Elite Eight Teams: Louisville, Michigan Among Teams In 2013 NCAA Tournament Regional Finals

The field of 68 teams in the 2013 NCAA Tournament has been winnowed down to the Elite Eight. Sixty of the best college basketball teams in the nation, including the team that entered the tournament atop the AP poll, have been sent home. The eight teams remaining will play in four regional finals on Saturday and Sunday, with the winners advancing to the Final Four in Atlanta.

With wins on Thursday night, Marquette and Syracuse ensured that at least one Big East team would reach the Georgia Dome. Buzz Williams' Golden Eagles will attempt to solve the 2-3 zone defense of the Orange in the opening Elite Eight game on Saturday. The conference rivals tip off at 4:30 p.m. EST in Washington, DC in the East Region.

Another Big East team (for now), Louisville, is the only No. 1 seed to reach the regional finals. Rick Pitino's Cardinals held off the No. 12 Oregon Ducks on Friday night in the Sweet 16. The Cards will face Duke in Indianapolis on Sunday.

Here are the eight teams remaining and the roads they traveled to arrive at the regional finals.

• SOUTH: No. 4 Michigan

  <strong>Second Round:</strong> Tim Hardaway Jr. and Glenn Robinson III scored 21 points each as the Wolverines dropped 13-seeded South Dakota State, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/21/michigan-south-dakota-nate-wolters_n_2928663.html" target="_blank">71-56</a>. <strong>Third Round: </strong> No. 5 VCU was no match for Michigan. Dominant performances by Mitch McGary and Trey Burke solved the Havoc defense and the Wolverines advanced to the Sweet 16 with a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/23/michigan-vcu-blowout-ncaa-tournament-mcgary-burke_n_2940306.html" target="_blank">78-53 blowout</a> win. <strong>Sweet 16: </strong>Trey Burke shook off a slow start and rallied No. 4 Michigan past No. 1 Kansas. The sensational sophomore drained a game-tying three-point shot to force overtime and the Wolverines went on to win 87-85.

• MIDWEST: No. 1 Louisville

  <strong>Second Round:</strong> Rick Pitino's Cardinals completely overwhelmed No. 16 North Carolina A&T, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/21/louisville-north-carolina-at-ncaa-tournament_n_2928680.html" target="_blank">79-48</a>. <strong>Third Round: </strong> Russ Smith scored 27 points as Louisville topped No. 8 Colorado State <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/23/louisville-sweet-16-colorado-state-ncaa_n_2941352.html" target="_blank">82-56</a>. <strong>Sweet 16: </strong>No. 12 Oregon gave the Cardinals their first test of the tournament. Russ Smith scored 31 points as Louisville held off the Ducks for a 77-69 win.

• EAST: No. 3 Marquette

  <strong>Second Round:</strong> Vander Blue kept the Golden Eagles dancing with a game-winning shot against No. 14 Davidson with just one second left on the clock. Marquette inched by with a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/21/vander-blue-marquette-davidson_n_2927170.html?utm_hp_ref=sports" target="_blank">59-58 win to advance</a>. <strong>Third Round:</strong> In another thrilling finish, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/23/marquette-butler-ncaa-tournament-2013_n_2941847.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003" target="_blank">Marquette topped Butler</a> 74-72. Vander Blue played the hero once again, recording 29 points. <strong>Sweet 16: </strong>After a pair of tense games, Marquette enjoyed its most comfortable win of the tournament. The Golden Eagles went ahead 29-16 at hafltime and held on for a 71-61 win over No. 2 Miami.

• WEST: No. 9 Wichita State

  <strong>Second Round:</strong> Carl Hall and Wichita State blew past Pitt in its second round matchup, 73-55. Tekele Cotton and the Shockers' defense held Pitt's leading scorer <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/21/wichita-state-pitt-ncaa-tournament-second-round_n_2926238.html" target="_blank">Tray Woodall to just two points</a>. Malcolm Armstead scored 22 for Wichita State. <strong>Third Round:</strong> The Shockers <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/23/wichita-state-win-gonzaga-ncaa_n_2941956.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003" target="_blank">upset No. 1 seed Gonzaga</a>, taking an early lead into the second half and rallying late to secure the win over the Zags, 76-70. <strong>Sweet 16:</strong> In a Cinderella vs. Cinderella matchup, the Shockers overwhelmed No. 13 La Salle. Malcolm Armstead and Carl Hall led the way as Wichita State rolled to a 72-58 win.

• EAST: No. 4 Syracuse

  <strong>Second Round:</strong>?The Orange demolished No. 13 Montana, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/22/syracuse-montana-ncaa-tournament-81-34_n_2929599.html" target="_blank">81-34</a>, to advance to the third round. <strong>Third Round:</strong> In a game that Syracuse coach <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/24/syracuse-cal-ncaa-scores-2013_n_2942025.html?1364098606&utm_hp_ref=sports" target="_blank">Jim Boeheim described as "ugly,"</a> C.J. Fair scored 18 points as the Orange held off Cal, 66-60. <strong>Sweet 16: </strong>The Orange toppled No. 1 Indiana in the Sweet 16, 61-50. The Hoosiers could not solve Syracuse's 2-3 zone and produced a season-low point total.

• WEST: No. 2 Ohio State

  <strong>Second Round:</strong> Deshaun Thomas and Ohio State crushed Iona in a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/22/ohio-state-iona-ncaa-scores_n_2937085.html" target="_blank">95-70</a> second round blowout. Sam Thompson scored 20 points and racked up 10 rebounds for the Buckeyes. <strong>Third Round:</strong> Ohio State narrowly escaped an upset by Iowa State. Aaron Craft sank a game-winning 3-point shot with less than a seconds left <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/24/ohio-state-iowa-state-ncaa-scores_n_2945076.html" target="_blank">to propel Ohio State to the Sweet 16</a>. <strong>Sweet 16:</strong> With No. 6 Arizona seemingly determined not to let Aaron Craft hit another game-winning shot, LaQuinton Ross stepped up. His deep three-point shot lifted the Buckeyes to a 73-70 win.

