Summit State Bank. Mr. Fogarty joined Summit at the end of 2011 with 25 years of banking experience, including chief credit officer and chief executive roles at other community banking institutions.

Mr. Fogarty attended Arizona State University and earned a bachelor?s degree in business administration at University of Phoenix. He also graduated from Pacific Coast Bankers School at University of Washington in Seattle.

He focuses on all areas of the bank?s lending programs and portfolio for safety, soundness and profitability.

?We are seeing indicators of an upturn in our economy due to a notable pickup in loan production in 2012 that was double the level of 2011,? Mr. Fogarty said. ?We heavily promoted our $50 million loan commitment in 2012, which we believe was part of our increased loan demand and production at Summit. But we also believe that the economic upturn was the foundation of this growth. Businesses are also beginning to activate their expansion plans and start projects that have been on hold for the last few years.?

In his spare time, Mr. Fogarty enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, wildlife photography and golf. He also enjoys spending time with his wife of 28 years, Sheryl, his two children and grandchild.

Mr. Fogarty has ?fallen in love with Sonoma County? and regularly donates his time to local nonprofits and chambers of commerce.

Founded in 1984, Summit State Bank has roughly $430 million in assets, 62 employees and five offices. Summit State Bank is a Top Performing Bank, earning the highest Findley Reports designation of all Sonoma County-based banks.

Francine Boards

Travis Credit Union

One Travis Way, Vacaville 95687,?traviscu.org, 707-469-1964

Francine Boards became vice president of business lending at Travis Credit Union in early 2012. It?s a newly created position that is part of a targeted approach to boost the $2.2 billion institution?s efforts in commercial lending. She served as senior commercial credit officer at the credit union since 2009.

Prior to joining Travis, Ms. Boards held senior management positions for commercial lending operations at One California Bank, Mechanics Bank and Civic Bank of Commerce. She has a total of 24 years of financial industry experience and is a graduate of the MBA program at St. Mary?s College of California as well as Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington.

James Barrett

Union Bank

899 Adams St., Ste. F-1, St. Helena 94574,?unionbank.com, 707-968-9514

James Barrett

James Barrett?is vice president and senior relationship manager with the Wine Industry Services group at?Union Bank.

The Wine Industry Services group in Northern California is growing. Ttotal commitments to the industry increased by about 30 percent in the last two years. Mr. Barrett attributes this growth to the bank?s consistency in its approach to the business and to its strong relationships with clients.

In addition to the wine industry, he has clients in the retail, food and beverage, and manufacturing sectors, and has worked with clients in many other industries during his career.

Mr. Barrett said his biggest accomplishment has been to successfully balance a rewarding career with an active and happy family life. He likes to spend time with family and friends and enjoys sports, reading and cooking.

He earned a finance degree at?Auburn University?and a master?s degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance at?Georgia State University?in Atlanta. He is a graduate of?Leadership Napa Valley?and a member of the?Napa Rotary Club.

Mr. Barrett has lived in Napa since 1995.

As of Sept. 30, Union Bank had assets of $88.2 billion and roughly 10,000 employees.

Conrad Figueroa

U.S. Bank

1 California St., Ste. 2000, San Francisco 94111,?usbank.com, 707.326.8397

Conrad Figueroa

Conrad Figueroa is a senior relationship manager in the?Bay Area Commercial Banking Group, which includes the North Bay, of U.S. Bank. The group caters to middle-market companies with a strong focus on relationship banking.? ?

Previously, Mr. Figueroa spent 10 years working for Wells Fargo Bank and five years for Comerica Bank. During his time at Wells Fargo and prior to becoming a vice president for commercial banking there, he was a branch manager and a licensed financial advisor.

Mr. Figueroa has lived in Northern California for over 20 years and is a graduate of University of California, Davis, in economics. Mr. Figueroa enjoys running in his spare time and is a 2011 Boston Marathon finisher.

U.S. Bank, based in Minneapolis, recently reported more than $350 billion in assets. ?

Scott Shapiro

Warren Capital Corp.

100 Rowland Way, Ste. 205, Novato 94945,?warrencapital.com, 415-898-1875

Scott Shapiro

Scott Shapiro is senior vice president of Warren Capital Corporation. He is responsible for managing the lender?s portfolio and developing relationships with its partners, which include community banks and the health care and franchise markets.