• SOUTH: No. 3 Florida

  <strong>Second Round:</strong> Erik Murphy scored 18 points and Florida routed Northwestern State <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/22/florida-northwesten-state-ncaa-scores_n_2936954.html" target="_blank">79-47</a>. <strong>Third Round:</strong> Florida built a 21-point lead over Minnesota by halftime and rolled to a 78-64 win. <strong>Sweet 16: </strong>After falling behind Florida Gulf Coast University early, No. 2 Florida went on a 16-0 run to take control of the game before halftime. The Gators cruised to a 62-50 win.

• MIDWEST: No. 2 Duke

  <strong>Second Round: </strong>Despite a solid effort by the Great Danes of Albany, Duke avoided an early upset this year, winning 73-61. <strong>Third Round</strong>: Duke prevailed in a physical matchup with No. 7 Creighton, 66-50. <strong>Sweet 16: </strong>Seth Curry shot the Blue Devils past Michigan State in the Sweet 16. Curry scored 29 as No. 2 Duke won 71-61.

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Gillmor Gang: Spring Training

The Gillmor Gang ? Doc Searls, Robert Scoble, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor ? takes turns sizing up the new season. With Steve Ballmer running out of room and close to the warning track, we talk about who might be called up from the minors. Dave Winer is back with a nifty pivot on Google Reader's trip to the showers. More than anything, Winer made the hard stuff look easy and gave the tech generation a voice.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/1wFPkstNavY/

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'Biotech Rider' In Budget Angers Opponents Of Genetically-Modified Crops

Hidden inside the massive federal budget that President Obama signed on Thursday is a small paragraph that has infuriated opponents of genetically-engineered crops. The provision is designed to protect those crops from court challenges. Audie Cornish talks to Dan Charles for more.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/03/29/175722015/biotech-rider-in-budget-angers-opponents-of-genetically-modified-crops?ft=1&f=1007

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Consumer watchdog unveils list of top lending gripes

By Bob Sullivan, Columnist, NBC News

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) made its database of complaints against mortgage issuers, student loan firms, credit bureaus and other kinds of lenders available to the public for the first time on Thursday.?

The database covers 90,000 complaints with more than 1 million data points covering 450 companies.

The CFPB spreadsheet allows consumers to find the most complained-about banks in highly specific categories. For example, Capital One received the most complaints about credit cards, and Bank of America received the most complaints about traditional adjustable-rate mortgages.

It's important to note that the data isn't normalized and that banks with more customers receive more complaints.

Data can be sorted at the bureau's website by state or company. It can also be downloaded for free and used in privately developed applications.?

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The agency's complaint database was released on a limited scale last year, and included only 19,000 credit card-related complaints. Thursday's announcement represents a large expansion of publicly available data.?

The bureau hopes consumers can use the information to make more informed choices about banks they do business with.?"By sharing these complaints with the public, we are creating greater transparency in consumer financial products and services,? said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. ?The database is good for consumers and it is also good for honest businesses."

Complaints are listed in the CFPB database only after the company responds to the complaint or after they have had the complaint for 15 days. Records include the type of complaint, the consumer's ZIP code, the company, and the resolution. Consumers' names and other personal information are not shared.

Among student loans and mortgages, about two-thirds of the complaints involve consumers who are having trouble repaying their loans, according to an analysis provided by the CFPB?of complaints filed through February. Many of the mortgage complaints reflect consumers' paperwork-related frustrations when attempting loan modifications.?

Nearly three-quarters of the 6,700 complaints filed against credit bureaus involve inaccurate information. Credit card complaints are more scattered, with billing disputes making up 15 percent. A common gripe, the bureau says: Consumers don't realize they have to dispute a suspicious item on their credit card bills within 60 days.

In a blog post that accompanied?the release of the data, CFPB official Scott Pluta said he hoped consumers would be creative and find new ways to examine and use the data.

"From infographics to iPhone apps, we?ve seen people do amazing things with the credit card complaint data that was available before today," Pluta said. "We encourage the public, including consumers, analysts, data scientists, civic hackers and companies that serve consumers, to analyze, augment, and build on the information in the database to develop ways for consumers to use the complaint data or mash it up with other public data sets to reveal potential trends."

The bureau plans to expand the data to other complaint categories in the future, he added.

Follow Bob Sullivan on?Facebook?or?Twitter

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Heat start to move on after streak ends

Take heart, Heat. Look out, NBA.

When the Los Angeles Lakers' 33-game winning streak ended, they hit a bit of a lull before rolling through the playoffs and winning the NBA title.

That scenario likely would suit Miami just fine since the defending champions have said all along they were focused on repeating more than breaking a record.

Dwyane Wade even sounded relieved Miami's run stopped at 27, courtesy of the Chicago Bulls.

"Now that it's over, I'm glad it's over," he said after the 101-97 loss Wednesday night, his team's first defeat in nearly two months.

"It really didn't matter to us," Wade said. "If you get it, it's awesome. If you don't, we still won 27 games in a row. That's pretty awesome. So we really weren't like, 'We've got to get that record.' Not at all."

So, with their name firmly attached to the second-longest streak in NBA history, the Heat did what they would have done if it had still been going strong. They took Thursday off in New Orleans, where they'll face the Hornets on Friday night.

While the circus atmosphere around the team slows down ? until the playoffs, anyway ? the Heat can turn to the business of wrapping up the final 11 games of the regular season without what some may call a "distraction." Clinching the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed is a foregone conclusion, and the Heat leads San Antonio by two games in the race for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

Still, Lakers star Kobe Bryant urged LeBron James and his teammates to savor the moment.

"I think just as a student of the game, as a fan of the game, you appreciate those kind of streaks and you realize how difficult it is to put together that big of a streak," he said. "Obviously, the Lakers winning 33 in a row was phenomenal, but the Heat's one was just as impressive."

After their streak ended, those '71-72 Lakers lost four of their next six games. But they went 15-2 to close the regular season, then lost only three of 15 playoff games on the way to the title.

That's the only measure of success for the Heat.

"At the end of the day, a win is a win in our league," said James, the reigning MVP who averaged exactly 27 points per game during the 27-game streak. "We've gotten better throughout the season. Each and every month we've improved. We've started from behind some games, but for the most part we've played some great basketball."

They blew out some teams and rallied in the final minutes to beat others, erasing double-digit deficits and pulling off 11 fourth-quarter comebacks in their 7?-week run of dominance.

Entering Thursday, 10 NBA teams hadn't won 27 games all season.

"Really proud of the grind of the last few weeks from my guys," Miami forward Shane Battier wrote on Twitter early Thursday. "The focus and effort (and luck) was phenomenal."

They were must-see television, with ESPN and NBA TV scrambling to pick up Heat games as the streak rolled along. ESPN said the overnight rating for Heat-Bulls was the fifth-best of any regular-season game ever shown on the network.

For those who still need streaks to follow, there are plenty of options.

Women's basketball is full of them right now, with Baylor (32), Notre Dame (28) and Delaware (27) all streaking into NCAA regional games this weekend. In men's college basketball, Louisville takes a 12-game winning streak into its Midwest Regional semifinal against Oregon on Friday night. And in the NHL, the Pittsburgh Penguins won their 14th straight Thursday night, a 4-0 shutout of Winnipeg.

To put it in perspective, the Heat's streak not only is the second-longest in NBA history, but the second-longest among any of the four major professional sports.

The longest current NBA streak now belongs to the New York Knicks ? six games.

On Friday, the Heat begin anew.

Miami would need to win every game left on its schedule and sweep all four playoff series to end the year with another 27-game winning streak. Meantime, Wade offered this:

"Now that it's over, let's look back on it as something that was great."

___

AP Basketball Writer Jon Krawczynski in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/heat-start-move-streak-ends-194956482--spt.html

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Hasty embrace for some lawmakers on gay marriage

WASHINGTON (AP) ? As the Supreme Court considered two landmark cases on gay marriage this week, the flood of activity across the street in the Capitol was not lost on Chief Justice John Roberts.

"As far as I can tell, political leaders are falling all over themselves to endorse your side of the case," Roberts told lawyers urging the court to rule that married gay couples should receive federal benefits.

Roberts was hardly exaggerating. In the span of two weeks, seven senators have announced support for gay marriage, despite representing moderate or Republican-leaning states where such a move long has been considered a major political risk. One by one they fell like dominos, declaring on Facebook or quietly issuing a statement to say that they, too, now support gay marriage.

Taken together, their proclamations reflected a profound change in the American political calculus: For the first time, elected officials from traditionally conservative states are starting to feel it's safer to back same-sex marriage than to be among the last to join the cause.

For some Democrats, like Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill and Montana Sen. Jon Tester, the reversal would have been almost unfathomable just a few months ago as they fought for re-election. The potential risks were even greater for other Democrats like North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan and Alaska Sen. Mark Begich, already top GOP targets when they face voters next year in states that President Barack Obama lost in November. It was less than a year ago that voters in Hagan's state approved a ban on gay marriage.

Those four Democrats and two others ? Mark Warner of Virginia and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia ? were swept up in a shifting tide that began to take shape last year, when Obama, in the heat of his re-election campaign, became the first sitting president to endorse gay marriage. Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, a potential contender in the next presidential election, followed suit in mid-March.

As support among party leaders builds, rank-and-file Democrats appear wary of being perceived as hold-outs in what both parties are increasingly describing as a civil-rights issue.

"They're reflecting what they're seeing in the polls ? except the most extreme of the Republican base," former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, a Republican who supports gay marriage, said in an interview. "From a purely political perspective, if you want to be a leader of the future, you look at the next generation. They are overwhelmingly in favor of this."

Reince Priebus, the national chairman of the Republican Party, cautioned in a USA Today interview that the GOP should not "act like Old Testament heretics."

Among Republicans, whose party platform opposes gay marriage, the shift in position has mostly been limited to former lawmakers and prominent strategists. Still, a distinct change in tone was palpable this month when Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, a whom presidential candidate Mitt Romney vetted last year as a potential running mate, declared his support, citing a personal conversion stemming from his son coming out to him as gay.

Rather than blast Portman for flouting party dogma or failing an ideological litmus test, Republican leaders shrugged, indicating that even if Republicans, as a party, aren't prepared to back gay marriage, they won't hold it against those in their ranks who do.

In the Republican-controlled House, where most members come from districts heavily skewed to one party or the other, GOP leaders are not wavering publicly from their staunch opposition. When the Obama administration stopped defending in court the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars legally married gay couples from receiving federal benefits, it was House Republicans who took up the mantle. Democrats said Thursday that Republicans have spent as much as $3 million in taxpayer funds to defend the law, now being challenged at the Supreme Court.

"It's like immigration. The party realizes they are on the losing side of some of these issues," said former Rep. Jim Kolbe, an Arizona Republican. Kolbe came out as gay in 1996 while in office and will mark another milestone in May when he and his longtime partner marry in Washington.

"They want to make the shift, but you have got to do it in a politic and strategic way," Kolbe said. "It's a matter of how and when you take down one flag and run up the other."

Kolbe and Whitman joined dozens of other prominent Republicans in signing a friend-of-the-court brief urging the Supreme Court to strike down the law barring federal recognition of gay marriages. But with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, still defending the law and social conservative groups vowing payback for those who abandon it, prospects are slim that Congress will move any time soon to repeal it on its own.

"It's sort of a bandwagon effect among the cultural elite," said Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council, which opposes gay marriage. "Some of these politicians who have changed their position, those who live in more conservative states, may pay for that shift with a defeat in their next election."

If public opinion continues to move in the direction it has been for the past 15 years, what's true for the next election may not be true just a few years down the line ? even for Republicans.

When Gallup first asked in polls about gay marriages, in 1996, just 27 percent felt they should be valid. That figure climbed to 44 percent two years ago, and reached a majority by November, when 53 percent said gay marriages should be recognized. Among independents, a key barometer for politicians, support has jumped 23 points to 55 percent, including a six-point gain since 2010.