Mr. Shapiro has been with Warren Capital for 12 years. His career in banking began at BankBoston in Boston during its merger with Fleet Bank. He attended Boston College, graduating with a business degree in finance and information systems.

Having grown up in the North Bay, Mr. Shapiro moved back to California after college. He began working at Warren Capital as a three-day-a-week intern in the 2001 recession and gradually worked his way up to senior vice president. He said that ascent is?one of his greatest accomplishments, leading to years-long relationships with repeat clients.

Over the past 29 years, Warren Capital has completed over $1.7 billion in financings, including $500 million in the North Bay, for more than 3,500 clients. The lender provides services that include equipment leasing and financing, large-scale debt placements and seller-focused merger-and-acquisition advisory.

James Kimball

Wells Fargo

200 B St., Ste. 300, Santa Rosa 95401, wellsfargo.com, 707-584-3147

James Kimball

?Kimball is a senior vice president and regional manager with the Wells Fargo Commercial Banking Group. He oversees the North Coast Regional Commercial Banking Office, responsible for a territory spanning from the Golden Gate Bridge to Oregon.

The team serves a variety of industries, but has specialists focused on wine, specialty food and agriculture.

Mr. Kimball has worked in financial services for more than 25 years, a career that has focused on commercial banking in Northern California and the western United States. He was regional president for wholesale banking at Wachovia when the bank merged with Wells Fargo and spent 22 years holding various leadership positions at Bank of America.

He received bachelor?s and master?s degrees in finance from Sacramento State University.

A lifelong Sonoma County?resident, Mr. Kimball is an active community leader in Northern California and has a history of service on the boards of the North Bay Leadership Council and the Wine Business Institute at Sonoma State University. He lives with his wife, Sharon, and two children in Petaluma.

Joseph Dietzen

Westamerica Bank

1108 Fifth Ave., San Rafael 94901, westamerica.com, 800-848-1088

Joseph Dietzen is senior vice president at Westamerica Bank. In that role, he oversees account relationships and loan production in the bank?s Sonoma and Mendocino regions.

A native of Washington, he grew up in Yakima and came to California to obtain a bachelor?s degree in economics from Stanford University. Mr. Dietzen later received an MBA in finance from?University of California, Berkeley, and attended Pacific Coast Banking School.

He joined Westamerica Bank in 2005 when it acquired National Bank of the Redwoods.?He had been executive vice president and responsible for real estate loan production there.

Mr. Dietzen said that he was pleased to work closely with the low-income housing efforts of the Sonoma County Loan Consortium and Burbank Housing. He also?was?actively involved with Redwood Empire Food Bank during a time of expansion.

When away from his duties at the bank, Mr. Dietzen said that he enjoys working on a classic Victorian townhouse that has been in his wife?s family for generations.

Westamerica Bank reported $5 billion in total assets at the end of 2012.

Source: http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/67794/spotlight-leaders-in-commercial-banking-2013/

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They're back: J. C. Penney adds sales

This image provided by J.C. Penney shows the company's new advertising campaign. Penney is still embracing its ?fair and square? strategy as the cornerstone of its reinvention plan, and says the promotions will be targeted. But the latest tactic acknowledges that middle-income shoppers can't be weaned off sales. (AP Photo/J.C.Penney)

This image provided by J.C. Penney shows the company's new advertising campaign. Penney is still embracing its ?fair and square? strategy as the cornerstone of its reinvention plan, and says the promotions will be targeted. But the latest tactic acknowledges that middle-income shoppers can't be weaned off sales. (AP Photo/J.C.Penney)

This image provided by J.C. Penney shows the company's new advertising campaign. Penney is still embracing its ?fair and square? strategy as the cornerstone of its reinvention plan, and says the promotions will be targeted. But the latest tactic acknowledges that middle-income shoppers can't be weaned off sales. (AP Photo/J.C.Penney)

This image provided by J.C. Penney shows the company's new advertising campaign. Penney is still embracing its ?fair and square? strategy as the cornerstone of its reinvention plan, and says the promotions will be targeted. But the latest tactic acknowledges that middle-income shoppers can't be weaned off sales. (AP Photo/J.C.Penney)

NEW YORK (AP) ? J.C. Penney is bringing back sales.