Even among Republicans, support has grown by 14 percentage points since 1996, although there's been no significant movement among Republicans since 2010, when 28 percent backed legal marriage.

"A lot of Republicans have come to the conclusion we can't live one life in private but advocate another life in public," said Republican strategist Alex Castellanos. "We all know families who are loving parents of the same gender who are raising great kids."

___

AP Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.

___

Follow Josh Lederman on Twitter: http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hasty-embrace-lawmakers-gay-marriage-070601942--politics.html

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America: Time to shake the salt habit?

Mar. 27, 2013 ? The love affair between U.S. residents and salt is making us sick: high sodium intake increases blood pressure, and leads to higher rates of heart attack and strokes. Nonetheless, Americans continue to ingest far higher amounts of sodium than those recommended by physicians and national guidelines.

A balanced review of the relevant literature has been published in the March 27, 2013 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine. Theodore A. Kotchen, MD, professor of medicine (endocrinology), and associate dean for clinical research at the Medical College of Wisconsin, is the lead author of the article.

Dr. Kotchen cites correlations between blood pressure and salt intake in a number of different studies; typically, the causation between lowering salt intake and decreased levels of blood pressure occur in individuals who have been diagnosed with hypertension. Although not as pronounced, there is also a link between salt intake and blood pressure in non-hypertensive individuals. Additionally, recent studies have demonstrated that a reduced salt intake is associated with decreased cardiovascular disease and decreased mortality.

In national studies in Finland and Great Britain, instituting a national salt-reduction program led to decreased sodium intake. In Finland, the resulting decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressures corresponded to a 75 -- 80 percent decrease in death due to stroke and coronary heart disease.

Nevertheless, not all investigators concur with population-based recommendations to lower salt intake, and the reasons for this position are reviewed.

"Salt is essential for life, but it has been difficult to distinguish salt need from salt preference," said Dr. Kotchen. "Given the medical evidence, it seems that recommendations for reducing levels of salt consumption in the general population would be justifiable at this time." However, in terms of safety, the lower limit of salt consumption has not been clearly identified. In certain patient groups, less rigorous targets for salt reduction may be appropriate.

Co-authors are Allen W. Cowley, Jr., PhD, James J. Smith and Catherine Welsh Smith Professor in Physiology, and Harry and Gertrude Hack Term Professor and chairman of Physiology, the Medical College of Wisconsin; Edward D. Frohlich, MD, Alton Ocshner Distinguished Scientist at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans, La.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Medical College of Wisconsin.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Theodore A. Kotchen, Allen W. Cowley, Edward D. Frohlich. Salt in Health and Disease ? A Delicate Balance. New England Journal of Medicine, 2013; 368 (13): 1229 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra1212606

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/heart_disease/~3/xgaeOmcfU_o/130328091752.htm

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Today&#39;s Poll: Should same sex marriage be legal? | The Batavian

This is a comment on the poll, not the others who have commented so far.

I think Republicans, as they currently present themselves as candidates or in elected leadership, have a dilemma on the issue of marriage. Is it:

1. Get government off our backs

or

2. Have government oversee our most intimate relationships.

I'm not saying that Republicans are the only ones with this dilemma, or that all Republicans think alike, but it is the Republican nominees to the Supreme Court who have been vested by their party with the mantle of "defending" opposite gender marriage. So in Citizens United, for example, SCOTUS chose #1. With DOMA, will SCOTUS choose #2 ... or #1?

It appears to me that the logjam of #1 and #2 is beginning to break apart, and that there is movement away from #2. The poll, so far, in this Republican-dominated region, seems to be demonstrating that.

The New York Times had an interesting "538" article yesterday analyzing the "flip" trend on this issue: is it because people are changing their minds, or that opponents to homosexuality are gradually dying off, and their younger "replacements" care less about the issue? In any event, the various polls, including this unscientific one in the Batavian, show movement.

Source: http://thebatavian.com/howard-owens/todays-poll-should-same-sex-marriage-be-legal/36682

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These Clever Packages Can Turn Crates of Coke Into Boxes of Life-Saving Medicine

It's one thing to have life-saving medicine, but it's quite another to get it delivered to where its really needed. And what better way to make sure it gets to the furthest reaches of the world than by packing it in with a truly vital necessity like Coke. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/qr-vUUtL-9E/these-clever-packages-can-turn-crates-of-coke-into-boxes-of-life+saving-medicine

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Gmail App Update Lets You Swipe Through Messages

There are a couple of new features in today's update for the Gmail iOS app. First off, you can now swipe right or left between messages. And second, when you select a message, it goes into edit mode, from which you can tap to file an email into a different folder. Not a huge update, but it adds a couple of useful organizational tools. [App Store via Google] More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/8NWEY86SCHI/gmail-app-update-lets-you-swipe-through-messages

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Yahoo buys startup run by 17-year-old entrepreneur

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Yahoo is buying London startup Summly, the maker of a mobile application created by teenage entrepreneur seeking an easier way to read news stories and other content on the smaller screens of smartphones.

The deal announced Monday is Yahoo's fifth small acquisition in the past five months. All of them have been part of CEO Marissa Mayer's effort to attract more engineers with expertise in building services for smartphones and tablet computers, an increasingly important area of technology that she believed the Internet company had been neglecting.

As with its other recent acquisitions, Yahoo didn't disclose how much it is paying for Summly.

Summly makes a mobile application that condenses content so readers can scroll through more information more quickly. Summly founder Nick D'Aloisio began working on the app at his London home when he was 15. D'Aloisio is now 17, which makes him younger than Yahoo, which was incorporated in March 1995.

Although the Yahoo acquisition won't close until later this spring, D'Aloisio said the Summly will no longer be available. Summly's technology will return in other Yahoo products, D'Aloisio wrote in a Monday blog post.

D'Aloisio will work for Yahoo in its London office. Two other Summly workers will join Yahoo at its Sunnyvale, Calif. headquarters.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-25-US-Yahoo-Acquisition/id-0e5808aae8474cb9afa33743a90857e0

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Video: A Doctor's Big Ideas For America

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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/cnbc/51326253/

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BAUX ? A customizable Bic style pen

BAUX is a Kickstarter project for custom machined aluminum pens that use Bic pen parts. Made of Bauxite, an aluminum ore, BAUX pens aren’t really pens at all. They are really just the barrel of the pen, which you combine with readily available Bic pen parts to create your own unique writing instrument. Bic pens [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/03/24/baux-a-customizable-bic-style-pen/

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Younger Buyers Jumping Into Retirement Real Estate

In the last 12 to 24 months, the average age of a new buyer at Century Village has gone from the mid-70s to the low 60s, according to Ben Schachter of Century Village Real Estate Inc. Schachter, well under the retirement age, owns six condos in the Village.

(Read More: Defying Gravity: Miami Condos Flying High Again)

"People are looking at this in terms of their long term future," Schachter said. "They recognize that with the time value of money they are better off investing now, taking advantage of 20, 40, $60,000 price points, because if they look back just a half a decade ago, prices were 3-4 times what they are now. They're looking at the market as it increases, as the economy is strengthening, and they want to buy now while it's the best opportunity to do so."

Residents of Century Village must either be 55 years or older or be married to someone that age. However, buyers can be any age, and that has many younger investors jumping in. They are taking advantage of good rental income and the peace of mind from knowing that they already have a place to retire. Ten percent of Century Village residents still work part or full-time. This younger set has already brought changes to the Village.

"We have classes that never existed before: Zumba, Yoga, Ti Chi, unbelievable recreation for these very healthy seniors because they are younger," Schachter said.

(Read More: Housing Recovery 'Fundamentally Strong': Lennar CEO)

The community offers tennis, two pools and a full-service gym. As for the group activities, they still tend to skew older. At a water aerobics class, late one Thursday morning, the sun was shining and the water was flying through the blaring rock music, but mostly grey haired heads bobbed back and forth.

"I'm in touch with people around here, but I don't associate with them a lot as far as socially here in the club house," said Charlie Rocque. "Because I'm not around. I'm always working."

Source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100588217

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Senate To Pull All-Night Friday 'Vote-A-Rama'

The Senate is doing something a little out of character for a Friday in Congress: they're pulling an all-nighter.

A "vote-a-rama" is underway tonight and senators will be voting on a myriad of back-to-back amendments to the budget bill in a marathon session which could take the Senate well past midnight into the wee hours of Saturday morning.

Tonight's vote-a-rama has the potential to break some records.

Since 1977, the most votes in a single vote-a-rama was 44 in 2008.Over 400 amendments have been filed for this vote-a-rama so far.

None of these amendments, even the ones that pass, are in much danger of becoming law. The House and the Senate will vote on separate budgets and the president isn't required to sign a final version.

But senators are still put on the record and these votes have a tendency to find their way into campaign commercials. The Democrats who control the Senate have avoided moving forward with a budget in recent years. But they had to do it this year because House Republicans were able to tie senators paychecks to their ability to pass a budget.

All of that means you get amendments like this: Democrats forced a vote on the Rep. Ryan's House Budget. None of the Democrats support it, but now they'll have Senate Republicans on record as either supporting the budget pathway or not. That puts Republicans in a pickle since they want to be supportive of an effort to balance the budget in ten years - as Ryan's budget does. But they also don't want to vote for changing Medicare - his budget does that too - unless they absolutely have to.

Republican Sen. Hatch brought up a motion to repeal the medical device tax in the health care bill. Democrats don't really want to gut the mechanisms that finance Obamacare. But they don't really like the medical device tax either.

Tough votes like these would usually be blocked by party leaders. But not on this Friday night during the budget debate.

It is the Senate equivalent of the Wild West. In a vote-a-rama amendments don't have to be filed in order to be voted on. So there is no real way of knowing which of the 400 that senators have bothered to file will actually receive votes until they do. So we won't know until later whether this vote-a-rama is one for the records books.

Any senator can offer an amendment simply by standing and seeking recognition on the floor - for example Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., has filed 51 amendments by himself alone.

A vote-a-rama ends when there is no senator on the floor seeking a vote on an amendment.

To be sure, most of the amendments that the Senate will vote on tonight have nothing to do with the budget, the base bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said on the floor this morning, he hopes that senators will keep the number of votes in the normal range of 25-30.

The vote-a-rama started at 3: 50 pm.

And besides working well into a Friday night, there is something else that the Senate is doing that they haven't done in awhile - vote on a budget. This will be the first time a formal budget will be voted on in the Senate for four years.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-pull-night-friday-vote-rama-223403534--abc-news-politics.html

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Video: Firesale in Emerging Markets: Time to Buy?

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/cnbc/51295801/

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Olympus Has Fallen Movie Review

Olympus Has Fallen, the latest from Training Day director Antoine Fuqua, is unflinching, unsettling, and a solid action film. Gerard Butler stars as Mike Banning, a former aide and good friend to President Asher (Aaron Eckhart). Their relationship has been strained since an accident that claimed the first lady's life resulted in Mike's transfer to another department. Yet when the White House is the subject of a brutal attack from an extreme North Korean political group, it's Mike who braves snipers and infiltrates the capitol building in an effort to save the president and his young son. Mike's plentiful hero stunts aside, it's the way Fuqua orchestrates the complex coup that makes the movie feel uncomfortably real.

The film primarily takes place in three places: the bunker where the president is being held, the halls of the White House where the returned hero Mike is roaming, and the off-site safe room where the acting president (Morgan Freeman) and his staff (including Angela Bassett) are grasping the reality that the president's blood will be on their hands if they don't negotiate with the terrorists. It's a clever separation, and the isolation of the three units creates even more tension. To see what else I liked about Olympus Has Fallen, just read more.