The struggling department store chain this week is rolling out some of the hundreds of sales it ditched last year in hopes of luring back shoppers who were turned off when the discounts disappeared.

Penney also plans to add new price tags or signs for more than half of its merchandise to show customers how much they're saving by shopping at the mid-priced chain ? a strategy that a few other retailers such as home decor chain Crate and Barrel and the company that owns TJ Maxx, HomeGoods and Marshalls. For store branded items such as Arizona, Penney will be show on store signs a comparison of prices from competitors

The moves are a departure for Penney on the eve of the one-year anniversary when it vowed to almost completely get rid of the sales that Americans covet but that cut into a store's profits. The idea was to offer everyday low prices that customers could consistently count on rather than the nearly 600 fleeting discounts, coupons and sales it once offered.

The bold plan has been closely watched by others in the retail industry, which is notorious for offering deep discounts to draw shoppers. But so far the experiment has served as a cautionary tale of how difficult it is to change shopper' habits: Penney next month is expected to report its fourth consecutive quarter of big sales drops and profit losses. After losing more than half of its value, Penney stock is trading at around $18. And the company's credit ratings are in junk status.

CEO Ron Johnson, who rolled out the pricing plan shortly after taking the top job in November 2011, told The Associated Press last week that the latest moves are not a "deviation" from his strategy but rather an "evolution." He also vowed he would not be bringing back coupons.

"Our sales have gone backward a little more than we expected, but that doesn't change the vision or the strategy," said Johnson, who previously masterminded Apple Inc.'s retail stores and Target Corp.'s cheap chic fashion strategy. "We made changes and we learned an incredible amount. That is what's informing our tactics as we go forward."

But critics say that Johnson is backpedaling. Walter Loeb, a New York-based retail consultant, said Johnson "is now realizing that he has to be more promotional to attract shoppers."

This pricing strategy has been a key part of Johnson's plan to reinvent Penney from the ground up that also included adding hip new brands such as Joe Fresh and replacing racks of clothing with small shops-within-stores by 2015. But this isn't the first time the plan has been tweaked it.

The pricing plan, which was rolled out in February 2012, entailed permanently slashing prices on everything in the store by 40 percent. Instead of the 600 or so sales and coupons it used to offer, Penney would hold just 12 monthlong sales events on some merchandise. And there would be periodic clearance events throughout the year.

But the plan wasn't well received on Wall Street or Main Street, so six months after launching it, Johnson ditched the monthlong sales, saying that they were too confusing to shoppers. Johnson said Penney since has learned that people don't shop on a monthly basis, but rather they buy when they need something for say, back-to-school or during the winter holidays. And during those times, he says, they're looking for even more value.

"I still believe that the customer knows the right price, but they want help," he says.

Penney declined to say how many sales events it will offer going forward, citing competitive reasons. But the company said the figure will be well below the nearly 600 that it used to offer. The company said the discounts will vary depending on the sale. From Feb. 1 through Feb. 14, for instance, shoppers will get 20 percent off some jewelry for Valentine's Day. One example: half carat diamond heart pendants will have a sale price of $96. Penny's everyday price was $120.

Penney said the decision to add tags on much of its merchandise that shows the "manufacturer's suggested retail price" along with Penney's "everyday" price came about because he realized that shoppers wanted a reference price. National brands were also asking Penney to show the suggested price to shoppers, he said. Penney started to test showing the suggested price on Izod men's merchandise last fall, and was encouraged by the sales.

Burt Flickinger, a retail consultant, said the move could help Penney because manufacturers' suggested retail prices can be as much as 40 percent higher than what retailers would end up selling it for. That practice of marketing suggested prices with their own price is common in the home appliance industry because shoppers like a reference price for items they don't buy often. But it's spotty with the department industry because stores generally hike prices up even more to give shoppers an illusion of a big discount, says Flickinger.

"The strategy will be helpful for shoppers to understand lower prices. At the same time, it will be tough to get consumers back in the store from competitors," said Flickinger.

But Craig Johnson, another retail consultant, said adding the suggested manufacturer's price is just a gimmick. "The objective of this exercise is to maximize the perceived value for the purchase," he said.

Johnson says Penney will submit supporting data to its legal team for approval before it advertises its prices, using certain criteria. For example, they'll make sure the fabric used is of the same quality as its rivals. For jewelry, Penney is using the International Gemological Institute, a third-party appraiser.