After an eye-popping attack sequence, the president and his staff are captured by hundreds of skilled terrorists. It's a menacing and unsettling scenario, especially because it only takes the terrorists 15 minutes to execute a full-scale takeover of the White House. The action doesn't stop after "Olympus has fallen" (code for "The White House has been taken") is uttered; it continues steadily throughout, keeping the audience on its toes. At the heart of it is Butler, representing the red, white, and blue like a true patriot by gliding through secret passages, disarming faceless gunman, and saving the day with impressive determination. Eckhart makes for a solid president, devoted to his only child yet imprisoned with no way of communicating with his son (who has eluded the terrorists and is hiding somewhere within the walls of the White House) or his team.

Fuqua succeeds in creating an intensely packed action film with Olympus Has Fallen. With Butler on hero duty and a bevy of explosions and unfriendly fire, this is good, old-fashioned action done right.

Source: http://www.buzzsugar.com/Olympus-Has-Fallen-Movie-Review-28729503

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Naptime Novels: there&#39;s organized and then THERE&#39;S ORGANIZED

I have always thought that my house was pretty neat and tidy.? Sometimes I would have a closet or some drawers that would get a little out of control.? But, since I have been home from teaching I have had a HUGE project hanging over my head.? It was in the form of 40 large bins, packed to the brim with books, supplies, and materials.? Sure, I had looked through them now and again.? I had even taken some down and I had gotten out a lot of my books for my kiddos.? I hadn?t really sat down with all of the stuff and truly sorted, downsized, and dealt with it all.? We have moved it three different times?out of the school, into our old house, into storage, and into our current home.? Chris had been getting on me to go through it all.? It was taking over our unfinished area, and cramping space from items that really needed to be stored, i.e. Christmas stuff and old keepsakes.?

Since my preschool is going to be up and running next year, it gave me the perfect reason to tackle the bins and bins of stuff.? I worked on this project every moment the kids were sleeping sunday, monday, and tuesday.? It was almost done tuesday night, so I stayed up until 1 am just to see it finished.? It is funny, because once you REALLY start organizing stuff it spreads.? I realized that all of my teaching stuff affected the closets in the basement.? And that lead to my growing supply of art and craft stuff?.AND THAT lead to my ridiculous office area that was crammed to the max with stamping, sewing, and knitting supplies.? I finally finished with the office, and decided that I had enough left over bins to tackle the garage.? Yep, pretty much every inch of our house is labeled and in a bin.? It was a week long project, but man does everything look great!

This was the previous closet that housed all of the craft supplies for my children and their games.? I left all of the games in the closet, but I moved out all of the craft supplies.? Now I have all of my read alouds for school on the top shelf in magazine racks, sorted by holiday, genre, or author, and labeled of course.? My calendar system is housed here, along with all of the mini drawers full of post its, sharpies, and anything ?teachery? that is needed.? The two bins with books now have favorite real alouds, along with teacher work books and curriculum guides that I thought would apply to my preschool.

The bottom of the shelves now hold anything that applies to school in the form of a manipulative or sensory activity.? The smaller bins contain beans, stamps, counting blocks, unifix cubes, dyed pasta, shells, zoobs, tongs, dry erase boards, etc etc.? The lower bins hold all of my play dough store bought and home made, along with gak, moon dough, dyed rice, pasta, and just about any sensory material that I use with my own children.? I love that everything is now at my finger tips and I can find stuff easy peesy!? Here is the whole view of my new ?teaching closet? and I can?t get enough of it!

Next up was the out of control unfinished area.? I went through each and every bin.? I donated hoards of stuff to goodwill, and threw away equally as much stuff in the trash.? I really wanted to sift through it all and make good decisions about the items.? Some of it really was in good condition, but I felt that if I held onto it for teaching in the public schools it would surely be outdated by then.? It was important to be honest about how much of it was really ever going to get ?used? again.?

This just part of the extra bins that I went through (the rest are now in the garage storing helmets and balls).? To say this was a huge messy project was an understatement.? Chris said it looked like a bomb of books, papers, and plain old crap had gone off in our basement.? But, I did get the shelves better organized.? These are my remaining ?teacher? bins?.

The clear bins are the only ones left from and for my new preschool.? I divided them up into sections, put the paper in front of them and labeled each and every thing inside for easy access during the school year next year.? The bins are divided simply into literacy based materials, math materials, sensory pay (funnels, scoops), classroom management (binders, bowls, bins, organization), holiday activities, and two bins of older math/literacy materials that I could use with Bradley.? My paper cutters and the overhead are sitting on the far left.? The far right is actually now our gift wrapping area and one container of ?presents? that I hide for whichever upcoming holiday is next.

The gift wrapping area was previously in our basement bedroom closet.? It got moved because that will soon be Crozet PlaySchool?s art studio.? I figured while I was moving everything around, I mine as well organize and consolidate the many, many, many craft supplies I have for my kids.? We had them spread out around the house, some near the kitchen and some in the basement.? It is so nice to have them all in one central location, and labeled for easy art projects.

I also came across a TON of art supplies in my teaching bins too.? It made sense to just group everything together for the future.? This is the overview picture of the new Art Studio supply closet.? The top shelf now holds bins with similar materials organized together.? There are paint supplies, dot art, holiday crafts, watercolors and pastels, chalk, natural materials, found objects, modeling clay, etc.

I bought this little organizer back when I was teaching, and I still love it!? It has organized lots of different things, but now it holds all of those funny little? hard to keep track of art supplies.? There are buttons, stamps, beads and more beads, perler beads by color, pom poms, and stickers, and probably more that I am forgetting.? I didn?t label the drawers because they are always changing.?

Lastly I used these rolling drawers for all of my larger art supplies.? The bins were left over from my classroom.? They don?t match and aren?t attractive, but they will be hidden away in the closet so that is fine!? They are storing paints, paper, rolling brushes, art brushes, cookie cutters, pom poms, pipe cleaners, foam stickers, smocks, crayons and markers, the list goes on and on.

That pretty much sums up the downstairs space.? All closets and storage rooms are completely cleaned and tidy!!!!

Then I knew I had to tackle my office area.? Since we have moved into our house I have taken up a few new crafts.? With each new craft comes loads and loads of supplies.? Sewing especially!

But, my office space was originally set up for all of my stamping and paper crafting.? I still like to do that now and again, but I needed to downsize all of that stuff.? I actually took a good majority of my stamps and put them in the art supply closet for school.? I had tons of alphabet stamps, numbers, dinosaurs, and animals that I know my kids will enjoy more than I am right now!

With that extra space I was really able to make room for a great deal of sewing and knitting supplies!!? I love the look of the office now, and the way the light is just beaming through the window.? It is screaming for someone to come and create, sew, and relax!

My new knitting nook is all set!? The rainbow of yarns is so inviting!

In the cabinets I now have sewing on one side and my stamping and paper crafting on the other side.? My felt is all lined up and my fabric scraps are all in baggies and organized by colors.? It makes sewing so much more fun when you can find your notions easily.? I was previously digging through this enormous basket for scissors, measuring tape, and thread.? It is so frustrating when you can?t find what you need!

Now that you have pretty much seen a picture of every closet and storage area in our house I am going to say that I truly now feel ORGANIZED!? It is so nice to know where your stuff is and be able to get your hands on it easily!

I think Chris was worried about me, because I was pretty much obsessed with this project for an entire week.? Now that it is finished I can sew and knit in peace?

Someone very silly is a few days away from turning three, I can?t believe it!!!? Love you Ellie Belle?

Source: http://naptimenovels.blogspot.com/2013/03/theres-organized-and-then-theres.html

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The 15 Minute Phone Charger You Don't Actually Want

Buffalo has just announced a new backup battery called the Voltissimo that makes the bold claim of being able to fully charge an iPhone in just 15 minutes. While there's no technical reason it shouldn't be able to deliver on that claim, it's not the best idea for your phone in the long run. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/EFMtnb8zxGg/the-15-minute-phone-charger-you-dont-actually-want

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Biden Schmoozes With Nuns in Latest 'Being Biden' Audio

In the second installment of his "Being Biden" audio series, Vice President Joe Biden recaps a moment he shared with two nuns, whom he described as "lovely women," outside of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City earlier this week when he attended the Inauguration Mass of Pope Francis.

"What you see is, I had just walked out the side door of St. Peter's Basilica after meeting and getting the opportunity to shake hands and a great conversation with Pope Francis, and the first people I saw were a group of nuns who to me epitomize everything Pope Francis talked about in his homily and what he stands for about generosity to other people, about reaching out, about making it a point to understand that we are our brother's keeper," Biden said in the installment called "A Good Omen."

Biden, the nation's highest-ranking Roman Catholic, led the presidential delegation to Pope Francis' investiture earlier this week and was accompanied by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Gov. Susana Martinez, R-N.M.

"In his homily, the pope said being human means respecting each of God's creatures, responding and respecting the environment in which we live," Biden said. "He said it means protecting people, showing love and concern for each other, every person, every child, elderly, those in need were often the last we think of and that's what in my experience being raised as a Catholic and educated by the nuns, that's what those, those lovely women I'm talking to symbolize to me. So I thought it was a good omen.

"We are our brother's keeper. We have an obligation and I think that's the way, the only way we're going to make the world better and safer.

"It translates at home with the simple things like making sure we fix the broken immigration system, making sure we make our neighborhoods safer by having rationale gun safety and international relations, reaching out and have war as the last option to protect our interests and so it was an exciting time. It gave me a lot of hope and, again, I'll close where I began. Just look at the expression in the faces of those two nuns. You can tell they share my view," he said.

Biden launched his "Being Biden" series last week and described the importance of the Second Amendment to him and the hunters to whom he served rolls at a wild-game dinner earlier this month.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/biden-schmoozes-nuns-latest-being-biden-audio-152603041--abc-news-politics.html

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With Bear Attacks, is Popular Anchorage Trail Overdue for Overhaul?

Rover?s Run, also known as Mellen?s Way, is a narrow dirt track in Far North Bicentennial Park. The trail winds through a heavily wooded riparian area, staying about 10 to 200 yards from the South Fork of Campbell Creek. Jake Schlapfer recalled building the trail in 1990 in cooperation with the Alaska Skijoring Association. They followed an existing game trail and initially maintained the trail by dragging an old tire down it. ?We did not envision at the time that mountain biking would be such a huge component,? Schlapfer said. Because skijoring is a winter sport, little or no thought was given to past or present summer trail users, including bears.

Rover?s Run is a classic illustration of the ?if you build it, they will come? paradigm. Attracting little use in some parts of the year ? particularly muddy seasons ? it has become wildly popular in summer and winter. Many of the trails in the Anchorage area seem to have a unique mix of users, kind of like a fingerprint. In summer most of the people using Rover?s Run are runners and mountain bikers. In winter, cross-country skiers and fat-tire bikers predominate. In other words, most of its users are moving relatively fast.

Once it leaves the mountains and begins its traverse of Bicentennial Park, Campbell Creek becomes the most productive salmon-spawning stream in the Anchorage Bowl. Salmon are a critical food for brown bears. Brown bears make their way to Bicentennial Park from as far away as the Knik River and Bird Creek from June to October when the salmon are anticipated and relatively easy to catch.

Bears and people can coexist in most situations. However, the unspoken agreement may be revoked any time one or the other feels threatened. As the number of bicyclists and runners using Rover?s Run climbed during the last two decades, many bears adjusted and continued to use the area. More humans, on what was essentially a widened game trail, meant more close calls. Faster activities increased the likelihood of a mauling because bears were being surprised at close quarters. It?s never a good idea to surprise a brown bear, a species famous for attacking people in defense of cubs.

This rule of thumb became bloody obvious in 2008. A young woman participating in a 24-hour bike race was attacked and badly injured in the darkest hours of the night by a brown bear in June. Nobody saw the bear, but some DNA was collected. About six weeks later a runner breezed past signs warning of the previous mauling and turned down Rover?s Run. Within minutes she startled two cubs and was badly injured by a different brown bear sow. That bear was later shot by authorities. Then-mayor Mark Begich wisely closed the trail after the first mauling, opened it in October when bears had left the area, then re-closed it the following summer and fall. No maulings occurred during this period.