Penney says it will not show comparison prices for merchandise that is part of exclusive partnerships with brands such as Nicole Miller and Mango. Penney said it's difficult to offer such references.

"There are no makeup prices here," he added. "It's all about trying to communicate what it's worth to the customer

To promote the strategy, Penney will start airing TV, print and digital ads. One TV ad compares a $9 polo shirt under its store brand Arizona with $19 "elsewhere." ''Two polos, same color, same vibrant, same details, same swing, same swagger, different prices," the ad says.

Going forward, Johnson reiterated that he expects Penney to return to growth sometime in 2013. That would be a welcome change for Penney, whose business has suffered under the new strategy.

For the first nine months of its current fiscal year, Penney lost $433 million, or $1.98 per share compared with a loss of $65 million, or 30 cents per share in the year-ago period. Total sales dropped 23.1 percent to $9.1 billion.

Johnson declined to comment on holiday sales. But analysts expect a loss of 17 cents on sales of $4.22 billion for the fourth quarter. That would mean the company's annual sales shrunk by 23 percent, or nearly $4 billion, to $13.3 billion for the latest year. Revenue at stores opened at least a year are expected to drop 25 percent, in line with the third quarter, according to analyst polled by research firm FactSet.

"A year ago, we were launching a major transformation and didn't know what to expect," he said. "Today, I know what happened. Our team has a year's worth of history. This is going to be a great year because the new JCP is coming to life for customers."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-01-28-JC%20Penney-Sales%20Are%20Back/id-3ff3923355214604bf49baddada52a3d

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Cub Scout pack drops gay-friendly policy amid pressure

By Miranda Leitsinger, Staff Writer, NBC News

A Cub Scout pack in Maryland has decided to jettison its gay-friendly membership guidelines under threat of losing its Boy Scouts of America charter, according to a statement on the pack?s website.

Pack 442 of Cloverly, Md., had adopted a non-discrimination policy that read: ?Pack 442 WILL NOT discriminate against any individual or family based on race, religion, national origin, ability, or sexual orientation.?

But over the weekend, the pack posted a notice on its website reading: ?Due to pressure from the National Capital Area Council of BSA, Pack 442 was forced to remove its Non-Discrimination statement in order to keep our Charter (set to expire Jan 31^st). This Non-Discrimination statement, previously posted here, welcomed ALL families.?

The pack?s position ran counter to the Boy Scouts? membership guidelines, which ban openly gay members or leaders.?

Activist groups stepped up their campaign to end the longstanding ban last year after California teen Ryan Andresen was denied the Eagle rank because he is gay, and following the dismissal of Jennifer Tyrrell as den leader of her son?s Tiger Cub pack in Ohio because she is a lesbian.

Theresa Phillips, committee chair of Pack 442, said her group had the same motivations.

?I think we need to start at this level,? she told NBC News on Saturday. ?We need to teach the boys ? respect for other people and their lifestyles.?

A call placed to Phillips on Monday seeking comment on the removal of the policy was not immediately returned. It was not clear if the pack would continue to accept all families under a ?don?t ask, don?t tell? approach similar to the one used by the military until it was rescinded last year.

Cub Scout pack may lose charter if it keeps gay-friendly policy

The pack?s member families approved the non-discrimination policy last August, and it was discussed in detail with district leaders and the regional council, to which the pack belongs, from August through October.

The issue appeared to be settled, but when the council ?contacted us a few weeks ago pressuring us to remove our statement, we attempted to negotiate a rewording of the statement that would represent a compromise on the matter, but ultimately NCAC leadership felt only removal of the statement would be acceptable,? the pack said on its website.

?It's clear to us that they chose this time to bring that up because they knew that we needed to recharter at the end of January,? Phillips said.

Scout Executive Les Baron, a council leader, confirmed to NBC News on Friday that the pack could lose its charter if it maintained the policy: The ?policy of the Boy Scouts are what they are and my job is to not bring into (it) my own personal feelings.?

The pack committee had been split on a way forward, which prompted a poll on whether they would keep the policy and possibly not be rechartered, or if they would remove it and return to a ?don?t ask, don?t tell? policy welcoming all families.

The poll, which ended Friday night and was conducted on the pack website, came out 53 percent in favor of reverting to ?don?t ask, don?t tell? and 47 percent backing the new policy, said Phillips, who voted in favor of explicitly including gays and lesbians. The poll had called for a two-thirds majority, she said.

The Boy Scouts reaffirmed its ban on gays and lesbians in 2012 following a two-year confidential review.

A national BSA spokesman, Deron Smith, said in an email on Friday that the private organization "has policies that all councils and local units agree to follow."

Related:?
Gay teen denied Eagle Scout: 'Change is happening' over Boy Scouts anti-gay policy
Eagle Scouts return badges to protest policy banning gays
Boy Scouts: We're keeping policy banning gays

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/28/16738860-cub-scout-pack-were-dropping-gay-friendly-policy-in-face-of-boy-scouts-pressure?lite

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Tee times: Round 3 of Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines

Here are the tee times and pairings for the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open Sunday at Torrey Pines. Play was suspended Saturday due to fog (All times PST):

? ? ?

South Course, Tee No. 1

7 a.m. (from No. 1 fairway): Chez Reavie, Boo Weekley, Mike Weir

7 a.m.: Adam Hadwin, Michael Letzig, John Rollins

7:10 a.m.: John Huh, Brandt Snedeker, Bryce Molder

7:20 a.m.: Brendon de Jonge, Brendan Steele, J.J. Henry

7:30 a.m.: Colt Knost, Jeff Overton, Cameron Tringale

7:40 a.m.: Justin Bolli, Nicholas Thompson, Bo Van Pelt

7:50 a.m.: Pat Perez, Justin Leonard, Roberto Castro

8 a.m.: Will Claxton, Jerry Kelly, Martin Flores

8:10 a.m.: Bill Haas, Jim Herman, Graham DeLaet

8:20 a.m.: Charles Howell III, Harris English, K.J. Choi

8:30 a.m.: Charlie Wi, Ross Fisher, Justin Hicks

8:40 a.m.: Luke Guthrie, John Senden, Tag Ridings

8:50 a.m.: Jimmy Walker, Josh Teater, Nick Watney

9 a.m.: Brad Fritsch, Erik Compton, Steve Marino

9:10 a.m.: Tiger Woods, Billy Horschel, Casey Wittenberg

? ???

South Course, Tee No. 10

7 a.m. (from No. 11 tee): John Mallinger, Robert Garrigus, Hunter Mahan

7 a.m.: Dustin Johnson, Vijay Singh, Gary Woodland

7:10 a.m.: Luke List, Charley Hoffman, Tom Gillis

7:20 a.m.: Michael Thompson, Brian Harman, Sang-Moon Bae

7:30 a.m.: Jonas Blixt, Rickie Fowler, Hank Kuehne

7:40 a.m.: David Lynn, Greg Owen, Patrick Reed

7:50 a.m.: Peter Tomasulo, Lucas Glover, Brian Stuard

8 a.m.: D.H. Lee, Jin Park, Robert Karlsson

8:10 a.m.: Jeff Klauk, James Driscoll, Neal Lancaster

8:20 a.m.: Daniel Summerhays, Ben Curtis, Trevor Immelman

8:30 a.m.: Jason Day, Nicolas Colsaerts, Seung-Yul Noh

8:40 a.m.: Phil Mickelson, Aaron Baddeley, Martin Laird

8:50 a.m.: Matt Every, Eric Meierdierks, James Hahn

9 a.m.: Scott Gardiner, Steve LeBrun, Doug LaBelle II

Source: http://golfweek.com/news/2013/jan/26/tee-times-round-3-farmers-insurance-open/

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Amy Koch: Affair gave GOP foes an opportunity (Star Tribune)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/279793662?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Bear Vs. Shark: Catamaran

I discovered Bear vs. Shark by accident. A college roommate had insisted I listen to Minus the Bear, and I wasn't paying attention, so only the "Bear" part stuck. It proved to be a serendipitous little mistake though, because Bear vs. Shark is as awesome as the battle portrayed in their name would be. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/JdFI6-eDbRM/bear-vs-shark-catamaran

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Free PC Cleaner 1.0 - DoDownload

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Date:January 26, 2013

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Source: http://www.dodownload.com/os-utils/optimizer/free-pc-cleaner.html

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