Newly elected Mayor Dan Sullivan, who is philosophically opposed to letting the bears call the shots, refused to close the trail in summer 2010. Within days another bicyclist was mauled at the same location. Anchorage has had a smattering of bear attacks in the past three decades, but nowhere else in the municipality, or in Alaska for that matter, has experienced three serious bear attacks in a two-year period.

Anyone proposing to build a recreational trail near a salmon-spawning stream, especially one that might be heavily used by fast-moving runners and bikers ? anyone knowing in advance that brown bears gather along that creek every summer and fall ? should have their head examined. But 25 years ago these facts were not as well known, so the original trail builders are not at fault. However, now that we know these things, we should react appropriately.The runner-up for bear maulings is the Albert Loop Trail, near the Eagle River Nature Center in Chugach State Park. However, after three maulings in four years, the park superintendent began closing the trail for several months every summer and fall. It?s been 15 years since the last bear attack there.

Inevitably, if nothing?s done, more people will be mauled on Rover?s Run. If the mayor won?t close the trail seasonally, when bears are there, perhaps the next best solution is to reroute it.

The Anchorage Park Foundation?s grant request would fulfill an agreement made by the municipality in its ?Far North Bicentennial Park Trail Improvements Plan,? completed in 2011. A section of Rover?s Run a little less than a mile long would be rerouted about 200 feet farther from the creek, out of the riparian area. The relocated section would connect to the Black Bear Trail at its intersection with the Moose Meadow Trail. The entire length of the old trail, approximately two miles, would be returned to its natural state. The trails plan calls the rerouted portion of Rover?s Run an extension of the Black Bear Trail, which it is, logically speaking. So Rover?s Run should cease to exist.

Signs at both ends of the decommissioned trail would strongly advise people to use the new route. There will be some runners and bicyclists who take a chance and use the old route anyway; they shouldn?t expect much sympathy from city officials or the rest of us when a bear drags them off the trail and roughs them up.

Another Anchorage Park Foundation grant request would install bear-resistant trash receptacles in Anchorage parks. Anchorage is slowly lurching towards being more bear-aware. Yet, it remains difficult to convince residents to keep bears out of their personal garbage when government agencies and businesses aren?t modeling good behavior.

Chugach State Park ditched their open trash containers a couple of decades ago. The previous Anchorage School District superintendent, Carol Comeau, replaced hundreds of uncovered trash cans on school grounds with bear-resistant containers. One of the most glaring holdouts among public agencies is the trashy bear buffets in many municipal parks. Although the city has provided bear-resistant trash cans in a few parks, it?s way past time to fix the problem. Obviously, the expense has been a major stumbling block. But the Alaska Legislature can easily remedy this problem, eliminating hundreds of bear bait stations in city parks.

The other grant request is from the Chugach State Park Citizens Advisory Board, a 15-member group appointed by the director of state parks. I?m a member of the advisory board, so keep that in mind as you consider the following argument for funding sustainable trails in the park.

The professionals who design trails have learned a lot in the past several decades. One of the clearest lessons is that publicly maintained trails must be sustainable. Trails designed and built so that they don?t erode or facilitate shortcuts, which contribute to trail erosion, are much less expensive to maintain. Chugach State Park has 280 miles of backcountry trails to maintain, and sustainability wasn?t normally at the top of the priority list decades ago when they were built. In fact, many of the trails follow old wagon roads or jeep tracks.

State park planners and trail maintenance crews are attempting to rectify poor trail designs and routes, but progress has been agonizingly slow due to lack of funding. The park?s advisory board has submitted a request for $415,000 to help reduce trail erosion and maintenance costs, increase public safety, and stem conflicts with private property owners near park access points.

If that sounds like a lot of money, first consider the trails that need rehabilitation: Mt. Baldy and Mile High trails in Eagle River, portions of the South Fork Trail, Crow Pass Trail, and trails near Flattop and Canyon Road on Anchorage?s Hillside. These are among the most popular and heavily used trails in the park and all need rerouting, clearing, or footbridges. About three-fourths of the grant would be spent on these trails.

In addition, new trails are needed to support the high demand for recreation in the park. Funding the grant request would allow preliminary designs for trails into Ram Valley, to the summit of Mount Baldy, to Meadow Creek from Mile High Road, and to the summit of Flattop from Canyon Road. Currently these areas are accessed through private property, which is unacceptable, and the unofficial footpaths are not sustainable. They often ascend directly up steep slopes, contain significant fall hazards in wet conditions, and are prone to erosion. Preliminary designs would be based on field surveys that identify trail alignments and grades that will support low maintenance, gradually ascending, and relatively dry paths completely on public property.

Motorized users will benefit if the legislature approves the request. Several years ago the park removed homemade bridges used by four-wheelers and snowmachines in the Bird Creek watershed for safety reasons. A preliminary design would establish better locations for bridges.

Anchorage sits astride an urban-wild interface. When bears come into the city and people venture into the nearby wilderness, chafing can occur. You bicyclists know exactly what I?m talking about.

Unsightly, unpleasant, and unsafe parks and trails are like a rash. The rash isn?t going to kill us, but it could lead to more serious complications if ignored. Rerouting Rover?s Run and removing bear attractants in city parks are akin to applying talcum powder to the irritated areas on one thigh. Increasing trail safety and lowering maintenance costs for backcountry trails reduces inflammation on the other side.

Everyone riding the urban-wild interface is more comfortable when talcum powder is applied from time to time.

These grant requests deserve serious consideration by the Alaska Legislature. To the best of my knowledge, no legislator has yet expressed a desire to sponsor any of the projects.

Rick Sinnott is a former Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist. The views expressed here are the writer?s own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch.

Source: http://www.friendsofanimals.org/news/2013/march/with-bear-attacks-is.html

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